Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

Silas froze mid-breath.

He stared at the serene loving expression on the Nature Goddess’s face with his brain processing her words for two seconds before a deadpan bewildered thought crossed his mind.

’...Wait a minute,’ Silas thought dryly with an eyebrow twitching. ’Even if I’m in a female disguise, my internal soul is still 100% male... but from an outside perspective, if she’s kissing a female body and enjoying it... doesn’t that just make her low-key gay?’

Before Silas could voice his strange philosophical realization out loud—

CLICK

The heavy timber double doors of the Keep swung open smoothly.

Aeliana stepped out onto the porch, carrying a wooden ledger in her hands.

The silver-haired elven arcanist wore a bright radiant smile as her silver eyes landed on Silas holding Eluned in his arms.

"Welcome back, Lord Silas!" Aeli greeted him melodically, stepping down the stone stairs.

Silas set Eluned back down on her feet, turning his head toward his head arcanist.

"Good to be back, Aeli," Silas replied, his posture straightening. He looked at her seriously, adding, "By the way, Aeli... when our official Lord War commences next week, you are going to have to hide your face and physical identity completely if you want to participate on the battlefield."

Aeli paused, tilting her head. "Hide my identity?"

"Yes," Silas nodded firmly. "Lord Sky’s camera drones will be broadcasting the entire war live to Earth. Everyone in the Secret Realm already knows that you are the Hero bound to Silas Graves. If you appear on camera in your normal form, the government will instantly connect Blessed Land directly to my real-world identity."

Hearing his concern, Aeli suddenly let out a bizarre and slightly strange chuckle.

"Fuhufu~" Aeli giggled softly with a proud triumphant glint shining in her eyes. "Lord Silas... you truly underestimate your head Secretary! I foresaw this exact dilemma hours ago, and I have already devised the ultimate flawless disguise!"

Silas blinked his golden eyes in genuine surprise.

’Damn, really?’ Silas thought, impressed. ’She actually thought that far ahead on her own?’

"Observe, My Lord!" Aeli proclaimed proudly, striking a dramatic pose on the stone steps!

She reached behind her back, pulling out a massive bulky neon-yellow-and-black motorized biker’s helmet.

Without a single shred of shame, Aeli jammed the heavy plastic helmet directly over her long silver hair and elven ears, snapping the dark tinted visor shut with a loud sound.

CLICK!

Standing there on the Keep porch in her elegant flowing white arcanist robes topped off with a giant, ridiculous neon-yellow motorcycle helmet, Aeli raised her thumbs into the air and struck a heroic anime pose.

"TA-DAAAA!" Aeli’s voice echoed, completely muffled from inside the thick plastic helmet. "With this headgear, my facial features are completely concealed! Nobody will ever be able to recognize me at all..."

Silas stood completely frozen on the porch.

Beside him, Eluned stared at the helmeted elf in deadpan speechless silence.

Even Valkyrie, the massive Alpha wolf mate resting nearby slowly turned her heavy head, giving Aeli a disappointed and judgment-filled wolf look that practically screamed.

’Are you serious right now?’

Silas let out a long weary sigh, walking over to the posing elven arcanist.

"Aeli..." Silas said deadpan, reaching his hand out toward her chest. "A disguise is supposed to cover your entire body, your clothing, your mana signature, and your silhouette... putting a motorcycle helmet over your head while wearing your bright white elven robes doesn’t hide anything."

To emphasize his point, Silas reached out to tap her shoulder but because Aeli was wearing a bulky helmet that threw off her physical proportion, his fingers accidentally miscalculated the distance.

POKE.

Silas’s index finger pressed directly into the soft center of Aeli’s left chest plump through her thin silk tunic, right over her sensitive nipple.

"Mmmph~?!" Aeli let out a sharp muffled squeak of embarrassment from inside the helmet with her entire body going completely rigid as a bright crimson flush exploded across her face behind the dark visor.

Silas instantly yanked his hand back, coughing awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ahem! Sorry, bad angle," Silas cleared his throat quickly. "My point stands. You need a proper full-body concealment spell or an actual artifact tunic."

