Chapter 26: 22 Delightful Trends with High Intensity
The Atlanteans, descendants of the God of the Sea Poseidon, claimed to be his heirs, harboring intense veneration for the ocean.
In the sea, they possessed the form of half-human, half-fish creatures, with latent gills behind their ears allowing them to breathe freely underwater. Upon reaching land, they could grow legs and switch to human form, thus perfectly adapting to both terrestrial and marine environments.
It was said that this was because they carried the Divine Blood of Poseidon, favored by the ocean.
Others claimed that during the great flood unleashed by the gods to destroy the world, a portion of the ancient humans sought refuge at sea under Poseidon's protection and were hidden by him. They were then blessed with the God of the Sea's guardianship and flourished on the land known as "Atlantis," becoming Poseidon's steadfast followers.
Regardless of which tale was true, they were the unrivaled sovereigns of the Sea of Okeanos, spreading the faith of the ocean and fulfilling Poseidon's will.
Of course, following the Greek tradition of affection between father and child, and respect among siblings, this covert force was actually Poseidon's means of clandestinely expanding his maritime dominion, aiming to usurp the power of the sky god.
Therefore, even his teacher, the ancient Demigod Enchantress Circe, was quite wary of these Atlanteans.
Furthermore, as Luo En knew, Atlantis was in fact a continent hidden within the Primordial Ocean, divided into ten districts, or rather, ten kingdoms, each ruled by one of Poseidon's ten Divine Blood heirs.
Their governance was similar to that of the Greek city-states.
The ten kings of Atlantis held absolute power within their own territories, adopting various state systems. To maintain communication, they convened every five to six years at the Temple of Poseidon to discuss their relationships and their rule. Once an agreement was reached, they would cut the throat of a cow bred in the Temple of Poseidon and use its blood to inscribe the resolutions on the temple's pillars, thereby adding a sacred and inviolable authority to the decrees.
Legend had it that under Poseidon's blessing and the protection of the maritime divine power, each of the ten kings of Atlantis possessed strength close to that of deities.
Additionally, the military organization of Atlantis was extremely meticulous, with the land divided into 90,000 military zones. Each zone had a commander, responsible for the deployment of 12 warriors, two war horses, a chariot, and all necessary provisions.
The most virtuous among these were handpicked from across Atlantis to form the Imperial Guard.
Independent of the 90,000 military zones, they were directly accountable to the ten kings and the Temple of the Sea God, possessing the authority to mobilize the forces within their jurisdiction.
These elite of the elite not only had formidable combat abilities but also each bore a dense line of Divine Blood.
So, as the facade of Poseidon's force, the Gold rank was merely the entry requirement, and having a full three demigods leading them was not at all uncommon.
However, what Luo En couldn't understand was why these Atlanteans, who mostly operated within the Primordial Ocean to avoid being casually disposed of by Zeus, suddenly ventured into the inner sea to chase and kill him from afar.
"You've killed so many offspring of the sea deity lineage, and even slain one of Poseidon's own sons. As lord of the oceans, the God of the Sea had to make some sort of statement," explained a Goddess responsible for "newbie guidance," her beautiful eyes glinting with a flowing gaze and a smile gracing her lips.
Instantly, Luo En's face darkened, and he cursed inwardly.
Damn, so this is where I get a spike in difficulty!
I knew none of these three options were without their pitfalls!
First, defile Athena.
Although "defile" could mean a broad range of actions including physical contact, verbal provocation, or even engagement in battle, it seemed as if he could exploit a loophole. But would he really believe that Athena's off-the-charts combat ability and intelligence were for show?
Once he chose that option, he might as well declare the feast open.
Second, destroy one of Apollo's temples.
The catch wasn't the temple itself but the connection between the temple and the deity.
Let alone that in this vast ocean, he was to find an Apollo temple. Even if he did, the host of temple guards and priests inside would be enough trouble for him already.
"If I'm unlucky, I might just have to go directly to grinding for a shard of Apollo's descent."
"As for excuses like renovations and relocations, this God of Light and Prophecy is no fool, and there may not even be a time limit for the task. Such a complicated operation probably won't be completed in time."
Finally, put an end to one of Poseidon's demigod offspring.
This seemingly easiest task was also full of pitfalls.
On the one hand, although Polyphemus had an ugly face, he was one of the few children Poseidon actually cared for.
In the epic "The Odyssey," after Polyphemus was injured by the demigod hero, Odysseus, he prayed to his father, Poseidon, for revenge against Odysseus.
As a Chief God, Poseidon didn't care about losing face and directly intervened, summoning huge waves and strong winds to blow Odysseus's ship off its course home, causing him to suffer great trials.
Even then, that was with Athena's protection (Athena favored heroes with wisdom, and in the epic, it was because of Athena's favor that Odysseus could turn peril into safety time after time).
But Luo En had directly killed the cyclops, which was essentially a slap in the face to Poseidon.
On the other hand, the offerings that Luo En had used to ascend to demigod status were all sea monsters and sea beasts with divine blood.
——A total of over a hundred...
To Poseidon, the ruler of the seas, the ocean and all its creatures were akin to his private property. Even fishermen had to worship the Sea God before going out to sea to fish.
So, even without any kinship to these sea monsters and creatures, Poseidon would not tolerate such disrespect towards his property from outsiders.
After all, it was a matter of respect for his authority as the God of the Sea; he had to respond in some way.
As a result, no sooner had Luo En gone to great lengths to dispatch Polyphemus, the cyclops, than a wave of super soldiers from Atlantis immediately surged forth at sea.
Based on the schedule, these Atlantean Guards had likely set out during the time Luo En was hunting down those Lamias, Sirens, and other divine-blood sea monsters.
Thinking of the assurances Hecate had given earlier, Luo En's face darkened.
"Didn't you say that with the blessing of 'dice,' whatever I did would go unnoticed by the twelve Olympians?"
"It seems they were only ordered here to investigate because a large number of the divine-blood sea monsters in this area died," she responded.
Hecate pointed to the headless corpse of the cyclops and the strands of gold blood diffusing across the sea surface, helplessly spread her hands, showing she could offer no assistance.
"But in front of them, you not only killed Poseidon's beloved son but also beheaded him. What do you think these Atlantean Guards will do?"
"..."
Looking toward the Atlantean Guards several kilometers away, following the trail of golden blood on the sea surface, approaching the scene of the crime with ferocious momentum, Luo En's eyelids twitched violently.
Without another word, he immediately turned and dashed towards the cedar ship hidden in the midst of a rocky reef.
What the Atlantean Guards would do next, he didn't know.
But Luo En knew what he had to do now.
To stay here would mean facing unpleasant consequences.
If not now, when would be the time to run?