Su Mo hadn't expected Verethragna to be this reckless.
The god actually dared to charge at him head-on.
As a rogue god, Verethragna's body was undoubtedly far stronger than any ordinary human—his physique could be described as reinforced steel. But even then, he was still far inferior to a divine beast.
Whether it was the Campiones or the Heretic Gods, their real strength lay in resisting magical attacks. Their resistance to physical blows, however, wasn't anything particularly extraordinary.
Among the god-slayers—be it the Wolf King of the North, Voban, the Martial King Luo Hao, or the Sword King Doni—they all either relied on defensive Authorities or transformative powers to be able to stand toe-to-toe with divine beasts or withstand raw divine might.
Unfortunately for Verethragna, despite having ten different incarnations, none of them included a defensive-type Authority.
As a result, with just a single melee knife-hand strike from Ultraman Tiga, both the divine beast boar and Verethragna were swatted dead on the spot.
If Su Mo had known what Verethragna was really thinking—how he was counting on exploiting a "weakness" in his physical abilities—he might've just laughed out loud on the battlefield.
What a joke!
When has Ultraman's physical strength ever been a shortcoming?
Sure, Ultraman Tiga had a variety of light-based abilities and was often referred to as a "mage in armor" by Su Mo himself—but that didn't mean his physical strength was anything less than monstrous.
Otherwise, in the original lore, how could Daigo have maintained such dominance in his red-powered Power Type form for so long?
Even in the balanced Multi Type form, Tiga's raw physicality was still leagues above what any heretic god could handle.
After all, Tiga had taken down monsters purely with physical combos before—it wasn't unheard of.
So now, although Verethragna had been cleanly swatted down…
Su Mo did not let his guard down.
Having thoroughly studied the original myths and stories, he knew well—Verethragna, while lacking a defensive incarnation, possessed something far more troublesome:
Resurrection. —The [Ram] Incarnation.
So long as that Authority remained active, killing him once wouldn't be enough to truly banish him back into myth.
And sure enough—just moments later…
Before Su Mo's eyes, Verethragna's lifeless body began to stir once more. His life force, which had plummeted to near-zero, slowly began to surge back.
He had clearly mastered this incarnation well. The recovery process didn't take long at all.
In just a blink, he was back on his feet.
His divine power was already replenishing itself rapidly.
"Su Mo…" Verethragna glared at him with blazing eyes, as if trying to carve that name deep into his divine memory.
"That's right," Su Mo nodded, raising his arms and forming them into the familiar L-shape stance.
"Remember it well—then take that name with you… as you return to the myths where you belong."
"Zeperion Beam – Simplified Version!"
A silver beam of light burst out instantly—no charge-up, no delay. It struck Verethragna squarely and completely engulfed his divine form.
By now, Su Mo had a firm grasp of the damage output of Ultraman Tiga's abilities.
When dealing with heretic gods like this, charging up the attack wasn't even necessary. The base-level output was already more than enough to overkill.
So, without hesitation, he fired off a simplified version of the Zeperion Beam—and in that instant, Tiga ended it.
This time, it was a true and total annihilation.
Far away, still observing the battlefield, Erica stood frozen in place.
"He… really slew a god?"
She had already been shaken to her core when he single-handedly took down the divine beast boar.
At the time, she thought perhaps only a legendary Great Mage could manage such a feat.
But now…
He had gone and done the unthinkable.
He had slain a god.
What Erica hadn't expected… Was that this still wasn't the limit of that mysterious mage's power.
That man—he had actually transformed into a towering, majestic Giant of Light.
And then, with overwhelming dominance, he crushed the Zoroastrian God of War into a corner within one minute and ultimately struck him down with ease!
"No… no, that's not right!"
Recalling what she had just witnessed—how the Giant of Light took out the divine beast with a single blade-hand strike, and then completely obliterated the heretic god with one beam—Erica shook her head firmly and corrected herself.
"That wasn't god-slaying at all. That was a hunt!"
"God-slaying"—'shì' in the classical sense—implied an act of rebellion. A weaker being rising up against a superior: a subordinate striking down their master, a mortal confronting the divine.
Using that term would suggest that the mysterious mage had been weaker than Verethragna, the rogue god.
But what had just unfolded?
It wasn't rebellion—it was predation.
A true hunt. A being of superior might, hunting down something weaker than itself.
Any way you looked at it, the Giant of Light held absolute superiority in that battle.
Which meant… in that moment… The heretic god—a divine being feared across myth and legend—was the weaker one.
That was why the word "god-slaying" no longer fit.
This was not some dramatic clash of fate.
It was a hunt. A hunt where the strong pursued and destroyed the weak.
Absolutely absurd.
"I remember… back in class, they taught us that the first time a Campione slays a god, it's usually because of luck, right?"
With that thought, a wave of doubt washed over Erica.
She found herself questioning everything she had been taught about the nature of Campiones and divine battles.