"A-Ah! Y-Yes! Of course, My Lord!" Aeli stammered frantically from inside the helmet, her muffled voice trembling with embarrassment. "It... it’s a work in progress! I was planning on layering spatial camouflage spells over it! I’m going to consult Thora right now!"

Without waiting for another word, the bright-red elven arcanist turned on her heel and sprinted frantically across the courtyard toward the Foundry, still wearing the giant neon motorcycle helmet.

Silas watched her disappear into the forge, letting out a short fond chuckle as he shook his head.

He turned back toward Valkyrie, walking over and gently patting the massive wolf behind her ears.

"Thanks for the hard run, Valkyrie," Silas smiled. "Go ahead and take a break."

GRRR-RUFF!

Valkyrie let out a happy bark, turning and trotting off toward the eastern lawn where her three direwolf pups were playfully tumbling in the grass.

Silas turned his attention back to Eluned, who was standing beside him swinging her arms softly.

"Eluned," Silas instructed warmly. "While Tasmin is coordinating the communication links, I need you to help oversee the central drop-off zone. When Morwenna, Brida, and the other hunting teams return today, help them unload and organize all the monster carcasses so we can sort the trade rations for Sky."

"Consider it done, My Lord!" Eluned answered cheerfully.

Silas looked down at the sweet devoted Nature Goddess, feeling a sudden surge of deep affection.

He reached out with his broad hand, wrapping his arm firmly around her waist and pulling her body flush against his hip.

Before she could react, Silas reached down with his hand, giving her plump, soft rear a firm deliberate squeeze.

"Ahhn~!" Eluned let out a loud and deeply melodious moan with her cheeks turning bright pink as her body went weak against his chest.

Silas leaned down close to her ear, his deep voice dropping into a low and dangerously seductive whisper that made her toes curl inside her shoes.

"As an additional reward for creating that amazing barrier today... tonight, Elu... I will do anything you want."

Eluned’s breath completely hitched in her throat.

Her green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as her heart hammered violently against her ribs like a trapped bird as she looked up at his sharp handsome face with her voice trembling in breathless hopeful disbelief.

"A-Anything...?" Eluned stammered out with her cheeks burning hot. "Y-You promise, My Lord?! You won’t take it back?!"

Silas offered her a confident, wicked smirk, nodding firmly. "I promise. Whatever you want."

Eluned’s face lit up with a radiant smile of pure ecstatic joy as she stood up on her tiptoes, planting a sweet passionate kiss right on his cheek.

"I am definitely going to take full advantage of that promise, My Lord!" Eluned giggled happily, stepping back out of his arm. "I’m going to go manage the monster carcasses right now!"

She turned around and skipped cheerfully across the courtyard toward the storage gates with her long silver-green hair bouncing with every step as her mind went into overload.

Inside Eluned’s divine mind, a glorious unstoppable master plan was rapidly taking shape.

’IT’S TIME!’ Eluned cheered internally, her heart singing with pure excitement! ’Tonight... tonight is the night! I am going to make sure my Lord becomes so utterly and completely obsessed with my body that he won’t be able to resist putting a baby inside me!’

The ancient Nature Goddess cutely twiddled her slender thumbs together as she walked, a dreamy blissful blush covering her entire face as her thoughts spiraled into pure adoration.

’Mmm... I really won’t mind bearing one of Silas’s babies at all...’ Eluned thought, her heart swelling with warmth. ’In fact... maybe two babies... Okay, fine, ten babies! Or maybe a hundred at least!’

To an immortal divine deity, bearing a large family for the man she worshipped was the ultimate expression of love.

Silas was already so handsome, brave, and caring... the mere thought of having dozens of tiny, black-haired golden-eyed miniature copies of Silas and herself running around the Keep’s gardens made her soul sing with longing.

’It’s only a matter of time now...’ Eluned squealed internally, hugging her arms tightly around her chest. ’I can’t wait for tonight!’

Standing on the porch of the Keep, Silas watched Eluned skip away with a strangely energetic bounce in her step.

