(I’ve been going to the gym every day lately, it’s so tiring.)
Roy, clad in the red robes of a Cardinal, stood in the Vatican Palace, holding a file about the "Seven Sisters Magic Alliance" of Italy.
The Vatican Palace was originally the residence of the Pope, but after Roy ascended to the position of "Holy Son" of the Cross Church, it became his residence.
The Sistine Chapel, with its ceilings and walls adorned with Michelangelo's famous frescoes "The Creation" and "The Last Judgment", which took four years to paint, exuded a sacred aura in the grand hall filled with works by renowned artists.
"Seven Sisters… Isn't that the name for the seven strongest teams in Italy's golden age of football, the so-called "Small World Cup"? Come to think of it, I don't remember much about the content of the "God-Slayer" series, and I didn't even finish it. But I just can't help but rant about this.
Roy silently grumbled to himself. His current body was only sixteen years old, and in the sixteen years he'd lived in the Toaru universe, his memories of his life before being transported here had become hazy and blurry.
"The Copper Black Cross is AC Milan, the Bronze Black Cross is Inter Milan, the Old Lady is Juventus, the City of Lilies is Florence, the She-Wolf is Roma, the Blue Eagle is Lazio…"
Roy chuckled, setting the file down and falling into contemplation. Although there were some discrepancies between these seven magic alliances and his memories, he found it intriguing. Yet, these seven magic alliances were undeniably the strongest forces in Italy’s mystical realm.
"Aiwass, how are your analyses of Pandora's Dark Rite and the Un-God going?
Standing beneath the famous painting "The Last Judgment", Roy's back was illuminated by the radiant figure of Aiwass as he began.
"I've reached conclusions about the existence and origin of the Un-God. Humans, driven by fear and faith in the unknown, created the concept of deities, weaving myths to assign them their roles. Under certain special "magic" conditions, a handful of these deity concepts broke free from the myths and became Un-Gods on Earth."
"…Un-Gods are more like incarnations of deities, existing due to their 'core.' Pandora's Dark Rite is a process that merges this 'core' with a human, granting them the abilities of a deity. God-Slayers can be accurately called "Mimic Deities."
Aiwass calmly explained his research on the relationship between Un-Gods and God-Slayers.
"In other words, Un-Gods are essentially like Heroic Spirits, only the incarnations of deities are far stronger than the humans who ascend to become Heroic Spirits due to their glorious deeds. The conceptual information of deities exists within myths. The descent of Un-Gods is the process of using this information, in conjunction with the world's rules and magic, to become a physical entity that appears in the world."
Roy lightly nodded his head, gaining a full understanding of the existence of Un-Gods. This was very similar to the Heroic Spirit concept in the "Fate" game he played in the past, except that the Heroic Spirits' information was stored on their "Throne" while the information of deities resided in myths.
They both descended as incarnations, their cores were "Soul Bases." Normally, whether it be Heroic Spirits or the incarnations of Un-Gods, they would disappear and return when they were defeated. However, Pandora's Dark Rite involves leaving the Un-God's Soul Base behind, merging it with a human, and thus giving birth to a God-Slayer.
In the world of God-Slayers, there are no true deities. They are merely conceptual information, elevated by human faith, that exists in myths. When these concepts become aware and descend to Earth, they become Un-Gods. When they don't descend to Earth, they remain deities bound by myth. It's a paradox. Deities can never appear before mortals. Only Un-Gods can appear before mortals.
"Therefore, it's actually not that difficult to completely eliminate deities. Because deities exist due to the myths woven by humans. We must understand the cause and effect, the sequence of events. Myths come first, then deities. Deities don’t come first, then myths. If we eliminate humanity or exterminate human history, deities will naturally disappear."
(Note: This is a quote from the original God-Slayer series. To completely make deities disappear, humans must disappear.)
This information was very important to Roy. He wouldn’t simply focus on killing Un-Gods to gain power, but would delve into the more fundamental aspects.
Roy's goal was to "raise a rebellious sword against his magnificent father". With the so-called "God-Slayer" power he currently possessed, it was laughable in front of Aleister Crowley, like a child's toy.
Therefore, Roy had to turn these toys into real weapons.
"Aiwass, what are your thoughts on the flaws of God-Slayers?"
Roy asked again.
Although God-Slayers allow mortals to ascend to great heights, bypassing countless years of effort to achieve greatness, the ceiling of a God-Slayer is incredibly low.
No matter how many Un-Gods you kill, the amount of magical energy you possess remains the same. It won't accumulate, and your powers won't evolve, they will only change in quantity.
The oldest God-Slayer and the newly born God-Slayer, aside from the difference in the number of powers, only differ in experience. God-Slayers don't become stronger with time. They lose the "infinite possibilities" of the future.
To use an analogy, a God-Slayer is like taking a level one mortal and instantly making them level fifty. But that's the end. Even if you give this God-Slayer a hundred powers, the upper limit of those powers will still be level fifty. It allows you to play in various ways, but in reality, you haven’t become stronger.
This is the huge flaw of Pandora's Dark Rite, as Aiwass said. Apart from the qualitative change brought about by the first God-slaying, no matter how many more gods are slain after that, the God-Slayer can only obtain new powers. In essence, they remain unchanged and can never break through the level fifty limit.
This was not what Roy wanted. If he relied solely on himself, it would be difficult for Roy to break through this God-Slayer constraint in a short period of time. However, he had Aiwass's help. As the "Secret Leader", an existence on par with the rank of a Demon God, Aiwass was far stronger than all the gods in this world combined.
Compared to that mysterious space that allowed him to travel between worlds, Roy believed that Aiwass was actually the biggest "cheat code" that helped him.
"I need to combine the knowledge of this world with my knowledge to improve Pandora's Dark Rite and allow Roy to break through this limit."
Aiwass responded to Roy.
"Okay, I’ll count on you, Aiwass! I will also work hard to absorb knowledge so that your knowledge can be applied."
Roy exhaled softly.
Although he had Aiwass’s help, he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. It was like a primary school student facing a university professor. Even though he didn't need to calculate complex math problems, he just had to write down the formulas as the professor dictated them. But a primary school student wouldn't even recognize basic math symbols, so even if the professor dictated them, he wouldn't be able to write a single word.
Roy was like that primary school student in front of Aiwass. He didn't need to have the same level of knowledge as Aiwass, but at least his knowledge needed to be rich enough to recognize and write down what Aiwass dictated.
‘Turning Un-Gods into material that can allow me to break through the level limit constraint. Isn’t that “Soul Base Reincarnation”? Or, it’s the same as all those mobile games…’
Roy muttered to himself.
"Okay, knowledge needs to be slowly accumulated and things need to be done one at a time. I'm still going to personally see the "Seven Sisters Alliance" of Italy. Those magic alliances are surely hesitating. It’s not that they’re not afraid of God-Slayers and dare to disobey my orders, but the existence of Salvatore. Tony, the "King of Swords", makes them hesitate between two God-Slayers, unable to make a decision.
He lightly snorted, his right hand in his pocket, the Cardinal’s robe swaying. The figure in red left the Sistine Chapel.
"Tell me where the leader of the Seven Sisters Alliance in Italy is. I'm going to meet them!"
In front of the shocked and astonished clergy, Roy said so.
This clergyman never expected that the "King" would actually take action himself!