The Villain of Ancient Greece

Crete Island — the coastal line near Knossos City.

The storm had ceased, the great waves had subsided, and as the soldiers guiding the evacuation and the displaced townspeople saw the sea and sky return to calm, they couldn’t help but rejoice at having survived the disaster.

However, when bloated corpses, pale from soaking, and broken pieces of ship debris began washing ashore, the cheers came to an abrupt halt as a heavy and oppressive silence settled over the crowd.

”Don’t just stand there! The elderly, women, and children—continue evacuating into the inner city!

Anyone strong and willing to stay behind, organize yourselves in groups of ten into a temporary reserve team.

Follow the command of the city guard and begin search and rescue operations along the coastline—see if there are any survivors.

Gather any recovered bodies in a central location and wait for family members to identify them.

No unauthorized persons are allowed near the area!”

Lorne’s calm but firm voice broke the heavy silence, and his orderly instructions got the stalled relief effort running again like a well-oiled machine.

Because the Minoans of Crete were long accustomed to living off the sea, most of them generally understood its temperament. Very few settled too close to the coastline’s danger zones.

As a result, there weren’t too many people who needed to be evacuated. Including those stranded for various reasons, the number barely reached two or three hundred.

Under the guidance of the city guards and the authority of the divine emissary, the residents, who were willing to stay and those who needed to evacuate, both fell into their respective roles without protest.

Search, rescue, and body recovery efforts resumed in an orderly fashion.

”Set up tents over there for treating the injured and storing the dead…”

”You lot—boil some water. Make sure anyone who touched a body thoroughly washes up. By the way, prepare hot soup for those pulled from the sea to warm them up…”

”And all search teams—take note: separate the seriously injured from the minor ones. Anyone with medical or first aid experience, assist over there!”

At the frontlines near the shore, Lorne combed through every piece of knowledge in his mind about disaster relief and epidemic prevention, doing his best to ensure every step met the proper standards.

Well, maybe he was a bit of a perfectionist.

He had a firm belief: if you’re going to do something, do it well—or not at all.

Since he had taken on this mess for Little Medusa, he figured he might as well put in the effort.

With a capable adult like Lorne directing things, the little girl completely gave up thinking on her own and obediently stuck to his side, acting as a human emblem and public announcer.

Even Hestia, who was one of the Twelve Olympians, couldn’t find a place to intervene.

She could only sneak to the fire and take the initiative to take on the logistical work of boiling water, making hot soup, casting spells to save people and preventing diseases.

Soon, the coast along the line was cleaned up, and the corpses, ships, and survivors were salvaged one after another and properly settled.

A reinforcements unit from Knossos and a group of temple priests finally showed up late. After standing around in confusion for a moment, they were swiftly assigned post-disaster tasks and relief statistics collection by Lorne and Medusa.

”Buzz!”

Amid the resonating hum of aetheric magic, a streak of golden light plunged from the sky, landing squarely on the open coastal ground.

The goddess of wisdom and war, Athena, appeared in her primordial form.

Surrounded by the fervent, awe-filled gazes of soldiers, priests, and citizens, she took a moment to scan the scene, then walked toward the one serving as the central figure of authority: Little Medusa. Her voice was low and steady as she asked,

”How is everything here?”

Little Medusa instinctively straightened up and began her report in detail.

”Both harbors sustained varying degrees of damage. It’ll take at least half a day to repair them.

Three merchant ships and four fishing boats failed to make it into the safe harbor and ended up colliding. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

Civilians within three kilometers of the coast have all been evacuated toward Knossos City and are now under the care of the temple and the guards.

As a precaution, we’ve also set up a warning line near the coastline and sealed off certain areas deemed unsafe…”

She paused slightly, then turned her eyes toward a nearby tent, her young face dimming with sorrow.

”But according to the consolidated reports from the city-state temples, at least twenty-seven ships of varying sizes went out to sea today and haven’t returned. So far, 98 deaths have been confirmed, with 32 injured and 64 still missing…”

Nearly 200 casualties—a significant loss.

Athena’s brow furrowed tightly upon hearing the numbers. Frost settled over her beautiful features.

That bastard Poseidon, is still unwilling to give up?!

After a few moments, as her anger subsided and she took in the orderly ongoing rescue and relief efforts, she recalled Little Medusa’s precise and thorough report—and couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

”You did all this?”

”It was Lorne!”

The honest little Medusa wasted no time claiming credit. She immediately raised her hand and pointed out Lorne, who had been quietly blending in with the crowd.

