Someone's here!
As the dizziness from the concussion set in, Orion's vision went black. Clutching his bleeding, aching nose, he staggered.
Before he could react, a figure with long silver hair, clad in the light armor of the Royal Guard, burst out from behind the throne's curtain.
He seized Orion by the throat and slammed him hard onto the stone floor of the great hall.
Looking at the Sea God's son who was now writhing on the ground, the shameless man who launched the sneak attack grinned.
"Guess what? Since your grandfather already guessed your intentions, why do you think he invited you alone into the palace?"
As he spoke, a small purple figure slipped out from the other side of the curtain.
She gently took Princess Ariadne's hand to comfort her, while casting a look of disdain at the Sea God's son.
"I thought he was supposed to be impressive…"
Immediately afterward, three princes, who were supposed to be managing affairs at the coastal fortress, entered through the back door.
They removed their owl-feathered cloaks that masked their presence and stared grimly at their cousin lying on the ground.
At this moment, seeing the unfriendly stares of his relatives, Orion, with his face already purplish from lack of air, struggled to pry open the fingers clutching his throat, and growled hoarsely:
"Kill me, and Ceto will raze Crete to the ground! My father won't forgive you either!"
Hearing that, the three princes turned pale.
The memory of the nightmarish beams of light and earth-shattering carnage flashed through their minds as they looked up at King Minos on the throne with hesitation on their faces.
"F-Father…"
Under the pleading gazes and voices of his sons, the old man who had been coldly watching from his throne finally sighed and murmured:
"…Let him go for now."
Lorne raised an eyebrow but said nothing and casually loosened his grip and stepped aside.
Seeing the Sea God's son still alive and climbing up from the floor, the three princes visibly relaxed with a collective sigh of relief.
Princess Ariadne, on the other hand, bit her lip tightly, her face pale.
King Minos noted his children's reactions, and a deep disappointment flickered in his eyes.
"Grandfather, I truly have your best interest and Crete's at heart! I meant no disrespect!"
Realizing the precariousness of his current position, Orion quickly reverted to his "honest" mask and tried to appeal sincerely.
"After all this time, don't you see? In the world of the gods, there's no good end for those who defy them!"
The old man raised his head and looked at his grandson with undisguised contempt in his eyes.
"For your mother's sake, I'll spare you. Now get out… before I change my mind."
"Grandfather! Ceto will return in no more than seven days! Even if the Minosians were lucky enough to win once, they can't keep winning forever! Can you really ignore Crete's future?"
Seeing that the old man on the throne was still unmoved, Orion grew anxious, his tone edged with a barely concealed threat.
At last, the patience of King Minos visibly snapped.
A storm of fury clouded his face as he roared with hoarse rage:
"GET OUT!!"
In that instant, golden energy surged from his aged body like a cannon blast, striking Orion square in the chest.
With a thunderous crash, the demigod was blasted through the outer wall, smashing several stone columns in the plaza before crashing down in front of the palace gates.
It was a full fifteen minutes before Orion finally crawled out of the crater, coughing up blood, still unwilling to give up.
He shouted back toward the palace:
"Grandfather! There are still seven days left! Please think carefully about what I said, I'm only—"
"BOOM!"
A muffled crack of thunder, triggered by condensed aether, exploded from within the palace.
Seeing this, Orion's expression changed as ducked his head and ran toward the outskirts of Knossos, cursing under his breath.
Damn it, how can that old bag of bones still have so much power left in him?!
Just wait, by the gods above, I'll be the master of Crete one day!
Inside the grand hall, the radiant golden figure gradually drew back the divine power that had spilled outward, returning slowly to the throne.
The once-majestic body now seemed even more hunched and frail, there was a certain air of death approaching.
"Father…"
The three princes spoke hesitantly, heads lowered in shame.
"I'm fine. But the city-states need calming, the damaged defenses must be rebuilt… You all still have much to do."
The old man waved a hand, his voice heavy and low.
"Leave me for now…"
Hearing their father's command, the three princes immediately nodded, bowed, and withdrew from the ravaged hall.
Once their silhouettes had faded from view, King Minos turned to Lorne and gave a bitter smile.
"I must've made quite the fool of myself."
"Not at all."
Lorne shook his head gently, his expression as calm as ever.
But King Minos seemed not to hear him.
As he softly patted his daughter's slightly cold hand, he continued muttering to himself.
"Forgive me. Crete can't endure another shock right now. Everyone needs time to breathe, including me. That's why… he can't die yet. At least not now…"
"I understand."
"But don't worry. I've marked him with divine power. Let him live a few more days, for now."
"Mhm…"
Lorne quietly acknowledged, listening to the sorrow behind the king's words, sorrow as a father, as a king, as a powerless man, until the soft, muffled sound of snoring rose from the throne.
"Father's fallen asleep—I'll wake him!"
Seeing this, Princess Ariadne panicked slightly.
