The Secret of Hecate
After the Empusae carefully carried the exhausted Eris to the bedroom, I sat down to face Hecate alone.
“We were talking about the Hydra, weren't we?”
“Yes.”
“Ha! The Hydra... truly a wonderful companion. If Zeus had killed that child early on, thirty percent of my research would have been at a standstill for at least a millennium.”
The daughter of Typhon, the nine-headed serpent, the dragon bearing poison that could kill gods. The nine-headed Hydra, born from the womb of the ancient monster Echidna.
Its power was so immense that even Zeus feared to touch it. Apollo and Artemis, who had once slain Python, Hera’s serpent, dared not even aim their bows at the Hydra.
In the first place, when Typhon rose to power, his children were too young to participate in the war. By the time they grew strong enough for Zeus to be wary of them, Greece was already under the absolute and flawless rule of Olympus.
Greece was already the era of Olympus for them to resist, and the power they inherited from their mother and father was too formidable for Olympus to easily eradicate.
“Besides, after the fall of Typhon, the ancient bloodlines of Gaia naturally fell under the command of Hera, the goddess of the first ones.”
No matter how powerful Zeus was, he could not interfere with Queen Hera employing and protecting those who were blessed by her divine authority. That was, of course, unless they committed atrocities so great that even Hera could not shield them.
The descendants of Typhon lived quietly in their respective nests, and those who admired their spirituality even worshipped them as guardian deities of humanity. They were said to be the divine beasts leading the faith of Gaia and Hera.
“In particular, the Lernean Hydra was once a wise advisor, comparable to the Oracle of Delphi. It was even worshipped as the guardian deity of Argos at one point.”
“....”
“For your information, the Argos I’m referring to is that Argos located in the eastern Peloponnese.”
“....What?”
Argos. It was the name of a giant with a hundred eyes, and now, it was a common name used for people, cities, and even dogs.
However, as a city name, Argos referred to the coastal city currently sitting quietly beside Arcadia. And interestingly, Lerna was also the name of a large lake located in Argos.
‘I thought it was just a coincidence.’
Naturally, I had memories of advising Arcadia to hold off on approaching that region, given the information about the Hydra—information that anyone with even a slight knowledge of Greek mythology could not ignore.
However, aside from records indicating that ancient serpent worship existed in Argos, I couldn't find any other traces related to the Hydra, so I had left it alone. But to think the real Hydra was nesting right next to my main base?
“Hehehe, surprised? Are you shocked? What do you think?”
“....Continue.”
After realizing that power is more terrifying than a fist, I naturally learned how to read a person’s eyes. Even the most seasoned swindler, or a master who has mastered the Chukgol-gong to control their blood flow and heartbeat, cannot lie with their eyes. This was true for the gods as well.
No, rather, the gods, who have no reason to control or restrain their emotions due to their divine status, were no different from children covering their mouths with their hands in front of me.
In that sense, Hecate was a sparring partner on par with Zeus, whom I had faced while he was draped in the skin of a beast.
Hecate laughed and shrugged her shoulders as if her mouth were itching to speak, yet her eyes remained coldly observant. It was a coldness that coexisted with the expectation of what reaction I would show, like an observer watching a lab rat, and the determination not to miss a single result of that reaction.
‘She is more blatant and persistent than Athena.’
If Athena purely wanted an exchange of knowledge, Hecate showed a madness that suggested she wouldn't be satisfied until she had picked my soul clean. She was truly the eyes of a magician facing the unknown.
“Ohoho. Trying to hear a goddess’s golden words for free...”
“Shall I tell a story this time?”
Despite her eyes being those of a mad scientist, at my suggestion, Hecate leaned toward me with a sly smile, emphasizing her cleavage.
“Let’s hear it. Successor of Hera, the last creation made by the ancient ones. Show this goddess how far your wisdom reaches.”
“That’s a fine provocation for a theatrical performance.”
“What... did you just say?”
“Well. Try deducing it with that brilliant intellect and intuition of yours.”
“...Hehe.”
At my words, Hecate’s face twitched for a moment, but she soon regained her composure and sat back in her seat. If this were a typical Greek hero, he would have boasted with fire in his eyes at the seductive temptation and the provocation of this beautiful goddess who treated him like a child.
Her dull, ash-gray hair fell languidly over her body like clouds wrapping around an afternoon sky. As her complex, subtle scent—reminiscent of both perfume and medicine—mingled with her divine yet decadent breath to tickle my neck, her beauty, overflowing with the ease of a mature woman and seasoned lethargy, dazzled my eyes.
Indeed, true to the name of a goddess, this body, which was likely modeled after her true form, was nothing short of beautiful.
An ordinary man would have eagerly spilled his guts, hoping to see that languid face change because of him. A hero would have racked his brain to pull out events that could pique her interest, from his minor exploits to his greatest achievements.
