Chapter 3

She couldn't wait to run off. Watching her hurried back, a sour bitterness filled my chest.

Concealing my presence, I followed her and hid behind a massive tree, watching a shameless display of copulation with my own eyes.

Lyra’s provocative sheer dress had already been torn off and tossed aside. Her pale, delicate legs were wrapped tightly around Darius’s muscular waist.

Two bodies clashed brutally on the grass. The wet, slapping sounds were deafening in the quiet woods.

Lyra arched her neck, letting out high-pitched, lustful moans as he thrust into her.

Darius kneaded her roughly, smirking as he bit her ear. "Fucking you right under that idiot’s nose—drives you crazy, doesn't it?"

"Ah... too deep... stop it!"

"Hahaha, Orion is a cold corpse from the Underworld. He probably doesn't even know how to make you scream, does he? And he’s still out there guarding the perimeter for us like a watchdog!"

"You're so bad! You just had to fuck me like this. If Orion hears you, you’re dead."

"Oh, please! You couldn't bear to see me die. If I’m dead, who’s going to fill up this greedy body of yours?"

I stood frozen, my stomach churning.

Listening to their naked humiliation, watching Lyra spread herself for another man like a cheap whore—the stinging pain was something no living being could ever understand.

"Faster... harder... Orion is still waiting for me."

"No. I haven't fucked you enough yet."

I had never seen Lyra look so vile.

I didn't want to watch anymore. I turned to walk away for good.

But my mind was in chaos. I took a wrong step and fell straight into a nearby fissure of Tartarus—an anti-magic void.

The walls of the rift were sharper than obsidian.

I tried to summon my magic to float, but nothing happened. I could only reach out and grab a rough vine.

I shouted for help, hoping Lyra and the others would hear me and pull me up.

No one answered.

Gritting my teeth, holding the vine with one hand, I endured the agonizing pain and sliced my finger. Using my Underworld blood, I forcefully activated the "Mental Bond" we formed when we got engaged.

I called out dozens of times.

No response. She was too lost in her lust.

Just as I was about to despair, the bond finally connected. But what echoed in my mind wasn't worry. It was Lyra’s broken, breathy moans as she was pushed to the edge, followed by an annoyed whine.

"Orion... ah... it's a bad time right now! Stop ruining my mood with the mental link..."

I didn't waste time arguing. I told her to come save me, that I was about to fall into the rift.

Lyra was completely unfazed.

"Stop being so dramatic... ngh... the cliff isn't even that steep. You're a High God, a little fall won't kill you! You're so annoying!"

I couldn't hold on anymore.

The vine snapped.

I plummeted to the bottom, crashing into a dozen jagged rocks on the way down.

Even with a god’s body, inside this dead zone, I was as fragile as a mortal.

The bone in one of my legs completely shattered. Blood poured out. The pain almost made me pass out.

Then I realized the mental bond was still active. Lyra's obscene pants echoed in my head. She had heard my screams as I fell, and she didn't care at all.

Between love and lust, she chose to rot in another man’s arms.

At that moment, my heart turned to stone.

I severed the mental link, closed my eyes, and let go of my last shred of attachment to her.

She didn't come looking for me until nightfall. She truly didn't care if I lived or died.

Grinding my teeth, supporting myself on a broken bone, I used the willpower of Underworld royalty to fight the abyss's crushing pressure. Step by agonizing step, I crawled out of the rift until I escaped the dead zone, finally being rescued by a passing centaur healer.

They had left the valley long ago. Not a single word of concern was sent my way.

It wasn't until late at night that Lyra finally remembered to look for me.

The second the mental link connected, she immediately started complaining.

"Orion, where are you?"

Hearing those words, I gave a bitter laugh and shook my head.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

"You go into the woods and totally vanish? People might think you were off doing gods know what!"

The anger I had suppressed for so long finally erupted.