(Idk how to imitate the original Athena's way of talking so I will be using usual English.)
"I've come in peace, God Slayer." Athena grit her teeth and quickly declared when she noticed the gruesome weapon appeared in his hand.
"Peace?"
"Yes. Peace. I wish to discuss it with you." Athena quickly replies after seeing his hostility lowered but not fully dissipate.
"Then, speak what you have in mind." Leo shrugs and decides to entertain the Heretic God. No, she isn't even a Heretic God.
Leo can feel it instinctively that she isn't a Heretic God but a fallen one after her power was stripped again by Godou. But a fallen god or not. It didn't matter because prey is prey in Leo's eyes. The reason he humor Athena is because she cannot escape from him unless she has some special ability to escape.
Athena nods after her request were accepted.
"I know you have been observing me for a while now and I can sense your intent clear as day." Athena said with a slight shiver. Turns out, she had noticed Leo could sense her presence whenever she was stalking Godou. "I wish to make peace with you."
Unexpectedly, Leo laughed as if he found her words funny. "Make peace?" Leo stopped his laugh with a sigh and his eyes turned sharp with a predatory glint. "The way I hear it is more like begging for mercy."
Instantly, Athena summoned a black scythe from the shadow that expanded below her feet. She looks battle ready in response to Leo's sudden killing intent which is only a small part of the real deal.
"I implore you to consider my offer first, God Slayer." Athena said, desperate to convince Leo. "I am sure I can help in your endeavors. Even after losing a big part of my divinity, I still have my knowledge and experience intact." But Leo didn't seem moved.
Why? Because he can get what she offered simply by absorbing her Blood Echoes. That's why.
"I learned that you require assistance to navigate the Netherworld. Perhaps I can serve as your guide?" Athena quickly added, using the card she had prepared.
Leo suddenly frowned. How the heck did she find out? He is sure he didn't sense her near his apartment at all…
"How did you learn this!"
Leo panicked slightly when he remembered he left Liliana and went to the convenience store. Hypnosis magic exists in this world and the only other person who knows this is Liliana. He instantly imagined how Athena acquired this information from her. He doubts Liliana would willingly tell Athena because Heretic Gods are enemies of humanity, fallen one is also the same.
Well, if only that were true. In reality, even if humanity considers Heretic God as enemies, they still treat them with respect because they are just ants before them. If they can make peace just by satisfying a request, it's not out of questions for the magical organizations to agree. In fact, some even work with Gods and fallen gods.
Leo's patience is already running thin as he is ready to kill Athena. He is once again filled with guilt that people around him suffer because of him.
"Wait! Milord, wait!" Liliana suddenly fell out of the sky with a slight gasp.
Leo was surprised Liliana is fine but it's a good thing which filled him with relief.
"Please don't kill Goddess Athena. She is a valuable ally for you, Milord." Liliana said quickly before catching her breath.
"How so?" Leo frowned in confusion. "She is a Heretic God. An enemy that should be exterminated."
Both Liliana and Athena flinched. He speaks genuinely as if that is what he believes Heretic God is to him, enemies that should be exterminated. Like asking the human why they breathe air. He is the epitome of what a Campione should be in essence, a tool created ro safeguard humanity against the Heretic Gods.
Liliana couldn't form a word to refute what Leo said. If Athena were a Divine Ancestor, perhaps Liliana could argue. But Athena is still a Heretic God, just weaker. But a Heretic God nonetheless.
"That… is true." Liliana said and immediately caused Athena to look at her with a betrayed look.
'This isn't what we discussed!' Athena said in her mind maybe.
"However, I still believe she is useful to you, milord. When you left, she came and discussed with me for cooperation." Liliana added.
"Cooperation? What will she gain from this? Other than sparing her?" Leo wanted to know Athena's reason, her goal and motivation.
"Allow me to answer that." Athena suddenly interjected. "I simply wish to observe my rival without your intervention."
"Rival…? Godou?"
