Hearing Restara accept his confession but at the cost of his pride as a man, Barbatos' face grew serious as a menacing aura seemed to emanate from him. "But I refuse!"
"One of the things I love most is saying 'No' to your face when you think you have an absolute advantage over me!"
Restara was stunned by Barbatos' outright refusal. She knew he loved her, and since she had accepted his confession, she didn't expect him to reject her proposal.
After a moment, Restara regained her composure and asked, "Why?"
Turning his back to Restara, Barbatos placed his hands behind him and looked up, mimicking a wise master imparting wisdom. "A Readdit user once said, 'Bro, if I was in that anime, I would train every day and be OP as fuck.'"
"And guess what? I'm the Readdit user who started that quote."
Seeing Restara's disbelief, Barbatos continued, "Although we're not in an anime world, this world has a much higher power level than most anime worlds. Even the endpoints of those anime protagonists are our starting points."
"You're right, I am cautious and ambitious. But you forgot one thing: I am very ambitious."
"The only reason I wasn't as ambitious on Terra was due to the lack of supernatural powers. There was no point in training hard when an emo teen with a gun could kill the strongest man."
"But in the Endless Void, Main Gods possess unfathomable power. Even as One-Turn Demigods, we can easily swat away a nuclear bomb or take it head-on unharmed."
"Our starting point is the endpoint for those anime characters. Yet, even then, we are just small players in the grand scheme of the Endless Void."
"Now that I have this chance to become the strongest, I won't let you surpass me. I'll surpass you!"
The wind around Barbatos grew heavy, as if it responded to and agreed with his ambitious will.
Seeing Barbatos so serious and ambitious, unlike when they were on Terra, Restara smiled knowingly. "You might be able to fool others, but not me, your childhood sweetheart who saw you pee in class and embarrass yourself."
"I know you better than your workaholic parents. So I know that you're acting this way because you're confident in your divine talent, right?"
"It must be a divine talent on the same level as mine, or even higher?"
Listening to Restara's deduction, Barbatos remained unfazed. He had already expected her to see through his secrets.
From what he knew about Restara, it was impossible to hide anything from her unless he cut off all contact and never saw her again.
But that wasn't something Barbatos wanted to do to his first love and rival. And even if he did, it would only make Restara more suspicious.
Even before awakening his divine talents, Barbatos frequently visited her. Although not every day, as he was busy managing his believers and ensuring their survival, his visits were still regular.
If he suddenly stopped seeing Restara after his talent awakening, it would only arouse her suspicion and potentially ruin their fourteen-year relationship.
As they say, it's easy to break someone's trust but difficult to earn it.
Seeing Restara's smile that seemed to see through his secrets, Barbatos responded with a gentle smile, "No comment."
"But you should know what happens if I become OP and surpass you, right?"
Restara clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Of course, I know."
"You wanted to start a harem full of beautiful girls, especially those with unique traits. Like those demihuman anime girls—Nine-Tailed Foxes, Wolves, Dragons, Phoenixes, and more. As long as they're cute and beautiful with special quirks, you'd call them waifus."
"I still remember how you wrote an encyclopedia filled with those so-called waifus, listing their measurements and what you liked about each of them."
Barbatos nodded, ignoring Restara's annoyance. "That's true. And don't forget about the vampire girls with their cute fangs yearning for my blood, the demon queens with their demonic horns and triangular-tipped tails, the angel girls with their soft, white wings, and many more!"
Realizing he was getting carried away, Barbatos coughed and regained his composure. "Anyway, you know my ambition of becoming the strongest. And as the strongest, it's only natural for me to become the Harem King, right?"
Restara sighed. "If we were still on Terra, you wouldn't dare have such lofty ambitions. Polygamy is illegal there, except for a few exceptions."
"So this is why you rejected my marriage proposal and declared your intention to surpass me?"
Barbatos nodded. "If you're stronger than me and outshine me, I wouldn't dare have a harem. But if it's the other way around and I make you fall deeply in love with me, then it's doable."
"You might be my childhood sweetheart and rival, but Restara, love is war."
"As long as I surpass you and you fall in love with me, confessing your love, then I'll be at the top of our relationship. You won't be able to dominate me like you did in our past life."
Listening to Barbatos' declaration of a love war, Restara yawned and looked at him lazily.
Out of nowhere, she appeared floating behind him and whispered softly in his ear, "I'd like to see you try."
Feeling Restara's warm breath on his ear, Barbatos lost his composure, knowing his ear was one of his sensitive areas—and Restara knew it.
Barbatos put on an "act" and found a reason to leave her villa, gritting his teeth. "Just wait, Restara! This motherfucker here will grind until I reach the top of the Endless Void!"
"Pain is only temporary, but grinding is fucking eternal!"
Afterward, Barbatos left Restara's room and exited her villa.
Once he was gone, Restara's lazy expression vanished.
Remembering Barbatos' declaration of a love war, she teased, "The Origin sure is as intriguing as ever~~"
…
After exiting Restara's villa, Barbatos returned to his own. Reflecting on his declaration of a love war with Restara, he muttered to himself, "I might be weaker than Restara now since she is the first-generation Goddess of Laziness, while there are many Gods of Wind in the Endless Void, but not for long!"
His confidence stemmed from his Origin-rank Hundredfold Increase talent.
While talking with Restara, he had an epiphany: his Hundredfold Increase talent could be applied not only through the annual sacrifice and live sacrifices of his believers but also by himself!
This meant he could use a sacrificial opportunity to sacrifice his wind godhead and enhance its quality a hundredfold!
However, he could only use one sacrificial opportunity per year, just like his believers' annual sacrifice.
Barbatos still had to wait for his believers' annual sacrifice to align with his sacrificial opportunity.
But when that time came, he wouldn't be just an average God of Wind anymore.
He would transform into a far stronger existence, comparable to a first-generation god like Restara—or perhaps even stronger!