You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Thor's minute divinity;

Pulling a trace of divinity;

Feathered Serpent God's trace divinity;

Michael's trace divinity;

(Note: Since ancient times, in the inheritance of different regions and civilizations, there has been the worship of the sun, and the phenomenon of solar eclipse has been regarded as a symbol of the end of the world. After personifying this phenomenon, many evil gods and evil spirits were born.)

In an era when Earth was still filled with magic and mystery, for reasons unknown, whenever "Doomsday (the Magic Tide)" arrived, some people with special talents could see through the illusions of destruction to the source of all evil hidden in another world—

A world-devouring serpent descending from an unknown void.

Ancient sages combined its image with local mythology to create numerous images of giant serpents associated with destruction. Others linked it to a creator god, creating figures like the feathered serpent god.

Correspondingly, in a neighboring other world, the existence of "Purgatory" was also observed, and the powerful creatures discovered were named "First Demon King," "Second Demon King," and so on. This giant serpent, however, existed only in imagination and speculation, and was called the "Zero Demon God."

……

"...Is this a pleasant surprise? I didn't expect this guy to be such a 'big shot'."

Iori opened her eyes and shook her head, both amused and exasperated.

It's certainly a good thing to be able to acquire so many different divine attributes at once, but the method used is...

It's like defeating a giant monster in a game and getting the Monkey King set as a loot – it's absolutely ridiculous!

However, to be honest, there is some truth to it:

There was a time when someone on Earth observed the existence of a giant serpent through some means, and associated it with various demon gods. Iori, who slew the giant serpent, was also considered to have accomplished a great feat in mythology, and naturally obtained the divinity of the corresponding hero god.

However, in the end, this giant serpent is just one of the mythological prototypes, not a real demon god, so only a "trace amount" was given to Iori.

If he had attacked Jormungandr or Apophis's true form, he would have achieved it in one go, directly gaining the corresponding divine affinity, just like Susanoo and Rama on his body.

Thinking about this makes me feel a little regretful... After all, "Shadow Reality" is not a world view based on mythology, so the reward given to Iori can only be described as average.

If it were the giant serpent that served as the prototype in Type-Moon...

It's important to understand that in Type-Moon's Greek pantheon, Quetzalcoatl and Attila are all extraterrestrial beings. This worldview only considers mythological understanding, regardless of where your true origin comes from. The giant serpent truly has the potential to be elevated into numerous evil gods, and Iori's achievements will also rise accordingly...

Let's be content with what we have. If it really is Type-Moon, this combination of "alien" + "native demon" might be too much for Iori to handle.

Putting that matter aside for the moment, Iori opened her eyes and scrutinized the shattered satellite beneath her feet.

Although the giant serpent has been eliminated, given how badly it has been destroyed, restoring it to its function as a magical nexus is nothing short of a pipe dream...

Now that there are no obstacles, Iori can make some sweeping changes. As long as the magic power can flow again, it doesn't necessarily have to be restored to its original state; trying different development paths is also an option!

Iori gazed thoughtfully at the boundless starry sea in the distance, a memory stirring within her, and murmured, "The Temple of Time..."

This satellite was born along with the Purgatory World and is naturally an important node of the Great Source Corridor. Its material composition may not be anything special, but the fact that it can barely maintain its existence despite being damaged like this clearly indicates that it is protected by some unseen power, so it has extremely high value.

What if we used the satellite debris as a base, and referenced the structure of the [Grand Temple of Time], to transform it into a large fortress-like Noble Phantasm?

At that time, the large magic circle and the fortress itself can be used as a medium to resume the responsibility of the magic hub and restore the [Great Source Corridor] of this world to normal... How much Iori can benefit from this depends on luck, just like the dragon vein in Akatsuki.

If all goes well, then Iori will have another secret and powerful base of operations...

I just don't know how many resources would be needed to achieve this goal... Putting aside everything else, wouldn't it take three or five Holy Grails to achieve this?

"We'll talk about the fortress later... Let's extract some magic power first."

Iori reopened the [Map of Mountains and Rivers], but this time not to imprison anyone, but to draw magic power from the "Purgatory World" and channel it into many smaller worlds:

After his battle with the Great Serpent, the situation in the Purgatory World will not improve in the short term. Before that, the magical power must be reduced to avoid triggering a tidal wave that could impact the neighboring Earth and the other world.

