Aphrodite (1)
Modern humanity is weaker than the ancient humans.
If you trace the cause, it leads straight back to me.
I made humanity weak.
People today might demand to know why they ended up like this, but if they want to blame anyone, they can take it up with their ancestors.
Their ancestors committed wrongs, so they were cursed. That's all there is to it.
Afflicted with every kind of curse for the sin of blaspheming the gods, modern humanity came to possess bodies similar to the Homo sapiens sapiens of my past life.
To be blunt, the ancient humans were overpowered bullshit.
If a random ancient human survived and turned up in the modern era, they'd boast monstrous strength worthy of being called a super-soldier at the very least.
Compared to the Titans, humans are considerably frail beings, but the mere fact that they survived primitive ancient beasts without fire proves their physical abilities were nothing short of formidable.
And compared to those ancient humans, modern humanity is far too weak.
Like the ancient humans, they know how to use tools and fire, yet current humans are hunted by beasts much too easily.
The beasts are stronger than the humans.
Prometheus and Epimetheus, following my instructions, bestowed all sorts of gifts upon the creatures of the earth.
The beasts rejoiced at the gifts they received in that law-of-the-jungle world. Meanwhile, the humans who received their gifts last were no more than wild grass—easily overlooked—and the beasts could kill them with absolute ease.
But once humanity received fire as their gift, as time passed, humans began crafting hunting tools using fire, and in the end, the beasts found themselves thoroughly hunted by humans.
The beasts came to harbor bitter grudges against the ancient humans.
That resentment, etched into their blood, would have been imprinted on their genes as they "tasted" human flesh. And as time flowed on, humanity grew weaker while the beasts kept their former might.
The beasts began hunting humanity once more.
Humans were frail compared to the ancients. Even when those capable of hunting beasts were born, their lifespans were far shorter than before, and the rest were so weak that it became common for a single lion to devour three or four grown men.
Yet still, humanity maintained a balance in the natural world.
The secret lay in two things.
-O gods! Save us!
-O gods! Help us!
One was that the gods, taking pity on humanity, sheltered them.
Each group of humans built temples centered around the god they believed in most.
-You have offered me tribute, so at the very least, I shall watch over you.
The gods looked after the humans who offered them tribute, and the beasts dared not approach any place touched by divine influence, knowing it would be dangerous for them as well.
And with such safe havens established, the human population began to explode exponentially.
Once housing and food were stabilized, humans turned out to breed far faster than beasts.
-Ooooh!
The violence of numbers!
Just as having many family members was advantageous in the agricultural era, as long as there was enough rice to feed them, anyone could become a family like Heungbu's. Humans popped out children left and right, and those children married and had children of their own.
On top of that, Demeter and Persephone also took pity on humanity and devoted even more attention to their farmlands.
Every year brought bumper harvests. Humans enjoyed abundance, and the gods enjoyed the tribute humans offered.
The flourishing of agriculture.
The development of tools.
The age of kingdoms began.
Thus, though individually weak, humanity leveraged its vast numbers to reach the era of ancient monarchies. At last, the age I had envisioned—where gods and humans coexisted—had arrived.
I have no idea what kind of disasters humanity will cause in the future, but at least for now, I extend my gratitude to them.
-Almighty Zeus! I have seen it. That thing!
-Great Zeus! One day, I witnessed something strange in the sea...! I saw a giant clamshell rising from the foam!
This was a discovery made by a human who worked gathering resources from the sea.
Instead of reporting the unidentified foam-wreathed clamshell to Neptune directly, he brought word to me first.
Why?
'Because the closest temple was mine!'
The time had come for humanity to repay the love I'd given them. After tying up my affairs, I manifested in the mortal realm to issue a secret oracle.
"Ahh, Lord Zeus—"
"Hello!!"
Aphrodite.
Goddess of Love and Beauty.
Venus.
Sex!
I flew off in an instant. Naturally, after thoroughly silencing everyone who saw me, I succeeded in discovering the very thing the fisherman had reported.
"Yesss!"
The place was already packed with nymphs. They'd been circling the mysterious clamshell warily, half cautious and half curious, but the moment they saw me, they froze in shock.
"G-great being!"
"Girls. Shh."
I walked up to the nymphs and threw my arms around their shoulders. Giving their breasts a light squeeze, I winked.
"Keep quiet. Got it?"
"Y-yes..."
I enlisted the nearby nymphs to keep silent, then summoned Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, as he happened to be passing by.
"Block all eyes from this spot. Make sure no one can see inside. Understood?"
"Understood! I, Zephyrus, shall heed Lord Zeus's command!"
The god of the west wind began cloaking the surroundings. I sealed off the area around the clamshell completely and waited for it to open.
"..."
But it didn't open. I'd been eagerly looking forward to greeting whatever emerged, yet the shell stayed stubbornly shut.
