The Wrath of Theseus
That day, when Chiron’s cold notice of exile caused the Forest of Heroes to vanish before his eyes, he found himself standing on the wretched, ravaged battlefield of the Heroic War.
It was a place where some had fallen, where some had been abandoned, where some had triumphed, and where some had ascended.
‘No! This cannot be!!!’
Theseus, the fallen, remembered the despair of that day. He still had so much to gain from the Forest of Heroes. For the sake of his ambition, he needed more power, more knowledge, and a greater following.
Having been granted one of the rare external missions from the Forest of Heroes to survey the world, Theseus had long ago recognized the true value of the demigods slumbering within that forest. Even a dull-witted demigod who received failing marks in the Forest of Heroes—a place where wisdom and strength were already far inferior to his own—could easily contend with ten grown men in the outside world of Greece and weave magic more potent than any prophet or sorcerer.
Thus, he wore the mask of a virtuous man, acted the part of a benevolent hero, and with his brilliant wisdom and strength second only to Heracles, he proudly seized the name of the Golden Generation. Naturally, many followers flocked to him, and there were countless beautiful demigoddesses who revered and longed for him.
Watching the ever-changing state of the world outside the forest alongside the most beautiful and powerful female demigods, Theseus had rejoiced inwardly, believing the time was ripe.
‘But... but!’
Everything had vanished in an instant. Like the chill of this ravaged battlefield, a pitch-black wave had swept away and devoured his entire existence.
No longer was there a Theseus of the Golden Generation. There was no hero, no brilliant strategist—only Theseus the wanderer remained.
‘...Let me die.’
Amidst the emptiness where everything had vanished in vain, the choice Theseus made was death.
-CRACKLE!
‘Ugh?!’
Even though there was no rain, a lightning bolt shook the heavens, causing him to drop his sword. As he stared up in a daze, a great eagle was slicing through the sky alone. The place that eagle was heading toward was his homeland, Athens. It was surely his great-grandfather, Zeus, guiding him.
Following the eagle’s lead, Theseus passed through Arcadia and Argos, arrived at the port of Epidaurus, and proved himself by diving into the rough Aegean Sea. Every time a moment of crisis arose, flashing lightning and a fierce eagle protected him. Convinced beyond doubt of Zeus’s favor, Theseus charged forward with ferocity, pacifying the Aegean.
And when his feet finally touched the port of Piraeus in Athens, Theseus wept tears of emotion, realizing the supreme intent of Zeus.
“Yes, I am not finished yet. Rather, Zeus has entrusted me with an even greater duty. He desires for me to defeat the plague that disturbs the sacred laws of the highest god!”
Dianes was surely an existence like a plague, defying the laws of Greece. He defied the gods with forbidden knowledge, dared to display god-like supernatural abilities, and was an evil being who had stolen his woman, his reputation, and even his army.
Zeus must have foreseen this, rescuing him from the clutches of the devil Dianes and guiding Theseus so that he might oppose him.
Having ascended as the Prince of Athens, Theseus truly had nothing to fear. The notables and sages of Athens were enthralled by his beautiful appearance, brilliant wisdom, and sweet rhetoric. Soldiers and generals, captivated by his valor and divine dignity, would hoist the anchors and sail through storms at his command.
“Yes! I finally understand the will of Zeus! Zeus must have seen through the fact that I could not defeat that devil with my own strength alone!”
Power and military might, which he had only encountered through books and imagination. The soldiers who followed his commands faithfully, the provisions and weaponry that made the meals of the Forest of Heroes look laughable—they truly displayed human history capable of rivaling the power of gods.
“Dianes, I may not be able to defeat you. But the power of this Athens, blessed by Athena and guided by Zeus, will swallow you whole!”
No matter how talented Dianes might be, it was only natural that he could not display all his divine power upon the sea. No matter how great a hero, one’s body becomes heavy when falling into the sea rather than the sky, and if one’s ship is shattered and sinking, that terrifying magic would surely be submerged beneath the waves as well.
The Athenian fleet, developed day by day through his inventions and strategies, was more than enough to bury the devil who defied heaven beneath the sea. And those wild, ignorant fools who had run out of the Forest of Heroes, bewitched by his trickery and unable to distinguish heaven from earth, would surely return to their senses.
Surely, it would be so...
-BANG!
“What did you say?! Berkentos, have you lost your mind!?”
Theseus, who had been attending to his duties, felt as though his insides were churning at the report delivered by his loyal captain, Berkentos, upon his return.
“Oh! Ares! Athena! You terrible, burning goddesses of the Underworld! You mean to tell me that even after confirming it was Dianes, you let him live? Not only that, but you handed over all the provisions and weaponry as well!?”
General Berkentos. He was a veteran who had once helped his father, Aegeus, suppress the traitor Medion, and a general of Athens who had sworn loyalty to Theseus. How could the man whose skill and loyalty were beyond doubt, the man who had sworn to purge Dianes while wielding the Eye of Hermes he had crafted himself, betray Theseus?! But what burned Theseus’s insides even more was the absurd excuse Berkentos offered next.
