Chapter 386: The Sad Past Of Mars

"Eiiiiir!"

Jumping out of the VR pod, I rushed toward my valkyrie daughter and sandwiched my head between her soft blossoms as if I was trying to hide from a terrifying monster.

"M-Mother!? Wha-Why!??" Eir stammered, stiffening as her wings twitched nervously.

"I failed..." My body shivered, tears dripping down my cheeks. "I'm losing my touch."

"Failed?" Her warm arms hesitated before gently wrapping around me. "You? That's impossible, Mother."

"It's true!" I sobbed harder, pressing my face deeper into her cleavage like a child clinging to a blanket. "I was defeated by… by…" My voice cracked. "By a shield!"

"Eh?" Eir blinked, confusion flashing in her eyes.

"Yes! Mars chose his shiny, round, bronze-plated wife over me! ME!!" I threw my arms wide for emphasis, nearly knocking her off balance. "The perfect, beautiful, horny, breedable goddess of sex!"

"Wait—"

"Rejected! By a Roman relic!" I flopped backward onto the floor dramatically, arms spread as if I'd been crucified. "Eternal humiliation! I'll never recover! My name shall forever be mocked in the halls of Valhalla! They'll sing sagas about my shame!"

"pfftt" Eir covered her mouth, clearly trying not to laugh. A little giggle still escaped.

"Don't laugh!" I pouted, glaring up at her through wet lashes. "This is serious! A man chose his shield over my divine body! That's like—like choosing dry bread over honey-soaked cake!"

"Mother… maybe he's just… loyal?" she offered carefully.

"Who cares about loyalty! I want fucking!" I cried, pointing dramatically at the ceiling. "That's worse! That means even if I bent over, spread my legs, and moaned his name, he'd still whisper, 'Sorry, babe, I'm married… to a shield!'"

"Mother, please!" Eir's face was crimson now, wings twitching uncontrollably. "You can't just say things like that out loud—"

"But it's true!" I collapsed back onto her lap, groaning into her thighs. "What kind of world do we live in where the Goddess of Breeding gets rejected for bronze plating!"

For a moment, silence. Then…

"That sucks," a familiar voice hummed through the air.

I snapped upright to find Lucy floating upside down above me, an oversized hoodie sagging toward her face and her devilish smile peeking out from beneath. Her long legs swung lazily in the air like she was lounging on an invisible hammock.

"Lucy!?" I barked, pointing at her with wild, watery eyes. "Don't you dare laugh at me, too! I've already been defeated once today—I won't tolerate a second humiliation!"

"Oh, I'm definitely laughing. You? Rejected? By Mars of all people? That's like Zeus saying no to lightning or Odin saying no to mead." She spun in midair, resting her chin on her palms, eyes sparkling. "Actually… no, it's funnier. He didn't just reject you, he rejected you for a shield."

"STOP!!!" I screamed, clutching my horns dramatically as if her words were knives. "Don't say it again! My pride can't handle the truth!"

"Pfft—! H-Holy shit, this is the best thing I've heard all week." Lucy snorted, then let out a sharp bark of laughter that sent her tumoring midair.

"I… I don't get it. Is this really such a big deal?" Eir glanced between us, utterly lost.

"..."

'What's wrong with my daughter? Ever since we came here, she's been shy, and she seems out of touch with sex.'

"YES, IT IS!" I snapped, grabbing Eir by the shoulders, shaking her gently. "Your mother's divine sex appeal has been tested and FAILED! Do you know what that means!?"

"Uh… no?" she said weakly.

"It means," Lucy chimed in, smug as ever, "your mother has officially lost the universal pissing contest of who's hotter than a piece of Roman equipment." She raised a finger like a teacher giving a lecture. "And right now, bronze plates: 1, Morgana: 0."

"NOOOOOO!!!" I collapsed again, clawing at the ground. "Lucy, you traitor! You were supposed to comfort me, not carve my humiliation into stone tablets!"

"Comfort you?" she chuckled, flipping upright at last. "Nah, I'm going to milk this forever. I'll even make a VR highlight reel. 'Morgana vs. The Shield: The True Final Battle.' Limited edition."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Oh, I would. Ass-Breaker." Her grin was wicked. "And you know what the worst part is? The comments section is going to side with the shield."

"I'm going to kill you," I growled, fangs bared, cheeks burning bright enough to outshine Mars' sunfire.

"Hehehe." Lucy stuck out her tongue, wagging a finger at me. "You could try, Morgana, but let's be honest—'killed by a shield' is already your legacy. I don't think you want to add 'failed to kill a gamer goddess' to the list, too."

"HOW DARE YOU!" I shrieked, bolting to my feet, but was forced to stop when two figures came rushing towards us.

"Morgana!" a powerful and somehow adorable female voice called out. And it only belonged to one person.

"Lora!" I cried, opening my arms for a hug. I NEEDED one right now.

But... Sob... when Lora saw me like that... she stopped in her tracks, and began mumbling something about not falling in the arms of a hentai.

"NOOO!" That made me fall to my knees. "Not you too! I-I feel even more humiliated now."

