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Chapter 204: The Leader's Crushed Dignity
🕑 Added 2025-05-09 06:01:13 +0000 UTC
“Liliana…?”
Hearing Liliana address Blake as “Lord Blake,” Erica froze in place, looking at her friend with shock and confusion.
Such a title wasn’t something to be used lightly, especially not by someone like Liliana.
“Liliana, it’s fine. I don’t take it seriously,” Blake said with a light smile, gently patting her head and speaking in a warm voice.
“Thank you for your magnanimity, Lord Blake,” Liliana responded, relief evident in her tone.
Hearing this, Liliana couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She then glared discontentedly at Erica, who was staring at her oddly, her expression full of dissatisfaction.
“Erica Blandelli, let’s drop the challenge. If you want me to guide your swordsmanship, though, that’s not a problem.”
Subsequently, Blake looked at Erica indifferently as he spoke.
Hearing this, Liliana’s expression changed again, showing envy. Diana, too, displayed a slight trace of jealousy.
Paolo, who was her old rival, and Erica, Liliana’s competitor—if Blake were to guide Erica, it would certainly add more pressure on Liliana. This would make their Bronze Black Cross appear weaker compared to the Copper Black Cross.
As for Paolo and Doni, they seemed surprised. They hadn’t expected Blake to reply this way.
Whatever the others were thinking, Blake had no idea. If he knew, he’d probably smile wryly. He wasn’t favoring anyone; he was just acting on a whim.
“Guide me…”
Erica looked at Blake in astonishment, her confident eyes trembling slightly with uncertainty.
Even though she was still young, she believed that not just anyone could guide her. In her view, even within the Copper Black Cross, only her admired uncle, Paolo, was qualified to do so.
“That’s enough. It’s time to start the meeting.”
Seeing Erica’s slightly unconvinced demeanor, Blake said nothing further, merely glancing at the figures outside the door, whose imposing appearances clearly indicated years of holding high positions, and speaking with a calm demeanor.
To Blake, Erica was just an unyielding young girl for now, not worth taking seriously.
“Haha, true. It’s about time to begin.”
Hearing this, Doni laughed and agreed. He hadn’t forgotten the purpose of this gathering. For him, everything else was secondary.
“Erica, calm yourself,” Paolo said, shaking his head and sighing helplessly. Erica was usually a mature individual, but this time, she seemed to have been provoked. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have brought her along to witness this event.
Seeing that everyone believed she was in the wrong, Erica felt indignant but could only remain silent and follow behind Paolo.
Soon after, as Doni, Blake, Diana, Paolo, and others took their seats, the leaders of the other factions entered one by one, displaying great decorum and respectfully greeting Doni.
Before long, the grand and luxurious conference room was filled with people, all leaders of major factions and influential figures in their own right. Liliana and Erica, however, were not yet qualified to sit in such a setting and could only stand behind Diana and Paolo, respectively.
Of course, even while standing, Erica’s gaze remained fixed on Blake.
As for the other faction leaders, most of their attention was also focused on Blake.
The overly young Blake was an unfamiliar presence to them. His place at the table left them puzzled, and the fact that Diana had respectfully cautioned them to be mindful further shocked them.
After all, the only individuals they respected were the few among humanity’s elite and the transcendent god-slaying kings!
“Well then, since everyone is here, let’s cut to the chase,” Doni said, scanning the room filled with faction leaders.
“My goal is simple: I need you all to give your full effort in searching for traces of Heretic gods.”
The atmosphere in the conference room instantly froze at Doni’s words. The expressions of the faction leaders stiffened, each feeling the weight of an unreasonable demand.
As expected, nothing good ever came from the summons of a god-slaying king. The same had been true with Marquis Voban…
“This is rather difficult,” Paolo remarked with a troubled expression.
“Surely Lord Salvatore understands that while gods have left many traces in this world, Heretic gods do not appear on command. Unless, of course, you have a way to summon them yourself?”
“Well, I do know the method used by old Marquis Voban,” Doni said, casually waving his hand. “But he’s already driven the world’s top shrine maidens to mental collapse. I don’t have another method, which is why I’m relying on you.”
Hearing this, the leaders’ faces darkened, and some looked visibly upset. The method used by Marquis Voban was clearly extreme. Some of their own shrine maidens had been taken, yet they could do nothing but hand them over in frustration.
What’s worse, they had learned that except for Liliana here and a shrine maiden from Japan, the others had either died or gone insane!
It was as if their very souls had been torn apart.
“In any case, I want you all to gather information about the gods. If you find anything, notify me immediately. And don’t bother with any weak gods that can’t even withstand a single sword from me—I’m only interested in god kings or primary gods.”
Doni’s indifference left the faction leaders silent, unable to voice their complaints.
Gods varied in strength.
The Heretic gods that appeared in the mortal world also ranged from weak to strong.
Powerful Heretic gods could easily sink entire islands and cause disasters akin to natural calamities. For example, famous solar deities could bring devastating heat to the land simply by manifesting.
The god kings and primary gods Doni referred to were precisely this category of beings—the pinnacle of divine power.
Weaker Heretic gods, on the other hand, might not even survive a single strike from Doni.
Of course, this was only relative to god-slaying kings.
To humans, even the weaker Heretic gods were formidable. Humanity could at most hope to seal them away rather than confront them head-on.
This was precisely why becoming a Campione wasn’t an easy feat.
God-slaying was beyond the capabilities of ordinary humans, and even the most elite magicians couldn’t achieve it.
Those who became Campione's did so purely by chance.
It required an unimaginable stroke of luck, involving the convergence of three or four extraordinary coincidences.
In other words, becoming a Campione was as improbable as a beggar becoming the ruler of the entire world.
Regardless, gods and Champione were not welcomed in the mortal world.
Beings of such immense and uncontrollable power inevitably brought fear and chaos.
As demonstrated now, Doni’s demand for the search for gods left the gathered leaders feeling helpless, frustrated, and gloomy.
Comments
Anime fan123456
What I don’t get is why the people of that world think it’s impossible for a human to defeat a campione when campiones are humans who defeated gods in order to get the same powers that they wield
