"Master, are all Campione in this world as powerful as you?"
After the shock, Artoria's ahoge bent slightly as she looked at Ryuga with confused eyes.
In the Type-Moon world, she knew Ryuga had god-level strength, but in ordinary people's eyes, even the most powerful god should be cautious when facing two opponents, right?
However, the reality before her directly shattered this common sense.
She couldn't see anything clearly - the two Heretic Gods had completely fallen.
The gap between her Master and gods seemed even greater than the gap between gods and Servants.
Therefore, Artoria began to suspect whether the "god" in "Godslayer" was wrong - maybe it actually meant "casually slaughter"?
Along with this, she looked at the bound Doni with somewhat strange eyes.
Could it be that this guy wasn't just a simple fool, but actually some very powerful expert?
Facing Artoria's question, Erica provided an explanation without needing Ryuga to answer.
"Of course not! There are two types of Campione in this world: one is Ryuga-sama, the other is everyone except Ryuga-sama."
"When you've been together longer, you'll know that Ryuga-sama's power has nothing to do with being Campione - it's purely because Ryuga-sama himself is amazing!"
"I see."
Artoria accepted Erica's explanation quite readily.
Rather than an entire world being full of bugs like Ryuga, it seemed more reasonable for only Ryuga to be a bug.
Seeing she was no longer confused, Ryuga finally spoke with a command:
"Saber, use your sword to finish off Heretic King Arthur!"
Under Ryuga's control, of the two Heretic Gods, only Heretic Gawain was slain and sent back to myth. Heretic Arthur still remained in the present world.
To send him back to myth required a final finishing blow.
"Master?"
Artoria never questioned Ryuga's commands and would normally execute them directly.
But this time, she genuinely hesitated.
It wasn't because she didn't want to strike this world's version of herself, but because—
"If I do this, won't Master be unable to obtain the Authority?"
She had heard Erica explain how Campione were born. If she personally slew the Heretic God, she might very well become a Campione.
But wouldn't that mean stealing her lord's spoils of war?
"Um, my friend, if you don't want it, you can give it to me - I don't mind!"
Hearing the two of them yielding the chance to obtain Authority, Doni's eyes nearly popped out.
You know, when he had merely stolen Marquis Voban's prey once, he was nearly electrocuted half to death.
Such a good thing - if you don't want it, I do!
I don't mind having one more Authority!
"Don't worry about it. Just execute the command."
Ryuga shook his head, completely ignoring the Sword King.
"As beings of the same origin, King Arthur's divine nature would have greater enhancement on you... Moreover, with the mechanism of the Circle of Usurpation, the Authority might not necessarily go to you. Let's try it first!"
Seeing Ryuga insist, although not knowing why he said this, Artoria still raised her holy sword and executed Ryuga's command.
"Ex—calibur!"
The golden torrent of light swept through. Under Doni's heartbroken gaze, Heretic Arthur's form completely turned into points of light and disappeared, returning to myth.
Soon, a familiar spatial passage appeared before Ryuga.
Knowing Ryuga's plan, Erica immediately stepped forward, having little Sakura follow Ryuga.
Then Ryuga led both Artoria and little Sakura into the Netherworld together.
"My dear child, I didn't expect you to be so obedient to mommy, knowing I was lonely and coming to see me three times in one day. Come, let mommy give you a loving hug!"
The first step into the Netherworld was having Artoria step forward to block the charging Pandora.
"Master? Who is this?"
After successfully preventing this suspicious girl from approaching her Master, Artoria was confused by Pandora's form of address.
No matter how you looked at it, this fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl didn't seem like Master's mother. Setting aside other things, their hair color, appearance, and personality were completely different.
However, with gods, nothing was certain. The other party indeed had no hostility, which left her puzzled.
"Pandora, former Earth Mother Goddess."
Ryuga gave a simple introduction.
"She is the creator of Campione, the mother of Campione in this world, so spiritually she does have a certain kinship with me. But don't pay too much attention to it."
This was precisely why he had never corrected Pandora's form of address.
Since the other party wasn't using an incorrect title, there was no reason it needed to be changed.
"How mean! What do you mean 'don't pay too much attention'? If you bully mommy like that, I'll cry for you to see!"
The twin-tailed goddess put on a tearful expression, as if hurt by Ryuga's words.
Ryuga paid no attention to the goddess's fake crying. Seeing Artoria still looking somewhat confused, he explained further:
"Spiritual kinship is actually quite common. For example, with your Red Dragon bloodline, you could to some degree also be called a daughter of the Red Dragon of Britain."
"I understand!"
Only then did Artoria have a sudden realization.
So it wasn't a proper mother after all.
"Although the principle is right, it's not quite that superficial!"
Pandora puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. Though she wanted to object, she couldn't find any arguments.
For other Campione, Pandora at least had the life-saving grace of pulling them back from near-death, but Ryuga was different - he had always been at full health and never experienced near-death resurrection, making it difficult to establish closer relationships.
"Pandora, has the Circle of Usurpation ritual activated?"
After explaining clearly, Ryuga directly switched topics to business.
"Even if I asked you to call me mommy, you probably wouldn't listen. You're really impossible... Yes, yes, it's already activated. Both Heretic Gods' Authorities will transfer directly to you!"
Pandora sighed, then cooperated with Ryuga's inquiry.
"Both Heretic Gods?"
Hearing this, Ryuga paused slightly, glancing at Artoria.
"As expected, the Heretic God slain by Saber was also judged as my achievement?"
"That's right!"
Pandora nodded.
"After all, this child is your servant. In terms of judgment, she's similar to a subordinate god or divine beast - she belongs to your accessories. No matter how she slays Heretic Gods, it ultimately counts as you doing it personally."
"What a pity..."
Ryuga shook his head.
He naturally knew this rule too. It was just that Artoria wasn't a traditional spiritual Servant - she was summoned with her own physical body. He had thought she might be a special case, but unexpectedly she was still classified as an accessory type.
But it didn't matter. Even if this method didn't work, he had other ways to achieve his goal.
"It looks like I'll have to temporarily use the Juvenile Avatar's blessing as a substitute."
Before achieving a breakthrough in divine nature research, this method would be slightly less effective.
However, for Artoria, who was already at maximum strength, it would still be enough to advance her power further, reaching a level where she could completely match ordinary Heretic Gods.
To be continued…
The upcoming arcs also include the "No Game No Life" arc, which is available on my Patreon!
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