Chapter 516 (1): Just What Is Your Relationship with the Goddess?

Buff after buff pushed Kaya’s aura to incredible heights. She reached back and drew the black greatsword on her back. The blade was mostly black with hints of red light, matching the ribbon tying her hair and her heavy armor. The bloodthirst it radiated was like a nightmare, wrapping her in a crimson glow.

Boom!!!

Within the black mist, Wayne heard the blade sing. He smoothed one hand through the air in front of him, forging a hard, invisible shield.

With a crack, Kaya burst through the shattering space, swinging her sword down at Wayne’s skull in a trail of red light. He raised both hands and caught the blade steadily, crushing Kaya once again in a battle of raw power.

Kaya stared at him, startled. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you affected by the divine arts?”

Divine arts of Darkness like darkness erosion, soul consumption, curses of night, and lament of the stars were top-tier spells. Any one of those would have sent another subordinate god scrambling. Wayne, however, took all of them without so much as a reaction.

Excellent. The goddess will play with someone as strong as you are for a long time!

Kaya’s eyes lit up, promoting Wayne from future coworker to savior—no, the messiah—in her mind. With him around, the Divine Realm of Darkness would have peace at last. With him around, the subordinate gods would have hope!

“Watch your mouth. You’re smiling.”

Wayne pushed Kaya’s heavy blade aside and waved in the air, summoning and grasping Twilight Despair firmly. Following a flash of black light, curtain after black curtain parted, scattering the dark clouds that the veil of night had created, forcing Kaya to retreat.

Wayne was immune to those debuffs, not because Briar’s level was too low, but because his existence was fundamentally different. Putting a debuff on him... would be no different from feeding him. Whether he ate it would depend entirely on the Book of Greed. The tasty ones would have a bite taken off them, while the rest would go straight to the trash.

Whoosh!

Darkness bore down. As Wayne swung Twilight Despair, the projection of the Goddess of Darkness behind him moved in tandem. Translucent fingers pointed at empty space and locked down the area Kaya inhabited. The incredible pull nearly tore her greatsword out of her hands.

The longer they fought, the colder Kaya’s blood ran. Without thinking, she invoked her Authority as a subordinate god, shifting the surrounding space to banish Wayne—

She failed.

She had burned an ocean of thoughts and couldn’t move him by even an inch. While he appeared to be a regular human, he carried an unimaginable mass.

How are you so strong? Has the goddess been giving you private lessons?

While Kaya was still reeling from the shock, Twilight Despair blocked and knocked the greatsword away, shearing a few strands of her hair and pressing against her throat.

So fast!

Briar’s stomach dropped. She blamed Kaya for going easy on Wayne. Slacking off on an oracle? You’re gonna get it from the goddess.

Seeing that Kaya was clearly courting death, Briar charged at Wayne without hesitation. If Kaya wanted to die, fine, but she didn’t. She had to do her best today.

Mid-charge, Briar came to a sudden stop, mouth agape as Wayne took Kaya hostage.

One hand clamped on Kaya’s shoulder, Wayne held Twilight Despair to her slender neck and said, “Surrender. One more step, and I’ll cut her head off.”

In his arms, Kaya’s face flushed. She was in the same predicament as Solsknar had been earlier; no matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t break out of the intangible restraint. Her power remained intact, and she still had access to her Laws. She could also wield the authority of a subordinate god like her own arm. However, she couldn’t break free.

Briar glared at Kaya. It was one thing for her to pull her punches, but volunteering to be a hostage? If she wanted to die, she should do it where her blood wouldn’t get on Briar.

Kaya shook her head. She had resisted, and she still was. But there was something strange about Wayne. One light squeeze somehow drained her of her strength.

“What are you waiting for?” Wayne urged, swinging Twilight Despair. “Surrender now. Do you need her to die once for you to get with the program?”

“You underestimate Kaya. She will gladly die for the goddess.” Briar swung both arms and unleashed black light, stirring the entire tenth level, the Palace of Night, summoning light particles from every direction.

Wayne took a closer look. Every particle represented a demigod in the Divine Realm of Darkness. Using her Authority, Briar had borrowed an immeasurable volume of mana from them.

Impressive!

Wayne offered a silent comment, then pinched Kaya’s chin and set her up, “I didn’t notice before, but the two of you elegant ladies are exactly my type. May I have the honor of inviting you to an afternoon tea?”

He leaned in and exhaled at Kaya’s ear. “You especially. The moment I laid eyes on you, I fell for you. Every other woman in the world is worthless by comparison. Give me a chance.”

Rumble!!

Crimson lightning streaked across the sky, scattering the silver arc of the moon and lighting up the tenth level. Kaya had no idea what Wayne was up to, but came to a conclusion after some consideration.

He wasn’t harassing her. This was the character that the goddess had assigned him. What a difficult place he was in. First, he was saddled with the infamy of abusing Vichy, and now, he was forced to take the blame for harassing a subordinate god.

Which begged the question: how was Kaya supposed to react?

She pondered, but couldn’t figure out the goddess’s intentions. To avoid getting dragged into the mess, she decided to work with Wayne and complete the mission.

That was the safe way to go, for sure.

Her expression turned icy. She said derisively, “Shameless scoundrel, doing whatever you please just because you have some power? I’d have to be blind to take a liking to a morally bankrupt bastard like you!”

Wayne’s eyes lit up. “Is there more? Keep going. I’m enjoying it.”

Really? Do you have to work this hard?

