Chapter 80: Persephone (5)
Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus.
Though she carried Zeus’s blood, it was Demeter’s line—the blood of the earth—that ran stronger within her, making her a goddess who governed land and soil.
Her birth, however, had an infamous backstory.
One day, Zeus lay with a nymph in a field personally tended by Demeter herself.
Naturally, word reached Demeter quickly.
Enraged, she grabbed her enormous sickle and charged at Zeus, intending to cut off the offending part of him.
In the chaos, Zeus ran for his life without even having time to pull up his clothes.
In his frantic escape, his seed spattered across both the land Demeter tended… and Demeter’s own body.
And so, Demeter became pregnant.
It was absurd, outrageous, and the source of great ridicule toward Zeus.
Many gods even suggested she remove the child.
But Demeter refused.
As the one who inherited the divine name of Gaia, Mother of All Life, she could not bring herself to erase a life.
The child was born, grew healthy, and was later named Persephone by Zeus himself—becoming both Zeus’s daughter and Demeter’s rightful successor.
***
Meanwhile, Persephone was working in a field near Henna.
Her task was to purify the earth and track the movements of Typhon and his followers.
“Lady Pallas, I don’t see any traces of Typhon here.”
“Is that so? Then before we move to another location, let us rest a bit. It’s dangerous to wander without additional support.”
“Hehe. But you’re as strong as Lady Athena. What danger could there be when you’re right next to me?”
“That’s not true… and even so, it’s still dangerous to venture alone.”
“Alright, alright. Let’s wait here until the other nymphs arrive.”
“Yes, that’s the best decision.”
Pallas had been assigned to accompany Persephone by Zeus and Demeter, who were anxious about the risks of her mission.
Pallas was Athena’s close friend and rival—sharing each other’s names—and the daughter of Triton, god of the sea.
A warrior of great might and authority, she was a reliable guardian.
Though she belonged to the sea gods, she spent so much time with Athena that she was practically half-Olympian.
Thus, she was the perfect choice to accompany Persephone.
“I had no idea there were so many beautiful daffodils in the fields of Henna.”
“Indeed. Athena would love to see this.”
“Oh! Does Lady Athena like daffodils?”
“Yes. Though she doesn’t seem the type, she adores flowers and art. It doesn’t quite match her image, though.”
“I don’t think so. A goddess as beautiful as Lady Athena suits anything. You and Athena are always ranked first and second among the goddesses the Olympian men want to spend a night with, after all.”
“N-no… it’s not like that…”
Blushing at Persephone’s bold compliment, Pallas continued walking through the peaceful fields with her.
Neither of them had the slightest idea…
…what was happening deep underground beneath Henna.
***
Far beneath the fields where Persephone and Pallas were resting,
There lay a hidden fortress belonging to the giants—unknown to all.
It looked hastily built, riddled with holes and crude structures, but considering their purpose, such temporary construction was ideal.
They needed something disposable—easy to destroy once their plan began.
“Garm. We expect full compensation for this operation. Think of the brothers we sacrificed.”
“……”
“If you fail to deliver, we’ll strike you before you even lay a hand on Olympus.”
The giant chieftain—sitting at the highest stone seat—growled at the man surrounded by absolute shadow.
Garm merely nodded lazily, as if the threat bored him, and turned to leave.
“Tch. These barely surviving giant-tribe fools grow bold.”
The shadow-clad man clicked his tongue in irritation.
But he endured it.
Compared to what was about to happen, their arrogance was nothing.
“As Typhon’s vanguard, I cannot allow the plan to fail. They’re all destined to die anyway.”
***
The giant chieftain silently reflected on Garm, who had stormed out of his tent.
That lunatic who suddenly appeared one day, urging them to cooperate in restoring an age where the Titans and giants once roamed freely.
“Chief, how much longer must we endure these insults?”
“He’s right. Why must we bow to someone like that?”
“We should tear him apart right now!”
“Uwaaaah!!”
Chieftain Bergelmir sighed deeply as he tried to calm down the roaring giants.
“I said ENOUGH. It’s not time yet. What matters to us is our land—the place those Olympian bastards call the ‘Land of Monsters.’”
“……”
At the authority in his voice, the noisy giants fell silent.
“You all know Garm’s true intention. He wants to use us… and then kill us.”
Several giants gasped at the chieftain’s blunt words.
“Huk! Then… are we going to die?!”
Bergelmir looked at the stupid giant warrior and sighed again.
The fact that these idiots were the strongest warriors of the giant race made him genuinely tired.
Being chieftain because he was the “smart and strong” one felt more like a curse.
“Haah… No, you fool. Think, Hrungnir. To help them kidnap Persephone, who must we face first?”
