Conquering The Novel

Under the moonlight, Diana and Ares were lost in their romantic moment, unaware of the two figures watching them from afar.

Elaine stood on top of a nearby skyscraper, her usual blonde hair now transformed into a dazzling shade of gold, flowing in the wind along with her elegant dress. Her piercing golden eyes shone with intensity as she fixed her unwavering gaze on Ares, seemingly studying him from a distance.

"So, he's now dating a future elven empress?" Elaine muttered to herself, her gaze then turning towards the blue-haired girl who was also keeping an eye on Diana and Ares sneakily.

"And isn't that Livia, Princess Of Demetria kingdom? Is this some type of love triangle or something?"

Suddenly, a message appeared in front of Elaine, written in the air.

[You forgot about that Silvia girl.]

"Hmm," Elaine muttered, "I still can't believe he's the same guy who killed a demon lord and 100,000 demons at the same time. Though he's strong, he's not strong enough to kill a demon lord, even if the demon lord was just unsealed."

Elaine wondered if Ares had used some trickery to defeat the demon lord or if someone else had killed the demon lord and he was just taking the credit for it.

[Maybe he's just good at hiding his strength?] Another message appeared.

"Tch, aren't you a constellation? What use do you have if a mortal can fool your eyes?" Elaine clicked her tongue in frustration.

She also believed that Ares was hiding his real strength, and meeting him up close might allow her to discern his true strength. But things didn't go as she expected, as she couldn't sense whether he was really strong or not.

'I can only discern that he has the strength of someone who has just entered the S-Rank,' Elaine reflected.

[That's not my specialty, and you know that all too well.] The message appeared again in the air.

"I know, I know," Elaine said as she dismissed the message. "I'm just disappointed. I thought I finally found a man strong enough for me," Elaine spoke, shaking her head.

[Though I can't sense his real strength, I can still tell that he's strong. And more importantly...he's also someone's avatar!] the message appeared.

Elaine was taken aback for a moment, reading her constellation's message, and suddenly a huge grin formed on her face.

"You should have told me about his avatar status sooner! No wonder he can hide his strength from us," Elaine said with a smile.

[...!?]

[Isn't it a given that he was able to kill a demon lord because he was a chosen one?]

Elaine brushed off the message, "If he really is that strong, then it's acceptable for him to get attention from all these lasses," Elaine said, nodding to herself.

"Anyway, do you have any idea about his constellation's identity?" She asked, interested.

[...No, I don't know their identity. However, they seem to be some higher-rank entity, judging by how fast the boy's strength is progressing.]

"That makes sense. But if he really is the avatar of some higher entity, how is he communicating with them? You said that higher entities are prideful and wouldn't use inferior mortal language to communicate, right?" Elaine asked, genuinely curious.

[I don't think all constellations would like to communicate with their avatar as I do. It takes quite a lot of energy to communicate with you, even for me.]

"Oh, right. I forgot you were a loner and don't have anyone other than me. And others might be busy with their own problems," Elaine said with a chuckle.

"....."

[...Why don't you go and confront him now? You can ask him yourself why he is hiding his identity and other stuff.]

"No, I will wait a little longer and keep an eye on him. Only seeing his strength with my own eyes will make me decide to make my move now," Elaine said.

[Ok, But how will you deal with the other women around him? From what I can see, he is already entangled with three women, and who knows how many others there may be?]

"Like I said before, if he really is strong, he deserves to have his own harem of beautiful women. And if he can defeat me, then I am even willing to help him conquer the most beautiful women all around the world," Elaine said, her face ecstatic just imagining being defeated by a man.

!?

[You... are certainly different. I have never heard of a woman helping her man to build a harem of beautiful women around the world. Even in our realm, most women would want to keep their men for themselves, facing many struggles just to make them loyal to them.]

Despite the message from her constellation, Elaine was lost in her own reverie, imagining scenarios that had not yet come to pass. Her cheeks flushed red as she held her face with both hands, caught up in her daydream.

"....."

The constellation sighed, [You truly are a lost cause! Where did my cute, innocent avatar from her childhood go?]

