Everything is Anime! Chapter 93: The Fool (Patreon)

“Hm?”

Melqart didn’t understand.

If someone who slays gods isn’t a Devil King, what else could he be?

“I’m the center of the world, and the world revolves around me. Gods are nothing more than supporting actors in the story of my life.”

Hikaru’s reply was calm.

“Nonsense! Don’t think that because you slew other gods you can do anything to me, Melqart!”

Two cudgels burst from the thunderclouds—Driver and Chaser, the divine weapons once granted to Melqart by the craftsman‑god Kothar‑wa‑Khasis.

With them he had felled the dragon‑king Yamm and became king of the gods. Now he hurled them at Hikaru with speed rivaling Verethragna’s Phoenix incarnation.

Hikaru’s expression never changed.

Each cudgel whisked past by the narrowest margin; Melqart thought he had him again and again, only to be thwarted every time. Snarling, the god drove the rods even harder—yet force is meaningless if it never lands.

At last—

BOOM!

Both cudgels stabbed straight into the earth, shaking all of Sardinia. Dust cleared, the twin poles jutting skyward like pillars. Hikaru said nothing; reality itself seemed to prove he stood at the world’s axis, destiny bending to him.

Melqart’s frustration mounted. A mere human, showing no reverence for gods—actually claiming to be the world’s center? Even a Campione shouldn’t have such arrogance!

He ripped the cudgels free with a crash.

“So confident in Authorities stolen from other gods? Hear me, little clever thief: before Melqart the King of Gods, every deity is a trifling thing!”

He raised Driver; lightning slammed down, etching filaments of thunder across the crude wood. Dark clouds massed overhead; thunder cracked above Hikaru like impending doom. Melqart, colossal, planted himself on a mountain and smiled.

“Swords, spears, and mighty fists rule the battlefield—not clever words. Allow me to teach your body that truth!”

The storm built; even Hikaru had to respect the power gathering. Which only made the prospect of victory sweeter.

“Heh‑heh, Melqart—looks like even you are struggling with this Campione,” came a taunting laugh. Verethragna, wreathed in golden light, hovered opposite Hikaru, eyes gleaming with mischief. Melqart snorted steam.

“Silence, Protean War‑God! I’ll smash the Devil King first, then ram Chaser and Driver down your throat!”

“If you can,” Verethragna replied. “But right now it seems we are the prey in his hunt.” He’d glimpsed the essence of Hikaru’s shadow Authority and quietly completed a new golden sword keyed to that name.

Hikaru merely stroked Est’s blade, which rang like crystal.

“Come at the same time,” he said.

Just then he caught a figure at the battlefield’s edge: a short, black‑haired boy in a tracksuit, backpack slung over his shoulders, clutching a gray stone tablet—and running toward the fight, not away.

Kusanagi Godou felt an irresistible pull. Terror clawed at him, yet something in his chest drove him forward. The tablet in his arms burned hot even in the cold rain.

The Sardinian witch Lucrezia had told him this slate held Prometheus’s stolen fire. Because of it he could see the divine battle wreaking havoc on the island.

Not knowing what else to do, Godou raised the tablet. Blue flame burst forth, shooting straight at Verethragna as he forged a new golden sword.

“Prometheus’s secret stone, eh?” the War‑God muttered, annoyed—Hikaru was the bigger problem. Still, he couldn’t afford to lose an incarnation now. Instantly he recited a counter‑spell:

“In my name I declare: O wise Prometheus of old, fear me and withdraw! I am he who shatters every obstacle; neither the mighty nor the wicked can overthrow me!”

Hundreds of golden orbs appeared around him, intercepting the azure fire. The flames dimmed, guttered, and died.

Godou gaped, tried to summon the fire again—
“Fool who wields Prometheus’s trick, stay out of my fight with the Devil King!” Verethragna’s voice was ice.

A bolt of lightning crashed down, striking Kusanagi Godou and knocking him unconscious before he could take another step.