He let out a long but fond sigh, shaking his head as he pulled the black disguise ring out of his pocket and inspected the dark metal band in his palm.

’I need to practice using this transformation ring a lot more...’ Silas reflected with his mind shifting into high-gear preparation.

Over the next six days leading up to the Lord War, he didn’t just have to manage massive architectural renovations, build new residential barracks for seventy-two incoming female troops, and spend his overflowing Upgrade Points on S-Rank ascensions... he also had to completely master fighting inside Vespera’s physical vessel.

In a high-stakes broadcast battle against an undefeated Classic Lord, he couldn’t afford a single moment of physical clumsiness, awkward balance, or telegraphing movement.

Vespera’s body had to look like a natural master of the blade... not a temporary disguise worn by a six-foot-two man.

’Not only do I need to master her single-armed center of gravity,’ Silas analyzed in his thoughts. ’but I also need a controlled environment where I can practice wielding my newly acquired Tier 3 elemental spells at full combat output without blowing up my own Keep walls...’

Silas turned around, pushing open the heavy timber doors and stepping into the quiet, cool interior of the Keep’s main hall.

He climbed the grand wooden staircase, ascending up to the second floor corridor.

As he walked down the torch-lit hallway toward his private quarters, he passed by an open doorway near the end of the hall.

Silas paused, glancing casually inside the room.

Sprawled out across a massive, plush king-sized bed in the center of the room was Talira... the Primordial Crimson Dragon.

The red-haired dragoness was wearing a loose silk tunic, lying flat on her back across the soft blankets with her long legs kicked out, staring up at the wooden ceiling rafters with a long and exasperated sigh.

"Ughhhh..." Talira groaned aloud to the empty room, flopping her arm dramatically over her face. "I am so bored... there is literally nothing to burn around here..."

Silas stood in the hallway doorway, staring at the lazy dragoness.

A sudden and wickedly brilliant glint flashed inside his golden-ringed eyes as a slow mischievous smirk spread across his face.

’Oh,’ Silas thought triumphantly. ’Jackpot.’

BANG!

Silas violently kicked the heavy oak door wide open, letting it slam hard against the stone wall.

Talira startled, snapping her head toward the doorway as her vertical dragon pupils slit in surprise.

Silas stepped into the room, crossing his broad arms over his chest as he looked down at the lounging dragon with an uncompromising glare.

"It’s high time you begin working for your keep around here, Talira!" Silas announced loudly with his voice booming through the bedroom. "Get off your lazy ass! You think it’s easy feeding an appetite of a giant dragon such as yourself?!"

Talira sat up slowly on the edge of the plush mattress, her glowing crimson eyes narrowing into sharp vertical slits as she glared at the man who had just kicked her bedroom door open with an obnoxious bang.

Her fiery red hair tumbled wildly over her bare shoulders, and her spade-like tail swished agitatedly against the silk sheets.

Just because she had developed a subtle burning curiosity about him... just because he was vastly different from the cruel treacherous humans her mother had warned her about before dying inside that suffocating sealed dimension did not mean she was going to tolerate blatant disrespect from that same human.

She was an adult Primordial Crimson Dragon.

Her bloodline was ancient, her pride was absolute, and she was nobody’s pet.

"Get away from me," Talira spat. "I am not taking orders from you, human! I don’t give a damn what you want, and I certainly do not respect you!"

Silas didn’t back down an inch.

He stood in the doorway with his broad arms crossed over his chest with his golden-ringed eyes looking down at her with a thoroughly unimpressed deadpan stare.

"What is there not to respect about me?" Silas countered flatly, stepping into the room. "I feed you meat every single day. I give you clean water to drink. I gave you a soft bed and a roof over your head and the women you’ve come to see as your sisters in this Keep are my loyal subjects."

Talira gritted her sharp white fangs with the air around her body spiking in temperature as a subtle heat haze distorted the furniture.

"That doesn’t mean you own me!" Talira growled defensively, her fingernails elongating into razor-sharp black talons that bit into the wooden headboard.