Even Raphaeline, who was forced into surrogacy, was sealed; Aphrodite (Chisato), who had fully given herself to Ethan, would face at least the same fate, if not worse. Ethan, naturally, would never allow that to happen. To resolve this perfectly, he needed the strength to single-handedly contend with the remaining ten Chief Gods.
Since Chisato was part of the Ten Chief Gods, this was technically an internal matter of Heaven. Sirzechs and the others had no reason to intervene unless they wanted to spark another Great War—one where they wouldn't even be in the right.
During their first union, Chisato had specifically asked if he was ready before unsealing her power. Ethan understood the weight of that question. Although their encounter had a hint of a "transaction," their feelings for each other were genuine.
After hearing her story, Ethan's doubts were cleared. Aside from the surprise that Raphaeline, the Goddess of War, preferred women, everything was far more logical than the "plots" in his memories. He realized that if he hadn't appeared, Chisato probably would have settled for Basara Toujou out of desperation to save her sister.
"Chisato-nee, how exactly do I complete the second life metamorphosis?" Ethan asked honestly, finally giving up on shortcuts.
After talking for a while, the two had shifted into a front-facing embrace. Instead of answering immediately, Chisato gazed at him with glazed, bedroom eyes and pulled his hand onto her full, soft breasts. Ethan got the message. Breaking through to the God-rank wasn't a matter of a few minutes; on a virgin goddess's first night, pleasure came first. Given her stamina, he knew they'd have plenty of time to talk about bottlenecks later.
Ethan, the Master of Time Management, gave himself a mental pat on the back. He stroked her silky black hair and whispered, "Chisato-nee, blow me."
The gorgeous, black-haired beauty gave him a seductive roll of her eyes. She slowly moved her body, kneeling down between his legs. She opened her moist, red mouth and took the iron-hard dragon inside.
"Mmm..." Ethan let out a comfortable grunt. He loved it when his girls gave him head. The warmth of a mouth rivaled that of the flower valley, and a skilled tongue provided incredible stimulation.
Chisato was clumsy at first, but her learning curve was steep. Though he felt her teeth graze him a few times initially, under his guidance, it soon became pure bliss. She even tried to deep-throat him, but that was a skill that required practice. Even so, watching this tall, mature nurse submissively bobbing her head at his crotch provided immense psychological and physical satisfaction. Within moments, Ethan couldn't hold back and erupted deep in her throat.
To his surprise, she swallowed every bit of his massive life essence and then licked the dragon's head clean—a perfect "clean-up" service. It seemed mature beauties really did have a natural talent for certain things.
Spitting out the still-firm dragon, Chisato sat up, facing Ethan with her usual dignified expression. The contrast only made him more excited. A fierce battle was imminent. That night, Ethan lost track of how many rounds they went. With his dual-cultivation ability, they could go forever without exhaustion.
Chisato's body was simply too incredible. Combined with her unique divine aura, Ethan didn't even want to let her out of bed the next day. They both called in sick and spent the entire following day in a carnal frenzy.
During the breaks, Ethan finally pieced together the key to the second metamorphosis. The first metamorphosis is the magical reconstruction of the body. Once the body reaches a certain threshold of strength, it's complete. For geniuses like Rias or Sona, this was easy because their innate magic was already powerful.
The second metamorphosis, however, is about the spirit—the soul. One must use magic (or spiritual energy, Qi, etc.) to refine and evolve the soul. Once the soul reaches a critical point of sublimation, it fuses with the body to reach the God-rank.
The difficulty lies in the fact that the soul is intangible. Even a Devil King-class expert in mental magic can't claim to fully understand it. How does one use tangible magic to nourish an intangible soul? According to Chisato, the more you force it, the harder it becomes. It's like trying to stab yourself with a knife; even if you know you won't die, instinct stops you. Overcoming that instinct is just the first step.
Ethan tried it immediately, but it was incredibly difficult. Given how powerful his soul already was, a "brute force" approach might take centuries. However, there was another way: the "Red Dust Heart Tempering" (Mortal World Training). This involved living like a normal human, sensing the world without using supernatural powers. If one gains an epiphany, the soul evolves naturally.
Ethan knew this was basically about "state of mind" (Heart-Realm). If the power is there but the mind isn't, the breakthrough is blocked. This also explained why his martial arts had stalled. Martial arts transitioning into the "Immortal Path" was the leap from mortal to transcendent.