Chapter 742: Eyes Of Gods, Celia’s Authority

Isaac POV

Isaac groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, feeling a familiar warmth resting against his chest. He shifted slightly and opened his eyes, only to realize that he was lying on a bed with Emily sleeping peacefully in his arms. His movement seemed to disturb her, however, because she soon opened her eyes and looked up at him.

For several seconds, Emily stared at him with sleepy eyes, seemingly trying to remember what had happened. Then, as the memories gradually returned, her face turned completely red, and she immediately buried her face in his chest.

“G-Good morning, Isaac. Looks like we slept together yesterday,” she said in a muffled voice. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember much because I was drunk.”

Isaac blinked before a smile slowly spread across his face, despite his attempt to suppress it. Emily was clearly embarrassed beyond belief, and judging by her reaction, he suspected that she remembered considerably more than she wanted to admit.

He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “You know, Emily, they say people show their true personalities when they’re drunk.”

Hearing his words, Emily stiffened in his arms and let out an embarrassed groan.

“I didn’t know you liked those kinds of things,” Isaac continued, clearly enjoying her reaction. “You really surprised me yesterday, you know.”

“I-Isaac, stop.” Emily tried to bury her face even deeper into his chest, but Isaac had no intention of letting her escape so easily.

“I’ll happily do whatever you want, but I hope you’ll at least give me a heads-up before doing something like that again,” he said with a chuckle.

Emily’s only response was another embarrassed flush.

“Please, stop teasing me,” she pleaded, her voice practically breaking from embarrassment.

Isaac could tell that she wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and hide inside it for the rest of her life.

Finding her reaction adorable, Isaac gently cupped her cheeks and raised her face toward him. He kissed her lips once, then again when she finally stopped trying to hide, before leaning closer and deepening the kiss.

By the time they separated, Emily seemed to have forgotten some of her embarrassment, although her cheeks were still bright red. Isaac smiled, picked her up, and carried her toward the bathroom so they could freshen up before joining everyone else.

They were brushing their teeth when the bathroom door suddenly flew open with enough force to make Isaac wonder whether someone had attacked the resort. Before he could figure out what was happening, Celia rushed inside with an excited expression.

“Isaac! Emily! You need to see this!” Celia exclaimed, practically bouncing on her feet. Isaac and Emily turned toward her, still holding their toothbrushes, and waited for her to explain why she was so excited.

“Do you remember how I told you that I could feel some new abilities after my soul evolved, but I needed to train before figuring out what they actually were?” Celia asked enthusiastically.

Isaac nodded, and Emily did the same after rinsing her mouth.

“Well, I finally figured my first ability out! Well, it’s my second ability, since the first one was summoning, but this one is much more special, so it’s first one from now on!” Celia declared proudly before quickly approaching Isaac.

Before Isaac could ask what she meant, Celia grabbed his hand and suddenly bit down on it.

“What are you, a d—!?”

Isaac’s expression changed, and he hissed in pain before instinctively pulling his hand away.

He stared at the bite marks on his skin, then looked at Celia, who was smiling as though she had just accomplished something remarkable. Emily immediately became alarmed and took out a medikit from her spatial ring, despite the injury being relatively minor.

Isaac allowed Emily to treat his hand while looking at Celia with growing curiosity. “How did you manage to hurt me like that? Your stats shouldn’t be anywhere near high enough to penetrate my defenses.”

“That’s because of my new ability! It’s called—Hmm?” Celia suddenly stopped smiling and tilted her head, looking genuinely confused.

“What happened?” Isaac asked, noticing her strange reaction.

Celia frowned slightly before answering, “I don’t know. Just when I was about to say its name, something started setting off alarms inside my head, almost like someone was warning me not to reveal it.”

Isaac frowned before turning toward Emily, who immediately understood what he wanted. She activated her newly acquired ability, causing her Soul Space to descend into reality as their surroundings began shifting and the separate dimension partially replaced the world around them.

“Try saying it now,” Isaac suggested. “The World Tree shouldn’t be able to observe us here anymore, so whatever was warning you might have stopped.”

Celia concentrated for a moment before shaking her head. “No, I’m still getting the same warning. It doesn’t seem to have changed at all.”

Isaac’s frown deepened as he considered the implications of her words. If the World Tree wasn’t what the warnings were again, then what were they for?

Who was warning Celia, and why did revealing the name of her ability matter so much?

Isaac slowly raised his head toward the sky of the dimension as a possibility occurred to him.

