Chapter 83
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Bratty Eris
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The combat training with Ares had been, for me, an extension of a battle I was all too familiar with.
Martial arts were one of my specialties among specialties, so with the near-universal versatility of my divine demon energy, I had regained almost all of my original prowess. Perfect, even.
Because of that, I secretly felt confident that I could pull off miracles powered by divine force or the so-called magic spells without much trouble.
But...
"What do you mean you can't do it? Like this, just like this!"
"Like this, my ass, you otaku bitch!"
As you can see.
The magic lesson with my two big sisters—one actual sister and one mortal enemy—was hitting a wall.
Eris, flapping her bat wings excitedly as she chewed me out, had a red apple rolling around on her palm, conjured from her divine power.
I tried pouring energy into my hand to mimic it, but all I got was a plain old(?) energy orb.
Even when I threw everything I had into transforming it, the best I could manage was reshaping the round energy orb into something vaguely apple-like.
Seeing that, Eris seized her chance and started gleefully circling me, teasing away.
"Dumbass~ Blockhead~ Crazy dog who only knows how to brawl!"
"...Wouldn't it hurt if that crazy dog bit you? Huh?"
"Oh? You flashing your teeth at your master now? Wanna die?"
"I'm dying to know how you'd kill me. With that apple?"
Eris's apple creation was truly in the realm of miracles.
She drew up her wicked divine power—matching her temperament—onto her palm, and in an instant, the formless energy took on solid shape as an apple.
I'd seen it done countless times, but while my sessions with Ares had crammed in decades' worth of progress, these divine power lessons with my sisters had yielded zilch.
-Wooong!
"Wak!"
"Eek?!"
True to her title as Goddess of Discord, Eris was a master at pulling aggro. The moment I shoved my energy orb at her, she freaked out and bolted far away.
As if distance mattered.
"It's not like this is the first day. Why do you always charge in like that, then freak out every time?"
I casually flung the energy orb into the sky with a whoosh. It shot up in an instant, shining brighter than a full moon before exploding into nothingness.
This had been the state of Eris's so-called miracle lessons lately.
Born a goddess, she performed miracles as easily as breathing, but she struggled to explain the mechanics to me.
Born human, living three lifetimes in total—with my past one reaching the pinnacle of martial arts with qi—I simply couldn't grasp how formless energy sublimated into tangible matter.
"Still, you've definitely improved a lot at transforming qi."
All that effort and time hadn't been for nothing.
Without relying on fire or ice arts, I could now ignite flames or freeze water just by altering the properties of pure qi itself.
The problem? I'd been doing stuff like that for ages anyway.
Back in my wandering days, when I had no flint, I'd spark a fire for a campfire—or skip the fire altogether and roast meat over raw heat.
When the weather got brutally hot and inns tried to gouge extra for ice, I'd freeze well water and hand it out for free just to spite them.
Looking back, it sounded like the antics of some ancient geezer with too much time on his hands.
Point was, even without divine demon energy, physical qi transformations were old hat for me.
"Tch... I even postponed your battlefield trip to come teach you like this..."
"If you're teaching, just teach. Why set up a beating and then whine when you get scared?"
Eris slinked back over, dreamy-eyed, and started grumbling again.
But I couldn't just smack her senseless. The feat she'd shown was in a realm of power I'd never seen.
In my past life, I'd even created and commanded spirit beasts with qi. If I mastered her ability...
I might go beyond mere spirit beasts and truly create something with flesh and blood.
"...What're you thinking so hard about?"
"Ah damn, you startled me."
She'd forgotten her whining about being scared. Eris popped up right above my head, peering down at me.
"Tired? Want sis to make you an apple?"
"...Sigh."
Eris, Goddess of Strife. Virgin of Discord.
Her displayed powers and bewitching allure screamed "goddess," no doubt.
But peel back one layer, and she was an unpredictable thunderbolt of a girl—you never knew how she'd react.
She might be the most Greek-myth-style goddess I'd met, alongside Artemis.
