Chapter 518 (1): I Object to This Marriage

Wayne studied the two ‘demonesses’. Ana was indeed Ana. Her sweet smile almost stole his soul. Aztimor, on the other hand, only resembled Aztimor in appearance. It was a pale, foamy form masquerading as Her.

Wayne could tell at a glance that the imposter was the corrupted part of Ines’s thoughts. Darkness could defeat Death in Her own Divine Realm, but She couldn’t compel Death to do Her bidding.

If he had to guess, the real Aztimor was likely bound to a chair somewhere in the Heart of Supreme Darkness of the twelfth level, forced to watch Her master beat his vassals. And there was a good chance that when he proposed to Ines, Aztimor would be in the audience.

In Ines’s script, the proposal could not happen without Anastasia or Aztimor.

You two wenches, what gives you the right to be mentioned in the same breath as me? Today, I’ll take the man you love in front of you.

Wayne winced. He wanted to tell Ines that Ana couldn’t be forgiven, that she was at every orgy. Aztimor, on the other hand, was merely a bystander, and by provoking Her, Ines was only making Aztimor competitive.

At least Aztimor was a bystander now. If this went on, it might just change.

Wayne would advise Ines to untie Aztimor. If Ines had to pick a romantic rival from among his harem, he would nominate his secretary, Mona.

He had always treated his harem members fairly—most of them, anyway. Veronica’s tsundere side, Vera’s warm disposition, Kristen’s gentleness and generosity... They each held an irreplaceable place in his heart. Only two of them, Ana and Mona, occupied a tiny bit more space than the rest.

He adored his white moonlight and chief sex-paying officer.

“Adventurer,” said the pale ‘Aztimor’, doing her best to slander the real goddess, “Your one and only goddess is imprisoned in the abyss by me. I am Aztimor, the Goddess of Death. Death stands for cold ruthlessness, betrayal, injustice, and unreliability. If you want me to change my mind and release your goddess, I advise you not to waste your time.”

Wayne nodded. That was exactly how Aztimor was supposed to behave in Ines’s script. He turned to Anastasia, wondering what her lines would be.

Anastasia smiled softly. “I’m a devil with no self-respect. I represent envy, lust, and deceit. I’m a source of corruption for pure love and the number one enemy of the Divine Realm of Darkness.”

Nonsense. Envy, Lust, and Deceit? They aren’t even fit to carry your shoes as your servants!

Even if the accusation is true, I still like you!

Wayne made a heart with his hands, beaming. The moment Anastasia spoke, he turned into mush.

At that moment, the air trembled, and boundless darkness stirred violently at the edge of the starry cosmos.

“Ahem!” Wayne held two fingers together like a blade and schooled his expression into a fierce scowl, glaring daggers at Aztimor, who was standing beside Anastasia. “Goddess of Death, your crimes are beyond clemency. Today, in the name of the Goddess of Darkness, I shall... subdue you!”

With that, a greatsword of Darkness energy manifested in his hands. He charged straight at ‘Aztimor’.

“...” x2

Briar and Kaya remained frozen until the battle between Wayne and ‘Aztimor’ escalated to the point that the earth itself was shattering. Bewildered, they turned to the expressionless Vichy.

“Knight Vichy, why... these two?” Briar didn’t know where to even begin. She tried her best to find the right words. “The Holy Maiden is the goddess’s representative on earth, and Wayne just said that the goddess knew about her. She shouldn’t be here.”

Kaya chimed in, “Exactly. It’s the same for the Goddess of Death. From what I know, She and the goddess are on good terms. Why would they suddenly...”

Turn against each other?

Vichy was silent for a moment, then she said with a trace of envy, “Lady Holy Maiden holds a special place in Wayne’s heart. That’s all I’d say. I suggest you stop asking questions.”

Because of her loyalty, she was relieved that she had not become an obstacle in her goddess’s pursuit of love and attracted Her ire, but a twisted part of her craved to be disliked by her goddess as an obstacle.

She was conflicted.

Much like when Ines was cyberbullying her, Vichy was deeply wounded by the malice her goddess expressed, yet Her quiet jealousy also made Vichy’s heart soar. She felt like she could die happy at that moment.

Briar and Kaya came to an understanding. They watched Wayne swing his sword from the back, speechless. They couldn’t believe that this bastard would place the Holy Maiden above the goddess. He had to be wrong in the head.

Forget the Dream Gods standing in line in the temple; the Holy Maiden of Darkness would be his to claim as long as he made the goddess happy. Even they, the two subordinate gods...

Bah, in short, the question of who was more important should be a freebie. Why would anyone get it wrong?

The two subordinate gods didn’t understand. Considering the cost-effectiveness, the goddess would obviously take precedence over the Holy Maiden. Wayne was such a bad boy that he would know the right answer. He had no reason to pick the Holy Maiden and anger the goddess.

Unless... the Holy Maiden was just another part of the two degenerates’ elaborate roleplay, just like Briar and Kaya had been.

Briar pondered the question but couldn’t make sense of it. “What about the Goddess of Death? Why is She here? Is She in the goddess’s way, too?”

The word ‘rival’ surfaced in her mind.

Kaya held her breath and covered her mouth with a hand, not daring to make a sound. Death and Darkness as romantic rivals? That was some juicy gossip, so much so that the juice could drown her.

She was terrified, but she wanted to hear more.

Vichy went silent for another moment. Then she said quietly, “If you know, you know. These are things that cannot be put into words. I think you’ve already figured it out. Yes, it’s exactly as you think.”

