CHAPTER 240: CHAPTER 239 - THE FINAL PHASE OF THE TRAINING.

"Alright, everyone. Are you ready?" Raven asked as he glanced around him, seeing everyone—including Cluckles and the corrupt beast—gathered in a semicircle.

Everyone nodded.

Well, except for Cluckles and the beast.

The beast merely tilted its head, but Cluckles asked out loud. "Cluckles is curious to know where we are going."

Everyone turned to look at the chicken.

Then, they shook their heads.

Cluckles could only tilt his head as, in the next second, a light enveloped everyone other than him and the beast.

Before the chicken could even cluck, they vanished.

For the group, the world shifted in a blink—one moment, they were laughing in the Ashen Expanse, staring at the comical chicken while shaking their heads, and the next, Fwsshhk!—they were standing on unfamiliar ground once more.

Arietta’s divine domain.

It looked different again, but this time... simple. Minimalistic even.

Instead of floating islands, obsidian towers, or giant cherry blossom forests, they stood on solid white marble ground under a soft sky hued with warm lavender.

The terrain stretched into hexagonal battle arenas, shimmering faintly with enchantments.

A series of platforms floated gently in the air like training stages, while misty portals hung in the distance—undoubtedly for simulations.

"...Okay, this is almost normal," Rufus muttered, eyeing the geometry.

"Almost disappointing," Jessy added.

"No lava. No sentient swords. No rain of teeth," Alex counted on his fingers.

"Oh, you won’t miss them for long," Raven said, cracking his neck.

Then, with a shimmer of divine light and the faint sound of harp strings snapping under tension, she appeared.

Arietta.

Barefoot, flawless, and as radiant as ever, her dress rippled like starlight stitched in silk.

Her expression was serene—until she locked eyes with Raven. Then it shifted into a euphoric mix of longing, joy, and just a hint of possessive menace.

"Raven~," she whispered, walking up to him like the floor didn’t dare delay her stride. "I missed you so much that I could destroy a world."

Raven gave a soft smile. "Well, I’m here now."

He ignored the fact that she was talking about destroying a planet. In fact, everyone ignored it because they had all come to terms with Arietta’s craziness.

Behind Raven, Clara, Selena, and Siris instantly took their positions like clockwork—Selena to his left, Siris on his right, and Clara stepping behind him with her arms folded like the final boss of a dating sim.

Arietta’s left eye twitched. Only slightly.

"...Wonderful," she said tightly. "All of you came back, too."

Selena tilted her head innocently. "Of course. You didn’t think we’d leave Raven here alone, did you?"

"I could hope," Arietta muttered sweetly.

Clara leaned forward with a teasing smirk. "You missed me, didn’t you, Goddess?"

Arietta inhaled sharply, face serene but clearly buffering. "...I missed your absence."

Siris, ever unfazed, casually laced her fingers with Raven’s. "I’m just saying this for my dagger’s sake, but you won’t get a monopoly on Raven this time."

Arietta, however, smiled, unbothered. "Of course I will. You guys are here to train, so you will do that, while I enjoy my time with Raven."

Siris clenched her fists, unable to come up with any words against her before her eyes brightened.

Lick~!

She licked Raven’s cheeks, making everyone, including Raven, stare at her slack-jawed.

"...Okay," Raven said, as he didn’t know what else to say.

The others were as confused as he was.

That was until Siris puffed her chest, staring at Arietta. "I marked him with my tongue. No matter what you do, he would still stay mine."

Arietta’s eyes turned cold.

Nibbles, trying to hide his body on Alex’s head, held up a sign: "Moments before divine disaster."

However, Arietta suddenly smiled, her lips curling.

"Mine’s still bigger," she beamed.

Siris tilted her head. "What?"

"Arietta, I say we end this topic here," Raven tried to mediate, but the goddess wasn’t one to go down without a fight, so she answered Siris, pointing at her breasts.

"Even if you puff them, they are still smaller than mine."

Lia, standing in a corner, talking to a plant, flinched, staring at her chest. "Why do I feel like those words were directed at me?"

