After obtaining the spear from Black Rabbit, Souta returned to his world.
He didn't immediately go to pick up Nezuko but instead used his mental power to scan the surroundings, looking for signs of life from insects or rats.
He was preparing to test the performance of the golden spear in his hand.
Although the "Spear of Indra" could only be used once in a grant game, there were no such restrictions for normal combat.
In the second volume of the "Mondaji" series, Izayoi used it to fight against Axe-wielding Rama without encountering any usage restrictions.
If there was one limitation, it was probably that it couldn't be used in at the same time with the Sun Armor.
Soon, Souta found a cockroach in someone else's house.
He used divine power to move the cockroach into the air, then teleported himself and aimed the three-pronged golden spear at the cockroach.
In that instant, he felt his consciousness connect with the spear's spiritual form and drew out its divine blessing.
The spear tip emitted a golden arc of lightning that flickered and disappeared.
A wave of heat immediately exploded.
The divine thunder from the gods directly broke down the cockroach into atomic particles.
"The effect is as expected, but..."
Souta looked at the exploded air and noticed what could be considered a flaw in the spear.
That is, if used at close range, it would damage the enemy by a thousand but harm the user by eight hundred.
"Without Black Rabbit's perks, it's really hard to control."
This divine spear wasn't simple enough to be wielded just by summoning it.
Souta couldn't control its output.
The power used to kill the cockroach earlier was entirely controlled by the spear itself.
Moreover, most critically, the direction of the divine thunder energy's release was uncontrollable.
In other words, it couldn't be used at close range.
Without the heat resistance gift, using it close up would dissolve the user while killing the enemy. It seems outsiders can't truly use it.
Souta remembered that in the second "Mondaji" volume, Black Rabbit had split her spiritual form into a loli rabbit and imbued the spear with her spiritual power to give Izayoi control over the spear's output.
Even then, Izayoi still couldn't precisely control the direction of the thunder energy. In the battle against Axe-wielding Rama, he even burned himself.
"It looks like it can only be used as a thrown weapon. I'll need to let Nezuko know about this."
Souta began thinking of a strategy to defeat Verethragna.
That war god had the authority of "Raptor" move at god-speed, possibly due to raptors being seen as the swiftest animals on the planet.
If the divine spear was thrown, to prevent Verethragna from dodging it with his god-speed, it would need a buff of "throw it in such a way that it will hit" to ensure it struck.
With that thought, he immediately used divine power to give the spear a time-acceleration buff.
He himself had time manipulation ability, so it didn't take much energy to do this.
After all, the divine spear wasn't powerful until it hit an enemy and released its energy. Manipulating its time took very little energy.
Once he finished, Souta wore a confident expression:
"It's settled! This will work!"
"But wait... do I really need to plan this thoroughly?"
Souta suddenly thought of something after returning to his rented apartment.
In the original "Campione" work, Godou Kusanagi's god-slaying process has two versions: one in the novel and one in the anime.
In the novel, Verethragna died from a White Stallion strike released by the "Prometheus' Grimoire."
In the anime, Verethragna withstood the White Stallion and was then killed by the "Golden Sword."
In both versions, the Verethragna could easily dodge with the "raptor" god-speed ability.
Especially in the anime version, it was even dumber.
The Verethragna didn't dodge the white horse, taking it head-on. This could be explained as the Verethragna enjoying face-to-face combat, or out of pride, refusing to avoid human attacks.
But after Godou Kusanagi stole the "Warrior" using the "Prometheus' Grimoire," the god just stood there, stupidly watching Kusanagi and Erica kiss and talk about his mythology... that was a bit unbelievable.
Even the "Warrior" could be avoided with "Raptor" speed.
The sword wouldn't even hit, rendering it useless.
How could the god be slain?
"The Verethragna seems pretty dumb. Maybe I've been overthinking the details of the plan?"
Souta suddenly felt that carefully considering every detail of his slaying plan made him look like a fool.
The God Slayer was just lucky, but luck alone didn't lead to a divine intelligence-sapping aura, right?
It must be that the gods themselves were simply stupid!
Yes, that must be it!
So, just charge in with the divine spear. No need for a plan.
"I should go pick up Nezuko."
Souta made up his mind.
He glanced at the Spear of Indra. The golden shaft gave off a cold, divine aura.
"By the way, I really shouldn't let Black Rabbit or Shiroyasha know about me using this spear to kill a cockroach. It could cause some trouble."
Black Rabbit would definitely freak out.
As for Shiroyasha, she might use it to mock Indra, which could lead to friction between him and Indra.
So... this must stay in my belly!
After making up his mind, Souta temporarily stored the Spear of Indra in the system's shop and headed for the "Demon Slayer" world.
In a wooden cabin on the halfway up Mt. Kiri, Souta met the harmonious Nezuko family.
Tanjiro's Nichirin Blade hadn't been delivered yet, so they had been spending time with family and hadn't started the demon-slaying journey.
Souta didn't see Kagaya Ubuyashiki, and after asking, he learned that he had gone to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters to report the situation.
Tanjiro's family warmly treated him with food.
Of course, their hospitality was different from how they treated ordinary people.
Souta felt like they were offering him offerings, rather than just hosting him.
Even during the meal, Tanjiro's younger siblings and some of Kagaya's disciples barely dared to look at him.
Only a few curious and brave ones would steal a glance.
Even Tanjiro's father, upon seeing him, had an expression that was no longer calm.
Souta could clearly feel his emotional fluctuation.
This plant-like man had rarely shown such surprise.
Perhaps it was because his worldview was shattered by the fact that Souta's "Transparent World" ability couldn't see through him.
'Looks like they really treat me as a god.'
Souta felt a little helpless about their distance.
But after half a second of helplessness, he accepted it gladly.
After all, free divine power... isn't it sweet?
Moreover, there's no need to be close with everyone; they're just passing through life.
There was one thing that made him awkward, though—Nezuko's mother had somehow found priestess robes for Nezuko and dressed her in them to serve him.
And she was quite adamant about it.
Souta realized the high status of his divine form in the eyes of mortals. If he refused, it might backfire.
So he didn't oppose it.
After all, "serving" just meant taking care of food and lodging. He wouldn't really do anything to Nezuko, who was dressed as a priestess.
Before leaving, Souta used his evolved material creation ability to manifest a house for Nezuko's family.
After doing this, he took Nezuko and headed for the "Campione" world.
Two minutes later, the two of them met Athena.
PS: Only 1 chap for today, sorry... Weekend Vacation.