There's no need to keep extracting; just delaying it for a month or two, giving Iori time to modify the celestial bodies, is enough.

"I'm afraid we'll have to trouble Sera again this time."

Iori felt somewhat helpless.

She's the only professional in this field, and as a technical talent, she's even more valuable than Esdeath... It seems I'll have to be more accommodating to the Saintess from now on.

Just as the magic power of the Purgatory World was reduced to a certain level, a notification sound suddenly rang in Iori's mind again:

【Ding! 】

[CGs have been collected]

[The end of a future that was once impossible to overcome]

Genre: Drama.

quality:--

grade:--

Rewards Overview:

[Dimensional Gate Godslayer]

……

Iori's eyes narrowed, and she stood silently on the desolate, broken celestial body for a long time.

This is a somewhat familiar name, and as a "masterpiece" in a certain sense, Iori does have some impression of it, but that is not the reason why he is so swayed.

Godkiller... To be honest, if Iori had acquired this world before, he might have put it aside, because it's a place where the power levels are even more extreme than in Bleach.

Aside from a few protagonists with overpowered abilities, the other characters are basically just supporting roles, and no matter how many are added, they pose no threat to the main characters—it's almost like mowing down enemies in a Dynasty Warriors game.

Some of these cheat-level abilities are dangerous even to him now... but correspondingly, they are also incredibly tempting!

A technique comparable to [Ryujin Jakka]... perhaps it really is possible to obtain it in this world!

Chapter 355: Fighting the final boss right from the start?

This is what they mean by "the unpredictability of life".

It should be noted beforehand that Iori has always been lucky, and he considers himself a man favored by Lady Luck—the attribute entries on his character panel prove this.

But perhaps it was a case of reaching the peak and then declining. While achieving one "great success" after another, it also accumulated some unseen signs of decline, which ultimately led to a "great failure".

Well, to put it simply, this situation is a bit bad.

Iori blinked, looking at the beautiful white-haired boy who had appeared before her. A flurry of thoughts raced through her mind, eventually coalescing into one:

Did this teleport you directly to the BOSS room?!

This is an island suspended in geosynchronous orbit, neither above nor below the earth.

The area above is desolate and devoid of any signs of life or man-made structures, as if a piece of rock from the center of the Gobi Desert had been excavated and lifted into the sky.

The only unusual thing is a small mound in the center of the island, on which is stuck a rusty sword... or a knife?

Its design is quite peculiar, with a rather large size, and it looks more like a heavy woodcutter's knife, making it rather unremarkable in appearance. But somehow, just one glance at it evokes a sense of "horror," as if it were not scrap metal, but the very concept of "destruction."

The white-haired boy and Iori faced each other several meters apart, with the peculiar longsword right beside the boy's hand.

At this moment, both of them were focused on each other. Iori's eyes held a hint of surprise, while the boy was equally shocked. For a long time, neither of them spoke.

Interestingly, the white-haired boy is not a physical entity. Although his figure is clearly visible here, it is illusory if one concentrates even slightly.

This confirmed Iori's identity, and then he felt a sudden toothache.

Facing such a formidable opponent right from the start, this world is just too exciting.

"Godslayer," as the name suggests, features a protagonist who "kills gods." It tells the story of a group of incredibly lucky heroes who fight against the gods, kill them, and then usurp their power for their own use—a truly powerful tale.

However, the existence of god-slayers does not mean that gods have become prey. In fact, there are many gods who can overpower god-slayers, and they are also the protagonists of this world.

Iori is now facing both good news and bad news.

Okay: He encountered an important figure in this world as soon as he transmigrated!

Bad: It's the final boss!

— Rama, the Last King

The white-haired, handsome young man before them was none other than Prince Rama, the great hero in Hindu mythology who defeated the ten-headed demon king Ravana.

Unlike Saber in Type-Moon who is constantly getting the short end of the stick, Rama in this world is not only a "rebellious god" who opposes the Godslayers, but also the most powerful one among them, a heroic god with the title of "Last King"!

He may not be the last boss to appear in the story, but he is definitely qualified in terms of strength. To make a horizontal comparison, he is roughly equivalent to Hao Asakura in "Shaman King"—so strong that the main characters cannot win unless the protagonist team holds back.

