Crossover: With Heaven-Defying Insight, I'm Shaking the Very Aeons

Apollo, the sun god; Osiris, the god of the underworld and harvest; Feng Bo, Yu Shi, and Lei Gong—the Chinese gods of wind, rain, and thunder; Heracles Cocles, the war god; Inanna, the earth mother goddess; Zhurong, the god of fire; Kali, the goddess of battle; and the demon Baphomet.

A full eight Heretic Gods were annihilated in an instant, not a single one spared.

What Marquis Voban found unimaginable and impossible to accept was, to Su Mo, just another day.

It wasn't just him. Aside from the newly joined Lancelot and Guinevere, who were somewhat surprised, Artoria, Erica, and the others were already desensitized to Su Mo's god-slaying speed.

So what if it was eight gods? What's there to be so shocked about?

For Su Mo, acquiring the complete Divinities of eight Heretic Gods and dozens of different Authorities was no longer enough to feel like a significant gain.

In fact, he was even a little dissatisfied with this god-slaying operation.

"I thought the Heretic Gods were all lone wolves who wouldn't care about a mere human peeking into the Divine Realm. How did they all end up so timid? After returning to mythology, they actually went out of their way to hide the Divine Realm's coordinates?"

Su Mo felt he might have overestimated the arrogance of the Heretic Gods.

Verethragna had seemed quite welcoming of the idea of him visiting the Divine Realm, which had led him to believe that the gods' attitude toward humanity was immutable.

He hadn't expected the other gods to be so utterly lacking in magnanimity. Not only did they not welcome him as a guest, but they had also slammed the door shut and run for the hills, terrified he might find them.

Were these cowardly beings truly worthy of being called gods?

Hearing Su Mo's words, Guinevere and Lancelot exchanged a glance, barely able to suppress the urge to retort.

Sure, all gods are arrogant, but have you seen what you've done?!

Among those present, only Erica dared to offer a tactful jab.

"My Lord, I believe that no Heretic God could maintain their natural arrogance after witnessing your power."

"You may not have noticed, but you've already given gods like Apollo and Baphomet a severe complex… Given the overwhelming power you've displayed, it would be strange if they weren't timid."

In truth, Erica didn't think the Heretic Gods were afraid of Su Mo conquering the entire Divine Realm. As strong as he was, he couldn't single-handedly challenge a whole pantheon.

What they were probably afraid of was Su Mo chasing them to their doorstep and then thrashing them in front of all the other gods.

Gods have their pride, even demons.

"Is that so?" Su Mo mused for a couple of seconds. "It seems I'll have to be more careful in the future. When I'm fishing, I can't scare the gods too much."

Ever receptive to advice, he quickly absorbed this lesson, planning to improve his methods going forward.

The others exchanged glances, at a loss for words.

In this world, only the man before them could say something like that.

Usually, it was gods who inspired terror in humanity. Only in Su Mo's presence did the roles reverse, with the gods themselves being the ones who panicked.

If anyone else heard this, they probably wouldn't believe it.

After summarizing his findings, the problem remained.

"To pinpoint the Divine Realm's location, I'll need to make sure the gods aren't too on edge next time. However, that method relies heavily on luck. It would be much better if I could find a godly traitor to guide me from within the Divine Realm."

This was Su Mo's line of thinking.

The Divine Realm was located outside the multiverse of the Godslayer world, adrift in the void and constantly shifting its position. Without precise coordinates, it was extremely difficult to enter.

Since tailing a Heretic God wasn't proving effective, perhaps finding an insider—a mole—would be better. With someone on the inside coordinating with him, he could lock down the Divine Realm's position, rendering any interference from the other gods useless.

So, the question was, where could he find such a godly traitor?

After a moment's thought, a candidate came to mind.

"By the way, Erica, how is the collection of divine artifacts I asked you for coming along?" Su Mo asked suddenly.

"Reporting to my Lord, we have currently tracked down the locations of three divine artifacts," Erica answered immediately.

"One of them, the Pillar of Hera, is located in the underground temple of Naples. It cannot be moved for the time being, as it is needed to suppress a ley line."

"Another artifact, the Gorgoneion, was salvaged from the coast of Calabria. It was originally intended for the Sword King's safekeeping, but after you defeated him, we confiscated it. It is now at headquarters, awaiting your inspection."

"As for the third, it is the Vajra of Yamantaka. It was part of Marquis Voban's collection and is currently stored in his castle. Now that the Marquis has been defeated, I have sent missives to the magical associations of Eastern Europe, demanding they present all of my Lord's spoils of war. Once they verify the news, I expect they will deliver it shortly."

