While Guinevere was trying to abduct Artoria and launch a sneak attack on Ryuga.
On the plains outside Rome, the legendary Campione, Nordic Wolf King Marquis Voban, was already prostrate on the ground.
He had no wounds on his body, and from appearance alone, he looked no different from usual, but inexplicably gave off the feeling of a defeated dog.
Like a once-mighty wolf king who, after aging and losing his fighting ability, was driven from the pack, that silver-white hair and green eyes no longer felt mysterious and terrifying, but instead made one feel extremely weak.
The Demon King's dignity had faded. If someone who didn't know the truth saw this, they'd probably think Ryuga was bullying an old man.
What caused such a huge change was certainly not a simple defeat.
"How is this possible..."
A confused voice rang out. Marquis Voban stared at Ryuga with completely incomprehensible eyes.
He didn't understand, couldn't understand at all.
Marquis Voban wasn't unable to accept his defeat, nor would he be greatly affected by a mere defeat.
Otherwise, he couldn't have slain so many gods over these centuries.
But this defeat was undoubtedly the one that affected him most.
"What exactly did you do?"
He voiced such a question.
If he knew what factor caused his defeat, knew what weakness made him lose, there might still be a chance for remedy.
Having grown from a mere beggar to his current level as a God-slaying Demon King, Marquis Voban's character certainly didn't lack resilience.
However, this battle completely exceeded his expectations.
He didn't know what weapon the opponent used, didn't know what the opponent did, didn't know how to defend.
Before he could even bring out his second Authority, just at the moment that orange-red light sword appeared, he was unconditionally declared defeated.
Even though Campiones were beings who defied common sense, this power was far too beyond reason.
If he didn't even know the reason for defeat, didn't even know how the opponent attacked, wouldn't he forever lose the possibility of counterattack?
Facing Marquis Voban's extremely shocked questioning, Ryuga just shook his head with slight disinterest.
"Same as Doni, you couldn't even pass the first judgment."
Although Marquis Voban had many Authorities, most were used for bullying the weak. He had almost none of the truly crucial Authorities.
He had neither divine speed Authorities nor defensive-type Authorities.
As a result, although his output was high and he could avoid disadvantage or even suppress any Campione in the early stages, when it came to life-or-death moments, he was somewhat awkward. This flashy type was most disadvantaged when facing the Victory Sword technique.
"Doni..."
Hearing Ryuga's words, Marquis Voban's face darkened. He hadn't expected to fall to the same level as that fool with the sword.
But recalling that he was defeated in one move, and Doni was probably also defeated in one move, he had nothing to say.
It wasn't that he and Doni had no gap between them, but that the gap between Doni and him was meaningless to Ryuga.
Although the New King before him was also a Campione, in terms of strength, he had a dimensional-level difference from them.
Realizing this, he no longer struggled but began thinking about what Ryuga had said.
"First judgment?"
So the opponent wasn't unconditionally killing him instantly, but could only kill him instantly when he met certain judgment conditions?
Realizing this, Marquis Voban's spirit lifted.
As long as he could figure out the judgment conditions of the opponent's Authority, he might not lack the possibility of counterattack.
Just as he was getting energized and preparing to ask again for intelligence.
Ryuga suddenly looked up.
"Another new guest has arrived? What a double blessing."
It wasn't politeness—his tone indeed contained joy.
Because the arrival of the Heretic God before him marked the acquisition of a crucial divine artifact.
"New guest?"
Hearing Ryuga's words, Marquis Voban also looked up, following Ryuga's gaze toward the sky.
Only then did he realize something was wrong.
He had already been defeated, his Authority effects had also dissipated, and the dark clouds over Rome had long disappeared.
But only above their heads was a thick thundercloud that not only hadn't disappeared, but the lightning power was gathering more and more.
Seeming to notice their gazes and realizing he couldn't continue hiding, a cheerful voice suddenly rang out from the thundercloud overhead.
"Hahaha! Please don't misunderstand. Stealth attacks aren't the War God's style. I was just accumulating power here!"
"Since I've been discovered, not showing myself would be too impolite. However, your power is too strange—throwing one's life away isn't a wise choice either."
"So please take my full-strength strike, I, the Lake Knight—Lancelot du Lac! Let me witness the power of the God's nemesis!"
Accompanied by that extremely clear voice, the dark clouds overhead suddenly brought down incomparably terrible killing intent.
"Boom!"
White lightning outlined the figure of a white knight riding a white horse. The War God calling himself Lancelot launched a thrust at Ryuga on the ground with dazzling divine speed from the sky above.
From the thunderclouds summoned by Marquis Voban, Lancelot absorbed sufficient lightning.
Therefore, his charging speed directly reached the realm of divine speed!
Sub-light speed assault was extremely terrifying and almost impossible to dodge.
What was even more terrifying was that Lancelot also used his most powerful offensive Authority—Charge of Solitary Cavalry!
