Multiverse: Becoming a Giant of Light, Godslayer from the Start

Just as Ishtar's Bull of Heaven was sealed inside Rider's Reality Marble, Su Mo—intent on bringing this Holy Grail War to an end—happened to encounter his first target of the night in one corner of Fuyuki Central Park.

"Well, isn't this a coincidence? Out for a stroll, are we?" Su Mo said, one hand in his pocket, the other raised in a casual wave. Kenneth looked visibly nervous, cold sweat on his forehead.

"Lord Su Mo!" Karna greeted stiffly, bowing with perfect form. Since Su Mo disliked being called by his real name, Karna had opted to use the alias instead. The respect he conveyed, however, remained unchanged. Facing Su Mo, even Karna couldn't help but feel a bit concerned.

"May I ask, are you simply passing by… or is this visit deliberate?"

Right now, Rider was locked in battle with the goddess Ishtar. If Karna ended up in conflict with Su Mo here and now, their entire plan would fall apart. Worse, Rider could suffer a total defeat.

As that thought crossed their minds, Su Mo gave an answer that immediately put them at ease. "Relax. I'm just passing through." Just as both Karna and Kenneth sighed in relief, Su Mo's tone changed. "Still, it's only natural to clear away a few obstacles while passing by, don't you think?"

Along with his words came an overwhelming pressure—an oppressive force so suffocating it sent a clear message: if they didn't go all out, they would die. Both Karna and Kenneth instantly understood what he meant. More than their strategy or current plan, what they really needed to worry about now was surviving this encounter.

That's the nature of battle—sudden and merciless. But then again, neither Su Mo nor Karna were strangers to such moments. This was the fate of warriors. The two made their way to a secluded section of Central Park. Without any further words, the clash began.

"My apologies!"

Karna bowed with old-fashioned courtesy, offering a formal apology before engaging in full combat. Kenneth, on his part, did not hesitate to support his Servant, pouring magical energy into Karna using a Command Seal to strengthen him further. Never in his life had he imagined he'd one day be facing off against Indra, the King of the Devas. The irony and strangeness of it all left Karna feeling somewhat emotional. And because his opponent was Indra himself, Karna knew he had to give everything he had. That was the basic respect owed to the king of the gods.

BOOM—!

Thunder crashed from above. Intent on ending this quickly, Su Mo didn't bother holding back. Thus began the mythical battle between Karna, son of the sun god Surya, and Indra, the heavenly emperor.

"Brahma, cover the earth!"

"Brahma, curse my body!"

Pushing himself to the limit, Karna unleashed a flurry of Noble Phantasms one after another. But whether they were anti-army or anti-country class, all of them were neutralized by the overwhelming divine lightning that rained down.

The god before him was like the sky itself—boundless, inescapable, and oppressively heavy. It felt as if Karna wasn't merely fighting a god but struggling against the entire firmament. No attack could even scratch him.

This crushing gap—the weight of what it meant to battle a true god—etched itself into Kenneth's heart. It was the despair felt when facing an invincible being. An existence no human could ever defy.

And yet—

In the heart of the storm, Karna felt no despair.

Through unmatched mana output and divine-level martial skill, he barely held on against Su Mo's onslaught. The divine thunder struck his body over and over again. Even with his [Kavacha and Kundala] reducing the damage by 90%, it was still far from easy to endure. If this continued, defeat was inevitable. Recognizing this, Karna gripped his spear tighter. Su Mo stood before him like an unshakable Demon King, unmoved. Gazing upon Karna's battered form, he coldly asked:

"Have you run out of tricks?"

"Has your will crumbled?"

"Has hope abandoned you?"

"O Hero of Charity, do you intend to give up and await death?"

"That's not your way."

Su Mo was waiting—waiting for Karna's most powerful strike. That's why he hadn't ended it yet. And Karna did not disappoint.

"Of course not!"

With a proud expression, Karna let his golden armor crack and shatter like glass. The fragments of gold began to reform in his hand, taking the shape of a radiant, divine spear.

"To raise the divine spear gifted to me by Lord Indra against you is the height of arrogance," Karna said solemnly. "But if that is your wish… then receive my strongest strike!"

Unlike the [Brahmastra] gifted to him by Parashurama, the weapon forming now was the divine spear bestowed upon him by Indra—Vasavi Shakti, the Spear of Mortal Piercing Light.

In myth, on the eve of his final battle against Arjuna, Indra—disguised as a Brahmin—approached Karna and requested his divine armor, which protected him from nearly all harm.

