Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: A Princess's Rejection and Ambush
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A brilliant blue sky.
Fluffy white clouds.
And beneath them, a vast expanse of grassland stretching out endlessly.
It was a refreshing sight that could make anyone's chest feel wide open just by looking at it...
But at this moment, watching it all, my insides were anything but cool.
'Man... I never thought I'd hear something like that in my life...'
The utterly out-of-left-field "Please have sex with me!" I'd just heard from Princess Solomon.
If it were my human self, I probably would've bowed and accepted her request without a second thought.
Objectively speaking, how could anyone turn down an incredible beauty—a virgin princess of a nation—offering to spend the night?
But that's just the old human me...
To the current me, her request wasn't the least bit appealing. If anything, it only stirred up disgust.
'Well... she probably doesn't actually like me or anything. She's just saying that for some reason.'
Even now, Arcroyal was gushing about how I looked like a heavenly miracle or the most handsome being in the world, but that was only possible because she was an angel with some bizarre brain filter.
By human standards, my Seraphim form was straight-up cosmic horror monster material, no matter how you sliced it.
And that was at over 100 meters tall—like a literal skyscraper.
The fact that she could even think of that while looking at me like this left me utterly dumbfounded.
Of course, I could understand there being some "strategic intent" behind it.
Historically, marrying into power for security under the guise of politics was perfectly natural.
Or, given this was a fantasy or mythic world, maybe she wanted my seed to bear a powerful demigod... like Hercules or Perseus.
But still, for her to hit on someone with my appearance...
Her patriotism must be off the charts. Or maybe she was the type who didn't care about looks at all.
Anyway, aside from the bewilderment I felt as the person involved,
I shot down her proposal flat-out.
For one, I had no idea if this body even produced seed,
but more importantly, I just didn't like forced relationships for political reasons.
Relationships between men and women without love were meaningless.
As someone who believed only "pure love"—built on genuine affection—held true value, I had zero intention of playing along with something so transparently calculated.
Unlike my human days, I didn't have any raging lust to cloud my judgment either...
'Well, at least I promised to keep protecting the Kanan Kingdom like before, without any weird nonsense...'
Setting aside the political marriage talk, from my perspective, backing the Kanan Kingdom—and now the Moabmon Alliance that had pledged to serve me—was beneficial in many ways.
Of course, that didn't mean I'd go around massacring innocents myself, as I'd told Arcroyal before—that wasn't my style as an angel.
But providing "minor assistance" for victories like this? Yeah, I'd keep doing that.
I still had no info on the heaven I sought.
However, thanks to the "prayers" they offered, I was getting a better grasp on this world's info and its humans.
More crucially, it gave me a step ahead to prepare for the "enemy's" movements I'd glimpsed before.
And one more thing I'd noticed lately:
The more people sincerely prayed to me, the stronger my powers grew, bit by bit.
As Eva had mentioned before, gods grew stronger with more worshippers. That must've been what she meant.
'The one sticking point is... I'm strictly an angel, God's messenger, not a god myself...'
In Christianity, angel worship was forbidden.
Yet here I was, being revered as a god, gathering faith—complete with statues like idol worship and people bowing to them.
It might be blasphemous, going against an angel's very essence.
But honestly, I couldn't judge that easily myself.
Even if the hierarchies were similar, I couldn't be sure their angels and those angels were identical.
For starters, heaven was practically empty now, aside from Arcroyal and me.
If the Absolute God were still around, or if I could sense His influence, that'd be different.
But in heaven or on earth,
I'd never felt any connection to some greater being.
What I did sense, faintly, was a subtle emptiness.
A vague hollowness, like something that should be there had vanished.
Even the humans on earth only knew there had been a creator Absolute God—nothing more in detail.
It was like the president had gone missing, and the prime minister had to rebuild a basically ruined country.
In a situation like this, it was better to act boldly and apologize directly to the Absolute God later if He showed up.
Fumbling around, second-guessing an uncertain existence, and achieving nothing? That wasn't right.
'Once a proper religion takes shape, should I teach about the Absolute God too?... Though it's weird that even I, who receives prayers from humans, get no response from above when I pray to Him...'
Anyway.
