Sardinia and the surrounding islands form the Autonomous Region of Sardinia.
The capital, Cagliari, is a port city located in the southern part of the island.
This city was originally built by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC.
It was in this port city that Souta, Nezuko, and Athena met up.
Athena was still dressed like a middle school girl in a school uniform.
Her delicate, youthful face, paired with those cold, detached eyes, gave her both a pure innocence and an icy, queenly aloofness—a dangerous mix that almost invited the urge to conquer her.
And with her being a goddess...
If you were to pin her down and go wild, it'd surely feel incredibly satisfying.
"This is Sardinia, huh..."
Souta looked around the town curiously.
Being near the calm Mediterranean Sea, the surroundings were made up of peaceful rural streets.
It wasn't often you saw such ancient roads steeped in history.
At least for someone like him who lived in a big city most of the time, this was something he hadn't seen much of.
Nezuko, who wore a red and white shrine maiden outfit without showing her armpits, was also curiously taking in the scenery.
Even though this town had a nostalgic style, to her, it was a place from the future, and the architecture was different too.
She really wanted to explore a bit.
But since they had business to take care of, she forced herself to suppress her excitement, occasionally sneaking glances at Souta, her eyes sparkling with a child's longing to play.
Even though she had the body of a 14-year-old, mentally, she was only around 12—still a little immature.
"Verethragna is on this island."
Athena looked at Souta and got straight to the point:
"According to your theory, he probably wants to awaken Melqart for a fight."
"Huh? Melqart hasn't descended yet?" Souta was a bit surprised.
"No. I can only sense the presence of one god."
Athena glanced to the south and pointed:
Souta looked in that direction and used his spiritual sense to probe a bit.
A powerful feedback surged back—it was unmistakably Verethragna.
'Melqart hasn't descended... Should we wait for him or not?'
Souta suddenly felt conflicted.
His current goal was the war god Verethragna—he didn't need to become a God Slayer himself.
Given his current status, the Pandora reincarnation ritual probably wouldn't work on him.
After all, who evolves into a lower-level life form?
Besides, he didn't want to be a God Slayer. Without the potential to develop into an authority, the power had little value to him.
So, whether Melqart descended or not didn't really matter to him.
'But... I can't just think about myself. I should ask the others in the group if anyone wants this benefit.'
With that thought, Souta pulled out his phone and posted in the group chat.
Souta: "God Slayer Auction! 500 points. First come, first served."
Tohsaka Rin: "What do you mean?"
Altair: "Don't tell me it's like with Nezuko, where you pay 500 points for the chance to become a God Slayer?"
Souta: "So? Pretty sweet deal, right?"
Shiroyasha: "I don't need it."
Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade: "Nor do I."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "I probably don't need it either."
Illya: "Aw, too bad, I don't have enough points..."
Chelsea: "Um, is it free by any chance?"
Souta: "Chelsea, what do you think?"
Chelsea: "If it's not free, why not just DM Tohsaka Rin and Altair directly? Ugh, making me drool like that, you're so mean!"
Tohsaka Rin: "Thinking about it carefully... becoming a God Slayer doesn't seem all that valuable. I think I'll pass."
Tohsaka Rin: "I'll go with magic instead."
Altair: "Not valuable? Why? I still want to try."
Tohsaka Rin: "Think about it. God Slayer powers run on magical energy. Even if we become God Slayers, once we leave that world and run out of magical energy, we won't be able to replenish it. The powers would be useless then."
Altair: "Magical energy, huh... I didn't consider the issue of power replenishment."
Altair: "True, if we have to run back to the God Slayer world every time we run dry, it's too much trouble. We wouldn't be able to handle emergencies either. Thinking it over... I'll pass too."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "@Souta. Aww, how sad~ No one wants your offer, huh?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "If you're short on points, just say so. I'll transfer all my leftovers to you."
Souta: "That's too unfair to you. Forget it."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Geez, why are you so uptight about everything?"
Tohsaka Rin: "Wait a sec. I was thinking... even though replenishing energy is troublesome, if you take that flaw away, the God Slayer powers are still pretty strong."
Tohsaka Rin: "@Souta. I'll give it a try. I'll transfer you the points."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "..."
Souta: "Forget it, Rin. I really didn't consider the magical energy issue earlier. Since that flaw exists, don't waste your points. You'd be better off choosing Saber's dragon core instead."
Altair: "Looks like when it comes to power systems, it's more reliable to stick to ones from our own worlds."
Souta: "Actually, there are some versatile power systems, but we just haven't encountered them yet."
Souta: "Like Explosion Magic, Magnet Release, stuff like that."
Altair: "How do you get those?"
Souta: "Spend a traversal card. Go to the relevant world and you can acquire them. But those worlds are really dangerous, so let's not think about that for now."
Souta: "Anyway, enough talk. I'm going to help Nezuko complete her god-slaying quest."
Souta put away his phone and let out a small sigh.
At that moment, Nezuko tugged on his sleeve and whispered:
"Lord God... um... I don't mind. As long as I can defeat Muzan Kibutsuji, it's fine. I don't need perfect power."
"No. Since you paid the points, I have to deliver proper service."
Souta patted her head and smiled:
"Don't worry. My divine power can be converted into any form of energy. Once my church spreads in your world and you become my shrine maiden, I'll grant you permission to use my power. By then, you won't need to run back and forth to replenish magical energy."
Souta had a feeling that once his divine rank advanced to a minor deity, he'd be able to permanently grant others access to his power.
Basically like granting divine spells to believers.
That's standard for D&D gods—surely he wouldn't be the only one without it?
So solving the energy problem was actually pretty easy.
He just needed to split off part of his divine realm and leave it in the Demon Slayer world.
Believers offer faith → divine realm converts faith into divine power → Nezuko uses her granted access to convert it into spell energy. No need to return to the Campione world to recharge.
'Still... that plan to give everyone in the group a God Slayer identity seems kind of pointless now.'
Souta felt a little disappointed.
He had actually planned to snatch Pandora's divine tool.
This world—the mortal realm—is considered the "Realm of the Living" by the gods.
The divine realm where true gods reside is the "Realm of Immortality."
And the Netherworld in between is called the "Boundary of Life and Immortality."
Pandora, as a true god, resides in the Realm of Immortality.
If Souta were to use divine power to force a cross-dimensional jump to her, it would consume a lot of energy.
Plus, he wasn't sure if he'd be ganged up on by a bunch of real gods once he got there.
So he planned to lure Pandora out instead—through baiting.
Let Nezuko become a God Slayer.
Then take her wandering through the Netherworld.
Pandora, being a true god, can't descend into the mortal world, but she can enter the Netherworld.
And she often visits the "children" who reside there.
At that time, she'd probably come see Nezuko.
Once she appeared, Souta was confident he could snatch the Circle of Usurpation.
Then he could use that tool to help weaker group members reincarnate as God Slayers—and make a little extra on the side.
But unfortunately, after Rin pointed out the flaws, Souta's enthusiasm took a hit.
A system where you can't easily replenish energy... that kind of shortcoming is just too obvious.