“But, Lord Theseus! That was surely the divine mark of the goddess Athena! It was undoubtedly the Atrytone Athenaiē (Ατρυτωνη Ᾰ̓θηναίη), the divine mark said to be bestowed upon those who would save the world with strength and strategy, just as it was once given to the great Perseus and the brave Bellerophon!”
“Talk sense! Why, why would the goddess Athena bestow such a mark upon a devil like that!”
“But I was certain! It was the very same divine mark of the goddess that Athena herself once carved onto Lord Aegeus’s forehead when he defeated the traitor Medion’s faction!”
“Gaaah?!”
Theseus, who had already transcended humanity and begun to don the aspect of a hero through the guidance and blessings of Zeus. The roar he unleashed with all his might was not something even a seasoned warrior could easily withstand. As if a dragon had manifested, the fierce aura radiating from Theseus’s entire body, combined with the deafening sensation as if his eardrums had burst, sent a chill down Berkentos’s spine.
“Kugh... b-but... H-Heracles and Ia, Iason were together...”
Even though his ears had burst and blood filled his ear canals, Theseus’s roar burrowed into his brain, beginning to scramble his mind. With blood flowing from his ears and nose, and his vision stained crimson from burst capillaries, Berkentos ignored the alarm bells of his own survival, serving only Theseus’s voice. All he could perceive now was the voice of Theseus echoing in his head and the eyes of Theseus, glowing like fire beyond his red-tinted vision.
Was it an illusion?
What Berkentos saw beyond his red vision was not a beautiful prince, but a giant dragon glaring at him and growling.
“I, I am your dog, Lord Theseus...! I will follow your orders more than my own life...!”
“Y-yes! I discovered the Corinthian fleet with the Eye of Hermes you bestowed upon me. So...”
Every time Berkentos’s story continued, his face became drenched in blood, but Theseus did not care in the slightest, his eyes flashing until Berkentos had spilled everything. He wanted to know the weaknesses Dianes had inadvertently revealed or the source of his corrupt power. But all that remained was Berkentos’s sincere defense of Dianes and the provocation Dianes had left for him.
“...What? That, that devil... dared to mock and provoke me!? Even impersonating Athena’s representative?! Grrr!”
To be provoked in the name of Athena, to the Prince of Athens who was protected by Athena. Where could there be a greater insult or mockery than this?!
“Y-yes..! I, I will remain loyal to you, Lord Theseus...!”
With his face covered in his own blood, Berkentos bowed to Theseus with unnaturally precise discipline before energetically exiting the office.
“Hoo....! What, what is this!? Damn it!”
-BANG! CRUNCH!
When Theseus struck his marble desk in a fit of rage, it shattered instantly, collapsing into dust. To break the marble of Attica, which boasted a hardness that wouldn’t even show a scratch if a grown man struck it with a hammer, in a single blow. In the past, he would have been proud of his own strength and training, but Theseus kicked it away as if even that were annoying.
-THUD!
The heavy stone desk, having sliced through the air as if launched by a catapult, shattered the wall on the other side of the office and vanished into the distance.
“Damn, damn it! It was the perfect opportunity!”
The Aegean Sea was a fierce battlefield that no god or hero could easily approach. And those who knew and fought in the Aegean best were the Athenian fleet. Theseus, who had prepared everything—the stage and the troops—and had been gnashing his teeth to sink Dianes and his party at any moment, saw all his preparations vanish in vain, and Dianes had mocked him once again and slipped away.
“Damn... I awakened the true power of the Athenian dynasty, yet that devil has let even this slip through his fingers!?”
In the orthodox Athenian lineage exists a spirit that inherited flesh and blood from the three gods. Gaia’s womb, which received the semen of Hephaestus and the blood of Athena. Erichthonius, who was born from this, led Athena’s dragon and ascended as the King of Athens. Erichthonius ascended as the King of Athens and left a prophecy for his descendants, which stated that if the true Athenian lineage awakened its power, it would obtain his strength.
And Theseus had proven this himself. The power of the dragon he had awakened to oppose Dianes, the Mantra of Erichthonius (Μάντρα του Εριχθόνιος), was exactly that.
It was a king’s power, resembling the divine word of Zeus, which made the listener follow Theseus’s commands with their entire body and soul, and which no one, from an army of tens of thousands to the king of a nation, could shake off! However, it did not work on demigods who possessed the blood of gods unless they were willing to be loyal and listen, so it had no effect on Dianes and Atalanta. But only after coming to Athens did Theseus realize the true value of this power and use it to seize control of Athens.
“And yet, and yet, is it still not enough!”
-GRIND!
Clenching his teeth until they nearly broke, Theseus’s eyes flashed.
“However, however, this is only the beginning. I will never give up...!”
While the servants and officials, terrified by the fierce aura he exuded, had all fled, Theseus’s eyes flashed strangely. Those fiercely flashing pupils were strangely split. Greed, wrath, and hatred. A fierce demonic beast burning the earth in opposition to the gods. A dragon had begun to dwell in the eyes of one of Greece’s most renowned heroes.