Chapter 125
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: The End of the Wait
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"Eh...?"
I was stunned.
"Eh?!"
Nesneria rejoiced.
Her petite frame was still small by nature, but...
That appearance could no longer be called a child's, leaving both her and me speechless for a moment.
Suddenly, the little girl next door had become a full-grown woman gazing back at me—a sight both mystical and perilously alluring.
"What... what in the world is this...?"
As the top student in the Hero's Forest, where we'd studied every godly mishap and round-the-clock hero pursuits, even I knew next to nothing about nymph biology.
I'd just vaguely assumed they aged slowly, watching Neri stay youthful while I grew older.
I never imagined she'd sprout up like this right before my eyes.
"Wow! Dianes! Look at me! I've finally grown!"
"Y-yeah, sure..."
The most striking change was her flawless, snow-white skin.
Her beautifully flushed shoulders and arms looked impossibly soft.
Her hair, grown in an instant, draped like a gown, swaying gently over her body.
Yet even that couldn't hide those subtly ripe fruits.
Impudently comparing, they were a touch smaller than the one woman and one goddess I'd held so far.
But peeking through her damp locks with such quiet presence... it was utterly devastating.
Above all, her blemish-free white legs—I hadn't touched them, but imagining their smoothness and silkiness was beyond me.
Like a soft white wave turned woman, smiling at me.
"Ahahaha! My eye level's so high! The sink's low! Wow~ my legs are long! I can touch the ceiling!"
Even stretching her legs in wonder, wiggling her elongated fingers and toes like a child, blended with her new form—it stirred not cuteness, but dangerous allure.
The fragility of when that innocence might shatter, heart-poundingly precarious.
Yet when that innocence crumbled and the peril vanished, something lurked that I quietly anticipated.
As shocked as she was by her sudden change, I bit my lip silently, speechless.
"Dianes?"
"...Yeah?"
Even her voice had flipped 180 degrees—the tomboyish squeak gone, replaced by a clear, sweet timbre tickling my ears.
My inner turmoil deepened.
"What's wrong?"
"Uh, well, you see..."
This rollercoaster development left me forgetting my age and composure, stammering helplessly.
My bratty little princess had vanished, replaced by a kingdom-toppling beauty captivating my gaze.
Sensing my odd vibe, Nesneria's eyes—sparkling with surprise and joy—shifted in an instant.
They were the eyes I knew well: a hunter spotting prey.
"Heh, heh, heh..."
"Neri?"
"I'm not Neri anymore."
What was this now?
Neri spouting nonsense wasn't new.
But declaring it proudly, chest thrust out in that form... I slyly turned my head.
"What? Why avert your eyes?"
"No, it's just..."
Just a minute ago, looking at the cute kid sparked nothing beyond fondness.
Now she'd grown in a blink, naked before me—I couldn't look.
"Ahem, anyway, you're not Neri anymore. Little Neri's gone! I'm Nesneria.
Daughter of Oceanus, sister to Amphitrite, Queen of the Seas."
Still draped in hair, she bobbed excitedly, introducing herself.
Each tap of her jade fingers to her chest made the white flesh flicker through shifting strands—I couldn't face it directly, head still turned.
Mesmerized by the goddess before me, yet conflicted that it was Neri, my mind spun like a flustered boy's.
"...Got it?"
"Got it, got it. First, put on some clothes..."
"Why clothes...?"
Damn.
This princess had seen through me ages ago.
Our dynamic was always thus:
She charges ahead excitedly, I chase after; delighted, she grabs my hand again, pulling me along.
Even now, she—Neri, no, Nesneria—knew I was in her grasp.
"Listen, Black Hero. Don't you get it? I'm not little Neri anymore. That's what I'm saying."
True to princess form.
The moment she seized control, she savored my fluster, whispering sweetly.
"This is my palace, my domain. The deep-sea realm allowed only for me and my mate.
Just you and me here..."
-Splash, splash...
One word, one step.
Light footsteps approaching me, eyes closed.
When I slowly opened them...
There stood Nesneria, right before me, gazing down at me in the tub.
Those once-bright, innocent eyes now gleamed viscous navy, fixed on me.
Her white hand swept back silvery hair like a stage curtain, revealing the stunning feminine form beneath.
A lusciously curved body.
Under the pale light, the abyss's fruits gleamed temptingly sweet, like forbidden apples.
Untouchable, yet inevitably grasped—the epitome of taboo.
And below those white fruits, a sanctuary no hand had dared invade.
Comparing it to sculpture or doll would be blasphemy.
Like the white waves that birthed her, those modest breasts rose gently with ragged breath,
And that slender waist, a delight to merely behold—if my patience faltered even slightly, I'd have embraced her then.
"Well? Am I beautiful?"
"...Yes."
Was it shedding the prophecy's burden?
Or simply holding back all this time?
Stripped of innocence, revealing her true colors, Nesneria was perilously beautiful.
Ever stared blankly at an endless whirlpool?
Beyond violent white froth, a deep abyss seducing the gaze?
Shuddered at the dizzying lure threatening to pull you in?
A Nereid nymph's temptation was that whirlpool.
Dangerously alluring, yet swallowing its desired prey only to sink calmly, breathing peacefully.
And I gladly chose to be that sacrifice, hurling myself into the vortex.
New, joyful, delightful.
Gazing at her incomparably sleek new form, Nesneria brimmed with utter joy.
The moment she'd longed for, awaited so long—Pontus had blessed her, transforming her body perfectly.
And this wasn't mere self-confidence.
'Heh heh heh...'
Even the stone-faced Dianes was speechless, flustered at her change.
He'd always softened around her, but watching him with that redhead showed he dominated romance as fiercely as battle.
Forest nymphs said Atalanta challenged him like a mad war dog from their first meeting.
By her arrival, the redhead was hopelessly smitten, not daring to challenge her.
'She even mocked me as a child!'
Not openly with Dianes watching, but those sly smirks whenever together had irked Nesneria fiercely.
Still, their truce over his nights owed to the redhead underestimating her childish looks—no real grounds for complaint.
Now that childish burden was gone, and tonight's cradle was prepared solely for her.
Nothing blocked her now but the stammering hero before her.
'Still so big.'
No matter her growth, Dianes towered over her.
Yet why?
Even as she approached, his flushed face stayed eyes-shut, signaling their dynamic slowly reversing.
'Let me see... like this?'
Nereid nymphs infuse power into their voices.
Hers whispered guidance—the siren's call luring lost sailors on vast oceans.
"Well? Am I beautiful?"
His dark eyes met hers slowly, filling with pure awe and thick desire.
Nesneria felt emotions surging through her chest like a tide.
It was surely love.
Not a child's fresh crush, but the sticky, sweet eros led by Aphrodite.
"...Yes."
As Dianes, unable to resist, reached out and embraced her...
Her long wait had finally ended in ecstasy.