Chapter 149: The Birth of the Mycenaean Empire (7)
As Perseus and Andromeda stood frozen, eyes locked on each other…
A group sent by King Cepheus finally arrived, rushing to bring the princess back.
“Princess!!! Come down!!!”
“His Majesty’s orders! A priest of Poseidon has come!”
“That’s right. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for us. Hurry and come down!”
“Princess!!”
The ground below instantly turned into a chaotic marketplace. The people who had come to evacuate the princess and those who had just arrived with Alexis crowded together in a frantic rush.
But…
To the two up on the pillar, none of the noise seemed to reach them.
Poseidon glanced at the pair—Perseus and the woman atop the pillar, as if they were alone in their own private world—then casually silenced the noisy crowd beside him.
“Mmph! Mmph!!”
“Those two look like they’re in a different dimension.”
(—Because they’re fated partners.)
“A sight that would make Aphrodite scream with joy.”
It was almost unbelievable how completely they couldn’t tear their eyes away from each other.
Like two trees of different roots intertwined into a single linked branch.
Anyone watching would have suspected Eros’s arrow had struck them.
But Poseidon saw no hidden Eros—meaning these two had truly fallen in love at first sight.
Rumble.
Yet the trial had no intention of waiting for the pair.
“Arrrghhh!”
“Why is it starting already?! There was still time left!!”
“Maybe the mercenaries and soldiers were tricked! Everyone evacuate!!”
“But the princess!!!”
“Damn it! Princess!!”
“Arrrghhh!”
A shock like an earthquake deep beneath the sea rocked the entire coastline, staggering everyone on shore.
Naturally, the group that had come for Princess Andromeda fell into full panic.
Cetus was rising far earlier than the survivors of the previous trial had described.
Among them, the only ones capable of putting up any real fight were the Dawn Mercenary Band and a handful of mages and knights.
They had come precisely because a priest of Poseidon was supposed to be here.
But the moment Cetus—the monster that had routed nearly twenty thousand elite troops and mercenaries—revealed itself, their courage vanished, replaced only by terror.
“Lord Njord, what should we do?”
“…You really need to fix the way you talk.”
“Sorry. It’s not easy.”
“……”
Yet among the panicked crowd, there were a few who remained perfectly calm.
The Dawn Mercenary Band, led by Philomela and Alexis.
And Perseus, who had somehow already dashed forward.
“Lord Njord, what’s the plan? Should we prepare right away?”
“No. First, let’s see what Perseus does. Until then… just keep those guys quiet. They’re too loud.”
Poseidon ordered the mercenaries to stand by.
The plan had already deviated in many ways, but this level of disruption was still within controllable range.
Above all, from what he could tell, Perseus would likely prioritize rescuing the princess.
And Poseidon’s guess was spot on.
After briefly staring at the trembling sea, Perseus instantly donned the Talaria and shot into the air.
BOOM!
A massive impact erupted atop the pillar.
Perseus, Aegis drawn, had caught Princess Andromeda in his arms and blocked a gigantic, spear-like tail with it.
Screeeech.
His golden hair whipping in the wind, scattering mysterious golden light as he clashed against the dark-blue tentacle—the sight was so breathtakingly beautiful that even those fleeing turned back to look.
“What in the world…”
“My gods…”
“…….”
To modern people, it would have been a scene they had seen countless times across various media.
But in this era—an age of barbarism—it was nothing less than a legendary heroic tale.
The story of a handsome prince rescuing a beautiful princess.
A cliché that would still work centuries later struck straight into the hearts of the people of this time.
***
Unlike the dumbfounded onlookers, Perseus and Andromeda remained perfectly calm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
More precisely, while Cetus relentlessly hammered at the Aegis without pause, neither of them felt any fear at all.
Andromeda, who had still carried some lingering terror moments ago, felt instant relief the moment she was held in Perseus’s arms.
‘Ah… this man will resolve everything.’
And Perseus felt the same.
‘Ah… perhaps the reason I came here was to protect this woman.’
Perseus looked at the tail of Cetus pounding relentlessly against the Aegis right in front of him.
The sheer power of the creature summoned for this trial was immense—he could feel the Aegis slowly being pushed back.
It might even be comparable to—or stronger than—the Gorgons’ shells.
But even so…
“I’ll be right back.”
“Yes. Go and show them.”
Perseus felt no fear.
Soaring upward with the Talaria, he shot into the sky.
The instant Perseus rose, Cetus finally revealed the massive body that had been submerged beneath the sea.
A gigantic whale-like form, its head covered in chitin like a crustacean’s shell, and its tail split into three or four sharp, spear-like prongs.
—Interesting. You must be the one Lady Eurynome spoke of. You do not cower before me.
