RISE OF EROS

Not getting what he had come for, Andrew returned to Comers Palace a little dejected. Obviously, he hadn't expected to win Cassandra's heart in a single day or get her into his bed, but he had to admit that the whole thing was a disaster.

Cassandra isn't a simple woman like the two textile merchants from before. While these two women are strong and determined merchants, they're no match for Cassandra.

The first two could easily fall for Andrew's charm, as evidenced by the fact that he managed to sleep with them at the party when they had barely met. That's why this time, when they came to negotiate, he had no problem using his skills to have sex with them again.

However, Cassandra is different. Not only can she resist Andrew's charm, but she's not frivolous like the other two. For this reason, Andrew was reluctant to use his skills against her in order to get her into bed.

The main reason is not only his moral compass, but also the benefits he might lose. Forcing someone would cause Andrew to gain fewer points, and therefore, his progress toward unlocking the divine seal would be minimal.

Andrew wanted to do things properly with Cassandra, believing he could gain a lot by conquering her without active abilities like sinful illusion and the like.

His wives, upon seeing him arrive, immediately understood that things hadn't gone well. To be honest, they had expected it, having noticed long ago that their husband wasn't the best conqueror.

It's true that they were all with him, but they knew him too well. Andrew's wives, to anyone, are considered beautiful women. They are every man's fantasy, so it's easy to believe that Andrew is impressive at conquering, but they would be wrong.

They had paired up with him by chance, because of the time and difficulties they had shared, and many other reasons. To be exact, it was they who fell in love with Andrew, not he who conquered them.

Well, to be fair, they fell in love with him because of his personality and actions, so you can't say he didn't win them over, but it's different from what Andrew wanted to try with Cassandra.

Andrew had never really tried to proactively win a woman over. The closest thing to that was Zany, and even then, it was more of a fluke, so it wasn't surprising to them that Andrew failed.

Still, Andrew didn't want to talk about it, and his wives understood. They decided to talk about other topics and even started to heat things up soon after to avoid thinking about what had happened.

Before long, Andrew was in the bedroom surrounded by all his wives, unleashing all the lust he could. With the addition of Helga, Layla, and Vaelyra, the group was now large.

Even with all the stamina and strength enhancements, Andrew couldn't please them all without using his special abilities. Now with eight wives, it was difficult to please them all at once. It's not that he couldn't accomplish eight consecutive tasks, but his wives weren't ordinary women either.

Being linked to their divinity, they had also gained stamina and a desire for sex, so a single task didn't satisfy them. This is why Andrew had to use his divine massage and sinful illusion to compensate for their shortcomings. While they were having fun, the continent was not peaceful.

It's true that after the elimination of the beast, things had calmed down, but there were still hidden dangers. To be more precise, the three fallen angels in the failed ritual were Samanuel and his companions tried to assimilate divinity from the body of the god that was given to them after the war.

These fallen angels had taken refuge in different countries and began to discreetly take control of them. They had the ability to do so by force, but they didn't want to attract attention.

They knew that Samanuel and the other angels wouldn't expose them, as that would be declaring to the world that they had become greedy and would damage their reputation. The angels were known as righteous beings.

Everyone knew about the sacrifices they had made during the war, and although they didn't receive enough praise and thanks for their sacrifice, they still valued their reputation. This is why the fallen angels knew they wouldn't expose them, as that would tarnish their reputation. Now, if they acted excessively, others would notice, and there would be trouble.

They didn't care that Samanuel and the other angels lost their status and reputation, as they no longer considered themselves angels. They were now a different race, or at least that's how they saw themselves.

What they wanted was to avoid exposure. They may have grown stronger, but they were still not powerful enough to compete with powerful beings like Chrono and his allies. Therefore, they preferred to use the angels' shame by not revealing themselves to hide and grow stronger.

Their intention was to bring chaos to the world and thus reach a higher level of existence. Although not as extreme as Purgatory's, their goal was just as insane. Purgatory wanted to revive the fallen god, which would trigger war and possibly the end of the world.

On the other hand, the fallen angels only wanted to grow stronger. The problem was that they were willing to do whatever it took to achieve it. They hadn't lost their minds; they just lusted for power.

For this very reason, they wouldn't mind stealing the remnants of the fallen god, as it would give them power, but as stated, they weren't irrational. They retained all their knowledge and rational thoughts.

Thanks to this, they knew how dangerous the remnants of the fallen god were. They wanted to be the rulers of the world, the most powerful, but if they took the remnants of the fallen god, they were likely to lose control.

They weren't as confident in controlling that power as the traitorous dragon had attempted some time ago. That's why they preferred to focus on the bodies of the other deceased gods on the continent.

Since their transformation came from the failed ritual of absorbing divinity from the body of a deceased god, they believed they could better manage the divinity of the other deceased gods than that of the fallen god.

Although they had fallen from grace, they understood that the corrupted divinity of the fallen god is much more dangerous than the divinity of the other gods, so they preferred to use the latter.

Little by little, they had infiltrated the upper echelons of power in different countries. They didn't act together, for although they were born from the same source, at the same time, and have the same goals, they did not wish to share them with anyone.

They are selfish and greedy, so even though they want the same thing and have thought of the same solution, each one moves on their own. The point is that seizing the bodies of the deceased gods wasn't simple.

These were the most protected treasures by the races that possessed them, and they weren't weak. The beastmen, the elves, and even the angels wouldn't be easily defeated to obtain these divine bodies.

In fact, the body of the god of war in Zaros's hands was the easiest target to obtain, as he had only Zaros as a protector, whom these fallen angels must pay attention to. Even so, it wouldn't be that simple, as they knew Zaros had a close relationship with Elidyr and Crhono, so although he seemed the weakest, he was the most troublesome.

Because the groups protecting what they wanted were so troublesome, they decided to cause chaos, taking advantage of everyone's confusion. The three fallen angels were plotting not only against others but against themselves.

They had spies and infiltrators in each other's ranks, but not in their inner circles. However, it was enough to understand what they were after. Knowing that acting alone would not be able to defeat their enemies, they decided to join forces once again.

They had done so previously to escape the angels' dominion when they confronted Samanuel and the others, but since then, they had limited themselves to carrying out their plans and spying on everyone.

Now, they knew they needed to unite if they wanted to achieve their goals. Obviously, none of them trusted the other, so their cooperation only meant causing chaos on the continent; what happened next was a matter for each of them.

Without much thought, they decided to start a war. There was nothing more confusing than war, and with so much influence in the countries they were in, they managed to manipulate their leaders to start a war against their neighbors.

The outbreak of conflict was unexpected and strange. The three forces these fallen angels controlled were distant, but they acted as if they had agreed. Furthermore, the countries that went to war weren't exactly enemies, and that raised suspicions, but no one investigated much. Wars, unfortunately, were common and started over the slightest disagreements or interests.

It's said that a few decades ago, two countries went to war over the theft of some sheep, so it wasn't so unusual for two countries that seemed allies to suddenly break off relations and go to war. That's why, although strange, no one paid attention.