"This won't do."
The anticipation was driving me crazy; I couldn't stay still any longer.
"Clams are best when you pry them open by force."
I summoned Astrape. Then I slipped Astrape directly beneath the shell and began scattering lightning.
Crackle.
The foam beneath the sea surface churned violently. The nearby nymphs hurriedly evacuated, and I sent lightning shooting right under the shell, heating the seawater until it boiled.
Clunk. Clatter.
I felt something stir inside.
Adjusting the lightning, I waited only for the shell to open.
Just a little more, just a little more.
The shell's mouth slowly began to part.
At the glimpse of the fair naked body visible through the gap, I swallowed hard automatically.
'That's it.'
I've found it, my sex.
The sex I've been searching for.
The blonde beauty I'd striven so hard to find ever since I fell into this world stood right before my eyes.
"Mmm..."
Even the soft moan that slipped from within was perfect.
Just hearing her voice is enough to make a man's cock ache.
"Hot..."
Even her sleep-drunken murmur was beautiful. Perhaps I'd endured and persevered all this time just to ravish this woman.
'I wasn't originally this far gone.'
Besides Aphrodite, I have countless women.
But the reason I'm so wildly fixated on Aphrodite boils down to several things.
'To prove this is different from fate.'
The Zeus of the original myths never lay with Aphrodite. For reasons unknown, Aphrodite freely gave the virginity Zeus cherished to any random man and lived a promiscuous life.
So I will take Aphrodite.
And another reason—obvious when you think about it—is to control that very promiscuity.
If a Titan goddess as beautiful as Aphrodite goes around recklessly offering her body, the authority of all Olympus will be dragged through the mud.
The original tales say she slept with the male gods on Olympus, but in this world, aside from mine, most Titan cocks are pathetically limp things.
She might decide human cocks are good too and throw herself into a gangbang with mortals.
She might decide beast cocks are good too and end up being mounted by animals.
She might craft a cock-shaped tentacle plant and say, "This is a cock too," while getting railed by it like a bitch in heat.
Such debauchery must be stopped.
To protect the dignity of Olympus, someone must control Aphrodite's pussy.
I shall carry out this great cause.
"Mmm, who..."
"Peekaboo."
Boom!
I thrust Astrape inside the half-open shell. Then I wedged it vertically to keep the shell from closing.
"Hello, gorgeous."
"Wh-who...?!"
"Wow."
With the sun at my back, I inspected Aphrodite's body, faintly illuminated by the sunlight. Her eyes were like deep emeralds, and her breasts were every bit as large as Hera's.
Truly, breathtakingly huge.
"Are you Aphrodite?"
"Wh-what of it...?"
"I see. I've finally found you."
I stretched my hand into the air.
Not for Astrape, but for my other weapon—Scythe.
"Do you recognize this weapon?"
"!!"
Aphrodite turned deathly pale.
She knew exactly what it was.
"I'll ask. Who are you?"
"I-I am..."
"Reveal your identity. Who are you, truly?"
"..."
Aphrodite hesitated, then, watching my expression, she opened her mouth.
"...Daughter of Uranus and Gaia."
"Huh?"
"Th-that is."
Aphrodite squeezed her eyes shut.
"...Goddess Gaia said she could not endure another pregnancy, so Uranus carried the child instead."
"Ha. What Scythe told me was true."
Gaia again?
* * *
The past.
Uranus and Gaia had twelve children. The twelve Titans each held authority in their respective places as Titans.
Then one day.
Gaia made a proposal to Uranus.
How about you try carrying a pregnancy yourself.
Since the suggestion came from Gaia, Uranus assumed there must be something special behind it. And so he and Gaia mingled their flesh, and he conceived a child.
The thirteenth child, Aphrodite.
But thirteen is imperfect and unstable.
Uranus, still male, carried the child in his womb. Confronted with the sight of a man carrying a pregnancy, Gaia was horrified and devised a scheme to eliminate Uranus's child.
The method was simple.
Cut off Uranus's genitals.
The one who personally swung the sickle was Cronus, and Scythe, as the weapon that severed Uranus's genitals, knew the exact circumstances.
Uranus's genitals fell from the lofty heavens into the sea. But what even Gaia had not foreseen was that the child was already growing below the spot Cronus had sliced.
And that severed flesh drifted upon the sea and at last formed a clamshell of foam, within which the child became the consummate goddess of beauty.
So that was it.
This clamshell.
Uranus's co—
"Emergency escape!"
I seized Aphrodite and burst out onto the shore. Once again, I'd had the shocking secret of her birth confirmed, and I yanked the stark-naked Aphrodite by the wrist.
"I see. So Cronus prevented a world where men get pregnant?"
"Th-then... you are..."
"Ah, me?"
I flashed Aphrodite a wide grin.
"The man who's going to have sex with you."
That's one thing, and this is another.