Even So, Speak Your Mind
Poseidon.
One of the three great gods of Olympus.
In the modern era, he boasts the highest name recognition among all sea-related deities. So much so that more people mistakenly call the Roman Oceanus fountain the Poseidon fountain. As a sea god, he is undeniably the most famous of them all.
Yet regardless of that immense fame, the personality of Poseidon as depicted in the myths—though overshadowed by Zeus—was every bit as much of a bastard as his brother.
From adultery and rape to the countless atrocities he committed, his actions were no joke. On top of that, his abysmal parenting had caused more than a few disasters.
While Zeus’s sons at least grew up to become respectable heroes, Poseidon’s offspring had no such redeeming qualities.
Considering the saying that children are mirrors of their parents, it was clear this guy was a first-rate piece of shit.
Of course, that was all according to the original myths.
Now that those stories had become reality, I didn’t immediately feel unconditional hostility toward the being who had suddenly appeared before me.
The first true alpha male in history, the one who commanded three thousand subordinates while driving chariots, once said:
“Even if the crowd hates someone, you must examine them carefully. Even if the crowd loves someone, you must examine them carefully.”
In other words, do not judge people based on prejudice. No matter how much of a bastard the records claim he is, you still need to open the lid and see for yourself.
With that in mind, I set my biases aside for a moment and tried to observe the sea god who had suddenly shown up with as much neutrality as I could manage…
“What the hell is this eyesore? Hey, you beautiful girl over there. You look like a newly born goddess. Stop hanging around a creature like that and come here at once. This Poseidon will graciously take you as my concubine.”
Correction.
Whether it was Hera or this son of a bitch Poseidon, it seemed that if someone was recorded as a bastard in the original myths, they really were a bastard.
At least Aphrodite could be given some leniency since she had only just been born.
But this guy was an adult far older than me, and from our very first meeting he was already throwing a tantrum over someone’s face.
Still, no matter how foul my mood became, I still hadn’t decided whether I should intervene in this situation.
After all, in the original myths, Aphrodite would later become the very symbol of a shameless adulteress.
Didn’t she sleep with Ares, Hermes, and even the Poseidon standing right in front of me simply because they were handsome, eventually giving birth to their children?
And when you considered that all of it stemmed from adultery—one of the things I hated most…
From my perspective, getting involved with this woman would only lead to a future full of losses. So why should I bother stopping this?
‘She’s going to have kids with him eventually anyway. Maybe it’d be better to just let her quietly follow Poseidon now…’
Wasn’t she the type who thought, “The man might be trash, but his dick is good”?
She would probably prefer going to Poseidon, whose face was undeniably handsome even if his manners were absolute garbage, rather than staying with me after I had dunked her head underwater for talking shit about my looks.
Besides, although he didn’t have his signature trident yet, he was already the de facto ruler of the Mediterranean at this point in time.
The divine power radiating from Poseidon right now was no joke. Reckless hostility would be foolish.
Since I hadn’t liked this woman from the moment I first saw her anyway, I figured it would be best to let Aphrodite go wherever she wanted and avoid any unnecessary bloodshed.
That was when…
“!”
“…”
Aphrodite quietly grabbed the hem of my clothes from behind me.
The sensation I noticed immediately after was the faint trembling in her fingertips.
It wasn’t joy.
It wasn’t lust.
It was fear.
That single fact shattered another “prejudice” I had been carrying until now.
No matter how she would later become the goddess of adultery, the Aphrodite standing here was still nothing more than a child—regardless of her mature appearance and arrogant personality.
A small, fragile little girl who needed someone else’s help.
In this moment, that very girl was expressing fear in front of me and begging for salvation.
And in response to that…
I let out a small sigh inside.
As expected, walking the path of a true alpha male is never easy at any moment.
*
A man who had suddenly appeared from the sea.
An existence who introduced himself as the sea god Poseidon.
Although he looked somewhat older, his robust build and strikingly handsome face were enough to make even Aphrodite stare for a moment.
