Chapter 86
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Lewd Instructor Nemesis
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As an excuse, neither rain nor spells were Nemesis's specialty, unlike Hera or Hecate.
She, too, as a goddess, could wield divine power and authority as easily as breathing. But delving deeper into forcing her will upon the world through magic and such secret arts? Those were mere scholarly pursuits for her.
For one who was innately a mighty judge and warrior, the sword and blood were far closer companions.
Yet a goddess was still a goddess.
Even a single spell she knew was something a human could study and strive for a lifetime without ever casting. And the energy required was anything but ordinary.
Yet this young brother of hers had, in a mere two weeks—or a year in the barrier's time—absorbed every secret art she knew.
He'd even blended them with spells from another world he vaguely remembered, elevating them into something far more potent and profound.
Nemesis ran her hand through the darkness enveloping her, her feelings a tangled mix.
The pit where her mother resided.
An endless darkness akin to that bottomless abyss.
What was the goal of magic, that so-called teaching? To impose one's will upon the world.
That was why it was called magic, not miracle.
This young brother couldn't even remember it clearly, yet he'd dragged his mother's Abyss to the surface using his divine power and authority.
'Just how far do humans go...?'
No matter that he knew some modern arts from his previous life's knowledge that resembled spells.
Such speed could only mean his innate talent was incomparable.
But that, she could understand.
Humans occasionally achieved feats that astonished even the gods, ascending to the ranks of heroes.
No god could take their potential lightly—even some rivaled and surpassed the gods themselves.
But this young brother's strength lay not in magic, but in martial prowess.
His swordsmanship, powered by divine force that met her Judgment Sword head-on, was no less than the might of Ares or Athena or any other god.
From his duel with Ares, it was clear Ares hadn't held back either—unleashing divine power and authority while relying on his own physical techniques.
The God of War, who had lived for millennia through endless conflict.
No ordinary human could withstand his combative authority and the martial arts honed over thousands of years. No god on Olympus would dare face him purely in body and combat.
Yet this boy matched him evenly.
'Not content with martial arts, he's absorbed all my spells too?'
By contrast, his lessons with Eris in authority were dragging on—not due to Eris's laziness, but because Dianes couldn't grasp the concepts easily.
Eris, Nemesis, even Ares had been surprised, speculating on why, and Ares had even sought advice from Lady Hera. But they'd chalked it up to his inexperience.
His human body had limits in handling divine power, and it had only been a short time since he'd awakened it.
But Nemesis couldn't accept that.
An aspiring god more adept at wielding divine power than anyone, inexperienced?
A prodigy who'd absorbed all her knowledge in under a year, immature?
Armed with her pride as a teacher and her brotherly affection, Nemesis refused to acknowledge it. She redoubled her efforts in instruction.
But the result? Parting ways with the young brother who'd devoured all her knowledge.
"Sis?"
"...Y-Yes!?"
Sis, sis, sis.
The sweet, beautiful title made Nemesis's mind wander for a moment, and she startled at his voice, her wings fluttering.
"Um... so, does that mean my lessons with you are over?"
"W-Well..."
She, who was always called stern judge, goddess feared by the gods, ruthless avenger—sharp names like those. To her, this was all the more addictive.
Sis, big sis, or just Nemesis—a warm, affectionate call.
Ah, did this young brother know?
Every time he called her name or sis, the lips that passed unyielding judgment softened like unraveled yarn.
When he unleashed divine power from his pale hands but hit a snag and chuckled bashfully, the hands that enforced justice and retribution flailed helplessly in eager anticipation.
When he naturally drew close, grasping her shoulder—untouched by any—and embraced her back, she unwittingly surrendered her body to it.
When they sat discussing spells, secrets, gods, and heroes, his sparkling eyes and the scent of him brushing her nose tip made her black wings flutter in surprise.
That magic-like warmth and touch made her so unlike herself, weak like an ordinary woman.
Today too, she'd inexplicably sought out Eris more fervently to stoke the heat.