In terms of combat prowess, Erica was now near the bottom of Su Mo's retainers, only slightly stronger than Guinevere.

However, when it came to administration, she was still Su Mo's chief officer. In this regard, Artoria and Lancelot combined couldn't hold a candle to her.

The moment Marquis Voban was defeated, Erica had already set her sights on his assets, planning to take over the network of magical associations in Eastern Europe.

If things continued like this, by the time Su Mo dealt with all the other Godslayers, he might actually achieve world conquest.

"Very well done."

Even Su Mo couldn't help but praise Erica's diligence.

"The other two can wait. I need the Gorgoneion now."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Though she maintained a calm exterior, Erica was inwardly cheering at the praise.

With a spatial transfer, the group quickly returned to the headquarters of the Copper Black Cross.

Erica swiftly retrieved the sealed Gorgoneion and presented it to Su Mo.

"My Lord, do you intend to use this artifact to summon a Heretic God?" she asked curiously.

"Yes. This particular god may be able to meet my requirements," Su Mo nodded.

In the original story, if there was one god most likely to become a traitor, it would be the triple goddess.

Judging by the state of the Gorgoneion, it seemed this goddess had already awakened; she just hadn't found her way here yet.

In that case, he wouldn't need a summoning ritual. He just had to activate the spiritual essence within the Gorgoneion and let her come on her own.

With that in mind, Su Mo activated the divine artifact and settled in to wait for the goddess's arrival.

While he waited, the chat group began to liven up.

---||---

Rin Tohsaka: Ugh, ever since Sakura left, Mom and Dad have been really down. They haven't left the house in a week.

Kanae Kocho: Well, from their perspective, Sakura is gone…

Madoka Kaname: Rin, are you worried about your parents?

Hearing Rin's complaint, both tried to comfort her. From their point of view, Rin must be feeling terrible right now, knowing her sister was fine but unable to tell her parents, forced to watch them grieve.

For a young child, that must be agonizing.

However, to their surprise…

Rin Tohsaka: Worried about them? Why? I barely have time to feel sorry for myself!

Kanae Kocho: ?

Erica Blandelli: ?

Madoka Kaname: ?

Rin Tohsaka: You guys have no idea. My dad is obsessed now. He keeps saying I'm the Tohsaka family's only hope and wants to teach me magecraft ahead of schedule. He's even teaching me during dinner!

Rin Tohsaka: I'm just an elementary schooler! To learn magecraft, I'm already studying high school-level geometry!

Rin Tohsaka: I don't even get enough sleep at night, let alone have time to hang out in the chat!

Rin poured out her grief and indignation. These past few days had been pure torture.

Madoka Kaname: Oh, no wonder we haven't seen you much lately, Rin. You've been busy studying.

The flow of time wasn't fixed across worlds; it generally adjusted based on how frequently a member checked the chat group. For Madoka, only two or three days had passed.

Kanae Kocho: That sounds rough.

Rin Tohsaka: Ughhh~ I'm so exhausted, I feel like my head is going to explode!

Rin Tohsaka: How am I supposed to learn all this stuff?!

Rin Tohsaka: I pray that Lord Su Mo lends me some of his brainpower.

Kanae Kocho: I pray that Lord Su Mo lends me some of his brainpower.

Erica Blandelli: I pray that Lord Su Mo lends me some of his brainpower.

Madoka Kaname: It seems like you are all under a lot of stress!

Rin Tohsaka: Huh? Erica? What are you doing here? You're not busy?

Madoka Kaname: Oh, that's right! Now that you mention it, we haven't seen Erica around the last couple of days either!

Erica Blandelli: I'm doing alright. It's definitely not as busy as before.

Erica Blandelli: But I still have a small matter to attend to. We're just waiting right now.

Rin Tohsaka: A small matter?

Madoka Kaname: Is it a mission from Lord Su Mo?

Erica Blandelli: Mmm.

Erica Blandelli: We're just dealing with a Heretic God. You've all seen it before, right?

After getting Su Mo's approval, Erica casually started a live stream.

Before the feed even appeared, everyone fell silent at her words.

Kanae Kocho: …

Rin Tohsaka: …

Madoka Kaname: A "small matter"... The way Erica says it, it sounds like she's just pulling weeds by the roadside.

Rin Tohsaka: We've all seen a god-slaying before, and we know it's no big deal for Lord Su Mo. But I still remember how reverent Erica used to be toward gods.

Rin Tohsaka: What changed you, to make you think slaying a god is a "small matter"?

Rin Tohsaka: Was it Lord Su Mo?

Madoka Kaname: I don't think there's any doubt about that.

Kanae Kocho: +1.