Chapter 391: The Correct Posture of a Goddess

“Shouldn’t I congratulate you on acquiring an evil god as a pet, my Hero?”

In the familiar temple, the beautiful goddess stood in the center as usual, looking at Shien, who had been suddenly summoned, with a somewhat displeased and even sarcastic smile.

“…”

Shien remained silent.

He was currently lying on the ground.

The reason was simple: he had been summoned by this annoying goddess the moment he was about to fall onto his bed.

Therefore, Shien, caught off guard, naturally fell flat on his face, momentarily stunned.

Shien silently stood up and looked at the goddess before him with an impassive face.

“W-wait!”

The goddess named Nien froze and quickly said,

“Okay, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have summoned you at that time. Don’t knock me unconscious like last time… Aaaaaaaaaah…!”

Nien’s words were cut short by a scream.

Shien had appeared before her at some point, grabbing her head with one hand, exerting immense force.

“It hurts, it hurts…! Stop… stop it!”

Nien grabbed Shien’s hand, struggling and crying out in pain, tears welling up in her eyes.

Shien, unmoved, maintained his [Clear Mind, Still Water] state, preventing his thoughts from being read, and continued his iron claw technique.

“It seems the lesson I taught you last time wasn’t enough, my Goddess.” Shien said with an impassive face. “In that case, let me give you a more profound lesson, so you know what the correct posture of a goddess is.”

“Posture?” Nien stopped struggling and looked up at Shien, tears in her eyes, but no longer crying out in pain. Instead, she said joyfully, “Let go of me first. Don’t worry, I know what posture you like. I’ve learned it. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”

Shien’s face darkened.

Don’t think I don’t know you’re driving!

And… when did you learn what my favorite posture is?

This is an invasion of privacy!

Shien increased his grip without hesitation.

“Aaaaaah! It’s going to explode! My head is going to explode!”

Nien cried out in pain, her usual sacred and perfect image completely gone, replaced by a pathetic and useless appearance.

“Sigh…”

Shien sighed and released his hand.

“Waaah… so mean…”

Nien clutched her head and took several steps back, muttering as if feeling wronged, making it seem like her character was about to collapse.

“Alright, stop pretending.” Shien said with annoyance. “This isn’t your character. Get back here.”

Hearing this, the wronged expression on Nien’s face instantly vanished.

“Isn’t this the kind of girl you like?”

Nien said, also annoyed.

“Not bad.” Shien crossed his arms, not denying it, and said frankly, “At least bullying weak and soft girls is quite satisfying, much better than those who ignore others’ opinions and forcefully drag them away when they encounter something good or want to rest.” ℞𝔞ɴÒ𝐛Ę𝙨

“You’re still holding a grudge about last time?” Nien gritted her teeth. “You clearly got what you wanted. It’s me who, after doing so much, ended up losing everything, even suffering additional losses. You still have the nerve to hold a grudge against me?”

“Where did you learn all those sayings from my world?” Shien was amused and said with a smirk. “And even if I got what I wanted, it doesn’t mean you didn’t do anything wrong. One thing doesn’t cancel out the other. Don’t try to gloss over it.”

“Who did anything wrong? It was you who did something wrong!” Nien snorted. “If the Goddess of Fate knew you did such things to her most beloved blessed one, you’d be dead.”

“The Goddess cares about this kind of thing?” Shien immediately retorted. “Then does that mean everyone who receives a blessing can’t do the deed?”

“Of course, others can’t compare to that princess you’ve completely devoured.” Nien looked at Shien, as if even [Clear Mind, Still Water] couldn’t hide anything from her. The goddess smiled meaningfully. “How is it? After receiving Lilith’s [True Mark], you must have a lot of questions about your little lover, right?”

Hearing this, the expression on Shien’s face vanished.

Unconsciously, Shien touched his arm, the rune mark hidden beneath his sleeve.

However, that wasn’t the rune mark Lilith had left on Shien’s hand.

The [True Mark] Lilith entrusted to Shien was merged into his left arm.

But right now, Shien was touching his right arm.

Yes.

On Shien’s other hand, there was also a rune mark.

It was the mark left by Lucy when she bit Shien after he received the Buztout family mansion.

At that time, Shien even thought that the princess had cursed him.

But she never mentioned it, only emphasizing one sentence.

