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Serifos Island, southern end of the Aegean Sea.
Against the backdrop of the purple-red afterglow of the sunset, the sea water gradually rose and the air was silent.
The people living on this island don't know that danger is gradually approaching them, and they are still doing their business as usual.
The arrival of the messenger Hermes brings disaster to everyone in the future and makes Danae extremely confused at this time.
"Perseus, my son, are you in trouble? Talk to your mother."
Perseus looked numb and panicked in the face of his mother's questions and worries, but in the end he just acted as if nothing had happened in front of Danaë.
"It's nothing, mother. It's just that the mission the gods have asked me to complete is a little difficult, and I can't help but feel a little distressed about it."
After all, it would be useless for Danaë to know. This is a powerful and great god. Even if mortals are unwilling, how can they resist?
But Perseus still didn't understand why he ended up in such a situation, being forced to kill a woman who had no grudge against him and had never done anything wrong.
With a complicated expression, he picked up the treasures of the gods sent by the messenger Hermes one by one, intending to make things calm down. The way to do that was to obey all the arrangements of the gods and willingly do what they asked them to do.
Perseus re-equipped the weapons and looked at his kind and caring mother Danae. He felt ashamed of this and reached out to shake his mother's hand, which was obviously weathered beyond her age. Thinking of his mother's experiences over the years and his own background, he suddenly felt a surge of sadness and pain in his chest.
But when Danae heard him say this, it was like looking at a child who hadn't grown up. She couldn't help but smile, and the corners of her mature eyes curved up. "As long as you do the right thing, I believe you can do it no matter what difficulties you encounter."
He was slightly stunned, then smiled bitterly, "You are right."
Seeing that her son didn't seem to take her words seriously, Danae held Perseus' hand tightly and continued stubbornly, "Is the mission the gods mentioned related to the innocent girl you mentioned earlier?"
Before Perseus could answer, Danae sighed. "No matter how difficult it is, you must find a way to rescue her and protect her well. Aren't the powers and treasures bestowed upon you by the gods for this mission?"
Perseus' throat trembled. He had no way of telling the truth to his mother, and he didn't dare to expose the beautiful imagination of the gods in his mother's heart.
Ignorance is the greatest mercy that the gods can show to humans, especially when it comes to Danae.
But Perseus still had some grudges. Perhaps in order to make himself feel at ease, or perhaps in the hope of gaining some support and understanding from his mother, Perseus finally couldn't help but speak with difficulty to test the waters.
"Yes, but... when I did go to rescue her, she insulted me for being nosy."
"You don't know, she clearly said that she and Poseidon were willing, but she was hugging Poseidon's son, Triton, the Messenger of the Sea. I think maybe I shouldn't save such a shameless woman. Instead, I should... kill her."
Danaë looked at her son in shock. She couldn't believe that Perseus, whom she had watched grow up, could have such thoughts. She frowned angrily and said loudly, "But what did she do wrong? At least you saw with your own eyes that she was forced, right?"
As she spoke, Danaë couldn't help but recall the past. She stared at her son, now a stranger, with eyes wide and filled with mist. "...Back then, after I became unexpectedly pregnant, your grandfather assumed I must have been promiscuous and had sex with a man."
"I really have no way to defend myself. My father nearly killed you when you were still a baby. Fortunately, he relented in the end and only exiled us to the sea."
When she said this, she could no longer hide her sadness and began to sob.
"But what did we do wrong?"
"Perseus, I don't care what others think of me, but I raised you little by little. How could you have such thoughts about the victim?"
Perseus felt anguish in his heart, feeling his mother's grip on his hand, as if trying to convey everything she was thinking to him, but what could he do? If it weren't for Medusa's death, it would have been his innocent mother who died.
His throat seemed to be blocked by something sour and bitter. Just as he was about to explain, suddenly, the sounds around him gradually became louder, coming from far away.
It should be time for the islanders to go home for dinner, so there shouldn't be such noise.