"Yes." Athena nodded and was glad Leo didn't try to kill her.
'Seriously' She thought. 'What's wrong with this Campione? His bloodthirst is beyond that caused by their natural instinct.' She shivered and tried to imagine what caused him to be like this as Leo obviously is the type of person impossible to exist in the modern world with such a mentality, the modern world lacks the stimulation to produce monster like him.
"Is that all? Just to stalk Godou?" Leo finds her answer baffling. "For such a reason… You didn't need to do this because I have no intention of finding and killing you until you suddenly decide to appear before me."
Like, what can Leo even do? Those owls that he usually spots are just familiars Athena uses to spy on Godou remotely. He can't trace her location if he wanted to kill her. She can just keep staying hidden and Leo will not bother her at all. Yet, here she is.
Leo doubts she is dumb enough to not consider those. She is a goddess that has divinity of wisdom. She can't be that dumb. Then the logical answer is there is more to it than just spying on Godou remotely, that's why she wishes to make peace with Leo.
"Fine then. I accept." Leo answered after thinking about the benefits. Having a proper guide in the Netherworld is very useful and if Athena one day decided to harm humans, it's not too late to kill her.
"Thank you, I will not disappoint." Athena nods and summons an owl before giving it to Leo. "This is my familiar. You just need to tell it who or what you are finding and it will lead you to it." She explains before she retreat by submerging into her shadow.
Leo stared at the owl which stared back at him with its big and adorable eyes.
'Wouldn't she be able to keep tabs on me using this thing?' Leo thought and considered if he should kill this owl or not. In the end, he didn't and let it perch at his shoulder as he turned to Liliana.
"Let's go home." He said and immediately turned away to leave the park.
Leo sighed and lit up another cigarette. This is more tiring than he thought. He missed the time in Yharnam. There is no complicated thing to consider. All he needs to do is kill and kill until everything is dead. But here, not all enemies are enemies apparently.
———
When she returned to his apartment, Liliana was told to use his room to sleep. Liliana of course objected to it until he raised his voice in annoyance and ordered her to rest on his bed.
Liliana was confused why Leo is in such a bad mood. Is it because of Athena? Probably. Maybe because he can't kill Athena because his mood worsened when she asked him to kill Athena and instead cooperate with her.
Anyway, Liliana went into his room and rested on the bed. She plants her face on the pillow thinking about Leo and tries to understand him from what she had observed so far.
"The pillow smells nice…" Liliana mutters as she takes a deep breath to inhale the scent until she realizes what she had done and blushes. "This is his scent… But somehow, it reminds me of the moon. Does the moon even have a scent?" Liliana questioned herself and thought she had become crazy.
Even if the moon has a scent, how can she smell it when it is very far away from earth? Ignoring her crazy thoughts, Liliana closes her eyes and tries to fall asleep but once again interrupted.
This time, she can feel powerful magic being used in rapid succession outside the room. She isn't alerted, thinking it's an enemy attack. It was too quiet after all. She assumes it's Leo doing his own things.
Liliana tried to ignore it and sleep. But her curiosity got the better of her and made her decide to take a look. It's a good opportunity to learn more about his power anyway.
When she opens the bedroom door, she immediately can see the living room and the table Leo sat on with a pile of metals, crystal and other materials.
"Hmn? Was I interrupting your sleep?" Leo asked with an apologetic look.
"N-No, I just can't fall asleep and I sense magic. I was wondering what you were doing." Liliana quickly stops Leo from blaming himself and takes a seat adjacent to him.
"Really? I mean, I can do this somewhere else if it's disturbing you."
"No! It's fine. I want to watch what you are doing… I want to learn more about your abilities to serve you better in the future."
Leo shrugs and explains what he was doing. As for Liliana, she listens carefully and takes note of all important information.
"So, during my fight with Voban. I realized my weapon is too fragile to be used against enemies of his level like the Gods." Leo took out a Saw Cleaver that looked very battered and showed it to Liliana.
