Ch-26: True Wisdom
Erica's eyelashes trembled slightly, on seeing Roy standing so close to her.
Roy stared at Erica for a long time, and then he reached out. To Erica's surprise, a ripple appeared around her body. Roy actually pulled out her beloved sword, <Cuore di Leone>.
These course of actions surprised Erica, the <Cuore di Leone>, also known by it's other name <Heart of the Lion> is forged with Wootz steel from Damascus.
It is always been hidden in her personal magic space, and when Roy drew out her sword, he didn't use the Divine Authority of a Campione, but only magic.
She didn't expect Roy's magic level to be so high to be able to take out things from other's personal magic space.
Though, the magic space can neither store ordinary objects as it will get destroyed due to pressure inside the magic space, nor can it store divine artifacts, it's a mage's or knight's greatest reliance.
"Surprised, that I can do magic?"
Roy looked at the rapier in his hand, <Cuore di Leone>. No matter from which way he looked it is a very powerful magic weapon, ranking among the top mortal weapons of this world.
<Cuore di Leone> is in the form of a rapier, but it's true form is that of a two-handed longsword. It can even transmute into a spear or shield. This weapon also has an [indestructibility] trait.
In other words, <Cuore di Leone> will repair itself from any damage, and can be reconstructed limitlessly, allowing Erica to change its shape and function as she pleases.
"...A good sword. Although it is not a divine weapon, it ranks among the pinnacle of magic artifacts."
"I really didn't expect the 'king' to have such strong magic skills. I thought that a person like 'king' who holds the power of Gods would be dismissive about magic."
Erica said flatly.
"Divine Authority is also a kind of magic, just that it can only be cast by Gods and Campiones."
"Although a mage can also achieve the same effect, it requires the help of hundreds of other people, and it will take several days and months to complete the spell."
After becoming a Godslayer, Roy has the ability to more diversely understand and research on magic with the help of whopping amount of magical energy he possess.
Of course he will not let go of his pursue of knowledge on magic. He will not arrogantly think that since he has become stronger he doesn't need to learn new knowledge. He favours both brain and muscle.
In fact, Divine Authority is an advanced application form of magic. In fact, the magic didn't existed in this world in the first place, it was on studying the Divine Authorities that magic appeared later.
The reason why the destructive power of the Godslayers and the Heretic Gods is so terrible is because of the quality and quantity of the magic power possessed by Campiones and the Heretic Gods is far superior to any magic user, which also crushes the spirit of progress.
But, there are still people who are studying Divine Authorities to break the 'barrier' that the top level mages and knights are unable to see. Greenwich Assembly and Witenagemot are the gathering place of such people.
Although Divine Authority is powerful and convenient to use, the Campiones were never really able to deeply understand it's source of power, Campiones are only an applicator, this power has never really belonged to them.
If it is limited to this world, it is enough possess this much strength but, Roy has a bigger goal.
Just applying power cannot satisfy Roy, so he will try his best learn all knowledge and pursue the 'true wisdom'.
He wants to turn the usurped Authorities to truly belong to him as the part of his knowledge.
He didn't need to talk to Erica about these things. After watching the rapier in his hand, Roy lightly put the <Cuore di Leone> in his hand on Erica's white neck.
At that moment, Erica only felt the coldness of steel on her neck, and even the almost non-existent hairs on her body became erected.
Although the <Cuore di Leone> is no way near a divine weapon, its sharpness is unmatched among magic artifacts, as the wielder of the sword, of course she understands the sharpness of this sword of her's, which has helped her in many battles.
As long as Roy uses a little bit of force, her beautiful head will fall to the ground.
But even so, even if her life was held in the hand of Roy, Erica did not have any physical tension or fear, but relaxed her body as much as possible, not letting her eyes dodge and firmly looked into Roy's eyes.
It is a beautiful face that is still immature but possess courageous demeanour of a brave knight.
Slowly, Roy moved the long rapier onto Erica's shoulder. At this time, Erica immediately understood Roy's meaning and instantly kneeled on one knee in a knight's posture.
Roy lowered his head and thought for a while, and said with a light smile:
"....Forget it, I don't know anything about ceremony to confer knighthood, but so be it."