Perseus' thoughts were suddenly pulled back from his thoughts, and he realized that what was coming from all around him were shouts of terror. At the same time, the originally dim evening suddenly became gloomy, as if a storm was about to come.
“Help!!”
"Oh my god, what kind of monster is that!!"
"The sea monster is coming!"
"Great Poseidon, please let us go!"
“…”
Perseus looked in the direction where the sound came from, and saw a huge and ugly monster suddenly leaping out of the sea. It was so big that it almost covered the sky and the sun. Its powerful forelimbs dragged its body and rushed around, making sharp and piercing whistles from its mouth, and every time it roared, it could even stir up a violent hurricane.
Its hard, dark skin was covered with spots and it exuded a fishy odor. This monster had clearly chosen the island of Seriphos in the vast ocean, easily crushing the buildings on this peaceful island and crawling towards Perseus.
After all, this was the place where he grew up, so Perseus naturally couldn't just stand by and watch. Without saying anything more, he hurriedly let go of his mother's hand, asked her to run in the opposite direction immediately, and then took out the treasure that Hermes returned to him and rushed forward alone!
The monster naturally sensed the presence of its target and immediately rushed towards Perseus with a roar.
Although the incident happened suddenly, Perseus had flying shoes on his feet and the weapon of the god of war Ares in his hands.
Facing such a huge and powerful monster, unlike when he faced Medusa before, he knew that he was doing this to protect his home and innocent ordinary people. For the sake of justice, Perseus was fearless in his heart and pointed his sharp sword at the monster's thick neck.
But at this moment the monster opened its huge mouth of the abyss, and the stench and hurricane rushed towards Perseus. The change in wind direction caused Hermes' flying shoes to tilt uncontrollably, and he fell heavily from a high altitude onto the monster's body.
The target of the sword shifted to the monster's hand. Perseus's powerful strength drove the sword that could cut through iron like mud. A huge bloody mark was immediately cut on the monster's hand, and scarlet blood gurgled out.
It felt pain for a moment and subconsciously slapped Perseus aside. The monster fell heavily into the ruins. The monster stomped heavily on the ground several times, causing the island to shake. Perseus completely disappeared.
All people and gods tend to bully the weak and fear the strong, and the monster is no exception. After sensing Perseus's power, it stopped searching and instead focused its attention on another, weaker target.
Although the innocent Danaë listened to Perseus and left her residence, she did not really go far because she was worried about her son. Especially when she found that Perseus disappeared after falling, she stopped and looked anxiously in the direction of the monster.
Seeing the monster's eyes suddenly looking at her, the frightened Danaë realized that she was in danger.
But compared to the monsters, humans are still too weak. No matter how hard they try, they cannot escape easily. What's more, Danae and Perseus are thorns in the eyes of the Queen of Gods Hera.
It roared angrily towards Danae, and a concentrated hurricane lifted the ruins and Danae's thin body directly into the air and swept them high into the sky.
At this time, Perseus finally struggled to push away the building ruins that were pressing on him. When he looked in the direction of the monster, he saw his mother falling vertically from a high altitude. His face suddenly changed.
The debris on his body was blown away by the airflow from his body. Perseus screamed in pain and used all his strength to fly towards Danae immediately.
He stretched out his hand in the direction where his mother fell, and suddenly felt as if the whole world had frozen. The roar in his ears also became distant at this moment, and he could only hear his own breathing.
Danae's face was filled with terror as she plummeted, like a rootless drop of water, a wanderer adrift, a free and mad fall. She desperately reached out her hand toward Perseus. Unleashing all his strength, Perseus had almost touched his mother's fingertips, but she was falling too fast...
Finally, Perseus held his mother's hand tightly, and the flying shoes kept him at a height of about one meter in an instant.
Before Perseus could react, after a violent muffled sound, he saw blood slowly dripping from the corner of his mother's mouth.
