Damn, that felt good!
Half an hour later, Hestia swung her whip with satisfaction, her delicate face slightly glistening with sweat, her expression brimming with excitement and contentment.
When the goddess of the hearth casually glanced at the two miscreants cowering in front of her, her eyes flickered with an almost reluctant desire to continue.
With a flick of her wrist, the whip cracked through the air like a thunderclap.
Snap!
Instantly, Stheno and Euryale, huddled together on the bed, shivered in unison, their faces pale, their voices trembling with indignation.
"W-we already signed! We signed everything! Why are you still hitting us?!"
"Ahem…Sorry, my hand slipped."
Facing the resentful eyes of the Gorgons, Hestia coughed dryly, smiled awkwardly, and reluctantly dropped the whip in her hand.
Honestly, whipping someone was downright addictive.
Noticing the subtle changes in the expression of the goddess, Lorne beside him couldn't help but feel a sudden shock in his heart.
"Wait… did she just awaken some kind of weird fetish?"
Sensing the awkward tension in the atmosphere, and to avoid becoming the next victim, the mastermind behind this whole scheme quickly folded the enforced contract in his hands and extended a friendly hand toward the two Gorgons on the bed, flashing his most charming smile.
"No need to be scared. From now on, we're all family."
"Stop pretending to be nice! We're at your mercy now, so just do whatever you want! But don't think you can just boss us around that easily!"
Euryale glared at the instigator in front of her, stiffening her neck, obviously still unwilling to accept her failure.
"Tsk, you're making this difficult for me…"
Lorne sighed dramatically, leisurely picking up the discarded magic whip and shaking his head in mock disappointment.
"If you're just here to slack off… then you're not really 'family' material."
Hearing the thinly veiled threat, Euryale's bravado lasted all of two seconds before she ducked behind her elder sister, Stheno, like a startled rabbit.
As the eldest sister, Stheno gave her conscienceless sister a cold look and had to bite the bullet and squeeze out a reluctant smile from her delicate face.
"If you want our help, at least tell us what you need us to do."
"Now that's the spirit of cooperation!"
Satisfied that the rebellious Gorgon sisters were finally playing along, Lon nodded approvingly and laid out the plan.
"Simple. I need your help dealing with Ceto, the Mother of Monsters, so Crete can survive this crisis."
Then, pausing for effect, he glanced toward the palace outside the window and added casually:
"Besides, this isn't just for me—it's also for little Medusa. You wouldn't want that silly girl to charge headfirst into Ceto's jaws and get herself killed, would you?"
Stheno and Euryale frowned at his words.
Given how much Medusa cared for the humans here, that child would absolutely do something that reckless.
So, in a way, teaming up against Ceto was a way to protect their foolish little sister.
However…
Stheno raised his head, and the resistance on her face gradually faded, replaced by a hesitation after thinking.
"Ceto is the Mother of All Monsters. Both her origins and existence are ancient—even among gods, she far surpasses us. Asking the two of us to fight her won't be easy, will it?"
"No, it'll be three of you. Medusa will be joining you..."
Lon corrected with a faint smile, his deep gaze lingering on the twin Gorgon sisters before him.
"If I'm not mistaken, the three Gorgon sisters—Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa—must have divided the divinity left behind by the ancient sea god, Pontus, on the Island of Shadows."
As the truth of their divine origin was laid bare, Stheno and Euryale's eyelids twitched involuntarily.
But under that penetrating stare, they had no choice but to nod reluctantly.
"Good. That makes things much simpler..."
Lorne's smile deepened, his eyes narrowing with confidence.
"Ceto also inherited the divinity of Pontus, but compared to you, she's even more...incomplete.
And when I tested it earlier, I found that Medusa's blood had a strong suppressive effect on her.
So while the two of you alone might not guarantee victory, if we add Medusa into the mix and awaken the full power of Pontus' divinity, even the Mother of Monsters won't stand a chance against the three of you!"
Hearing his well-reasoned analysis, Stheno and Euryale's fear of Ceto gradually faded, replaced by hesitant curiosity.
But being strong-armed into this and the hidden risks involved still made them reluctant, their expressions conflicted.
"Relax, this isn't a one-sided deal. I believe in fairness."
Lorne patted his chest and boasted, while smiling and offering conditions that the two could not refuse.
"As long as Ceto is dealt with, the Pontus divinity in her body, which is the same as yours, will belong to you."
The man in front of the bed lowered his voice, and his tone was filled with temptation that the two could not resist.
