Campione!(カンピオーネ!) [Light Novel]

[RpR1337]

Originally Posted by breno.m.fis

Hello comrades, I was thinking and now that Perseus is back Godou has a new chance to definitively settle the fight he could not finish. What kind of ability do you think could come from Perseus? I imagine if [Mithras] can seal Verethragna's incarnations it must be able to intensifies them or even recharges them. It's an interesting way to gain power as told by Glass Princess.

Depends on the various criteria of use.
But, let me just say that that thing was settled. It's not like strategic retreat or something, Perseus barely kept his pieces after having his ass handed to him. So that match was a decisive victory. It's just that Godou couldn't properly finish the elimination of the tricky bastard.

But yeah. Well, I say depends on the criteria of use, because the sealing of Verethragna's authorities isn't actually an authority, it's more of a conclusion of hierarchy between divinities. Mithra is the companion and former master of Verethragna, so he has power over the domains Verethragna has, since Verethragna's abilities vere partly gifted by Mithra. As for the Sun, there are limitless variations on how to apply solar energy, so as I said, varies by criteria. Though I doubt that it can strenghten technically (not hierarchically) unrelated authorities - like, the black Blade with the black Boar made a good combo, but applying sun to the "pitch-black boar" would just look silly.

Originally Posted by bakapervert

^ Well, an authority to recharge Godou's used authority will make him far more stronger and versatile.

Using it as a solar battery. Yeah, that's one way to do it. The Sun was a fertility symbol and had a particularly big role in giving life and promoting the dissolution of death (winter). That can happen. And that's what I meant when I said "limitless variations on how to apply solar energy".

One more thing. Just because they're back, I doubt Godou gets more authorities from them. This is just my personal speculation, but don't be suprised if "to the looter goes no spoils".

EDIT: MASSIVE hats off to zzhk-sama. I love this guy with his quick translations and work ethics. Gotta' invite him for a beer if we ever cross each other. He definetly deserves it

[Ickarium]

Frankly, I don't think Godou needs an authority for the ability to re-use his powers. He's slowly expanding in their uses as he 'grows' as a Campione. He can use two powers at once, and he /has/ used the powers multiple times through others' powers.

At some point, he will gain the ability to duplicate a power more than once, IMO, during an emergency. Like his 'two authorities at once' thing, it'll hurt like the dickens. But over time it'll become easier and less stressful, just like his 'two authorities at once' thing has slowly done.

[goblehook]

I am more interested in Godou having an improvement in usage and efficiency of his current powers. Like turning into wind and fighting while maintaining that immaterial form. That'll be cool.

I'd like to see Ena boosted with [Youth], armed with a [Divine Blade] and protected with an immaterial [Divine Wind] (that is Godou) Battling a God one on one in a high level skills of swordsmanship and magic.

[Von Himmel]

After reading The Dark Myth manga, I came to realize that japanese legend seems to be pretty old. I guess what Yuri said about KoTE origin being in Japanese might have make some sense in it.. I know it's been mentioned somewhere before in the novel, but I didn't think that the 'origin' of his identity would be in Japan. I thought Japan connection with it is just like a derivation of his original legend or something.

Also in the manga Himiko tried to revive Yamato Takeru just like Guinevere (which proably in the real legend too?) Although Yamato Takeru connection is pretty obvious, I wonder how the author will make connection of this.

[RpR1337]

Originally Posted by Ickarium

Frankly, I don't think Godou needs an authority for the ability to re-use his powers. He's slowly expanding in their uses as he 'grows' as a Campione.
(...)
At some point, he will gain the ability to duplicate a power more than once, IMO, during an emergency.