He was stunned. A height of about one meter could protect Perseus, but it obviously could not protect the second person he held. Perseus then realized that Danae's body had fallen heavily to the ground.
“Pah—”
Crystal clear tears fell on Danaë's face, and Perseus felt as if he was bitten by insects and ants, and his skin was numb all over.
The flying shoes put Perseus on the ground, but he knelt down weakly, hugging the thin and weak Danaë in his arms almost sadly, his chest heaving violently like sobbing, as if he was almost unable to breathe.
“Mom…Mom.”
He called out Danae's name tremblingly and tried hard to wipe the blood off her face, but she seemed to be choked by the blood in her mouth, and her throat made an unpleasant "ho ho" sound, but there was a slight smile on her face.
Perseus seemed to hear what Danaë wanted to say, but at this time she had already stepped half a leg into the underworld and could only make extremely slight sounds.
He held the rough and trembling hand again, tears streaming down his face, but he quickly lowered his head and listened silently.
"I must, ahem..." She took a heavy breath, like someone about to die, "I must do... the right thing—"
Danae's words came to an abrupt end, and her hand suddenly fell down weakly after the pause. Even though Perseus tried hard to hold her hand tightly, it still slipped because of the slippery blood.
Whether it was the painful gasps or the labored breathing, they all stopped at this moment.
It was as quiet as death.
…
Hera, the queen of gods who had been paying close attention to all this, could not help but heaved a sigh of relief. Apparently, this was not the first time she had done such a thing. In addition to using her status as the queen of gods to persecute Zeus's rivals and bastards, she was also good at driving monsters to do evil.
As the goddess of marriage and fertility, Hera, the Queen of Gods, defends marriage in this way. It's ridiculous, but she has no other choice.
At the beginning, even someone as powerful as Hera would still feel vaguely ashamed of this, but after doing the same thing many times, she would gradually become numb and eventually lose all feeling.
Not to mention that mortals are nothing but ants in the eyes of gods, so Hera won't have to take action personally. But even so, He still can't wait to continue to witness the fall of this bastard!
The next second, the loyal monster was not far from the two of them. As Hera wished, it raised its huge feet in their direction. Its target was not only Danae, but also Perseus, the bastard favored by Zeus. It was determined to crush them into mud.
Perseus raised his eyes, and his expression had completely changed at this moment. It seemed as if it was filled with anger but also as if it was extremely numb after mourning. At that moment, Perseus, whose last concern was cut off by this monster, no longer had any psychological barriers. Even ordinary people hiding in the distance could feel a powerful and terrifying force, as if ice chips had penetrated into the bone marrow, making people sweat coldly.
But Perseus did not want the deceased Danae to suffer even the slightest harm, so he did not confront the monster head-on for the time being. Instead, he carefully carried her up and flew away, quickly placing her in a secluded place on the island where they had shared memories.
Then, he - the son of the King of Gods, the demigod Perseus, leaped hard, and the whole person flew into the sky almost instantly. His body turned into a small dot, and then, covered with the last touch of golden sunset, he raised the sword of Ares high and moved at a high speed of free fall.
The monster looked up in confusion. Perseus's strength was clearly inferior to its own before, but at this moment, under the suppression of such absolute power, the monster was horrified to find that it could not move at all.
Perhaps dying quickly would be a mercy to a monster like it.
The sharp blade cut into the hard flesh and passed through its entire neck in almost an instant.
Perseus landed steadily on the ground, and the monster's head fell with it. Finally, the huge body fell sideways out of control. With a loud bang, heavy dust was raised, and the whole island trembled.
The monster was killed, and not long after, the islanders quietly walked out from a safe place.
Seeing that it was Perseus who killed the ferocious and terrifying monster, they cried for joy that the disaster was averted, and cheered for this powerful hero whom they had seen since childhood, expressing their gratitude from the bottom of their hearts.
Even those who had mocked and belittled Perseus and Danae in the past seemed to have completely forgotten the past. "Perseus, you are everyone's hero!"
