Byron unleashed all his mighty and gave Peony a moment of her life. On top of having slapped her butt cheeks to compeletly give them a red hue, he had left hickeys around her collarbones, neck and many more sweet parts of her body.
Now, her head was lying on his chest, the phrase thank you written all over her face as she stared into his brown eyes with her sapphire blue ones.
"You really didn't lie when you said you were going to give me a reason to thank you," she said.
This made Byron grin.
"That means you liked it a lot, right?"
She offered him a weak smile.
"Of course!"
After exchanging a few more words, Peony wished him a good night. They had an expedition in the morning; resting was an important thing to do.
"Good night, too!"
Following this, Byron dived into his Soul Sea.
'This bitch! This bitch!'
That's all was in his mind as he approached the portal to the goddamned goddess's world. He was feeling a need to punch someone increasing with each second that passed. He was angry that she had for the second time threatened to take away his erection.
"Beauty Goddess, what was that?" He asked as he pushed his way through the portal, wandering his eyes across the empty expanse.
Surprisingly, the goddess was not near the bed. Her usual spot to welcome him.
Byron was expecting her to be naked, waiting for him near the bed with a lustful smile on her face. At least that was according to how badly she might have wanted him to even disrupt his moment with Peony. However, the goddess was somewhere else.
She was sitting on a chair on the raised platform near the table where the glass with vermilion liquid lay. Even her back was facing Byron, busy with her quill and without any plan to come down and welcome him the usual way.
'What kind of a sick joke is this?'
Byron made his way up the stairs, anger surging through his veins, angry that he was not going to punish her right away.
"Beauty Goddess, what's this all about?"
This time, the goddamned goddess put her magical colourful quill down and turned to look at him, her expression somber.
Seeing her serious face, Byron was confused. Was something wrong with her system? Something that could maybe affect Byron's life?
'Stop assuming the worst, you fool!'
He tried to calm himself down.
The goddess had heard his thoughts.
"Yeah! Stop assuming the worst! Instead, realize!"
'Don't assume? Realize?'
Byron furrowed his eyebrows.
"That riddle is not popular. Can you explain the meaning behind it, Beauty Goddess?"
Beauty Goddess rose to her feet and raised her hands in the air as if about to fly. It was like those scenes in romantic movies where a girl stands in rain and raise her hands in the air with a satisfied smile.
'Strange!'
With this thought, Byron didn't expect the level of strangeness to increase. He saw the goddess levitate... no! It was not levitation because her feet were still on the ground. Growing taller was the right description.
Now, he needed to crane his neck to look at her. As if that was not enough, her usual loli-like face transformed into a face of a mature woman, her gaze demanding attention.
Too many things changed, but Byron could only discern one thing. This woman was wise, mature and more beautiful than the teenage girl he was used to seeing.
There was something more godly to her.
Soon, the goddess's voice, now bearing authority with it, brought him back to reality.
"This is who I am!"
Was this all about showing him who she was? No way!
'She can't interrupt my moment with Peony for something this stupid!'
Despite the change in her demeanor, Byron didn't feel like holding himself. Why would he even bother doing so when she could just read his mind.
"You're beautiful!"
Her answer was something unexpected!
"I know!"
'Dammit!'
"Hey, what's up with that demeanor? Trying to frighten me, eh?"
"How I wish I could be able to frighten you!" The goddess replied, continuing without a pause. "Tough guy, don't you see how scary the outside world is? How you're being irresponsible and lazy?"
Byron didn't understand her words. He always thought she was impressed by his actions. He could not believe she was just calling him crazy out of blue.
Byron recalled how many things he had done these past three months. Losing his virginity, taming his first Venomous Beauty, training sword and...
"No! I'm hardworking. I'm not lazy!"
The goddess let out a mocking chuckle.
"Is that what you think? Well, your performance was not that bad."
"That bad?" Byron asked pointing at himself then at her. "But you always said it was incredible, didn't you? You did! You never told me I was wasting being lazy."
The goddess bent her now tall body and reached for vermilion glass.
"Do you know how much time it will take you to drink all this blood if you keep your pace how it is? Well, let me tell you. It will take you over ten years. When is the betrothal contest round 2? Less than 2 years from now, right?"
This meant that Byron needed to become strong as soon as possible. But how? Was he supposed to be like those guys in anime and hunt monsters day and night?
'No! Ain't going to do that!'
"You need to do so! This blood would only give you pigment. You're the one to make it brighter."
Byron was confused, yet again. However, the goddess seemed like in a hurry and didn't want to waste her time listening to his question. Instead, she read his thoughts and answered him right away.
"Powers are like a formula to do something. If a blacksmith shares with you the secret that makes him produce strong swords, it's all up to you to work hard and get the experience. The reason you need to work hard, fight, kill and level up."
Byron's life was not in danger. Why would he need to leave his comfort zone and go hunt monsters day and night? How could he leave a beauty like Peony to sleep alone while he, in the wilderness fighting?
However much it sounded important, Byron could not bring himself to doing so. This was not anime or what. He was not an MC in some levelling up novel. It was his real life and couldn't throw it on a monster in such of power.
Well, maybe he would have done so if she warned him before. But she never did. How was it his fault?
Goddess of Beauty seemed confused hearing to his thoughts, maybe because of some unusual terms like anime, MC and novel. So, from the little she could understand, she said,
"Maybe it's my fault. Like you think, I should have warned you. However, what's done is done. Listen to me!"
Byron was glad that she wasn't blaming him anymore. At her command, he touch his ears with a smile.
"I'm all ears, my lady! Ha!"
"Don't joke around! Your life is in danger. That's why I told you to realize it. Peony had told you how the God of Desires died. Keza's minions were the master minds, right?"
Byron nodded his head.
"Since they're the ones who shattered the Dreadful Dagger's hilt, the shards they picked were much large, much dangerous. That means they were power thirsty. Do you think they would just surrender them to you?"
The goddess chuckled.
"When you met Peony, her innocence and obsession with the God of Desires made taming is for you. Do you think Keza's minions would be like her?"
This time, Byron answered her question.
"I'll have to fight!"
"That's where the problem lies. Even Peony who lived her entire life in cave is on Blessed level. Can you defeat her? Well, one way or the other. That's what you think. I doubt it."
This was true. Even if Byron could have been not weak at the time, after training with Peony for a month, he had realized how strong she was. Even her swordsmanship was incredible, not to mention her steam.
Of he could not defeat her when she was on the Blessed level, could he defeat those on the Priest or Saint level? Those beauties who hated God of Desires? The beauties who had been killing each other and hunting Infected Monsters to grow stronger?
This realization made Byron shudder and felt like stopping the expedition. Because, this expedition was a way to see if he could meet more beauties. What was he going to do if he met a beauty who still loved her powers?
'Damn! I hate this feeling!'
Realizing she had managed to convince him, the Goddess of Beauty returned into her teenage form and giggled.
With a mischievous smile on her beautiful face, her words were followed by a step toward Byron.
"I guess It's time we move onto another topic, don't you think?"