Chapter 159
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: A Gift for the Warrior
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I felt like my breath caught in my throat the moment I stepped into the room.
They say even someone wrapped in a shabby sackcloth can be beautiful.
It was unmistakably Atalanta, draped flawlessly in a loose, baggy blanket that hid every curve of her body, utterly unremarkable at first glance.
Yet the glimpse of her stunning beauty peeking through, illuminated by the soft moonlight, made it feel like I was staring at a scene from a masterpiece painting.
Even as she tried to compose her expression, the embarrassment and shame seeping out under the moonlight held a magic that captivated a man's gaze more than any makeup in the world.
My heart pounded like it couldn't keep up with the night, but I steadied my breathing and stepped further into the room.
"You did great today."
"Eh?! Uh, y-yeah..."
How pitiful men are.
Just this morning, I'd spent a passionate night with my lovely lover until dawn, and now here I was, my heart racing fiercely at yet another temptation. I couldn't help but let out a wry smile.
I had no right to call Zeus or Poseidon philanderers.
"Hm..."
"..."
But contrary to my feelings, Atalanta had shrunk back like a deer caught in a trap.
No matter that she'd lived her whole life as Artemis's daughter—no woman in this forest, where moans of men and women echoed day and night regardless of indoors or out, could misunderstand the meaning of a woman visiting a man's room first at night.
The sporty beauty from a shonen manga, always so vibrant and full of energy, had come here clearly for that purpose and was now shrinking in embarrassment?
I had to admit those idiots who'd risked their lives racing for girls charmed by women.
If you could see that shy face in the bedroom at night...
Yeah, it was worth staking your life on.
I'd casually floated a small table with drinks at my waist, and now I approached her side like one might a captured wild animal, sitting carefully on the bed beside her.
-Flinch!
As the bed dipped lightly under my weight, Atalanta jolted like a startled cat, her shoulders twitching.
That gesture carried a faint rose scent tickling my nose.
It was surely the subtle aroma of rose perfume, occasionally crafted by Aphrodite's daughters and sold in markets.
I'd heard it was so complex and expensive to make that outside the forest, the price was whatever they demanded.
Whether here or there, they sure love rose scents.
Come to think of it, my first night with Nerí had been chaos because of rose perfume too.
The vivid, hilarious memory of that day was still a fond one.
"Atalanta?"
"Y-yeah?"
A night starting with the same rose scent.
But the situations were complete opposites.
Nerí—no, Nesneria—who was usually bright as a child, had actively set traps to seduce me.
Atalanta, always so bold and tomboyish, had come to me first, yet now she was stiff as a board, trembling like a scared kitten at every word and gesture of mine.
And just earlier, I'd seen her beating the princes and demigods to a pulp—ones who'd clumsily tried to court her while sharing drinks with her warriors—without mercy.
That bold warrior woman was now cowering before me like a fragile maiden, igniting the dark conquest desires of any man.
...Just pounce?
A wicked whisper slithered past my ear from my inner demon, but I quickly smashed its head and quietly disposed of the body.
I wasn't Zeus or Poseidon; if it were some playboy ploy, maybe, but I couldn't just skip everything and pounce because a woman was right there.
There's plenty to talk about anyway.
Icebreaker, right?
Atalanta was so tense she needed her shoulders loosened up.
Conveniently, I had things to discuss, so I poured some wine and handed her a glass.
"Here, have a drink first."
"Th-thank youuu..."
As I poured and offered the glass, Atalanta peeked her head out and took it.
Thirsty as she seemed, she gulped it down in a flash, and just as I worried she'd choke from drinking too fast...
"Ack?! *Cough cough*!"
"Hey, easy there!"
My concern was spot on—Atalanta started coughing violently from the wine going down wrong.
"S-sorry... *Cough*!"
"Sorry my foot. Drink some water."
With a gesture, clear water filled her empty glass.
To be precise, ambient moisture had gathered and condensed into water, but to Atalanta's wide eyes, it looked like magic.
"Wh-whoa?!"
"Careful not to spill."
At my reminder, she snapped to attention and sipped the water carefully.
Only then did her rigid shoulders visibly relax.
Nerí had even calculated her early mistakes meticulously.
Atalanta, who seemed ready for physical battles day or night, tensing and relaxing over the smallest things—it was refreshingly novel.
Like a fierce beast that would never be tamed yielding to my touch—an odd but satisfying feeling.
Wow...
But that pleasant mood shattered in an instant.
