Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Even Zeus Would Close His Eyes and Apollo Would Lament
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Even Zeus would close his eyes, and Apollo would lament...
What is the Heavenly Demon?
The founding patriarch who first established the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's foundation atop the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains of this Divine Firmament Land.
The incarnation of the Lord of the Desire Realm, the sovereign of myriad demons, the Tathagata of Transformative Joy.
The great high priest of Asura King of the Abyss, the origin of all demons.
In other words...
In this primordial ancient Greece, no one performed sacrifices better than I did.
'Humans just keep tossing game or grain onto the fire day in and day out, and dutifully offering metals...'
Why don't they get it? A sacrifice is all about the story.
'If the gods have personalities, they must have desires and wishes too.
What's the point of endlessly offering the same old things?'
One day, I attended a sacrifice at Ares's temple for an event.
Thanks to my past life as the Heavenly Demon, where I'd received Spartan training from masters of flattery, I personally composed a few sacrificial verses and offered a fat wild boar I'd hunted myself.
Suddenly, the boar and the verses I offered burned up without even leaving ashes.
The warriors and priests of Ares's temple bowed to me, calling me a child blessed by Ares, and rumors spread among the temple orphans that I was his son.
And that wasn't all.
Watching Poseidon’s priests offer spear dances, I got an idea.
Whenever I trained by the sea, I'd bow toward the ocean and dedicate sword dances or spear forms.
Along with prayers humbly asking him to accept a mortal's martial endeavors, though they paled against his mighty trident that shakes the earth. When I finished, white waves would sweep in massive tunas or rare treasures.
I'd bring them to the priests, saying they were gifts from Lord Poseidon, and they were all so shocked.
From that day on, rumors spread that I was Poseidon's son.
Whoa! Double the dads!!
"...Was the nectar too strong?"
They said it was the gods' wine, but the alcohol content must pack a punch.
He's drunk and babbling nonsense.
Anyway, the fact that I'm cultivating inner energy is already known—from Nerys to High Priest Epharos at Zeus's temple, even to those sea hippocampi and dolphins.
Not much use as blackmail material.
"More than that, blackmail isn't done like this."
"What?"
I circulated a bit of inner energy and shot a burst of intent straight at the white fluffball.
Though I hadn't fully recovered my past life's prowess, my current level was roughly first-rate, mid-to-upper tier.
A body that could be called nearly a Heavenly Martial Physique, innate energy coursing through every inch, and my memories as the Heavenly Demon who wielded it—these had propelled me to first-rate martial artist realm even before turning fifteen.
Of course, among the transcendent experts of the Beyond Heavens—Ten Supremes, Three Emperors, Five Sovereigns—I wouldn't even rate a glance.
But even a mad doctor out of his mind was still just a kid way younger than me.
'Enough to make him understand, at least.'
-Shaaa!
Energy poured from my twelve meridians, pressing down on Asclepius with a gentle breeze.
Sensing something amiss, he tried to speak...
"Eek...!?"
In an instant, cold sweat beaded on him as the pressure locked his body rigid.
No matter that it wasn't my past life's power—the name Heavenly Demon carried weight anywhere.
Even at first-rate level, no one in the entire martial world handled qi better than I did. And however modest my inner energy, I could wield it with total freedom.
Like grasping a small animal in my hand, slowly tightening its throat—I squeezed the white one's neck and body, whispering softly.
"I really hate traps and leading questions like this. Got it?"
"Guhhh...!"
He barely nodded, jerking his head up and down.
His eyes brimmed with shock and fear.
"...Good."
Seemed like he'd gotten the message, so I slowly withdrew my pressure.
"Puha! Hah... Hah!! H-How..."
Like a man dragged from drowning, Asclepius gasped raggedly but still pressed his question.
"Persistent, huh? That curious?"
Come to think of it, the Witch of Ghosts or those lunatics from the Tang Clan would swarm like that whenever they discovered a new treatment or drug.
Asclepius mirrored them with demonic obsession, his hair wild as he slithered closer, sniveling.