Kaya was speechless. On second thought, it was a good thing to enjoy verbal abuse in the Divine Realm of Darkness, given... well.

Moreover, she and Briar were in a similar situation. Although neither of them would say it out loud, they both knew how far gone they were. After years of being toyed with by the goddess, they had developed some embarrassing issues.

Having the same kink would help Wayne survive here.

Kaya took a deep breath and decided to give him a hand. “Shameless scoundrel, your words and actions violate the rules of the Divine Realm of Darkness. You’re beyond immoral. To satisfy your own selfish desires, you’d trample on others’ feelings and dignity. How appalling.”

“Keep going.”

Seriously? Fine, whatever makes you happy.

“Not only have you hurt those around you, but you’ve also harmed the Divine Realm. I, Kaya the Avenger, can tell you with confidence that an immoral, rude bastard like you will never, ever receive the affection of any woman!”

“Unless she happens to be another immoral lunatic like you, and a blind lunatic at that...”

She continued on, her reprimand escalating into personal attacks. By the end of it, she felt refreshed, and her cheeks turned red.

Long years of repression had left her with a sensitive, indescribable inclination. She only knew that she liked being bullied, but not that deep down, she liked bullying others even more.

“Everyone heard that. I didn’t force you to say those words.” Wayne released Kaya and took two steps back.

“I did say that, and I’m not done yet!”

Kaya had never felt so alive before. Silently thanking Wayne, she dove headfirst—ahem—she accidentally slipped and ended up captured by him once more. She launched into another round of curses.

Clearly, she had been waiting for a chance to vent for a long time.

Wayne stared at the woman throwing herself at him, speechless. After a shrug, he put his arm around her shoulders instead. The armor was in the way of him getting his hands on the supple body, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they looked intimate.

Kaya didn’t know that she had just jumped into a burning pit. She chirped in an animated manner, her mouth running nonstop.

Wayne looked up at the sky and murmured, “Kaya, what a bright star that is. Is it your death omen twinkling?”

Kaya explained helpfully, “No, that’s the token that the goddess had Briar and me safeguard. You have to claim it before you can meet her.”

“Tsk, is that so?” Wayne was laughing inside, but he kept his poker face on and said seriously, “Kaya, you may not believe it, but you’re the first woman to ever watch the stars with me. I think I’m really starting to fall for you.”

“Um...” Kaya blinked. She messaged him to say that once they became colleagues, the three of them could have afternoon tea together. Keeping her poker face firmly in place, she scoffed, “Save it. Testing me with cheap lies like that? What kind of woman are you trying to fool? I’ll say it again: no woman will ever fall for you, unless it’s a blind, insane old hag who’s too starved to be picky.”

“That’s not true. She’s stunning.”

“Hahaha—”

Kaya threw her head back and laughed, slapping Wayne on the shoulder while keeping her palm-sized face stern. “Stop bragging and wake up. She must be the ugliest woman in the world. Only a woman like that deserves a degenerate like you.”

“I’m done.” Wayne patted her on the shoulder and pushed her away.

“Wait, I’m not done yet!” Kaya, still not satisfied, wanted to be captured again.

“Why say so much while you’re alive? There’s plenty of time to sleep after death. Don’t be impatient. Let me find you a roommate first, then the two of you can chat all you like.”

When Kaya lunged at him, Wayne struck the back of her neck with a precise handchop, knocking her to the ground.

The Blade of Nightmares had failed to display the power of a subordinate god. She had spent the entire fight cursing him out. Part of that was her opponent being far too strong and stumping her at every turn, but there was another reason.

She had been cautious at the start, going through the motions rather than committing fully to the fight. By the time she was captured and wanted to put everything on the table, it was already too late.

Briar learned from Kaya’s experience. She used her ultimate move first, conjuring and igniting a black sun in the sky. Integrating the tremendous energy, she...

Awoo.

Wayne teleported right behind her, pressing his sword to her neck while tightening his fingers around her shoulder. “I’ve long heard of the Eye of Tears. It’s said that you’re incredibly well-informed, and that you’re the goddess’s eyes in the Divine Realm and the Chosen Land. So tell me, what kind of person do you see when you look at me?”

Briar stilled, her eyes widening in disbelief. At last, she realized why Kaya had been captured so easily.

“So this is the power of the Devourer,” she marveled. “The goddess prepared this seat for you long ago. She must have foreseen your arrival.”

Such a sweet mouth. You’re already Ines’s.

Wayne smothered a laugh and used the same trick he had used on Kaya. “Briar, the moment I laid eyes on you, I fell for you—”

“Wait, aren’t you in love with Kaya?”

“She talks too much, so I’m already over her. You’re different. You have both beauty and intellect, talent and grace. There is no single woman in the world who’s more captivating than you.”

Hearing the crackling thunder, Wayne raised an eyebrow and leaned into Briar’s ear. “I’ve never said these things to any other woman, Briar. You’re the first. I adore you.”

Aren’t you embarrassed about saying all this in the first meeting?

Wayne wasn’t embarrassed, while Briar couldn’t be more embarrassed. She smiled stiffly and decided to say something so that the fire wouldn’t spread to her—and so that she could help Wayne complete the goddess’s mission.

Briar understood. The goddess had told him to play a pervert against his conscience, abandoning the morals he had held fast to become the moral low bar scorned by all in the Divine Realm. That was part of his training. Only once he broke down and gave up entirely would the training be complete. Then, the goddess would restore his reputation.

You’ve got it rough, too!