"With that divinity, the only mortal among the Gorgon sisters—her only weakness, will cease to exist.
Your little Medusa can ascend to godhood alongside you, and no one will ever be able to kill her so easily again..."
"We'll do it!"
"Deal!"
Instantly, Stheno and Euryale blurted out in unison, their eyes gleaming.
But then, as if realizing that their reaction was a little excited, the two looked at each other and coughed dryly one after another.
"Ahem... Not that we care about her or anything. Pontus' divinity is useful to us too!"
"Yeah! And we get the lion's share!"*
The two seamlessly played off each other, their act almost convincing.
Lorne simply chuckled.
"No problem. Given Ceto's size, her divinity will be more than enough to stuff you both silly. Little Medusa's ascension won't be an issue either."
Satisfied with his assurance, Stheno nodded elegantly and lazily extended her hand, her tone dripping with faux indifference.
"Well then..."
Seeing the delicate hand thrust before him, Lorne paused before catching on. He clasped it firmly, sealing the deal.
As their hands met, the three shared a smile, each hiding their own schemes behind gleaming eyes.
Stheno & Euryale's Thoughts:
"Hmph! You think some petty benefits can buy us over? Dream on!
We'll play along for now, but once we expose your true, vile nature to Medusa, she'll finally see who really cares for her! Then she'll come crawling back to us, and we'll return to the Island of Shadows together!"
The flickering eyes in the eyes of Stheno and Euryale meet each other, revealing full of malice towards someone.
Similarly, Lorne looked at the two sisters in front of him and sneered in his heart.
'Heh. You think you can just rake the bait and run? Do you even know who's really behind this monster tide attacking Crete?
Poseidon, the Lord of the Ocean!
The moment you kill Ceto in front of everyone, you'll be branded as Athena's allies.
And when Poseidon's thousand-year plan collapses because of you?
He'll hunt you down like dogs chasing rabbits across the seas!*
Want to play tricks on me, wait until you get the benefits, cheat me, and then take little Medusa back to the Island of Unseen.
Try it in your next life!
After a brief silence, the three, each nursing their own schemes, locked eyes and burst into eerily harmonious laughter.
"Hahaha..."
"HAHAHAHA!"
The devilish laughter even gave Hestia, who was a witness, goose bumps all over her body, and she was even more confused in her heart.
'What's so funny about a mutually beneficial deal...?'
The stove goddess, who was too upright and innocent, obviously didn't see the unscrupulous calculations of the three people behind them who were always ready to harm their partners.
In a strange and harmonious atmosphere, the two parties, who were becoming more and more eager and familiar, loosened their hands, wiped the back of their clothes inadvertently, and jointly and friendly announced that the alliance was officially reached.
"Pleasure doing business."
"Likewise!"*
With his goal achieved, Lorne flicked the edge of the enforced contract, eyeing the two "foolish deer" who'd willingly leaped into his trap.
His lips curled in amusement as thought came to his mind.
'Just as I thought...'
'Medusa is the only mortal among the Gorgons because she gave most of Pontus' divinity to her sisters. That's why she's the weakest, the least developed.'
'And despite how much Stheno and Euryale love bullying her, they
adore their little sister.
Otherwise, they would not have run out from the Invisible Island, holding a glimmer of hope, and crossed the Oceanus Sea for thousands of miles to find the trace of little Medusa.
Even after encountering the Atlantis Guards, the War of Gods, and the Tide of Beasts, they still chose to persevere in tracking it down.
After all, this is the ancient Greek God Age where fathers say goodbye to sons, brothers are friendly and even give a back support to their brothers, and relatives usually love to play with each other.
So of course, they'd jump at anything that makes Medusa safer."
That was why he had no fear in recruiting them.
Because while a whip could force obedience, and a contract could bind their bodies...
Only shared benefits could truly tie them together.
And once they took the bait?
'Well...Welcome to the grind.
You'll be working for me till the day you die.'
Seeing that he had successfully settled the unruly Gorgon sisters, Lorne leisurely picked up his cup, took a sip of the spiked fruit wine, and let out a satisfied moan, while the heavy stone that had been hanging in his heart since taking over finally landed smoothly.
In his memory, Ceto was precisely killed by the petrifying gaze of Medusa's head and the surprise attack of the demigod hero Perseus.
Now that all three Gorgon sisters were present, he didn't believe he couldn't handle that Mother of Monsters who was inherently restrained by them.
