Goddess of the Magic City (1)
Goddess of the Magic City (1)
A week had passed since then.
The time had come to leave that shack, no, the Lepodesia Great Forest, where indescribably immense stimulation remained like scars.
'I probably won't be able to come back for a while...'
It wasn't as if my relationship with Demeter had deteriorated to its worst.
Even now, if you could call it the worst, it was... but at least it hadn't reached a situation where the bond of marriage would be severed.
The reason I was leaving the Great Forest was to slowly show my face to my other wives.
After achieving the ultimate goal of defeating the Demon King.
Unlike the hero, who was practically living in semi-seclusion, the heavenly goddesses were still active in the field.
Just as Demeter oversaw the Lepodesia Great Forest, the other goddesses were also working hard for the continent's revival in their respective domains.
Since they were such busy wives, it was very difficult to find personal time.
At some point, it had become routine for me, the husband, to visit their places in turn.
If I stayed in one place too long, the other wives might get jealous, so now was the right time to leave.
"It's a shame to think I won't be seeing you for a while."
As I put on my shoes and prepared to leave, Richard, who was seeing me off at the entrance, suddenly said that.
"How about departing early tomorrow instead? It's still quite dark out."
"No, it's fine."
I waved my hand lightly.
"I've already dawdled too much..."
"Well, if that's the case, there's no helping it~."
Richard, who seemed to have an unusually deep smile, shrugged his shoulders.
With an expression that looked both relieved and regretful, he wrapped his arm around the waist of the Holy Mother standing right next to him.
Demeter, with both hands neatly folded in front of her, quietly surrendered her body to his touch.
Considering all the various plays she had engaged in with Richard, that level of contact was nothing now.
"...Then, take care of her."
I opened the front door and said to Richard in a low voice before leaving.
We had agreed yesterday that the relationship between Richard and Demeter would continue even after I left the Great Forest.
At first, Demeter showed reluctance, but in the end, she reluctantly agreed.
I told him again not to do anything Demeter truly hated.
But by now, that rule had practically become a hollow formality.
"Take care, Ion..."
The Holy Mother gave a faint smile to her husband, who was leaving his beloved wife in another man's care.
Even after suffering unimaginable humiliation as a goddess because of me, she still worried about my well-being.
That benevolent nature was both heartbreakingly grateful and pitiful.
"Yeah, see you later..."
Unable to meet Demeter's gaze, I left the shack just like that.
The scenery of the Great Forest, which I wouldn't see for a while, seemed more beautiful than usual.
It was as if the earth and sky were seeing me off.
"W-Wait a moment! Ion is still outside...!"
At that moment, a sweet, alluring voice leaking from the shack behind me caught my ears.
"Kyahk, Richard!"
A cry soaked in pleasure that seemed to have been pent up for a long time.
I stopped in my tracks for a moment and hesitated, but then shook my head and moved forward again.
"Haa, if you're going to do it, at least in the bedroom...!"
The goddess's alluring voice grew fainter and fainter.
In the end, I couldn't take more than a few steps before turning back.
I simply couldn't suppress my damn curiosity.
I hurriedly ran toward the back of the shack.
And through the dew-covered window, I confirmed what I was dying to see.
In the brightly lit bedroom, a man and woman were sharing a deep kiss.
At some point, Demeter had thrown off her dress, revealing her breathtaking lingerie without any filter.
"Ahh, hmm..."
The Goddess of Abundance, eyes tightly shut, wrapped her arms around the neck of the man who was practically her lover.
It was a seductiveness hard to believe that this was the same wife who had just seen her husband off at the front door.
Inside the house I had just left, Demeter and Richard were holding each other, sharing hot breaths.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call that passionate skinship a touching reunion of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.
"Richard, haah, Richard...!"
"Heheh, Holy Mother~."
As the familiar sounds of their lovemaking leaking from the shack grew louder, my groin also proportionally increased in size.
Having become an irredeemable voyeuristic pervert, I panted as I unzipped my pants.
"Keugh, De... Deme..."
Only after pulling out two full shots right there could I finally leave the Lepodesia Great Forest, chewing on my self-loathing.
*
After leaving the dense forest, I headed to a bustling area.
Its name: the Magic City, Crezel.
Like the Lepodesia Great Forest, it was a place ruled by one of the goddesses, and it was universally recognized as the most prosperous city on the continent during the current era called the Age of Divinity.
The city was about the same size as the Great Forest, but its population was at least three to four times larger.
If I, the hero, entered such a thriving city, it would draw attention and could potentially paralyze the city's functions.
So I disguised myself to avoid being noticed and entered the city.
"...".
Crezel, which I visited after a long time, was still under development.
Many larger and taller buildings had been built since my last visit, and the expressions of people walking on the streets were mostly bright.
