The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

T/N: Based on suggestions from the comments in the , I've decided to go for a Fri-Sat-Sun release schedule. Since I already posted the first earlier this week, here's the second of this week's release.

Chapter 315: “I Have To Go First.”

Within the solemn temple, a goddess of peerless beauty stood before Shien. She looked at Shien with an upset yet also teasing gaze.

Shien could swear it. In that instant, the thought of actually lifting his hand and hitting her really did flash across his mind then.

Unfortunately for him, the goddess standing before him is an existence capable of reading minds. She seemed to have noticed Shien’s collapsing mental state, so she just continued to stare at him. She stared so hard that Shien’s lips started twitching.

Only then did that goddess start smiling.

“Should I say congratulations to you? My lord viscount Bayztrot?”

Nien said something like that as if nothing had happened at all.

“… Isn’t all of this thanks to you? Oh lady goddess?” Shien forced a smile onto his face as he spoke, “If not for you summoning me to this world, granting me a second life, how could I have possibly been able to get to where I am now?”

Those words were spoken in a rather weird tone.

At the very least, Nien would definitely realize it.

Therefore…

“But someone wanted to hit me just now. Was I mistaken then?”

Nien blinked and asked while purposefully pretending not to understand.

“How could that be? It must be a mistake!” Shien’s smile was still as forced as before, and his tone was also as weird as before, “Only, I rather feel like, if someone got in the way of another person’s fortune, then that person may very well incur divine punishment.”

Shien’s ability to insult in a round about way was definitely first class.

However, Nien obviously didn’t mind it at all.

“If I’m not remembering wrong, in your world, the target of divine punishment are generally only humans. Gods won’t incur divine punishments you now.” Nien spoke with a grin, “Rather, gods are the ones who deliver divine punishment in the first place. Only those who disrespect the gods would incur divine punishment. Don’t you think my words are reasonable? Oh viscount?”

Hearing that, Shien was finally unable to maintain the forced smile on his face.

“… I haven’t done anything to offend you, have I? Oh lady goddess? Shien spoke with an upset expression on his face, “I never offended you, and yet you’re hitting me with divine punishment. Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

That’s true enough. Shien’s current situation is basically no different from divine punishment.

The pretty princess is still waiting for him. He was already excitedly sharpening his sword and spear. His bullets are already ready to fire. Yet, as his car was speeding up, when he had even removed the handbrake, suddenly, an automatic brake engaged?

If this isn’t a divine punishment, then what is?

“I know that a pure goddess like you would definitely not want to see something so dirty. If you’re still holding a grudge over my stupid thoughts from last time, and your giving me this punishment for making you see things that I shouldn’t have shown you, then I’ll apologize, alright?” Shien admitted defeat right away and begged with his hands clasped, “So can you please let me go back?”

Shien’s words made Nien involuntarily remember the stuff she “saw” from Shien’s mind during their previous meeting.

Thus, Nien’s involuntarily blushed as she gave Shien a hateful glare.

“You dare bring that matter up again?”

Nien started grinding her teeth at that.

Nien had almost forgotten about it if not for Shien bringing it back up.

“Since you mentioned it now, I’ll tell you here and now. Don’t even think that you’ll get your way tonight.” Nien lightly huffed, “I’m going to be keeping you here the entire time until it’s day time in the mortal world, and only releasing you then.”

Shien’s eyes widened as he started panicking.

“No, wait! Just what kind of grudge do you have that you’d do something like that to me?”

Shien couldn’t believe that this goddess would actually go so far.

He had thought that this goddess was just purposefully teasing him after seeing him getting ready to despoil a princess, but who would have thought that this goddess was really planning to ruin his night.

However, Nien did not seem to be joking here.

“You’re my Hero. Why should you go hugging and embracing some other woman and getting so close to them?”

Nien was saying something like that.

Shien wanted to vomit up blood at that moment.

“Do you mean that Heroes aren't allowed to do that kind of things with girls?” Shien retorted, “Then how exactly did all those previous Heroes leave behind descendants?”

Nien didn’t seem to care about Shien’s argument.

“They were summoned because of the gods’ needs. It has basically no relation to me.”

Nien doesn’t seem to have much interest in those other Heroes.

“Then what about me?”

Shien pointed at his own nose.

“You’re different.” Nien spoke without even thinking, “You’re someone that I summoned. The one who I gave all my heart and thoughts to. How can you be considered the same as those guys?”

“In other words, other Heroes can do that kind of things, but I can’t?” Shien strongly objected, “What kind of rule is that?”

“Of course it’s a rule that I set.” Nien spoke without minding it, “Anyways, you are mine. You’re not allowed to do that kind of things to other women without my permission.”

Nien was acting very obstinately, making Shien feel like he was being targeted by a yandere with extreme possessiveness.

… Maybe he should really push her down and give her a good beating?

Just as Shien was seriously considering such an idea, the obstinate look on Nien’s face gave away to a pitiful expression.

“You wouldn’t seriously get violent with me, would you?” Nien spoke tearily, “For the sake of summoning you from a faraway other world and even resurrecting you, who were already dead, I had spent a full thousand years to accumulate the power for it. I even paid a huge price in addition to that. Yet, you’re going to treat me like that?”