From her intense coughing, the blanket had slipped, dark wine stains soaked it, revealing her voluptuous figure—and my inner demon, whose head I'd cracked, was slyly reviving.
I never thought she'd look sexier dressed than naked...
The zombie demon's whisper nearly made me yank the blanket off, but I smashed its skull again.
Honestly, at this point I questioned why I was holding back, but hold back I did.
"Um, hey. About today..."
"You were amazing today."
Thankfully, I wasn't some virgin, and we had endless topics—especially for today—so I hurried to open the conversation.
"...What?"
"I was worried if you could handle it alone, but that worry was unfounded."
Honestly, Atalanta's growth was a deeply moving event for me.
The Fighting Demon Art of the Boundless Fighting Demon, so rare even in the martial world that finding successors was hard due to its uniqueness.
Atalanta had deciphered it alone, forged her own path, and reached the pinnacle.
The joy of the woman I'd raised pioneering new heights of the Fighting Demon Art that even countless martial prodigies couldn't digest—it was a pride no master could trade.
"And you formed an army with your own strength, led it brilliantly. Facing that massive disaster head-on, charging ahead..."
It was truly, utterly beautiful.
That faint yet blazing red shooting star.
The echo of my past lives blooming in this mythic age through my hands—it had flowered so gorgeously, so beautifully.
So dazzlingly beautiful that anyone would fall for it.
"As your master, I should give you a reward..."
"A reward?"
Not for some fresh demigod Dianes.
A reward that beautifully recalled the great, mighty, yet once-lonely past me.
"What should I do for you? How about a new martial art? You've reached the pinnacle now—awakened your aura as a warrior. You should learn how to wield it."
Heracles was on another level, not even qualifying as Heavenly Martial Body—I couldn't gauge how to handle him.
He shaped battle aura—something only Aura Realm masters could do—like dough with his spear and swung it like a hammer, lightning attribute intact. It made me stick out my tongue; the bloodline showed.
Yet he got mad at me for not teaching him, so I'd been dodging him even at today's feast.
A newbie, but not just any newbie—a total cheat-class scammer clinging as a "newbie." It was creepy.
"But you're different."
In myths, there's no tragic princess who raced suitors for her hand, only to become a beast due to her husband's amnesia after marriage.
Atalanta had sublimated my teachings, even altering her own fate—Theseus could learn from her.
"How about this? Want to become Greece's first queen of a great kingdom?"
Atalanta wasn't just a warrior.
She'd been abandoned, then taken in, rising by my hand to walk on her own as a martial artist.
In her eyes, head held high and back straight, I saw the clear flames of ambition rising.
"Queen...?"
"Yes, queen. Arcadia's fertile lands are in ruins from the king's incompetence and the royals' corruption."
Because of their sin of discarding you, no less.
My arm was now around her waist, gently slipping off the blanket covering her face.
"You have the qualities to revive that barren kingdom as a great sovereign. I'm sure of it."
"R-really...?"
Of course.
Hell, better than my past life's idiot self.
Who was so strong he couldn't even look beside him.
"Plus, who knows—I'm still exploring it myself, but..."
"...?"
"If you keep advancing endlessly, and one day step into the same realm as me."
She might ascend to divinity too.
In this Greece, a Greek hero reaching godhood through her own power, without blessings or guidance from gods.
"What...?"
Her eyes, greedily shining with ambition and desire, suddenly went blank.
Well, can you blame her?
"Hard to believe, maybe, but with the teachings you've learned and the wisdom I'll impart, it's entirely possible."
Isn't martial arts precisely for powerless humans to reach gods and demons?
In this mythic age where heavenly principles are open to humans, for a martial artist like Atalanta, the Aura Realm or Transcendent Realm rivaling godhood weren't distant at all.
"This is the reward I'm giving you."
The essence of humanity that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult always craved and revered.
The relentless ferocity of humans in endless strife and struggle, seizing what they desire.
For this beautiful martial artist who'd wrested her realm from fierce battle with herself—what reward could suit her better than a goddess's throne?
"..."
"..."
Before I knew it, Atalanta had nestled into my arms along my hand at her waist, her excited heart pounding against my chest like it might burst.
Her red eyes, filled with passion, gazed at me wordlessly.
-Rustle.
With a soft sound, the blanket wrapped around her body slowly fell away.
But before I could savor the gift revealed under the moonlight, Atalanta lunged at me.
The moon was bright, the lips sweet.
And the moment we embraced each other—it was scorching hot, intensely passionate.