[Geryon and Antaios]
"Hey, Boss."
"What on earth is going on?"
"How could you, of all people, bow down to that greenhorn..."
After that arrogant, bizarre, and strangely imposing figure had vanished on his giant crab, Geryon—or rather, Geryones, Geryoneus—asked Antaios, who had come to visit his infirmary, in a tone that was practically an interrogation.
"Haha, is that the first thing you ask as soon as you wake up?"
"W-well, isn't it obvious?!"
"Boss, that's Orthrus! Typhon's son, the loyal Orthrus!"
"To hand over not just the treatment of Orthrus, but the entire Erytheia archipelago to that delicate-looking brat!"
Geryon could not accept that the Laestrygonians and the other demigods had followed him without a single word of dissent, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Because of his grotesque appearance, Geryon had been ostracized as a monster among humans and was constantly on the verge of being hunted down by heroes. Even the title of "son of Poseidon" had not been enough to shield him from the abuse and contempt he faced for being born with three bodies and six arms. If Antaios hadn't taken him in, he would have been brutally slaughtered by some self-proclaimed hero long ago.
"Boss, who else but you has the right to lead this sea, these giants, and these demigods!?"
Setting aside Geryon's personal debt, this Sea of Tribulation was as unpredictable as it was filled with mysteries. It was only because they were Poseidon's giants that they could survive in this sea and settle on the archipelago. When they had first started to cultivate the islands, even Antaios had spent sleepless nights in what was essentially a living hell.
There were giant vipers spewing toxic flames, bizarre monsters reminiscent of Orthrus's brother, the Chimera, and the Kraken that would crawl onto the beach to fight them tooth and nail every other day. Above all, the Pythineans—the indigenous half-human, half-serpent women of Erytheia—had fought the sons of Poseidon for centuries, wielding fire that burned the sea and poison that melted rock.
"Oh my, Geryon. Why bring up such embarrassing history?"
"T-Tinga..."
"I, I didn't say a word."
"M-me neither, I didn't add anything."
Tinga, the powerful and beautiful wife of Antaios who was currently changing Geryon's bandages, was none other than the chieftain of those very Pythineans. The Pythineans were a race of women who were the precursors to the Amazons, powerful magical beasts against whom even the Gorgon sisters and Sirens wouldn't dare raise their heads. Though she currently used human feet for convenience, the constricting power of her original serpentine lower half was enough to make even Antaios scream. Yet, Antaios was a hero among giants for not destroying such a race or exploiting them as slaves, but instead choosing to coexist and eventually taking their chieftain as his partner.
A man like that—his benefactor—was bowing down to some pretty-faced demigod who had appeared out of nowhere. Geryon felt his blood boil.
"Tsk, stay still. You'll reopen your wounds!"
"I-I apologize, Tinga..."
Her fiery temper remained unchanged; whenever Geryoneus saw those sharp eyes, his shoulder, which had once been struck by her tail, seemed to ache in phantom pain. Eventually, unable to watch any longer, Antaios gently placed a hand on Tinga's shoulder and spoke.
"Ahem, Tinga. We men have something to discuss..."
"Oh? Antaios. Are you saying I'm not a warrior right now?"
"That's not what I meant. You know..."
"Huhu. I know, I know. Then, you know, right?"
After finishing the bandages, Tinga beckoned to Antaios with a flick of her finger.
"...Tinga. Geryon is watching."
"Oh, that's strange? Since when did our God of Earthquakes care about other people's eyes?"
"...."
As Tinga stared at him with a playful, swirling smile, Antaios finally squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head. Then, Tinga firmly grabbed the face of Antaios, who was twice her size...
-*Smack! Smack!*
She kissed both his cheeks as if he were adorable, then sashayed away.
"Heeheehee~"
With her flushed face and the humming echoing through the hallway, one could never imagine she was the Dracos-Mage—the Dragon Witch—who had slaughtered hundreds of Laestrygonians in an hour and melted an entire school of Krakens that had targeted her.
"My, I still can't believe Sister-in-law was that Tinga."
"Is it love? Is it really love?"
"The Big Boss is truly something else for melting a Dragon Witch like that."
...Anyway, that was how it was. A feat everyone looked up to, courage everyone trusted and followed, and a wife everyone envied. The Geryons remembered all of Antaios's achievements—achievements that current heroes wouldn't dare dream of, yet were never known to Greece due to the petty machinations of Zeus. They couldn't help but denounce the man who had so easily handed over the fate of Orthrus and Erytheia to that stranger.
