Thinking back, the current situation was much different from the first time he came to the Mediterranean.
Having obtained the supernatural body of a Campione, but more importantly—
"You're here at such a place, Godou? I was looking for you."
Chatting with him as she sat down beside him was Erica.
The first time he sat on a bench with this girl, they kept such a far distance from each other, but now—what distance, they were completely stuck together.
Oh no, too careless—! Godou realized his mistake.
Having claimed such an advantageous position, Erica pursued victory with monstrous strength and it was already impossible to escape from her.
Furthermore, an originally very attractive young beauty, was now dressed in this manner...
"E-Erica... Your current posture is not really appropriate, it's definitely not right, let's keep a little distance."
"Why? It wasn't easy to find time alone together, of course I have to make the most of every opportunity... And don't we lean close together like this all the time anyway?"
They weren't just leaning close to each other. With her calm voice, Erica was forcefully pressing against Godou.
Her two legs entangling Godou, sitting on his thighs, her bountiful bosom pressing upon him, her arm wrapped around his neck, their faces slowly nearing each other, and finally a light kiss beside his ear.
"True, if you put it that way, but with your current attire..."
"Yes, how do you feel about it? How's my swimsuit? Really, Godou, you keep diverting your gaze away from my body, do you dislike this one... That's not possible? Or should I say, the opposite?"
It was just as Erica described.
Kusanagi Godou did not make any comments about the tastes of this young beauty in her choice of glamorous clothing, because too much of her body was exposed, and Godou could not admire normally with a straight gaze.
"Please don't do this! I beg you!"
Lamenting his lack of vocabulary, Godou could only plead clumsily.
Of course it had no effect, and he was pushed down by her.
Her bright red and moist lips had gently surrounded Godou's, from a bystander's perspective, this was clearly a daring pair of lovers making out.
"...The two of us, isn't it time to resume what happened the night in Sicily? Right, Godou, at that time, I already offered my purity to you—"
Sucking on Godou's lips for a full minute, Erica spoke lightly with a lubricated voice.
"Nothing of that sort. I already said it. Sleeping on the same bed has nothing to do with purity..."
"Ah, but that's not all there was to that night? Hoho, Godou and I were wearing much less than right now, or rather, wearing nothing at all would not be an exaggeration?"
"Uh... Yes... You are right."
Recalling the memories of that time, Godou still could not bear it.
"However, this is the main point! Aren't we in the middle of a group trip?"
"Just change it to a private one, Godou and me, just the two of us."
Godou lost strength in that moment, as thoughts surfaced of giving up and doing as he was told.
But he suddenly thought, no way! I can't do this.
If he didn't put up any resistance, she would simply go further and further each time! He must rally his fighting spirit, and continue his battle of resistance!
"Godou-san, and Erica-san! You two are really unbelievable! At this early hour, and out in open public, what on earth are you two doing!?"
Awe-inspiring with a hint of embarrassment, the words of reproach suddenly interrupted them.
Due to embarrassment, Yuri had yelled out with her face all red. It seemed like she noticed the two were gone, and had come chasing after them.
"What's the matter? At this beach, aren't all lovers like this?"
"N-No good at all, you two are too shameless!"
"Hmm... How about we take turns then. For every week, I will take four days as the proper wife, Yuri the lover can have two. And then leave the remaining day for the local wife Lucretia, not bad, right?"
"What crazy words are you saying!?"
"A schedule. The times and number of days for honeymoon moments with Godou. I am not a woman who ignores the situation in order to monopolize the Campione who is [King]. Of course, to be honest, I'd like it to be just the two of us forever, but I can't put him on too tight a leash."
"You, what do you take me for!"
Godou's emotional outburst was dismissed by the witch who saw through everything.
Godou and Yuri looked at each other meaningfully, and Erica sneered:
"Yes, I took into account Godou's fetishes and personality when I made that suggestion. Godou always speaks with righteousness, but those are mere words. In actual practice, every time he will go out of hand. See, I lost sight of him for just a little while and he goes over the line with Yuri."
"Uh, ummm... There were compelling reasons... No other way."
"Uh, because there were reasons it had to be done that time... No choice at all."
"Hmph, how come in an instant, you two spoke with such unity, perhaps you've been secretly colluding?"
Faced with the two who spoke as one, Erica frowned with displeasure. And then—
"It hurts! Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuch, please don't twist my ear with your monstrous strength!"
"E-Erica-san, please stop. If this continues, Godou-san's ear will come off!"
Not long after they finished their lovers' quarrels.
Yuri suddenly asked.
"By the way, from Godou-san's story, the god Melqart also woke up, right? What happened to the divine king?"
She asked about that incident.
Godou had not covered this event because his story stopped at that point.
"Ah, you told her the story of Verethragna, but you didn't tell her the ending? This is a wonderful memory of how Godou and I were united in both our hearts and our bodies. OK, let me tell you the rest of the story. Actually, after that, we were at Sicily—"
"W-Wait, Erica, could you please not express things in such an easily misunderstood manner?"