In this age of gods, a beautiful goddess was a deity to be revered, a high-peaked flower that a man might dream of conquering, and a great treasure that might grant one a place in mythology through the grace of her favor.
However, as with all heroes and mortals, all those desires and calculations were clearly reflected in the goddess’s eyes. In the end, they were all just playing in her palm, only to fall and perish once her interest waned.
‘But that demonic nature of the goddess is exactly what makes one willing to accept that ruin and fall.’
I had personally matched up happy fools who were already deeply entangled with goddesses, and since I was one of those fools myself, I knew it all too well. And I knew just as well how to thoroughly break such a person.
“Oh, you’ll like this quite a bit. It’s a story that perhaps only I know in this world.”
“Really? If your story satisfies Hecate’s heart...”
For the first time, Hecate showed sincerity, and she provocatively traced her cleavage with her finger. Every time her hand, wrapped in a black glove, drew a line, her snow-white breasts, which boasted perfection, swayed temptingly.
“I shall bestow a reward for the wisdom that impressed a goddess and the boldness that surprised her.”
This was, in a word, no different from a debate of swords. A fierce exchange of arguments, measuring the distance between each other and trading the most lethal blows. Earlier, she had unleashed a killing blow the moment she stepped into the sparring arena before even taking a stance, and I had responded with a killing blow of my own. She was now showing the magnanimity of a goddess, opening her arms to let me attack as much as I wanted.
All while acting as if she would win regardless.
And I had been waiting for this very moment.
“Where I come from, there is a saying called Yuche-ital (out-of-body experience) or Uwha-deungseon (ascension to immortality).”
“...What does that mean?”
“The body leaves the soul. One sheds their skin like flower petals and ascends to the heavens.”
“...!!”
Perhaps it was because I was so fluent in Greek, or perhaps because the memories of my past life were still so vivid, but Korean words and idioms would occasionally slip out. Atalanta and Neri were already at a point where they understood what I meant without me having to explain, and Heracles and Iason seemed to understand to some extent, perhaps because of the secret manuals I had given them.
However, Hecate could not.
She was shaken by the unfamiliar words she was hearing for the first time, and as I explained their meaning, the face of Hecate—who had been slyly probing me—stiffened.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Gone was the languid voice from before; now, her eyes were piercingly sharp. Shock, bewilderment, suspicion. And a hint of entangled fear.
The goddess interrogated me with the true face of a human revealed when their secret—a secret they never wanted known and thought would never be discovered—is exposed. Hecate knew it, too. That the momentum of this quiet battlefield was slowly shifting to me.
“Hahaha! Can you handle it if I expose every single one of your cards? Wouldn't it be less miserable if I just tore those clothes off and raped you, Goddess?”
“....”
The situation was reversed in an instant. The corners of my mouth curved into a sharp, blade-like arc of soaring amusement. The goddess’s divine lips were being crushed by her teeth, to the point where I feared she might draw blood.
-Clatter! Clatter!
Looking at the goddess’s face as she tried to erase her expression to hide her agitation, I felt as if I could hear the sound of something collapsing all at once in my ears. The words I had carefully and quietly laid out were becoming a grand stage, and on that stage, my enemy would look down at me and laugh. As if she had won, as if I had already been defeated.
But when I gestured from beneath that stage, the small words I had set would collapse in unison with a delicate chorus. And the enemy on that stage would fall in the blink of an eye, kneeling at my feet. The top and bottom flipped, the winner and loser swapped, and the arrogant rival who was confident of victory now groaning beneath my feet.
‘This is why I can’t quit this business.’
What could be more exhilarating and satisfying than this? Especially with an opponent whose pride in themselves is sky-high, the pleasure of slowly breaking down the roots of that confidence and collapsing it was a sweetness that could not be traded for anything.
“If you threw that out carelessly just to toy with me, you will pay the price...”
“I have no choice. I’ll have to reveal it myself.”
While Hecate was busy rambling about the Hydra, I had already calculated every possibility regarding the goddess Hecate by applying my own knowledge and the Greek knowledge and practical theology I had learned from Chiron. Perhaps she hadn't expected to have her leash held by a brat she had merely treated as a peculiar demigod or god; a subtle anger and humiliation bloomed in Hecate’s eyes.
But like Artemis before her, this resistance was merely a seasoning that urged me toward the feeling of victory.
-Slide.
“Hng?!”
As I gently brushed aside her ash-gray hair and brought my lips to her ear, Hecate shuddered and let out a moan. In her eyes, suspicion and a flicker of fear were evident. Seeing such a noble goddess so terrified made me want to fulfill her hopes, but reality is always cruel.
And I was the master of the divinity responsible for that cruel reality itself.
“I’ve seen a body that lost its soul, but a god who lost their body? Isn't that the greatest spectacle in the world?”
“?!!??”
The goddess Hecate. She was currently in a state where she was wandering without her own physical body, no different from a mere ghost—a state where she could not even be called a goddess.