Karna saw through the disguise, yet did not hesitate. He had once vowed never to refuse a Brahmin's request, even at the cost of his life. So, even though the armor was fused to his very skin from birth, he cut it from his body with a dagger and handed it over—bloodied and without regret. Even Indra was moved by Karna's nobility and chose to honor him by gifting him the divine thunder spear—Vasavi Shakti. That was the weapon Karna now summoned.

It was his strongest armament. Ordinarily, he would never consider using it against Indra. But now, it was clear—that was exactly what Su Mo was waiting for. So, Karna didn't hesitate. He poured every ounce of magical energy into the golden spear. Under Su Mo's expectant gaze, he hurled it with all his might.

"Burn to ash—!"

"O sun, Abide to death!"

The destructive power of this Noble Phantasm was beyond comprehension. It could annihilate any single existence—living or non-living. Beasts, monsters, divine creatures, men, armies, shields, cities, barriers—even gods. Only the concept of the "world" itself was immune. In other words, Vasavi Shakti was designed to kill anything that existed.

Faced with such a weapon—something truly beyond reason—Su Mo's brow twitched slightly. He stopped the divine authority of [Lord of the Skies], instead a radiant ring of Persian script began to glow behind him. But he didn't activate any of his divine avatars. Instead, he raised one hand—just one hand. He intended to block a god-slaying spear… with a single hand?

Even Kenneth was shocked speechless. Karna, too, was shaken.

This was madness. Even gods couldn't take that attack head-on. Yet this god before them hadn't even tried to deflect or defend. He wasn't summoning shields or redirecting the energy—he was simply standing there, arm outstretched.

It was suicide.

In the blink of an eye, the blinding lightning consumed Su Mo's forearm. His left arm was shattered entirely—obliterated by the divine spear. Not even the physique of a god-slayer, reinforced to the extreme, could withstand it.

Yet, Su Mo remained calm. Even as his arm disintegrated under the divine force, he didn't panic. In fact, he seemed almost intrigued.

"It seems… the legends of the god-slaying spear weren't exaggerated after all."

In the Type-Moon universe, countless things are amplified by conceptual power. Hyperbole is often reality. Vasavi Shakti was said to fell gods with a single strike. Of course, upon reflection, such a thing seemed impossible. In Hindu mythology, Indra held great status—once even king of the gods. But the highest deities were not him—they were Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

If Vasavi Shakti truly had the power to kill any god in one strike… then wouldn't that make Indra himself invincible? If it were truly possible to destroy any single unit of existence, then what about something like the moon? Could Karna possess the power to obliterate the moon?

That clearly exceeded the limits of any Servant. It was far too much. For that reason alone, Su Mo had always harbored doubts—was the divine spear really capable of slaying gods in one blow? But now, after experiencing the power of the god-slaying spear firsthand, he had his answer.

Though it couldn't be called invincible, the weapon's destructive might stood on par with the top-tier Authorities even within the realm of god-slayers. If the target had a frailer divine constitution, especially one of the heretic gods, it was entirely plausible that they wouldn't survive a direct hit.

With this thought, solar flames began to burn around Su Mo's arm. The limb that had been utterly destroyed by Vasavi Shakti began regenerating at once—completely restored. This was the blessing of life from the sun. Whether for healing or resurrection, it was profoundly effective. The divine spear's power of destruction and the sun's divine force of life began to clash in earnest.

Simultaneously, the divine wheel of Verethragna began to rotate once more. The brilliant lightning of the god-slaying spear slowly began to change. It wasn't even attacking Su Mo anymore—instead, it was being absorbed by him.

"…What is this?" Karna muttered in shock at the unfolding scene.

"Just reclaiming Authority," Su Mo replied casually, as though they were discussing the weather. "Verethragna's goat avatar, the one that manipulates lightning, was rather useless. I discarded it early on."

"But Indra's thunder spear… that's something else."

"Since it shares the same origin, I can directly absorb it using Verethragna's divine core—as a supplement."

"This was the real reason I pushed you to use that spear."

After all, since the thunder spear had been a gift from Indra, it was only natural that Su Mo, as the one wielding Indra's Authority, could take it back. With Verethragna's divine nature active, the secrets of the god-slaying spear became clear to him. Using his left hand to receive the spear had only been to buy enough time to parse the lightning's mysteries.

According to the logic of myth and divine lineage, Su Mo could easily reclaim what was originally his. And just as he finished speaking, the brilliant lightning dancing around his arm vanished completely. On the divine wheel behind Su Mo—Verethragna's sigil—another symbol appeared. Without a scratch on him, Su Mo casually waved his hand. A golden spear materialized in his palm. It was Vasavi Shakti—the very same god-slaying spear Karna had used moments ago. Only now, its ownership had changed.