CHAPTER 148 | REACHING THE SANCTUARY OF THE HOLY GOD

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  The air between us was thick with awkwardness. Samantha hadn’t bothered to speak a single word to me since that event. Not because she was traumatized by the things I did to her, but because she was too embarrassed to even entertain those lewd thoughts. Though, it wasn’t to the point of outright refusing her meals or my advances, so I guess it’s a win that she isn’t genuinely mad about it.

  I sighed, taking one last glance at her sitting right beside me. I shifted, grabbing her hips firmly before whispering into her ear. "I think we have finally reached the Sanctuary of the Grand Priest after traveling for a month, Samantha."

  I suppose I should explain what happened during the days leading up to this. It wasn’t something that should be held in high regard, not like killing an Overseer, or meeting the Five Gods. Speaking of which, I had already killed two of them, Tellus and Varuna. Solia killed Surtr, and from what I could tell, Ashin Sae Acoustine killed Edithe, the God of Illusion.

  The journey hadn’t been eventful enough to say I killed the strongest of them, Izrael, the God of the Wind, so that all of them could meet in the afterlife. Or rather, three of them, since Varuna is currently inside my stomach along with her daughter, and Tellus has become my summon.

  Something like traveling a thousand miles down south is trivial in the grand scheme of things. It wasn’t nearly as impressive as me taking a single step to basically teleport from the ancestral residence of the Seashore Clan directly into the Grand Sanctuary where the High Priest resides.

  Constructing this vessel handcrafted from earth was the real display. To others, it would be a miracle, since they lack the skills to maintain such a construct for even an hour. How could they hold millions, perhaps billions, of fine grains of sand to create a cohesive flying vessel? It takes far more control to do this than executing a grand formation to protect an entire capital. In comparison, this is significantly harder, you need godlike mastery over mana.

  Sure, you could cheat and use large mounds of earth to construct a vessel, as it’s easier to maintain than connecting grain to grain while using the least amount of mana possible. Or, I could have just elevated the Ascension of my [Void Steps] into the next realm, which shouldn’t be possible unless I fuse it with three other Ascension II movement skills, which I don’t possess right this moment.

  I guess this display of grandeur was necessary. I could have just carried Samantha and continuously used [Void Steps] to close the distance in a single day, but where is the fun in that? I preferred to lounge inside the flying vessel with Samantha right beside me.

  Currently, she was reading a scripture I had handpicked from my collection of gun techniques. I had modified them, customizing the flow for her mana frequency, mana type, battle style, and even the habits she displays when executing techniques.

  Still, she ignored me when I spoke. She was too flushed to converse with me after what happened. Even though Samantha desperately wanted to ask for guidance on how the sections worked, how she should swing her sword and fire her gun simultaneously to achieve the maximum effect of the technique that allowed her to use revolvers without lifting a hand, she remained silent.

  She couldn’t help but want my guidance. Yet, every time she took a glance at me, she couldn’t stop herself from dampening with heat at the recollection of that day. When I, the ever-gentle man, handled her so roughly.

  Instead of throwing a fit, she was petrified by the fact that she liked it. That intense feeling of thrill... What if it continued? Would I handle her so roughly that she would lose her voice in ecstasy, screaming my name while I strangled her, just like her father did to her mother?

  Samantha was curious, but she didn’t want to find out. The notion of that scene unfolding in her mind aroused her, so she focused intently on the scripture in front of her, ignoring my ramblings that we had arrived. She wouldn’t be able to restrain herself any longer if I... if I, the gentle Alister, whispered in her ear with a voice sweeter than honey and more alluring than a devil, only to wrap my frail hands, hands no rougher than a lady’s, around her throat.

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  Samantha was lost in that haze until she heard me sigh. I grabbed her by the hips, looking at the vessel that had carried us for the past month. I flicked my hand and closed my eyes.

  Vrrrmmm... chk.

  The vessel contorted, then exploded into dust particles before being absorbed back into my skin. At the last moment, I took a step with Void Steps. We traveled through space, instantly appearing in the center of the Sanctuary where the Grand High Priest presided.

