While My Mage Wife Grinds, I Power Up Idly

Although the method Ashu used to defeat the Grand Swordmaster was dishonorable, he had won in the end.

As long as you win, the entire process can be beautified; but if you lose, even the slightest flaw in your decisions will be magnified.

Listening to Ashu’s words, at one moment, a vision of himself submitting flickered briefly in Antikythera’s mind.

But almost immediately, he grew furious—how could such a humiliating image appear in his mind?

Someone merely said a few words, and yet he had actually entertained such a thought!

For him, this was a complete collapse of his self-respect.

So—

He didn’t hesitate or hold back and wildly launched a furious assassination attempt against Ashu.

Ashu did not relax just because he possessed Reaper’s Eye; like a lion hunting a rabbit, he used his full strength.

Besides, this guy had only lost once to the Grand Swordmaster, never failing any other missions.

To be fair, his speed was very fast—even faster than the Grand Swordmaster.

His attacks came like sharp arrows, shooting from all directions, then immediately using inertia to create distance again.

Ashu stood in the center, like prey being cut to pieces.

However, Ashu remained uninjured.

Standing still allowed him to better focus his hand reflexes.

In a contest of mobility against a super-fast assassin, he admitted he couldn’t compete.

This back-and-forth storm of assassination lasted nearly the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

Both of Antikythera’s hands trembled slightly from the ultra-high-frequency attacks holding the daggers.

The blades of his daggers showed dents and notches.

Ashu’s massive scythe was naturally scarred as well.

But the next moment, as Death’s power spread, the battered, nearly shattered great scythe was instantly repaired.

As the target of the assassination, Ashu himself was completely unharmed.

Moreover, Kiss of the Reaper had finally cooled down.

"Antikythera, right? I’m giving you one last chance. If you refuse, you will only welcome eternal Death. By the way, those killed by a Death Devotee have no chance of reincarnation—they will be forever lost to oblivion. Your consciousness, your soul, your very being will crumble the moment I kill you."

Antikythera opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a word.

He neither advanced nor fled; he only moved his fingers slightly to better grip his dagger.

Seeing this, Ashu said no more.

If you won’t drink the toast, then you’ll drink the knockout wine.

Once he carved the Cidi mark onto Antikythera’s back, he would behave obediently.

As an assassin whose movement paths were fully exposed by Reaper’s Eye, he had already lost his professional edge.

And an assassin who lost his professional advantage was like a stray dog by the roadside.

His damage output wasn’t as good as a mage or archer;

His blocking skills weren’t as good as a swordsman;

His charging ability wasn’t as good as a knight.

And as for healing? He had none at all.

Now, the only thing left for him to rely on was his remarkable speed.

Ashu’s verdict was: "No matter how fast a rabbit hops, once it’s trapped inside a cage, it’s inevitably destined to be slaughtered."

When Ashu could see through Antikythera’s movements using Reaper’s Eye, he could use the dirty trick Kiss of the Reaper to anticipate his actions.

He deliberately baited a collision.

Using Antikythera’s movement trajectory, Ashu threw himself onto the dagger. After triggering the Kiss of Death, he once again predicted the assassin’s fast movement, causing Antikythera to run straight into the scythe-wielding deathly apparition.

Ashu intentionally avoided vital spots like the spine and throat.

This single strike caused Antikythera’s eyes to widen in disbelief as he collapsed to the ground.

Watching Antikythera fall, Ashu turned and picked up the Grand Swordmaster’s leftover steel longsword from the ground.

One stroke after another, he cut through the assassin’s limbs and muscles.

Feeling the sharp pain spreading through his body, Antikythera slumped on the ground, letting out a frustrated growl from his throat.

"Ah! Ah!! Damn it! Give me a real fight!"

"Not a chance."

"W-what do you want to do..."

With Antikythera’s terrified gaze upon him, Ashu tore open the assassin’s back clothes with the longsword.

This scene genuinely terrified him; he thought this cultist must have some kind of twisted fetish.

Ashu sneered coldly and began carving the Cidi mark onto Antikythera’s back with the steel longsword, saying, "I’m going to perform a little surgery on you. Don’t worry."

"What? Surgery? What the hell are you trying to do?! Killing me isn’t enough? You want to desecrate my body too?"

Antikythera knew he was close to death. His limbs’ tendons and muscles had been severed, rendering him immobile. His abdomen had been heavily wounded by the Death Scythe, black energy corrupting it. Soon, this body would rot completely.

Ashu had carved countless Cidi marks before, so he was very practiced now.

Using the longsword, it was almost a single smooth motion, taking less than ten seconds.

