The Greece Antagonist

"Let's go, I should attend to the next matter."

Just as Luo En was rubbing his hands, secretly savoring the touch of that evening, Athena spoke up to interrupt someone's daydreaming.

Regaining his senses, Luo En surveyed the Attica Peninsula at his feet, surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on the fourth, his eyes flickering slightly, as he nodded thoughtfully.

The two arranged their journey and hastened toward their destination.

Along the way, Athena frequently changed direction to evade a certain perception, or she enveloped herself and Luo En in the "Labyrinth"'s authority to confuse any possible detection.

The originally not-too-distant journey took a full day and night.

Finally, as the outline of a majestic white marble city emerged against the dawn light, Luo En, massaging his swollen brow, let out a long sigh of relief.

At this moment, Athena, who had been tense the entire journey, also relaxed and looked towards the city ahead, which differed slightly from her memory.

—Athens has been reached!

After paying a few Silvers of Hera to the guards at the gate, Athena led Luo En into the city discreetly. Due to the bustling crowd, people kept stopping and going, allowing the full view of Athens to unfold.

The palace, council building, theater, inns, markets, workshops, docks, and the stadium were all present, every public building one could need.

In the squares stood statues of athletes with pronounced muscles, showcasing the beauty of their lines in bronze.

These sculptures were of participants from past Olympic Games, who had achieved proud results as Athenians.

After the death of Erechtheus, his tomb was titled "Poseidon Erechtheus" (meaning someone who could contend with the God of the Sea), and he was worshipped by future generations.

Other statues honored the city builders and past kings of Athens: Cecrops, the first King of Athens, half-man, half-snake; Erechtheus, the fourth King of Athens, the offspring of Hephaestus and Earth; Pandion, the fifth King of Athens, who left behind many mythical legends; and the brand-new statue of Aegeus, the sixth King of Athens...

The lineage halted there; clearly, it was Aegeus who currently held power in Athens.

According to myth, Aegeus was the son of King Pandion of Athens and the grandson of the first city builder, Cecrops.

After the fifth king, Pandion, was deposed by Metion's sons (Opa Lamos, Sikyon, and Daedalus), he had to flee to Megara where he married Pyrrha, the daughter of the local king Pylas. Pyrrha bore Pandion four children: Aegeus, Pallas, Nisos, and Lykos.

When Pandion died, Aegeus and his three siblings marched on Athens and seized power back from the sons of Metion. Afterwards, the four siblings shared the authority, with Aegeus as King of Athens, and each passed down their bloodline and lineage, all belonging to the family of city builders.

Indeed, the so-called Pallas lineage, which was also the divine name of Athena, was the cover identity she had prepared in advance for Medusa and the last of the Minosians.

Aegeus?

Luo En gazed at the bronze statue in the square, his brows slightly furrowed.

If he remembered correctly, the Athenian successor chosen by Athena had also been marked by Poseidon, hadn't he?

Because he had offended the God of Love, Aphrodite, neither of Aegeus's first nor second wife could give him a child. In his desperation for a male heir, the King of Athens sought guidance from the Delphi Oracle.

Later on a journey, as he was returning to Athens via Troezen, he met with a warm reception from the local King Pittheus, fulfilling the prophecy by becoming intoxicated and lying with the local king's daughter Aethra, and thus he begot a son named Theseus.

However, some mythological tales mention that, on the very same night, Athena caused Aethra to sleepwalk to Sphaeria Island, where the God of the Sea, Poseidon, suddenly appeared and took advantage of her. Therefore, Theseus might also be Poseidon's son.

And what is more peculiar is that the hostility between Crete Island and Athens arose because during a Pan-Athenian sports festival, the eldest prince of Crete, Androgeos, defeated Aegeus in all events and emerged victorious.

Out of immense jealousy, Aegeus commanded the great prince to capture the Marathon Bull that had been ravaging the lands near Athens. As a result, the prince was killed by the bull.

It was then that King Minos, furious, waged war against Athens and decisively defeated the Athenians, forcing Aegeus to pay tribute and to send seven pairs of boys and girls to Crete Island every nine years as a tribute in the future.

Later on, the adult Theseus recognized his father Aegeus, boarded the tribute ship, entered the Labyrinth, killed the monster Minotaur, and abducted two princesses, indirectly leading to the pursuit by King Minos, who died from the ambush of an external enemy. With the mainstay of the Minosian civilization gone, it perished as well.

The relationship between Crete Island and Athens had become irreparably broken...

Having filtered through the known history of Athens and Crete Island in his mind, Luo En could somewhat guess the cause of the divergence.

—It was probably his own doing in leading the Atlanteans to Crete Island from the sea, giving Poseidon a reason to intervene, thus prematurely triggering the conflict between the two sides.

Therefore, the elder prince Androgeos didn't die at the hands of Aegeus, King of Athens, and the two princesses were not abducted.

However, since demigods can be deceptive in appearance and age, it was still uncertain whether Aegeus had sown his wild oats outside, leaving behind a son named "Theseus," nor could the ages of the princesses be used to determine whether Theseus had grown up.

