Chapter 73: Pygmalion (5)
Of course, Aphrodite did not freely grant love to just anyone.
Aphrodite treasured the love she bestowed.
However, when it came to her avatars—not her true divine body—
She behaved recklessly, to the point where humans and gods alike regarded her avatar as another being entirely, sharing only her mind.
In fact, the curse she laid upon Cyprus was a deed of her avatar, not her true self.
And the being that avatar finally discovered after everything…
Was Pygmalion—a peculiar man who, disappointed in humanity, created a new race to love.
Naturally, that twisted devotion of Pygmalion aligned with parts of Aphrodite’s own philosophy of love.
— “Oh? Disappointment in humanity gave birth to a new race? Remarkable!”
— “I will bless you in my name.”
Thanks to Aphrodite’s blessing, the marriage between Pygmalion and Galatea was held with great splendor.
Aphrodite’s followers, fairies, and nymphs—almost every race except humans—celebrated their union.
The problem began when uninvited guests came to that splendid wedding.
Followers of Typhon.
They recognized Pygmalion’s distorted form of love before Aphrodite’s avatar did,
And concluded that with a bit of manipulation, he could become a valuable weapon.
They tempted him, leading him to experiment on whether automatons and the avatar of a goddess could be contained and weaponized.
“To think—I blessed that lunatic, bathed in the [Maiden’s Spring], split my consciousness, and put it in the avatar… only to end up like THIS…”
Just a moment of carelessness trapped her mind in her avatar’s body.
“Damn you, Pygmalion, just what are you planning?!”
Thus Aphrodite, a goddess, had her divine blood drained—
A humiliation more painful to her than any wound.
And as she trembled in fury and shame, Pygmalion watched with ecstatic delight.
Captured by Typhon’s priests, all she could do was tremble.
“Oh? Our noble goddess is curious? Then of course I must answer.”
His words only inflamed Aphrodite further—
But his madness made that rage only more thrilling to him.
“You see, some magnificent magicians have come to Cyprus. And one of them treats automatons as humans, just like I do! So I shall grant that magician’s wish. I’ll turn all humans on Cyprus into automatons, and turn those magicians into beings like Galatea—half human, half automaton. Hahaha!”
Aphrodite felt nauseated by his insanity.
Even among gods, there was no one this deranged.
‘Now I see why Zeus hates humans so much.’
“What are their names?”
“Why? Going to ask them for help? Too late—they’re already being watched. But if you must know, the male magician was called Njord, I think?”
“…?”
Aphrodite stiffened.
That name… no human should be able to use it.
Impossible.
***
“By now, Geppetto—no, should I call him Pygmalion?—must think he’s keeping a close watch over us.”
[Exactly. He has no idea Master already fondled my chest.]
“…….”
At Catherine’s remark, Katrin’s gaze turned to Njord like a blade of frost.
“No! It’s not what you think!! I was just curious!!”
His excuse only made Katrin’s eyes grow colder.
Katrin pulled Catherine behind her protectively, raising her staff.
“You child-molesting creep. Touching a child who barely just came into existence?”
“N–No, I had no choice if I wanted to adjust her heart! If I’d just left it alone, a signal would’ve gone off the moment her chest opened! I’m not a god right now!”
Katrin understood his justification.
Understanding it logically was one thing—emotionally accepting it was another.
The sentence “he fondled the chest of a newborn” was enough to brand anyone irredeemable trash.
More than anything, there were other ways to deal with it. He could have asked her or even her Master for help.
“T-That’s because you two were too busy controlling all the other mages!”
“Fine. I understand.”
“…That doesn’t sound like someone who understands…”
Poseidon stopped talking. Katrin’s eyes were now fully consumed by emotion, not reason.
Even though right now, he was Njord, technically… still.
“This is unfair!!!”
Light flashed from Katrin’s staff, vines whipped to life, and screams once again echoed through the mansion.
“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”
Nox watched pleasantly as Katrin fussed over Catherine, while Poseidon’s face swelled up like he had been stung by hornets.
Hm. So that’s why this child gets along with me. With this level of insanity…
Unlike Nox’s satisfied smile, Njord (Poseidon), whose face was swollen beyond recognition, stood facing a wall with his hands raised in repentance.
“To think a supposedly logical mage can be this unreasonable…”
“So then, continue, Njord.”
‘You beat me senseless and then say that? Really?’
Sensitive as a mage, Katrin picked up on Njord’s barely delayed reaction.
“Why that expression? Do you have a complaint?”
Njord flinched at her soft, quiet voice.
It sounded exactly like the tone Eurynome or Amphitrite used right before punishing him.
‘She noticed me complaining internally!’
Damn these perceptive mages… especially female ones!
“Hahaha, of course I have no complaints…”
“Good. As you should.”
Njord held back tears and kept speaking, silently vowing he’d take revenge for this unreasonable abuse someday.
