— — — — — —
The Next Day
At the hotel restaurant, Ryo was halfway through breakfast when an uninvited guest appeared.
A man in a black suit, cape, and metallic mask.
The so-called masked superhero of Los Angeles, John Pluto Smith.
"Forgive me. Dropping in at this hour is a bit presumptuous." Annie, dressed like a knockoff Kamen Rider, apologized.
Ryo calmly set down his knife and fork, dabbed at his lips with a napkin, then said evenly, "I'd like to know your reason for showing up unannounced."
"Asherah is missing."
Annie hesitated before giving a wry smile. "Our last intel exchange was a bust. I'll take the blame for that—I didn't actually confirm Asherah's whereabouts…"
Beside her, Liliana stood stiff as a statue, though her eyes flicked away.
If Asherah was really "missing," it was only because she was hiding in Ryo's suite.
"And then?" Ryo raised a brow, as if the disappearance of a Divine Ancestor meant absolutely nothing to him.
Annie faltered, then asked, "Ryo… you're pursuing the King of the End, aren't you?"
The savior who slays the God-Slayers. The mightiest sword, steel hero. A god strong enough to tempt every Campione into battle.
That was the line the Watcher thought would persuade Ryo.
And Annie herself had heard him once say he wanted to kill the King of the End. She half-agreed with that idea. Normally she'd have wanted to take the challenge for herself, but with the world hanging by a thread, she was suppressing her competitive streak—hoping Ryo would make the move instead.
"Interesting."
Ryo picked up a piece of fruit, narrowed his eyes, and studied her.
"But the price I paid shouldn't be nearly enough to buy intel on the King of the End."
…Fair point. Annie frowned. "Have you heard of the Fairy Kings, Ryo?"
Ryo arched a brow, smirking. "Oh? You mean that bunch hiding in the Netherworld, playing as guardians of balance, too cowardly to face a Campione head-on?"
"Yes, I've heard a thing or two."
"Hard to argue with that," Annie muttered, clicking her tongue.
Gods who hid in the Netherworld had long since grown weary of the human world, their will to fight gone. Calling them cowards wasn't entirely unfair.
According to the Watcher, some Fairy Kings still lusted after the mortal world but were too afraid of Campiones, so they pulled strings from the shadows instead. Supposedly, one of them was a god from Japan, though the Watcher hadn't gone into detail.
Ryo sipped his juice with a knowing smile.
"Sounds like you've been talking with those cowards…."
"Let me guess. They pushed you to nudge me toward fighting the King of the End?"
…He saw right through it. Annie sighed in resignation.
She knew it was her own blunt question that had raised Ryo's suspicions. Left unchecked, he might decide to wipe out the Fairy Kings first, before even touching the King of the End.
More collateral damage.
"Ryo, do you believe in prophecies?" she asked.
"Half and half," he said vaguely.
After a moment of thought, Annie continued, "The prophecy says when the King of the End awakens, every volcano on Earth will stir. He'll drain the planet's life force… and then hunt us Campiones. That was the Fairy Kings' warning."
In truth, it was the Watcher's thousand-year-old voice she was parroting.
Intel on the King of the End was tightly sealed. Only a few gods and Fairy Kings knew the real story. The Watcher had taken a risk leaking this much—though the real danger fell on Annie, who could be targeted by the Fairy Kings for betrayal. But she was a Campione. Threats like that didn't scare her.
Ryo tapped the table with a finger. "So the goal is to kill him before he bleeds the planet dry?"
"Exactly." She nodded, then grimaced.
"But the King of the End wields the Divine Sword of Salvation. As long as that sword exists, he can't truly die. Even if we kill him, he'll revive almost instantly."
"And destroying the sword? No one has ever managed it."
The ultimate cockroach—that was Annie's private gripe.
An enemy who could strip a planet bare and still never stay dead. No wonder the King of the End was considered the Campiones' natural enemy.
Sure, some might defeat him in battle, but kill him? Impossible. Eventually, he'd come for them instead.
Shameless. He was worse than a damn cockroach; at least it dies.
"So the key lies with the sword, then?" Ryo murmured.
He scoffed inwardly.
The King of the End had another disgusting trick up his sleeve: The great ritual of the Old Covenant.
That Authority let him draw power from world, doubling his divine power for every Campione alive.
With six Campiones currently in the world, the moment the King of the End appeared, his strength would skyrocket sixfold.
A crucial detail… that Annie clearly hadn't been told.
Maybe her "Watcher" had hidden it on purpose.
Worried Ryo would turn on Annie if he knew?
Regardless, Ryo didn't have every detail memorized either. This wasn't like watching an anime and remembering most of it—light novels were chaos: too many characters, too many rules, nobody could keep track of it all. And he read the Campione novel only once.
He snorted inwardly, then said, "I'm curious. What reason did that Fairy Kings give you? Even if the King of the End is strong, he's still just another Heretic God. Campiones don't shy away from death."
Annie paused, then gave him a complicated look. "That Watcher of Time called you the only light that can save the world."
…Save the world? Light?
Ryo froze.
What was this, Ultraman Tiga? Since when was he supposed to "become light"?
Annie blinked, not really understanding why he was silent, but pressed on.
"Whatever the reason, it seems you're the only one with a chance of beating the King of the End and preventing disaster."
Something's off. Way off. After everything I've done in the world of myth, not one of those Fairy Kings has noticed?
Ryo studied Annie suspiciously. Was she hiding something?
…No, she wasn't nearly sharp enough.
More likely, it was the Fairy Kings keeping secrets from her. And that Watcher of Time… I know I've read about him before. He's gotta be important, but I just can't remember.
Ryo narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Tell me everything you know about the King of the End."
Annie's eyes brightened.
"Then I'll start from the goddess Guinevere's past. She and the King of the End—according to prophecy, it'll be she who awakens him in the future—"
Ryo's eyelid twitched. He cut her off, expression flat. "Put it in a report. I'm not sitting through your epic monologue. Just tell me where Guinevere is now."
Annie's face twisted in dismay.
She hadn't even started the juicy goddess-and-End-King gossip, and he was already demanding the ending? So impatient!
But Ryo's stare was cold, a silent warning.
Defeated, Annie sighed. "She went to Japan with her guardian, Lancelot. They should be roaming Tokyo by now."
'Last time I was watching them, they decided to go there too… hmm. They could even feel my gaze back then.' Ryo turned to the window, his eyes drifting thoughtfully into the distance.
"Japan, huh? Well, isn't that convenient?"
.
.
.