Naples was originally a colonial city by the ancient Greeks, and people were sent to work in the quarries as if they were working hard.

Later, their descendants, the Romans, built ruins such as sewers and aqueducts, and even more, in the Middle Ages, they also built ruins such as underground warehouses for storing food and alcohol, which are still preserved as ruins in the vicinity of the old city street, Naples Sutrania, a place known as "Underground Naples".

“…… Although it has become a tourist spot such as the underground ruins of the old town, it is generally not open to the public because it has been sealed and hidden by the witches of Naples. Liliana, who was the guide in front, said.

The Santa Lucia area, facing the Bay of Naples, is an area that encompasses tourist attractions such as the port of Santa Lucia and the Egg City.

They entered a second-hand clothing store in that area, and greeted the aunt in the store, who was not a beautiful store even if it sounded good, and the fat aunt took Liliana and Tony to the depths of the store without a word, she was actually the witch of Diana's match.

Inside the store - it's a place where it's absolutely impossible to see witches.

Here, the entrance to the underground ruins, a four-cornered cave abruptly opens on the uncovered ground, and the stone stairs extend to the ground, and Liliana and Tony, who can see clearly even in the dark, walk down the stairs without even bringing electric lights.

“…… I always feel like it's a snake, and then is this a cow? Tony, who was walking behind Liliana in the open way, muttered.

The slender underground ruins of the abandoned well, if you date back to BC, are the site of the original quarry, and it is certain that it is similar to the abandoned well.

However, the large number of frescoes depicted on the walls do not indicate that this is a quarry, and the simple line drawings can be believed to be carved by Stone Age humans.

As Tony said, there are a lot of snakes painted on the wall.

These are large snakes with long curled bodies, multi-headed snakes with several heads, snakes with bat-like wings, various snakes depicted on the walls, and other line drawings of cows, birds, pigs, and lions.

If anyone with a magical cultivation can know at a glance, these are all symbols of the goddess Mother Earth, and it is estimated that these are depicted by people from the era after the reign of the Roman Empire.

“…… Because it used to be the site of an underground secret temple. ”

Since the patriarchy of a certain god religion became a national policy, the shrine maidens who had divine power in the past were hunted down as "witches", so they escaped from the ground, guarded their wisdom, and built these underground shrines for the purpose of conveying messages, and these murals were depicted with the faith of witches as the object, simulating the posture of the gods.

"So, the snake seems to be the guardian saint of the witch, why?"

Liliana, who was suddenly asked a question, felt overwhelmed.

In the ancient world, the witch who served the goddess of the earth was the prototype of the witch, and with the spread of Christianity in Europe, it lost the faith it had since ancient times, and it can also be said that it was suppressed and resisted, and in the process, the witches who were supposed to be sacred were persecuted and became feared and taboo existences.

Most of the ancient earth goddesses were goddesses of life and death who ruled over both the earth and the underworld.

Athena, Ishtar, Isis, Tiamat, Cybele, and many more, and the sacred beast that represents the cycle between death and life is the serpent.

Therefore, the serpent is a symbol of the Earth Mother Goddess and the guardian of witches, and it should be difficult to explain the knowledge of the secret science in such a place. Liliana was rightly reputable and decided to put the trouble to a later date.

"Because it will take a lot of time to talk about it, so let me explain it later, please wait for now."

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this is my previous habit, and I have completely forgotten my current position." Tony said heartily and without any reflection.

Liliana took the words that seemed to carry a small amount of awe as the wind in her ears, and didn't pay much attention to them.

Campione and the magician are just similar, but they are completely different beings, and Liliana once again feels the truth of the rumors.

In this way, the Kusanagi Godo that Browndry was obsessed with was just an outsider with no knowledge of magic not so long ago.

"So, is the place where your companions are hiding called the Temple of Hera?"

"That's right, the Stone of Gorgon, discovered a few months ago, is the seal of the goddesses Medusa and Athena. And the Temple of Hera is the seal of the goddess Hera. Legend has it that Hera was the goddess with the curly hair of a snake and the eyes of a bull – and these seals showed the divinity of Mother Earth. ”

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of the god-king Zeus, but this goddess was originally the goddess of the Earth in the Peloponnese, which was invaded and conquered by the Indo-European horse-riding peoples who worshipped the god of the sky, the prototype of Zeus, after which Hera was forced to become a subordinate goddess of Zeus.

