Chapter 84
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Fallen Goddess Eris
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Goddess of Discord, Maiden of Strife, Herald of Jealousy.
Daughter of Nyx, Escort of War—Eris.
Some worshipped her for spurring potters into rivalry, crafting ever more beautiful ceramics. Warriors praised her for pitting their prowess against one another, ascending to greater heights of heroism.
The daughter of the Protogenoi who wielded the most potent spiritual force, igniting all competition and rivalry.
That was the goddess Eris.
Yet she was unwelcome anywhere.
No one offered her thanks or worship with burnt sacrifices. Not even roadside bards composed songs in her praise.
Victorious heroes in war gave thanks to Ares or Zeus. Skilled artisans revered only Athena's wisdom and creativity.
Praise and gratitude for her were nowhere to be found.
Everyone wished to be the protagonist who overcame discord and strife to claim the spoils.
No one welcomed discord and strife themselves—and thus, she was shunned everywhere.
When her glossy black wings cast their shadow, humans trembled and begged for mercy, lest calamity befall them.
When her sweetly shimmering pink hair flickered into view, heroes hardened their faces and leveled their weapons.
Even the gods never invited her to their banquets. No feast table ever bore a seat with her name.
Only her siblings and Ares's kin shared drinks and company with her.
No bold hero, no mighty god, accepted discord and strife as a companion or consort.
Since her birth from her mother Nyx thousands of years ago, she had never spent comfortable time with anyone, nor given her heart to another.
Ah, but of course, she harbored no complaints about her divine role.
She delighted in watching artisans spark with fiery eyes under her guidance, locked in competition.
Watching the discord she ignited—faces flushed with rage—blossom into grand conflagrations was her joy.
It was simply that no one accepted her as she was... and likely never would. That alone stung her heart.
Perhaps that's why she played mischievous pranks, taunting and provoking those around her all the more.
If everyone rejected her anyway, then acting the part made it fitting for who she was.
Yet even she harbored a dream, long awaited across endless ages.
Hundreds of years ago? Thousands?
It was a day she rampaged joyfully through the battlefield alongside Ares.
A massive war engulfing the whole of Greece—a rare event.
Her divine power had nearly peaked in that festival of chaos.
Right after the war ended, she caroused for days on end with Ares and his kin, who had charged alongside her, drowning in drink.
When she came to, she awoke in the heart of dark Tartarus, overlooked by her mother.
A place gods and heroes feared as the endless abyss, eternal hell—but to her and her siblings, it was their mother's home, the heart of the abyss where they were born.
And there in the abyss, her mother gazed down at her cradled in her palm, as always, with affection.
Eyes brimming with mischief just like Eris's own, hair sparkling dark as the night sky.
The form Eris, with nowhere to place her heart, always longed to emulate.
But still drunk from the binge, Eris committed an outrageous act she would never dare sober.
Audaciously, shockingly, irreverently.
She pointed accusingly at the primordial darkness, the ancient night mother—even Zeus feared her—the goddess she loved, and unleashed a torrent of grievances.
She couldn't even remember what she said.
Only her mother's eyes widening in surprise, and the faint smile twitching beyond her subtly covering hand.
That smile only fueled her rage further; she bellowed until her voice gave out, then passed out again. When she awoke, she was still in her mother's palm.
As Eris whimpered like a hungover pup from the aftermath, her mother's gentle voice whispered to her.
"My small, precious Eris, my beloved child. Contrary to what you think, a beautiful bond awaits you."
"What?"
The darkness that birthed fate, the goddess who roamed all nights—not one who glimpsed the future, but one who decreed it.
Doubting her words was unthinkable.
Yet Eris couldn't help questioning, even as her mother gazed at her with loving eyes.
"There are those as perfectly solitary as the primordial chaos."
Just like me!
Nyx affirmed with the proud smile Eris always yearned to mimic.
"But for a beautiful goddess of this beautiful land, born of this night with such mighty power... it would be absurd for there to be no fitting mate, no other half to embrace it all."