The difference with that crescent-moon fanatic? This one actually wanted to get close to me, in her own way.
She'd tease and prod excitedly, bolt when I growled, then creep back for another round.
And now that I'd started giving her openings, she'd grin and cling to me during every lesson.
"Get off a bit."
"Whyy~ Embarrassed? Your big sis is just comforting her little bro—what's there to be shy about~?"
...Couldn't deny that.
Eris dressed scantily to begin with.
And no matter what she did, her form was pure goddess—enough to draw gasps.
The full, ripe fruits pressing unmistakably against the back of my head. The soft, snowy arms wrapping my neck.
And that intoxicating fragrance tickling my nose like poison.
To a young body fresh from battle-fever, it was lethal.
"Hmm? Weird. Why're you suddenly so meek, little bro?"
"..."
"You like it here? Figures. All guys go crazy for tits, right?"
Something soft and squishy pressed against the back of my head.
No need to look or ask—any man would instinctively know those two fruits.
I quietly shut my mouth.
Couldn't honestly say no.
Since taking this body, had any woman gotten this close?
Neri was too young—whatever her inner feelings, clinging to her felt like playing with a cousin.
Atalanta's body, honed by hunt and martial arts, born of bear and raised wild, thrummed with feral allure beneath her feminine curves.
But Eris? Every scent, every gesture dripped with wicked seduction.
Yet her voice and eyes sparkled with pure interest and affection toward me.
That paradoxical allure tested my restraint.
Smiling innocently like a pure maiden while clinging—yet every move screamed temptress.
No wonder her divine domain was strife and discord.
How many had she pushed to war with smiles and gestures like those?
Me—a man who'd indulged countless women and let precious bonds slip—just a hug had my heart stirring.
Who else but her could claim such an alluring domain as strife and discord?
Anyway, this massive mood-swing thunderbolt of a girl changed whims by the minute.
From the way she was rubbing against me excitedly now, today's lesson was over.
'Another bust today...'
What could I do? If it wasn't working no matter how hard I tried, it just wasn't.
But giving up entirely didn't suit me, so I calmly picked up the apple Eris had shown me today and pondered it closely.
"Hmm...? Little bro?"
Since I stayed still even with her touches, Eris slowly started petting my head, kneading my cheeks, playing with me like dough.
"Don't get too down~ I talked to Nemesis sis and Ares, and they said the same.
You're still young, and it's only been a short while since you awakened your divine power.
Ares was even impressed—said it's amazing you handle it so well, past lives or not."
"Mm."
"Every time I see you, I'm shocked too. How do you match Ares's combat prowess? Even that sly Athena couldn't beat him head-on. Be proud."
"Mm-hmm..."
Eris kneaded my head and face like dough, but when I stayed put, she suddenly stopped.
"...? What? Why?"
"Don't you find me uncomfortable?"
"We've come too far for awkwardness, don't you think?"
Sure, provoking me with Neri had crossed a line by a mile.
But I'd flipped orthodox sect folks out with corpse jokes in my youth too, so not acting on it put it just within tolerance.
"Still, don't even think about messing with Atalanta or Neri. I'll flip the world upside down."
"No, that's not—"
Damn it.
I was finally getting a feel for it, but she kept interrupting. What the hell?
Was this her strife and discord kicking in, refusing to let me focus?
"Spit it out if you have something to say! Did you pull some stunt?"
"Kyaa!"
Ever have that irritation when deep thought gets interrupted?
Eris had been draped over my back, floating like zero gravity. In a flash, I grabbed her and pulled her around to face me.
"Wh-wh-what...?"
"...?"
Eris's face—usually twisted in cheeky smirks and mischief—was flushed bright red today, for some reason.
Gods didn't catch colds, did they...?
"Wh-wha. Hiiyaak!"
When I stared oddly, she thrashed like a cat grabbed by the scruff.
In an instant, wings flared, and she rocketed off into the distance.
"...What the hell?"
