Chapter 109
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Even Demons are Captivated
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Even demons are captivated.
-Clang!
The goddess of that deep, deep river had bound a contract in her own name, intertwining it with my heart and Artemis's.
This made it the second time I'd sworn an oath on the River Styx.
It felt a bit disconcerting that I'd already done something even gods rarely attempt twice over, but there was no safer or more certain vow than this.
I'll just think of it as the most secure and reliable way to seal a contract and move on.
"Th-that..."
"What?"
"Wh-what happened to my, my hunters?"
"Oh? Those girl scouts?"
Just moments ago, as I played Artemis's body like an instrument, crafting and performing an unparalleled masterpiece with my own hands, I'd even considered bringing a few spectators along.
I wondered what kind of reaction they'd have if they saw their leader, the guardian of all virgins, writhing in a man's grasp, fawning like a whore.
Such a sordid scenario held some appeal, but the fewer who knew about something like this, the better.
Besides, killing them off would only invite unnecessary trouble later, so I'd left them to frolic in the woods for now.
"Relax. No one died, and no one saw anything."
When I'd clashed with Artemis spear-to-spear earlier, I'd infused my divine demonic energy into every step and spear thrust, subtly distorting the space around us.
Creating a true sanctuary was still beyond me, but twisting the structure within an artificial space like this turned out to be surprisingly easy.
"Once I leave, the distortion should lift, and your hunters will come swarming back in no time."
At the very least, those hunting dogs bred by Pan, the god of shepherds, seemed to have excellent noses and stamina.
I might ask for one if the chance arises.
My hunts had mostly been against humans, but seeing Actaeon commanding his pack in perfect formation to hunt wolves made regular game sound pretty fun too.
In any case, it was time to bring this long night to a close.
I extended my hand to Artemis once more, with my usual gentle smile.
"Let's get along from now on. When I call you?"
"Kuh...! Anytime, anywhere, I'll come to you... I get it, all right...?"
Artemis glared at me, grinding her teeth.
But she probably had no idea.
That she was already beginning to accept me, bit by bit.
The nectar she'd taken into her mouth and swallowed was the wine I'd offered her.
And the cloak wrapped tightly around her body was one I'd fashioned from my own divine power and draped over her.
Her eyes and mouth still professed resistance and rejection, but her body had already grown to naturally welcome my touch. That fact satisfied me greatly.
The dark male desires I'd never show to Atalanta or Nesneria.
No matter who I was, I wasn't beast enough to unleash such filthy cravings on the lover and disciple I truly cherished.
Yet the one bearing them in my stead was none other than the goddess of chastity herself, Artemis.
This was luxury beyond luxury.
"Shall we cap off tonight and part ways?"
"Cap off? What do you- Mmph!?"
-Chuup!
Artemis's hands were clutching the cloak I'd given her, leaving her unable to push me away.
Her lips, softened by countless moans and climaxes, were warm like freshly baked bread, moist and sweet like fruit brimming with thick juice.
But what satisfied me most was that, unlike before, the moment our lips met, her tongue reached out to entwine with mine.
"Hng... Hnngh!"
-Churp, chuup!
From her mouth came the fragrance of the nectar she'd just drunk, mingled with the aroused moans of a woman enraptured.
Her eyes, which she'd strained to glare at me, melted away in an instant like she'd fallen under hypnosis, fluttering helplessly.
Like a desert wanderer throwing himself into an oasis, Artemis kissed me back eagerly as if parched, slowly leaning her body against mine.
'The effect is almost too good.'
That's the nature of desire.
If you'd indulged in every pleasure from the start and then felt the vanity of it all to escape, that'd be one thing.
Foolish souls who deem desire and affliction as wrong, something to reject and ignore, end up falling in an instant at the slightest trigger.
'Right now, she'll insist it's just the poison's fault, that she was caught off guard with a sneak attack.'
Seeing this goddess of chastity crumble so quickly from a single kiss made me look forward immensely to the day she'd cast off her divine karma of her own accord.
-Chup!
"Haa... ha...?"
As I slowly pulled my lips away, light returned to Artemis's eyes, as if waking from hypnosis.
At the sight, my member-which had only twitched busily all night-raised its head once more.
"Ah, no. Th-this is... Wh-what did I...?"
Her pink tongue, dripping with saliva in regretful longing, tempted me once more amid her aroused sighs.
Yet her sharp beauty flailed about in disbelief, a stark contrast to that lascivious display.
The gap drove me even deeper into affliction.
...Screw the plans and calculations-just take care of business?
'I'm the Heavenly Demon, aren't I? And I'm supposed to hold back and wait on a craving like this?
You call yourself the lord of the demonic path? Might as well shave your head and join a temple.'
'Shut up! It's not time yet! The goddess of chastity who pines so desperately from a mere kiss.
Doesn't it turn you on more when she spreads her legs herself and offers her purity?'
'...Your words ring most true, and this humble servant offers utmost respect!'
...Nectar truly is the king of poisons.
Just the intoxication exchanged in a kiss was enough to turn a person's mind into this mess.
I shook my head to chase away the noisy, unidentified fiends chattering in my skull and lifted my gaze.
"Y-you... you tricked me again with some scheme...!"
"Tricked you? Me? Really?"
Was it really some scheme of mine?
I grinned and kicked off the ground.
-Taht!
"Keep the cloak if you want, or toss it if you don't~"
"Of c-course I'll burn it to ashes without a trace left! You too! That arrogance will bring you defeat, and your life will end by my ha-"
As Artemis and I parted rapidly, the spatial distortion lifted in an instant.