The chain of events and her brothers' attitudes had pushed her to the edge.
She was mentally exhausted.
But Lorne made a quieting gesture and shook his head.
"He's too tired. Let him rest a while. We still have enough time to react. I'll come back tomorrow."
Hearing such a considerate response, Ariadne finally relaxed a little, a glimmer of gratitude appearing in her eyes.
Just as she turned to descend the stairs and call for servants to carry her father inside, her legs gave way beneath her and she nearly collapsed.
Little Medusa, standing nearby, reacted swiftly.
She caught the princess and spoke up right away.
"Priestess Sister, you need rest too. Let me guard this place tonight."
"But…"
"That's an order!"
Little Medusa lifted the divine emblem on her chest, face firm, fully adopting her role as the goddess's envoy.
Faced with that, Princess Ariadne could only nod in reluctant gratitude and accept the divine will.
With the devout priestess settled, Little Medusa immediately passed the next task to the only person she trusted.
"Lorne, it's not safe outside. Take her to our place to rest for now. We'll meet in the morning and figure out a proper plan."
"Alright…"
Lorne thought for a moment, then nodded. He handed her a metallic owl feather imbued with resonance magic and spoke seriously.
"If anything happens, anything—contact me at once. Don't try to handle it alone."
Little Medusa accepted the pendant and nodded obediently. Then, she cast a concealment barrier and melted into the shadows of the ruined hall.
After carefully inspecting the surroundings several times, Lorne finally brought Princess Ariadne into the carriage and set off toward Hestia's residence.
She was so exhausted that she fell asleep in the carriage before they even arrived, her head resting at an angle.
Lorne thought for a moment, then knocked on the door.
Hestia, who was reduced once again to a glorified housekeeper, carried the sleeping high priestess into the bedroom.
Ahen she came back downstairs, she stared suspiciously at Lorne from head to toe.
"Don't look at me like that. I didn't do a thing!"
Lorne raised his hands defensively, trying to clear his name.
Hestia rolled her eyes and snorted.
"Exactly because you didn't do anything—it's more suspicious!"
"…"
Lorne, thinking of the moral standards of the Olympians, opened his mouth to argue but had nothing to say.
To avoid dragging out this awkward topic, he straightened his expression and spoke gravely:
"Something's happened to King Minos."
Hearing this bad news, Hestia immediately turned serious and locked the door behind her, ready to hear the full report.
Bang!
Half an hour later, Hestia slammed her small fist on the table, furious.
"Poseidon's gone too far! And that Orion isn't any better! Next time I see him, I'm punching both in the face!"
"Save the punching for later. Right now, we need to survive what's coming."
Lorne rubbed his sore brow, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes with a quiet sigh.
"Judging from the king's condition, he won't last much longer. Otherwise… he wouldn't have let Orion go so easily."
"If it comes to that, I'll take care of that sea monster myself and stew it!"
Hestia, always the hothead, puffed up like a defiant volcano.
"…It's useless."
Already giving up hope on the stove goddess when it came to strategy, Lorne laid out the stakes plainly and directly.
"The real issue now isn't the beast tide. Even if you take down Ceto, that would only give Poseidon more reason to interfere.
Once King Minos dies, none of the remaining princes, no matter who takes the throne are likely to have the resolve to keep resisting Poseidon. It's only a matter of time before they yield.
And honestly, I don't think any of them can stand up to their cousin Orion, especially with Poseidon backing him.
At that point, a change of rulership on Crete and a shift in faith would be all but inevitable."
No successors. No solid support.
That was King Minos's real headache.
Lorne then looked at Hestia, whose face still showed unwillingness, and continued:
"The gods of Olympus are not known for their patience. The fact that they haven't intervened yet, I suspect that's because the King of the Gods has kept them in check. If you don't want to create more trouble, I suggest you drop the idea of taking action."
"…You're right again."
Caught red-handed, Hestia rolled her eyes in frustration. Then, suspiciously, she looked at Lorne.
"By the way, when did you figure out who I am?"
"Day one."
"No way! I hid it so well!"
"So well that you didn't even bother to change your name, just used 'Heya' as your nickname?"
"…"
Faced with that slightly contemptuous look, Hestia instantly fell silent, once again tasting the bitterness of being outwitted.
But, perhaps she'd resigned herself to fate.
Without much more fretting, the stove goddess simply passed the thinking over to the "external brain" sitting across from her.
"Then what do we do now? Athena's not back yet—we can't just stand by and let her hard-won home get taken, can we?"
"If you want to help, then come with me to the palace tomorrow. Hopefully, you'll have some way to help King Minos hang on a little longer."
"I mean, I can cook, sure—but saving people…"
"That's why we'll just have to try…"
The external brain and the goddess with occasional brainstem outages exchanged a look across the table, propping up their chins in perfect sync, and let out a shared sigh.
"Sigh…"
"Sigh…"
(End of Chapter)
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