“This way, you won’t be able to run away anymore.”

Shien hadn’t understood what that sentence meant before.

But now, he might have some understanding.

“…Is this also a [True Mark]?”

Shien couldn’t help but suspect.

Lucy’s mark was too similar to the [True Mark] Lilith entrusted to him.

Therefore, after learning about the existence and meaning of the [True Mark], Shien was truly surprised and uncertain.

Until this moment, Shien finally received the answer.

“Don’t doubt it. That’s the core of existence known as the [True Mark].” Nien said, seemingly unhappy. “If she hadn’t already entrusted her [True Mark] to you, deciding to share her fate with you, do you think you could have really won over the Kingdom’s treasure, the Goddess of Fate’s favorite, that princess who received all the love, yet was extremely lonely and isolated, just by being shameless?”

Shien was speechless.

He really thought he had won over the princess just by being thick-skinned.

But thinking about it carefully, if she hadn’t given him the opportunity, Shien wouldn’t even have been able to be thick-skinned, right?

Perhaps Lucy herself didn’t expect to lose her virginity after going home with Shien, but her action of going home with him in the first place was problematic, proving that the princess truly didn’t have her guard up against Shien.

Thanks to this, Shien was able to succeed.

But…

“This isn’t right, is it?” Shien frowned. “Lucy is clearly a human, not a goddess. Why would she have something like a [True Mark]?”

Wasn’t that a unique life form of the Divine Race’s goddesses, a manifestation of their immortality?

Why did Lucy, a human, also have a [True Mark]?

It was because of this question that Shien hadn’t been certain whether the mark Lucy left on his hand was truly the core of existence, the [True Mark].

Nien, on the other hand, seemed to know something.

“That princess is special. Although she’s a human, she can also be considered a goddess. Her situation is unprecedented.” Nien said, then reminded him, “Otherwise, why do you think she, a human, could be admired and even accepted by the goddesses of the Divine Realm, almost living in the Divine Realm and becoming a resident there?”

The implication of Nien’s words was that this was precisely because of Lucy’s special nature.

Gods were high and mighty, the objects of people’s faith. Under normal circumstances, how could a mere human live in the Divine Realm and be accepted by the goddesses?

“You can ask your little lover about the rest.” Nien said, stopping there. “I can only tell you that getting the princess’s [True Mark] isn’t just a simple matter. Don’t be surprised when you see her again.”

Hearing this, Shien couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Surprised?

He had already been surprised many times, okay?

That damn slacker princess, entrusting such an important thing to him without even explaining it properly. He’d see how he would deal with her when he got back.

Compared to the correct posture of a goddess, he knew better how to be a proper princess.

“Alright, why did you call me here?” Shien no longer thought about it and said impatiently, “Don’t tell me you just called me here to mock me?”

“Of course, I want to mock you.” Nien said, “You’ve only been in this world for a short time, and you’ve already gotten three [True Marks]. Who else would I mock if not you?”

Shien was stunned.

Three?

Weren’t there only two?

As Shien was stunned, Nien changed the subject.

“However, besides mocking you, I do have some serious business to discuss with you.” Nien’s expression turned serious as she looked directly at Shien. “This time, you revealed your identity while dealing with Lilith, right?”

Shien’s expression turned serious as he nodded.

His identity had indeed been revealed.

Not only to Elise, but also to Anima.

This wasn’t a small matter.

“Although the Moon Demon also knows your identity and has already begun investigating this matter, she is a demon, and it’s not easy for her to investigate the Hero Summoning.” Nien said seriously to Shien, “But it’s different for the Goddess of Life.”

As one of the Three Goddesses, one of the pinnacles of the Divine Race, with Anima’s status and authority, investigating the Hero Summoning wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Of course, she can’t easily discover the truth either. This is a forbidden place that no one but the Supreme God can enter. Only you can arrive here through my summons. Besides that, only one little rat has managed to sneak in through a loophole.”

Nien said pointedly.

“And she will definitely ask you about it, wanting to learn about your summoning from you.”

Shien understood what Nien meant.

“You want me to hide it from the Goddess of Life, not tell her about the Hero Summoning?”

Shien realized.

“That’s right.” Nien admitted. “It’s not time for the Divine Race to know about my existence yet.”

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Shien was silent.