Chapter 74

Ultimately, the dinner ended in a less than perfect manner.

Aside from the fish soup, the other dishes were also slightly burnt, but compared to the cloyingly sweet fish soup, the other dishes were quite delicious.

It's worth mentioning that although the fish soup wasn't very tasty, it was still completely devoured.

Ereshkigal finished most of it, and Lan Ze figured there was only a little left anyway, so he might as well finish it off as well. He felt a bit bad letting Ereshkigal drink this stuff all by herself.

Lan Ze cleared away the dishes and then started washing them. Ereshkigal, who had been feeling sleepy since finishing her meal, actually fell asleep on the table. In the end, Sajyou Manaka had to carry her out of the room.

Late at night.

Lan Ze lay in the room, his eyes shining with an astonishing light.

Normally he would be engrossed in the game, playing chess with Artoria, or strolling through the Britain palace by this time, but today he felt unusually excited.

"Something's not right... Why am I feeling so strongly horny today?" Lan Ze muttered to himself, his eyes fixed intently on the ceiling.

He felt slightly feverish after finishing his meal, couldn't fall asleep, and didn't want to play games either; he was even sweating from the heat.

"Did we just finish eating... or is this room just too stuffy?"

Lan Ze muttered to himself, got out of bed, and walked out of the room, but did not see Tiamat in the living room.

Normally, at this time, the woman would be in the living room watching TV and wiping away tears, but today she wasn't in the living room. Instead, after dinner, she went back to her room with "Kitchen Weekly" to study it.

"Once a woman finds something she likes, she really does throw herself into it just like a guy likes playing games..." Lan Ze shook his head helplessly, sighed, and had no choice but to turn around and go back to his room.

"That woman is indeed a great threat to me."

Sajyou Manaka, with her hands behind her head, leaned against the headboard with her legs crossed, looking up at the ceiling and muttering to herself.

Tiamat started cooking today; will she take over the breakfast job in a few days?

But that woman probably doesn't even know how to heat milk, after all, Tiamat is a complete idiot when it comes to machines.

No matter what, that woman absolutely cannot take over the breakfast job. If it really comes to that, I'll have no choice but to take action!

After tonight's dinner, Sajyou Manaka clearly now regards Tiamat as her greatest enemy. The Princess of the Root rarely treats someone with such seriousness, and now she is determined to keep a close watch on Tiamat from now on, preventing her from getting too close to Lan Ze.

"Let's discuss it tomorrow and bring her to my room... We absolutely cannot let that woman get close to Lan Ze again..."

As Sajyou Manaka was thinking about these things, she suddenly heard footsteps from the side. Turning her head, she saw the Goddess of the Underworld who had expanded her Magic Barrier to her home.

As if sensing Sajyou Manaka's gaze, Ereshkigal said in a playful tone, "I have to go out for a bit~"

Anyone familiar with Ereshkigal's personality would probably have noticed something amiss by now, but Sajyou Manaka had only known Ereshkigal for the first time, so the Princess of the Root simply gave a faint "hmm" and watched Ereshkigal disappear from sight.

Lan Ze slowly opened his eyes.

Before him lay Artoria's room. He turned his head slightly to look, and saw that the King of Knights, seemingly having been busy all night, was now fast asleep on the edge of the bed.

"Five more days..." Lan Ze muttered to himself.

He's getting married in five days. He doesn't know what will happen after that, but as long as he completes the tasks assigned by the system, his luck stat will slowly rise back... That much is certain.

I need to push myself harder; only with more desire can I accomplish more tasks...

Just as he thought of this, he suddenly felt a very strange sensation in his body.

The magic power in my body seems to be slowly draining away... No, it's not so much slowly draining away as it's extremely rapidly draining away!

Soon after, new magic surged into his body, quickly replenishing his lost magic.

Lan Ze hesitated for a moment, then looked down at his hands.

What's going on?

He opened his personal information and discovered that his magic was indeed draining away, only to be quickly replenished afterward.

I just logged into the game, why is the magic power fluctuating so wildly...?

After a brief moment of stunned silence, something suddenly occurred to Lan Ze.

Mother of All?!

Yes, his magic was draining so quickly that the only plausible explanation was that Mother of All was draining his magic...

After a brief hesitation, Lan Ze opened the system menu and then exited the game.

A soft, sweet voice drifted through the quiet room. Lan Ze felt a little heavy, unsure whether it was from being sleepy after just eating or something else.

He took off his virtual reality glasses and slowly opened his eyes.

My vision was a little blurry at first, and I could only vaguely hear some strange sounds.

Then, as his vision gradually cleared, Lan Ze saw the figure of a girl. Her long hair was loose, and her usually red eyes were now tinged with a golden luster.

Seemingly sensing the movement beneath her, she lowered her head slightly, her beautiful golden eyes fixed on him, a seductive smile playing on her lips, and whispered, "Finally awake?"

Looking into the girl's alluring eyes and at her somewhat familiar face in the dim light, Lan Ze hesitated for half a second before closing his eyes.

Illusion, illusion, illusion...

He silently repeated it to himself several times, rubbed his eyes, and then slowly opened them again.

The girl's graceful figure did not disappear, nor did her face change.

After a long silence, Lan Ze finally realized the truth. Looking into the girl's slightly dark, golden eyes, he exclaimed, "... Ereshkigal?!"

Why is Ereshkigal here?

And... why are you sitting on me?!

At this moment, Lan Ze was still in a dazed state, unaware of what had happened during this process.

"Goddess...?" he called out tentatively, changing his address from "Ereshkigal" to "Goddess".

