1 The Bastard Hero Left Me To Die!

With a flash of light, it was over…Rolling on the ground was Raven's head–hacked away by the cleaver meant for the bastard he'd saved just moments before dying. The revered Hero of the land was nothing more than a coward, one who left Raven to die when his life could've been saved by just one parry from the bastard's shield.

"That fucker! Always hogging all the glory and leaving us with none!" Raven screamed into the dark void as he stood before the goddess of bounty. "And now that bastard got me killed, but I bet he'll get praise for that too as always!"

Grinding his teeth, he knew that nobody thought of him more than the Hero's sidekick, and the stupid public would put the blame for his death on his own recklessness instead of their so-called hero's cowardice.

"Uhmm…" Unsure how to handle the raging dark mage, the goddess of bounty stood fidgeting before him. Long ago, she'd given him numerous gifts to aid the hero, but the hero's progressive vanity had her second-guessing her choices. "Are you—"

As she spoke again, Raven scratched his head screaming. Terrified by the chaos he'd brought into her peaceful domain, the goddess skirted away from the mortal. It wasn't that she was afraid of his strength, but more so the prospect of taking accountability for her mistake was pushing her to a psychotic edge.

A few minutes passed with the two standing away from each other, and Raven was finally back to his senses. Even so, looking at the goddess dressed in her translucent white garb wrapped around her groovy assets, he felt yet another spark of rage bustle up inside of him.

"Ahhh! Now I'll never get to screw the princess! Or the Queen! Hell, I bet that bastard will get the girls in our party now since he's the only man left!" Despite his body now rotting away, the passion in his soul had the goddess blushing.

"W-what?! I thought you were a much more innocent soul when I chose you as the hero's companion!" Complained the goddess, but Raven no longer cared.

Pointing his finger at her with a look of pure hatred, he growled.

"You thought the same way about the hero, didn't you? Look how wrong you were!" His words landed a critical hit to the goddess's heart.

"Ugh!" Feeling the hurt manifested in her chest, she fell to her knees with tears. Trying to hold them back, she bit down on her lower lips, but it only contorted her face comically. "You know what!"

"What?!" Now glaring at each other, both Raven and the goddess were at a loss for words.

'What the hell is that face she's making? Pffft!' For Raven, it was due to him trying to hold back his laughter. As for the goddess, she was too caught up in her emotions to speak up at all. But alas, as their stares mellowed down, the two of them shook their heads before walking closer.

"It's not your fault, I guess…" Muttered the unsure goddess, looking away from the mage with a light blush.

"Even gods can be fooled I suppose, I mean he fooled me into thinking he was a good guy at first too. Turns out, he's a dunce and a coward," Raven added, and a moment of awkward silence loomed between the two. "Uhmm, what now? Do I get revived or is this it for me?"

At first, the goddess had no answer, but closing her eyes shut she gazed into the abyss of knowledge to give Raven's soul a meaningful new purpose. Spying a crack of light amidst an ever-stretching field of darkness, she claws her way toward it until an answer pops up in her otherwise simple head. 

"With a selfish hero, I doubt my world would survive the forces of evil…" Opening her eyes, she looked down at the mage's sculpted frame. "But if I had someone willing to replace him–someone who shows promise that he could defeat the monsters plaguing the land, then maybe I can break the heavenly laws and revive him as an exception."

Meeting her gaze while looking up, Raven knew exactly what the goddess was offering. However, unlike the last time, he wasn't going to jump head-first into trouble for the sake of false morals and values.

"If I agree, what will I get in return?" He asked to which the goddess' eyes widened with shock.

Reminded of her past mistakes, however, that shock was quickly replaced with a look of understanding. She knew she'd messed up, and it was only fair to offer the mortal whatever he wanted as a reward.

"I'll grant you one more gift of your choosing, but keep in mind that I can't grant you divinity," moving her hand in a circle, the goddess created a sigil of pure white light to grant Raven's soul a new power as a divine gift.

Racing his mind for something fitting, Raven rummaged through his thoughts until finally, he knew exactly what he wanted.

"Then, I want to steal that bastard's harem party! No! Wait–I want the ability to steal and fuck anyone that I want!" Grinning to himself, Raven expected the goddess to shoot down his request.

But to his surprise, although blushing red–she was willing to make a more practical sacrifice than the empty promises from last time.

'At least it'll motivate him to travel the lands, unlike the current hero who's only protecting his city. Besides…' Opening her eyes once more, she stared at Raven for a moment. 'His intentions may be questionable, but at least he speaks his mind without lying.'

"Fine, I…" Pressing her hand against her chest, the goddess puffed her breasts with a drawn breath. "Aphrodite, grants you the gift of seduction. A power so perverse and potent that no woman–be she promised to another man, engaged, even bearing a seed of the future, or sharing the lineage could ever resist your charm."

Pushing the sigil of light towards Raven, she granted him the power while also stripping his consciousness for the time being.

'Can't have you using that power on me now, can we?' Grabbing him in her arms as his body was about to fall, she lifted him up so she could carry him over to a conjured table in the dark. Laying him on it, she began to carve a promise directly into his soul. 'Save my world, and perhaps you can have me.'

Once all preparations were done, she kissed him on the forehead, and with that, Raven's eyes opened near the dark cave's entrance in which he'd once died.