"Here as you can see. The edge is chipped and bent beyond repair. I have to make do with a spare one temporarily." Leo explains with a bleeding heart.
The original Saw Cleaver were enchanted with various resources to the limit. But after the battle, it was in a state beyond repair as not even the magical repair using Blood Echoes can save the weapon anymore.
As for Liliana. This is the first time she can take a close look at the weapon. In her opinion, it's very unorthodox. This isn't a weapon that ever appears in history. She can't even imagine the purpose of the weapon.
Every weapon ever invented is always invented out of necessity. Just like how spears are invented to counter mounted cavalry, rapiers are invented to counter heavy armored infantry, and so on and so on. However, Liliana cannot comprehend the cause for the invention of this odd weapon.
While Leo is experimenting on transmuting the material of the Saw Cleaver with better metals he created using Alchemy, Liliana asks Leo the history of this weapon.
"The Saw Cleaver? Hmn…" Leo wonders if he should tell because it would very likely expose he isn't someone from this world.
"Ah, you didn't have to tell it if it's inconvenient." Liliana added quickly when she saw his expression and guessed he is definitely uncomfortable about sharing the information.
Although Liliana said it's fine. Leo can see the disappointment in her eyes. He can't help but feel bad for her and almost opens his mouth but he closes it immediately with a frown. 'Since when did I become this softhearted?' He wonders as he sighed with disappointment at himself.
To think he would almost open his mouth wide and blaber his secret just because a girl looks sad and disappointed.
Leo looked at his weapon slowly being transmuted, it will take a while to complete since he didn't want to rush it and risk any complications.
"Fine. I'll tell you. But please keep it a secret." Leo said but he didn't intend to tell the whole truth. Instead, he will tell a modified story that sounds believable.
"Yes! I will not tell anyone even if it costs my life." Liliana made a vow to Leo.
"No, you don't need to put your life on the line for something trivial like that." He lectured before he began his storytelling about the city of Yharnam and the Hunters.
Liliana listened with great enthusiasm, eager to learn more about the lord she vow to serve.
Unlike when they first met, Liliana feared Leo because of how he acted when he fought Voban. He looks like a very dangerous psychopath. But after she stayed with him for more than a day and learned the real him, her reservation had loosen. In fact, it's hard to see him as a lord she served because of the way he unconsciously treated her like the way he treated Mittelt, Ophis and Ravel.
Leo talked for almost an hour even after he finished transmuting his Saw Cleaver and even enhancing it with multiple magical enchantments.
At first, Liliana found the story unbelievable. What kind of plague is that? She never heard of it. Even if the organization responsible for the plague heavily censored the information, there still should be some record left right?
Leo shrugs and says it's not that simple as there are gods involved. He called the Great Ones as god.
"Wait, so you have not just one authority?" Liliana caught on when Leo said he slain the god that orchestrated the whole incident.
"Yes." Leo nods.
Flora, the first god Leo killed and gained a variety of abilities. Leo explained as such and attributed the Blood Moon and his frenzied state as part of the authority he gained from killing Flora.
"Flora… I never heard any god named as such." Liliana supports her chin with her arm and mutters her thoughts out.
"That's not its name. It's the name people gave because no one really knows its origin." Leo added before he stored away the leftover material and his newly enhanced Saw Cleaver. "Anyway, you should really go to sleep now." Leo pointed at the clock which showed 1:12 am.
"Ah, alright." Liliana nods absentmindedly and returns to the bedroom.
Leo sighed in relief he managed to improvise an explanation on the spot successfully to convince her.
After done with Saw Cleaver, he didn't really feel like going to sleep as he took out his Hunter Pistol. Since he is going to upgrade his gear. He might as well do it thoroughly.
Although the Hunter Pistol is capable of getting its job done. Leo feels it's lacking. During his fight against Hecate and now Voban, it is still capable of staggering his opponent but Leo feels it's firepower is lacking. Its lack of punch became the limit of its design. Tools created by mortals are inferior against gods, it's already a miracle it can still serve its purpose.