This was a charge with the impact force of a falling meteorite, easily able to pulverize the earth within dozens of kilometers and turn it into a giant crater.
If this strike landed, even though this was the Roman suburbs, the power's aftermath would be enough to destroy half of Rome.
In the original story, even the mighty Athena couldn't handle the War God's thrust when they first met and was directly pierced.
Now, facing such fierce offense, Ryuga merely raised his hand slightly.
The orange-red light sword flowed in Ryuga's hand, the law of victory confirmed in his palm.
Although in mythology Lancelot was merely a human knight, in terms of combat power as a Heretic God, Lancelot surpassed Athena, a chief god, and was much more formidable than ordinary Heretic Gods.
As a Steel Hero God approaching the Steel Origin, he not only possessed divine speed Authorities but also steel-natured defensive Authorities, and had divine-realm level martial arts.
He lacked none of the crucial Word Spirits.
Even for the Victory Sword technique, Lancelot was the opponent who could pass the most judgments so far.
However, no matter how many judgments he could pass, as long as one judgment failed, his final fate would be the same as Marquis Voban's—only defeat.
Now, as long as Ryuga willed it in a single thought and activated the mythological technique Victory Sword's effect, Lancelot would be instantly killed with no room for maneuver.
But he thought about it and didn't do so.
Victory was the simplest thing for him, whether he used the Victory Sword or not.
Since that was the case, he might as well take this opportunity to experiment with a power he had just mastered.
This was power he had gained after greatly improving his understanding of divinities through the Authority of Vulcan, the god of flame and forging, in the Netherworld last time, along with research and experimentation on various other divine essences.
"Conceptual Spirit Equipment・Simulated Divinity・Aegis Shield."
Simulated Divinity, as the name suggested, was an imitation of true divinity.
Through research, Ryuga discovered that Vulcan's Authority [Olympus Forge] couldn't help him create perfect replicas of divine artifacts.
If that were possible, Ryuga alone could create all mythological armaments.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
However, while unable to create true divine weapons, it was sufficient to create substitutes for divine weapons.
In previous battles, the divine artifacts that Vulcan had created but hadn't had time to demonstrate their effects were all Simulated Divinity armaments.
The disadvantage of Simulated Divinity was that the created armaments were consumables. If the crafting materials were excellent enough, the lifespan would be longer; if the materials were poor, the lifespan would be shorter.
The advantage of Simulated Divinity was that by paying the price of lifespan, it gained power equal to true divinity.
Currently, the shield Ryuga created was Simulated Divinity armament.
Although named the Aegis Shield, this wasn't the Aegis Shield made from Medusa's head in mythology, nor the shield forged by Hephaestus for Athena, but the supreme shield crafted by Zeus from the hide of the goat Amalthea.
In legend, this shield could repel all evil and disaster, and even Zeus's lightning couldn't harm it in the slightest.
"Boom——!"
A sound like mountains collapsing rang out.
The charging War God directly collided head-on with the God King's shield that Ryuga had temporarily crafted. The impact force capable of pulverizing the earth fell entirely on the shield, and even the aftermath of the impact was enough to stir up a storm.
Yet, as the target of the impact, the Aegis Shield remained unmoved without a single crack.
"The God King's shield? Troublesome power!"
After his Authority completely failed, Lancelot could no longer maintain charging mode and directly hovered in the air on his white horse.
"Even this Authority can't break through your defense. It seems we really are incompatible."
The War God who had gotten off to a bad start sounded somewhat helpless.
"Incompatible?"
Hearing this, Ryuga shook his head.
Lancelot seemed to have misunderstood something.
It wasn't that he happened to have an Authority that countered the opponent's charge, but that he happened to choose an Authority that could counter the opponent's attack.
The difference between these two couldn't be measured in millimeters.
If he simply wanted to defend against the opponent's attack, he only needed to bring out Artoria's Avalon scabbard. Ordinary Authorities could hardly break through Avalon's dimensional-level defense.
As the master, while sharing the Authorities of Heretic King Arthur and Gawain with Artoria, Artoria's full power was also open to his access.
In other words, if Ryuga wanted to, he could now pull out an Excalibur or Avalon at any time.
The reason he didn't do so was just to conduct an experiment.
"The effect of Simulated Divinity, apart from having lifespan limitations and continuously consuming spiritual essence, is indeed no different from ordinary divine weapons."
Ryuga was very satisfied with the experimental results.
Of course, since it was an experiment, conducting it only once would be too unrigorous. He still needed several more samples to reach accurate conclusions.
So—
"Since you're a Steel Hero God, then try this!"
With Ryuga's words, a sword wrapped in crimson-black flames appeared in mid-air.
The destructive black flames clung like bone maggots, quietly burning everything between heaven and earth, making Lancelot, who possessed a steel body, feel extremely terrifying palpitations.
Conceptual Armament・Simulated Divinity・Flame Demon Sword Laevatein!
This was the destructive divine artifact that had once burned the world and achieved world-destroying feats in mythology.
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