Chapter 117: Beauty Pageant, I Choose Myself
The Key of Heaven was the Sword of Rupture, the shell that manifested primordial authority, and the crystallization of Rowe's own will.
After he devoured Cronus and Tartarus and fell into the Underworld, Athena pressed that Key of Heaven to her chest. Day after day, she sensed its presence, waiting for Rowe to return.
Then rumors began to spread.
Some said Athena carried the inheritance of the Sage's wisdom and power.
Others claimed she became a Divine King in a single step because of that power.
At first, the Goddess of Wisdom and War paid it no mind. Gossip was a cheap weapon, and Olympus was never short on cowards who preferred words to spears.
But the rumors grew stranger with each retelling, until they twisted into something absurd.
The object Rowe left behind proves its holder is the most beautiful being in Greece.
Because he once, in the name of not understanding beauty, criticized the Mesopotamian goddess of beauty.
Because he was the one who best understood beauty.
At that point, even female deities began to stir.
Whether the rumor was true no longer mattered.
Dignity demanded they obtain it.
Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty, and Queen Hera, both goddesses who valued their own beauty above nearly everything, immediately joined the dispute.
Behind Hera stood Zeus.
Behind Aphrodite stood the many Greek gods entangled with her, forming a faction so large it could blot out the sun if it ever agreed on a single thing.
If Athena did not now possess power comparable to a Divine King, and if she did not command a vast number of female subordinate gods, she would have struggled to maintain any advantage at all.
Even so, she was troubled. Her faction had only vaguely taken shape, and she still depended on the Greek gods. She could not truly contend with a multitude.
Until this moment.
Rowe returned.
Athena finally let out the breath she had been holding.
"Rowe, my only beloved, tell them your choice." The silver haired goddess spoke solemnly, gripping Rowe's hand with absolute confidence. A brilliant, commanding smile rested on her face.
At this moment, the splendor of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War, completely overshadowed the other goddesses present. Even the supreme Queen Hera seemed slightly inferior.
Aphrodite sneered.
"So called love is never eternal. The essence of love is change and greed."
Her gaze turned to Rowe. Endless charm flooded her eyes, a sweetness that felt like honey and poison at once.
"Sage Rowe. If you choose me, you will obtain all the love and beauty in the world."
"This is the only gift the Goddess of Love and Beauty will ever bestow upon a human."
Aphrodite's long, curling red hair burned like flame. Her figure was perfect in the way mortals only dared to imagine in dreams. The thin dress clung to her curves, and the idle crossing of her legs carried a deliberate, provocative elegance. Her expression was arrogant, her words haughty, but in terms of pure physical beauty, no goddess present could surpass her.
Of course, when facing Rowe, the Goddess of Love was only arrogant with her mouth.
No one here truly dared to underestimate the man who had dealt with Cronus and the abyss of Tartarus.
Even if the other party was a human. Yes, most of them still only knew Rowe as a human.
Tartarus was not something the Olympians could fully comprehend. Aside from Athena, who had been personally involved, only the three Divine Kings knew the exact truth of what happened there. They knew Rowe had devoured Cronus, acquired that massive machina god body, and could freely shift between human and god.
The other Greek gods could only sense that Rowe had stopped the catastrophe and swallowed Tartarus whole.
Aphrodite's hint, that gentle pressure woven into her voice, could stir desire and longing in any living being.
Even a Sage was still a human, was he not?
Queen Hera frowned, wearing the noble elegance of a young aristocratic lady, cold and unshakable.
"Aphrodite. On Olympus, put away your wanton posture."
She lifted her chin, the authority of a queen settling like a crown of iron.
"I am the King of the Gods' wife, the mistress of Olympus. Sage of Uruk, if you choose me, I will bestow upon you unparalleled prestige in Greece."
Hestia said nothing.
The black haired goddess in white merely peeked from the corner, quietly watching the scene unfold with eyes full of calm curiosity.
Interesting.
She had come only because she was curious, and because she wanted to help her good friend Athena. Whether someone was the most beautiful goddess meant nothing to her. The Buddha like goddess simply wanted to watch the drama.
At the same time, Rowe tightened his hold on Athena's hand.
After understanding the whole story, the existing closeness between them made the choice of posture natural.
Athena froze, a faint blush rising on her flawless face, but she still gave him an elegant smile.
"Whatever choice you make, my beloved Rowe, I will respect it."
"…"
It was a trap question.
Rowe looked around at the gathered goddesses, and in a single instant, made a decision.
Fortunately, the most troublesome Moon Goddess Artemis was not involved.
As Rowe quietly exhaled in relief, he saw that none of the goddesses had any intention of backing down.
Aphrodite offered love and beauty as her chips.
Hera offered the highest authority as temptation.
In the myths of old, they had used these same methods to tempt Paris, the demigod youth who held the right to award the golden apple. When Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman on earth, Helen, it led to the Trojan War, remembered by later generations.
But unfortunately for them, the choice now was not in the hands of a demigod youth.
It was in the hands of the Sage.
"My choice is very simple." Rowe smiled lightly and raised his free hand.
Aphrodite's smile turned confident. She believed no conscious being could resist love and beauty, not even gods.
Hera remained dignified. She believed Rowe, as one of the three kings of Uruk, should understand the wonder of power.
Hestia watched with growing curiosity, though she instinctively felt Rowe should choose her good friend Athena.
Then the three goddesses saw Rowe's finger trace a circle in the air.
And finally, point to himself.
Athena blinked.
Hera blinked.
Aphrodite blinked.
Hestia blinked.
"You did not see wrong." Rowe smiled. "I choose myself."
The golden apple in the original myths referred to the most beautiful goddess.
But this was not the original myth.
Rowe had no intention of being bound by conventional thinking.
The outcome was beyond everyone's expectations, and none of the goddesses were willing to accept it.
None, except Athena.
"The person I love should naturally be the most beautiful person in this world." The Goddess of Athens looked as if she could not agree more.
Hestia rubbed her forehead.
This is a beauty pageant, not a place for you to show off your affection.
"What, are you not convinced?" Rowe spoke as if stating a basic fact. "Beauty is not only external, and it is not only internal."
"Having ambition vast enough to encompass mountains and rivers is beauty."
"Strategizing across thousands of miles is also beauty."
"Upholding the virtue of chastity is beauty."
Aphrodite's proud face twitched with irritation. Rowe's words were clearly aimed at her, the goddess whose affairs tangled with most of Olympus.
"Being free from jealousy is beauty."
Hera's expression did not change, but the air around her did. She was indeed famous for jealousy, toward Zeus's lovers and toward other goddesses.
"Not being decadent is beauty."
Hestia lifted both hands, declaring herself a mere spectator.
Athena, however, smiled, satisfied.
Rowe coughed lightly, stopped before the speech turned into a sermon, and said, "Of course, I know you will not be convinced."
"So, how about we make a bet?"
"Let us wager on that proxy war among the gods in the human world."
"The Trojan War."
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