The Darkness of the Gods

"Hah... hah..."

I rubbed my chest. It had been a long, long time since I'd felt pain like this. Probably the first time since those little cat bastards tore into me. Maybe it was harder to endure simply because I hadn't tasted this kind of agony in ages.

"Athena. What is it?"

I looked up at her. Even through the pain, the sight of those thick, heavy breasts and the long, meaty legs stretching out beneath them was genuinely beautiful. Damn it. If only the situation weren't what it was, this would have been perfect.

"Feels good, doesn't it? Watching the human who used to humiliate you reduced to this?"

I let out a hollow laugh.

"If you want to kill me, go ahead. Do whatever you want."

That was a lie. The Collar's effect — the one that kept her from turning hostile toward me — was still fully active. Athena couldn't kill me. She couldn't even injure me. But mocking the pathetic state I was in right now? That she could do. And that alone would be more than enough for her to laugh, crow, and finally work out whatever had been festering in her chest all this time.

"Get up."

Athena bent down and seized my arm, clearly intending to haul me to my feet.

"What are you planning to do, just sitting there like that? Get up already."

I stared at her blankly, my face the picture of someone who hadn't quite processed what was happening.

"What? Why?"

Athena glared at me. I gave a hollow chuckle and shook my head.

"Nothing. Never mind."

No point reading anything special into this. Just be grateful for the consideration.

"Right, right. Let's go."

"Drop that tone."

"Haha..."

"What's so funny?"

I limped forward, gasping, propped up against her shoulder. Every step felt heavy, but with Athena's help it was a great deal more bearable. And so we began making our way out of the labyrinth.

Oh — and for the record, Athena personally collected the Minotaur's spoils. She used Hephaestus's Sword to cut off nothing but the horns. That, she said, was enough.

"Having the Goddess of Wisdom stuck right at my side, filling me in on everything — it really is the best, isn't it?"

"Other heroes are nothing like you!"

"I don't know about that... Anyone looking at you would think you were pretty lewd."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"That is not what this is about!"

Bantering like that the whole way. Was it just my imagination that things felt a little warmer than before? Ah, whatever. I'd think about it once we were out.

Honestly, escaping the labyrinth would have been simple enough if we'd just teleported straight to Hestia's Temple. The only reason I never brought it up was because of Athena's desire to help me walk out on my own two feet.

"Wait — thinking about it, I never needed to memorize the way out in the first place!"

The moment we teleported from the labyrinth entrance, Athena shouted as if the realization had just hit her.

"Why didn't you say anything?!"

"Because you were cute."

Athena glared at me, her face faintly flushed, then whipped her head away.

"What? Does that make you happy?"

"Th-that's..."

"You were moaning and getting pounded right in front of Hephaestus."

Athena's eyes flared sharp. The memory of every humiliation she'd suffered at my hands had clearly soured her mood in an instant.

"Get lost, you vulgar bastard!"

She spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. I watched the closed door for a moment, then turned my head.

"Well. That's how it went."

"She's finally starting to open her heart, little by little."

Hestia approached with a soft click of heels, her ample hips swaying. She began gently changing the bandages wrapped around my body, a tender smile on her lips.

"How does it feel, watching your goal come within reach at last?"

"Not great."

I turned my face aside.

"I actually prefer it when they fight back and thrash around. When they come at me like that, I can't torment them as much — and that leaves me unsatisfied."

Hestia snorted a quiet laugh and flicked the bridge of my nose with a fingertip.

"What a wicked child you are."

"Why, Mother? What about you?"

"The more someone is like that, the more a woman's heart is drawn to them, you know."

Hestia laughed softly as she wiped my body down with a damp cloth.

"When someone who never gives you anything suddenly offers a sweet temptation every now and then, you sway like a reed in the wind."

So she was saying I'd been flirting with Athena in that fashion? I turned it over quietly in my mind.

"All I did was rape her."

"But when you fought the monster, you made sure she fell back so she wouldn't get hurt."

