Souta: "I know a lot of Athenas, so I can't be sure yet. But the other one, Luo Hao—I know her identity."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Her? Luo Hao is a girl's name?"
Souta: "Her surname is Luo, given name Hao. Her real name is actually quite feminine, but let's not go into that."
Real name "Luo Cuilian" gives Souta vibes of something like "Cuihua, come get your pickles.
Kurumi Tokisaki: "So Luo Hao is also from an anime world like us?"
Souta: "Yes. She's from a series called Campione!. Let me explain the setting a bit."
And so, Souta gave everyone a crash course on the world of Campione—the gods who disobey fate, and the god-slayers.
Shiroyasha: "God Slayer? Humanity's final trial?"
Souta: "Not that exaggerated. It's not the same as the 'God Slayer' from Little Garden—it just shares the same name. Their strength is not even close to mine."
Shiroyasha: "Not even as strong as you? Tsk, I was surprised for nothing."
Souta: "…"
This little loli is getting cocky.
He just casually used himself as a comparison, and this loli took the chance to stomp on him. What's the meaning of this?
Do I not deserve any dignity?!
Rin Tohsaka: "Wait! Killing a Heretic God allows you to steal their Authority and gain magical power hundreds of times stronger than a top mage?"
Rin Tohsaka: "Souta, let's go kill a god!"
Souta: "…"
Souta: "Rin, you haven't even run into any urgent situations where you need to get stronger. Why do you want magic one moment and god-killing the next?"
Rin Tohsaka: "Because you're getting stronger way too fast! At this rate, I'll be left in the dust and won't even see your shadow anymore!"
Souta: "What's so bad about being left behind by me? It's not like I'll bully you."
Rin Tohsaka: "You're such an idiot, Souta!"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "…"
Seeing Kurumi's ellipsis, Souta paused and quickly realized Rin's hidden meaning.
Alright, he was definitely a bit slow earlier—not picking up on it right away.
That damn tsundere Rin!
Seeing the topic veering off into weird territory, Souta quickly messaged the group:
Souta: "Let's drop the god-slaying idea. The divine tool that allows people to reincarnate as God Slayers is in the hands of the goddess Pandora from that world. If your performance during the god-slaying isn't up to her standards, she won't pay attention to you, let alone help you reincarnate."
That said, making Pandora "satisfied" is actually pretty simple.
In the "Campione" world, gods naturally emit a fear-inducing aura.
Ordinary people wouldn't even think of resisting when facing them. Just picking up a weapon takes immense courage.
But those who become God Slayers are different—they dare to face gods directly, and swing weapons under their gaze. They're born warriors.
In short, God Slayers succeed thanks to two things: luck and fearlessness of gods.
Neither can be trained. They're innate. That's why people say: "It's because they're God Slayers that they can slay gods, not that they become God Slayers by slaying gods."
But there's actually a loophole to exploit.
Yup, Souta instinctively started thinking of loopholes again.
For example, he could use divine power to grant Rin Tohsaka a special mental buff that makes her fearless toward gods. Then have her wield a god-slaying weapon—say, asking Shiroyasha to borrow Black Rabbit's Mock Divinity: Vajra in Little Garden. With those two, if she hits a Heretic God while it's ranting dramatically, she could pull off a legit god-slay.
That mirrors the normal god-slaying process perfectly, since Campiones also rely on divine tools to succeed.
Pandora wouldn't be able to tell that Rin is from another world, so in her eyes, Rin would be her new "child."
Then Rin gets the powers of a God Slayer.
And if she didn't—well, then that's just Pandora being biased!
Why can everyone else use divine tools to kill gods, but not Rin?
Tokisaki Kurumi: "So what does it take to satisfy Pandora?"
Souta: "You have to face a god head-on and show courage. Basically, you can't sneak in and kill a weakened god. No letting someone else beat them near-death for you either."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "So many conditions… How do regular people even kill gods?"
Souta: "Luck. God Slayers come with a strong luck aura. Their luck creates the perfect opportunity for slaying gods. All they have to do is seize that chance."
Rin Tohsaka: "Uh, doesn't that shut down any chance of outsiders becoming God Slayers? Luck is too abstract."
Souta: "It's not impossible. You could just use brute strength to kill a god. Like me, for example."
Rin Tohsaka: "Pfft, if you're stronger than a god, why even bother killing one?"
Altair: "Exactly. According to what you said, even if someone kills a god, Pandora might not grant them rebirth as a God Slayer. And if you're already stronger than gods, becoming one serves no purpose."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "So it's a paradox—if you're weak, you can't do it. If you're strong, there's no point."
Souta: "Buy a travel card, teleport directly to Pandora, and steal her divine artifact that allows God Slayer rebirth. Then use your power to kill some Heretic Gods—those powers will be stored in the artifact. With that, you can mass-produce God Slayers and give the powers to whoever you want. Sure, becoming one yourself is pointless, but you could help newbies rise up fast."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "…"
Shiroyasha: "Kid, only you could come up with something so bizarre."
Altair: "But I have to say, it sounds very feasible."
Souta: "Hold on, I was just theoretically speaking in calculative scenarios! Don't take it seriously. Also, we really shouldn't be talking about god-killing."
Altair: "Why not?"
Souta: "Because I suspect that Athena might be from the 'Campione' world too—the Heretic God version that appears in the series. It's not very friendly for a newcomer to walk into us casually planning to slay gods."
Souta: "Of course, I can't be sure it's that Athena until she actually speaks up. But better to play it safe for now."
In fact, he'd already tried asking the system—but it ignored him.
Not just about newcomer identities—he also asked how group members could grow stronger, and again, the system didn't answer.
Seems like he's on his own with these problems.
Kurumi's power-up plan was something he came up with while lying in her bed in the Date A Live world, thinking it over all night.
Altair: "Speaking of newcomers, Souta, last time you said you had some theories about Kamado Tanjiro. Do you know why he hasn't said anything yet?"
Souta: "Sort of. I think the one using Tanjiro's nickname isn't him—it's his sister."