It simply wasn't time yet.
But since discord and strife desired her other half, the time was already approaching.
"Wh-who is it? What hero would take the hand of the maiden who always brings discord?"
"What god would embrace the goddess who sows strife!"
It was all but confirmed—nay, the ancient night's oracle made it certain.
Yet Eris pouted, her old sorrows resurfacing, and retorted.
For a fleeting moment, Ares's handsome face crossed her mind, but he felt more like a like-minded friend than a lover.
Too similar, too compatible—so they clashed in private.
Unless it was a war maniac on Ares's level, who else could accept her?
And as if piercing her daughter's anguish, the night mother smiled softly and stroked her.
"Even I don't know that, my dear. Tomorrow? The day after? Hundreds of years from now?"
"But one thing is certain: when he comes, your body will know first, and then your soul."
"..."
Her mother's words rang with such conviction that an irrepressible wave of anticipation and joy surged in Eris's heart.
But the goddess of discord, rejected by all thus far, couldn't easily believe it, even from her mother.
"Hmph! You're just teasing me again, Mother!"
"Hehehe~ Am I~?"
Eris threw a petulant fit, fishing for hints, but her mother saw through it and only smiled mysteriously.
In the end, the talk yielded no more, and for her disgrace before her mother, Nemesis drilled her nearly to death.
Still, that whisper from her mother that day became Eris's secret hope, cherished by her alone.
Who could it be? What kind of person?
A man? A woman?
Handsome? Of course!
Incredibly strong, too. The mate of the goddess who ignites all wars and conflagrations—naturally mighty.
Maybe even stronger than those infuriating playboy gods.
Would that make him a playboy too? Not that it mattered. She'd love that.
Spinning wild fantasies to fill the empty seat beside her had long been her hobby.
And today.
A man naturally took that seat she had only imagined.
"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do..."
The full moon gleaming under Nemesis's power.
Beneath it, soft black hair cascading down, and black eyes gazing at her.
Eyes holding no rejection or fear toward her—piercing her heart like a hot blade.
Endless darkness and blazing madness.
Pure reason and steadfast presence.
A chaos no human eyes could hold.
An imperfection no god's eyes could claim.
Those eyes, sparkling more alluringly than any jewel, beheld not the goddess of discord or maiden of strife—but simply the goddess, the woman, Eris.
The moment she met those eyes head-on, Eris knew her mother's words were no lie.
Fearful he might recoil and flee, she approached cautiously.
She stroked his black hair, rippling softly like her mother's, then his head; her hand drifted lower to his pale neck.
Not the hot blood soaking the earth or cold, cooling flesh—but the warmth flowing through human skin, savored fully.
Even as she pressed so close, the demigod named Dianes did not reject her touch.
He ignored it with apparent annoyance, yet his body was honest; as she ground her boasted perfect form against him, he only grew silently flustered.
Good heavens.
This warrior who rivaled Ares, wielding freakish strength unlike any in her long godhood—meekly yielding to her like this.
Looking back, such contacts had happened countless times in recent days, but now, aware of her mother's prophecy and her own heart, those moments felt thick, intoxicating.
"Hweee..."
The primordial chaos, father of all, descended into her mind; she drowned in a torrent of disordered thoughts.
Her body had already realized what he was to her and lunged, but her soul—accustomed to endless waiting—now finally knew him.
"What... what do I do now...?"
Before, unaware, she would have teased him as always—showing off her created minions, cooing until he snapped.
Then dodge his furious charge playfully, and when his anger cooled, sneak back to stroke his head and embrace him slowly.
"W-whoa... wh-whoaaa!!"
Thinking on it, wasn't it just like the lovers she had envied and resented all this time?
Why notice only now? Why feel embarrassed? She didn't know.
The feeling was unfamiliar, chaotic, even frightening—but too sweet, too addictive to relinquish.
What face should she show him tomorrow? Could she even face him?
With no answers, Eris simply crossed the endless night.