Eternal Saṃsāra: The Wanderer of Worlds

Chapter 74: Snake-like Behavior

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‘Never trust a snake.’

I covered my eyes off the light and waited until it vanished. I hadn’t bothered dodging it or blocking the beam.

Not because I was suicidal or didn’t have any way to block it, but because someone else was there to block it for me. The Dragon’s Breath clashed with a wall made out of seawater that kept vaporizing at the speed of light only to be refilled by the sea at the same rate and speed.

The beam finally ended, and Quetzalcoatl let out a huff of breath from her nostrils as her eyes glared toward me. Toward, but not at. She was looking at the figure that stood behind me; an old man as tall as a three-story building, with a muscular upper body and lower body made out of water. One of his crossed arms held a trident.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me who that was.

“Poseidon,” Quetzalcoatl’s dragonified voice growled out. “What do you think you are doing right now? Do not meddle in my business and step aside.”

The God of the Ocean, the Father of the Seven Seas, one of the Big Three of the legendary Olympus – the Great Poseidon stood behind me. He had his arms crossed and a smug look on his face as he looked back at the furious dragon.

“How am I meddling in your business? This boy saved the Princess of Atlantis, my lovely granddaughter. How is his well-being not my business when he is in the middle of the sea right now?” Poseidon said with a loud, manly voice all to Quetzalcoatl’s unamused snort.

“Thanks for the save, old man- ah, the great Poseidon.” I nodded at him.

He let out a grunt while grinning, “That was nothing. This hasn't ended yet.”

Quetzalcoatl growled at us chatting away without caring about her presence. “I was the one who sent him to save that crybaby of a Princess! He has done his job but the credit goes to me. Now that he is done, why are you meddling in this?” the Chief God of Aztecs was not going to go back just because Poseidon told her to. “Call Zeus if you want to fight with me, you senile bastard!”

The air grew thick with an aura of danger. The two Gods glared at each other while I chewed on my lower lip and pondered over what to do.

Quetzalcoatl should be stronger than Poseidon, but this was the sea. It might be a draw if the two fought. But that won’t end well for the humans – nor me. Since it was all happening because of me, I should try to calm her. With the help of Poseidon by my side, at least she wouldn’t attack without listening to me.

“Hey, Quku-”

[Feather Dragon’s Breath]

A beam of conceptual destruction rushed toward me at full force, interrupting me. It clashed with the same wall made out of seawater that kept vaporizing at the speed of light only to be refilled by the sea at the same rate.

Stupid lizard bitch-

Never trust a snake.

The beam ended and the wall fell, I felt my eyes twitch as I held back from glaring at the little lizard. Who does she think she is? Insignificant little snake. 

I called forth my [Tiger Icon] out of pure spite and crossed my arms. I used it in the form of [Metamorphosis Transformation] as my height and width increased again, and now I didn’t look half-bad standing beside the giant Poseidon.

I wanted to growl out, ‘Attack again and see if you can win against the two of us.’ but knowing her, she’d jump into battle right away. I didn’t want to fight unless it was vital.

“I found this ‘Box of Xolotl’ or whatever from a devil. I met that Jaguar Warrior a few days after that, and we fought.” I raised a finger when I saw her trying to cut me off. She must think I killed him because of the Box. “The two of us didn’t even share a single word. He had no way to know I was in possession of the Box. I didn’t even know it belonged to the Aztec or Mayan Pantheon at all. He hurt my sister badly which made me mad and I killed him. It was revenge, a justified one.”

Quetzalcoatl stared at me. Her Golden Eyes did a clockwise spin like the time she talked with George. She was a Warrior God, but she was a Wise God too. Though I doubted the second part worked unless she used those eyes of hers since she looks fucking dumb to me.

“You’re not lying,” she said. So she have the means to determine truths? Not a rare power for Gods to have, but normal ones wouldn’t have worked on me – which means her [Wisdom Eyes] were exceptional in whatever they did. “However, you still are unable to return the sword that rightfully belongs to my brother – I can’t overlook that.”

“How is it my fault? I literally looted it off a Devil’s corpse!” I shot her a wronged frown. “I wasn’t picking a fight with you or your brother when I did that.”

“That is a weak argument. Just because you stole something from someone who stole it from somewhere else does not justify your inability to return it when asked.” She said, suddenly formulating much more coherent words than I thought she could. Huh, those are some nice eyes.

