The constellations who had awakened first, as well as the mortals, looked at the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead with bewildered expressions.
“Master, you need to wake up!” Adaquaniel called out.
However, the goddess remained in her slumber, a blissful smile adorning her face.
“Is she messing with us?” asked the Chef of Endless Gluttony.
“...”
“...”
Those who knew the truth remained silent, as they knew well it wasn’t a joke.
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust found it just as absurd. She had just admitted that a mortal had displayed power that exceeded her expectations, and yet this constellation was acting like this.
Is she even a constellation?
Such words meant a lot for the pride of a constellation, so Choi Yeonseung stepped in to defend the goddess of balance.“She isn’t usually like this.”
It seems that a deep desire has been consuming her for a long time, the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust said without much surprise.
Constellations weren’t free of desire. In fact, many desires could sprout from facing defeat, from being deprived of one’s possessions, or from being deceived and ruined, and those kinds of desires could prove more dangerous than those harbored by mortals. After all, the desires of a constellation were on a different scale.
“Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, I have defeated your trial. Release the goddess.”
Who are you talking to like that?!
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust was furious at the mortal’s brazen attitude. However, Choi Yeonseung’s expression didn’t change at all, which in turn caused her to be embarrassed.
“I told you to release the goddess. Do you have any more trials for me?”
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust seemed speechless at Choi Yeonseung’s attitude. After a moment of silence, the goddess replied sharply, It’s her choice not to emerge from my power! How am I supposed to release her when she doesn’t want to come out on her own?Should I go into the soul of that constellation and release her?
“Is it possible?”
No, it is not.
Indeed, one couldn’t just infiltrate the soul of a power-obsessed being and drag them out of a dream. If the target could be persuaded with just words, they wouldn’t be trapped like that in the first place.
Naturally, it was doubly absurd for a mortal to reach a constellation’s soul and drag them out of an illusion.
But the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust hadn’t even finished her words when Choi Yeonseung entered the soul of the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead.
......
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust looked at Choi Yeonseung with a mixture of humiliation and disbelief. Even though she wanted to acknowledge his victory, the mortal ignored her and instead jumped to his own demise.
“Can’t you have a bit of patience? We’re comrades now, and we’ll fight the Master of Slowness and Silence together.”
Can’t you shut up?
Unfortunately, the chef constellation only managed to anger the goddess even more.
***
The soul of the goddess of balance was unexpectedly tranquil, which was a relief to Choi Yeonseung.
‘I’m glad.’
Choi Yeonseung believed in the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead, but he genuinely had no idea as to what kind of bizarre desire she might harbor. He would be quite flustered if, upon entering her soul, he witnessed the goddess decapitating or torturing evil god constellations.
The landscape of the goddess’ soul was similar to her realm, which Choi Yeonseung had visited before. The tower where the goddess resided rose above the lush scenery, angels flying serenely around it.
Choi Yeonseung took a step forward to search for the goddess. Then, he incidentally spotted her sitting at the top of the tower, so he stomped down and flew forward at her.
“...???”
Choi Yeonseung was momentarily taken aback. The goddess was kneeling, and on her thigh lay a doll with his own face. She was stroking the doll with a very satisfied expression.
‘No...’
Looking closely, it wasn’t just one doll. There was one lying next to her, one standing in front of her, one on the chair behind her...
Then, a familiar young angel, whom he had seen somewhere before, rushed up to the goddess. It was the Angel of Martial Arts from the Future.
“...”
Choi Yeonseung instinctively covered his face with his hands, as facing the goddess in this situation would be too embarrassing.
The goddess, unaware of Choi Yeonseung’s presence, hugged the Angel of Martial Arts from the Future.
-Mom! Dad has been praising you for defeating that evil god constellation!
“Well done... What did he say exactly?”
Choi Yeonseung realized that there would be no turning back if he didn’t do something right then. Having made up his mind, he called out, “Goddess.”
“?”
The goddess turned her head. Although she wore her usual blindfold, Choi Yeonseung could feel her staring intently in his direction.
“???”
The goddess looked a bit embarrassed.
The illusions of the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust were superior to any other kinds of illusion, but…
‘Wait, is she actually satisfied with this fantasy?’
Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded. The more one tried to resist the illusion of the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, the stronger it became. Thus, if one didn’t resist and succumbed to it right away, the illusion would remain fairly crude.
Choi Yeonseung could tell that the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead had fallen for this fantasy right away.
“A-are you an illusion?”
“No, goddess.”
“...That’s what an illusion would say, right?”
“You can say whatever you want, but I’m not an illusion,” Choi Yeonseung replied firmly. No matter how ashamed the goddess was, he had to bring her out of here.
But suddenly, countless dolls of Choi Yeonseung emerged behind the goddess. Then, she turned around and threw herself between the dolls in an attempt to hide.
“Goddess!”
“I’m not that constellation! There is no constellation like that here!”
‘I feel like I’m losing my mind…’
Digging through a pile of dolls that bore his face was unexpectedly creepy.
