The Greece Antagonist

Several days later, at night.

Sensing the familiar resonance from the emblem on her chest, Medusa quietly rode Pegasus out of the city and landed in the often-visited dense forest outside the city.

"You're here?"

Luo En emerged from the darkness, smiling and opening his arms to give Medusa a big, warm hug.

After a long separation, Medusa wanted to fully enjoy this rare moment of tenderness between them, but several insensitive monsters came rushing over, chirping and chattering by their side.

"It's Gorgon! The Gorgon!"

"The smallest one from before!"

"She's grown so tall now, and she even has the scent of Mother on her!"

Seeing a group of Typhon's Offspring with various monster heads appear before her, Medusa turned to Luo En in surprise.

"You brought them all here?"

"Not all, just these 8."

Luo En counted them and then pointed to the dense forest behind him, adding helplessly.

"Oh, right, there's also one in the back."

Medusa looked forward and suddenly saw a divine monster, massive as a mountain, covered in black scales, with nine enormous snake heads rearing at the front, lying on the ground motionless.

"Little Nine? What's wrong with her?"

"The lass insisted on squaring off against those Harpies, and I couldn't talk her out of it, so to avoid any accidents, I knocked her out."

"What did the Harpies do to her?"

"Nothing much, just tossed some animal dung into Lake Lerna to draw out the Hydra, that's all."

"..." After a brief silence, Medusa spoke softly, "She holds grudges..."

"Yeah, and she's got quite the temper," Luo En agreed casually, while making arrangements for what was next, "When we get to the mountain, it's best to let Mother of Serpents wake her up herself."

As for why he didn't do it himself, it was because the disgraceful act of flinging dung was his own plan.

At this moment, Medusa caught the implication in his words.

"You're not returning with us?"

"I need to make a trip to The Far West to see your eldest sister, Ladon."

"You're going to the Golden Apple orchard?"

"Yeah, it's a long way up the mountain and inconvenient with them, so I'm leaving these problem children in your care."

As he spoke, Luo En waved his hand backward.

"And you, Melinoe, follow Medusa up the mountain too. She'll arrange accommodation for you. If you need anything while I'm away, you can ask her."

The Netherworld princess, who had been mad all the way, emerged reluctantly from the shadows and, under the threatening gaze of a certain guardian, had to pitch her voice to feign innocence, taking the initiative to introduce herself.

"I'm Brother Luo En's sister, please take good care of me in the future."

Sister?

At the mention of sister, Medusa's friendly gaze instantly became guarded, and she felt somewhat gloomy inside.

Noticing the shift in Medusa's mood, Luo En immediately set the record straight with great earnestness.

"By marriage!"

"Right, but we're very close."

At that moment, Melinoe boldly stepped forward, latching onto Luo En's arm to show their close relationship.

And her dark eyes gleamed with schadenfreude.

Luo En smiled as he pulled his right arm out of her scant chest and gently patted the problem child's back.

Suddenly, Melinoe felt the divine power within her dissipate completely, her malicious grin frozen in shock as she looked at Luo En's hand where the Mark of the Dead lit up.

Not only had Persephone been fooled, how could the old man also be bewitched into giving this guy the divine seal?

"All right, her divine power is sealed by me. If she misbehaves, you smack her hard!"

Luo En cheerfully instructed Medusa, and then offered an even more heartwarming supplement.

"If you can't bring yourself to do it, let Stheno and Euryale handle her. They must be getting restless recently, right?"

"Yes!"

Medusa obediently nodded, her face blossoming with a smile like a flower, then unceremoniously dragged the mischievous Melinoe behind her.

After hanging around with the Goddess of Wisdom Athena for so long, even a rock should have become wiser by now.

Such petty tricks of discord sown by Melinoe, thinking to undermine the relationship between her and Luo En, were far from sufficient.

Moreover, her two sisters would certainly welcome the addition of a malicious thorn in their side.

After all, since they had disciplined her a few times in succession, it had been a long while since they had the opportunity to "dote" on their "little sister."

Sensing an inexplicable chill settling on her, Melinoe shivered suddenly, an ominous premonition taking root in her heart.

This is bad...

