Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

Chapter 683: The Goal Is To Prove Them Wrong [Bonus Chapter]

Rika took a deep steadying breath, pressing her palms against her thighs as her expression shifted into fierce determination.

”My Lord, with the fledgling phoenix bonded to my soul, my pathways have reopened... I am going to initiate Spirit Cultivation immediately! If I refine the residual golden mana from the eggshells, I may be able to unlock several of my secondary authorities before nightfall!”

”Do it,” Silas nodded, rising smoothly to his feet and offering her a hand up. ”Focus on stabilizing your core... After you finish your preliminary cultivation, prepare your travel gear. You’re coming with me to Central City today.”

Near the doorway, Eluned instantly puffed her cheeks out, crossing her arms with a pout.

”Hu-bby! I thought you said only Morwenna and Aeliana were accompanying you! I wanted to go to Central City with you, my heart!”

”You need to stay and hold the fort here, Elu,” Silas said patiently, turning toward his High Lady with an affectionate knowing look. ”Aki is still finding her footing with Vineworld and we need someone to take proper charge here... You’re the Goddess of Blessed Land too, the foundation falls apart without you.”

Eluned sighed, though the praise visibly mollified her pride, a soft pleased smile returning to her lips.

Silas turned back to Rika, his expression steady and serious.

”Central City has the largest sovereign exchanges in the realm... With the trade tokens and connections we have, I’m going to secure higher-tier beast contracts for you. We’re going to build your menagerie until you’re back at the peak.”

Rika stared at him, her heart swelling with an emotion so intense it felt like it would split her chest open.

Without warning, she dropped to her knees again, bowing her head until her forehead nearly brushed his boots.

”If my Lord requires anything of me... I offer my entire existence!” Rika declared, her voice trembling with passionate devotion. ”My soul, my claws, my life! If you desire my body to bear your children, I will gladly offer my womb to you as many times as my Lord pleases! Use me however you see fit!”

”Whoa, whoa, stand up, please,” Silas sweatdropped, quickly reaching down to haul her back onto her feet by her elbows. ”None of that is necessary right now... We don’t need to barter your womb for beast contracts.”

He looked straight into her wide earnest green eyes, his voice dropping into a firm tone.

”Right now, the mission is simple... we have to prove all the people who looked down on you wrong. Right?”

Rika blinked.

”Thor,” Silas continued, a dangerous confident smirk playing on his lips, ”the other deities who mocked you, the frost goddess who thought you were easy prey... we’re going to make every single one of them eat their words until they choke. Understood?”

Rika’s breath caught.

’Eat their words...’

The phrase echoed through her mind like a battle horn.

The memories of sneering gods and booming laughter in the celestial halls flashed before her, but this time, the cold shame was completely burned away by the golden flame in her chest.

Silas raised his right hand, curling his fingers into a loose fist and Rika didn’t hesitate.

She lifted her own pale fist and bumped it firmly against his knuckles.

”Yes!” she declared, her eyes blazing with fierce, golden-flecked radiance. ”We will make them eat every single word!”

A few moments later, Silas and Eluned stepped out into the quiet corridor, the heavy oak door clicking shut behind them.

Inside the room, the sliver of sunlight filtering through the drapes had taken on a rich shimmering golden hue as Rika immediately sat in the lotus position, beginning her spiritual refinement.

”She is remarkably happy, my darling,” Eluned murmured, a fond, soft smile gracing her lips as she walked beside him. ”I can feel the golden warmth of that primordial bird settling into the Keep’s upper floorboards. It is a good omen...”

”It’s about time she caught a break,” Silas said, looking down at his palms. ”Once we establish her initial menagerie in Central City, I want to see if we can locate a high-tier wind or shadow beast for Reina as well... If Rika can weave a proper contract for Reina, her stealth arts and aerial reconnaissance will become ten times more lethal.”

”Always thinking of your girls,” Eluned chuckled softly.

