Chapter 414 Temptation
Moonlight enveloped the dark-haired youth's gloomy brows and his suddenly cold, sharp, smoky-gray eyes. He looked like a sword suddenly reflecting a cold light, a venomous snake baring its sharp white fangs, a ghost gazing coldly at the visitor from a shattered mirror, his fingers gently tapping the back of his other, tightly gloved hand.
"...Go on." He said softly.
Analene was instantly overjoyed, knowing her bet was likely right. "My dear, every god has known what to do since the day they became a deity... But they would rather watch you suffer, worry, and exhaust yourself because of the mortal cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, rather than share the authority of a god with you..."
She sighed softly and cunningly didn't continue. Instead, she changed the subject, her voice becoming increasingly gentle and beautiful, as if filled with regret: "Poor thing, you shouldn't have to endure this... being controlled, deceived, and placed in such a passive and helpless situation. A young person with such extraordinary talent like you, you shouldn't be kneeling on the ground begging the gods above for such a meager amount of pity and 'love'. You deserve so much, so much more..."
The young man sneered: "I don't believe him, so should I believe you?"
Analene was not annoyed at all. In her opinion, as long as she could pry open a crack, no one in the world would be able to escape the cage constructed by her tongue that dripped with poison and honey. The seeds of doubt would eventually grow into the flowers of resentment and hatred.
"Why are you so cruel to me?" She complained aggrievedly and sadly, "Look, I'm trapped in the damn abyss, tortured, abused, and expelled by the gods. Now I only have a small soul. What else can I do to you?"
"Besides, I like you, my dear," the Goddess of Love said softly, "I always admire intelligent men, and you're probably the smartest I've ever met. Not to mention, you're so handsome... If I could help it, I wouldn't want to hurt you at all. It's a pity that Odile and Zephir, those two violent bastards, don't listen to me. What can a poor, weak goddess like me do?"
Seeing that the man remained unmoved, Analene gritted her teeth and decided to throw out some more bait: "My dear, I know what you're thinking. You think you still have time and a chance to seek a possibility for your teacher. Maybe I shouldn't tell you this now... But you know what? Odile and Zephir don't want you to survive."
She still secretly boasted: "Unlike me, they just want you to die, all the time."
"Tell me something I don't know," said the professor coldly.
"Okay, impatient child." Analene pursed her lips and smiled: "Guess where that believer in the God of Luck went?"
"Sandro went to the North and has not been heard from since." The black-haired young man stated calmly.
He thought for a moment, then slowly raised his eyebrows: "Was it done by the sea god Odileus?"
"—The people of Feroth chose to join the sea god Odileus?"
"Oh, you really don't give me any sense of accomplishment." The God of Love complained in an especially intimate tone: "But who made me like you like this?"
—Sharp, rational, cold, in control of everything, indifferent to everything, possessing everything, as if he were the master of the rules of the world... It really makes you want to break him completely, to see if he would reveal a completely out-of-control, panicked expression, to see him being trampled to the ground, to see his pale, almost transparent smoky-gray eyes filled with tears of despair and pleading, to see what it would look like when he was tortured to the point of complete collapse, forced to sob and beg...
Analene licked her lips calmly, her tone still soft and sweet. "Perhaps you have the ability to resolve these troubles, but enemies aided by the gods are truly formidable and annoying, aren't they?"
The professor glanced at her in surprise. He didn't expect that this girl actually had some self-awareness.
"A clever person like you shouldn't be forced to chase after your enemies like a foolish hound," the Goddess of Love said gently. "Don't you want to finish them off once and for all? Don't you want to take the initiative into your own hands, rather than passively waiting for the next attack and having to rely on your lover to handle everything for you?"
The black-haired young man didn't say anything. But Analene believed she saw something, something extremely charming and unpretentious, which made him feel as if he was burning with all his strength, so bright that she couldn't take her eyes off him—it was a fuel called "ambition."
"But I am different," the God of Love smiled with satisfaction, "I can provide you with everything they are unwilling to provide you."
"Everything." She emphasized, "What do you want, my dear? About the true weaknesses of gods? How to become a god and control divine power? Or... how to free the people you care about from this increasingly aging and incompetent body until they gain true freedom?"