So, Leo planned to create a better firearm to utilize the Quicksilver bullets.
Quicksilver bullets are unlike modern ammunition. Its shame is similar to rifle ammunition but it didn't have gunpowder inside. It's a solid piece of ammunition like a slug round. Even though Quicksilver have a mystical property to automatically transform itself to match the firearms used, it cannot replicate the propeller and primer etc that modern firearms used which mean he cannot just swap to a modern firearm.
Instead, Leo has to redesign a custom firearm that can use Quicksilver bullets and the only one he has in mind that can fit this criteria is a railgun he remembered from a FPS game he played in his first life. But he isn't well versed in technology to make one. Maybe the internet can help. But Leo plans to only take the concept and build it entirely out of magic.
First, Leo has to enter Hunter's Dream since he will need the workbench for this project.
———
"Heh, look who is visiting. Finally remember your filial piety?" Gerhman said snarky when Leo suddenly appeared after stopped coming for a month.
(Time in Hunter's Dream flows slower than the real world.)
"Yeah yeah, old man. Besides, it's not my fault you are stuck here in the Hunter's Dream." Leo feels exasperated because he is really helpless with Gehrman's situation. There is nothing he can do to allow him to be free from the Hunter's Dream other than summoning him briefly into the real world.
His existence is like a land-bounded ghost, bound to the Hunter's Dream for eternity of servitude as the mentor of Hunters graced by the Moon. But there are no more Hunters coming because Leo ended the cycle of Hunt and the old man just being spiteful at Leo. Not that he really blames Leo because ending the Hunt takes precedence over his freedom.
"Anyway, what are you up to?" Gehrman said while sitting on his chair inside the workshop and smoking tobacco pipe. "I saw the Messenger bring in something interesting." He said with his eyes on the enhanced Saw Cleaver at the corner of the workshop.
"Improving my gear. What else do you think?" Leo replied with sarcasm and went to pick up the Saw Cleaver before going to the workbench.
Gehrman stay quiet and let Leo concentrate at his work while he observed from.the distance like a mentol overlooking his apprentice at work.
Leo enhanced his strength with magic and held the blade of the cleaver and bent it a little. Then he tried to repair it with Blood Echoes. After he poured in the necessary Blood Echoes, the blade magically repaired itself to pristine state.
"It worked!" Leo said cheerfully.
He worried because he was afraid he couldn't repair his weapon with Blood Echoes anymore because the Arcane technique only works on weapons from Yharnam so far. So, he has to test it out.
Other than the increased cost of Blood Echoes, it worked perfectly. But Leo still feels slightly depressed because the Blood Echoes cost to repair this improved Saw Cleaver is more than a hundred fold.
Leo felt like his heart was gonna bleed. Even if he has quite a lot of Blood Echoes from killing Voban, he will run out very soon from the look of it. But for better performance, it's a worthwhile upgrade. Leo convinced himself it's worthwhile. He has to.
Since it's a success, Leo takes out his Hunter attire too and starts improving them.
That finished very quickly since he didn't change anything and simply placed countless enhancements to increase the defensive capabilities of the attire and several other enhancements like increasing speed, stealth, etc.
Then came the firearm. He first has to develop a blueprint in his mind. To plan out how he would modify the Hunter Pistol. Once he is done, Leo first takes a spare one and disassembles the firearm.
Leo programs a magic circle connected to the trigger mechanism to create a propulsion force. Since it's a prototype, Leo is just gonna settle with creating an explosion first. The uniqueness of this method is it allows Leo to adjust the strength of the explosion which translates to the propulsion force that ejects the ammunition. The faster the bullet travels, the harder it hits. Next, he strengthened the barrel to handle the explosion so the firearm wouldn't explode in his hand.