"O-Of course! The aura flowing through your body is more stable and body-friendly than any in the world.
If we could teach it to everyone, not just minor ailments—even fractures or bruises could vanish. It'd usher in a new era!"
Ah, truly a god of medicine in the making.
Impressive that his curiosity wasn't mere scholarly itch, but for healing all mankind.
Of course, that's that...
"Can't teach it."
"What?! Why!"
Damn this guy.
Even third-rate breathing arts take five years grinding in a big city's dojo to learn.
And for good reason—cultivation methods are the foundation of martial arts, how mortals forge a little universe inside themselves.
If even junk like that demands such effort, the Demonic Cult secrets and orthodox supreme arts I know are treasures worth kowtowing for a single verse.
Leak even a scrap, and my Twelve Divine Demons who'd taught me would claw out of the afterlife.
'...But this pure white lunatic won't buy that.'
Look at those scheming eyes spinning. One wrong word, and tomorrow's dinner gets a poison topping.
No choice, then.
Time to trot out the old Dionysus backstory ploy.
"Sigh... Listen up. I'm telling you this because your ambitions are grand and your spirit noble."
"What are you getting at...?"
As I struck a grave pose and whispered low, Ascle—the white one—stiffened and leaned in.
Yeah, focus, you punk.
Martial artists back home would hold their breath if I opened my mouth.
"Truth is... I don't know who my parents are. One day I came to, washed up on Pasos Island, and Zeus's temple high priest took me in."
"Don't know your parents? Impossible. Even if abandoned out of necessity, they'd leave a mark or at least a name."
I don't know for sure either. Epharos named me Dionysus, and even he seemed clueless about my birth.
Hell, I grilled Chiron recently, and even he was just guessing.
"Anyway, I do remember something from before I washed up on Pasos."
"Wh-What memory...?"
"Right here..."
As the white one gulped and hung on my every word...
-Rustle!
Some noise interrupted.
"Hold up—who's outside that window?"
"What?! Damn Apollo—my god! Who the hell interrupted!?"
Deep in focus, Asclepius exploded at the break and bolted outside like a spring.
-Crash!
"Who the fu..."
"Gaaah! A-Asc! Calm down, it's me!"
"Oh, you again, you king boar! I'll wring your neck one day!!"
Long needles longer than fingers, gleaming awls, sharp scalpels—evoking the Tang Clan's arsenal of deadly tools—he armed both hands in a flash, ready to repel the intruder.
The white one's eyes blazed murder, but the screamer reached for me.
"Wait! Wait! Hey, friend! Help me out!"
"Me? Why should I?"
"What!? Y-You don't know me!? Son of Alkmene! The one who strangled snakes as a baby..."
"Yes! I'll avenge those snakes today!! Hermes be witness! For insulting you, I send this sinner on!!"
"Heeek!"
That unearthly scream and unnatural moves marked him as a promising little hero—too bad the fledgling god of medicine was about to end his tale.
This Heavenly Demon, once Asura's high priest, prays for your fortune. Take it as honor...
Wait.
"Son of Alkmene?"
I'd heard that alias somewhere...
Where was it?
"Y-Yeah! I'm Alkmene's son—known as Heracles! So stop this guy, please!"
Oh right. Heracles's other name was Alkmene's son.
But... that guy writhing on the floor, shitting himself... him?
This is Greece's greatest hero?
My first meeting with Greece's legendary hero-to-be, star of countless epics and myths, was a total disaster.
* * *
A moment later.
"Ughhh... it huuurts..."
"Shut your mouth. I barely held back from a full dissection demo today."
Heracles sported a massive mushroom-like lump on his head, while Asclepius wiped blood from a hammer and gong(?).
Zeus clutched his forehead in bewilderment, Apollo sighed endlessly—I just averted my eyes from the scene.
A lunatic smashing a gong on a living man's skull.
And taking it bareheaded with that freakish physique.
These two become the god who revives the dead... and history's greatest epic hero?
"This okay?"
These kids are showing yellow flags already?