“Uhhh… Lady Pallas Athena, I heard. Can we win?”
“No, no, not Athena. The OTHER Pallas—Triton’s daughter. And we’re not trying to win. We fight just enough to retreat.”
“Ohhh!”
Bergelmir sighed again at Hrungnir’s idiocy, then turned to the more capable giant officers inside the tent.
“Some of you understand what I mean. Others don’t. So I’ll make it simple.”
“Poseidon.”
Hik!
Gasp!
Kuaaaagh—my heart!!
The giants convulsed the moment the name left his lips.
It was an instinctive reaction.
Poseidon’s name was an eternal nightmare for the giants.
“The one guarding Persephone right now—Pallas—is his granddaughter.”
—The chief has lost his mind.
—He wants us all dead.
—Just abandon the land! Why provoke Poseidon?!
—We elected a madman as chieftain…
Watching their panicked reactions, Bergelmir felt relieved.
Good thing he hadn’t told them this earlier.
If he had, when Garm first came, they would’ve fled instantly.
Then the wisest of the giants, Angrboda, asked:
“But Chief… why tell us now? The operation is soon. And even if we know, knowing won’t make us fight properly. We’ll obviously still avoid her.”
Bergelmir nodded, satisfied.
Yes. That was the question he had been waiting for.
A real question—not the stupid screaming.
“Good. Angrboda, you asked well. There is a clear reason I’m telling you this now.”
“Triton’s daughter Pallas—
Fight her only just enough.
Conserve your strength.
Do NOT try to win.
If you win, you die.
If you lose, you die.
So the only option is to avoid dying.”
“But then…?”
“You wonder why I accepted that Garm bastard’s request in the first place?”
“Yes.”
The giants—who had been shouting earlier—fell silent.
This part, they actually wanted to know.
They could scream later.
“Simple. With everything that’s coming—and what’s happening now— I intend to negotiate with Poseidon.”
“…….”
The giants did not shout this time.
Instead, they fell completely silent.
Negotiate… with whom?
With the very nightmare of the giants? With the name that makes our blood freeze?
Even Angrboda—renowned among giants for wisdom said to rival Athena’s—stared in disbelief.
“That’s impossible, Chief. He would never accept. You might even be captured again, like last time.”
Bergelmir nodded as if to say correct.
“Yes. We could end up like when that accursed amusement park was built. But Persephone… is far more important than you think.”
“To Demeter… and to Poseidon.”
***
Unaware of the giants crawling beneath their feet, Pallas and Persephone were admiring the daffodils in the peaceful meadow.
Having sensed nothing unusual when they arrived, they had lowered their guard.
“Lady Pallas, come look at this! A red daffodil—these are extremely rare.”
“Yes. I’ll come as soon as I finish sorting these.”
Pallas, who had been checking her equipment one last time, put down the reagents and artifacts she was counting, and walked toward Persephone.
“You really are full of energy, my lady.”
At that moment, the red daffodil Persephone was looking at flickered— As if blinking.
“Huh?”
“Lady Persephone!”
BWOOOOOOOONG—
A horn blast shook the entire meadow.
And with the same red glow as the blinking daffodil, giants began rising from beneath the earth.
THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.
“Giants?! Lady Persephone, behind me!”
“Ah—yes!”
Accompanying the rhythmic stomping of the disciplined giant troops came another sound:
Awooooo!
But this was no ordinary howl.
The sound carried a curse.
Every daffodil in the field rotted instantly under its influence.
Strangely, even the giants—who seemed to be the ones using the curse—were receiving unintended backlash from it.
It was an eerie sight.
“Damn it, Garm! Stop your wolves from howling, or I’ll butcher your mongrels first!”
“Tsk tsk tsk… this is why I dislike working with barbarians. Fine. Stop the howling, all of you.”
Before Pallas and Persephone stood a massive force:
A great number of wolves and hired giant mercenaries.
Pallas was shaken by the sudden ambush, but she forced herself to stay calm.
There were countless questions—
Why target them?
Why use so many troops?
But none of that mattered right now.
She needed to escape with Persephone alive.
“Lady Persephone, are you unharmed?”
Pallas turned, her voice gentle, expecting to see Persephone trembling.
“Eh?”
But what she saw instead—
Was Persephone tearing her dress into a short skirt,
Holding a green-tinged divine sword Pallas had never seen before.
“…….”
“Oh dear, did I show an un-goddess-like side of myself?”
“N-no, that’s not it…”
“Hehe. Good. But please don’t tell Mother. She hates when I dress like this and run around.”
Pallas was speechless.
The stance, the grip, the calm voice—
This was not her first time wielding a blade.
And then Pallas noticed something else—
“…She’s wearing combat shorts under her skirt…?”