Then Leo reassembled the pistol. He exits the Workshop and heads to the garden to test out the prototype. He held the pistol and aimed it at a tree trunk. Then he injected a small amount of mana while pulling the trigger.
*Bang!* *Tuk!*
The bullet lodges deep into the tree trunk and pierce through it. If he were to estimate, the damage is almost two times higher than the one he currently uses and this is just a prototype with a lot of room for improvement.
Leo aims again on the tree trunk and this time he injects five times the mana he did on the first try.
*BANG!* *TUK!*
A big hole ripped through the trunk and almost felled the innocent tree. The recoil is very powerful but still manageable. He can at least handle twice the recoil he just felt before it becomes excessive to the point of affecting his accuracy.
"This is very strong!" Leo exclaimed but frowned when he saw the barrel deformed. "The explosion is too much for the barrel. But what if I didn't use explosions at all?"
Well, the answer is obvious. He can scale up his damage without limit as long as he can pump enough mana into the gun. But then it would raise the issue on how much mana the gun can handle.
Quickly, Leo returns to the workshop and finds a way to create propulsion without explosion.
Almost an hour later, another prototype was made. This time instead of explosion, it uses the mana to generate a force which pushes the bullet forward, out from the barrel. It's much simpler and mana efficient compared to explosion. Beside that, Leo also increases durability of the barrel and makes the internal of the barrel zero friction to allow the bullet to travel faster and reduce wear down of the barrel.
Upon testing, it has basically zero recoil and he can pour a lot of mana to increase its damage output. The tree Leo used to test was smashed into pieces by the bullet and exploded. With a Campione level of mana pool and regeneration, the cost per shot is quite negligible too for its insane damage output.
Since it's a success, Leo modified the Hunter Pistol he is currently using and he is done with improving his gear. Now, Leo can really start hunting for God in the Netherworld.
"Hmn. Gonna leave just like that?" The dissatisfied Gehrman grumbles as if he was sulking which made Leo feel his skin crawl looking at an old man sulking like a child.
"Tch. You can have these." Leo places a few crates of beer and three packs of cigarettes.
Gehrman ignored the annoyed click from Leo and quickly scurried over to his gift. "Ho ho ho. This old man cannot stop drinking this good stuff. Those beers and wines from Yharnam taste like horse piss compared to these." He hugs his gift and quickly stashes them away like a goblin under Leo's flat stare. He was already used to this antic of his mentor.
Leo sighs and leaves the old man to himself. There's nothing he can really do to help Gherman with his situation. Occasionally summoning him to the real world didn't help much because it's just a false hope for him because he is eternally bound to the Hunter's Dream. These little vices are what he can indulge to keep himself happy in this depressing world.
———
Looking at the clock on the wall, it's 2:38 am. Still around three hours before morning.
Leo walks to the sleeping owl on the empty rack in the kitchen. He stared at it. Leo didn't know what his familiar was. A random owl that is affected by Athena's power? An owl created by Athena's power?
The owl sensed danger which stirred it awake and opened its eyes only to see Leo staring at it with a stare that felt like it was being dissected layer by layer. It instantly flaps its wings in a panic and confusion while chirping in distress.
Leo instantly grabs the terrified bird's head and pinch its beak to shut it close. "Shh! You will wake her up with that noise." Leo whispers with a threatening stare, assuming it understood his words which it did and quickly calms down although its heart is beating very loudly like it's gonna burst out of its body.
Leo let go of its beak once it looked calm. Then Leo opens a gateway into the Netherworld using Hecate's authority and prompts the owl to follow.
The owl was reluctant to follow the scary human but it also cannot defy its mistress's order. It wanted to shed tears but it didn't have time for it because the human already looked impatient and it didn't want to die for such ridiculous reason.
If it could, the poor owl would have rained down a curse at its mistress for giving it such an impossible task. Can't it be someone else? Why must it be itself?
The poor owl flaps its wings and meekly perches on the scary human's shoulder as they enter the Netherworld.
——————
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