+1 on that. More authorities - well, that's okay, but theoretically speaking, I can't really find any situation which can't be contained by his current strenght. Even if his authorities were severed, or stolen, he still found a way out. As he himself said - he doesn't need any more power, since he alredy has more power than he could ever want, having versatile abilities that can adapt to any situations, and comrades that stick with him through thick and thin.
On the second part - yup, that's gonna' happen sooner or later. Actually Doni's Man of Steel and Blade that severs anything abilities are also hax, but he can use them freely because it suits him. I think that the other dimensions of using authorities of gods (apart from experience and times of use in real combat) might be the compatibility of the user and the power. And seeing Godou who can match more than one woman, it might turn out he's compatible with the "ever-changing forms" (being one with an at least double-standard mentality himself )

Originally Posted by goblehook

I am more interested in Godou having an improvement in usage and efficiency of his current powers. Like turning into wind and fighting while maintaining that immaterial form. That'll be cool.

Not only cool imho, but also acceptable. It's always hard to write about Gods, since their omnipotence/omniscience is a hard to absolve factor. "If he has the power of a God that can win in any situation, why does he still lose?" Something like that. As things stand right now, there's no clear hierarchy between the powers of Gods, or the Gods themselves. And that should be kept. Knowing that (if we translate the thing to martial arts) even the weakest can triumph over the strongest under certain conditions, it's more acceptable as it is now. And that, I think, is the most important factor in writing a consistent and more-or-less logical story about Gods (as logical as it can get, knowing that the most we are capable of concerning Gods is to make educated guesses).

Originally Posted by Von Himmel

After reading The Dark Myth manga, I came to realize that japanese legend seems to be pretty old. I guess what Yuri said about KoTE origin being in Japanese might have make some sense in it.. I know it's been mentioned somewhere before in the novel, but I didn't think that the 'origin' of his identity would be in Japan. I thought Japan connection with it is just like a derivation of his original legend or something.

Also in the manga Himiko tried to revive Yamato Takeru just like Guinevere (which proably in the real legend too?) Although Yamato Takeru connection is pretty obvious, I wonder how the author will make connection of this.

Well, after diving into the electronic sea of information a bit, I suppose that there's some reference on this in the latest book. Otherwise I'd scream contradiction, but meh, whatever.
If we think of the Yamato Takeru connection as obvious, then he might just twist things around to be Japan-made, but exported via trade routes (much like Odyseus was Greece-made, but imported via said trade routes). The question there is the centuries of time difference.

However, there are still problems (not with him being somehow linked to the King of the End, but) with him being the King of the End. I'll refer to one of my 'quite a lot' older posts here:

Originally Posted by RpR1337

Spoiler for King of the End:

As for the info I know, here are the things:
-Member of steel. Probably depicted with a sword at least once. (First info shared by Pandora in the "Boundary of life and Immortality").
-If she wasn't referring to Perseus (quite likely though, through his authority to rob priestesses of their will, but I'll mention it anyway, since this is not obvious from the translations EDIT: on second thought, since it's the authority of "Serpent slaying hero", it might be something "common" like the immortality of sun gods, or the indestructibility of steel wargods, so we could say it's about the King of the End after all), according to Pandora, "an enemy of women". (Shared right after being of steel).
-World-wide wanderer, sleeps near Japan, seems to have a connection to "islands beyond land and sea" (Atlantis, Avalon, etc etc).
-Slayer of at least one serpent divinity (referred to as "dragon"), with a bow and arrows (shared by the "Princess of Glass" in Godou's dream, right after the Winter Solstice incident).
-A greek hero, member of the Argonauts (shared by Circe at the end of "Princess-godess of the South Seas"), the crew of the ship Argo, which held the most prestigeous greek heroes.
-A hybrid identity, with the dispositions of both the War god of Steel and the Pan-european Wanderer (deduced by Alec at the end of "Princess Godess of the South Seas").
-Probably an extremely distinguished warrior tired of battles, and among legends of his amalgamation of divinity, he has Artos (the proto-indo-european word for bear, not to be confused with the bread used in orthodox practices). Artos being a derivation of the celtic bear godess Artio (given her origin of country and legends surrounding her) is also the source of the name "Arthur". The last two volumes, although he finally comes out in "Son of the Godess", share quite little info about him.

