Just then, Su Mo interjected.
"Of course I need it!"
Sure, defeating Verethragna had looked easy—but that didn't mean it truly was.
Even under the overwhelming power of Tiga, the god had managed to endure for nearly a full minute. Su Mo couldn't help but wonder: if the war god hadn't been so battle-hungry, if he'd chosen to retreat instead of fight to the bitter end, would the outcome have taken even longer to settle?
If Verethragna had made a serious attempt to escape, Su Mo wasn't entirely confident he could've brought him down so quickly.
That alone proved the flexibility and utility of divine Authorities. They were still highly valuable.
Moreover, with proper integration, Su Mo suspected that divine Authorities might even enhance Tiga's capabilities further.
For instance, Verethragna's white horse—a divine embodiment of the sun. If fused with Tiga, could it give birth to a Tiga Solar Corona Mode?
Would it be powerful?
He wasn't sure.
But it would definitely look cool.
"Speaking of which," Su Mo suddenly added, "don't you still owe me a reward?"
The mention of a reward made Verethragna pause.
"You mean the one for completing the trial?"
Of course, he hadn't forgotten.
Back when he had first imposed the divine trial on humanity, he had promised Su Mo that if he could slay the divine beast—the boar—he would receive a reward.
At the time, Su Mo had turned it down, since he was determined to challenge Verethragna in his full form.
But during the battle that followed, Su Mo had indeed slain the divine boar in a single strike.
Technically, he had fulfilled the conditions of the trial.
And that meant, as a god, Verethragna should now grant him a reward.
However—
"I only have one Authority," Verethragna muttered, glancing at himself. "And that's already going to be passed to you in the God-Slayer ritual. I've really got nothing else to offer."
He looked around at his own form, suddenly realizing how... poor he seemed.
Beyond his Authority, there was nothing.
And that Authority was already forfeit by default—it would be claimed during the slayer's rebirth. As things stood, he truly had nothing he could call a reward.
"How unworthy of the great Zoroastrian war god," Pandora cut in at just the right moment, a teasing smile on her lips. "Surely you wouldn't go back on your word to a human?"
"If word of this got out," she added slyly, "especially to that stickler Melqart, I wonder what he might say? I doubt it would be flattering."
As the mother of all Campiones, Pandora naturally stood on Su Mo's side. She wasn't going to pass up a chance to secure more benefits for her newest son.
Verethragna could see right through her.
But he also knew she wasn't wrong.
If a god failed to uphold his promise to a human, his dignity—and divine authority—would be utterly compromised.
And if Melqart heard about it, he'd never hear the end of it.
Still... he really had nothing to give.
For a moment, the great war god looked a little awkward.
That was when Su Mo, who had clearly been waiting for this moment, spoke again.
"If there's truly no reward you can offer, that's fine," he said with a calm smile. "There is something else you can help me with instead."
Verethragna breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Say the word."
He could tell Su Mo had planned this from the start—that he'd never actually wanted a reward, but intended to ask for assistance instead.
Still, from another perspective, Su Mo was offering him a way out. A means of keeping his word, and preserving his dignity.
As a warrior who served Mithras, the incarnation of the sun and keeper of oaths, Verethragna could not tolerate dishonor.
For that, he was truly grateful.
"Don't worry," Su Mo assured him, his expression light, "it's nothing too difficult."
He looked Verethragna in the eye and continued:
"It's about your Authority. I'd like your help... modifying it a little."
Normally, the kind of Authority a god-slayer acquires after defeating a deity depends largely on their own willpower and inner nature. More often than not, the Authority one obtains naturally aligns with their disposition.
But in cases where the defeated god only possesses a single Authority… well, there's nothing to choose from.
This was precisely the situation with Verethragna.
He only had one Authority to offer, so there was no room for selection.
And unfortunately for Su Mo, he didn't have a very high opinion of the "Ten Incarnations."
In the original story, Kusanagi Godou had wielded these ten forms to defeat numerous gods and Campiones alike. In terms of potential, the Authority wasn't bad at all.
But the problem lay in its floor, not its ceiling.
The usage restrictions on each of these powers were downright absurd.
The [Boar] only worked on massive targets;
The [Bull] could only be used against enemies with immense strength;
The [Goat] required draining the life force of allies;
The [Camel] was only viable in close-quarters combat;
The [Raptor] inflicted immense strain on the user's heart and could only counter high-speed attacks—plus it had a strict time limit…
And those were just the individual drawbacks.
There was also one universal and fatal flaw shared by all ten incarnations: Each one could only be used once per day.
With that kind of baggage, the Authority quickly became more of a liability than an asset.
Even by the end of the original story, these restrictions weren't fully lifted.
But Su Mo wasn't interested in an Authority that looked flashy on the surface but was ultimately unreliable.
He didn't need a power with a high upper limit and an abysmal lower one.
After all, even if you combined all ten incarnations, they still wouldn't surpass Diga Ultraman.
What Su Mo needed was something far more stable—an Authority that was consistently strong and practical.
Besides, several of these incarnations were completely redundant for him:
The [Raptor]'s godlike speed? Su Mo could already achieve that via his Light Elementalization.The [Bull]'s brute strength? Nowhere near Tiga's level. And given how growth mechanics worked in the Danmachi world, Su Mo's physical stats would only keep improving over time.The [Camel]'s melee enhancement? Completely outclassed by Tiga Ultraman.The [Goat]'s lightning? Required perfectly synchronized allies—far too situational.The [Ram]'s resurrection? Sounded useful, but could only be triggered in a near-death state and revived him on the spot—no buffs, no safeguards.
"So yeah," Su Mo said plainly, "I don't want any of those forms."
"If possible, I'd like to discard those particular incarnations, and instead remove the usage restrictions on the others."
Rather than settle for weak, circumstantial powers—or ones he could already replicate—Su Mo wanted an Authority that was streamlined, efficient, and adaptable.
His ultimate goal was to elevate his base-level combat power. Not gamble on occasional bursts of strength.
Note: In the original series, Kusanagi Godou's Authority wasn't officially called the "Ten Incarnations," but for the sake of clarity and distinction, that's how it'll be referred to here.