Chapter 184
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Opening
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"What the hellll..."
"This is so boring!"
Love has always been war.
A man's ordeal sandwiched between two beautiful women, and the fiery clash between two beauties with one man in between—it all ended so anticlimactically.
"This isn't right!"
"We can't let this slide!"
This wasn't some cheap melodrama!
This wasn't a romance tale!
Rationality and calculation have nothing to do with it. Burning passion and the whirlwind of madness—that's the true essence of love.
Atalanta and Nesneria had acknowledged each other's existence all too easily, armed with such profound trust and affection.
And Dianes, clad in such solemn charm and impeccable etiquette, had unheroically humbled himself before his two lovers, begging forgiveness and earning their acceptance of his love.
How could the gods of love tolerate such a lukewarm conclusion!
"Oppa!"
"Let's take him out!"
Eros's silver arrows, turning even beloved lovers into mortal enemies fueled by hatred.
Himeros's golden rose, making even the ugliest foe irresistible to devour.
Two silver arrows for the sake of the beautiful princesses.
One golden rose for the great hero destined to become the greatest.
And all of it for their mother, Aphrodite, and in place of her divine duties—for themselves.
The cruel soldiers of love, whom even Zeus feared, now aimed earthward to ignite the tepid romance.
"Hold on."
"M-Mother?"
"M-Mommy?"
But their arrows never took flight.
Their goddess, their mother Aphrodite, had suddenly seized their hands.
"Just wait a moment, dears."
The beautiful heretic who had stolen Aphrodite's gaze hid not just an enigmatic exterior, but mysteries within as well.
Not one to boast about it herself—and long forgotten by many—but Aphrodite was, strictly speaking, born before Zeus and Cronus.
She was the goddess born from the blood and flesh of the heavens, presiding over all life force and passion in the world.
Her divine eye of beauty pierced the essence of others, and because Zeus had gouged out those eyes, she never appeared in his lecherous chronicles, allowing her to remain on friendly terms with Hera.
'Why has that child inherited Lady Hera's divine duty?'
Hera's divine duty, now so obscure that scarcely anyone knew of it anymore—save Aphrodite and Cronus's bloodline.
Her eyes did not miss how that duty pulsed faintly within the great hero's heart.
"Hmm..."
The great hero Dianes.
By now, through this Heroic Tournament, there was scarcely a god unaware of him.
Hadn't he displayed martial prowess beyond mortal limits, captivating countless kings and gods?
Ares and Poseidon had long vied for claim over his exploits, while Hermes rejoiced at finding a worthy conversationalist.
Even Artemis, beholding that black hair, had squirmed with enchantment in her lower body—how thrilling that had been.
No other goddess might notice, but the goddess of erotic love and desire could not be fooled. It was certain.
"And now he's Athena's magistrate...?"
Since Perseus, had there ever been a being who drew such attention from the gods?
Aphrodite, who had seen more than others, could not help but turn her gaze to the hero burdened with more than others.
Naturally, she anticipated the fierce melodrama to unfold between them—and the ensuing love song of gods and heroes with her at the center.
Yet even she dared not meddle too soon with the child Hera had chosen as successor to her ancient divine duty, lest she incur Hera's great wrath.
"Touch an unripe seed too soon... and the farmer unleashes the hounds."
It was still too early for her twins to shine.
Her arrows and roses, infused with divine power that even sways Zeus, might affect the budding seed of godhood.
Which meant...
This was the moment for her to step forth personally after five hundred years.
'That Artemis is restless, and the man marked by her daughter Atalanta and Oceanus's treasure...'
"Hehehe... hehehehe!"
What if such a man cast aside all other women and knelt before her, begging for her love?
If Athena's magistrate swept through Greece for her sake, if Hera's successor praised her in her temple, if Ares and Poseidon's warrior guarded her?
And if such a hero served her every whim, gasping in her embrace?
"Ahh..."
Just imagining it made her lower abdomen throb, and Aphrodite let out a heated sigh.
Amidst the envy and admiration across Olympus and Greece, her divine status would soar ever higher.
It wouldn't be easy, but that only fueled Aphrodite's passion all the more. Her love was just beginning.
"Himeros, Eros. No arrows near that child or his surroundings for the time being."
"Whaaat?! For real? With such an entertaining target?"
"Mooom~ Just one shot, please, just one!"
"No."
