001.Temple
Medusa's Tribute
Text/Knot
001
As Her priest, I have never doubted my faith in the goddess Athena over the years.
until--
Right now.
*
With a dull "bang", my head was hit hard against the pillar behind me. I wanted to resist, but I stopped because of the severe pain.
In the pitch-black night, my vision became so blurred that I almost saw stars, and tears began to flow rapidly.
My scalp was pulled hard, and I was instantly awake again. I had to look up in horror at the man who suddenly appeared in front of me.
No...it shouldn't be like this!
When the moonlight dimly shone on the other person's face, I finally recognized the other person's identity despite my pain all over my body, and couldn't help showing an expression of horror and disbelief.
When I realized who the other person was, I started screaming, screaming hysterically and struggling violently, but I couldn't shake the other person's strength at all.
But I forgot that even a random action of God can weigh a thousand pounds on humans.
There was another "slap" sound, and my face suddenly tilted to one side uncontrollably. This palm seemed to carry the weight of a thousand pounds, and then a burning pain spread quickly.
There was a strong taste of rust in his mouth, and his slightly clear mind immediately became blurred again.
Help, help...
I don't understand what's going on, it all happened so fast!
I only remember that on this late and dewy night, because of the salty smell in the air that was always hard to ignore, I made a wrong decision that I now regret deeply - I picked up the candlestick with faint sparks jumping on it and walked out of my room alone.
The corridor was pitch black, with only candlelight illuminating a small part of the world, but more of it was indistinguishable darkness.
Not only that, the salty smell outside the room became stronger, and the thick fog covered the sky, almost blocking the brilliance of the moon goddess.
For a moment I was restless and felt a little uneasy, so I decided to go to the statue of the goddess to pray.
As a priestess of the Temple of Athena, my room is not far behind the temple, just a few minutes' walk away.
But when I knelt in front of the towering statue of the goddess, looking up to pray to my great goddess, suddenly a cold wind blew, and the candlestick beside me suddenly went out.
Invisible darkness immediately surrounded me, and the dim outline of the compassionate goddess Athena that I had originally seen disappeared.
I suddenly felt extremely scared because without any light, I didn't even know how to get back to my room to wait for dawn.
Not only that, the originally weak cold wind suddenly howled, filled with thick moisture, almost wrapping me up in it.
Just when I felt something was wrong and wanted to leave here quickly, a tall and burly figure suddenly appeared in front of me against the faint moonlight.
Things soon turned out like this.
But even though my body was shaking with fear, when I thought of the goddess I believed in, the great god of war Athena, I suddenly felt a little more confident!
No matter what, my God will never stand idly by and watch. He will definitely protect me from this sudden nightmare!
He can't do this to me, I'm a priest of the goddess Athena!
But when I just made a weak sound, I found that my voice was indescribably hoarse and unclear. Every word I spoke pulled at the wound on my cheek, and the taste of rust in my mouth seemed to be stronger.
But before I could say anything, I was horrified to find that I couldn't make any sound at all!
He... or rather, Him.
He looked down at me with sinister eyes, revealing indescribable contempt and disdain. After seeing my incredulous expression, he sneered and grabbed my neck with his backhand, but whispered softly in my ear as if he was talking to a lover.
"I know what you're thinking, but... so what?"
"Don't worry, He won't be angry, and it's even more impossible for Him to fall out with her uncle over a little priest."
The moonlight once again shone onto His face through the gaps in the temple, hiding half of His face and deep eye sockets in the darkness. His seaweed-like blue curly hair was draped over his body, and the golden crown on his head reflected the light. His thin lips were filled with disdain and disgust, stinging my eyes. His strong and sturdy body was like the strongest wall in the world, leaving me no way to escape.
"What are you going to do..."
I wanted to ask loudly, but no sound came out.
At that moment, I had a very bad feeling in my heart, because I knew very well that there were many unpleasant things between my goddess Athena and the sea god Poseidon.
But I never imagined that Poseidon, the god of the sea, could be so despicable as to choose to vent his hatred on Athena's priests!
“Sizzle——”
The cloth on my body was suddenly torn apart easily, and at the same time, I was pushed down heavily.
The next second after I lost my balance, I felt my whole body slamming heavily onto the turbulent waves. The force stirred up huge splashes of water. I struggled desperately, crying and shouting, trying to escape from the entanglement of the waves.
But the sound of the surging tide seemed to cover up all my sounds, the raging waves tore my body apart, and the ubiquitous sea water soon submerged me. Fate strangled my throat, I couldn't breathe at all, and my lungs were burning and about to explode!
I'm in so much pain... it hurts everywhere.
At the same time, I felt like an insignificant rag, wiping away the filth over and over again, only to be thrown aside in disgust.
Yes, no one cares about the feelings of a rag.
But for the gods, how can a tiny ant defy the vast yet violent will of the ocean?
I began to give up resistance, staring blankly at the sea-blue sky, as if being forcefully plunged into the endlessly dark sea, falling...
Falling——
A faint stream of light swayed slightly in the upper waters far away from me, and I seemed to see a familiar face vaguely.
