Chapter 22: What's Wrong with My Body?
"The experience of a predecessor?"
The playful smile that had always lingered on Voban's face vanished, replaced by a deeply astonished expression.
He stood frozen for a good while before his expression returned to normal. Shaking his head, he said, "That doesn't really have any reference value."
Before he even finished speaking, a gray shadow leapt out from beside his feet.
It was a giant wolf the size of a horse, but its body was not at all bulky—extremely agile—and it immediately pounced toward Hikigaya upon appearing.
However, Hikigaya acted as though he didn't see it at all, still sitting in his chair, motionless.
"Bang!"
The giant wolf vanished with a dull thud, as if it had never existed, though a faint smell of rot lingered in the air.
"As expected, you've also obtained authority from Osiris." Voban's face remained unchanged, showing no hint of embarrassment for attacking suddenly. "But as you can see, we each have our own style. There's no reference point between us—just like killing the same god may still yield different authorities."
"You've misunderstood, I was only asking about your life experience as a god slayer," Hikigaya replied.
He didn't feel offended by Voban's probe—in fact, without this little test, he would have been more worried.
The Marquis Voban depicted in the anime was clearly someone who believed in power above all. If he didn't act this way, it would imply a personality different from the one shown in the anime.
As long as the personalities matched, it wasn't a bad thing.
"Feelings, huh…" Voban rubbed his chin, his expression turning a bit odd. "This is the first time someone's asked me something like that… But you, kid, you've got a big problem, don't you know?"
"My problem?" Hikigaya was stunned.
He honestly didn't know what problem he had, but Voban didn't seem like someone bored enough to mock him for no reason.
"Seems like you don't know. It's been a long time since I've seen something like this," Voban grinned. "Kid, your body contains divine power."
Divine power? What does that mean?
He had indeed sometimes felt a divine-like energy in his body, but wasn't it normal for a god-slayer to have some divinity? After all, the ritual was supposed to use divine power to gradually reshape a human's essence into a god-like form.
"Shouldn't I have it?" Hikigaya asked curiously. "Isn't authority derived from divine power?"
"Don't get it twisted. Authority is not divine power." Voban showed a look of contempt. "Divine power is just the raw material. The authority formed from it is our own ability, powered by our own magic."
What?!
So authority isn't actually divine power? Or rather, the concept of authority doesn't even exist for gods?
Hikigaya felt like his brain was scrambled.
"Then what about the divine power?"
"Obviously, it must have invaded during the ritual. It's nothing strange—these gods, after all this time, must have found ways to exploit parts of the ritual too."
Voban chuckled, seemingly very pleased to see Hikigaya struggling with the realization.
"When I killed Osiris, the same thing happened. That kind of power will transform one of your original authorities into something seemingly more convenient. But when you meet again, that power will likely be the opponent's trump card."
He smacked his lips, looking nostalgic.
"Actually, the effect is quite good. The divine power in your body bears Osiris's mark—likely his doing—but it's not his power. It was probably prepared for another god."
Hearing this, Hikigaya frowned.
Several names flashed through his mind before he settled on one:
Horus.
In the battle against Set, he had received the blessing of Horus's power. Aside from that time, he'd never come into such close contact with a god's power.
So that distorted authority must be the "Set Beast" he plundered from Set. No wonder it had undergone changes—it wasn't stable like the other two authorities he gained later, which had been clear from the start.
He would never think of "keeping it around to use for a while." This was an enemy's backdoor, after all.
Who knows when Horus might just pull an Osiris and come for him?
"Then how do I get rid of it?" Hikigaya asked.
He saw no shame in asking questions when he didn't understand.
And since Voban was willing to talk, he probably wouldn't mind offering a solution as well.
"That's up to you. I used Apollo's power to remove it. If you have power that can deal with light, that should work too. But why not keep it? Maybe your original authority isn't as handy as this one."
Light? Well, that's perfect—he just happened to have gotten one.
"Oh, you have such authority?" Seeing the look of relief on Hikigaya's face, Voban was surprised. "How many times have you fought gods now?"
When he saw Hikigaya hold up three fingers, his expression instantly became colorful.
"Is it something about this land…?"
Voban suddenly had the idea of settling down permanently in this country.
He currently roamed the world. Why? To fight gods, of course!
A few years ago, he'd finally managed to summon one, only to have it stolen by the guy next door—it had pissed him off something fierce.
And now this young fellow, not even a god-slayer for half a year, had already fought three!
He couldn't say he was jealous, but he was definitely envious. In his 300 years, Voban had never fought two gods in the same place.
"Forget it… since you don't want to keep it, just deal with it." After a pause, Voban's posture relaxed again. "If you don't mind, let me see your authority? It's very rare for me to have such a peaceful interaction with a fellow god-slayer. I think we could chat much longer."
"As you wish." Hikigaya nodded, then began activating his third authority obtained from Kuafu.
He really wasn't worried about Voban trying anything now.
For Voban, it wouldn't be worth it.
The light around began gathering toward Hikigaya.
Speaking of which—Osiris, Kuafu—none of the authorities he obtained seemed to be straightforward, skill-based types. It was really annoying. While the potential for expansion was big… how long would it take!?
Still, it should be more than enough to expel the divine power Horus left behind in his body.
As the authority activated, Hikigaya gradually began to see.
The inside of his body.
Light and darkness were always intertwined—this was true of the world, and equally true of the human body, divided into regions of light and darkness.
The source of life was contained in light. In reverse, the parts containing the power of life's essence were those belonging to the light.
In Hikigaya's "vision," he could clearly see that most of the "regions" inside his body were dim, with only a small portion filled with light—his life's light.
Now, what he had to do was draw light from the surroundings, illuminate the dark parts of his body, strengthen the essence of life, and purge all the evil and murk that didn't belong to his body.
Even if that power belonged to a god!