At the same moment, her hunters streamed past from the forest below my feet, converging on their master in perfect formation.
"Hm. A space worthy of being called a sanctuary."
Raising my head slightly to survey the surroundings.
Beneath the bright crescent moon, an endless forest stretched out in all directions.
No matter where I looked, only moonlight brighter than sunlight and trees met my eyes.
"Let's see... this should do it, roughly."
There are usually two ways to break an array: infer its form and flow, then reverse-engineer the dismantling.
Or simply obliterate the array's core with overwhelming force.
Of course, this was a space crafted by a goddess, so it might differ, but I'd already roughly deduced its mechanism.
Artemis had created this place and drawn me in.
A space born from the goddess of the crescent moon.
And considering the medium she'd used to wield it like an extension of her limbs, its core boiled down to two things.
Herself, and her avatar: the crescent moon in the sky.
"Since it's the finale, might as well go out with a bang."
I'd ascended to the realm of ultimate demonic arts, gaining the power of a demigod.
And on this monumental day when I'd made a lofty, beautiful goddess from myth moan desperately in her fall.
The ending deserved to be just as spectacular.
-Pang!
Bursting the air, I shot toward the crescent moon.
At the same moment, black divine power and demonic energy intertwined in my hands, forming a single spear.
-Fwooooosh!
A massive storm of demonic energy enveloped me, growing fiercer the closer I drew to the moon, resembling a black meteor.
To distort the moon and tear the sky, it called for a technique worthy of the occasion.
"Mad winds rage in all directions, twisting flowers and moon alike."
The demonic spear of winds that shatters mountains and parts seas.
Mad Wind Shredding Horn Spear, Seventh Form.
"Flower Moon Brush."
-Kwaaaaang!!
The ultimate technique of the Mad Wind Divine Spear I'd used in my final clash with Chiron last time.
The spear of raging winds that twisted even flowers and moon shattered the celestial crescent and brought it crashing to earth.
-Shatter!
With a sound like breaking glass, the crescent moon struck directly by the Flower Moon Brush fragmented.
Beyond the shattered stained glass of the sky, the original full moon revealed itself.
[Nenooom!!]
Turning at the roar thundering through my mind.
There was Artemis, snarling furiously at her hunters who'd seized her, her eyes filled with resentment like she'd been discarded after a one-night stand.
[In my space! How dare you to me, to my avatar!!]
"Hahaha! It's not a technique to show off lightly, but you can brag about it for life!
You saw it-the Shredding Horn Spear of the Mad Wind Divine Spear triumphed over the moon!"
To ensure no one suspected Artemis had fallen under my hand and into depravity.
Like a villain taunting his foe at the battle's end before fleeing, I burst into laughter and leaped toward the full moon.
-Fwoong!
"Oh!"
Some pressure difference between inside and out? My eyes fluttered open amid the same stuffy sensation as boarding a plane.
I was slowly descending through the pitch-black sky beneath the moon.
Mount Taigetus loomed faintly in the distance, while the vast Mediterranean and the neatly divided Hero's Forest spread out below.
But what startled me was the thick spiritual energy carried on the fierce winds.
"Whoa... is the air-no, the natural energy-this dense?"
Natural energy.
The ambient qi pervading the world like air itself.
From Pasos onward, I'd marveled at how the Ghostless Heart Art let me absorb it as efficiently as spirit pills, confirming this was truly the Mythic Age.
But with my senses sharpened further upon reaching ultimate demonic realm, it felt like swimming through water.
"Looks like training my ultimate demonic arts and perfecting the Reverse Heaven Art won't take as long as I thought."
Along with that, the advanced demonic arts of the cult I'd yet to master, and the divine arts of the Nine Phantoms I'd memorized as a hobby.
The thought of imprinting these far more potent martial techniques into this body filled me with anticipation.
Operating the Vast Shadow Veil, I glided silently and landed precisely on my room's terrace.
"I've come to fully see this place as my own room before I knew it."
The comfort of home.
I gave a wry smile but headed to the bath to wash up first.
-Splashhhh!
"Phew... this is its own ordeal."
I'd momentarily forgotten amid the intoxicating situation of toying with the goddess of chastity, Artemis, as I pleased.
Having reached the ultimate demonic realm meant a mountain of martial arts to learn ahead, training schedules, and preparations based on a hypothesis that had occurred to me.
But for today, rest.
Above all, I needed to calm my raging lower half.
"Phew... this is driving me mad. Seriously mad."
Every time I circulated my demonic arts to subdue my erect clone.
The hot, soft depths of the goddess reviving at my fingertips, her chaste body lewdly dancing at my slightest touch-it all flickered in my mind.
I wanted to turn back right now and ravish Artemis in plain view of her hunters, over and over.
I'd thought ascending to ultimate demonic realm had hardened both body and mind.
Yet the obscene dance of her pure white form and the desperate moans from lips no man had tasted had planted profound affliction in me too.
'Last time over the mountains into the city, I saw a brothel run by Aphrodite's followers. For now, maybe head there...?'
-Splaaaash!
Was I drunk on nectar, or on the vision of that chaste yet lewd goddess? My mind raced with every wild thought.
As Mara’s agent, I'd begun corrupting a goddess like a devil.
But perhaps I too had been captivated by the sight she'd shown.
Moons have long been said to hold a bewitching allure.
"Which is why I'm all the more eager for the day she throws herself into my arms of her own will."
Cooling my throbbing clone and heated body with cold water, I closed my eyes in anticipation of that coming day.
Was it my imagination?
Beyond my drooping eyelids, it seemed a white wave flickered faintly.