The Greece Antagonist

Something's off...

Luo En quietly stepped back and pushed the Centaur Sage beside him to the front.

"I've also brought Teacher Ma as a guest, he's been a great help today."

"No problem! Everyone is welcome!"

"Together, together!"

Hestia and Circe didn't raise any objections, promptly dragging Chiron at the front into the house.

Although Luo En always felt that something was amiss, seeing the unharmed Teacher Ma who braved the thunderstorms ahead, he relaxed a bit and followed cautiously inside.

Once inside, the bright glow of the hearthfire danced in the stove, with the rich aroma of food striking the nose.

"Did you make all these?"

Luo En eyed the lavish spread of dishes on the table, his expression dubious.

Upon hearing the question, Hestia and Circe caught their breath, their eyes flicking toward the kitchen involuntarily.

"Yes, in preparation for tonight's banquet, from selecting ingredients to cooking, we did everything with our own hands."

From the kitchen, Athena, apron-clad, emerged carrying a pot of mushroom soup, and declared with significant pride.

Hestia and Circe on either side nodded rapidly like pecking hens, and hastily pulled out chairs, pushing the two banquet attendees onto the seats as they eagerly offered utensils.

"Come on, eat, eat! Don't be shy!"

Watching such an enthusiastically harmonious scene, and observing the extra cook for the day, Luo En quietly placed his fork back down.

However, seeing this, Athena pulled out a chair beside Luo En, tenderly thrust the fork back into his hand, and urged him onward with a beaming smile.

"Having wandered outside for so long, it's rare for you to come back, why be formal?"

"I've been dining and sleeping rough recently, not much of an appetite."

Luo En forced a slight smile on his somewhat stiff face, again placing the fork on the edge of his plate, and then turned a confused look to Hestia and Circe trying to make themselves less conspicuous in the corner.

"What are you standing for? Take a seat as well, after the hard work of preparing the meal, you should be the first to taste it; with my elders and Chief God present, it's not right for me to touch the utensils first."

With that, he righteously pulled his Chief God and teacher to the dining table, pressed them to sit, and thoughtfully prepared utensils for each of them.

Suddenly forced into the fray, Hestia and Circe glared furiously at a certain disrespectful rogue.

Well done, Luo En, you've made us suffer!

"It's just a simple meal, what's there to refuse?"

As no one touched the dishes on the table, Athena's amethyst-like eyes narrowed slightly, her eyebrows arching as she teased with a light laugh.

"Don't worry, there's no poison in the food, it's all made by us,"

That's exactly what I'm afraid of!

Luo En maintained a calm facade, but inside he was screaming in panic.

If the other side were truly insane enough to poison it, he'd have a good excuse to make an escape and follow Chiron to get their stomachs pumped.

But if they had made the "dinner with love" wholeheartedly, that was a different matter entirely.

Making a meal that blows up the kitchen seventeen or eighteen times, who knows what they've put in there?

It couldn't be that the dishes they made were explosively delicious, could it?

And besides, Hestia and Circe, that's not so bad; at least they still know how to cook.

Athena cooking, what's that about? She's more skilled in slashing people than slicing vegetables, isn't she?

Now even Hestia and Circe seemed to avoid the things on the table like the plague, didn't that further prove that something awful must be lurking within these seemingly sumptuous meals?

Seeing the mood become somewhat somber, Athena's face grew increasingly dark, and as Luo En squeezed out a smile, he quickly forked a meat pie, and transferred it onto Chiron's plate.

"Teacher Ma, thanks for your help today; have a taste and see how you like these dishes."

"Oh, thank you,"

The ever-obliging old soul thanked him continuously, lifting a meat pie from his plate into his mouth.

Then under the expectant, sympathetic, or curious gazes of those around, the Centaur Sage's hand trembled, the fork in his grasp clinking onto the plate, his pupils unfocused and hollow, rigidly sitting in the chair like a soulless automaton, going into a system crash.

Luo En waved his arms in front of Chiron, concern raising the pitch of his voice.

"Teacher Ma, Teacher Ma, how are you? Don't scare me!"

Finally, Chiron, his eyes gradually refocusing, mumbled.

"I… I think I saw Asclepius standing across a river, waving at me…"

"…"

The three silent individuals glanced at the crispy, golden meat pies on the table and cast a forlorn look toward a certain Goddess of Wisdom across from them.

Athena avoided the gazes of Hestia, Circe, and Luo En and, with a light cough, moved a plate of green vegetables to where the meat pies had been.

"Perhaps, Chiron prefers vegetarian food," she suggested.

"Oh, let me try..."

Chiron mechanically lifted his hand, like a puppet on strings obeying a command, and carried two slices of vegetables into his mouth.

In an instant, the Centaur sage shivered as if electrocuted, his gaze growing even more dazed.

"Strange, strange, Asclepius said he wasn't there, told me to go back... bang!"

Before he could finish, Chiron could no longer hold himself up. His eyes darkened, and he plunged face-first into the dinner plate.

"Hiss~~"

Seeing this, Hestia and Circe both gasped, their looks towards Athena filled with horror.

To be so bewildered after just one bite that he could see the Styx and departed souls, and to be completely undone after two... Good god, was this dish food or poison?

Even poison isn't this potent!

If memory serves me right, Chiron possesses the immortality of a deity. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire

In the future, Hercules, chasing after a Centaur bandit, accidentally wounded his teacher Chiron with the same invincible arrows once given to him by his mentor. That arrow, soaked in Hydra blood, passed through the body of a Centaur bandit and struck Chiron in the throat.

But because of his immortality, Chiron managed to withstand the Hydra poison that had killed countless Greek heroes and remained sprightly for quite some time after.

It wasn't until he could no longer endure the pain brought on by the poison that he voluntarily gave up his immortality and finally lay down for good.

He could withstand the venom of the Hydra, but was brought down by two bites of vegetables?

Luo En, observing the unresponsive teacher beside him and breaking out in a cold sweat, quickly feigned concern and helped him up.

"Teacher, hold on, I'll get you treatment right away!"

"Let us help too!"

Hestia and Circe stood up in unison, ready to help with all the warmth of an ancient chivalry.

However, before the trio could carry Chiron out of this cursed place, Athena immediately slapped her hand on the table.

"Bang!"

With a dull noise, golden patterns spread out, and the Centaur who had plunged into the dinner plate jerked upright, sitting rigidly and staring around blankly.

"What, what happened to me?"

"A home visit," Athena responded with a smile, her gaze warm.

"And then?"

Luo En murmured softly, trying to awaken the teacher's memories.

"Right, we were eating!"

Chiron nodded earnestly and immediately grabbed a fork to pick up some green vegetables and shoved them back into his mouth.

"Bang!"

Moments later, the Centaur sage who had woken up for just three seconds once again toppled into the dinner plate.

"It's probably because he's full and wants to sleep. We'd better not disturb Teacher Chiron for now,"

Athena explained smilingly and then looked at the three survivors with anticipation.

"Come on, you guys should all try today's dishes too."

"..."

The three were silent as the grave, chills running through their hearts as they moved their chairs backwards.

Seeing the others so uncooperative, the Goddess of Wisdom felt her face could not maintain composure.

"Fine, fine, if no one wants to eat, then don't even think about..."

"What's that delightful smell? What flavor is it?"

"Eating delicious food without telling us!"

Just as Athena was on the verge of losing her temper, two young amethyst-haired spirits stopped in the hallway, pushed open the door, and peered resentfully into the room.