Soon the two reached the depths of the underground temple, where there were dark stone pillars, and beside them stood two witches, Diana Milito and Kalenjankolovsky, waiting.

"First meeting, Salvatore, though it is out of place, I sincerely ask you to listen to our pleas—"

"Let's get to the point compared to that kind of thing, this is the legendary Hera Pillar?" Unceremoniously interrupting Diana's greeting, Tony looked at the stone pillar.

It was a column made of obsidian-like black stone, which grew like a tree on the riverbed of the quarry of the underground temple a long time ago, and carved on the surface like a line drawing like a curled serpent, although it was only a young carving, but it had the incredible power to attract the viewer's eye, and the height was about twenty meters, which was the appearance of the Hera stone pillar.

"Well, well! I really feel a lot of power. ”

"That's right, the person who discovered this pillar and worked so hard to bring it to this place was the Neapolitan witch of hundreds of years ago—our ancestors." Diana said solemnly.

It was a completely different appearance from the messy posture in the used bookstore just now, don't look at her like this, she is also the leader of the [Bronze Black Cross] Neapolitan branch.

"It happened to be the spring of this year, the time when the Stone of Gorgon was discovered in Calabria, so it echoed and began to save power. Luckily, it wasn't that strong at first, although we weaved the [Hidden] enchantment and hid it—"

Recently, it has begun to be impossible to completely suppress.

Diana explained, sighing, while Tony nodded happily.

"Do you miss it, the Stone of Gorgon? I was just lazy—"

“…… Lazy? ”

"Hmmm! You think, at that time, it happened to be after I was injured after a duel with Godo, and I still had to go on a business trip, so I asked him to deal with the matter, explain the reason, and let the words be easier, right? ”

Tony gave Liliana, who couldn't help but say in a reproachful tone, and Tony gave a gentle wink.

This irresponsible young man has been waiting for the day when his fellow Campione boy will become his greatest enemy.

Again, Liliana actually felt the feeling.

- Salvatore Tony is a purebred fighter.

Whether it is love or friendship, anger or love or sadness, all will be discarded by him in the battlefield, so no matter how generous he looks, how cheerful he looks - this is not the real him, the place where he can show his true self is only on the battlefield - and only when facing a strong enemy, so he loves the rare enemy, calls him a friend, and polishes the sword used to defeat the other party with all his might.

Although Liliana and Erica, who are known as genius magicians, are not bad, they are far from being good for this young man, and Liliana has to admit it while resisting her trembling.

In the past, Salvatore Toni swept away the imprint of his downfall.

However, that was just something outside his standards.

This is a huge talent and distortion that cannot be measured by the scale of mortals, completely turning his back on all magic, practicing only martial arts, he is a genius who can slash the power of a god with the blade of that sword alone.

This is the essence of the King of Swords.

Of course, the heartiness and casualness of him in front of him should also be his essence......

"Well, when I heard that the god who came out was Athena, I thought [Oh no! Well, it would be nice if I didn't let me fight, I regretted it...... If Hera's Pillar is here, then Hera may also appear, right? ”

"Uh-well, I hope it's very unlikely—" Diana replied with a look of confusion.

Originally, it was not easy to bring this stone pillar out, it should be tied from the ground and then transferred, in order to do so, it was necessary to prepare personnel and equipment, if there was something unusual in the stone pillar of Hera when doing this, it would be too risky.

"Speaking of which, I just said that there may be a dragon coming out, but what will happen?"

Looking at Tony, who was dumbfounded on the problem, the three witches secretly looked at each other.

【…… If you don't explain it, you can't do it, right? 】

【…… It seems that no, as long as you listen to the conversation just now, you can know that Salvatore's magic-related knowledge is on the same level as that of a trainee magician. 】

[Okay, okay! Don't say anything weird, Karen! 】

The above is the eye contact of the three women.

As a Campione, he is a man who is respected as a swordsman with great strength, but he is barely a layman's knowledge level.

Liliana, who wanted to complain a little, coughed slightly.

"That's because in terms of results, the dragon is a transformation of the snake, and in extreme terms, if you put a part of the bird and lizard, the horse and the lion on the snake, you will become a dragon."