The suspension-bridge effect, then? That felt like a bit of a stretch...

"Son."

Hestia stroked my hair, then looked down at me in silence.

"Every god on Olympus keeps a portion of their heart suppressed. To stay clear of Zeus's piercing gaze."

The remark came out of nowhere, but I listened quietly.

"That is why every one of them carries a darkness inside. If you have set your mind on destroying the other gods, I will not stop you. However..."

The hand that had been stroking my hair came to rest against my cheek.

"Take the measure of their darkness."

"So you're saying..."

Even Athena — strong, rational Athena — had an inner self she was unconsciously holding down? And that was why she was being drawn to me, bit by bit? Because of the sight of me defeating the Minotaur in nothing but a human body.

"Hmm..."

I sank into thought. Looking back, from our very first meeting Athena had shown an extraordinary fondness for human heroes. Maybe that obsession with heroes — with humans — was her way of seeking from mortals the sense of debt and feeling she could never find among the gods.

"The virgin goddesses are especially lonely. Even if their companions give them endless grief, they cannot take a male lover to soothe their hearts the way the other goddesses can."

Perhaps Athena, being so rational and strong, had simply never shown what was inside. Or perhaps even she herself didn't know. A daughter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with a mad father, forced to strive endlessly for his twisted affection — that was less a child's place than a subordinate's. A slave's.

"So."

I gently took Hestia's hand and looked at her.

"Athena is looking for someone she can rely on?"

"Your training of her, your strength — as she feels her own powerlessness more and more keenly, she may be coming to depend on you."

So that was why, through all the masochistic pleasure and the process of submission, she had never quite managed to truly resist?

"Watch her carefully. When that child finally yields completely and falls, she will become a greater strength to you than anyone."

Hestia rose from her seat and turned to leave. I watched the ripe, childbearing curve of her hips as she went.

"Mother."

At my call, Hestia looked back.

"What was your darkness?"

She gazed at me for a long moment, then smiled softly.

"You've already resolved all of it. So this mother of yours has nothing left to worry about."

And with that, she closed the door behind her. I stared at it for a while.

"Darkness, huh..."

She had a reason for telling me that.

"Handled right, it means there's a way to strike at the gods' weak points."

I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them and activated Athena's blessing.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Reddish patches floated here and there across my body — the sites of my injuries. But that wasn't all. Another wavering crimson hue hovered near my mind.

Every scrap of nonsense my unconscious was spouting floated before my eyes in the form of Status Window messages. A dry laugh escaped me.

"So these are my weaknesses?"

I knew full well that my relationships with the goddesses weren't normal. I'd forced myself on them, used the Status Window's help to corrupt them against their will. Even Hestia as she was now — if she could go back to before, there was no guarantee what she'd choose. I had no ability to read her heart.

Until now, that is.

"Whatever the case, I'm satisfied with what I have."

I looked away from the mirror.

"I did have a mental breakdown after the Minotaur and started self-flagellating like some emotional wreck, but..."

Maybe that had been my unconscious surfacing. If what I was seeing now was accurate.

"This is going to be more useful than I thought."

I dismissed the blessing's messages drifting in front of me. Being able to read the other gods' unconscious minds was, in the end, the same as reading their hearts. If I could see what they carried inside, I could tip any fight in my favor — whether I was corrupting a goddess through sex or going to war against the gods themselves.

"Anyway."

I looked down at my palm.

Power surged through my whole body. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I opened my eyes and stared into the mirror.

"A little further."

Getting wrecked this badly by something like a Minotaur... I still had a long way to go. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠needed to get stronger and smash the gods.

"Well then..."

I lay down. Exhaustion rolled over me. The moment I reached for sleep, I began to drift under.

And the next day—

"Someone has come to see you, son."

At Hestia's call, I stepped out of the temple.

"Long time no see, Demokres."

The woman I'd encountered when we set out for Athens together — Sophia, who had sworn she would become one of Artemis's huntresses — was standing there.