I'm a Goddess to Be Devoured by the Protagonist - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 24
For some reason, Sirius studied Deneb quietly.
I won’t ask for it. You earned it in combat, so it’s yours to keep.
Understood.
So that’s why he was looking at me—he thought I might ask for it.
Normally, thinking it over, Sirius could have yielded, but we need this more than that.
Sirius pretended to place the Skill Scroll into an inner pocket while actually storing it in his inventory.
[Mission Success! Reward granted!]
[Bread ×1]
The two moved with the synchronicity of seasoned partners. Deneb wielded his Shield with fluid control, and Sirius timed his attacks to match.
After no great length of time, they reached the chamber’s end. There, scattered across the floor, lay sleeping people.
I thought they were all dead, but here they are?
Relief bled through his words, barely concealed.
Hey, you. Wake up.
Deneb seized a stranger by the collar and began striking his face repeatedly. Sirius wondered if he should stop him, but the approach proved surprisingly effective.
Huh? What?
Where do you think you are, sleeping like this? Come on, wake up!
Those who roused were pale and listless—the chamber had been slowly draining their life force all along.
Deneb’s armored hands brought many of them to consciousness.
But why won’t my husband wake up?
Yet not all stirred.
And there aren’t many villagers here who entered the Dungeon. Are there others somewhere else?
Deneb sighed heavily, as though the burden of the task had suddenly grown tedious.
It was then.
Crack.
With an unpleasant sound, the Monster’s pupils split open, revealing a sickly hue beneath.
What’s this? Something’s wrong.
At the same moment, the landscape around them began to shift. The clouds vanished, and the surface became exposed—a mass of red, jagged stone.
This must be what the pit of hell itself looks like.
What lurked beneath the clouds revealed itself. The largest of these things bore the most grotesque form.
A massive stalk erupted from the ground, its surface crowned with a hideously malformed flower.
From the hollow at the center of that towering bloom, something like mist continued to pour forth.
This was the Boss Monster of the place.
[ Σ( °o ° ) ]
Sirius’s gaze locked onto the Boss Monster.
Hey, listen. Draw your weapons. Those without—do whatever you can.
Everyone visible on screen was armored. These people had entered the Dungeon of their own accord, so they must all be adventurers.
Yet few possessed weapons. Either they hadn’t carried them into the chamber, or the Monsters had stripped them away.
The unarmed had to fend off the Monsters’ savage, cutting strikes with bare hands alone.
Even those with weapons found combat against the transformed Monster far from simple. The creature’s razor teeth and talons were drawing blood with increasing frequency.
The Monster was hunting the fallen. It seemed to prefer them—easier to carry off than the living who could fight back.
This Boss Monster had kept humans asleep inside the Dungeon, draining their strength methodically, and when there was nothing left to take, it swallowed the hollowed husks whole.
It was a Monster that consumed humans with grim efficiency.
But then—
Clang!
Ugh, damn. That hurts. What’s this strength?
The one who blocked Sirius was not a Monster, but a man.
What are you doing?
If we feed people into that mouth, the Monsters will pause their attacks for a while.
Fury crystallized in Sirius’s eyes.
What insanity is this?
Deneb’s reaction mirrored Sirius’s—his expression darkened with equal outrage.
We sacrifice a few and slip out easy. They’re sleeping anyway—they won’t feel any pain.
The nameless adventurer spouted madness without shame.
Several adventurers moved to block the way. The confrontation had shifted from Monster versus human to human versus human.
In that moment of standoff, the Monster snatched one of the sleepers.
No! That’s my husband! Get out of my way! I’m going to save him!
A woman burst through the crowd, rushing toward the Monster that had seized her husband.
Another one’s gone. That buys us more time.
Sirius looked ready to snap something cutting at the man, but there was no time. He was already running hard to keep pace with Deneb.
In , Sirius loses both his unlikely companion Deneb and the target they were meant to rescue—Deneb’s Husband—and falls into profound despair.
And why am I here? To keep him from feeling that despair.
[Mission]
[Use a Skill Scroll.]
[Mission Success Reward: Bread ×1]
As Sirius ran forward, he pulled the scroll from his inventory and read its contents.
Then the scroll glowed and vanished.
