"Grand Rite, activate!"
Hearing Verethragna's words, Pandora excitedly began the ritual.
Verethragna was not a God of Steel, so Pandora held no particular animosity towards him, but they also had no real connection.
The only reason she was cooperating with him now was, of course, for her new, disobedient child.
"The war god's true power... sounds amazing! Quick, quick, the ritual is about to begin!"
Pandora eagerly pulled Su Mo's hand, making him sit right next to her, claiming it was necessary for the ritual.
Although he saw through the lie, this time, Su Mo did not refuse.
First, because he had already confirmed that Pandora had absolutely no hostile intent.
Second, because he still had questions to ask.
For example—
"Do you know what power Verethragna was talking about?" Su Mo asked, puzzled.
"Nope!" Pandora shook her head with righteous conviction.
"..."
Su Mo was speechless. You don't know, and you're this excited?
"Ehehe! The war god wouldn't lie, so if he said it, it must be something good!" Pandora stuck out her tongue, looking very happy for Su Mo.
"Alright." Su Mo shook his head, temporarily setting the question aside. He would naturally understand the Authority after the ritual was over; there was no need to rush.
Compared to that, he was more interested in something else.
"Is this the core divine tool of the God-Slayer rebirth ritual?"
Su Mo's gaze quickly landed on the steel disc in Pandora's hand. At the center of the steel disc was carved an ancient dragon head, surrounded by eight long swords.
"That's right!" Hearing Su Mo ask about this, Pandora immediately puffed out her chest with pride.
"This divine tool is called the Ring of Usurpation! It took me over a thousand years to find this thing, and then another thousand years to design the God-Slayer rebirth ritual!"
"It is precisely because of this divine tool that my children can become God-Slayers who can rival the gods!" As she spoke, she recalled the scene of Su Mo's battle and added, "Mmm! Your special case of defeating a god head-on before becoming a God-Slayer doesn't count!"
At this moment, the Ring of Usurpation was radiating divine light. Having completely absorbed all of Verethragna's power, the divine tool officially began the transfer of Authority.
Feeling the mana fluctuations as the ritual proceeded, hundreds of thousands of models began to run simultaneously in Su Mo's mind.
With his level of insight, as long as he observed the entire process, this Grand Rite would hold no secrets from him.
However, if he just wanted to understand this mystery, there was actually a much simpler method at hand.
For example—
"Pandora, can you explain the principles behind the construction of the rebirth technique?"
"You have to remember to call me Mommy!" she corrected him, pouting slightly, before looking up at Su Mo.
"I can explain it! But even if I do, you'll probably forget it after you leave. Unless your mind has reached a state of enlightenment, you won't remember anything."
Clearly, Pandora had no intention of hiding anything. Having seen Su Mo's battle, she knew he was very interested in mythological techniques. But if he was just going to forget it, there was no point in explaining.
If it were anyone else, the explanation would have stopped there. But since the subject was Su Mo, Pandora studied him carefully for a moment before confirming.
"Although it's unlikely for an enlightened person to become a God-Slayer, even I can't see through your situation. Do you think you can remember?"
"If by 'enlightenment' you mean 'seeing one's true nature,' then I have no problem." Su Mo nodded calmly.
In his original slice-of-life crossover world, almost all other methods of occult practice had been ineffective, with the exception of those related to the mind and spirit. So, in this aspect, Su Mo had a small bit of achievement.
However, considering that enlightenment, in medical terms, had the same symptoms as schizophrenia, Su Mo hadn't delved too deeply into it. But in any case, it was more than enough to handle the small scene before him now.
"As expected of my child!" Pandora naturally had no doubt about Su Mo's words.
"Doesn't this mean you won't forget Mommy even after you leave?"
At this thought, Pandora became thoroughly excited. After so many years, this was the only child who would still remember her after leaving.
"Mhm."
"That's great! Long live Little Su Mo!"
Seeing Su Mo nod, Pandora couldn't help but hug him. It was clear that she was very lonely, staying in this blank room day after day, and desperately wanted someone to remember her.
Su Mo didn't outright reject Pandora's intimacy, but he did punish her for not getting to the point.
"Oww~ You're not allowed to bully Mommy!"
Rubbing her slightly aching head with one hand, Pandora grumbled before obediently beginning to explain the detailed construction of the God-Slayer rebirth ritual.
Su Mo already had some understanding of the ritual, and after listening to her explanation, he quickly grasped the principles.
The origin of this ritual was related to the large-scale replacement of matriarchal Earth Mother Goddesses by patriarchal Gods of Steel in the Age of Gods.
Ever since humans mastered fire and smelted iron from the earth, the combat effectiveness of patriarchal clans increased dramatically, and the survival probability of matriarchal clans gradually decreased.
This natural succession was reflected in mythology as the legends of the Gods of Steel defeating the Earth Mother Goddesses, stripping them of their power and Authority, and making them their subordinates.
As a consequence of their defeat, the Earth Mother Goddesses were naturally depicted as evil dragons and serpents, while the Gods of Steel appeared as heroes.
The victorious Gods of Steel not only boasted of their own power but also absorbed the Authority of the defeated in various forms.
Under these circumstances, the Authority that originally belonged to the Earth Mother Goddesses was usurped on a large scale by the victorious Gods of Steel.
The steel born from the earth, in turn, possessed the power to extract the essence of the earth and seize the Authority of the Earth Mother Goddesses.
For the Earth Mother Goddesses, this was naturally a great humiliation. At that time, the overly warlike Gods of Steel were also a great disaster for humanity.
Pandora, having witnessed this situation, went through great hardships to find the divine tool used by the Gods of Steel to usurp the Authority of the Earth Mother Goddesses. After modifying it, she created the current God-Slaying Grand Rite.
Just as the Gods of Steel could seize the Authority of the Earth Mother Goddesses, God-Slayers could use this to usurp the Authority of gods.
This, perhaps, was a form of revenge in itself.