***

Diana and Ares had finished their date and returned to the hotel where their teams were staying. The Vice dean of Soreh Academy called a meeting and gave a pep talk to the team in preparation for the upcoming semifinals. The other qualified teams were Martial Star Academy, Cherry Blossom Academy, and Shadow Academy.

Soreh Academy's Team Mob Character had secured third place in Match 5 and was able to eliminate Glacier Peak Academy in the process, but was ultimately eliminated by Martial Star Academy, who won the match. Ares wasn't surprised by the teams that had qualified.

After the meeting, Ares went back to his room to change into his sparring clothes for his plan with Ziona. He realized that Livia wasn't present at the meeting.

"I didn't see Livia in the meeting," he muttered.

"...I saw her sneaking on your date with Princess Diana, Master," Meira arrived from the shadows and informed Ares.

"I see. It's not particularly a bad thing. She should get used to seeing me with other women eventually, just like you, Meira," Ares said with a smile.

"I-I am just grateful to you for considering me as one of your women, Master," Meira said with a slight blush.

Irethiel just stared at her with a blank expression.

"Don't worry, I am not excluding you, Irethiel," Ares said with a chuckle as he saw her gaze, which he could sense was filled with jealousy.

Surprisingly, Irethiel didn't act like a Tsundere and retort, instead, she turned her head sideways, which made Ares's grin only grow wider.

'She is finally out of her denial state now, I guess,' he pondered inwardly.

"...There was also someone else who was spying on you," Irethiel informed, still not meeting Ares' gaze.

"...And who was that?" Ares asked curiously.

"I don't know her name, but she has shiny golden hair and eyes. She was observing you from the very beginning, and...she gave me a creepy vibe," Irethiel reported.

Hearing Irethiel's description of a woman, Ares immediately recognized who the woman in question was.

"...Elaine Hartnell?" Ares muttered to himself, recognizing the woman who was spying on him.

Meira gritted her teeth at the thought of someone spying on her master. She didn't have the same reaction with Livia because Livia was now one of her master's women, but if it was someone else with bad intentions toward Ares, she wouldn't let it slide.

"Do you know who she is, Master?" Meira asked.

"Yeah, sort of," Ares replied. "She's currently the youngest transcendent being and sits on the round table of the strongest top 12 beings in the world."

Meira's eyes widened at the mention of Elaine Hartnell's impressive status, but she didn't falter.

"Do you want me to deal with her, Master?" she asked again, her expression hardening even more. "How dare she spy on my master? If she has bad intentions, I will kill her this instant."

Ares chuckled inwardly at Meira's words, knowing it was still too early for her to deal with someone as monstrous as Elaine Hartnell.

"It's still too early for you to deal with that woman," he said, as he began to recall what he knew about Elaine Hartnell from the novel.

Elaine was one of the main antagonists in the story who had betrayed humanity and joined the Demon Lords.

She had a backstory that was similar to Livia's, as she was also born with a tremendous talent that isolated her from those around her. One of the constellations took notice of her due to their few similarities, and she became the constellation's avatar.

Currently, Elaine held the title of the youngest transcendent being, but that title would soon be taken over by Livia. She remained undefeated and currently sits on the round table of the twelve strongest beings in the world.

The most striking similarity between Livia and Elaine was their masochistic tendencies. Both women desired to be defeated by a man, which led Elaine to join the Demons. She had attempted to kill one of the Demon Lords but was instead defeated by him and so she willingly joined him.

"She is keeping an eye on me because she knows that Marz and I are the same person," Ares muttered, realizing the reason for Elaine's interest in him.

Ares knew that Elaine was likely coming for him because she believed he was stronger than her and could defeat her, just as he had defeated the Demon Lord. However, he understood that there was no way he could defeat her in his current state.

"This will be troublesome, as she is even crazier than Mika and Livia," Ares said, shaking his head.

'She is a dangerous woman who couldn't care less about the whole world and joined the demons without hesitation. And now, she's keeping her eye on me,' Ares contemplated for a moment.

He knew that Elaine was not someone to be taken lightly, and he would need to be careful around her.

'If I play my cards right, maybe I can use her?'