  Samantha felt a shiver shoot through her core at my touch. When we landed on the stone floor of the Sanctuary, her legs went weak, and she fell to the ground on her knees. Just as she expected, I offered my hand.

  But before I could speak, Samantha clenched her teeth and interrupted me. "I... I don't need your help!" Her words reverberated across the empty halls. Her voice was filled with disgust. It was a disgust she tried to hide, disgust at the notion that she enjoyed being used like a toy. That she enjoyed being handled so roughly. Her face was flushed, her eyes rimmed with red. It looked as if she were about to cry, but she firmly looked away from my face.

  She couldn't bear to see the look that told her she had hurt me. Her expression of disgust wasn't directed at me, but at herself. At the source that let her know her true nature. Samantha, too ashamed, couldn't bear the guilt of tainting me. She turned her head, hoping I would ignore her. Ignore her dirty self.

  She felt she was tainting the pure Alister, whose appearance couldn't be faulted, whose personality was saintly. Was it the feeling of guilt, or the desire to suppress her urge to taint me with her filthy self that made her push me away? No, it wasn't just those things. She knew that Alister, who had loved her unconditionally even when she was ugly compared to him, he who was more beautiful than a master, than a god, would allow her to taint him in the most unimaginable ways.

  It was these thoughts that had started eating at her conscience, eroding her sanity. It was the knowledge that I would throw myself at her even if she was the most obscene woman in the entire world.

  That notion enabled Samantha to finally meet my eyes.

  I stared at her coldly. I reached my hand out again, but she slapped it away in shame. In guilt. I reached again, and she slapped it a second time.

  This time, I didn't raise my hand in consideration. I grabbed her by the shoulder and forcefully lifted her chin to meet my gaze. Samantha’s eyes darted away, refusing to lock with mine. Anger flared in my chest. I forcefully grabbed her cheeks, staring through her eyes, demanding her attention.

  Thud! Thud! Thud!

  The sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the hallways outside the hall. A figure with a suffocating pressure was leading them. I clenched my teeth harder, displeasure evident on my face, but I didn't look away from Samantha.

  I stared at her for a moment longer before speaking in a bone-chilling tone. "I hate it when you suffer because of my mishandling, so stop trying to avoid the inevitable, Samantha! You are the woman that I love, so even if you deny it now, it is inevitable, you will be my wife! Even if you beg me, I won't let you go! So don't needlessly refuse my advances when you’ll be the one to suffer! I know that you love it! You love that feeling, so why do you deny it?"

  I leaned closer, my voice dropping. "I hate to stop right now, but decide it... decide what you want until the end of this fight. Because if you can't, then forget me being this considerate." With my words finished, I let go of her face.

  I walked out of the room to greet the guests, leaving Samantha alone in the heart of the Sanctuary. She sat before the statue of Skaira at the center of the chamber, surrounded by pillars laced with gold. She looked up at the ceiling, gazing at the murals of Skaira herself transforming into the World Will.

  Samantha closed her eyes and laid back across the cold floor, sighing with relief. Relief that I was angry at her. But she couldn't help herself, she cried in silence, shouting into the empty chamber. "Why! Why must I be like this! Why must I be a bitch in heat when I... when I think about him?!"

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  Meanwhile, outside the chamber. I sighed in relief. Samantha wasn't mad at me; instead she was just sorrowful at her own indecent self.

  I didn't hate her for it, since I merely attributed it to her nature. In every cycle where we had married, Samantha always had that quirky fetish. That she would ask me to handle her roughly, even to the point of asking to be whipped, or in the worst cases, asking me to handle her so roughly that she would be bedridden for weeks due to our nightly activities.

  I couldn't help but find it weird that the Samantha in this lifetime was denying it to the point of outrightly refusing my help.

  I sighed again and looked down the empty hallways.

  The sound of footsteps became louder and louder. Shadows of armed Holy Knights charged at me from the right, the left, and even the front.

  Leading them was a woman wearing priestly garments that screamed neither frugality nor humbleness. She charged at me with a brazier in her hand, shouting, enraged at my appearance. "You filthy man! How dare you step your dirty foot in this holy place?!! And how dare you bring the vixen that the Fallen Empress of Atlantis ordained as her successor into my sacred prayer room?!?!"