Chapter 154
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: The Supreme God and the Supreme Man
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As soon as the bizarre duo of eagle and snake settled together, the distant shoreline began to stir as if it had been waiting.
-Shwaaaa...!
The soft roar of late spring waves rolled in gently, carrying the warm summer breeze on their crest, and with it, they took their first steps onto the shore.
-Aaaah~♪
-Diding~♪
Draped in every beautiful hue evoking the sea—azure, turquoise, cerulean, deep indigo—over fifty dancers parted the curtain and made their entrance.
Some plucked at coral lyres.
Some blew haunting melodies on conch shell flutes.
Some sang with voices so pure they could move even the sirens to tears.
And some unveiled dances so enchanting that even the Horae would beg for instruction.
The beautiful spirits of the sea leaped onto the sandy shore, treading upon the white foam.
[Beautiful, isn't it?]
[Indeed.]
The eagle shrugged its wings smugly, but even I had to nod my slender neck in agreement.
The sea.
The primordial pool that had seduced and slain countless souls up to now.
That enigmatic realm, which captivated innumerable men only to embrace them in death, was undeniably akin to a woman's own.
Yet had I ever felt the sea's beauty and peril so viscerally as I did now?
Dances by maidens too alluring, too fantastical.
But precisely because of that hypnotic grace, the chill of danger they harbored struck deep—proof they were surely Neri's sisters.
'Blood will tell, after all.'
From the days frolicking together on Pasos Island, to the month that followed of ceaseless intimacy, bodies entwined and lips locked.
Occasional glimpses of that emerald sea's pitch-black abyss, like an alluring lover's charm laced with peril—like an accessory adorning these goddesses.
They slowly sought out their partners, circling the men while singing and dancing.
Even I was utterly entranced by the dance; what chance did the fools who came stumbling over have?
[They're all completely entranced.]
Not that saying so feels entirely right.
It gave off an eerie vibe, like offering up strapping young men as sacrifices. I shook my serpentine head for no good reason.
From a third-party view, it looked less like a love nest and more like Northern barbarians on a man-hunt.
[Something bothering you?]
[Nothing much.]
Still, eternal, flawless sea goddesses beat rugged Northern barbarians any day—even if those barbarians looked more manly than the locals.
If things went well, you'd even become in-laws with Poseidon, the old sea titan as your father-in-law. Win-win.
[Heh heh heh. Once you fall for sea women, escape's no easy feat.]
The eagle nodded at me with a sticky tone that all but said, You know it? It almost looked lecherous in its grin.
[I've heard all about it from my brother already. Bet you know it real well yourself. Right?]
[Does Greek small talk always veer this way...?]
From Heracles to Jason, even the relatively tame Actaeon by their standards—these Greeks were way too open about sex.
Even I, from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult where all desires were affirmed and sex was no taboo, felt my head spin amid their rampant 19+ banter. And here was the lord of this land's gods, dropping sex jokes like some tipsy uncle by way of greeting.
'At least Hera and Poseidon acted the part of gods.'
[Looks like you've settled on the snake form for your shapeshifting. Tangling up as snakes has its own exotic thrill. As you know, Lady Rhea and I...]
Kraaaak!
See?
No matter how open-minded I am about sex, no matter how wildly I've indulged in nightlife—this was the Greek baseline.
Why the hell was I putting up with this birdbrain's fourth-dimensional sex talk on a fine night, ignoring the world's top beauties waiting for me?
Lady Rhea, no less...? God forbid.
'Our standards are still human. Human!'
I couldn't take it anymore and finally snapped.
[Enough, enough! Weren't you around Hera? No way that goddess shared a bed with a snake. I don't fancy getting zapped just for hearing more drivel.]
[I'm not hurling lightning. Why would you get hit?]
The eagle tilted its head, all puzzled.
My fist—no, my teeth—itched at that faux-innocent gesture, but I swallowed it down for now.
'Psychological warfare, maybe.'
Shaking people up or lulling them into ease to steer the conversation—I knew that rhetorical trick well.
Truth be told, over half seemed thoughtless impulse. But the other half had me staying firmly on guard against the eagle's nonchalance.