It is Him, the goddess Athena whom I respect and love from the bottom of my heart.
He continued to look at me with compassion, as if he felt sad and sympathetic for my situation.
What a poor person.
"What a poor man..."
The male voice sounded very far away from me, but the next second, I saw the slightly raised thin lips of Poseidon, the god of the sea, move, and something slightly cool slapped my cheek heavily.
...Who is it? Who is speaking?
The next second, I felt the pulling pain on my scalp again, and the vague sound quickly came back. I heard Him suddenly laughing, and I was forced to raise my head to look at the majestic stone statue of the goddess, and at the calm face on the statue.
That is the goddess Athena, to whom I have placed all my faith...
Why, why don't you come to save me?
"Look, the 'great' goddess Athena has such shameless priests."
"This is all your fault. You relied on your beauty to appear at the seaside every day and do all sorts of seductive things. You seduced me but refused to admit it. You dared to defy the great Sea God."
"You weak mortal! As a priest of Athena, you dare to play with my feelings. This is what you deserve..."
As Poseidon spoke, he pulled, mocked, and attacked even harder and more despicably. His once handsome face twisted sinisterly at the glaring red marks, as if this incident had aroused his interest.
My consciousness began to drift away from my body. It was all too painful and difficult for me to accept what was happening at the moment.
——It’s all my fault!
My fault was that I was born beautiful, my fault was that I was too weak, and my fault was that I happened to be a priest of Athena, the goddess he hated. It was such a coincidence and irrefutable!
As for my great and timeless God... I know that what Poseidon said are all excuses!
But, how could God be wrong?!
I sobbed and made unclear, hoarse and unpleasant cries, but He became more and more aggressive and covered my mouth, depriving me of even the right to make a sound in disgust, for fear of polluting His noble ears.
I was forced to cling to Him, unable to even utter a cry.
…
At that moment, my faith began to crumble.
In the eyes of the almighty gods, what am I?
No matter how much you hate it, it will be of no use.
Finally, I lay on the ground in a mess, and the goddess Athena in my eyes was still standing there quietly looking at me, as if she was looking at an ant, a speck of dust, in short, something that was not important at all.
I almost fell into a deep sleep due to extreme pain and exhaustion, and even at that moment, I hoped that I would never wake up again.
Just die quietly like this.
However, just as I was about to get a glimpse of death, something suddenly appeared before my eyes like a kaleidoscope, forcing me to see clearly the impermanence of everything.
It all seemed so long, so long that it seemed as if I had already lived through this ridiculous and miserable life.
But when my consciousness returned to reality, I found that Poseidon, the god of the sea, was still slowly arranging his clothes, as if these scenes had only lasted for a brief moment.
But even so, my body felt as if it had fallen into an icy cave, and I began to feel cold from the bottom of my heart, and even felt an indescribable despair.
Because my life can be summed up in just three simple sentences.
Poseidon, the god of the sea, took my virginity and walked away.
The goddess Athena thought that I was sinful for living in this world, so she turned me into an ugly Gorgon.
The demigod Perseus took my head and presented it to Athena, setting it on her shield.
…
What a ridiculous and sad life!
What’s even more terrifying is that all of this has begun to come true and is about to push me into the abyss of fate, and I am completely powerless to resist!
Especially Poseidon, the god of the sea. He was so condescending that he didn't even bother to look at me. It was obvious that he wanted to throw me here and let me fend for myself.
No...no!
At that moment, perhaps the desire to survive took over, or perhaps it was a desire for revenge against these high and mighty, ugly gods who acted recklessly...
In short, I dragged my bruised body, not caring about the dirty ground, and moved little by little to His feet, tightly holding onto the hem of His clothes.
The anger in my heart almost burst out, but in order to survive and to change my ridiculous fate, I numbly hid it all deep in my heart and looked at Him with the most pitiful and charming eyes I could.
The Poseidon paused for a moment, then cast his gaze on me conferringly.
I opened my mouth and was surprised to find that I could speak.
But in the end, I could only endure the burning pain, my voice weak and hoarse, but I tried my best to please him, "Respected and majestic Poseidon... I suddenly understand... Only you, only you are the most powerful god on Mount Olympus..."
Poseidon looked at me, his original disdain slowly changing. He raised his thin lips in triumph, a greedy and arrogant satisfaction emerging on his face.
"I deeply regret... my disrespectful behavior. I was on the wrong side of this. This is all my fault."
My vision gradually blurred and my fingers sank deeply into the dust, but a gorgeous but dangerous smile appeared on my scarred face, as if I really believed everything I said, as if the physical pain was not worth mentioning at all.
Since I am a lowly ant in the eyes of those sanctimonious gods, I might as well become the most evil, disgusting and troublesome one.
...swear on their lives to turn everything they value upside down.
Thinking of this, I suddenly couldn't help but bend my tender eyes, clinging to His body softly and softly, smiling softly, and my palm slowly moved up and held Him along His legs.
"You have completely conquered me. Please... take me away."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
