"There's no need for the witches this time. I already know the identity of the heretic god."
Su Mo shook his head.
The clairvoyant powers of witches were indeed useful—especially for someone like him, who wielded the divine Authority of the War God and bore the golden sword capable of severing divinity itself.
But this time, their assistance wasn't necessary.
His opponent was Melqart—a deity Su Mo was already intimately familiar with. There was no need for visions or prophetic glimpses to recognize him. And more importantly, given his current strength, even if he hadn't known, it wouldn't have made the slightest difference.
"You already know?" Erica was visibly surprised. She recalled how he had instantly identified Verethragna before. Perhaps this king possessed information about these heretic gods that she was unaware of.
"Melqart, King of the Gods… He has deep ties to Sardinia," Su Mo said casually. "Wait here. It's about time I paid him a visit."
And with that, his body dissolved into radiant light and vanished on the spot.
Leaving Erica frozen where she stood, stunned.
This god-slayer… wasn't he a little too free-spirited?
A massive boar—over twenty meters long, with a monstrous face and jagged tusks—burst forth from the marshy ground.
The divine beast snorted and stomped with barely-contained ferocity, muscles coiled with explosive momentum.
"Go," Su Mo commanded.
At once, the divine beast bellowed and surged forward like a natural disaster, crashing into the mountainside ahead with thunderous force.
BOOM!
The wild boar slammed headfirst into a cavern, driving deep into the rock and cleaving the hill clean in half. Along with it, Melqart—who had been resting inside to recuperate—was forcibly dragged out by the sheer impact.
The god, who had been recovering in seclusion, clearly had no idea what had just happened. Having been rudely rammed into the open by a divine beast, Melqart let out an enraged roar.
"Verethragna! You fight without honor!"
Yes, gods employed tactics in battle—but they were usually honorable strategies.
This ambush? It was simply disgraceful. Even if it didn't cause him serious harm, it was humiliating!
He, Melqart, a King of the Gods… the famed Dragon-Slayer… had almost been gored by a pig.
Just as Melqart burned with fury, a stranger's voice echoed across the mountainside.
"If you're looking for that war god of the Zoroastrians, he's already returned to myth."
Melqart turned toward the source of the voice.
Standing atop a nearby peak was a black-haired, black-eyed young man, watching him calmly. And the divine beast that had just attacked him? Clearly acting on his command.
"You… you're using Verethragna's Authority?!"
Melqart looked toward Su Mo, and realization dawned on him at once.
"So that's what this is… a newly emerged god-slayer, huh? Seems that brat of a war god really ran out of luck. To think he'd be brought down by a mere human."
Having been focused entirely on healing, Melqart had been unaware of what had occurred in the outside world. But now, upon seeing Su Mo standing before him—wielding the powers of Verethragna—he understood immediately: the Zoroastrian war god had been defeated.
And more than that, this newborn god-slayer had now turned his attention to him.
Yet even in the face of such revelation, Melqart displayed no fear.
"Hahahaha! So you're the one who happened to gain a fraction of that brat's power? You came after me so soon—eager for your own defeat, are you?"
God-slayers and heretic gods were natural enemies.
Verethragna might not have paid much attention to that truth, but Melqart certainly did. His tone was far from friendly.
Just as he finished his taunt, something seemed to occur to him.
"My battle with that brat Verethragna was never finished… Since he's dead, that means you get to take his place. You'll complete the fight in his stead!"
Melqart's competitive spirit flared. He couldn't accept leaving a fight unfinished.
And if this god-slayer had truly killed Verethragna, then by defeating him, Melqart could still claim victory over the war god—by extension.
Su Mo, of course, welcomed such a challenge.
"Not a problem," he replied with a confident nod. "Authority delivered to my door… there's no reason to turn it down."
At that, Melqart grinned broadly.
"Then let's see if your skills are worthy of that arrogance!"
There was no more talking. Melqart, the King of the Gods of the Mediterranean, wasn't one for empty boasts.
With a surge of divine power, the sky darkened in an instant. Storm clouds gathered, wind howled like wild beasts, and torrents of rain poured down. Then came the lightning—blinding, furious bolts that struck down toward Su Mo like divine judgment.
Melqart's older, truer name was Baal. He was the god of storms, lightning, and the heavens themselves. Worshipped by the Canaanites and Phoenicians—Semitic peoples of the ancient world—he reigned as King of the Gods.
And now, the full fury of the heavens was his to command.
The lightning rained down like the wrath of a god.
But Su Mo met the attack with a now-familiar technique.
From both of his hands, a radiant magical formation bloomed—glowing with fierce brilliance.
"Three Pillars of God."
Backed by the god-slayer's mana—vast and overwhelming, surpassing even the ley lines of the earth itself—the defensive spell was enhanced to over ten times its usual potency.
Not even the most devastating lightning could pierce it. For the moment, Su Mo stood unscathed within the glowing formation.
But now, standing in its center, Su Mo prepared to attempt a technique he had long been considering…