"...Godou-san. Could it be that something happened that you are ashamed to tell others, so you are hiding it from me?"
The Sardinian sky was an endless deep blue.
Now the true summer really began.
The quarrelsome story of the threesome, was only just about to begin.
Flowing along the sounds of the tide, came a familiar voice.
"...Oh?"
She nodded lightly.
Trying to focus her ears to listen. As the ruler of darkness and the earth, she also had a deep history with the sea. Borrowing the unpredictable powers of the wind and the waves, perhaps she could listen clearly to what they were saying.
It was a success.
"...What, 'tis that fellow. Crossing the oceans to come here, for what reason?"
Several months ago, the Campione who defeated her.
A young novice who recently usurped the authority of the victorious warlord. Though unrefined, the youth's fortitude proved to be immeasurable. His voice was currently very soft, but could still be heard clearly.
Looking out into the distance at the sea before her, she bore a smile.
Sharp rocks and reefs which seemed to cut open skin with a single touch. Every time the waves made contact, they turned white and scattered. The sea breeze was howling, and the clouds inhabiting the sky were rapidly moving.
On the other side of the sea—probably near the shore, that youth was there.
"Hmph, to think that the time for one to meet that fellow again would be so soon."
She smiled lightly, adding a spot of radiance to the corner of her lips.
The heretic mother earth goddess, ruling the sky, earth and underworld, the descendant of the oldest and strongest goddess.
Possessing silver hair and black eyes, appearing in the form of a tender young girl—Heretic Athena, declared to the
sea:
"Kusanagi Godou, thou shalt wait for the time to come, though it is yet unknown whether one will fight thee or get along in peace. However, the place one shall encounter thee again, will surely give rise to new chaos—lookest forward to it with patience!"
Predicting the omens of a commotion from the sky, the earth and the sea, Athena felt exceptionally roused.
The war god not seen for months, had lit a fire within her heart, and she laughed violently.
Translator's Notes and References
1. called game: In baseball, a called game is one in which, for any reason, the umpire in chief terminates play. In other words, end game.
2. hime: princess.
3. rakshasa: a race of mythological humanoid beings or unrighteous spirits in Hinduism and Buddhism, also called man-eaters.
4. Yamato Takeru: a Japanese legendary prince of the Yamato dynasty. One of his exploits resulted in the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi gaining its alternative moniker, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi ("grass-cutting word").[1]
5. Shikoku: the smallest of the four main islands of Japan.[2]
6. Prajñā: one of the three divisions of the Noble Eightfold Path in Buddhism, meaning wisdom.[3]
7. Taishou era: July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, the reign of the Taishou Emperor.
8. Ni-choume: a district in the Tokyo ward of Shinjuku.
9. Witenagemot: ("meeting of wise men" in Old English) a political institution in Anglo-Saxon England.[4]
10. Golgotha: the name of the site believed to be where Jesus Christ was crucified.[5]
11. Hannibal: the legendary Carthaginian general renowned as one of the greatest generals in history.[6]
12. Scipio: Roman general best known for defeating Hannibal.[7]
13. Fantastico! Fantastico! Figlio Del Sole!: Italian for "Fantastic! Fantastic! Son of the sun!"
14. Torre dell'Elefante: Tower of the Elephant, a medieval tower built in 1307.
15. Torre di San Pancrazio: another medieval tower in Cagliari.
16. Four Elements: (earth, air, water and fire) the classical elements proposed by Greek philosophers. Aristotle later added a fifth element: aether.
17. Five Elements: (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) the five elemental substances used as a conceptual device in many fields of early Chinese thought such as Feng Shui, astrology, Chinese medicine, music, military strategy and martial arts.
18. trattoria: an Italian-style eating establishment, less formal than a ristorante, but more formal than an osteria.
19. seppuku: literally "stomach-cutting", a form of suicide performed through disembowelment, practiced by Japanese samurai as part of bushido to preserve honor.
20. Word of Abandonment: quoted by Jesus from Psalm 22, it is the only saying that appears in more than one gospel (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34).
21. Psalm 22:2-3
22. Psalm 22:14-16
23. Psalm 22:19-21
24. Psalm 22:22
25. inning: an inning in baseball consists of six outs, three for each team. A regulation game consists of nine innings.
26. Maitreya: a bodhisattva prophesied to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma, according to Buddhist tradition.[8]
27. Kothar-wa-Khasis: a Canaanite craftsman god who aided Baal in his battles. Considered the equivalent of the Greek god Hephaestus.[9]
28. Vajradhara: (執金剛) the ultimate primordial Buddha, his name means the bearer of the thunderbolt.[10]
29. Amirani: a culture hero of a Georgian epic who resembles the Classical Prometheus.[11]
30. Yam: a god of the sea popular in ancient Egyptian times.[12]
31. shogi: (将棋) literally "general's chess," a Japanese two-player strategy board game.[13]
32. yakshini: to be precise, Yuri's eyes were like those of a yakshini, a broad class of female nature spirits from Hindu mythology.[14]
33. local wife: a local mistress for having an affair in a foreign or distant land.
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