Chapter 89: Ch 88: Way to break in - Part 1

"Goddess Apophis, you need to go to sleep now. You have been awake for far too long. Your brumation is not over yet. And yet, you have spent far too long awake."

Aiden pointed out to his goddess, who refused to fall asleep. Instead, she kept herself wrapped around him at all times while also keeping an eye out.

She refused to listen to him even when he brought up this topic, which made Aiden feel worried about her.

"Tsk, do you think I can afford to slip up when that other goddess is out there, trying to steal you away from me? I will never allow that to happen. Ugh, I want to go out and break that insect’s wings. But I cannot afford to leave you alone either. Ugh, I should make two of me—"

"I will never leave you for another goddess. I would rather kill myself—"

"And that makes it better? You have no idea what you are saying, so you might as well keep quiet now."

Aiden sighed at his goddess’s stubbornness and gently patted her head while trying his best to calm her down. He knew that Goddess Apophis was worried about losing him, but staying awake for so long was not good for her either.

"I am not going anywhere, Goddess Apophis. You know that, right? There is no need for you to be so worried. We are bound."

"I know that. But I cannot afford to lower my guard when that insect is still somewhere out there. She has already made it clear that she wants to take you away from me, so how am I supposed to relax knowing that?"

Goddess Apophis tightened her hold around Aiden as she spoke, almost as if she was afraid that he would disappear the moment she loosened her grip.

Aiden could only smile helplessly at her behavior.

"I already told you that I will never leave you for another goddess. You are the only goddess I serve, and I have no intention of changing that."

"That is not enough. You might not want to leave me, but what if the other side doesn’t give you a chance? You have no idea how far the gods can go for things they want."

Goddess Apophis finally closed her eyes after making that demand, and Aiden sighed before agreeing. He gently stroked her hair while waiting for her to calm down.

However, just when he thought she was about to fall asleep, her body suddenly tensed.

"She is still here. I can feel her presence."

Aiden’s expression became complicated.

He had a feeling that Goddess Paphelia was not going to give up so easily. But could someone like her truly cross the barrier put up by his goddess in her own domain? That did not seem like it was possible.

"Goddess Apophis, should we check it out—"

"No. Send someone else outside. I will not risk this temple at any cost. Tell Caelion that he can take your duties over and use the security system to keep an eye on things if you have to."

Since Goddess Apophis had the strongest claim on her temple, it was the safest space that was filled with her essence. And it was not a small space either.

Having lived in modern society, Aiden knew he was more than capable of spending his whole life in the temple. But that would hinder his progress in spreading his goddess’s name...

But he did not want to cause her unneeded trouble either...

’For now, I should agree with what Goddess Apophis wants. Her happiness is the most important thing I need to focus on. As for the rest... that can wait until things settle down.’

Aiden was a human, but he was bound to his goddess. That meant that he had more than enough time on his hands. He could afford to wait around until Goddess Paphelia dropped her obsession with him.

In the meantime...

"I need to start planning a trade route with the outside world. The potion business is going great, and the local stock has been filled up. Now, I only need to focus on the outside stock so that I can make a profit."

For that, Aiden needed information about the already available potions and other prices in the market. The system could help, but the information was too much to process.

"Well, I know how I am going to spend the rest of my time here. Still, I do hope the situation resolves itself quickly. I want to get started on the business side."

...

"Priestess Lumi, are you sure we should be out here? The barrier ends right there—"

"And that is why we need to be here. There are demons that appear outside the barrier from time to time that we need to clear. Don’t worry. We won’t leave the barrier. We just need to kill these demons from the inside."

Sasha nodded as she looked outside with an almost hesitant look on her face.

Her uneasiness was clear to see on her face, but Lumi ruffled her hair and brought out her jellyfish to blast the demon appearing from the rift.

It died in a single blast, showing that Lumi had gotten stronger.

"See, it is nothing great. You will be able to do something like this soon as well. But first, you need to find what your powers are—"

"Someone, help me."

Lumi’s words were cut short by a terrified scream. Someone rushed toward the barrier and banged on it to be let in.

But the barrier held firm, not allowing the person entry inside.

"Hey, is that supposed to happen?"

Sasha asked while looking at the barrier repelling someone. This was the first time she had seen anything like this.

And she was not the only one. Even Lumi had never seen this barrier reject a human before.

"Excuse me, but are you alright—"

She was about to ask when a loud noise stopped her from speaking, and she looked outside, only to see a demon rushing toward the female outside, threatening to kill her.