The first one would obviously be Heracles (though at this point, I seriously don't know what to say, knowing that the "model" for Hercules was in fact none other than Verethragna, as stated in god-knows-which LN, by god-knows-who, but connections could also turn out to be fun plot twists - take Mitra/Perseus' case f.e.). Since he can wield a sword, he qualifies as a member of steel (though his usual weapon is a club instead of a sword), but not really an enemy of women (as said, this criteria is ambigious anyway EDIT: or not so much). World-wide wanderer. Yup, right on target. Slayer of at least one serpent deity with a bow and arrows - Hydra (qualifies, and the actual method she was slain with was immolated arrows). Member of the Argonauts - check. He is indeed. Hybrid of War god of Steel and indo-european wanderer (first is evident IF we accept him being a member of Steel, for his qualities with the sword, second is also evident, since his legends have connections to both Verethragna, Gilgamesh, Arthur, and many others). Tired of battles ... yeah, sounds about right. In fact, even the labors would be enough for a lifetime.
Also, an interesting little thing - since he's protected by the up-to-date never appeared Zeus (being his son), it might be a nice answer as to why his name couldn't be heard "because of thunder" (when gods associated with steel are rarely associated with thunder - apart from, guess who? Susano, of course, disregarding we're speaking greek here, not japanese, though Susano states that he has "some intricate connection" with him in "Princess Godess of the South Seas"). Well, he fits suprisingly nicely.

So, the question would be - how can you make all that possibly fit with Yamato Takeru's legend? Probably you'll have to mix in other deities that have shared (or at least similar) origins, much like the author did with Mithra/Mithras/Perseus. In which case, I still find Heracles to be the most obvious choice, since he's the only one who "fits the bill". And as I said back then, Heracles seems to be a derivation of a Persian myth, since he's referred to (at least once) as a legend that stems from Verethragna (who himself is persian). So, that there could be one connection, as follows:

THEORY
On second thought, that connection is viable theoretically. As for how he connects, there's an interesting thing on Wikipedia:

"Anthropologist C. Scott Littleton has described the Yamato Takeru legend as “Arthurian” due to some structural similarities with the King Arthur legend. Common points include the use of two magic swords, of which the first validates the authority of the hero; the leadership role of a war band; the death to an enemy after giving up the sword to a female figure; a transportation to the afterworld; and others. Littleton proposed that both legends descend from a common northeast Iranian ancestor."

... where the first interesting thing is the stuff about Arthur, but what really caught my eye is that thing about the "common northeast Iranian ancestor" - which was at the time known as Persia, were you not aware. That'd verify my theory on the connection between Heracles and Verethragna being a plot twist. So, one might say that "things are getting really interesting".

Also, he's linked to at least two very important princesses (Oto-Tachibana Hime being her wife, and Yamato-hime, his aunt). This might push me toward disregarding the Glass Princess being Oto-Tachibana Hime for her being Yamato-hime, since Oto-Tachibana Hime had no connections to Susanoo, while Yamato-hime was the highest priestess of Amaterasu, Susanoo's brother, which makes the knowledge of the Glass Princess on King of the End valid and explained. Quite interesting indeed.

