Akuto wasn't lying. Athena truly was the person he liked most in this world.
Mm, only in this world.
But even if you counted the other worlds, Athena would still easily rank as a solid "ten" in his eyes.
As a fairly greedy transmigrator, Akuto had a clear understanding of himself: he was a fickle, shameless womanizer.
All he could do was this, on top of that greed and fickleness: try his best to treat all the women in his harem as fairly as possible. Nothing more.
Of course, "fair" didn't mean treating everyone the exact same. People differed. Some wanted intimacy more often. Some cared more about romance, others prioritized their own ambitions and careers. So even with the best intentions, Akuto still had to make choices in the details.
Even so, he could still make time on the nights when someone truly needed him. That was only possible because Akuto possessed the ability to stop time. Otherwise, no matter how capable he was, he'd never have been able to keep up.
…
From Akuto's current behavior, it was clear that on top of liking Athena, he'd also grown intoxicated, almost addicted, to the taste of a goddess.
After all, he'd kissed Athena twice already, but both times she'd been in her loli form. This was the first time he'd kissed Athena in her maiden form.
And Athena's maiden form carried a completely different aura and charm from her loli form, and the boost from her power and presence was on an entirely higher level.
Even more importantly, Akuto's "攻略" had reached the final stage. Just thinking about how the goddess Athena, who had once resisted him and even viewed him with hostility, was now gradually becoming so… inviting in his hands, made that sense of conquest send tremors through his limbs and soul.
He didn't know how much time passed before Athena's once-rigid body finally began to relax. Without even realizing it, she had already wrapped Akuto tightly in her arms. Her porcelain-white skin flushed with a tempting blush.
When Akuto finally ended those long, deep kisses and lifted his head slightly, Athena lay beneath him with unfocused eyes. An unnatural warmth colored her cheeks, her lips looked vividly soft, and she was breathing lightly without meaning to.
Those violet, serpentine eyes that used to hold only cold majesty were now hazed with a damp mist as she stared blankly at Akuto, as if she still hadn't recovered from the kiss.
Seeing her like this, Akuto couldn't help but smile.
A goddess in such a state really did leave the heart refreshed, and the aftertaste lingering.
Perhaps Akuto's gaze was a little too brazen and direct, because Athena gradually came back to herself.
She met his eyes, and when she noticed the satisfaction and affection in them, she fell silent for a moment. As the goddess of wisdom, Athena knew all too well what it meant when a man looked at a woman that way.
"Hm? That look of yours…"
"You're thinking you finally made the legendary goddess Athena show such a lovestruck face, aren't you?"
With clear annoyance, Athena reached up and lightly slapped Akuto on the forehead.
"Yes," Akuto said, catching her hand at once. "That's exactly what I'm thinking."
"Hmph. Men are all like that, which is why this one said…"
Athena rolled her eyes at him, thoroughly exasperated. With Akuto being this blunt, she didn't even know how she was supposed to respond.
"Athena, I like you," Akuto said with the same smile, voicing his affection without hesitation.
"Shameless. Are you trying to muddle your way out of it?"
"No. You should know I've never cared for muddling through."
"The reason I'm saying it is because…"
"Oh? Because of this one?" Athena still didn't sound pleased. As if it could be because of anyone else.
"Yes. Because it's you."
"You forgot? I can sense the emotions of people I touch. From your reaction just now, you reacted most strongly to that sentence, which lines up perfectly with…"
"Enough. Don't say any more."
Before Akuto could finish, Athena lifted her head and sealed his mouth with a kiss.
"Athena, the way you refuse to face reality is cute too," Akuto murmured, even though they were already kissing again, somehow still talking between breaths.
"Hmph. What you like is just this one's face, isn't it?" Athena was clearly unhappy that he kept talking while kissing.
"Of course I like your face. Beauty is the foundation of everything."
"Men choose the most beautiful woman. Women choose the strongest man. That's been the truth since ancient times," Akuto admitted without shame.
"And besides your looks, I also like what's inside you. Who wouldn't like a goddess who acts proud on the outside, but is ridiculously cute on the inside?"
"…"
Athena fell silent, which was practically a direct admission that he wasn't wrong.
Athena might have gone quiet, but Akuto's pressure didn't let up.
"By the way, Athena, why do you keep asking me if I only want your looks?"