'Kings... Emperors... You just can't trust 'em.'
Who in Greece could dare take the eagle's form?
No matter how extraordinary their powers or shapeshifting prowess—even gods couldn't mimic that.
It was the domain of the sky king symbolized by the eagle.
Zeus, who wielded thunderbolts in one hand to safeguard all Greece's laws and order.
Bellerophon, the exceptional hero who slew the Chimera, grew drunk on taming Pegasus and soared too high—only to plummet into a fate worse than death, wracked in agony.
When his favored son of Apollo drove the sun chariot and upended heavens and earth, Zeus's bolt struck without a moment's hesitation.
Anyone witnessing this eagle spout obscenities would naturally deduce the beast's true identity.
One thing, though.
Why act so chummy?
Just for a single line of verse? Descending in person out of gratitude?
Rulers staked their lives on mystique. What nonsense.
'Time to probe.'
[So, what's the real deal? Boredom set in?]
[Heh? You know who I am and still act this calm and insolent? Flaunting Hera's glory on your back, succeeding her divine mantle, and you dare spout such nonsense?]
I hissed softly, testing the waters—and got an immediate reaction.
A fierce one.
-Kwarung!
[Whoa.]
The eagle's voice turned feral in an instant, and lightning promptly smashed the tree right beside us.
-Kyaaak!
-I-Is Zeus angry?
A bolt from a cloudless sky threw the shoreline—drenched in pink-hued mood—into utter chaos.
But I had no attention to spare; my serpentine jaws hung slack.
'Not a whiff of ki released.'
Even a child's footfall stirred ki.
Yet this pervert eagle's roar summoned lightning without precursor or ki manifestation.
'Unity of man and nature? My God.'
Honestly, lightning held no terror for me.
The world's mightiest force, but equally clear in its vulnerabilities and inducements—thunder power, or wall-force.
Merely the freakish outcome of sheer will meddling in natural phenomena left me aghast.
'Even Poseidon marshaled divine power for quakes and currents...'
Yet here, in eagle form, a mere lion's roar bent nature to the supreme god's whim. I ratcheted my wariness to the max.
A king wielding such authority.
A powerholder clutching such might.
The supreme god, whom even his bed-sharing queen cursed as greedy—visiting me over a mere poem? Too contrived, even for myth.
[Tsk. Lost my temper.]
The eagle, which had glared at me, flapped its wings once; a gust restored the charred tree.
[There we go. Thanks to you, I finally shared a bed with Hera after ages. Came to give thanks, but your hotheadedness makes it tricky. My apologies.]
For one who'd flared up, the supreme god calmed in a flash—surprisingly taking the lead in bending.
[...My fault. I was on edge myself.]
A god of his stature yielding first—pushing back here wouldn't make for good flow.
So I dipped my serpentine head slightly and accepted.
'Besides, the gains from this brief exchange are substantial.'
In our short spar of words, I'd gleaned several useful tidbits on the supreme god Zeus.
Undoubtedly the archetypal supreme god: honeyed words veiling a gut-stab of a blade, born to rule all under heaven.
Short fuse, prone to explosive tantrums.
Formidable intelligence network, but zero countermeasures apparent.
Yet what kept my guard up was his refusal to show his true face.
In Greece, concealing one's visage signaled both divine solemnity and a line of caution.
That eagle guise, pretexted via Hera, was a deliberate ploy to reveal minimal info—a manifestation of wariness.
Even in beast form, those eyes gleamed with undisguisable lust for power and vigilance, every bit as dangerous as Hera, Ares, and Poseidon had warned.
Extreme power fixation.
Scheming with hidden blades, yet innate supremacy wrecked emotional control.
'And for some reason, he woos while staying wary of me.'
Why?
Defeating his son Heracles, rallying a few heroes, succeeding Hera's divine duty—that was it.
To him, already the pinnacle of power, my actions were but a tiny ripple.
Yet here he was, paying a personal covert visit to woo and probe?
'Something I don't know is in motion.'
Or already had been.
A displeasing intuition prickled my nape as I stirred my divine power briefly; my face twisted on reflex.
Lucky for me, snake features offered no scowl.