“Oh!
So that’s how it is!” Aqua instantly put on a warm, kindly smile, and affectionately took Megumin’s hand.
“Miss Archwizard, I was rude just now.
Actually, at a single glance, I could see that you have a remarkable constitution and the potential to become…
*ahem*, to become the core of our team!
Welcome aboard; from now on, your meals will be covered by This Goddess…
I mean, by my husband!” Megumin was a bit bewildered by Aqua’s sudden outburst of enthusiasm and could only nod blankly.
Meanwhile, Ash sat across from them, a gleam of something called “delight” flashing in his eyes.
He stared at Megumin, his mind turning over calculations.
Since Megumin had to cast Explosion Magic once every day, and it was immensely powerful, why couldn’t he store that energy?
According to the properties of the gate of babylon, items that enter it enter a state of suspended time.
If he could have Megumin cast her magic into the ripples of the gate and directly store that violent ball of magical power, then over time, wouldn’t he possess an arsenal of Explosion Magic?
When it came time to fight, he wouldn’t need Megumin to chant slowly; he would just need to throw them like the prototypes of his Noble Phantasm, unleashing these stored explosion shells…
The scene would be like a walking, talking nuclear missile launcher.
“In that case, Megumin, would you like to join us?” “And I don’t mind you casting Explosion Magic every day.” “Really?!” “Of course, but I have one request: your daily Explosion Magic must be cast according to my instructions.
Naturally, in exchange, I guarantee you’ll have meat at every meal and will never go hungry.” Hearing Ash’s words, Megumin’s eyes brightened like flames.
“As long as I can cast Explosion Magic every day and keep my stomach full, I shall entrust my soul to your command!” Just like that, two “bosses” with ulterior motives and one “employee” who just wanted to fire off her cannon reached an agreement.
Megumin was brimming with excitement, and since she was full, she even wanted to go to the quest board right now to accept a monster subjugation quest to show off her power.
But Ash looked at the sky outside the window and shook his head.
“It’s too late today, and monsters need to sleep too.
Let’s talk about it tomorrow.” After parting ways with Darkness and Megumin at the guild entrance, Ash hauled the dead-drunk Aqua, who was still muttering about alcohol, and expertly found an inn that looked reasonably clean.
“One room.” “Very well, please go upstairs!” Ash nodded and hauled Aqua upstairs.
Pushing open the door, sure enough, the cramped room only had a single bed that looked like it could barely squeeze two people in.
Aqua, who had been acting drunk, instantly sobered up by more than half.
She looked at the bed, then at Ash, crossed her arms, took a step back, and asked warily.
“Hey, Ash…
even though you are This Goddess’s husband in name, at a time like this, shouldn’t you show some chivalry and go sleep in the hallway or on the floor yourself?” Ash casually closed the door, unbuttoned his coat, and eyed her sideways.
“Aqua, I recall that when I chose my cheat, I chose your identity as my wife.
Since we are husband and wife, isn’t it common sense in this world to sleep while holding each other?” “Huh?!
That contract was only for…
Waaah!” Just as Aqua wanted to resist, Ash slashed his right hand through the void.
From the golden ripples, several long silver chains instantly shot out.
“Enkidu!” The chains elegantly wrapped around Aqua’s limbs, binding the Goddess of Water as securely as tying up a crab, before precisely throwing her onto the bed.
“Ash!
You pervert!
Demon!
How could you use such lewd restraint items on a goddess!” Aqua wriggled desperately on the bed like a salted fish on land.
“Hehehehahaha!
Aqua, you must know that I am the protagonist; I can do whatever I want!” Ash climbed onto the bed with an expressionless face and pulled Aqua tightly into his arms like a pillow.
…
Early the next morning, Ash opened his eyes and looked down at Aqua in his arms.
The goddess had terrible sleeping habits; her drool had even soaked half of his shoulder.
Ash sighed deeply.
“This Aqua really is fucking disappointing!” Before last night, he had indeed harbored a sliver of worldly fantasy about “sleeping while holding a goddess.” But reality was cruel; Aqua didn’t have any maidenly scent, nor did she have even the slightest bit of any other smell.
The feeling of holding her was nothing like holding a soft, cute girl; instead, it was like holding a bucket of ice-cold bottled purified water in the middle of winter.
There was no warm, soft texture, nor any charming fragrance, only a simple, rustic feeling that this was just a mass of high-quality H2O.
“Tch, she really is just bottled water.” Ash pushed away the still-muttering Aqua in disgust.
Aqua was woken up by this violent movement.
She rubbed her eyes and, seeing Ash’s look of disappointment—as if he had eaten expired bread—she immediately became unhappy.
“Hey!
Ash!
What kind of look is that?” Aqua jumped up.
“This Goddess condescended to let you hold me for an entire night, and not only did you not kneel down in tearful gratitude, but you actually showed an expression like ‘this thing is really hard to use’?
I am the Goddess of Beauty with perfect proportions that even the gods covet!” While saying this, she waved her small fists, thumping “thud thud” on Ash’s broad back as if venting her anger.
Ash ignored her noisy outburst, because at that moment, a rapid notification sound suddenly rang in his mind.
[Ding!
Detected that the host has completed a hidden quest: Restrict a deity with “Wisdom” and “Water” attributes for an entire night (1/1).] [Evaluation: Although the Wisdom attribute is nearly non-existent, its purity is sufficient to trigger the reward.] [Hidden reward issued: Sword of Termination — Enki] Ash was stunned; the next second, he saw that legendary weapon in his treasury.
Two long swords with peculiar designs; because the hilts had a 90-degree range of motion, they could be combined into a huge golden longbow.
The most terrifying attribute was: from the moment it was activated, for every day that passed, the power of the torrent would increase exponentially, until on the seventh day, it could summon a flood sufficient to submerge the world.
“Holy crap!
Treasury collection plus one!” Ash clenched his fists, his inner ecstasy almost uncontrollable.
With the Ea’s anti-world attack and the Sword of Termination’s strategic-level world-ending capability, the Demon Kings Army of this world was no different from wheat waiting to be harvested in his eyes.
“Hahaha!
Did you see that!” Aqua looked at Ash’s suddenly shining eyes and smugly assumed her charm had taken effect.
“I knew it, no one can resist the charm of Lady Aqua!
Looking at how happy you are, you must have been completely conquered by This Goddess’s beauty, right?” Ash came back to his senses, looked at the “bottled water” in front of him who was still bragging, and casually grabbed the Ea from beside the bed frame.
“Thud!” “Ouch!” Aqua clutched her forehead and went into a defensive crouch again.
“Damn it, Aqua, you’ve disillusioned me about the idea of sleeping with a goddess.” “Megumin and Darkness should already be waiting at the guild to start work.
Starting today, we are going to officially fill up my treasury!”