"Yes, from today on, we will all listen to you!"
“…”
Perseus could hear nothing and wanted nothing at this moment. He indifferently pushed through the noisy crowd and walked slowly towards the place where he had placed his mother.
The celebration and happiness of the crowd over there had nothing to do with Perseus. He just watched quietly, watching Danae lying peacefully among the flowers on the top of the island mountain. However, his heart only felt a desolate and quiet feeling, so dry that no grass grew.
He reached out his hand in grief, and gently stroked his mother's pale and gray cheek with his trembling hand. Although she had lost her life, her face was so peaceful, as if her short life was so happy and joyful.
However, this is not the case.
Because of a curse, Danae was imprisoned in a tower for the first half of her life and was strictly forbidden from having any contact with men.
Because of a golden rain, Danae suddenly became pregnant for unknown reasons and gave birth to the demigod Perseus, the son of the King of Gods.
The only meaning of her existence seems to be to be the mother of a hero. She is like a simple objectified symbol. People only admire and respect heroes, but who would really care about the suffering of the hero's mother?
Perseus couldn't help but think of Danae's last words before she died. Even though she was about to leave him, she still wanted her son to do the right thing.
But fate is so interesting. No one, or God, has ever done the right thing for Danae, this poor and helpless woman.
*
When the messenger Hermes found out about the tragedy that had happened to the island of Seriphos, he immediately guessed that it was the jealous queen Hera who did it. Hermes would not be surprised by anything Hera did. If it were not for her intelligence and wit, the young Hermes might have been killed by her.
Although Hermes was respectful to the Queen of Gods on the surface and even tried to please her with sweet words, he actually thought that she was a crazy woman who actually wanted the King of Gods Zeus to be loyal to her.
How is this possible?
But it doesn't matter who did it.
Although Danae died, fortunately Perseus, who was valued by Zeus, was safe and sound at this time, and even easily killed such a powerful sea monster.
Thinking of this, Hermes felt that Perseus would definitely be able to fulfill the expectations of the God King Zeus, and he relaxed a lot.
On the other hand, although Poseidon, the god of the sea, was very reluctant to leave Medusa's body, he finally watched everything silently. He knew that his trip was not in vain.
The reason why Poseidon knew that this was a sea monster driven by Hera was because the young Hera was given to Thesis and Oceanus in the sea by her mother Rhea. She grew up in the sea, so many sea monsters believed in Hera.
However, what could have made his sister Hera so angry that she turned the entire island into ruins?
Sure enough, when Poseidon saw the sea monsters driven by Hera attacking Zeus' son Perseus and his mother, he knew without hesitation that Hera, the Queen of the Gods, had already known that Zeus had concealed the fact that he had a child with his lover.
Although her love rival died, the illegitimate child was safe and sound. After so many years of concealment, her own sea monster was killed. Queen Hera would definitely not be able to dispel such anger.
Poseidon, the god of the sea, naturally would not miss this opportunity to win over an ally.
So, He came to Hera's palace on Mount Olympus. Poseidon didn't even have to worry about his loud plot being discovered by Zeus, because the ruthless Zeus had ignored Hera for a long time.
As soon as he arrived at Hera's bedroom, he saw her crying silently with a painful expression.
Sensing the presence of her brother, Poseidon, the god of the sea, Hera quickly composed herself, looking at her brother with red and swollen eyes as if nothing had happened, and asked, "Poseidon, why are you here?"
The smile on Poseidon's face suddenly faded when he saw Hera's expression. He seemed to have just realized Hera's sadness and spoke with concern and worry, "Hera, my sister, I just remembered that we haven't seen each other for a long time, so I came to see you, but I didn't expect you to be secretly crying in your own palace!"
He suddenly took out his trident, pretending to angrily strike the ground, but in reality, he asked knowingly, "Who bullied you? I'm here to help you seek justice!"
Hera suddenly sneered, "Who else could it be?"