As an afterthought, she added, “Keep it to yourself and don’t go around spreading the gossip. You can’t handle it—physically, I mean.”

Briar and Kaya nodded. Watching Wayne wield his sword, their beautiful eyes gleamed. They were curious: just what kind of man was he that two goddesses would fall for him? That they would go as far as fighting over him?

Soon, their curiosity crumbled, replaced by dejection. They watched gloomily as Wayne gained the upper hand against the Goddess of Death in a duel, while ignoring the Holy Maiden of Darkness. No matter how Anastasia attacked him, he took every hit without retaliating or defending himself. In fact, when Anastasia’s attack went wide, he would step into the range of attack.

This wasn’t a battle, but flirting!

Bastard, you’re here to propose to the goddess. She’s watching from Her room!

Briar and Kaya felt a chill run down their spines, sensing a furious gaze boring into their backs. They seemed to hear a silent demand emphasizing that their last chance at redemption was right before them—were they going to act or not?

A wave of sorrow rose in Briar’s heart. Being a subordinate to this pair of degenerates was hard. She glared at Kaya and said, “Avenger, you’re stronger than me. You go first.”

Bah, how gracious of you! Kaya glared back, drawing the broadsword on her back with a trembling hand. She looked at her target. She didn’t plan to free Wayne from Anastasia’s charm. She was going to cut her longtime colleague down first.

Vichy quietly stepped back, worried that blood would get on her face.

The two subordinate gods stared at each other for a while and read each other’s choice. This path didn’t lead to salvation, but doom. If they dared seduce the goddess’s lover, they would have no place in the Divine Realm. The goddess had posed the question to warn them to stay away from Wayne like their lives depended on it, unless the goddess gave Her explicit permission.

Only what your god gives you will be yours; you will not take what your god hasn’t given you. In this Divine Realm, you each have your place. The order must not be challenged.

The realization calmed them down. Through the infinite darkness, they saw a ray of hope for their future.

As members of the adventuring party, they couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. Briar shot Kaya a look, which she received loud and clear. One of them charged in with her sword, and the other applied a buff to her. Between the two bosses, they made for Anastasia.

A Holy Maiden fighting for a man with her goddess... It was absurd, but that didn’t matter. It was time for them to prove their loyalty!

Bam!

Wayne punched Kaya in the chest and knocked her back for shamelessly sneaking up on them, while taking a blast of Darkness from his white moonlight in the back. He staggered slightly. When he turned around, he bared his teeth in pain.

Anastasia had not yet lost control of her expression. At the sight of him, her beautiful eyes turned misty, showing how much her heart ached for him.

When Ines did it, it was manipulative; when his white moonlight did it, it was heart-warming. Wayne drank in the show and felt every pore on his body cry out in bliss.

Their flirtatious glances caused the dark cosmos to tremble. In that moment, Anastasia lost even the ability to control her expression. Right before losing her autonomy completely, she gave Wayne a playful wink, telling him to satisfy the petty goddess however he could.

He was one step away from having the goddess; he should do everything in his power to make Her happy.

Wayne breathed in nonexistent air. A dark mist surged in his eyes as he dispersed the Authority of the Divine Realm of Darkness with his absolute control over his vassals, forcibly taking over the bodies and thoughts of Anastasia and ‘Aztimor’.

That was enough to immobilize them. Then Wayne confiscated their weapons.

Anastasia had a faint smile on her face, while Ines’s partial thoughts, disguised as Aztimor, gave Wayne a wink. The sight was most grating to Ines.

It was also grating to Kaya. She had essentially interrupted the violent flirting between the three parties and earned herself a punch for no good reason. She glared at Briar. If not for her teammate’s nonsense, the punch wouldn’t have landed on her.

Briar ignored the glare. So you took a punch. So what? Without that, how would we demonstrate our loyalty to the goddess?

Kaya should thank her for securing the greatest return at the smallest cost.

Having subdued the two demonesses, Wayne rubbed his hands together instinctively, only managing to school his expression when he remembered that he was supposed to be a righteous hero.

“Speak, you two elegant, gorgeous, wicked women. Where have you imprisoned my only goddess?”

Dark mist stirred in the starry sky, followed by a faint snort of displeasure.

‘Aztimor’ looked at Wayne with alluring eyes and said slowly, “The embodiment of compassion, justice, tolerance, wisdom, and purity, the great Goddess of Darkness, is currently in the Heart of Supreme Darkness of the twelfth level. Adventurer, have you gathered the two treasures needed to awaken Her?”

“Of course,” Wayne said solemnly. “I’ve endured untold hardships and risked my life to overcome trial after trial to gather the treasures.”

His eyes didn’t look solemn, though. He alternated between winking at Ines and shooting flirtatious looks at Anastasia. He didn’t look like someone here to propose.

“Very well. Your one and only goddess awaits you.”

The fake Aztimor’s eyes glowed with black light. The black castle of all evil crumbled at once, revealing a passage to the twelfth level.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine roses, a ring, and Wayne. The person and the items required to awaken the goddess had assembled. The conditions were met. It was time to set out for the Heart of Supreme Darkness.

Wayne took a step forward and found no one following him. He looked back. Everyone had vanished, including Vichy and the two subordinate gods.

His mouth twitched. Realization dawned on him. Without looking back, he vanished from the Abyss of Dark Stars and strode into the twelfth level with conviction.