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

Facing a foe of god-slayer caliber, even a divine warrior like Siegfried wouldn't dare let his guard down. Since Su Mo craved a battle, then a battle he would get. With this in mind, Siegfried released the reins of his steed.

"Hnnnrrrrhh!"

His mount, Grani, a descendant of the sky horse Sleipnir, looked surprisingly ordinary. No eight legs, no flames of divine sunfire like Su Mo's white horse form. But it was still a divine beast.

Mounted atop the god-beast, Siegfried charged toward Su Mo with dignified ferocity. Lightning crackled from Grani's nostrils, and thunder rolled beneath its hooves. While not fast enough to be called divine-speed, it still broke multiple times the speed of sound.

Facing this thunderous assault, Su Mo didn't hesitate. He responded with his own divine beast.

"O beast of sharp tusk, that which none may approach—heed my command and crush the foe with the hammer of ruin!"

From the ground erupted a monstrous divine boar—massive, powerful, and brimming with destructive force. With overwhelming bulk and even more terrifying speed, the divine boar tore across the battlefield toward Siegfried.

In sheer physical power, the boar's destructive potential was nearly unimaginable. If it had been Sleipnir himself, the true steed of Odin and child of Loki, perhaps there could have been a contest. But Grani, despite growing stronger under its master's command, was still lacking.

BOOM!

The divine boar's sudden charge was terrifying. Grani had no time to dodge and was instantly sent flying. At the same time, the beast opened its enormous maw—its jet-black tusks gleamed with deadly light. From its jaws, a devastating shockwave began to gather.

Then—

ROOOOAAAR!

Like a beam cannon, the blast slammed into the airborne Grani and tore it apart midair. The clash of divine beasts ended with Su Mo gaining the upper hand. However, Siegfried himself remained unharmed. In the instant before impact, he had leapt from Grani's back and rolled to safety—disappearing from Su Mo's line of sight.

In the Nibelungenlied, Siegfried obtained not only the magical sword Balmung, but also a cloak of invisibility in his final adventure. And now, using the chaos of the divine clash, he had vanished.

Even on the beach, where every step should have left a trace, he moved with such perfect footwork and balance that not even a footprint remained. Just by sight alone, it was nearly impossible to locate him.

But "nearly" impossible wasn't enough to fool Su Mo. He activated Observation Haki—his Kenbunshoku Haki from the world of One Piece. Even with his eyes closed, Su Mo could sense the movements of those around him. No matter how masterful Siegfried's movements, no matter how silently he crept—his presence was like a beacon to Su Mo now.

Still, Su Mo didn't launch a direct attack. Instead, he calmly stabbed his ordinary longsword into the ground. Golden light shimmered in his palm—the manifestation of Verethragna's warrior form. But this time, instead of forming a golden sword as he usually did, Su Mo chose a different weapon.

Though both he and Verethragna preferred sword forms, the golden energy summoned by this divine embodiment could be shaped into anything. Chains. Shields. In the original legend, all were possible. And now, Su Mo forged it into a longbow.

Though the bow had no anti-god enforcement from the Word of Power, that didn't matter. What mattered was the motion itself. Su Mo nocked a golden arrow and let it fly into the sky. Then he recited the Word of Power:

"O sun rising in the East—become light, become arrow, and smite my foes!"

It was the very same technique once wielded by the heretic god Perseus. While not powerful enough for one-on-one battles, it was devastating against groups. And most importantly—it was a wide-area bombardment.

As the golden arrow soared into the heavens…

The golden arrow split apart mid-air, scattering into thousands of radiant beams. Each one was infused with the solar blaze of the rising sun, blanketing the entire area around Su Mo in a sea of light. Only a few meters surrounding Su Mo himself were left untouched—his designated safe zone.

The fire of the sun was the natural enemy of steel. Even a steel-bodied hero like Siegfried couldn't take it head-on. But the first to suffer wasn't Siegfried. It was Doni, who was caught in the crossfire.

"Hey, hey! Bro! Why are you attacking your own teammate!?"