As she said that, Nien really did look like she was about to start crying

“The hell am I…”

Shien was about mentally collapse for real as well.

Seriously, now he can’t even hit her anymore.

Although he didn’t know if this goddess was really going to cry or just faking, Shien could feel that her words were at least all true.

In that case, can he really get violent anymore?

However, even if violence is no longer on the books, this didn’t mean that Shien was willing to just accept this.

“I am very grateful for everything you’ve done, but this doesn’t mean that you can restrict my freedom, right?” Shien let out a sigh as he attempted to convince her, “Look now, I may be a Hero, but I’m also a normal man here. Are you really planning on making me stay single my whole life here?”

Before Nien could respond to his words just now, Shien himself rather got terrified by his own words.

If things really did end up going that way, then he can’t live anymore. He might as well commit suicide on his own Holy Sword instead.

And naturally, Nien also completely read those thoughts as well.

“No matter what, I’m not going to go that far.” Nien wiped away her tears and showed her grin to the twitching Shien again, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have turned a blind eye to all those things that you’ve done before, right?”

The “things” that Nien referred to was naturally the things that Shien did with Lucy and Diere.

No, it should instead be the tings that Shien did to Lucy, and the things that Diere did to Shien.

Since this goddess knew what Shien was doing every single minute, she also naturally knows just what Shien has done with the girls around him.

Afterwards, Nien didn’t actually bother doing anything about those incidents either.

The reason for that is simple.

“I have to go first.”

Nian strongly declared.

“Ha?”

Shien was flabbergasted.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Nien continued to insist stubbornly, “You’re my Hero. The first person you met in this world was me as well. Therefore, it’s only logical that I should get to go first.”

Shien took five full seconds to completely parse those words.

Truth be told, it can be summarized in a single sentence.

“To put it in words from your previous world, all those other hoes have to line up behind me!”

That’s how it is.

In other words, Nien isn’t disallowing Shien from attracting other women. She’s just disallowing any of those other women from doing anything with Shien before she could.

This goddess used to also turn a blind eye to what Shien had done before. This was because, be it with Lucy or Diere, all of them had come after her.

No matter what, Shien’s first kiss in this world was taken by this goddess in a moment of surprise.

Therefore, be it Diere forcibly kissing Shien or Shien forcibly kissing Lucy, Nien could allow them both.

But anything beyond that is no good.

The reason is that Nien herself haven’t managed to take that step yet.

“You…”

Shine looked at Nien with a bewildered expression on his face.

In that case then, this goddess is lusting after his body then?

So you’re actually that kind of goddess!

Nien had completely received all of Shien’s unredacted thoughts.

This made Nien shift her gaze and blush slightly, but she also didn’t say a word to refute it.

“A-anyways, right now I’m just not allowing you to do that kind of thing to any other girl.” Nien continued to maintain her calm while stubbornly insisting, “Even if you to hit me, I’m still not going to submit. I absolutely won’t let you go back.”

With that, Nien waved a hand and Shien felt another disorientating experience.

By the time Shien came back to himself, he had found himself in another location.

The original solemn looking temple had already vanished, and what replaced it was an unending sea of flowers.

Shien simply stood among those flowers as he stared at those beautiful and colorful flowers around him in a daze while feeling like he wanted to cry on the inside.

“Freaking hell. What the heck is this…”

That damned goddess. It looks like she’s really determined to get in his way then.

And she’s not letting anyone get ahead of her?

In that case, why don’t you come and do it first then!

He’ll take her on first, then she can send him back. Wouldn’t everything be solved that way?

But now she instead tossed him over to who knows where. In that case, what was he supposed to do with the ability that he has been developing for 20 years then?

“I’ll break apart right here and now.”

Shien started feeling the same thing as Lucy had been.

It was only half an hour later, after Shien had finally confirmed the fact that he had no way of leaving this place, that Shien was forced to finally give up.

“Don’t let me catch an opportunity…”

While Shien memorized this particular grudge in his heart, he also started looking around.

“Speaking of, just where is this anyways?”

Shien started walking around within this field of flowers.

There was nothing but flowers around him at all.

The sky looked far and out of reach.

The air was exceptionally clear and fresh, making one feel like their lungs were in joy.

The magic power in the air wasn’t particularly dense, but it did hold a strange, unthinkable holiness to it.

Perhaps it was for that reason that even though flowers covered the earth as far as he could see, Shien still didn’t feel the slightest annoyed or bored with the scene. He didn’t even feel tired, giving him the feeling like he could continue walking around this sea of flowers forever.

“This really is unbelievable.”

Shien’s teary mood gradually calmed down.

However, not long after, the existence that appeared before his eyes made him stop moving. His mind was flipping over in shock.

Before him, a goddess of peerless beauty was lying down among the flowers, deeply asleep.

That scene instantly stimulated Shien’s memories.

Shien had seen this scene before.

It was back in Nien’s temple.

The sleeping goddess before his eyes looked completely identical to Nien.

She was…

“The highest god. Omnis…”

Shien finally knew just where this is.

This is the deepest part of the divine realm. The place where the highest god Omnis resides.

It’s name is – [The Holy Sanctum].