Marquis Voban, the eldest of the current Campione, possessed the power to slay gods for sport.
Despite his title, he wasn't born into nobility. Orphaned in the early 18th century, he lived in abject poverty, struggling to afford even a single loaf of bread each day as he drifted from place to place in search of survival.
The surname "Voban" came from the name of a ferocious hunting dog kept by a marquis whose territory he had once raided. He adopted it as his own.
Though he appeared to be a scholarly and wise old gentleman, Voban harbored a primal nature. He possessed superhuman strength and wolf-like agility, craving battle and conducting himself with shrewdness rather than candor.
As he observed Phoenix before him, her face instantly reminded him of his archrival, Cult Leader Luo Hao.
Despite having lived for over two centuries, Luo Hao possessed relatively few Authorities. Yet even with his greater number of powers, Voban could never truly subdue her. After all, a Campione's strength wasn't merely about the quantity of Authorities.
Luo Hao not only wielded profound mystical arts but also possessed martial arts mastery that bordered on the divine.
Marquis Voban turned his gaze to the group behind Phoenix: Princess Alice, Yuuya Mariya, and especially Liliana.
"I never imagined that Kranjcar, one of my servants, would have such a remarkably talented granddaughter as a Witch. I clearly underestimated him in the past."
Though Marquis Voban's voice dripped with cold arrogance, he didn't underestimate Phoenix. All Campione were exceptional individuals, especially one who had accomplished so much in less than three months, even forcing the King of Swords into recovery.
Two years prior, Voban himself had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Salvatore Doni. He had painstakingly performed a ritual to summon a Heretic God, only for Doni to usurp the ritual, slay the god, and seize its Authority.
This bitter humiliation had festered into enduring resentment toward Doni. Voban had reveled in Phoenix's brutal beating of Doni just days before.
But who could have predicted that Phoenix would now come to snatch his own prize?
While she wasn't stealing his prey as Doni had done, seizing the miko and Witches he valued was an equally unforgivable act.
"Why is Marquis Voban talking so much? As a Campione, let's see your true power in action. In the end, it's all about the victor claiming the spoils." Phoenix dismissed Voban's words impatiently. One of her reasons for seizing Yuri Mariya was to lure the Marquis out.
Turning to Higokumaru beside her, Phoenix warned sternly, "Higokumaru, protect them well. If anything happens to them, you'll never have fried tofu or grilled meat again."
"F-fried tofu? I want fried tofu! Don't worry, Sister Phoenix! I promise I won't let anything happen to them!" Threatened with the loss of her favorite treats, Higokumaru panicked and hastily pledged her protection.
"You speak truly. As a Campione, one should let their strength do the talking. Very well... let us battle to our hearts' content."
The moment he finished speaking, Marquis Voban's emerald eyes emitted a malevolent light. Any ordinary person caught in that gaze would be overwhelmed by primal terror, their body transforming into a pillar of white salt.
"Eyes of Sodom..." Phoenix murmured, noticing the abnormality in her body, her expression darkening slightly.
The parts of her body affected by Marquis Voban's Authority, the "Eyes of Sodom," began to crystallize into salt. Phoenix glanced at it briefly before ignoring it completely.
Crimson Southern Li Fire immediately engulfed the salt-encrusted flesh, swiftly dispelling the petrification curse.
Though this Authority was formidable, Phoenix, as both a Campione and a Valkyrie, possessed immense resistance to it. Even if left unattended, the curse would naturally dissipate over time.
What truly irked Phoenix was that Marquis Voban had attacked without warning.
The "Eyes of Sodom" was an Authority Marquis Voban had usurped from the ancient Roman hero Horatius Cocles, the one-eyed War God.
Any living being gazed upon by Voban's eyes, regardless of their numbers, would be transformed into salt pillars, replicating the divine punishment that destroyed Sodom as described in the Old Testament—hence its name.
However, the divine effects were minimal against Campiones and Heretic Gods. Phoenix glanced back to see Higokumaru's supervirus already eradicating the salt transformation.
Knowing they were protected by Higokumaru, Phoenix decided to leave them be, simply instructing them to keep their distance.
Clenching thunder in her hand, she amplified its power with the Grips of Tai Xuan. Sensing the moment was right, she hurled the lightning at Marquis Voban.
"Receive the thunderous Judgment from the Master!"
Enhanced Thunder Spear.
A spear of crackling thunder, dozens of meters long and radiating destructive energy, shot straight toward Marquis Voban.
"Lightning? Excellent! Just what I wanted... it excites me even more! Legion of Hungry Wolves!" Voban grinned ferociously, like a hungry wolf.
As Voban activated his Summoning Authority, countless demonic wolves with coats the color of deep rat fur materialized and charged directly into the Thunder Spear's path.
Most of the wolves were instantly annihilated upon contact with the spear.
But this was inconsequential to Voban, as he could summon them endlessly.
The Demon Wolves were no match for the Thunder Spear, and Voban didn't attempt to block it directly. Instead, an immense surge of Cursed Power erupted from his body, unleashing a ferocious hurricane around him.
The Thunder Spear struck the exact spot where Voban had been standing, detonating in a cataclysmic explosion of thunder.
Like a super electromagnetic bomb, an enhanced railgun blast, the area instantly transformed into a wasteland.
Yet Voban, who had been struck, had vanished without a trace.
Phoenix surveyed the surroundings, but Voban was nowhere to be seen. Just as she began to wonder, her eyelid twitched.
"Above!"
She immediately looked up to see a colossal werewolf, ten meters tall and covered in shimmering silver fur, lunging down at her.
Unlike the previous Demon Wolves, this was a far larger, more formidable creature.
As the massive werewolf hurtled toward her, Phoenix's expression remained unchanged. She clenched her fist.
Just as the werewolf lunged, Phoenix leaped into the air and slammed a fist into the head of the colossal creature.
In the next instant, the giant werewolf exploded into a shower of gore from the force of Phoenix's punch.
That's right—exploded.
It was as if her fist had struck tofu or a balloon.
Having dispatched one, Phoenix turned to the other giant werewolf and unleashed a merciless kick.
"Immortal Technique: Phoenix Soaring Kick!"
The second giant werewolf met the same fate, its body erupting into a bloody mist upon impact.