* * *
All around was pitch darkness. The flower’s opening had sealed shut above them.
Below, there was no end in sight.
From that flower’s stem, Deneb gripped a sword embedded in the wall with one hand while cradling her Husband with the other.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I made this choice.”
They had promised each other: no matter who died first, neither would make a foolish choice like this.
Between adventurers who were lovers, such things happened often enough. One of them dying first.
“But now that I think about it again…”
Deneb’s breathing was ragged. It seemed she might lose her grip on the sword at any moment.
“I suppose I’m destined to be a fool.”
Behind the cold iron helmet, a warm smile played across her face. What Deneb had done was nothing short of choosing death by her own hand.
Crack.
The flower’s interior convulsed violently. At the same instant, Deneb’s grip weakened.
Deneb sensed that her life was running out.
Then it happened.
Screech.
The mouth that had seemed sealed shut forever burst open.
What greeted them was a light so brilliant it was almost blinding.
Tick. Tick.
Two destinies were rewritten.
* * *
Sirius pulled the two of them free from the flower’s stem.
-Phew, nearly broke my arm.
Deneb, rotating her arm to check if it was injured, extended her hand—a gesture offering a handshake.
Sirius gazed quietly at that hand for a moment, then returned the handshake.
In , Sirius despaired as he watched the Skill Scroll in his hand grow damp with blood.
If only he’d discovered this sooner—couldn’t he have saved them both?
[Wing Beat]
[Those who cannot fly have envied the birds. By expending considerable stamina, one performs the Wing Beat.]
When this skill was activated, fantastical wings wreathed in luminous light unfurled.
Sirius’s hair was already white, and with wings added to the picture, he looked like an angel straight out of legend.
The wings themselves were useful, but the shimmering visual effect was equally valuable.
Anyone would nod in recognition at the image of a god’s messenger.
He had no intention of revealing himself as a God’s Contractor just yet, but those who witnessed this unforgettable visual spectacle would later realize that the man they’d seen was indeed a God’s Contractor—and that realization would help validate what they’d experienced.
In truth, before obtaining the Golden Apple, he’d meant to come here first. Flying all the way up to the top of the tree monster would have made clearing the dungeon twice as easy.
But he’d rearranged the order because of the bar tab. It was to raise Deneb’s affection.
Slash.
The Boss Monster fell to Sirius’s blade, and the monsters vanished.
The people Deneb had introduced as villagers transported the sleeping adventurers to the Inn. Deneb had said this was the only place she could think of that could accommodate so many.
The innkeeper was astonished, but upon seeing the villagers return once more, she was moved to tears.
Vega came hurrying downstairs at the sound of commotion.
Vega looked in the direction of Sirius’s gaze, then for some reason studied his expression carefully.
-Their wounds aren’t severe. If you’d rather not reveal your abilities, you need not do anything.
After Sirius reassured Vega, he pulled medicine and bandages from his inventory.
He approached Deneb’s Husband first, but…
-I’ll do it.
The medicine was snatched from his hands by Deneb.
Ah, yes. Of course.
Deneb’s Husband was a handsome man. Sirius thought that anyone who lost a husband like that would surely waste away.
Not long after, Deneb’s Husband opened his eyes.
-Mm. My love.
Deneb dragged her hand across her chest over her armor, a gesture of relief.
But what was that? Her Husband pressed his lips to her helmet.
What a sight.
For a moment, it seemed as though the helmet had turned red.
“Honestly, you’re embarrassing me in front of everyone.”
Deneb spoke in a coy voice I’d never heard from him before.
“Don’t look! Eyes front, all of you!”
At Deneb’s cry, the gathered gazes scattered and turned away.
Even Sirius found himself looking elsewhere.
* * *
The next morning.
When I woke from sleep, I saw Vega and Sirius sitting at the table ahead.
Vega was studying small, flat wooden boards, each one inscribed with different geometric shapes.
Still, it was high time I learned about Unique Abilities, magic, and Skill Scrolls.
A Unique Ability was a special power that each person in this world—Quartz—possessed, one per person.
“Ham, can you see people’s Unique Abilities?”
“My Intervention Level is still too low to see them in detail, but yes, it’s possible.”
Ham raised a small foreleg and pointed to Deneb, who sat at another table.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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