But at the same time,
Aphrodite could feel it.
The way that man was looking at her.
It was the gaze one would give not to a person, but to livestock.
‘…I hate it…’
It felt disgusting.
Revulsion washed over her.
She was the goddess of beauty and, at the same time, the goddess of love.
The emotion in those eyes—completely devoid of any love, merely drooling at the sight of a pig about to be slaughtered—stirred a single clear feeling inside Aphrodite’s heart.
Fear.
Terror toward this repulsive man who clearly intended to take her away and treat her like cattle.
If she had been a little more mature and learned how to handle the male species more easily, she probably wouldn’t have been shaken by this at all.
She would have skillfully used his lust against him, wrapping a leash around his neck to secure her own benefit.
However, the current Aphrodite possessed neither that ability nor that knowledge.
What stood here was a delicate being who had only just been born.
Her body might be that of an adult,
Her personality might be a little arrogant,
But she still knew nothing of the world,
And naturally carried the fear that came with that ignorance.
She was nothing more than a very young girl.
“Ugh…”
And so, within the thick fear she felt for the first time,
Aphrodite unconsciously grabbed tightly onto the hem of the man standing in front of her.
Even though he was horribly ugly,
And had just shoved her head underwater while lecturing her about education.
Nevertheless,
This man had never once,
Not even for a single moment,
Looked at her with those kinds of eyes.
Clinging to that slender thread of trust amid overwhelming fear, Aphrodite tightened her grip on his clothes.
Then.
Into Aphrodite’s ear,
The voice of that man reached her.
The voice of the man named Hephaestus,
The man with the hideous appearance.
“…Do you have something you want to say?”
“!...Th-that is…”
A quiet question that nevertheless dug deep into her heart.
Toward Aphrodite, who hesitated for a moment,
The man spoke in a calm voice.
“Third time. What did I tell you?”
“!...”
“Answer.”
“Even… even so… I still have something to say.”
Aphrodite answered in a trembling voice.
“Then speak. Say whatever you want.”
At those words that clearly told her what she needed to do in this moment,
Aphrodite gripped the man’s clothes even tighter and opened her mouth once more.
“…I don’t… want to go.”
“Louder.”
“I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go!”
In that instant, Aphrodite raised her voice without realizing it and clearly expressed her refusal.
The sea god frowned in displeasure,
And as if answering her cry,
Hephaestus stepped forward even more decisively, blocking her path as he spoke.
“She refused. Since that’s the case, you should leave now.”
“…”
By adding to her words and clearly expressing his intent to refuse,
And by standing in front of her, Hephaestus made his protective intention unmistakably clear.
In that single moment,
For the first time in her heart,
An emotion that felt both unfamiliar and yet instinctively, overwhelmingly familiar began to bloom inside Aphrodite.
She couldn’t quite identify what it was.
That feeling.
And then.
“Good grief. If I told you to follow me quietly, you should just follow. Why are there so many complaints?”
“!”
“…”
Along with those words, the waves suddenly surged violently.
In the atmosphere that had turned ominous in an instant,
Hephaestus’s expression grew even colder.
“I even tried to take you with me respectfully, appreciating that beauty of yours. Yet you dare ignore this body’s generosity and refuse? The words of this Poseidon, ruler of the sea, are absolute. If you won’t come quietly, I’ll force you to bear my child!”
Poseidon’s rage-filled declaration.
At the same time, the sea began to churn even more violently.
The world that had been perfectly calm just moments ago suddenly flipped upside down. Fear rose in Aphrodite’s heart once again, but…
Even so, in one corner of her heart,
A strange sense of relief existed.
Unlike before, at this moment there was a man beside her who had clearly declared that he would protect her.
*
The sea was surging in a disturbing manner.
Fortunately, the place we were standing was on top of Cyprus Island—meaning it was land—so we weren’t directly affected yet…
Nevertheless, the situation before my eyes naturally made me frown.
Then.
—SPLASH!!
Water cannons erupted from both sides of Poseidon.