"Huh? I always think this reason is too far-fetched. ”

"It's not far-fetched, in order to prevent the sacred shrine maidens from being relegated to [witches], the incarnation of the Earth Mother God, the snake, has changed into [dragons] with the accumulation of the times, and in the process, they have acquired a vicious form and powerful abilities."

At this time, Liliana remembered the rumored exploits of Salvatore Toni.

"In this way, Salvatore should also have the power of disobedience related to dragons."

"There should be, right? I don't think I've fought dragons. ”

"Of course, I haven't fought directly, but the hero who inherited the power of the Warcraft Dragon, the god of disobedience of the earth and water, has been mixed with the sword."

From this god, he usurped the power of the famous magic sword, and then, defeated the god summoned by the Marquis of Woban, and obtained the power of the dragon, the power of immortal steel.

The object that the warriors of the dragon slayer want to conquer is anything that has the divinity of a dragon and a snake.

For this reason, Tony nodded in agreement with what Liliana had said.

“…… Well, well, got it. ”

"Got it already? That's good. ”

"No, I don't understand what you said at all, but most of the things I don't know until now are not very important, right, I understand this, no problem, no problem."

"Since Qing thinks it's okay, then it's no problem."

Sure enough, this person's brain structure is different from ours, Liliana thought so, with this crude way of thinking, this king can actually go through so many Shura fields, which is definitely not something that ordinary people can do, but in a sense, this is his greatness.

"So, what to do with this Hera Pillar? If you take it back like Godo, it looks a little too big. ”

A black column about twenty meters high, and it grew out of the ground, looking at the Hera Stone Pillar, which was much taller than himself, Tony whispered.

Then, with a casual smile, he happily made an offer.

"Cut it from the root to a size that you can hold by hand and put it in your bag for me to take back...... Not really, right? ”

"Cut down the Hera Pillar!? This is a very important artifact!? ”

"This—It's too rude to say this!"

Diana shouted, and even Kalian, who was usually very calm, was so frightened that her face changed.

Forget about the Stone of Gorgon, the Pillar of Hera is a sacred sacrificial instrument for witches in Europe, even if it is [King], this suggestion is too meaningless, and Liliana also helped to speak.

"Salvatore, just as Diana and the others say! Moreover, no matter how powerful Qing's magic sword is, it will be difficult to cut the magic tool of the Earth Mother God! ”

"No, can't you cut it? I don't think I can't cut it, so I guess most of it can be cut. Tony, who looked at the stone pillar of Hera, asserted quietly.

He really wanted to do it! Convinced, Liliana almost screamed.

"Absolutely not! Now, the Stone Pillar of Hera has stored a lot of power of land and water, and although the enchantment compiled by Diana and the others will not be leaked, if Qing uses his power here, the situation will become unpredictable! The worst-case scenario is that the accumulated power will explode at once, and it may blow up the whole of Naples, so you should avoid acting rashly! ”

"But, it's too boring to just wait for this pillar to happen on its own."

"Therefore, we want to use the wisdom of the Secretary to see how to solve it, because in any case, the Secretary is also the highest expert in cases concerning God in Italy...... Is there any other good way to do this than to cut it into small pieces? ”

"Well—too—" Tony, who was sternly said by Liliana, fell into thought, "I didn't think of anything else, I don't know at all." ”

"Qing! Think hard! "When I discussed things with this king, my way of thinking was all confused, and Liliana, who was so angry that she spoke out loud and gave advice, was so frightened that even cold sweat flowed out, and if she spoke to the Marquis of Woban like this, she would be executed immediately.

But Tony has a hearty smile, and the disrespectful gaffes are all in the left ear and out of the right ear.

"Well! I just said that I have to watch the situation develop now, but all in all, let's go back and rest today, it's already late, maybe I can think of a good way to get up early tomorrow morning! ”

There is indeed no reason to refuse this royal command.

Even staying in front of the Hera Pillar would be a waste of time, so of course it was, and in this way, the three witches and the [Sword King] were ready to return to the earth along the way, but-

On the way back, Tony had been smirking and not knowing what to worry about, and Liliana, who felt unlucky in this expression, secretly made up her mind.