A few days passed like this, lost in various thoughts, shaking off the bad mood, and sightseeing the earth since I was already down here.
Around the time I truly felt how my time sense had become excessively lax since becoming an angel, I started thinking it was time to head back to heaven.
But then...
[...Huh?]
*
"Hoo..."
Princess Solomon of the Kanan Kingdom.
A thick shadow had hung over her face these past few days as she rode in her carriage toward an event in the Moabmon Alliance.
Not long ago, the god Seraphim had finally appeared before her in response to her heartfelt prayer.
His form still inspired fear,
but Solomon suppressed those feelings and made her desperate plea.
Take her as his bride,
or at least give her the chance to bear his seed.
Though she'd been rejected once before in a similar situation,
that time had been about serving as a sacrifice—this was entirely different.
There was some pretense of patriotism, but she'd courted Seraphim with all her might.
By looks alone, it might seem insane,
but in this world, transcendent beings like gods having children with humans wasn't rare.
Not just famous gods like the Baal God,
but even some elves had mated with 60-70 meter dragons to lay eggs—so coupling with a similar-sized Seraphim seemed feasible.
However,
Seraphim rejected her "proposal" outright.
As if to say, "What nonsense is this?"
And as a bonus, he told her not to do useless things—just keep things as they were.
This cold rejection naturally left a deep wound in Solomon's heart.
'Useless, huh... Does he really find me that unappealing?'
She was the kingdom's—no, the neighboring countries'—most renowned beauty.
Not just nearby nations, but the elf empire's crown prince, the demon king's third son, even a dragon lord had proposed to her over her looks.
She'd turned them down for various reasons—mostly distance—but through it all, she'd gained absolute confidence in her beauty...
The belief that she could captivate anyone, regardless of race.
For Seraphim to brush off her direct proposal like swatting a bug
put a massive scratch on her diamond-like pride.
But...
Why was this?
Her plan to bear a god's child had crumbled in an instant,
and she'd even heard something she should find offensive.
Yet alongside the sting in Solomon's heart, a completely different emotion began to bloom.
It was a feeling she'd never experienced before...
A strange fluttering in her chest.
For her, who'd only ever heard praise for her looks,
this sensation was utterly fresh.
'A guy like him is a first for me...'
She didn't know why she felt this way.
But one thing was clear:
It added a new layer to the favorable gaze she'd already held toward Seraphim.
'Hmm... Well, it's not like I'm that disappointed. There'll be more chances... For now, I need to gather more detailed info on angelic biology. I failed this time relying too much on looks and a normal approach, but there has to be a way...'
Lost in such thoughts, Solomon unknowingly blushed a little and slyly lifted the corner of her mouth.
At that moment.
-Kaboom!
“!!”
A sudden explosion flipped the carriage.
The strike that tore through special defensive magic like paper
not only overturned the carriage but instantly slaughtered the surrounding guards.
A heavy silence descended on the ruins of the princess's procession.
Then,
a single man slowly descended from the sky.
{Managing your woman so sloppily. That Seraphim or whatever really is nothing special, huh.}
The man leered at the fallen Princess Solomon with a sinister smile.
The next instant, the princess, barely regaining her senses, caught sight of him.
Golden hair, brown skin, clad in ornate armor—a man radiating extraordinary power at first glance.
Solomon instantly recognized who he was.
The king of the Girga Kingdom.
The God of War.
Anumashi.
“Y-You... How did you get here...”
The brother of the Baal God, infamous across the continent for his brutal temperament and atrocities.
Solomon began to tremble at the unexpected appearance of the man she'd glimpsed once at a continental council.
Anumashi casually lifted her body with one hand.
Then, with an intrigued expression, he slowly examined her face.
{Impressive, huh? They said she was the top beauty around here, but it wasn't just talk.}
Anumashi had stolen countless women up to now.
But her beauty surpassed any he'd seen.
His sister Isiris came close, but he saw her as a nagging sow rather than a woman, so Solomon's looks were top-tier for him.
{Heh heh... What a great day. Who knew the bait would turn out to be such a huge catch...}
With that, Anumashi licked his lips and smacked them,
radiating a dark lust anyone could clearly sense...