Stirring chaos around him with her and the gods' power would invite Hera's fury as divine interference.
But captivating those around her with innate beauty was Aphrodite's unavoidable nature.
With careful preparation from now, by the time Hera's divine duty blossomed, the newborn god would naturally be hers.
"It's been ages since I stepped up myself."
How long had it been since her heart raced like this?
Not since poor Adonis, who was no longer by her side.
"Now's the time for the greatest thrill."
The first hunt would commence three days hence, as Dianes had mentioned.
The day of the pitiful Acis's duel with mighty Polyphemus.
The day Dionysus's grand banquet drew to a close.
"First, since those children I fancy have offered tribute, I shall pay a visit."
As a goddess, accepting devotees' offerings was only natural.
Perhaps she'd receive the splendid odes and hymns bestowed upon Zeus and Ares.
The goddess of beauty led her attendants toward the hero's temple.
"If the tribute pleases me... I might even grace his forehead with a kiss."
Time flew by, and the final day of Dionysus's banquet arrived.
I stood before Jason and the warriors, who had endured three days like three hundred, surveying them.
"..."
"..."
The hunter Actaeon, who had once shown frailty.
The storm twins, too busy fooling around.
The kingdom's prince, awakening unexpected potential.
Acis, who sparked this training.
And at their fore, Commander Jason, revealing the face of a battle-hardened veteran.
All of them were sharp as honed blades.
Among them, some demigod bloodlines neared the peak through sheer absurdity.
"Why do you think I taught you the sword?"
-...?
"I hope none of you took 'invincible in all battles' seriously."
-Hahaha!
My half-joking remark eased their tension with laughter.
"You bound by blood oath under Jason's name—I foresaw one future in you."
The grand event any Greek myth enthusiast would know.
Jason's Argo expedition.
Watching them rise as one to Jason's call, I intuited it.
Though much had twisted and changed...
Through these who rose and leaped at my behest, that mythic scene I cherished would come to pass.
"Cheers to the proud hero who stood on two legs despite deathly screams."
"Blessings upon the sword ghosts who endured deathlike time and rose again."
Your trials are just beginning, but the iron lotus blooming from them will waft its scent across all Greece.
-Uwaaaah!!
I pointed to Jason at the front and clapped; others struck swords on shields in cheers.
Jason, protagonist of the roar and fervor, gleamed with intoxication. Sensing the moment, I seized his hand, raised it skyward, and bellowed.
"I swear this!! The fifty warriors who answered Iolcos's prince, valiant Jason's call, shall etch their names in Greece's unprecedented heroic saga!!"
"Today, our great warrior Acis's triumph shall be its genesis!!"
A leonine roar blazing with battle spirit and magic echoed through the warriors' hall, the Arena of Ares.
These warriors who had crossed hundreds of deaths in hellish three days.
-Uwaaaah!!
To the roar igniting them, they flashed eyes and bellowed for him to depart.
"Acis."
"Yes, sir!"
At my call, the warriors parted, and Acis dashed forth.
Through repeated deaths and my divinity on display, I had become not a peer hero, but a being rivaling War God Ares in their eyes.
Like raw recruits drilled to perfection, Acis snapped to attention before me.
"Ready?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Confident?"
"Honestly, no clue!"
Others might frown at such spiritless reply.
But this was precisely the answer I sought.
"If you don't know, what did I say to do?"
This band of fifty warriors.
Whom I tempered with swords and death—a single maxim bound them.
"Pethanakai pethanai."
Die and die again.
-Pethanakai pethanai!
Die and die again!
In this land where death and life blurred, a new realm only these fifty sword ghosts could share.
"The unparalleled warrior who has died and died shall soar once more from death!!"
Like the demons frenzied to my call in my past life, the fifty roared in soul-wrenching cries, recalling three days of torment.
-Rumble!
"Then!"
"Go die. Die and die again."
"Yes, sir!"
As they bellowed back, the iron gate to the prepared arena groaned open. Acis, drawing only his sword, charged toward it.
'...Honestly, 95 points.'
Damn, even I had to admit—it was a chest-thumping speech.
Watching Acis dash off with eyes full of zeal, I smiled inwardly in satisfaction.
Script: Dianes.
Sponsor: Nesneria.
Historical Advisor: Atalanta.
Lead: Acis, Galatea.
Supporting: Polyphemus.
The curtain rose on an action romance myth packed with twists and thrills from start to finish.