After completing the handoff with simplicity, Luo En gave Medusa one more hug, kissing her smooth forehead gently, and said his goodbyes warmly.

"I'll leave them to you, arrange their settlement as the Mother of Serpents and Athena see fit, it's time for me to go."

Medusa touched the damp mark on her forehead, nodded gently, and watched Luo En's figure disappear into the night.

~~

Seven days later, in The Far West.

Traveling day and night, Luo En arrived at the base of a mountain range.

Looking into the distance, the mountains rose and fell continuously, with the central peak, towering and prominent as if a giant upholding the heavens, marking the junction of chaos and the mortal world. The extensive, dense forest was his beard, the mountain's ridge was his shoulders, arms, and bones, and the summit piercing the clouds was his head.

Mount Atlas...

It looks like the Atlas Titan, assigned here, is nearly frozen through.

Luo En murmured to himself, then turned his gaze toward the churning sea.

The legendary Sacred Garden, with the Golden Apples, is said to be located on an isolated island in the ocean near the Atlas mountain range.

After the victory of the Titanomachy, Mother Goddess Gaea, in a gesture of support, brought back a lush big tree from the western coast for the newly crowned Divine King Zeus and Queen Hera as a wedding gift, laden with Golden Apples infused with immortality.

Hera, overjoyed, planted the precious Golden Apple tree in her Sacred Garden and assigned the three Hesperides Nymphs, along with the hundred-headed dragon Ladon, to guard it together.

Searching carefully along the sea near Mount Atlas, Luo En eventually discovered a nameless isolated island hidden by several Magic Arrays half a day later.

Looking at the colorful aura shifting on the island, Luo En nodded to himself.

This must be it.

The three sisters of the Hesperides, guarding the Sacred Garden, are named after the splendor, afterglow, and dusk, embodying the hues of the setting sun.

The island's distinctive divine aura was a clear indication of the location of the Sacred Garden of the Golden Apples.

However, finding the right place was only the first step. How to get hold of the Golden Apples without raising suspicion was the next challenge.

As Luo En pondered this, he unknowingly crossed the normal ocean boundaries and entered the chaotic, disorderly Primordial Ocean.

The moment he entered this wild region, a thick scent of blood rushed towards him.

Under the red and black mist, hordes of primordial Sea Beasts surged to the surface, their eyes blood-red with frenzy, engaging in a savage, bloody battle.

Seeing these Divine Monsters continue to fight viciously even as their limbs were torn and their organs pulled out, Luo En frowned slightly.

Their state is rather odd, as if they're under some sort of Curse...

As Luo En's gaze caught the indication that the red and black mist seemed to be expanding, an epiphany struck him.

It's war Divinity!

Concealing his presence, Luo En observed from the shadows and quickly identified the source of the chaos.

— A Goddess with red hair and black wings stood aloft in the clouds, clapping her hands in excitement at the chaotic battlefield below.

"Fight, fight! I want to see rivers of blood!"

Recognizing the characteristic red hair and black wings and the gleeful expression of someone who thrives in disorder, Luo En froze for a moment.

Eris? What is she doing here?

Soon, as streams of tangible blood essence flowed into Eris's body, slightly elevating her divinity, Luo En had a sudden realization.

As the Goddess of Discord and Strife, her divinity was naturally related to chaos and battle.

In the last pursuit, she, along with the Furies, had turned almost the entire Sea of Okeanos upside down, resulting in the deaths of countless Sea Beasts and beings of Divine Blood, either directly or indirectly because of them.

Although eventually Hecate intervened, not only did she send the Furies to toil in the Netherworld but also almost plucked out all of Eris's feathers. Yet the chaos they caused evidently gave the Goddess of Discord a taste for it.

That's why she sneaked into this Primordial Ocean, to incite and create chaos among the Sea Beasts, prompting their battles and sacrifices to increase her own divinity.

She used to swindle gods and men with impunity, and now she has sunk to skulking around fighting with Sea Beasts.

How the mighty have fallen, family...

Seeing the Discord Goddess in the clouds, shouting and cheering, Luo En shook his head in sympathy while his eyes flickered thoughtfully.

He seemed to have an idea about who would settle the account for the Golden Apple.