"Eh?!"
The moment they saw Artemis in Takumi's arms, every girl in the camp froze like their brains had short-circuited.
What the hell?!
They'd been pining all night like hungry wolves—and the one person who'd always been the strictest, the most hardline, the "love is forbidden" goddess… had somehow gone and cuckolded them!
Takumi cleared his throat and put on his best innocent face. "Don't get weird ideas. I just took Artemis-sama to admire the moon, that's all."
Which was technically true.
He admired the moon in the sky—and then, up in the sky, he admired the moon goddess too. A double feature. Absolutely addictive.
His eyes flicked to his system panel.
[Ding! Artemis affection has reached the threshold. Copying trait: Authority: Moon (Gold)]
[Authority: Moon (Gold): You govern the authority of "Moon." You wield moonlight essence; under moonlight, your power becomes extraordinary.]
A vast tide of lunar radiance pooled inside him, condensing into something that felt like a law—an idea etched straight into his divinity.
Even with only a shallow grasp of this authority, Takumi could feel the shift immediately: under moonlight, his magic might as well be bottomless. He could even tug on the moon itself—twist gravity, nudge attraction, bend the "pull" of the world.
Or, if he felt like being blunt about it?
He could take the concept of "Moon" and drop it on someone's head.
Right now, he could only form a pseudo-moon at about one percent of the moon's true mass. But even at one percent, the destructive output shot up hard—past the Over–Demon King tier and brushing the threshold of a chief-god level monster.
And the best part?
This Moon concept could keep stacking. Every world had its own moon. Every moon had its own mass. He could keep collecting, keep accumulating, until Moon stopped being an authority and started being a sentence.
Takumi exhaled slowly, then smirked to himself.
"Good thing this was… natural," he muttered. "If I'd actually had to fight her head-on while she went all out, I wouldn't lose—but I definitely wouldn't win clean."
Artemis wasn't just "Moon." She also carried "Hunt." In this world, she was uncomfortably close to the level of a true major god.
And as his authorities piled up, Takumi could feel his growth entering another steep curve. At this pace, reaching Over–Super Demon King tier was only a matter of time. That "chief-god" realm that used to feel like a fairy tale?
Even if he did nothing but lie around for a year or two, he could probably touch it.
Unfortunately for his serious inner monologue, the girls weren't buying his "moon viewing" alibi for even half a second.
"Moon viewing?! Then why is Artemis-sama's hair a mess?!"
"Yeah, and her neck—hello?! Those kiss marks are obvious. We're not children!"
Lante planted her hands on her hips and jabbed a finger at Artemis's throat like a prosecutor presenting evidence.
Takumi glanced once and immediately looked away.
Sure, these girls were inexperienced—but come on. Even if you've never eaten pork, you've still seen pigs run. They weren't like Artemis, who'd kept romance at arm's length like it was radioactive. Half of them had definitely read something they weren't supposed to.
When Takumi didn't refute it, the camp surged closer.
"Umm… Artemis-sama looks completely knocked out."
"Seriously, what kind of battle was that?"
"Damn it… we wanted to see too."
Takumi's mouth twitched.
Blood-on-the-moon imagery wasn't exactly the wholesome camping experience they were pretending to want.
The outrage lasted about three breaths before the tone shifted—jealousy bubbling up, sharp and messy.
"Artemis-sama is so unfair."
"She was the one who hated it the most, and she still got there first!"
"W-What do you mean first… I-I don't even think like that!"
"Stop it. We were literally just talking about it."
"And Takumi-san is the best choice," someone muttered, eyes shining. "He's insanely handsome, his personality is good, he's strong, and he saved us…"
One after another, bright eyes turned toward Takumi.
Twenty pairs of hungry, curious gazes.
He suddenly felt like a nice steak thrown into a den of wolves.
"Hey—Artemis-sama is still right here," Takumi warned, voice rising. "What are you planning to do in front of your goddess?!"
Rethusa moved like lightning.
With a whoosh, she snatched Artemis out of Takumi's arms, shoved her into the tent, and sealed the flap like she was protecting a national treasure.
Then she turned back with a sweet smile that did not match the gleam in her eyes.
"Takumi… senpai. I'd like to discuss 'moon viewing' in more detail. There are parts I don't understand, so I need you to teach me."
Lante slid in from the side, practically vibrating.
"And me too! Takumi-san's muscles are so hard~. Totally different from ours~"
The girls giggled. The firelight flickered. The night suddenly felt warmer.
They weren't subtle. Not even a little.
They were young women at the exact age where curiosity stops being an idea and turns into a physical hunger—especially after nearly dying, especially after being rescued by a man who looked like a heroic myth stepped off a page.
And now he was right there.
Perfect target. Perfect timing.
Takumi stared at the semicircle closing in and swallowed.
"…Artemis is going to kill me when she wakes up."
And yet—even if he wanted to go easy on them, there was no escaping it. Tonight, he was going to be a teacher.
A very thorough teacher.
Every lesson needed hands-on practice. Every topic required close study. And if they were going to learn, then no one was leaving class without understanding the material.
That lesson stretched the timetable into pieces.
By the time the sky brightened, Artemis finally woke up.
Rethusa and Lante? They didn't wake until the day after that.
And the rest—most of them Lv.2—were even worse. A few beastwomen had stronger bodies, sure, but the foundation was still the foundation. If the captain got KO'd, the rest didn't stand a chance.
"…How did this happen?!" Artemis snapped, biting down on Takumi's shoulder in pure, furious frustration.
She tried to make it hurt.
It didn't.
To Takumi it felt more like a possessive little nibble—cute enough to make him tighten his arm around her waist.
"This isn't on them," he murmured into her ear, voice low. "Rethusa and Lante both said the same thing—they were first. And then you cut in line."
Artemis's cheeks turned red immediately. All that righteous anger wobbled into embarrassed silence.
A chain of accidents had created that moonlit disaster.
But when she looked at her beloved Familia—every single member fallen, every single one of them now looking at Takumi like he was their personal miracle—Artemis still felt a sting of indignation.
It didn't last.
Not after she was held. Not after she was kissed. Not after she was filled so completely that the only thing left spilling out of her was relief.
For the first time, Artemis—goddess or not—understood the real weight of the word hero.
Watching that vision of Takumi crushing Zald had been thrilling, sure. But touching Takumi, being with Takumi, made her finally grasp what it meant to stand opposite him.
Zald could probably split mountains with his holy sword.
And Takumi had broken him anyway.
It was unfair. It was ridiculous.
It was… addictive.
Artemis bit down harder, because she knew she couldn't truly hurt him—so all she could do was mark him, claim him in the only way she had left.
And so the return trip kept getting delayed… again and again… until Takumi finally made it back to Orario right on Saturday, by sheer force of will.