As befits its name as a Magic City, Crezel was the most magically advanced place on the continent.
Mages in pointed hats or carrying staves were everywhere, and it wasn't hard to spot people actually using magic.
'It seems there are even more mages than last time.'
Crezel was a city of opportunity that every mage dreamed of.
Some mages even considered researching magic here as their lifelong aspiration.
It's no exaggeration to say that Crezel attained its current status solely due to the ability of one single goddess.
"Kyaa!"
As I was leisurely looking around the city and walking, suddenly a piercing scream echoed.
'What is it?'
The moment I stopped in surprise, a crashing sound rang out.
Then, something huge emerged from beyond, accompanied by pitch-black smoke.
"Wha... What is that?!"
"Run! It's a Golem!"
A monster suddenly appeared from within the smoke.
As the Golem revealed itself, the nearby citizens panicked and began to flee.
'A... A Golem?!'
I couldn't hide my shock at the sudden crisis.
Why was a Golem in a place like this? That's a monster that normally dwells in the northern highlands.
Even the hero Ion Rayhard had quite a hard time defeating one in the early to mid stages of Pure Love Fantasy—an alchemical-type monster.
With a body the size of a house and unimaginable power, there were even mentions that a single Golem was equal to a battalion of the Demon King's army.
"We have to stop it from getting into the residential area!"
"I-It's impossible! Our attacks aren't working!"
The defense squad mages who appeared shortly after showered it with attack magic, but the Golem didn't even flinch.
Golems naturally have strong magic resistance, so such attacks were useless.
The mages, stubbornly firing ineffective spells, were soon blown away like fallen leaves by a single swing from the Golem.
"Kyaaah...!"
It was a fight between a giant elephant and puppy dogs.
Having completely shattered the mages' formation, the Golem immediately moved its legs toward an area that hadn't yet evacuated.
If we couldn't stop it somehow, it could lead to a massive disaster.
I broke out in a cold sweat, endlessly hesitating about what to do.
'What do I do?!'
With the power of Ion Rayhard at the endgame, defeating a single Golem would be no problem.
But that was only possible if I were the real Ion Rayhard.
I was just an ordinary modern person who had merely possessed Ion's body.
I had never had a proper fight since coming to this world.
If I jumped in and messed up, exposing my identity, it would be literally game over.
"Pathetic, all of you."
Just as I was deliberating and about to decide to run away, a voice rang out from somewhere.
And at the same time, a change occurred in the Golem.
Kwaang!
One of the Golem's legs, which had been perfectly fine, suddenly exploded.
The Golem, which hadn't budged under the storm of attacks from the defense squad mages, lost its balance and knelt to the ground.
"And to think you call yourselves mages of Crezel, trembling over something like this."
At the arrogant voice coming from the air, both I and the surrounding citizens looked up, searching for its owner.
It wasn't hard to find a woman elegantly seated on nothing in the empty sky, as if using the air as a chair.
Long, captivating silver hair that looked like molten platinum.
A black cheongsam that fully revealed the bare skin of her thighs.
A decorative iron fan casually held in her hand and high heels with striking sharp heels.
Above all, a beauty that seemed not of this world, perfectly harmonizing all those elements.
"Thanatos-nim...!!"
One of the crowd near me loudly shouted the name of the city's goddess floating in the air.
At that, the others who had been unconsciously captivated by her beauty finally came to their senses.
"Thanatos-nim has come!"
"We're safe now!"
As soon as the goddess appeared, the faces of the citizens, once filled with fear, began to glow with hope.
Thanatos glanced at the citizens for a moment, then shifted her gaze back to the Golem in front of her.
Recognizing a strong opponent, the Golem immediately reached out to grab her, but that clumsy hand never reached the celestial being.
Kwaaang!!
As Thanatos swung the iron fan in her hand, this time not just the leg but the Golem's entire body exploded.
Struck by an attack that allowed neither defense nor evasion, the Golem's body shattered in an instant.
No matter how much resistance a Golem had to magic, it couldn't withstand her magic.
Because she was the greatest archmage in this city—no, across the entire continent.
"Oooh!!"
As she so easily took down the massive Golem, cheers erupted from the people.
Nodding along appropriately with their shouts, I glanced at the beautiful goddess once more.
But then.
"Huh...?"
For some reason, her figure had vanished without a trace.
The air where she had just been was empty.
Startled, I reflexively looked around, and at that moment, someone approached from behind and gave me a back hug without warning.
Mulkeong.
The sensation of something soft and plump pressing against my back. My eyes instinctively flew wide open, and the next moment, my vision was painted black.
"Guess who~?"
She covered my eyes with both hands and whispered a playful quiz into my ear.
"Th... Thanatos..."
Swallowing hard at the irresistible, fatal scent, I carefully spoke the name of the Goddess of Death.