She looked at the silent Poseidon and became even more angry. "Do you know? My husband actually hid it from me for so long. I didn't even know he had a child born from an affair with a human!!"
Poseidon had known about this matter for a long time, and he was also involved in hiding it from Hera.
He showed sympathy, as if wanting to comfort Hera, but his words hinted at something else, and he hesitated to speak. "My sister, you know, he is the king of the gods. His powerful force compels Zeus to constantly mate with women to reproduce. There's nothing that can be done about it, unless..."
How could Hera not know the evil ambitions of Poseidon, the god of the sea?
She really loved Zeus, but after hearing what Poseidon didn't say next, Queen Hera actually hesitated.
If Zeus was overthrown, in order to prevent the threat from the previous generation of gods, the new king would definitely deprive Zeus of his power, but no king had ever deprived the previous generation of gods and queens of their power. If Poseidon came to power, as his younger brother, he would have no reason to do so.
In this way, facing his still powerful self, the powerless Zeus would never betray himself and his marriage again, nor would he hurt himself.
All of a sudden, Hera understood what she should do in this painful, crazy, long and boring life.
Seeing the change in Hera's expression, Poseidon felt very happy. Even Hera, who loved Zeus deeply, was willing to betray him, so how far would it take for him to become the king of gods?
But He hesitated and spoke sarcastically, "Zeus is our brother after all, and he is so powerful. We can't do this. Even if we did, we would definitely not succeed."
"No."
Hera looked into the distance and suddenly said, "Our power may not be able to restrain Zeus, but if He joins, we can definitely do it."
"You mean...?"
"Yes, it's Athena." Hera became more and more excited as she spoke, and even laughed excitedly. "Athena's mother, Metis, is still in Zeus's belly. I know he has wanted to rescue his mother for a long time! I will go and persuade him, and he will definitely agree to my request!"
After saying this, as if to prove her idea, Hera ignored Poseidon who was planning a rebellion with her in the palace, but shook off her gorgeous skirt and immediately went to find Athena.
Poseidon was very suspicious of Athena's attitude, but what Medusa said before was right, he was an indispensable link. Since he didn't have to take the risk of persuading Athena himself, he was naturally happy to let Hera persuade him.
But he really didn't expect that this matter would happen so smoothly. The last time Poseidon was so close to the throne of the king of gods was after the Titan War, when he, Zeus, and Hades, the three brothers, drew lots to divide the right to rule the world.
At this moment, Poseidon had waited too long. Besides the excitement, ecstasy and pride of becoming the king of gods, he couldn't help but think of Medusa, who was still enjoying the pleasure with him.
It seems that it is not too far away for Poseidon to become the next generation of the King of Gods. If everything goes well, perhaps when she sees him next time, she will willingly submit to him because of his strength and status and love him wholeheartedly.
However, no matter how much he was interested in Medusa at this time, even more than all his other lovers, Poseidon still believed that he was not blinded by lust.
He always had his own requirements for his queen. She must be a goddess with great strength and high status. She cannot be crazy and jealous like Hera. She must be gentle and generous, and be able to live in harmony with her lover. No matter how rebellious she is or how humble her status is, he must tolerate her.
As for Medusa, it was a good thing that she showed no signs of pregnancy at this time. After Poseidon became the king of gods, the offspring born from their union would be even more powerful and could become her support.
Thinking of this, Poseidon, the god of the sea, couldn't help but laugh at himself. It seemed too early to think about this matter. Not to mention whether Athena would agree, it would not be easy to pull Zeus down from the throne later, let alone consider the Queen of Gods.
So Poseidon quickly calmed down from this frenzy and waited for Hera's return.
After an unknown amount of time, Poseidon, the god of the sea who was waiting in Hera's palace, suddenly opened his eyes, noticed Athena's arrival, and couldn't help but curled up the corners of his mouth.
My respected and great brother, King of Gods Zeus, the show is about to begin.
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