Silas reached down and took her delicate pale hand, his fingers intertwining with hers.

Eluned paused, a lovely blush rising to her cheeks as she looked up at him.

”My heart? What is it? If this is about leaving for Central City, you need not worry. I am not truly angry about staying behind. Though... I wouldn’t mind if you took my camera and captured a few landscapes of the city for me...”

Silas didn’t answer.

Instead, he guided her toward a vacant guest chamber two doors down the hall, turned the brass knob, and pulled her inside.

He kicked the heavy oak door shut behind them with the heel of his boot, the latch clicking into place with a sharp decisive clack.

Before Eluned could speak, Silas stepped forward, catching her by the waist and smoothly shoving her backward toward the massive four-poster feather bed.

”Ah—!”

Eluned let out a startled breathless gasp as she landed flat on her back amidst the silken cushions with her emerald skirts billowing around her slender thighs.

She looked up at him, her wide green eyes shimmering with a dazed delicious surprise.

Her breath hitched as deep radiant crimson rushed from her collarbones straight to the tips of her pointed ears.

’He pushed me...?’

It was so remarkably rare to see Silas on the aggressive dominating end of their interactions.

Usually, she was the one draping herself over his lap, teasing him with shameless whispered promises, while he stood like an amused unyielding mountain.

But now... standing over the bed, his gold-ringed blue eyes carried a sharp glint that made a delicious liquid shiver shoot straight down her spine.

Silas reached down to his waist, his fingers catching the silver buckle of his leather belt.

Clink!

With slow deliberate agonizing leisure, he unfastened the clasp, sliding the thick leather strap free from the loops of his trousers.

”There’s still an hour before the others finish gathering their gear before we depart,” Silas murmured, his voice dropping a bit as he tossed the belt onto a nearby chair. ”And since you were complaining earlier about me leaving for Central City without saying a proper goodbye... why don’t we get you full as usual?”

Eluned’s jaw parted with a ragged shuddering gasp catching in her throat.

Her earlier composure shattered completely into pieces.

A bright intoxicating giggle bubbled past her lips as she reached down, gathering the delicate silk hem of her pale robes, and shamelessly spread her long porcelain thighs wide apart across the bedding.

”Oh, you cheeky, insolent boy...” Eluned purred, her voice trembling with adoring delight as she held her arms out toward him. ”Come here, then. Fill your lawful wife to the brim.”

She hooked one slender leg around his hip as he leaned over her, her fingers curling into his collar to drag his ear down to her lips.

”And don’t you dare be gentle, my darling,” she breathed, her voice sounding like a hot honeyed whisper against his skin. ”I want to feel you with every single step I take all the way to heaven’s gate~”

...

Roughly an hour later.

The afternoon sun hung high over the lush, rolling hills of the southern sector of Blessed Land.

A gentle mountain breeze rustled through the emerald canopies of the spirit groves, carrying the sweet clean scent of blooming orchard fruit.

Walking down the wide, crushed-gravel path leading toward the Keep was Silas Graves and Evelyn.

Evelyn was slouched inside her signature oversized dark-gray hoodie, the sleeves hanging well past her fingertips, paired with her frayed denim shorts and heavy scuffed combat boots.

Clamped firmly in her left hand was a massive porcelain bowl piled high with three generous scoops of sweet clotted cream, shaved ice, and candied honey-berries that Silas had pulled from the Keep’s cold pantry.

She held a small silver spoon between two fingers, shoveling sweet cream into her mouth with intense single-minded focus.

”You don’t have to hover right next to me,” Evelyn grumbled through a mouthful of frozen berries, not looking up. ”Especially when I’m eating. It’s annoying.”

Silas walked beside her with his hands resting easily in the pockets of his fresh charcoal trousers, an amused smirk tugging at his lips.

”I’m just making sure you don’t trip over your own boots. You walk like a sleep-deprived zombie when you have food in your hands.”