"Not you too!" I howled, clutching my chest as though struck by another spear. "First Mars, then Lucy, and now my precious Lora rejects me as if I'm some… some perverted hentai monster!"

"You are a hentai monster," Lucy deadpanned, arms folded as she floated smugly above. "You're literally the hentai boss. Everyone is afraid that you'll break their butts."

"SHUT UP!" I snapped, slamming my fists into the ground so hard the floor rattled. "That's supposed to be a compliment!"

"What's wrong?" The other figure who took her time getting here finally joined us.

"Grape juice, you're the only one I can count on," I said, reaching out towards her, asking for a hug. But the wine goddess ignored my suffering and turned to Lucy, asking her what happened.

Lucy wasn't very sensitive to the details or to the fact that it was a super personal shame; she just gave the quick version of what happened to me and the humiliation of it all.

"Pfft...!" The moment she finished, Katerina began chugging her bottle full of wine, desperately attempting not to burst out laughing. But her throat only bobbed faster, and her cheeks shone brighter.

"Stop!... give me that," I screamed, rushing to snatch away the booze before gulping it down myself, draining half the bottle in one swig.

"Okay, now, hold on." She paused to lick the wine from her lips. Then a smirk curved its way onto her face. "It's fine, Morgana, don't think too much about the rejection, Mars is an honorable god with a sad past."

"DON'T TELL ME THAT!!"

"There, there," she murmured soothingly, taking the bottle back, even patting my shoulder as though comforting me.

"When he said that he was married to his shield, he meant it."

"Explain?" I raised an eyebrow watching the wine goddess, who was acting nice despite the embarrassment I'm in.

"Ohhh~ This story will take a long time and is a real twist. Well, here I go..." she paused, taking a good swig of wine. "Mars is an ascended god; he was a mortal himself, just a mere Roman general who fought and won countless battles."

"An ascended god!" I was shocked. Mars was like me, a mortal who achieved divinity.

"Yes, anyway, when he was a mortal, his enemies managed to kidnap his wife," Katerina continued.

"Those scumbags, after the kidnap, they... well," she grimaced, shaking her head. "To put things simply, they were trying to make a strong metal by throwing people into a forge fire..."

"W-What!?" Lora exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her skin. "That... That's just horrible."

"So you mean..." I paused, allowing the realization to hit me.

"Yeah... they forged a shield from his wife's bones and flesh... when Mars ascended to godhood, that shield became his divine artifact," Katerina said, with sadness evident in her voice.

The whole room went quiet. Even Lucy's smirk faltered for a second, her hoodie shadowing her eyes.

"That's…" Lora pressed her hands to her mouth, trembling. "That's monstrous. To turn love into… into that."

Katerina gave a slow nod, finishing the rest of her bottle before tossing it aside and pulling another out of nowhere.

"They wanted to make something indestructible. In their twisted logic, they thought love's bond was the hardest metal. And in a way… they weren't wrong."

"..." I sat frozen, claws digging into the floor. My earlier theatrics, my screaming humiliation, it all suddenly felt… small. "So… his 'wife'…"

"Is his shield," Katerina confirmed, her tone heavy now. "He's not just loyal, Morgana. He literally carries her soul into every battle. That's why he said he's married to it."

"Tch." My throat tightened, fangs biting into my lip. My chest felt heavy—heavier than when his spear had pierced me. "So I wasn't rejected for bronze plating… I was rejected for a love that even death couldn't break."

'That's romantic in a way.'

Lucy floated down, her grin softer now, but still laced with mischief. "Wow. Talk about cockblocking from beyond the grave."

"LU-CY!!!" I roared, my grief shattering instantly into rage. "You ruined the moment!"

But even as I shouted, a strange warmth coiled in my stomach. Not the horny kind—well, not entirely. Respect. That old bastard Mars had fought me to the death for six hours, bled with me, laughed with me… and still held onto a bond so powerful it transcended mortality.

"Damn you, Mars," I whispered, eyes burning crimson. "You made me respect you even more."

But then an idea suddenly occurred in my horny brain—not a horny idea, okay! But a brilliant one... and if it worked somehow, Mars would definitely be happy to the point that his cock would go BAM inside my pussy.

"Say, grape juice," I grinned, turning to Katerina. "Is Mars' wife still alive? I mean her soul?"

"hmm..." The goddess of wine paused, considering it for a moment. She said, "I believe so. I remember when Mars first came to the Nexus, he jumped from pantheon to pantheon, begging people to bring her soul back to life or to even find a way to revive her."

"He even came to me," Lucy chimed in. "He asked me if I could resurrect her as an NPC in my games, but sadly, her soul is fused with the shield by dark magic."

"Only a primordial god with the concept of souls could possibly do something," Katerina said sadly. "Finding one is hard, but asking for a favor from a primordial is nearly impossible."

Silence descended upon us as no one dared say anything. I, on the other hand, had other thoughts.

'I could shove the shield in my womb, alter it, and maybe I could give birth to her as my daughter.' I let out a naughty smirk. 'That's kinky, but it will be fun.'

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