“It's soul bound to me,” I raised my hands in defense. “I had no choice but to bind it. I was in a life-threatening situation by the Phenex Devils. Honestly, if anything, it's the devils one way or another who are at fault here.”

“...” Quetzalcoatl stared at me. Her tail coiled behind her, and honestly, it looked as cool as the first day I saw a serpentine dragon ever. They're mesmerizing.

“Kukulan,” Poseidon spoke from behind me. “The rescue request that I made would have created a good relationship between Atlantis and Aztecs. But it wasn't the Aztecs who did the rescue, but this young man. I'd still have lived up to my end of the deal since it was through the Aztecs that this young man came to this mission, but that changes when you are trying to kill him. You understand that by killing him you are cutting any ties you have with him, right? In which case, our relationship will not grow – no, it might recede further given you'd kill the hero who saved my lovely, sugary granddaughter. Is it worth it? Give it a thought.”

I didn't like it. The old man was being too nice. Nothing was free for these old Gods– something was brewing in his old head. What did he want from me?

Looking back, I found him looking at me with glowing eyes. Yeah, he was planning something. 

Quetzalcoatl stayed silent for a while and let out a sigh. “Haah. That weapon was my brother's favorite… but fine.” her body grew smaller until she took a humanoid form and her tail vanished. 

She dropped in the air in front of me, and I still kept my guard up. Her [Dragon Icon] vanished from the sky so I also let my [Tiger Icon] drop, which canceled my transformation. I kept my senses on the edge to call for the [Crown Icon] to use the Emperor's armor anytime just in case she tried anything. 

But she didn't; she only complained.  “Fucking devils. Remind me, why haven't we erased them yet?”

Her question was directed toward the God behind me, which made me wonder the same. Devils have been a negative omen in all mythologies; even if they aren't outright called devils, they were negative creatures who were created for no one's benefit. Why hadn't the Mythologies teamed up to erase that race?

“Because it's worth more trouble than we can bother with.” Poseidon shrugged and reached out a hand for a handshake. “Then I'll take it that you've chosen to leave him alone. Good choice.”

“Leave him alone is a bit wrong,” despite the twitch in her eyes, she took the hand and shook it. She shot me a look. “Since I can't extract the weapon from him that rightfully belongs to the Aztecs– and since I also spared his life— from now on he belongs to the Aztecs.”

“Ho ho ho, how could that be?” Before I could grow angry at the woman, Poseidon shook his head. They were still shaking their hands. “He’s a fine young man. Have you seen a human as strong as him in the last centuries? Even those cowards from the Hero Faction don't come close to his growth speed — and they have their fancy Sacred Gears. How can I give him up just like this? I think my granddaughter fancies him a lot — she's the one who called me with her power, you know? Otherwise, it'd have taken me quite some time to appear here. You already know how that girl is, she always gets into trouble. I think he can be her personal knight.”

Were these two bastards really bargaining me like a property? …Do they realize who they are talking about?

“Excuse me,” usually, they'd have glared at me for interrupting them. But I didn't give them a chance to do that. The sky trembled as an Icon shone down at us. Its presence caused the world to come to a halt.

Within the hexagon symbol, instead of a sculpture or an image – a single Chinese word was formed. The [天] Icon, meaning the [Heaven] Icon shone bright over our heads as the Gods looked up abruptly.

The sea calmed, the islands in the far let out a thousand blooming flowers, and the sky grew bright in a holy manner. All life fell into a daze unless they were Gods as the Heaven Icon dominated the Earth.

This wasn't an attack-type Icon; it had close to zero offensive application, but its theatrics were intense.

I tried my best to make the Icon act like it was not coming from me – causing it to hover in the far instead of right above my head. Since the Icon power system was new in this world, the two Gods shouldn't be able to trace it back to me since I was actively hiding it. For all they could sense, the Icon was coming from someone else, someone strong enough to own it. After all, the Icon released a pressure that even Gods could feel to their bones –even if they weren’t intimidated by it, they knew it originated from someone strong.

“...It's not that I don't wish to leave my current group, the Nexus of Eternity but I don't think the Sect leader will like that. The Immortal Venerable Over Heaven can get pretty angry in such scenarios.” I said and watched the Gods squint at the Icon for a good bit before I let it vanish.