”I walk fine, you arrogant prick,” she scoffed, scooping another massive mound of cream. ”I survived four war-zones and three sieges on three hours of sleep and bad rations... I think I can handle a gravel footpath.”

”Could’ve fooled me,” Silas chuckled. ”At least I’m not an old woman whose lungs are seventy percent cigarette smoke.”

Evelyn’s head whipped around so fast her messy black bun wobbled.

She brandished the silver spoon directly in front of his nose like a dagger, her sharp dark eyes flashing with pure, unadulterated outrage.

”I am NOT an old woman!” she hissed, her voice cracking with indignation. ”I am twenty-two! Twenty! Two! That is the literal prime of human youth!”

Silas tilted his head, giving her a deadpan, analytical once-over.

”Twenty-two is basically ancient in cultivator years. You’re practically a grandmother.”

”I will stab you in the throat with this spoon,” Evelyn snarled, her eye twitching violently as she aggressively shoved another bite of ice cream into her mouth, looking for all the world like she wanted to rip her own hair out. ”I swear to the heavens, Graves, if you call me old one more time, I’m charging you five hundred thousand credits for this whole thing...”

Silas burst out laughing, enjoying her predictable outrage as they crested the final lap leading to the Keep’s grand front courtyard.

Waiting near the base of the wide marble steps was their traveling party.

Morwenna stood one hand resting on Tidebringer’s hilt, clad in her dark leather armor beneath a heavy dark-green traveling cloak bearing the crest of Blessed Land embroidered in silver thread.

Beside her stood Aeliana, the Elf princess looking radiant and serene as ever with her pale green robes tucked neatly beneath a matching cloak.

And standing slightly behind them, looking a bit small and self-conscious, was Rika.

The Beast Goddess had washed her face, her wild midnight-black hair brushed into a neat cascade that fell past her shoulder blades.

Clutched closely against her chest, tucked inside the folds of her green cloak, was the fledgling Primordial Phoenix.

The tiny golden-feathered bird poked its head out, its starlit eyes blinking curiously at the open sky, trilling softly whenever Rika gently stroked its nape with her thumb.

Standing at the top of the marble steps, leaning lightly against one of the carved balustrades, was Eluned.

The Goddess of the World Tree looked... distinct.

Her hair was arranged with its usual regal perfection, and her flowing gown was immaculate, but across her pale, porcelain cheeks was a deep distinctly flushed pink that refused to fade.

Furthermore, as she took a slow step forward to greet them, her legs gave a tiny unmistakable wobble with her inner thighs trembling slightly beneath the heavy silk of her skirts.

Silas caught the movement, his mouth twitching as he struggled to maintain a straight face.

’She’s definitely doing that on purpose,’ Silas thought, rolling his eyes in silent amusement. ’Walking with that exaggerated waddle just to make sure every single person in the courtyard knows exactly what went down in that guest room... Unbelievable.’

Eluned glided down the steps, wobble and all, and walked straight up to Silas.

She wrapped her slender arms around his neck, pulling him down into a warm lingering hug.

”Heh.”

Elu leaned in, pressing a soft sweet kiss onto the center of his forehead, her lips lingering against his skin with open unabashed tenderness.

”Come back to me in one piece, my heart,” Eluned whispered softly, her emerald eyes glowing with radiant devotion.

Silas smiled, reaching up with his index finger and giving the tip of her small elegant nose a playful boop.

”Always,” Silas promised.

Eluned giggled, stepping back, and turned her gaze toward the rest of the traveling party.

”Safe travels to you all,” Eluned chimed, offering Aeliana and Rika a warm nod.

She turned on her heel, beginning her slow swaying walk back toward the Keep’s grand entrance.

Morwenna’s stormy gray eyes tracked the Lady’s wobbly stride with razor-sharp suspicion.

’Why the hell is she walking like she just survived a cavalry charge...?’ Morwenna thought, her scarred brow furrowing into a deep scowl.