Dodging through the barrage of flaming arrows in a panic, Doni was already scorched in multiple places by the solar arrows, having no sword on hand to defend himself. Though his [Man of Steel] protected him for the moment, there was only so much damage he could take.

Technically, Doni could use his Authority to turn even light or wind into magical swords, but he clearly preferred physical weapons. After finally finding a wooden stick, he hastily transformed it into a silver sword and started slicing the flaming arrows out of the air with practiced swordsmanship. Since it was purely for self-defense, invoking his Authority here didn't violate the god-slayer contract.

Even so, his reserves of magical power were already low, and blocking the remaining barrage would take considerable effort. Taking down a rogue god at this point was completely out of the question.

Realizing that Su Mo had no intention of calling off the attack, Doni immediately bolted out of the arrow storm's range. He had no desire to die from friendly fire during someone else's divine battle—it would be too embarrassing.

Back at the battlefield, Siegfried's figure reappeared under the burning light of the solar arrows. His warrior's skill was enough to deflect the attacks, but doing so meant remaining in one place—and standing still would only bring more fire down upon him.

That left him with two choices: retreat beyond the range of the light barrage or push forward into Su Mo's safe zone where no arrows fell. As a warrior who had descended in response to a challenge, retreat was never an option. Siegfried charged forward.

Charging straight through the blaze, he had no hope of remaining undetected. Su Mo's golden longbow instantly transformed into a gleaming sword as he met the attack head-on.

Clang!

The golden sword clashed against the legendary blade Balmung. With the arrow storm still raging outside, Siegfried had no room to maneuver. He could only engage Su Mo in direct combat.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Blades collided in a storm of steel, their strikes as fierce and relentless as a hurricane. As expected of a dragon-slaying hero, Siegfried's martial skill was formidable—but still a step behind Su Mo's.

Even without invoking Word of Power, Su Mo's golden sword had already gained the ability to pierce [Man of Steel] thanks to the Execution of Light ritual. And now, on top of that, he had infused the blade with solar blaze. Overlaying multiple divine forms, the golden blade brimming with solar fire saw its attack power increase exponentially.

Counters were everything. Divine sunlight was the bane of steel. With the dual counters of light and fire, plus Su Mo's superior swordsmanship, it didn't take long for him to cover Siegfried's body in wounds. The lingering solar blaze seared into each cut, burning away at Siegfried's godly immortality. His divine strength began to wane under the unrelenting assault.

And when Su Mo sensed his foe faltering, he recited another Word of Power to amplify his attack. "Virtuous thoughts, words, and deeds—blessed by sunlight, sharp as blades!"

With a step using Ground Shrink, he closed the gap in an instant.

Sssshk—!

The golden sword, gleaming like the sun itself, pierced straight through Siegfried's chest—ending the god's resistance for good.

"Farewell." Though Su Mo held no animosity toward Siegfried, the farewell was final.

"A masterful display of skill," Siegfried praised sincerely, then vanished, returning to the realm of myth. When the heretic god disappeared, Su Mo stood still for a moment, waiting. But as expected—there was no summoning. Just as Pandora had said, she was avoiding him for a few days.

Still, the Authority granted from defeating Siegfried was now his. Just as he had hoped, Su Mo had finally acquired a true defensive Authority. But, as with the power obtained from Dionysus, the version of [Man of Steel] he received was slightly different from Doni's.

Doni's Authority granted steel to himself—enhancing his defense, weight, and durability. But Su Mo's version included all of that and more. He could also bestow [Man of Steel] onto objects and even other living beings. Functionally, it resembled Armament Haki—he could reinforce his weapons or anything else by granting them the divine concept of invincible steel.

In short, Su Mo's version had much more flexibility than Doni's.

"This is probably due to differences in the god-slayer's personality," Su Mo murmured.

Indeed, every god-slayer used their Authority differently than the heretic god they defeated. Even if two people killed the same god and received the same Authority, the way they wielded it would differ. And so, each god-slayer's power took on a different form.