"Erica Brandelli, from this moment, you will be my personal knight. I hope you will have the dedication and loyalty that a knight must have towards her king because from now what you represent is 'me'."
Roy took a last look at the rapier, and held the hilt in his backhand and handed back the <Cuore di Leone> to Erica.
Erica took the long rapier with a light sigh, her eyes and face unconsciously showed joy.
Sure enough, as she expected, Roy, the new king, did not have someone who could handle his daily affairs for him.
Erica had used best of her abilities to manage king's work to prove her resolute behavior and capability, and finally, she has successfully garnered King's trust.
As one of the only seven 'kings' in the world, Roy has a lot of ordinary things he has to handle everyday, and the most important thing for Roy is to learn knowledge.
He does not have so much free time to deal with these ordinary things, and it is impossible to be like Salvatore Doni who only has sword and duels in his eyes.
The Italian mage associations are loyal to him, and as the 'king' he is obliged to give them higher glory.
Therefore, Roy needs someone who is capable enough to help himself deal with these daily affairs.
Erica has performed well these few days, especially her slender and good-looking figure are eye-catching. Compared with a male secretary, Roy prefers a female secretary.
Roy walked to the viewing platform with his right hand in his pocket, and stared at the small island in front of him— Ponza Island, largest island of the Italian Pontine Islands archipelago.
Under the high cliffs on the side of Ponza Island, there is a small town with a resident population of only four to five thousand peoples. This is a tourist attraction, but there are not many people who usually visit here.
"We are finally here, I can already smell the 'scent' of the Heretic God. "
He whispered.
......
In a small local, open door restaurant on Ponza Island, Roy was sipping a cup of cheap coffee he just bought.
Opposite to him, Erica in a red dress was sitting awkwardly. There was also a cup of coffee on the table in front of her, but she didn't take a sip, just waiting for Roy's order.
"There seems to be very few people on this island than given in the information, not even foreign tourists are visible."
Roy said as he watched the sea view outside the restaurant.
"After knowing that Metatron is on this island, the Seven Sisters Alliance has asked the Italian government to temporarily ban tourism here, and we have sent off those who where here from beforehand."
"We persuaded more than 4,000 people who live here to leave this island with the excuse of possible natural calamities. As for the remaining hundreds of people, they are unwilling to leave."
The magic alliance of Seven Sisters temporarily headed by Copper Black Cross is based in Italy. As Italians, they care about the stability of the country.
It can even be said that all the mage associations in the world will face natural disasters like Heretic Gods with a vigilance of one hundred and one percent.
"Well, the Ponza Islands has been a place of exile since ancient times. From the time when Emperor Nero of Rome put his wife Octavia into exile here, many emperors regarded it as an island of exile."
"Even Mussolini was exiled here... Metatron choose such a place as his hideout to recover from his injuries. Could it be that he also wants to exile himself here?"
Erica did not answer to Roy's cold joke.
She only felt that the heavy stones in her heart were finally put down, which made her relax a lot.
In the past few days, she has been in a tense state while working for Roy, for fear that a trace of slackness or even tiniest of mistakes would make the 'king' angry, but after two days of contact with the 'king', she found the 'king' is not as cruel and violent as she imagined.
No, the 'king' is still a free-spirited, moody God-killer, but the 'king' in front of her is a person with a clear distinction between public and private.
The 'king' in private has a very gentle personality, as long as you don't touch his bottom line, he rarely gets angry, but he is worthy of being a king.
In the face of public matters, he will appear very cold, he can even be described as cruel, fully showing the style of his title as the 'devil king on earth', he is an absolute overlord.
After getting a preliminary understanding of Roy's character, Erica believed that she could deal with it perfectly.
In private, as long as she does not go beyond her identity and maintains basic etiquette, the 'king' will remain kind.
Although he is moody, he will never purposely inflict his desire and cruelty on innocent people.
"King, Metatron is now..."
"No need to speak, Erica! My blood is already boiling, and my brain is already urging me, like a beast smelling blood. For Campiones, the smell of a Heretic God is just too strong."
Roy's eyes shrank, he looked at the other side of cliff on the island.
Metatron is there!
"Wait for me, Heretical Angel, I will soon 'entertain' you!"