Upon hearing Su Mo's request, Verethragna was visibly stunned.
He had never once imagined that someone would outright dislike his Authority.
And yet, the more he listened, the more he had to admit—the criticism made perfect sense.
"Out of the [Ten Incarnations], there are indeed several that are completely useless to you."
After thinking it over, Verethragna couldn't refute it. Su Mo's reasoning was solid.
Even setting aside all the individual restrictions on each Incarnation, there was one flaw that stood out starkly: each Incarnation could only be used once per day.
In a battle against a single god-class opponent, burning through all the Incarnations might be enough to secure victory. But what if another divine-level threat appeared immediately after?
Under such conditions, a power that could no longer be used would be a critical weakness.
Most Godslayers would have no choice but to face death head-on.
Moreover, many of these Incarnations were redundant when compared to the powers Su Mo already possessed. Discarding the useless ones in exchange for removing those stifling limitations—now that was a logical and efficient approach.
"Is it even possible?" Su Mo asked.
This idea of modifying an Authority was something that had occurred to him on the fly. If it could be done, it would obviously be a huge gain.
He just wasn't sure if it was even viable.
"Of course it's possible," Verethragna replied without hesitation.
"I am the God of Victory. Victory is my very essence. Adjusting the powers of my Incarnations is a trivial matter."
Of course, this adjustment would have to be carried out by Verethragna himself—after all, the Authority was his. Under normal circumstances, with his pride, he would never alter the divine nature of his own gift.
If not for the fact that he owed Su Mo a reward for defeating him, he wouldn't have even considered it. Su Mo would have received the original version of the [Ten Incarnations]—full of restrictions and nearly unusable in critical moments.
And so, with a brief act of divine will, Verethragna began to reshape his Authority.
Only once he was done did Pandora begin the ritual of Godslayer Reincarnation.
Verethragna's divine power—along with the adjusted Authority—was drawn into the ritual, passing through Pandora's Black Sacrament and entering Su Mo's body.
The Heretic God, Verethragna, was now ready to return to the realm of myth.
In the final moment before his consciousness faded, the war god of the Zoroastrian pantheon offered his last words to Su Mo:
"Su Mo! You are the first—and only—one to seize the Authority of the God of Victory. The only one whose strength in battle I truly acknowledge and accept."
"As the one who defeated the God of Victory, I give you my blessing—grow stronger! Strong enough to overcome everything, strong enough to sever all destinies!"
With those weighty words, heavy with implication, Verethragna vanished—his myth retreating into legend once more.
Not long after, the Reincarnation Ritual of the Godslayer came to an end.
Su Mo had finally been fully reborn… as a Campione.
He could feel it—a surge of divine spell power, coursing through his body like a roaring tide, far surpassing the power of a Dragon Vein.
At this moment, Su Mo was certain: if he were to cast the super-magic spell Fairy Law, not even hundreds of divine beasts could survive the resulting devastation.
And that wasn't all.
His physical body had also undergone a massive transformation.
Adventurers were, at the end of the day, still mortals of flesh and blood.
But the bones of a Campione were tougher than cutting-edge alloy—reinforced by divine power itself.
Yet even among all these overwhelming gains, Su Mo's greatest reward was the Authority he had usurped from Verethragna—
The War God of the East.
By discarding five of the ten Incarnations, he had managed to completely eliminate the restrictions on the remaining ones.
Even the harshest limitation—that each could only be used once per day—was gone.
The moment Su Mo realized this, he was ecstatic.
He had only given up half of the Incarnations. To receive such a massive benefit in return—freedom from all limitations—was far beyond what he'd expected.
He had never imagined even the most crippling restriction could be lifted so cleanly.
With the greatest limitation now removed, the five remaining incarnations—unrestricted in any way—were effectively equivalent to five distinct Authorities.
To be able to eliminate all constraints like this... it was practically a bug in the system.
"I didn't expect... it could be modified to this extent!" Su Mo was astonished. After thinking for a moment, he turned to Pandora. "Wait, does that mean all Authorities can be customized like this?"
"Of course not." Pandora gave a wry smile and shook her head. "This time was special—something granted by Lord Verethragna himself. Maybe... he's placed a certain hope on your shoulders."
"That makes sense." Su Mo nodded. Not all gods could or would modify their Authorities so freely.
This time, he'd simply been lucky. Not only had he encountered Verethragna, he had passed the god's trial and managed to defeat him in a way that earned the war god's respect.
That was the only reason he had received such a generous gift from the God of Victory.
…
After his rebirth as a Campione, Su Mo spent a little while chatting with Pandora. Once the witch's curiosity had been satisfied, he finally returned from the Netherworld.
Back on Sardinia.
No sooner had he set foot on the island, a familiar figure knelt before him on one knee—the young knight who had previously failed in her attempt to confront the divine beast.
"Erica Blandelli, Great Knight of the 'Bronze Black Cross', greets the King!"
A Campione was a ruler, a Devil King—an existence no magician could oppose. Erica knew this deeply and did not dare show the slightest disrespect in her manner.
"Erica, is it?"
"Yes!"
Erica lowered her head with utmost reverence.
Su Mo wasn't surprised by her attitude.
In Europe, most magical societies had long been traumatized by the presence of the Marquis Voban. They understood all too well what kind of power a Campione held.
Unlike the far eastern islands, where people even entertained the idea of exploiting a god-slayer, magical societies here were far more obedient.
Su Mo didn't stand on ceremony either. Only a Campione had the power to oppose heretic gods. Considering that, a few special privileges were entirely justified.
"I'll need you to arrange a place for me to rest. Also, evacuate the civilians on the island as soon as possible."
He gave the order directly.
"Yes!" Erica had no issue with such a basic request.
But when she heard the last part, she was clearly taken aback. "The Heretic god has already been dealt with... why should we evacuate the residents?"
A creeping sense of dread welled up in her heart.
"Who said the heretic god has been dealt with?"
Su Mo glanced at her.
"This time, two heretic gods have descended upon the island."
Erica froze.
Two heretic gods... on one tiny island?
Was this divine punishment from the heavens?!