"Could it be you think your personality is terrible, so the only way you can score points with me is by relying on your face?"
"How could that be?! This one being loved needs no reason. It is the principle of heaven and earth!"
Athena flared up for once, her tone noticeably edged with a kind of arrogant fervor.
"Then me loving you is also the principle of heaven and earth," Akuto said, leaning in close. "It needs no reason either, right?"
While he spoke, he was brazenly counting her teeth, which made Athena shoot him a huge eye-roll.
"Cunning. You're just dodging the question."
Akuto sighed, helpless, because through their closeness he had already grasped Athena's general thoughts.
"Athena, you know exactly why you ask that."
"Because you are Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Because…"
"Because as the goddess of wisdom, you understand almost everything in the world, and you understand the logic of love between men and women."
"But as a virgin goddess, when you face it yourself, you always become lost in the moment and don't know how to handle it."
"Your wisdom lets you understand most things. You've always taken pride in that."
"But precisely because you've almost always known everything, you become confused when you face me, an unknown existence."
"Because on me, the authority that belongs to Athena, goddess of wisdom, fails."
Athena said nothing.
Listening to Akuto's explanation, the violet in her eyes slowly went unfocused.
So that was it. So that was why she kept confirming his feelings for her again and again.
Thinking that she, the goddess of wisdom, had fallen into the classic trap of being "wise for others, blind for oneself," Athena couldn't help mocking herself internally.
…
"Athena, I like this look you have right now too," Akuto whispered with a soft laugh.
"So you're just lustful," Athena replied, still sounding annoyed.
But her "annoyed" now wasn't the same as before.
This time, it carried a lot more indulgence, a lot more tenderness. After being confessed to in different ways several times, Athena's bottom line had lowered again.
And so, Akuto pushed his "攻略" into the final stage.
"Athena, now that you understand why you feel this way, please give me a promise."
Woom.
A crystalline glow flickered across Akuto's body.
Maintaining close contact with Athena, he told her everything she needed to know.
How other worlds existed. The dead God of the Bible. Why Akuto had been summoned. The girls he had grown intimate with. The way he eroded and "conquered" worlds. All of it.
It could be said that aside from the system itself, Akuto told Athena almost everything.
…
The amount of information was enormous. Even Athena needed time to fully digest it.
When the transfer ended, Akuto raised himself up, separating from her, and waited quietly while she absorbed it.
Half a minute later, Athena finally managed to come back to herself and looked at Akuto.
"So… you are that kind of existence."
Now Athena knew it all. Not only his origins, but also the number of women around him.
Either one was enough to shock her.
Before, in the information Akuto had provided, she only knew he was the successor of the God of the Bible. She didn't know what he truly was.
She never would have guessed that Akuto was a higher-dimensional being summoned by a God of the Bible from another world through special means.
But once that was true, everything suddenly made sense.
Why she couldn't learn Akuto's information through authority.
Why Akuto could use special methods to erode worlds.
Why Akuto already knew how her world would develop even before he met her.
Now everything fit.
So Akuto had observed her through special means before meeting her, and had already come to like her.
And yes, Akuto was lustful, but it wasn't rootless. He was fulfilling a wish he had carried for a long time.
When Athena finished processing it, she saw that Akuto had prepared everything and was simply waiting for her reply.
"Akuto, you really are… greed incarnate," Athena murmured.
Then she flipped them over, pinning Akuto beneath her. Her white Greek robe brushed along his waist as she moved.
She used this position because she'd learned from Akuto's memories that he liked it, liked being able to watch the girls' faces as they reacted to him.
"But this one, who seeks to know all knowledge, is also greed incarnate."
"Before the final moment arrives, may this one ask you for a promise?" Athena stared at Akuto seriously, her tone earnest and unyielding.
"What promise?"
"This one hopes that, at least in this one's world, this one will be your first partner, and will stand above the other goddess-kings."
Athena had lowered her bottom line to what she believed was the absolute minimum. Lower than she'd ever imagined she could go.
"Fine. I promise."
To be honest, Akuto also felt there was no one more fitting than Athena.
"Good. Then…"
"This one will give you everything."
"You will be this one's eternal partner."
Athena lowered her head and kissed him again, and the rest of the night swallowed their voices.
(End of Chapter)
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