“Kh…! Right now, that bastard thinks we have figured out nothing. We only let him see us suspecting the head of the Cepheus family.”
[Yes. Just now, that deviant sexual pervert scanned my body thoroughly.]
“….”
“And who taught you those words exactly?”
“……”
Catherine’s sudden statement broke the flow; Katrin’s gaze turned to Njord again.
But since that wasn’t important right now, Njord quickly changed the subject.
“Ahem. My true power is still restricted, so I asked water spirits to investigate. I discovered something. Aphrodite is currently captured by Pygmalion.”
“How is that even possible…?”
Thankfully, Katrin’s focus returned. Gods being captured by humans was almost unheard of—especially a major Olympian deity.
‘Thank you, Aphrodite.’
If the goddess had heard that thought, she would have cussed him out endlessly.
Nox, who had been listening, clicked her tongue.
“Hmm… Has the level of gods fallen so low while I was asleep? What a pitiful era. Tsk-tsk.”
When that misunderstanding grew dangerous, Njord desperately clarified.
“N-No, only her avatar was captured.”
Dripping with sweat from trying to stop Nox from misunderstanding, Poseidon (as Njord) explained the situation and outlined a plan to both Hecate and Nyx.
‘This is exhausting… seriously…’
‘Well… it is true that lesser gods have dropped to the level of mortal heroes lately.’
And the plan was this:
Just like Poseidon, the two of them were also restricted in power, since they were only using avatars.
Exerting too much force through an avatar could collapse the body or bring great harm to everything around them.
…Well, Poseidon was a bit of a special case, since he entered this world with his power fully sealed to the extreme.
“So, the plan is to create a magic circle spread across the entire island—one capable of temporarily releasing your power while absorbing the damage. Ultimately, to shut down the automatons, we need your divine strength.”
“Fine. But Njord, what will you do in the meantime?”
Katrin’s question was filled with concern, and rightfully so. The mad priests of Typhon were definitely on the island, and every automaton had to be considered an enemy.
Naturally, the humans here were no exception.
In such a situation, with Poseidon power completely sealed, it would fall to the human ‘Njord’ to protect the mages.
So Katrin’s worry made perfect sense.
“That’s why…”
***
Deep underground, Pygmalion felt the moment had come.
The mages he had been observing had almost uncovered the truth behind the Soft Hearts, and all humans on the island had already been injected with parasites that would convert their hearts Into those of the Golden Race.
Most importantly, the avatar of Aphrodite—trapped inside the glass chamber—was on the brink of collapse after having too much divine blood extracted.
“If I break your avatar now, the real Aphrodite might descend here herself… so I should stop here.”
“……”
Aphrodite wanted desperately to curse this wretched creature, but she no longer had the strength.
‘If this were normal, I could just self-destruct the avatar…’
But whatever those cursed Typhon worshipers had done, she could do nothing.
What infuriated her more was the nonsense they constantly spewed at her:
— “Tell Olympus that our god has struck back at you.”
— “You cowards used Helios against us to slander Typhon!”
— “Do you know how many of our allies died because of your attack?”
Aphrodite trembled with rage, even now.
“The Phaethon incident was your fault in the first place! And killing enemies in battle is normal—you lunatics!”
But most of all, she was furious at herself, for never accepting Hephaestus’s weapons or Athena’s combat lessons.
‘Once I break free, I’m going straight to Hephaestus and demanding a weapon… Damn it, I should’ve trained with Athena!’
BOOOOM!
Just as Aphrodite complained internally, the underground cavern shook violently.
“W-What is happening?”
“Allow me to check, my lord.”
“Yes, go quickly.”
Startled by the sudden quake, Pygmalion absentmindedly sent out Galatea, his protector.
He had no idea this decision would become a lifelong regret—for both of them.
The moment Pygmalion was left undefended, a black snake slipped quietly into the cavern.
Normally, the entire workshop would be filled with magical alarms, but he had dismantled them all to funnel power into his final procedure.
Slither… slither…
With barely a sound, the serpent reached his feet and bit his ankle.
“Ugh! W-What… u—”
The venom was so powerful that Pygmalion collapsed without even finishing his scream.
Kh… khhk—
As Pygmalion’s wheezing faded, the black snake exited leisurely, having finished its work.
Aphrodite watched silently… then smirked bitterly at his convulsing form.
“Heh… excellent. Die like that. If I had escaped instead, your suffering would have been worse. Go on, then. Head to Hades. I’ll follow you down there and destroy your soul myself.”
Moments later, Galatea returned, unaware of what had happened.
What she saw was her beloved master—who had promised to turn even her into a true human so they could live together—dying before her eyes.
“T-together… f-fore…ver…”
Even in death, his eyes remained fixed on her.
The workshop fell silent… except for Galatea’s echoing scream.
“A…aa… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”