Having successfully roped in two top-tier snake tools and resolved the biggest obstacle, Lorne had just raised his glass to take another celebratory sip—
"Let go of Lorne!"
Unexpectedly, a petite figure climbed through the window to the second floor, suddenly burst open the door, and yanked him behind her, looking into the room with sharp vigilance.
Disheveled bedsheets, messy clothes, suspicious rune chains, a flushed Hestia, and the two sisters tangled together...
Everything before her directly overheated little Medusa's CPU, leaving her dumbfounded and frozen in place.
In fact, on her way back home, she had already smelled a familiar lingering scent in the air before even stepping through the door.
Combining it with last night's events, little Medusa immediately thought that her two good sisters had come over again, and so decided to climb in through the window to protect Lorne, who might be bullied.
What she hadn't expected, however, was to stumble upon such a bizarre scene.
"You guys…"Standing at the doorway, little Medusa cast a gloomy glance at the four people inside.
"Discussing cooperation!" Lorne hurriedly spoke up to explain, cold sweat forming at the back of his neck.
Discussing cooperation… on a bed?
Looking at the chaos in the bedroom and the bed, little Medusa couldn't wrap her head around it.
"If you don't believe me, ask them!"
Seeing the doubt growing in the little girl's eyes, Lorne desperately signaled to Stheno and Euryale.
But seeing that the first thing their little sister did after entering was to protect the real culprit behind her back, Stheno and Euryale, who had been beaten for over half an hour, broke down on the spot.
Their faces turned dark as the bottom of a pot, arms crossed, fully prepared to spectate the show.
However, the moment a segment of the whip behind a certain someone peeked out, the indignant Stheno and Euryale trembled on the spot, quickly lowering their heads in humiliation and speaking gloomily.
"Didn't you want to defend Crete?"
"We were worried about you, so we came to help."
"Really? You two suddenly became so kind-hearted?"
Little Medusa looked suspiciously at her two abruptly transformed sisters, the doubt in her tone clearly outweighing any trust.
Are we really that untrustworthy?
Seeing the guarded eyes of their sister, like watching a thief, Stheno and Euryale ground their teeth in resentment, veins bulging on their foreheads.
"That's right, your two sisters came to me early this morning, saying they wanted to face the crisis with us and defend Crete together!"
Seeing that Stheno and Euryale were about to explode, Lorne quickly nodded in agreement, even dragging another accomplice down with him.
"Hestia can testify too!"
At that moment, the goddess of the hearth who had been sneaking toward the door froze mid-step, turned around, and forced out a righteous smile.
"Mhm! That's exactly why I came back from the palace early!"
"Oh, so that's what it was? Sorry, I misunderstood you all…"
Upon hearing the "truth," little Medusa looked somewhat guilty toward her sisters and the two adults.
Seeing that they had finally managed to bluff their way through, Lorne quickly straightened his expression and changed the topic.
"Ahem, now that everyone's here, let's talk about how to deal with the third wave of the beast tide."
Speaking of something that concerned their survival, everyone instinctively tensed, following Lorne, Crete's current leader, into the living room, where they sat down to begin a formal discussion.
As the main tank bearing the pressure, Lorne naturally took the head seat and began presenting his strategy.
"First issue: Ceto, being in a tier of her own, needs to be dealt with specially.
The Gorgon divinity happens to counter her, so I plan to leave her to you."
"Okay!"
Before Stheno and Euryale could respond, little Medusa had already stepped forward and answered solemnly.
Seeing that there was no longer a chance to bargain, Stheno and Euryale merely rolled their eyes at their foolish sister and silently accepted the task.
Lorne nodded, spread out the sea chart on the table, and threw out the next difficulty.
"Second issue: What if the sea beasts and demigod sea monsters from before return in force?"
"They all fled because of Ceto's awakening, didn't they?"
Hestia frowned slightly, puzzled.
Lorne shook his head and handed out several pieces of frontline intelligence to the others, his gaze deep and distant.
"Not that optimistic. It seems that due to her massive body, Ceto has blocked the passage between the inner and outer seas, trapping many sea beasts inside.
Except for the three Siren sisters, who were the fastest to flee, the remaining demigod sea monsters, Scylla and the Great Whirlpool, couldn't escape either.
This is inferred from reconnaissance and attacks near the coastal fortresses.
Once Ceto fully awakens, those sea beasts and demigod monsters trapped in the inner sea will likely continue to frantically rampage in an attempt to escape the Mother of Monsters, becoming the vanguard of the invasion.