What was it about this little hero, this young brother, that ensnared her so?
Considering her divine duty, it was an emotion she should shun.
To her, it was utterly lewd, decadent, and unworthy.
Yet this warmth, arrived after millennia, one she never wanted to release, left even the stern judge faltering and shaken.
In her long divine life, had anyone approached her so comfortably, so amiably?
If she firmly pushed him away now, could she truly never seek him again?
In her endless godhood, she'd never felt such vulgar, corrupt anguish. Facing him, she had to steel herself with all her might.
'Get a grip. Pull yourself together!'
Even steeling herself so fervently, the ignited emotions merely huddled briefly.
Like lingering embers, they warmly heated her breast.
Perhaps to evade it, ignore it, she'd thrown herself even more into the lessons.
But now, the lessons' end had come swiftly, the moment of parting—and unwittingly, she'd shown her disappointment.
Her body and feelings, uncontrolled to the point of bewildering even herself.
Born from her mother's breath, the first torrent of emotion to pierce her solitude.
So sweet and addictive, yet so lewd and decadent.
Now was the time to sever it.
"Y-Yes... right?"
Nemesis nodded, her heart like severing her own arm.
She was the judge, guardian of justice, goddess of retribution.
She couldn't waver to personal feelings like some maiden of Aeolia or the gods and goddesses of Olympus. Her heavy divine duty forbade it.
Any more indulgence, and neither her duty nor she herself could forgive it.
To learn further spells, seeking Hecate, goddess of magic and sorcery, was the right path anyway.
Nemesis had no more spells to teach him. For his sake or hers, parting here was proper.
"Ah... haha, that's a shame."
"...!!"
But even that desperate resolve crumbled at the boy's smile, tinged with regret before her.
"N-No, but the lessons—the lessons aren't over yet!"
"...Huh?"
Oh no.
What had she just said?
Nemesis realized her fists were clenched, wings spread wide, as she'd drawn right up to her young brother.
'Huh...? When did he grow so tall?'
At first glance, he'd seemed a bit shorter than her.
Now, he was no longer a child—tall and straight, looking down at her.
The beautiful brother she'd unwittingly ogled with heated eyes gazed back in bewilderment.
"Ah..."
Her face flushed crimson in an instant, but as the elder, the teacher, she couldn't just stand there stammering.
Yet she was a goddess.
A goddess who'd lived hundreds of human lifetimes, who had traversed far longer eons than her brother—even burdened in another world—as the goddess of judgment.
Amid the swirling torrent of emotions and confusion, she swiftly found the next lesson topic.
'Thank you, Eris!'
"All the miracles and martial arts you show are based on wisdom from your previous world, right?"
"Y-Yes, that's true..."
Perfect!
At his innocent nod, Nemesis inwardly beamed with pride.
Why she felt proud, she set aside.
The solemn declaration of parting she'd uttered with the resolve to cut off her arm—where had that gone? She looked pathetic even to herself.
But after millennia, in this fleeting moment, couldn't she set aside duty, fate, and her own vows—just to savor this feeling?
That thought erased all hesitation.
Like a warhorse with loosened reins, like a raptor on a tailwind, she charged freely ahead.
"You're still struggling to handle miracles."
"Urk..."
Miracles.
The authority wielded through divine power fell into two categories.
Creating something from nothing with pure divine power—a miracle.
Using divine power as a medium to alter reality—spells and secret arts called magic.
Yet ironically, he couldn't even attempt miracles that all gods performed as easily as breathing, instead excelling at magic that stumped the gods.
In other words, the precarious reason he barely passed her rigid sense of justice.
And with Eris fleeing first, she had ample justification.
"Lady Hera and Eris said it's too soon, but absolutes are folly. From now on, let's explore how to handle miracles, you and I."
"Wow... huh?"
Ignoring his eyes that sensed something off to the end, Nemesis simply reveled in the joy of legitimately staying with him.