If we take an amalgamated hero's legend, it might be that in Japan, our King of the End is known as Yamato Takeru, in Greece, he's known as Heracles (which is why Circe said he's a member of the Argonauts, because she knew him by his greek hero alias, who can be said to be a destined Sword God, seeing that when he was no more than an infant, he was alredy strangling the snakes Hera sent against him), and in Iran (which was the core of the Persian Empire) he was known as a Deva that probably broke off Verethragna's legend, much like Verethragna himself broke off Mithra, later gaining his own legends, morphing from Mithra's authority into a proper God. That would also shed some light on the "wanderer" bit, and things would fit nicely.
As for him being protected by Thunder - there, we get two connections (and we also find the connection with Susanoo, since Yamato Takeru wields his sword, after all).
Even if Arthur himself was a different God, if the nature of his divinity somehow stems from legends that circulate around the aforementioned (supposed) Deva that broke off Verethragna, it's safe to say that there are inherent attributes common between the two. That would link him to the Indo-european wanderer as well, since Verethragna himself was a wandering deity (principal companion of Mithra). If we go by that, we can link him to Gilgamesh, and other pre-historic deities and demi-gods.
Another wiki reference:
"The core of the story of Heracles has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of shamanistic crossings into the netherworld." - where we can say that "neolithic hunter culture and shamanistic crossings into the netherworld" correlates with the celtic tribes (though they were more druidistic than shamanistic), but that'd prove to be the connection with Artos' legend (if we twist the plot a little, which is not unheard of in this LN series).
Also, don't forget Oto-Tachibana Hime's legend of "jumping into the sea with sword embosomed". If he's the King of the End's japanese alias, it might be that Hime threw herself into the sea holding the King of the End himself (knowing that the King of the End rests in sword form), which correlates with the Lady of the Lake submerging with the sword embraced that she recieved after Arthur's death. (Also, if the Hime-miko are distant relatives of Divine Ancestors, it might prove logical that Oto-Tachibana Hime was a Divine Ancestor.) As for "embosomed", keeping something you love close to your heart seems viable, if we take it as an actual depiction, instead of as a play on words (refer above - if Oto-Tachibana Hime is a Divine Ancestor, it's obvious).
That might be our (it's not all mine anymore, I guess) best guess so far as to the King of the End's identity.

Well, it always comes down to the fact that no matter how many guesses we make, in the end, we'll still have to wait for the author to write the conclusion. Until then, we probably can't tell what the author's thinking. Though making guesses like this is fun too

(Oh my GOD, how long this became. The gears in my head just aren't stopping as I find more and more points that connect the bits and pieces together
EDIT: Official. This is the longest goddamn Wall of Text I've ever posted on this forum so far.)

[lived_1714]

About Sun Wu Kong, first, he was born from mystic stone, there's a version that his original is from Nu Wa, the Mother Earth Goddess in Chinese mythology, she's half-snake (lamia).
Then Sun went sugar high and leaded his mountain monkeys into Fruit-Mountain, he then wanted to learn the art of Senjutsu.
He met ... okay, I don't know how his name spelled in English, Sun learned 72 Senjutsu, but could never become full human, then he got the staff from the Sea Dragon King.
Then to the Heaven Arc, he ate Divine Peaces, Divine Drugs, got burned in the ... Divine Fire or what.
He challenged the entire Heaven, almost won if Buddha didn't come down, heaven would fall. Buddha then processed to pwn Sun.
The we know what happened afterward.
The Chinese also has a sequel for "Journey to the West", where San Zang kicks asses, Buddha got killed, and a villain who is as strong as Buddha, well, it's not canon anyway.
The truth is no one knows what had happened afterward.

Personally I like another version, where the author actually mixes more characters in, like, the King, super power villain who's the counter part of Buddha, Buddha gets corrupted by the "Evil-Heart" of Sun Wu Kong.

[Chris38]

Regarding the discussion of Godou getting new authorities, personally I think we shouldn't forget the vision that Circe saw, after she was defeated in volume 13.

"Black blade... White— One day, these shall become the weapons you wield to form a cross... Fufu, I can already see it, Kusanagi-sama..."

Since, I believe that this is a foreshadow from the author, about the abilities that Godou is going to get in the future.

Well, the white blade is probably going to be a subordinate god that would become Godou's second partner, but him wielding the weapons to form a cross, might suggest that Godou is going to gain an authority that will allow him to gain master swordsmanship abilities for a short duration of time.

Basically, I think that Godou might gain some authorities that on their own won't be pretty useful, but combined with the authorities that he already has, they would become something that will correct his current deficiencies.

[Breimoon]

i want author to hurry up with next volume!! really want to know what happens.

