"The divine power cost is down a lot... but I still have no clue how to tap into the four fundamental forces."
Souta recalled what the system said about the forces of nature.
If the Authority of Matter really covered that, then his offensive capabilities would skyrocket.
"Whatever, I probably need to fully develop the authority first to start exploring that. No point thinking too far ahead."
Clenching his fist, he cleared his mind and glanced down at the city.
After a moment of thought, he decided not to throw the steamroller and instead uploaded it to the store. No one in the group questioned him this time—guess they were used to his antics.
Souta teleported back to his apartment.
He was thrilled with how much he'd gained from the support function.
Now he was curious—how much divine power would it take to fully develop the Authority of Matter in his current state?
He tossed the question to the system and quickly got a response.
[With your current comprehension, if the faith of the Akame world's cult spreads globally, and you gather belief for two years, you can complete the Authority of Matter.]
"Oh? That much of a reduction?"
The support function really worked wonders.
"The cult in the Akame world will spread eventually anyway. Still... two years of buildup is a bit long."
"But if I add in Altair's 'Birdcage Plan,' Shinobu's 'Crab,' and then make a sweep in the Date A Live world, I could cut that time down drastically."
"Plus, once I fix Athena's flaw, she'll pay me in points—I can use those to strengthen myself more."
Souta mentally crunched the numbers.
Thinking it through, his first authority was already within reach.
He couldn't help getting excited.
This might be the threshold for reaching Godhood Level 6—the start of a true god's power.
Once he broke through, his divine power would surge in both quality and quantity.
And with the Authority of Matter increasing his divine power income, his next authority would be far easier.
"Matter, time, space... Maybe I really can create a The World Authority."
The thought thrilled him.
If he could gather the forces needed to construct a world and fuse them together, he might one day passively generate infinite divine power—or even control all source power directly.
A grin tugged at his lips as his imagination ran wild.
Just then, the system phone buzzed, interrupting him.
He checked—it was a group chat notification.
Athena: "@Souta. I've sensed the presence of another Heretic God."
Souta: "Already? Is it Verethragna?"
Athena: "I can't say for sure, but the presence is near Naples. I plan to investigate."
Souta: "If it's now, it's likely Verethragna or Melqart. Just be careful not to engage them."
Athena: "Relax. Since you've claimed them as targets, I won't interfere. I'm not that rude."
(So if I hadn't said anything, you would have jumped in for the kill, huh?)
Then again, Athena is a war goddess... Maybe she's a battle junkie at heart?
Souta: "@Shiroyasha. Are you free now? I'm heading your way."
Shiroyasha: "Hold up, I just finished work and haven't returned yet."
Shiroyasha: "Give me a sec—I'll go to the 7th Floor and call Black Rabbit too."
Souta: "No problem. Just let me know."
Souta: "@Nezuko. Get ready. Once I've got the divine weapon, I'll pick you up."
Nezuko: "I'm at Master Urokodaki's place. You can come straight here."
Altair: "If only we had video chat—I'd love to see a god-slaying in action."
Chelsea: "Same here! That would be epic!"
Souta: "It's not that exciting, honestly. You just whack them with a divine weapon. One hit KO, usually."
Altair: "Seriously? But aren't Heretic Gods super strong? What weapon could end a god in one hit?"
Souta: "Spear of Indra. Once it hits, it calculates the exact amount of energy needed to defeat the target and releases that energy in divine lightning."
Souta: "If the target's just a person, it might fire a bolt or two. But if it targets a planet? It could unleash world-ending force. It's a one-shot victory weapon. If one hit isn't enough, the weapon's useless."
Rin: "Wait—there's a weapon that busted?! That's so broken! Are there no limits!?"
Altair: "Yeah, can it just... infinitely generate energy?"
Souta: "Not sure. But probably not. If it could, by the laws of mass-energy conversion, it'd be on par with Shiroyasha's level."
Shiroyasha: "Hey! Watch it, kid. Spear of Indra is powerful, sure—but don't compare it to me. Even the Another Cosmology have limits. , so how could a weapon below that even compare to me?"
Souta wasn't surprised. Even if the Another Cosmology were top-tier in Little Garden, they weren't invincible.
After all, the World Dragon Kurma had once acknowledged that the fusion of the Three Sovereigns—Heaven, Earth, and Man—possesses an essence that exceeds the capacity of Another Cosmology.
From this perspective, Black Rabbit's spear definitely has its limits.
But it was still more than enough to take down a Heretic God.
Souta: "Come on, Shiroyasha. Quit chatting and get back already. I'm waiting here."
Shiroyasha: "What's the rush? We've got plenty of time."
Souta: "Time flows differently between worlds. If we miss Verethragna's arrival, this whole plan goes down the drain."
Souta: "@Athena. By the way, chat syncs our time flows. Mind staying in the chat so we stay aligned?"
Athena: "You can do that? Interesting. Very well, I'll stay connected."
From there, they descended into meaningless small talk.
Eventually, when they had nothing left to say, they just kept pinging each other back and forth.
The rest of the group chat went eerily silent—probably facepalming in disbelief.
Souta thought, Man, if only the system had emotes or memes... I'd just spam reaction pics right now.
After about half an hour, Shiroyasha finally gave the green light.
Souta breathed a sigh of relief.
Souta: "System, take me to Little Garden."
Without delay, he activated the transfer.