Afterwards,

He kicked Antikythera, flipping him over, and said, "Don’t worry, it’s just a minor surgery. I’ll hollow out your abdomen with the longsword to block the spread of the black energy. This way, the Death won’t take you."

"W-what?!"

Antikythera’s worldview was about to collapse. He couldn’t understand what kind of damn plague doctor this guy was!

He was already dying, and now he was supposed to endure the pain of a gutting operation?

Moreover, this wasn’t a typical gutting—according to Ashu, he planned to completely remove the flesh around the giant scythe wound.

That meant hollowing out his entire abdomen.

To be honest, it was basically a waist chop.

"S-stop! You dishonorable cultist! Madman! Pervert! Stop this!"

"Shhh—"

The reply to Antikythera was the steel longsword in Ashu’s hand.

His movements were fast but rough, like slicing through a cake.

"Buddy, my skills aren’t bad, right? Luckily you’re a Shadowkill Master; if you were a normal human, you’d be dead long ago."

"You Demon... You’re worse than a Demon..."

"N-no, buddy."

After finishing the surgery, Ashu threw the steel longsword aside and squatted in front of Antikythera.

He studied his expression, judging a person’s mental resistance through their facial cues.

After deliberately waiting for three to five minutes, Antikythera’s expression quickly wilted.

At that moment,

Ashu decisively deactivated Reaper’s Resolve mode and immediately used Cidi Hypnosis on Antikythera in his normal mode.

Since in his normal mode Ashu was only at an intermediate Archmage level, facing Antikythera who was two levels above, he didn’t succeed in one attempt.

Even though Antikythera was near Death, his mental resistance was far stronger than ordinary people’s.

Ashu didn’t care about that; he just kept using Cidi Hypnosis repeatedly. After all, this guy was on the decline, so eventually it would work.

Sure enough,

After Antikythera’s gaze grew vacant, Ashu’s Cidi Hypnosis finally succeeded.

At the same time, he immediately released Divine Grace.

Divine Grace was not a skill from the Divine Mother Goddess faction but came from the Healing Arts system’s Critical Return, so it could still be used in this Netherrealm.

More importantly, this place itself was the Netherrealm.

And the black energy on Antikythera’s body had already been removed by Ashu, which meant that even if he died now, it would be a normal Death—not one claimed by the Reaper.

If he died now, his soul would remain in this realm.

Ashu had all the geographical advantage.

After several uses of Divine Grace, Antikythera was forcibly kept alive, his physical body gradually repaired, and his soul naturally pulled back together.

So,

After about fifteen minutes of rescue, he lived.

The newly reborn Antikythera opened his eyes. What he saw was not the sky of the Netherrealm, but the ’sky’ of the Cidi cult.

"Lord Bishop," Antikythera said respectfully.

Feeling the changes before and after, Ashu nodded with satisfaction.

To put it plainly, once the Cidi mark was engraved on him and Cidi Hypnosis applied, he became obedient.

"Kid, how do you feel now? Do you have any critical reflections on your past?" Ashu asked.

Antikythera immediately rolled over and knelt heavily, bowing deeply to Ashu.

He replied eagerly, "In response to Lord Bishop, I am grateful to you for granting me a second life. This has allowed me to objectively analyze my previous attitude. I realize I was completely wrong. The Cidi cult is a family of great love, and you are the benevolent father leading this family. I honor you. I admire you."

"Good."

Ashu patted Antikythera on the shoulder and then stood up, saying, "I hereby appoint you as a Cardinal Deacon of the Cidi cult. You shall act on behalf of the Bishop and be responsible for preaching within the Kingdom of Ankgarde. You must do your utmost to fulfill the duty of expanding the cult."

Cardinal Deacon was a relatively senior rank among Deacons.

After all, Antikythera was now the strongest member in the entire new Cidi cult.

Hearing such an important position, Antikythera repeatedly kowtowed and responded, "Thank you for your trust, Lord Bishop. I, Antikythera, your child, will do my utmost to fulfill my duties."

"Stand up."

"Yes, Lord Bishop."

Ashu reactivated Reaper’s Resolve mode and used the reverse effect of Reaper’s Embrace to open a path back to the human world.

He said at the same time, "Antikythera, I want to give you your first test: right now, our cult needs to spread great love within the Kingdom of Ankgarde, but the Devotees of the God of Deceit have attacked us. Tell me, how should we handle this?"

Upon hearing this,

Antikythera immediately volunteered, saying, "Lord Bishop, I am quite familiar with the situation in the Kingdom of Ankgarde. Please entrust this task to me. I will return to you with a satisfactory report. Please trust me!"freёweɓnovel.com