"...But what do you want from me?" the young man questioned cautiously, "Don't tell me you're just being kind."
"I want to live." The God of Love was surprisingly calm. "I don't ask for much. A little faith is enough to keep me alive."
"The damned Zephyr has taken away most of this world's faith, yet you've caused those who believed in him to question him." At this point, Analene suddenly chuckled with a gloating look. "He hates you for this, and I just love the look on his face—"
The professor raised an eyebrow. "So you want me to collect faith for you?"
"No, you only need to acquiesce to the existence of the Temple of Love and allow my priestess to pray to me," Analene said softly. "What a good deal, isn't it? You don't need to expend manpower and property to 'manage' my temple, and you can easily get what you want..."
People's bottom line always slips little by little. As cunning as the God of Lust, she never thought that she could pull everyone into her faction all at once, but as long as she made a start -
It is natural for people to fall into indulgence and forgetfulness, just as quickly as sliding from a smooth sand tower into the abyss.
Legalizing prostitution sounds so good. The professor's eyes turned cold for a moment, but that cold light quickly faded away.
"So far, I haven't seen what concrete things you can offer me," he said coldly. "You're just being vague and asking me for the authority that belongs to me."
"Don't worry," the God of Love smiled and said meaningfully, "You'll know soon."
…
The god of love disappeared.
Nova rubbed his brows. He knew this guy was coming, but disturbing him so late at night was really rude - and now he couldn't sleep again, he had a splitting headache.
But at least there is one thing that the other party said is absolutely right, that is, always running after the gods is really a very annoying and passive situation.
So in fact, the purpose of the Goddess of Lust is very simple. She wants him to "pretend" to form an alliance with her, and then promise to persuade at least one of Zephir and Odileus to descend in his complete form, so that she can get rid of them in one fell swoop.
As for whether this "pretend" alliance would be forced to become real later... The professor sneered, lay down again, closed his eyes, and placed his hand neatly on his lower abdomen.
If you want to use him as a gun, you have to be careful that the bullet may suddenly hit the shooter's eyebrows.
Time passed quietly, and the person lying straight suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
...still can't sleep.
The bed was a little rough, cold and uncomfortable. The pillow smelled a little strange, the fabric a little stiff. He couldn't find the right height for the soft blanket covering him. Pulling it above his neck would suffocate him, but kicking it below his neck would make him feel cold.
He turned over irritably, breaking the posture that was stiff enough to be included in a health textbook.
The professor's sleep quality had always been poor, and after being startled awake, he found it difficult to fall asleep again. However, he was forced to evolve a habit whereby the smell of familiar scents, the sound of breathing, and the familiar heartbeat would gradually make him sleepy. Even more amazingly, the palpitations and headaches he used to experience upon waking were now completely eliminated by a gentle good morning kiss, and his body's recovery efficiency was incredibly high.
Perhaps because he felt extra safe around people, he conducted a scientific and rational analysis in private, which resulted in his endorphin secretion gradually stabilizing and his anxiety level significantly decreasing when he was around people.
But his humanoid sleeping pills weren't here for the time being, and he was reluctantly being driven to do other things. Maybe he should get up, make some coffee, and burn the midnight oil to finish some of tomorrow's work, and do it more carefully and thoroughly when cleaning up afterward, so the other party wouldn't know... But for some reason, he just didn't feel like moving.
The black-haired young man lay silent on the bed for a long time, then suddenly got up and squatted barefoot beside his luggage to search. Fortunately, he soon found what he wanted - a loose and soft robe that was neither old nor new. It belonged to the Savior, and it seemed that it had been put on him once and then mixed into his luggage.
The professor climbed back onto the bed, grabbing his robe with an expressionless face. With the rigor of an experiment, he carefully folded it into a long strip and then wrapped it around his head and neck until it could tightly wrap around him.
He lay back down, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
A familiar, pleasant smell quietly enveloped him. He could hear his own heartbeat, beat after beat. Beneath his twitching eyelids, he seemed to faintly catch a glimpse of bizarre, colorful patterns, but when he looked closely, he was completely unable to grasp them...
As the night grew darker, the black-haired young man on the bed turned over, muttered unconsciously, and in a daze pulled out the soft clothes under his head a little, buried his face in it, and then stopped moving completely.
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