The plant before her swayed, making Lia’s face turn red. "W-What? A-Are you sure Raven would like mine?"

The plant swayed again, and Lia’s imagination ran wild. Again.

The atmosphere between Siris and Arietta, however, had turned cold.

Clara and Selena, standing on the side, exchanged a glance.

’Should we step in?’ Selena lip-synced.

Clara shook her head. ’It won’t be a good idea.’

Both of them, unlike Siris, didn’t care about Arietta having more time with Raven.

She was already helping them so much, so they could give her that much.

Even Siris was fine with this last time.

But as they thought about it, they recalled how Siris had a date with Raven right before they came here, so maybe that was why she was fine last time.

This time, however, Selena was the one who went on a date.

The mystery behind Siris’s behavior was cleared.

Still, the way Siris was staring at her breasts and Arietta’s, her eyes turning colder every time, Raven could tell that she would say something she shouldn’t, so he stepped in.

"Girls... can we not cause divine friction? Just this once?"

There was a short silence before Arietta smiled. "I was never trying to start a fight."

Even Siris turned her head away with a huff, and Raven finally sighed.

It was then that Graye stepped in, trying to defuse the tension. "So... uh, what’s the plan for this final phase?"

"Well, it is—"

Before Raven could complete his words, Arietta raised her hand.

"How about I handle it, Raven?"

He had told her everything about the final phase and asked her to prepare the divine realm accordingly. So, Areitta could do the narrating this time.

Raven wasn’t bothered. He shrugged. "As you wish."

Arietta floated back a step, recovering her usual poise. "So, the phase is simple. This is the final stretch. I’ve crafted this entire version of the domain to simulate real combat stress, battle simulations, elite duels, and team synergy testing."

Jessy rubbed his chin. "Basically... fight each other until we break?"

"Yes," Arietta smiled. "But with love."

"...That doesn’t make it better," Rufus muttered.

Jake silently nodded.

Arietta, ignoring their comments, clapped her hands. "Each of you will be given solo duels against projections stronger than you. Then, randomized group battles. I will monitor how well you fight when separated from Raven."

Selena raised a brow. "What about fighting with Raven?"

"Oh, I already know how well you all cling to him," Arietta said, a little too dryly. "This phase is to see how well you hold up without needing him to carry you."

Raven winced. "You... didn’t have to say it like that."

Still, everyone got the idea of what this phase was about, so it was all good.

Cluckles, who had not been teleported, was probably screaming somewhere in the Ashen Expanse about betrayal and forgotten poultry.

Nibbles held up a sign: "Cluckles will remember this."

Arietta leaned in, speaking directly to Raven, voice soft. "When training ends... you’ll stay. A little while. Just us. I want a reward."

Raven paused.

Selena nudged him. "Say yes before she makes another love labyrinth."

"...Sure," he said. "I’ll stay."

Arietta beamed, then spun gracefully midair. "Then let the final training phase... begin!"

All across the domain, platforms lit up with blinding light.

Raven cracked his knuckles. "Time to level up. Again."

With that, the last grind before they returned to the world was about to begin.

It consisted of cosmic duels, divine banter, and a love goddess determined to make her final impression, so... it was going to be a long day.

Or more like long days.

However, one question remained.

"Who will be the first one to step in?" Arietta asked, and everyone turned toward Raven.

"...Okay, so what kind of gazes are these?" Raven scratched his head. "You all want me to go first or select the one who would go first?"

"Huh?" Alex tilted his head. "Why would we want to make the main focus go first?"

"Even the dumbest guy can tell that." Rufus shook his head.

"Hey. That’s rude," Alex frowned, but no one was listening to him anymore because Raven, rubbing his chin for a second, had finally decided who to send first.

He turned toward Rufus. "Let’s start with you."

Rufus tapped his nano core, causing the nanoparticles to gush out, and in a few seconds, Rufus was clad in his red-black armor.

"As you wish, boss," he saluted, and his visor whirred back to place.

With that, the first one to perform was decided.

What no one noticed, however, was the subtle shift in Arietta’s expression as she tried to mask her tiredness.

Although she was using the divine domain for now, she didn’t know how long she could keep this up.