"Did you... truly kneel before him, Boss?"
Contrary to his appearance, Geryon had been managing the massive pastures and the city attached to them for thousands of years without a single issue. His intelligence allowed him to easily guess why Erytheia and Antaios were so enthusiastic and submissive to that black-clad traveler.
It was just that his benefactor, his idol, and his hero had been broken by someone and forced to bow his head—that was simply unbelievable and something he didn't want to believe.
"Haha, Geryon. If your friend is to be saved, shouldn't you hope that his ability is beyond my own?"
"Orthrus isn't just some ordinary beast!"
"Even if he isn't some random guy from nowhere!"
"I just get a headache thinking about that black-clad guy coming back in one piece and whining!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Antaios burst into laughter as he watched the three faces glaring at him in indignation. Well, even if it were Antaios, he would have reacted the same way if he hadn't experienced and witnessed that power firsthand.
"Geryon, Geryones, Geryoneus."
"Yes, Boss."
"Yes, Chief."
"Yes, Big Brother."
Watching the three Geryons answer loyally, Antaios smiled and gave a firm answer.
"I swear on the Styx: the god named Dianes is a being worth betting our fate on—mine, and all of us Laestrygonians."
"Yes...?"
Perhaps. Everyone, including Antaios, must have felt it. That the god draped in black night who descended into the arena today was surely the existence they had been waiting for.
However. No one but Antaios could have felt it. How fearful and painful it would be to face him as an enemy.
"He is mighty. He is one who reaches out his hand time and again to those he acknowledges, and he is one who generously bestows his own upon those he keeps an eye on. He was a god more merciful and great than any other."
"T-then?"
"...."
Antaios had seen it. The face of the merciful god who laughed happily and opened the path for him. And beside that, the Ghost-Mask of a fierce, evil spirit that had been momentarily closing its eyes, and the cruel, merciless Ghost-Eyes that were frozen cold.
As a god in his own right, he had opened his divine eyes and pierced through the essence of things. Just as Dianes had seen him, Antaios had been able to glimpse, if only a little, the essence of Dianes.
"He is a merciful god, but at the same time, he is a devil of unspeakable cruelty, and a ghost who slaughters thousands without a shred of mercy and toys with them."
Those who oppose and hinder him will writhe in such agony that simple death will feel like mercy. Those who try to tease or insult him will be humiliated and brought to ruin by the very means they consider most shameful and cruel.
He was the master of power enough to do so, and a tyrant of a temperament capable of it.
"So, don't worry and wait. He said he came to take in your friend, Orthrus. Or perhaps, by now, Orthrus might have already been caught."
"Ugh... well, if that's what the Boss says..."
"S-still, Orthrus isn't just some pushover..."
"You heard the Chief!"
Geryon, who still followed Antaios without a shred of doubt even while bickering among themselves. However, seeing them still half-doubting Dianes, Antaios pulled a book from his robes.
"Here, read this. You, too, have a knack for martial arts. You will understand enough."
"This is...?"
"What is it?"
"What? Is it a martial arts manual?"
It didn't take long for the Geryon triplets, who had briefly grumbled that it was a waste of papyrus when they could just practice and train, to fall silent.
"Huhu..."
Unprecedented power, a temperament that was both fair and cruel. And the overwhelming knowledge that must be vividly alive in that head.
'If I can fully master the martial arts Dianes has bestowed upon me...'
He would be able to deal with Apollo, who had usurped his place, and Artemis, who had taken his sister's, and even Zeus, who had driven his father and siblings to such cruelty.
"...With such knowledge, and a god who has mastered the truth, could anything go wrong for Orthrus?"
Opening the secret manual prepared for him—different from the one given to Geryon—Antaios also began to focus quietly on the book. There was nothing for Geryon or Dianes to worry about. They just needed to enjoy the peace of mind that had come after such a long time and relish the miraculous martial arts they were encountering for the first time in their lives.
* * *
Meanwhile, inside the Erytheia archipelago, on Geryon's pasture island.
"...Huh? Hey? What do you mean you're just going to collapse like that?!"
A face so beautiful that even Aphrodite would be jealous. Hair as black as if he had cut through the night. The great hero who was currently showing the greatest activity in Greece, and the new god worshipped by the gods, was feeling anxious in front of the giant two-headed dog that had collapsed at his feet and was showing no signs of movement.
"Hey, hey. Wake up."
Even when he poked that giant head with his toe, or shook the body that was twice as big as a full-grown bull, there was no reaction. It looked as if it were dead.
"Damn it... I'm screwed."