Their numbers might not rival the second wave, but they'll still be a nuisance.
Moreover…"
While speaking, Lorne paused and looked toward the three Gorgon sisters across from him, then continued thoughtfully.
"You are a surprise force.
You need to strike unexpectedly and catch the enemy off guard to achieve the greatest effect.
So, I plan to have the remaining Godblood Guard and the Minos Fleet carry you through the beast tide.
When you get close to Ceto—strike with precision and finish her in one blow!"
Hestia listened attentively and thoughtfully offered her conclusion.
"You're worried that without King Minos, the Minos Fleet will lack the power to break through and won't be able to complete the escort mission?"
"Yes!"
Lorne nodded and explained his solution.
"That's why I'm going to have the princess take over the main battlefield.
She'll lead the temple priestesses and the city defense forces to handle suppression and support in the rear;
At the same time, the bronze giant Talos will be under her command, continuing to clear the path from afar and keep an eye on the Great Whirlpool, Charybdis;
As for handling Scylla and replacing King Minos in leading the fleet for the assault—I already have someone in mind..."
Little Medusa straightened slightly and eagerly asked, "Who?"
Lorne's eyes gleamed as he calmly announced, "The demigod imprisoned beneath Knossos Palace—Minotaur!"
"But… will King Minos agree to that?" Little Medusa was momentarily stunned, hesitating.
"He will."
Lorne nodded firmly, eyes sharp with resolve.
Though the Minotaur lacked formal command experience, he firmly believed in the value of preparation and over-planning.
Now that Crete stood at the brink of survival or destruction, he was prepared to use every available force to ensure nothing could go wrong.
To that end, he was even ready to have King Minos publicly air his family's dirty laundry, releasing the Minotaur from the underground palace as a last resort.
With this, not only was the most dangerous threat, Ceto—accounted for, but even the potential appearances of Scylla and the Great Whirlpool Charybdis had dedicated response strategies.
He had even arranged for Princess Ariadne to remain on the island as a reserve force, just in case the virtually impossible happened and the three Siren sisters showed up.
Such meticulous planning was enough to handle any twist in the upcoming third beast tide.
Still, considering yet another possibility and feeling it wasn't enough, Lorne turned to Hestia beside him.
"When the time comes, you'll be stationed behind the coastal defense line. If Poseidon makes a move..."
Hearing that she had a role to play, Hestia clenched her fists with excitement and punched the air, eyes bright.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely give him a beating!"
Lorne nodded lightly, a satisfied and relaxed expression on his face.
Given the dominance of the oceanic pantheon, he had no intention of letting Hestia take the initiative and risk giving them leverage.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't stay on guard in case that sea god couldn't take the loss and decided to lash out in desperation.
After explaining the basic strategy, everyone once again reviewed the plan, clarifying and refining each of their tasks.
The most idle of the group, Hestia, grew bored and suddenly had a whimsical thought.
"Wait, what if Ceto doesn't show up after seven days?"
"Good question!"
Lorne smiled cheerfully, then stood up from his seat.
At this moment, his gaze toward Hestia didn't contain even a hint of mockery, on the contrary, there was rare praise in his eyes as he responded with a calm voice.
"That's the third problem to deal with, and it's my exclusive task—once everything is ready, I'll be the one to fish Ceto out!"
"Fish? As in fishing?"
Hestia blinked blankly, then couldn't help but nod.
It kind of made sense, after all, the Mother of Monsters really did look like a giant snakefish.
But still, she was an ancient god.
What could possibly be used to fish her out?
Lorne seemed to pick up on Hestia's confusion as he curled his lips into a grin and looked out beyond Knossos, speaking with layered meaning.
"The bait—didn't King Minos already prepare it for us two days ago?"
In an instant, Hestia understood and her face lit up with a gloating smile.
~~
"Achoo!"
At that same moment, deep in a hidden cave within a dense forest of Crete, a young man dressed in animal pelts, a bow slung over his back and a simple, honest face, suddenly shivered and let out a loud sneeze.
'Damn it, is that old man talking about me behind my back again?'
As a cool forest wind blew through the trees, Orion glanced warily at the eerie, shadowy outlines around him, his heart tightening.
Nope, this place is way too close to Knossos. Who knows if that old fart might chase me down. I better go farther.
Cursing under his breath, he stomped out the fire, grabbed his longbow and waterskin, and headed deeper into the forest.
(End of Chapter)