But Seiya quickly realized something was wrong. The ancient, timeless witch was in some kind of unconscious state. In the darkness, the faint violet light in her eyes flickered erratically. The veins on her arms bulged, and tree-like patterns on her abdomen appeared and disappeared in the moonlight. Though the situation was extremely intimate, she was gripping his wrist with immense force, seemingly trying to merge her body with his, rubbing against him like an affectionate kitten.
Seiya didn't understand the power system of witches, but he could tell that something was very wrong with her. And his natural choice was—
—to slap her across the face.
The slap was crisp, the feel of it excellent. The sight of her slightly agape, innocent-looking lips made Seiya's index finger twitch. Seeing her left cheek now offered up, Seiya raised his hand for another slap, but he couldn't bring it down. The witch had already, groggily, begun to wake.
"Are you alright, my lady?" Seiya asked with concern, steadying her by the shoulders.
"Why does my right cheek hurt?" Lucretia Zola murmured weakly, touching her face.
"That's normal. It's a method from my homeland for calling back the soul of a lost and bewildered child. My lady, I don't think you're in a good state."
Seiya looked at the witch before him. In truth, the way she had looked at him during the day had been strange, and it had clearly worsened now. "It's likely a state of magical thirst. A life form overflowing with magical power suddenly entered my barrier; it's affected me somewhat," Lucretia Zola said, weakly draping herself over Seiya.
Though she was only lying on him, Seiya could already feel the energy dissipating from his own body being greedily absorbed into hers.
"As you can see, in witnessing that great battle between Heretic Gods, this big sister had to use magic beyond her limits to protect herself. Now my magical power is in a state of complete depletion. To lose the ability to protect myself in such a dangerous situation is truly a bother."
As a great witch of the highest terrestrial order, the sudden deficit of magical power was more agonizing than being starved of water in a desert for days. If left alone, she might have recovered after a few days, but it was at this precise moment that Seiya and Erica had arrived.
Though her words spoke of trouble, the witch's actions were causing Seiya even more trouble. She pressed herself closer to him.
"Seiya-dear, what do you think we should do?" Lucretia Zola cupped Seiya's face. She could clearly feel that he, a member of the opposite sex, was overflowing with a vibrant, potent energy. He even bore the Mark of a Divine Ancestor on his body. This energy, so fundamentally different from ordinary magical power, was immensely alluring to her—or rather, to all witches. Especially when she was in a state of magical thirst.
It was no wonder her body had unconsciously sought him out.
For a rare moment, Seiya hesitated. In her current state, even a simple push might cause him to touch an inappropriate place. He had intended to cover her with the blanket, but she had instead burrowed right into his arms.
"How disappointing, Seiya-dear. To not respond actively to a girl's advances... you're completely failing as a man," Lucretia Zola whispered from within the blanket, wrapping her arms around his neck and furrowing her lovely brows.
"I refuse. What you truly crave is not me, but my... magical power!"
Seiya felt he had come at the wrong time. By visiting three days earlier than in the original story, the witch before him was clearly in a far more "thirsty" state. Although the beauty before him was gorgeous and charming, her figure both sensual and supple, the most important thing right now was—
—Seiya froze. He was staring intently at what she was pulling out from between her breasts.
It was the stone tablet crudely carved with the image of a man bound in chains—the supreme grimoire, the divine artifact, the Prometheus tablet.
Wow! What a despicable and evil witch! To think she'd try to use a divine artifact to force me to submit! I could never possibly submit to this!
"Even so, you're still going to refuse, my dear?" Lucretia Zola flashed a wicked smile and tucked the divine artifact back into her ample bosom. In that instant, Seiya submitted.
"Why me? Erica desires this divine artifact far more. As a Great Knight and a witch with the blood of the Blandelli family, she could probably make better use of its power," Seiya said.
"Alright, I'll be direct. It's nothing too important, really. I just want you to be a fetter for that young lady, to temper her fiery spirit a little. If I just gave the Prometheus Grimoire to her directly, with her proud personality, what do you think she would do?"
It didn't take much thought for Seiya to know the answer—she would immediately take it and go challenge a god. Perhaps in Erica's subconscious, even dying while charging a Heretic God was a way of bathing in her ancestor's glory.
"And more importantly, she doesn't have the qualifications to wield this divine artifact. I realized it the moment I got my hands on it. This artifact is already in an activated state. Do you know what its activation condition is?"
Without waiting for Seiya's reply, the witch gave the answer.
"One must have a deep understanding of a god and have spent a period of time with one. Only then can this miraculous stone tablet, which usurps the great power of a deity, be activated."
The Prometheus tablet, even among the many divine artifacts, held a very special status.
So that's how it is. Just as Seiya reached out to take the divine artifact that Erica so desperately wanted, the witch, with another wicked grin, pulled it back.
"Now then, Seiya-dear. You wouldn't want to let the stone tablet gather dust, would you?" the witch coaxed with a deeply tempting voice.
I'm sorry, my lady, I really need this power. I'll do whatever it takes. Though this sentence formed in Seiya's mind, he didn't say it out loud. But his expression of submission had already told the witch everything.
"You know what you have to do now, don't you?" the witch purred, leaning closer with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "Saint, let this humble one see your determination to protect humanity and the Earth!"
As the witch began to run her hands over him, Seiya suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.
"If it wasn't me who came today, but someone else, another knight, would you have done this? Or is it that this stone tablet absolutely had to be delivered into my hands, which is why this is happening?"
Hearing this question, the witch, who had been somewhat lost in the haze of her magical thirst, looked up slightly.
She gazed at the young man's face, and after a few seconds of silence, a brilliant smile bloomed across her features.
"No," the witch answered.
It was as if she had made some kind of decision, or perhaps in her current state, there was no longer a need for pretense.
"Because three years ago, the moment I saw you practicing your punches by the sea in the Fairy Realm, I decided I was going to sleep with you!"
_____
Greetings! ✨ Walnut here with another translation! Saint Seiya united by their strength!
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