’Gods,’ he thought, feeling that the explanation was becoming increasingly likely. Without wasting any more time, he opened his Spatial Domain and brought both Emily and Celia inside.

“How about now? Can you tell us what it’s called?” Isaac asked once they were completely separated from the surrounding space.

“Yeah, the warnings are gone now,” Celia replied, sounding relieved. She was about to continue explaining when Rot suddenly appeared beside her and started making strange squeaking noises.

The tiny creature from Hell resembled a black sphere with two small bat-like wings, two thin tails, and a pair of round eyes. Unlike its usual adorable sounds, however, these squeaks seemed rather irritated, almost as though the little creature was scolding someone.

“He seems to be complaining. From what I can understand, he’s worried because Celia… keeps running her mouth without thinking about the consequences,” Emily said, scratching her cheek awkwardly.

Celia blinked and looked toward Emily, seemingly more interested in something else than in Rot’s complaints. “Wait, you can understand what Rot is saying? I thought nobody except me could understand him properly.”

“More or less. I can understand the intentions of most creatures because of my Spirit Element, although I think my bloodline makes that ability even stronger,” Emily explained.

Celia nodded thoughtfully before suddenly remembering why she had come looking for them in the first place. “Oh, right! About my new ability, I’m not completely sure because it hasn’t fully awakened yet, but I think it’s something called an Authority.”

“An Authority?” Isaac repeated, immediately becoming serious. He had already suspected that Celia’s new ability was extraordinary, considering that she had managed to injure him despite the enormous difference in their stats.

Celia nodded before continuing, “Yeah, and from what I can feel, mine seems to be called something like…”

She paused briefly, as though confirming the information within herself, before finally revealing the name in a grand tone.

“[Lust].”

Before Isaac could ask anything, a familiar blue screen suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

[Hidden conditions met! System upgrade conditions can now be checked!]

[Upgrade Conditions: Have seven wives, each with a minimum affection of 200.]

[Rewards: Ability to share Soul Strength and Soul Properties, Ability to share Authorities, Ability to share Pseudo God Domains.]

Isaac stared at the notifications in surprise, especially when he noticed the rewards mentioned in the upgrade. He already understood how important Soul Properties were, since possessing them would allow him to use evolved Aura to modify skills as freely as his wives could.

Although he didn’t know what Authorities were, he was familiar with God Domains. They were abilities possessed by Gods, and while he didn’t understand their exact workings, he knew they were extraordinarily powerful. The fact that the System was offering him the ability to share even Pseudo God Domains made him realize just how significant this upgrade could be.

Of course, the requirements were also considerably more troublesome than he had expected. Ensuring every single one of them had at least 200 affection, but having seven wives was one thing that was an entirely different matter. He wasn’t sure he wanted more wives. He was happy with his current family.

’Seems like Authorities are something extremely powerful,’ Isaac thought as he dismissed the screen. He decided to worry about the upgrade requirements later and turned his attention back toward Celia, who was still waiting for his reaction.

“So, what exactly does your Authority do?” Isaac asked curiously. “I can tell it’s something special from how excited you are, but I’ve never heard of an Authority before.”

“For now, it doesn’t do much because it hasn’t fully awakened,” Celia admitted. “It basically allows me to push the concept of Lust into the System and influence how it interprets certain.”

Isaac frowned slightly, finding her explanation rather difficult to understand. Celia seemed to notice his confusion because she paused for a moment before suddenly brightening, apparently having thought of a better way to explain it.

“Okay, let me give you an example. You know how I can leave love bites on you, and even make your tongue bleed when I bite it, right?” Celia asked, looking at him expectantly.

“Yes, but that’s because the System doesn’t consider those actions attacks. Since they’re treated as intimate actions instead, my Constitution stat doesn’t automatically defend against them,” Isaac replied.

“Exactly! Now, what would happen if I coated my tongue and teeth with poison before biting you?” Celia asked, looking increasingly pleased with herself.

“My Constitution would immediately respond because the System would recognize the poison as harmful,” Isaac answered without hesitation.

Celia immediately clapped her hands and exclaimed, “Bingo! That’s exactly what I wanted you to say.”

Isaac was briefly surprised that Celia knew the word bingo, but his perfect memory quickly reminded him that he had introduced the game to this world himself. He shook his head slightly and waited for her to continue explaining her new ability.

“Things like kissing, love bites, and playful pinching are generally interpreted as affectionate actions—love—rather than attacks. Love and lust are closely connected, so my Authority allows me to push that interpretation onto other actions and make the System recognize them as expressions of affection,” Celia explained.