The pressure lifted off the world. But by now, all mortal life in Hawaii was unconscious. The pressure of the Heaven Icon was too much for them – and it was too much for me as well. I did say it's not a good idea to connect to too many Icons at Underlord, but I had no choice. It shouldn't hinder my growth too much, so it's fine.

“As I thought… this ‘Sect Leader’ isn't a random nobody if he can let out that kind of pressure while hiding his presence from us,” Quetzalcoatl said and sighed, looking at me with a frown. “Fine, I'll count things ever since you helped me complete this mission and establish a good relationship with Atlantis.”

“Thanks,” I nodded at her. The little stunt worked wonders. I'm glad I decided to play this multiple identities game with her. “I'm glad you're so understanding.” 

‘Lizard wench, watch out.’ I felt a little irritated at her since we had a good vibe going on before, but then she got all angry and ruined it. I'd make her apologize for it someday… in a good way.

“Haah,” Poseidon shrugged with a sigh. “A pity. Well, you can still be friends with Shirahoshi. She's a Demigod, and since it seems you're one too there shouldn't be any issues with hierarchy.”

Fuck, I knew this old man was up to something. Was he hoping I’d marry a fish? Insane.

“My, are you trying to pair your crybaby of a granddaughter with him, Poseidon?” Quetzalcoatl raised an eyebrow. “Dirty old man, have some shame. If Aqua is really interested in Demigods, I can introduce him to someone from Aztec.”

I held back a grumble and smiled. “I am not interested in anything right now. Other than the little incident that happened here – how do you plan to deal with the humans that saw us? And the cameras that caught the video and probably already uploaded or were Live streaming the fight?”

“Ah, right,” Quetzalcoatl turned to face Hawaii. “I'll take care of the humans. They are unconscious so it shouldn't be hard.” 

Her jewel-like green eyes went golden once again, and it reflected on the sky. The shape of Venus grew bright despite it being daytime, as the two golden eyes circled around it. Then a bright light blasted out of there and spread across the world.

The light subsided soon. I already knew that all the mortals had forgotten the scene that took place today. Shit, I was hoping I'd be able to expose the supernatural starting today.

At least the videos-

“As for the videos, Atlantis will take care of it. Our technology can easily take care of the out dated internet that is available to the human race.” Poseidon said. Fuck.

Goddamnit. What did I gain from this?

“Young man,” Poseidon began. His hand reached out into the water and he took out a large tray. Treasures filled the tray. “As for saving my granddaughter, accept these small gifts. Quetzalcoatl, before you say anything, these are just my personal gifts, it doesn't affect the deal Atlantis had with the Aztecs.”

I looked at the three gifts; one was a small bottle of water, one was a ring, and another was a small finger-sized trident. The old God explained to me their magic. “It's a bottle of holy water. From what you said, you fight devils often, so this should help a lot. It's high-grade, so don't use it on just any normal devil. The ring allows the wearer to breathe under the sea and makes the marine life friendly towards the wearer. The little trident is a sign that you are a friend of an Atlantic Royal, it should also help the wielder befriend the marine life, and if you ever meet a merfolk, if you show them it they'll respect you. If you ever visit Atlantis, I'm sure you will show the trident and you'll be escorted to the royal palace.”

“Sounds fun,” I touched the tray and put it in my Void Storage. The last two didn't sound that useful to me, but I can give them to my sect members. But the first one was pretty nice as a gift.

“Oh. I was wondering if you had a bag. Nice trick.” Poseidon nodded to me, then he shot Quetzalcoatl an arrogant look that she couldn't give me any gift. “In that case, I'll be taking my leave. Unlike this woman, I am quite busy, you see.”

Saying so, he waved an arm and let the ocean devour him. I failed to sense his presence two seconds after that. I think the other merfolks and even the princess were gone too.

Leaving me alone with the snake who stared at me with a dissatisfied look. “My gift to you is the sword. Be grateful.”

“Cheap.”

“Shut up.”

“At least treat me to dinner.”

She stared at me with a blank face before sighing. “Fine. I guess I've been a bit too angry at you for no reason, so I'll treat you to a meal. But you'll be leaving soon, right? Then I'll see you in your next filming range. Bye.”

Saying so, two wings unfurled from her back and she took off into the air. She sent me one last look that I returned blankly as she vanished into the horizon.

I will get back to her… For now, let's be patient. I have a romantic choice to make.

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