“Goddess, let’s talk…” Choi Yeonseung pleaded as he looked for a trace of her among the pile of dolls.
“What is there to talk about? I’m sure you’re already disappointed!” the goddess cried out in a half-sobbing voice.
“I’m not disappointed,” he reassured her.
“You’re lying!”
“Goddess, weren’t you always like this? I’ve always known this side of you, so I’m not disappointed.”
“...”
The Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead didn’t know whether to be relieved or sad.
At that moment, Choi Yeonseung grabbed her hand.
“Goddess, please put the dolls away.”
Along with those words, the dolls disappeared. Although she had her eyes covered, the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead lowered her head all the way as though she couldn’t look Choi Yeonseung in the eye.
“Goddess, let’s go back.”
“I... I don’t want to.”
“...Why not?”
“Everything I want is here. I cannot have this in the real world…”
Choi Yeonseung couldn’t tell if he was trying to reason with a person cowering in the corner of a room or with a constellation. In any case, he did his best to speak sincerely to her.
“That’s not true, goddess. If there’s something you want, I’ll help you get it.”
“No, forget it. In the real world, I’ll hurt you by being myself. I shall remain here.”
“Hurt me? How?”
“The only thing I can do is see the future, and even with that I keep making mistakes. Besides, I didn’t even let you into the tower from the beginning!”
The goddess’ argument was so persuasive that, at first, Choi Yeonseung found himself unable to refute it. The goddess pushed his hand away and tried to summon the pile of dolls again, but he held on tightly, preventing her from hiding again.
“If I had entered the tower, I wouldn’t have become a constellation. You didn’t make a mistake. You chose the right path for the future you saw.
“...”
“Goddess, your household members are active and thriving thanks to your power.”
“Stop using formal language.”
“Huh?”
“Please talk to me informally… You do that with Adaquaniel.”
“I use honorifics with Adaquaniel...”
“Just speak comfortably!”
“...Fine. In any case, Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead…”
Choi Yeonseung complied with the goddess’ request, and she blushed and lowered her head.
“I need your help, not here in the fantasy world, but out there, in the real world. Of course, I can’t force you to leave this place, but… I would be happy if you came with me.”
With that, the surrounding landscape started to crumble, and the goddess nodded. But before the fantasy world fully disappeared, the illusion of the Angel of Martial Arts from the Future intervened between them.
Choi Yeonseung could tell that the goddess’ gaze was lingering on the angel.
“You can make it in the real world!” Choi Yeonseung said firmly before the fantasy world reinstated itself.
“...Yes!”
***
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust felt like she had suffered enough embarrassment for all the thousands of years she had lived.
Her nightmare demons had abandoned her and chased after an outsider as though possessed, and it was that same outside who had withstood her trial. Lastly, despite her confident assertion, that mortal had managed to access that constellation’s soul and drag her out of the dream.
At this point, the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust no longer knew what constituted common sense.
How??
In response, the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead shyly averted her gaze. Somehow, this made the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust even angrier.
What are you doing now...
The Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead stuck to Choi Yeonseung, not caring about how the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust reacted or what she might do.
Do you understand what you’re doing right now as a constellation?!It is utterly outrageous! The goddess of pleasure was stunned.
“You clearly don’t understand the power of love.”
......
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust was even more shocked by the unexpected counter. She was in charge of the most powerful realms of the Abyss, but she didn’t understand the power of love…? She had never heard an insult like this before.
Who are you talking to like that…?
“Okay, why don’t you make the declaration?” Choi Yeonseung prompted, his patience dwindling. He had passed the trial, but they were wasting time with this trivial argument.
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust had to use her power of existence to control her anger. Never in her thousands of years of existence had she imagined that a mortal would humiliate her like this.
But an oath was an oath. She was ready to continue the argument after she finished with the declaration.
I, the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, hereby acknowledge, under my name, that you mortals have passed the trial. Therefore, this kingdom shall belong to…
The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust suddenly stopped, feeling that something was wrong.
Ice was slowly forming around the base of her throne.
...!
An attack had reached her without realizing! Startled, Goddess of Pleasure and Lust quickly unleashed her power of existence.
Who is it?
It is me.
[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ activates her power!]
The power of the observer constellation engulfed the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust. The goddess tried to resist with the power of her realm, but the opponent’s strength was unbending.
“What...!”
The other constellations were taken aback by the sudden attack.
Choi Yeonseung looked at Illeya first. There was only one explanation for why the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place was doing this.
‘Is she showing her true colors?’
It has been quite difficult, maintaining my human disguise for so long…
A booming voice, brimming with power of existence, left Illeya’s mouth. Only constellations could produce this kind of voice.
“I knew it! You were too capable to be a normal human!” Choi Yeonseung remarked with a certain satisfaction.
...Listen here, I only used the power of the humanoid body I created, you damn devilish boss!
“...”
Was that the case?
He had thought Illeya herself was the constellation.
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