She smiled proudly before continuing, “As long as the System accepts that interpretation, the target’s Constitution stat won’t protect them the way it normally would. That’s how I managed to bite through your defenses just now, even though my stats are nowhere near yours.”

Isaac blinked several times before his expression gradually changed into disbelief. If he understood her correctly, Celia had obtained an ability that could potentially bypass an opponent’s Constitution entirely, making her attacks function almost like true damage.

That was ridiculous, especially considering how heavily powerful Awakeners depended on their defensive stats. Even someone with an overwhelmingly higher Constitution could suffer injuries if Celia managed to convince the System that her actions weren’t attacks, and the implications of that possibility were rather terrifying.

“This… is ridiculously powerful,” Isaac muttered, looking at Celia with renewed interest. “But can you really use it freely? There must be some kind of restriction, right?”

Celia’s proud smile immediately stiffened, and she gave him an annoyed look before pouting. “Did you really have to pour cold water on my fun?”

“I’m just asking because I want to understand how it works,” Isaac replied with a chuckle.

Celia rolled her eyes before answering,

“No, I can’t use it freely yet. It was easy with you because we genuinely love each other, so the System didn’t have much reason to reject my interpretation,” Celia explained. “But with someone who hates me or considers me an enemy, it’s much harder to make the System accept those actions as affection.”

Isaac nodded thoughtfully, although he quickly realized that this restriction might not be particularly troublesome for Celia. After all, her Charm was already powerful enough to influence the emotions of people who were much stronger than her, and she had several other abilities that could help her achieve similar results.

Celia seemed to have reached the same conclusion because her smile returned almost immediately. “Of course, I have my Charm and several other skills that can make enemies develop favorable feelings toward me rather quickly, especially if it’s just temporary. If I combine those abilities with my Authority, I should theoretically be able to use it against them as well.”

Isaac stared at her for several seconds, wondering whether she understood just how terrifying that combination could become. Her Authority was still incomplete, yet it already possessed such potential that he couldn’t help imagining what would happen once she fully mastered it.

More importantly, there didn’t seem to be any fixed limitation on how powerful the ability could eventually become. As long as Celia continued training and improved her control over the concept of Lust, she might be capable of accomplishing things that should normally be impossible under the System’s rules.

“Well, congratulations,” Isaac finally said, smiling as he gently patted her head. “It looks like you’ve obtained something incredible, although I think you should be careful about revealing it to anyone else until we understand it properly.”

“Hehe, I know. That’s why Rot was complaining earlier, wasn’t it?” Celia replied happily before hugging his arm. She seemed thoroughly satisfied with his praise, and after discussing the ability a little more, the three of them finally decided to leave the Spatial Domain.

Once they returned to the corridor, Celia suddenly glanced at Isaac’s hand and smiled mischievously. “Oh, right. You still can’t share our Soul Properties, can you? Hehe, that means I can bite you whenever I want now, so let’s see how arrogantly you behave around me anymore.”

“Are you a dog?” Isaac asked, finally unable to hold back the question that had been bothering him since she bit him earlier. However, instead of getting the offended reaction he expected, both girls turned toward him with confused expressions.

“What’s a dog?” Emily asked curiously, while Celia also tilted her head and waited for his explanation.

Isaac opened his mouth, only to realize that he had accidentally created another troublesome situation for himself.

He had intended to make fun of Celia for constantly wanting to bite him, but explaining the comparison would only make his remark sound considerably meaner than he had intended. At least, that was how Isaac saw it, and he didn’t particularly want to ruin Celia’s good mood after she had finally discovered something so important.

“Well, dogs are considered humans’ best friends. They’re loyal creatures that protect their owners from danger, and they sometimes bite things that threaten the people they care about,” Isaac explained after thinking for a moment.

“They sound like quite dependable creatures,” Emily replied, nodding with understanding. She apparently found nothing strange about his explanation, which made Isaac feel slightly relieved.

Celia, however, narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she studied his expression. Isaac maintained an innocent smile, and fortunately, she seemed far too happy about her newly awakened Authority to bother investigating what he had actually meant.

The three continued walking through the corridor, with Celia still hugging Isaac’s arm and occasionally glancing at the bite mark that Emily had treated. Isaac was considering whether he should check the System’s upgrade requirements again when Celia suddenly leaned closer and sniffed him.

“Oh, right, Isaac. What exactly did you do with Jasmine last night?” Celia asked, looking at him with obvious curiosity. “Her smell is still stuck on you, you know. Alice is going to kill you.”