This goddess seems to be in a bad mood right now, probably angry or something... But I didn't do anything to make her angry, did I?

As Lan Ze pondered this, he suddenly realized something even more important—

His body... cannot move!

Lan Ze strained to turn his head slightly and was shocked to find that a ghostly blue flame had appeared in the room sometime during the night.

His magic was rapidly draining away. He managed to look down and was startled.

Holy crap... Mother of All is one thing, since for her it's punishing her own child, but why would Ereshkigal do that...?

"Miss Ereshkigal?!"

Lan Ze called out again, raising his voice slightly, trying to wake the girl who seemed to be in a strange state.

Whether it was Lan Ze's call that had an effect or something else, Ereshkigal's originally emotionless golden eyes opened slightly, as if she had come to her senses.

Then, in the next instant, Ereshkigal's golden hair seemed to change in an instant, turning from smooth blonde hair to black hair, and her beautiful red eyes shone brightly in the darkness.

Then, a slightly arrogant voice softly rang out in the room:

"Hmm... so that guy finally fell asleep?"

"It was truly worth lying low for so long--"

Ishtar straddled Lan Ze, and before her voice had fully faded, a soft moan escaped her lips, a sound so gentle it seemed to melt one's bones.

She tried to get out of bed, but her legs felt a little weak, so she plopped back down.

"Why does it hurt a little...? What on earth did Ereshkigal do...?"

Ishtar felt a slightly uncomfortable yet somewhat comfortable sensation in her body. She looked down and her gaze lingered on the boy at the head of the bed.

"Divine Messenger?!" Ishtar exclaimed in surprise.

"You... how did you get here?!"

"Are you Ishtar...?" Lan Ze asked tentatively. He tried to move his body, but was firmly restricted by the Magic Barrier that Ereshkigal had set up in advance, and could not move easily.

"Not bad, it's indeed this goddess--"

As Ishtar spoke, she glanced down at Lan Ze's body, her usually arrogant face suddenly flushing with a cute blush. She stammered, "Speaking of which, why would you do... do this kind of thing with that goddess from the underworld?"

"I haven't figured out what's going on either... Can you get up first?" Lan Ze said.

Ishtar lowered her head and gave a soft "hmm." She supported herself on both sides of Lan Ze's body with her hands, struggling to get up.

But then, as if she were feeling a little weak, Ishtar had just stood up when she involuntarily sat back down.

The Goddess of Heaven let out a cry of pain, then, looking at Lan Ze's rather subtle expression, said apologetically, "I'm sorry... I seem to be a little weak right now."

She paused slightly as she spoke, and her proud red eyes slowly began to glow with a golden light.

"And... it seems the effects of the medicine haven't worn off yet."

"The effects of the medicine...?" Lan Ze was taken aback.

"Hmm... I don't know when that guy took such a terrifying Magic Potion, but I'm afraid it won't be over anytime soon."

As Ishtar spoke, her brow furrowed involuntarily.

But soon, a hint of tenderness appeared in the proud and beautiful eyes of the Goddess of Heaven. She stared into Lan Ze's eyes and said softly, "Fine, it's alright... You were originally my divine Divine Messenger, so consider this a reward for you~"

She leaned down slightly, took the initiative to hug Lan Ze's neck, and then gently pressed her lips to Lan Ze's.

"Aaa."

Tiamat suddenly and slowly opened her eyes from the darkness.

She had felt a little uneasy from the very beginning... no, it wasn't unease, but rather that she didn't feel quite comfortable sleeping in this room.

She has trouble sleeping in her own bed and can only fall asleep peacefully next to her baby.

Although I originally planned to try sleeping alone, I still found it a bit difficult.

After getting out of bed, Tiamat hugged her pillow and left the room.

Knock knock knock.

She knocked on Lan Ze's door, thinking that her child should be fast asleep by now, so she decided to just sneak in.

Thinking of this, Tiamat was about to pull down the doorknob.

But then, a slightly Lan Ze voice came from inside the room, asking, "Who is it?"

Tiamat looked at the closed door, tilted her head, and asked, "Aaa (Not asleep yet?)"

"Hmm... I'm going to sleep soon." After Lan Ze finished speaking, he suddenly paused for a long time.

Then he asked, "Is there something you need?"

"I want to sleep together," Tiamat whispered.

"I'll come find you later. You should go home and get some rest."

Tiamat hesitated for a moment, looked at the closed door, and said softly, "You look very weak."

"Don't worry, I'm fine... I'll come find you in a bit," Lan Ze said again in a low voice.

He glanced instinctively at Ishtar in front of him. The Goddess of Heaven was leaning against the door, looking nervously at Lan Ze, who was gently holding her slender waist. She was desperately suppressing her voice and even her breath to avoid being noticed by Tiamat.

Only after Tiamat's footsteps faded into the distance did Ishtar finally stop suppressing her voice. After letting out a soft whisper, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She turned her head slightly, her figure slender and elegant, her black hair flowing freely, glistening with sweat. Her sensual lips parted slightly as she asked in a low voice, "Why is Mother coming to see you so late at night?"

"And why is she in this era? And—"

She paused abruptly as she spoke, and her delicate feet instinctively tensed.

The Goddess of Heaven turned and glared at Lan Ze, her eyes filled with resentment and intense lust. "What are you doing all of a sudden?!"

Lan Ze didn't speak, but simply placed his hand on Ishtar's slender hand, leaned forward slightly, and kissed her lips.

That day, the bed in Lan Ze's house rocked until the early hours of the morning.

Late at night.

"I'm so sorry this time, I don't know why things turned out this way..."