Iori is now "lucky" enough to meet him face-to-face and receive the newbie perk of directly challenging a max-level dungeon at the very beginning of the game.

Ironically, the original setting of "Campione!" was too complicated, and Iori never read it carefully. He even heard about the character "Rama, the Last King" from the Type-Moon forum—someone compared him to Gilgamesh.

Iori originally planned to go find Vereslana according to the plot, but now she doesn't need to, because someone even more important has arrived!

After a moment of silence, Iori couldn't help but speak, "You are..."

"You are……"

The two voices overlapped, and Iori and Rama were both stunned, then burst into laughter.

"I was a bit out of line, actually feeling timid because of this... Please excuse me. Perhaps I've been asleep for too long and was suddenly awakened by some unseen feeling, so my mind isn't quite clear yet."

The white-haired youth said nonchalantly, "As the host, I should introduce myself first, but I think it's unnecessary—don't you agree?"

"Not always."

Iori remained calm, saying, "I roughly know what you're thinking, but people's perceptions can change depending on how much they've seen and experienced. Perhaps the truth isn't so."

“Oh? But no matter how you look at it, you and I share a similar… almost identical divine nature. This consistency cannot be explained by ‘originating from the same source’; the only possibility is that we correspond to different forms of the same deity.”

Rama's inquisitive gaze fell upon Iori: "What intrigues me is, if I were Rama, what would your 'name' be?"

In the world of "Godkiller", the evolution of mythology affects the divinity and form of gods, and even the phenomenon of "one god having multiple names" or "multiple gods sharing the same identity" occurs due to different versions of the story.

In "Godkiller", determining the true name of a god requires a case-by-case analysis. Sometimes, the apparent identity is just a cover. This "decryption" process is one of the difficulties in killing a god.

After all, knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle.

Therefore, it's not surprising that Rama sensed a similar divine essence from Iori, since there are countless examples of "parallel beings" in mythology...

Characters like Sigurd and Siegfried, Finn and King Arthur, Diarmuid and Lancelot are all clearly related by succession.

To Rama's surprise, generally speaking, if a deity—such as Sigurd—descends upon the world, then putting aside more distant aliases, aliases like "Siegfried" are usually assumed to belong to the same deity...

Unless under special circumstances, it will not be used by another deity at the same time.

Iori and his divine status were so similar that Rama even felt like he was looking in a mirror. It was clear that they were using a closely related, or even the same, identity – appearing in this world at the same time as him!

This phenomenon is rare; it usually involves an inherent cause-and-effect relationship and only occurs under the influence of fate.

Note that "fate" here is not a figurative term; in Godkiller, there is indeed a supreme being who controls fate.

“I am also [Rama] – but to me it is just a ‘title’ rather than a name.”

Instead of making up a story to deceive him, Iori simply said to Rama, "Nice to meet you, Your Highness Rama."

My real name is Aizen Iori, a wanderer who traveled from another world.

As for why I came to your place... who knows? It's probably just a coincidence.

"Aizen Iori... I don't recall ever having such a deity,"

Rama exclaimed in surprise, "You come from another world, no wonder... but why here of all places?"

As he spoke, he fell into deep thought.

The Godkiller series itself has a parallel world setting, and there is even a way to travel between them, so Rama easily understood the concept of "time travel".

But out of so many other worlds, why did Iori, a being with a similar divine status to him, end up in this world instead of going anywhere else, and just happen to fall right in front of him... This can't possibly be a coincidence!

—Iori knew this was caused by the cutscene, but in Rama's mind, it was the goddess of fate acting behind the scenes to guide Iori to this place.

Thinking of this, Rama felt a soreness between his brows, which was so tightly furrowed that he felt quite uncomfortable.

If this is truly the work of the goddess of fate, then what is its purpose?

Was it aimed at Rama?

But he didn't do anything outrageous; at most, he just slacked off, abandoned his title of "Last King," and ran off to the ends of the earth to play dead, leaving the demon kings to fend for themselves on Earth, sleeping for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Thinking about it carefully, it does seem quite excessive...

"I understand!"

The white-haired boy looked enlightened, with an undisguised joy in his eyes.

"You are a warrior guided by destiny—the one who has come to defeat me and inherit the title of 'Last King'!"