Athena glanced toward the figure who stepped forward a bit reluctantly, a flicker of admiration flashing in her eyes.

”Not bad at all…”

”It’s because you taught me well. I only did what you instructed before you left.”

Lorne skillfully deflected the praise for the leadership of Knossos City, shifting both the credit and the blame, demonstrating his mastery of not getting involved in sticky situations.

Athena, who had been about to offer some words of praise, couldn’t help but feel a slight irritation as she lowered her voice and snorted coldly.

”Whoever’s credit it is, it belongs to them. I’m not petty enough to act like this!”

Lorne gave a sheepish smile, neither agreeing nor denying.

No matter how he responded, it would have been like admitting that the other party was indeed being petty, so remaining silent seemed like the wisest option.

Athena looked around at the well-organized makeshift camp, her eyes flickering slightly. She motioned for Lorne to follow her to a secluded corner, away from the crowd, and spoke in a serious tone.

”Trouble is coming for Crete!”

”Poseidon?”

Lorne raised an eyebrow, a trace of dark gloom appearing in his eyes.

In history, it seemed that the Minoan civilization was destroyed by a disaster from the sea.

”I’ll find a way to hold him off…”

Athena pressed her lips together and looked seriously at Lorne.

”But that’s not enough!”

”So?”

”So I need your help!”

Upon hearing the wise goddess’s grave words, Lorne was stunned for a moment. He raised his hand, pointing to his own nose, a bit troubled.

”Me? Uh, as much as I’d love to help, I’m just a mere demigod…”

”A demigod who can unleash the divine essence of war and take dozens of strikes from me?”

Athena’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she gave a cold, casual chuckle.

”Don’t be modest. Even though I don’t know which branch of Ares you’re from, your potential is unquestionable. Otherwise, I wouldn’t want to train you to become a full god.”

”Thank you for the compliment, but... in a divine war, I don’t think a demigod like me has the qualifications to participate, right?”

Lorne still didn’t accept, as he was very clear about his own strength and position.

Then, in order to avoid being forced into something he didn’t want, he quickly turned and sold out another convenient scapegoat.

”If you’re really concerned about the people of Crete, why not consider Lady Heya?”

”Hestia has already made it clear that she’s withdrawing from the conflicts of Olympus. I don’t want to drag her back into it.”

Athena glanced at the figure in the crowd who was boiling water and preparing medicine.

She paused for a moment, her voice lowering.

”And even if she does act, it will only make things worse...”

”Hestia? The Goddess of the Hearth?!”

Upon hearing this ”explosive” information, Lorne widened his eyes in surprise, showing the proper amount of shock and amazement.

However, Athena said nothing. Instead, she gave a disdainful look, staring coldly at someone.

Keep pretending... Don’t even mention that fool Hestia.

You probably guessed who I am the moment we met, right?

”...”

In the ensuing silence, Lorne gave a wry smile and cleverly changed the topic.

”So you’re saying, this contest will remain at a level below that of the gods?”

”I can only do my best to prevent both Olympus and Atlantis from interfering, but as for the rest, it will depend on you.”

Athena shook her head indifferently, her eyes carrying a trace of exhaustion.

Lorne furrowed his brows, lost in thought.

Seeing that the other person still had not responded, a faint trace of disappointment appeared on Athena’s face before she spoke again in a low voice.

”Of course, you could leave before the trouble arrives. Given your relationship with my aunt and that child, I won’t hold it against you.”

Lorne, who was still unable to make up his mind, was about to speak when he suddenly felt a familiar golden glow emanate from the twelve-faced die atop the bronze altar in his mind.

As it slowly spun, the three ocean waves representing Poseidon and the five serpent patterns representing Athena appeared one after another, and the mechanical voice that followed sounded with delight.

[Your infamy is unknown to the world, but your crimes will be spread throughout it!

Congratulations, your actions have once again successfully triggered the gears of fate, prematurely igniting the crisis on Crete.

Please make your evil choice within three days.

Choice 1: Assist Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War, in countering the upcoming sea disaster, and in doing so, you will randomly receive one divine blessing from Poseidon.

Choice 2: Assist Poseidon, guiding the Minoan civilization toward its end, and in doing so, you will randomly receive one divine blessing from Athena.

Choice 3: Choose to fight both Athena and Poseidon at the same time, extinguish the flame of wisdom, shatter the glory of the sea god, make the people of Minoan weep, and sink Atlantis.

By doing so, you will receive one divine blessing from both Athena and Poseidon!]

Sensing the three flashes of golden light in his mind, the expression on Lorne’s face couldn’t help but change slightly before he took a sharp breath.

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