[Ultragunner]

Originally Posted by lived_1714

About Sun Wu Kong, first, he was born from mystic stone, there's a version that his original is from Nu Wa, the Mother Earth Goddess in Chinese mythology, she's half-snake (lamia).
Then Sun went sugar high and leaded his mountain monkeys into Fruit-Mountain, he then wanted to learn the art of Senjutsu.
He met ... okay, I don't know how his name spelled in English, Sun learned 72 Senjutsu, but could never become full human, then he got the staff from the Sea Dragon King.
Then to the Heaven Arc, he ate Divine Peaces, Divine Drugs, got burned in the ... Divine Fire or what.
He challenged the entire Heaven, almost won if Buddha didn't come down, heaven would fall. Buddha then processed to pwn Sun.
The we know what happened afterward.
The Chinese also has a sequel for "Journey to the West", where San Zang kicks asses, Buddha got killed, and a villain who is as strong as Buddha, well, it's not canon anyway.
The truth is no one knows what had happened afterward.

Personally I like another version, where the author actually mixes more characters in, like, the King, super power villain who's the counter part of Buddha, Buddha gets corrupted by the "Evil-Heart" of Sun Wu Kong.

I know that sequel, it was a TV series for me though . As I recall, Buddha didn't get killed, he intentionally "died" to be reincarnated as a human, and in the process avoided direct open war with evil (though both heaven and his place got colonised and all the big shots were imprisoned). Though the story sounded that absurd but I liked it anyway, especially because Sun Wukong played an integral part in restoring peace and exterminating evil (and he was badass as hell, even more than in the original Journey to the West)

[RpR1337]

Originally Posted by Breimoon

i want author to hurry up with next volume!! really want to know what happens.

Quality over quantity, or in this case, quality over speed. It will definetly take time (since it always does), so for the time being, just hope that when it does come out, it'll satisfy your wants and needs at the time well.

[bludvein]

Were the vol 17 chapters posted right now copied straight from the short stories, or did it have the extra parts added that were supposedly there?

Which parts are different?

[Ken Sanders]

^ From chapter 1 - 6 are the collection of short stories. The only one is different is ch 7, the Stirring of Heroes.

It talks about the time Godou and his entourage have returned from their time.

BT has already translated part 1-2 of ch 7.

[bludvein]

Originally Posted by Ken Sanders

^ From chapter 1 - 6 are the collection of short stories. The only one is different is ch 7, the Stirring of Heroes.

It talks about the time Godou and his entourage have returned from their time.

BT has already translated part 1-2 of ch 7.

..I knew that already, that's not what I was asking. There were supposedly parts added to the short stories that didn't make it to the blu-ray version because of length issues. This was mentioned earlier in the thread.

I wanted to know if the ones posted were just copy-pasted, or if it added the extras. Also, what exactly was added to begin with?

[RpR1337]

Originally Posted by bludvein

..I knew that already, that's not what I was asking. There were supposedly parts added to the short stories that didn't make it to the blu-ray version because of length issues. This was mentioned earlier in the thread.

I wanted to know if the ones posted were just copy-pasted, or if it added the extras. Also, what exactly was added to begin with?

Even if there were parts like that, I doubt it's entirely worth it. What's worth it is the SS at the end. Otherwise - just slice of life moments from along the entire plot, far as I can tell.

[Chris38]

Another update has been done to volume 16.

34% of chapter 7 have been translated by zzhk.

[Breimoon]

thank you for headsup

[II Maestro]

An update~!

Looks like there will be another trouble from Doni that Godou will be participating in.

[Ickarium]

I'm sorry. She's way too young for Godou, being twelve to his sixteen-seventeen. But Hikari is awesome. :P

[J4n1]

Originally Posted by Ickarium

I'm sorry. She's way too young for Godou, being twelve to his sixteen-seventeen. But Hikari is awesome. :P

No worries, time will fix that problem.

[GenesiD]

I was thinking of getting into this series by watching the anime first, which covers the first five volumes and makes it easier to finish reading the rest of the volumes. Three episodes in and I already want to slap the hell out of Erica. She is so annoying. Please tell me she isn't this clueless about Godou's feelings for her in the light novel.