A strike carrying pressure that would make a fire hose look like a toy flew toward me and Aphrodite.
In response, I slammed my fist hard into the ground.
—BOOM!
Along with an impact that shook the earth, a wall of earth surged up around us.
The small rampart created in an instant completely blocked Poseidon’s attack.
However.
“Not bad. Even a lowly god no one has ever heard of is still a god, I see? But…”
“Ah…!”
“…”
Countless pillars of water began rising around Poseidon.
Watching them writhe violently like snakes, I couldn’t help but scowl.
And then.
—KWAAAAANG!!
Countless strikes of water poured down on us.
The water pillars rushed in with terrifying force as if a dam had burst. Even the wall I had lifted from the ground began cracking in real time.
This was bad.
Although I was standing on land, this was an island surrounded by sea on all four sides.
And right on the coastline at that.
For the sea god Poseidon, this was practically a home ground where his energy was endlessly replenished.
On the other hand, on this island that wasn’t even a volcanic one, the authority I could use had clear limits.
At best, I could only lift the ground like this to defend.
And even that was me forcibly scraping out the faint earthly power remaining underground, so it could only be used once.
On top of that, since I hadn’t expected any of this and hadn’t brought any proper weapons,
This situation was overwhelmingly disadvantageous for me.
—CRACK!!!
In the end, the wall that couldn’t withstand the continuous attacks shattered.
I quickly pulled Aphrodite into my arms.
And then.
—KWAAAAANG!!!
Even though I had wrapped myself in divine power for defense, a horrific pain swept across my entire body.
The impact felt like being struck by iron hammers rather than water, pounding my body as if it were being torn apart.
“Ugh!”
“Hep… Hephaes… tus…”
Just a single instant of attack.
The result was broken ribs and torn flesh.
My face was covered in deep bruises.
Even some of my internal organs had been ripped.
If I hadn’t been an immortal god, I would have died several times over from that damage.
In that battered state, I barely managed to retreat backward,
Still holding the unharmed Aphrodite in my arms as I tried to withdraw deeper into the island.
However.
“…Damn it.”
“Th-this can’t be…”
A massive wall of water had already surrounded us.
As if telling us not to even think about escaping, it completely encircled a wide area,
Exuding the momentum of a ferocious beast just before being released.
“Stop your pointless resistance. If you follow me quietly even now, I’ll specially spare the life of that eyesore over there.”
“Ugh…”
“…”
Poseidon reached out toward us with a menacing aura.
Watching Aphrodite begin to hesitate, I let out a small sigh inside.
The short exchange from earlier…
No, it was too one-sided to even call it an exchange—it had been a complete beating.
Who held the advantage had become painfully clear.
Recognizing that fact,
I set Aphrodite down,
—Thud.
And knelt before Poseidon.
“Heh heh, that’s right. You should have done that from the beginning.”
“…Ah…”
“…”
In truth, it had been reckless from the start.
A fight against a superior opponent in an unfavorable location without any preparation.
Avoiding a battle with nearly zero chance of victory was only natural.
Even if it hurt my pride and left a scar on my heart,
Lowering my head now and waiting for a better opportunity was the wise choice.
Any normal, sensible person… would have done exactly that.
However.
I was not a normal person.
I was an alpha male.
No matter how strong this bastard was,
No matter how the situation was turning,
What mattered was that this son of a bitch had pissed me off.
That he was trying to kidnap and rape a young, fragile child.
And now that I had clearly heard that child’s direct request…
The plea for me to protect her,
“Run. Toward the center of the island.”
“!?”
As an alpha male, I
—Boom!
“What… what?”
Had no intention of doing what this bastard wanted, even if it meant dying here.
The moment I straightened my knees, an explosion erupted from beneath my feet.
Gathering every last bit of earthly power left in the area and detonating it below me,
It launched my body like a bullet straight toward where Poseidon stood.
And then.
—SMASH!!!
“Guh!!!”
My fist drove squarely into Poseidon’s face.
The reason I had knelt was to build up momentum.