So to be cautious, it would be better to find an opportunity to remind Athena and that King of Athens, to keep an eye out for this "Theseus."

After all, he could very well be Poseidon's offspring.

Thinking of the upcoming intrigues, Luo En unconsciously massaged the slight throbbing at his brow and looked around, relaxing his mood.

In the square, many passersby paused to read about the accomplishments left behind, or touched the standing sculptures, hoping for a blessing from the unknown.

And when many eager Athenians introduced these heroes and their deeds to strangers, they subconsciously stood taller and puffed out their chests, radiating a proud air of shared glory.

Apart from the human heroes, there are also many temples in the City of Athens, among which the most eye-catching is undoubtedly the temple on the highest platform, dedicated to the Goddess of Wisdom Athena.

However, compared to the prosperity of Crete Island, there were significantly fewer followers coming in and out to pray here.

After a brief look around, Luo En didn't linger too much in the bustling areas and followed Athena through the Acropolis of Athens.

The architecture of the Acropolis was closely integrated with the terrain, displaying ingenious design. If the Acropolis were seen as a whole, then the hill itself was its natural base; the structure of the building complex and the arrangement of many parts were all coordinated with the natural rises and falls of this base, forming a complete and unified entity that transformed it into a strong fortress, capable of resisting attack step by step with the aid of the terrain.

Passing through the leaf-shaped mountain gate, the two of them followed a path resembling leaf veins directly towards the northwest to War God Mountain.

War God Mountain?

Hearing this suggestive name, Luo En subconsciously looked towards the War God beside him.

"It's not me..."

Athena, with her arms crossed over her chest, hummed slightly and then explained the origin of War God Mountain to Luo En,

The name "War God Mountain" actually came from the real War God, Ares.

However, as one of the main characters, his image still wasn't very glorious.

Because he was the first defendant to stand trial on this mountain, that's why it got the name War God Mountain.

As for the details of the incident, they were connected to none other than the "God of the Sea" Poseidon.

——The King of the Seas Poseidon had a son named Eriphyle who attempted to rape Ares's daughter Aesop. Ares, to defend his daughter's chastity, killed Eriphyle and was thus accused by Poseidon of murder. This was the first murder case heard on War God Mountain, with the defendant being Ares and the plaintiff Poseidon, judged by twelve of the more significant gods. The gods acquitted Ares of the murder charge, and War God Ares was released without a conviction. Afterward, the mountain was named after Ares and came to be known as "War God Mountain".

After hearing the story behind the name, Luo En found himself at a loss for words for a moment.

He didn't know whether to comment on Ares's awkward status or to criticize the consistent pattern of Poseidon's children.

However, as a result of this incident, he somewhat changed his impression of his great-great-grandfather, the esteemed War God Ares.

Rash as Ares may be, he was still pretty good to his own children.

He remembered that the Amazon Tribe was said to be the descendants of War God Ares and the Goddess Naiad, and queens like Penthesilea and Hippolyta were his daughters.

Ares doted on them quite a bit, even bestowing them with his gold belt.

——Presumably, the same one Luo En was currently wearing.

Yet, the Amazons worshiped the Moon Goddess Artemis...

But Ares didn't seem to have much interest in pursuing the matter.

At least, that was more reasonable than Zeus, who fixated on Crete Island to the point of driving his son King Minos to death.

"Let's go take a look,"

Athena interrupted Luo En's thoughts and ascended War God Mountain.

As they breached a membrane of light and stepped onto the rugged mountain foothills, Luo En breathed a sigh of relief, finally completing his journey without mishap.

At that moment, streaks of light swiftly fell from the temple above War God Mountain, landing in front of the two, dissipating their brilliance and revealing the faces that Luo En found familiar.

It was Medusa, Stheno, Euryale, and Hestia, along with the two princesses from Crete Island.

In fact, following that trial of Ares, War God Mountain, due to its sanctity, had become the dwelling place for the family of the city builders of Athens.

Descendants of the Minosians, disguised as those from the lineage of Pallas, had mostly been relocated to War God Mountain under the orchestration of the King of Athens, Aegeus, to avoid the scrutiny of the gods.

"Luo En!"

Almost the instant they saw the two arrivals, Medusa threw herself at the person she had been longing for, burying her head in his chest and nuzzling against him.

For a moment, Athena behind Luo En, Hestia in front ready to open her arms in welcome, as well as the two beautiful snake sisters Stheno and Euryale, all had dark expressions on their faces.

However, the wise Little Medusa was in her diminutive form, looking like a young girl, which no one could fault.

Thus, the gazes were all directed at the other person involved.

Feeling the temperature around him that was almost cooking him alive, Luo En quickly pulled Little Medusa out from his embrace and managed to squeeze out a smile that was still quite amiable, making simple small talk.

"Shall we go inside to talk?"

"Yes, let's eat first!"

Hestia immediately nodded in agreement, giving her usual response.