Cetus Aethiops—the monster that dwelt in the Aethiopian straits, one of the mightiest among all Cetuses.
For reference, the creature Dionysus had once glimpsed in Charybdis’s playground had merely been a clone of this very Aethiops.
Even Dionysus, who had been quite powerful as a demigod at the time, could only flee from it.
Now, at Lady Eurynome’s command, the true body had come to impose the trial on Aethiopia.
Perseus gripped Harpe tightly.
He wasn’t foolish enough to ignore the vast gap in power between himself and the monster before him.
Yet there was no fear.
Only the conviction that he had to overcome it.
As if sensing Perseus’s heart, Aethiops grinned.
To the onlookers, it looked like the monster had simply opened its jaws to swallow the hero whole.
In any case, Aethiops liked the hero before it.
—Good. Very good. How long has it been since a human faced me without fear?!
With that, the seawater writhed like serpents and surged toward Perseus.
Perseus waved his hand at the streams of water rushing toward him like fanged snakes.
As Poseidon’s priest, he was seizing control.
With only a few exceptions, no one in this world could rival a priest of Poseidon for dominion over the sea.
The water serpents split cleanly lengthwise—before they could reach him.
But Cetus was never the type to fight with such tricks alone.
While Perseus focused on wresting control of the water, the monster used its overwhelming mass as a weapon and charged straight at him.
***
Meanwhile, when Perseus had rescued Princess Andromeda…
King Cepheus, who had rushed here in a frenzy, also witnessed the scene.
“Andromeda!”
The deafening crash as Cetus’s tail collided with golden light.
Then Perseus soaring into the sky, and the full revelation of Aethiops before him.
King Cepheus could not tear his eyes away from the spectacle.
A mythical battle between a monster from ancient texts and the rumored hero—it was enough to leave even him spellbound.
While the king, the fleeing crowds, and those who had followed him all stood momentarily transfixed…
The Dawn Mercenary Band and Poseidon never loosened their vigilance for even an instant, watching intently.
The battle unfolding between Perseus and Cetus.
For now, it looked evenly matched.
But those who had experienced the trial firsthand knew the truth.
That monster was not yet using its full power.
“Mage Lord Njord, what do you plan to do? We’re waiting as you instructed, but… if things go wrong, the Priest could be in real danger with no way out.”
Even at Alexis’s worried words, Poseidon remained unmoved.
It wasn’t time yet.
In Poseidon’s view, if the Dawn Mercenary Band jumped in now, only Alexis and Philomela would be of any real help.
The rest would simply be begging to die.
So he had to create an opening himself—one where even they could contribute.
“So wait. What we need to do will only matter when Perseus plays his trump card to finish the enemy off in one precise strike.”
“Trump card?”
“Yeah. You know what it is.”
Alexis’s face hardened at Njord’s words. No way…
“That’s right—exactly what you’re thinking. First, clear out everyone around here. If they’re lucky enough to have their heads cut off and eyes closed, they won’t turn to stone… but if we’re careless, they all die.”
“…I see. I never thought he’d still be carrying that… I assumed he’d already offered it to the goddess he serves.”
“Exactly. If he’s going to offer it to anyone, it should be to me. Why give it to some random place?”
“Huh?”
“Ahem—never mind. It’s nothing. Leave only the elites here and evacuate the rest fast. Above all, get that dazed king out of here.”
At Njord’s command, the mercenaries moved in perfect unison. Some stubbornly insisted on watching the mythical battle, but they were all knocked out by Njord and dragged away unconscious.
“Now… the key is whether Perseus pulls it off well.”
***
Just as Njord thought, Perseus was thinking along the same lines.
With his current strength alone, he couldn’t kill this monster. That left only one option.
He needed the power of Medusa’s head—the one he still hadn’t offered to Lady Athena.
The only worry was whether the output would be enough. Even though it carried the petrifying power of the Gorgon goddess, it was still just a shell.
‘But there’s no other way. The monster before me is clearly stronger. I’ll just have to try.’
A massive wave crashed against Aethiops’s body.
Even a whale-like monster of such immense size and strength staggered under the fury of the raging sea.
In that instant, Perseus used the Talaria to close the distance and struck.
But Harpe could not slice through Aethiops’s chitin shell.
More precisely, Perseus’s own strength was still insufficient—unlike with Medusa’s head.
The toughness of Aethiops’s hide was on a different level from Medusa’s skin.
—It seems you still lack the power to wound me, human hero.
“…Rather than that—don’t you think it’s about time you withdrew? I’m fully aware you’ve been going easy on me.”
—Well… I must fulfill Lady Eurynome’s command. You must defeat me and pass the trial. Or how about handing over the woman behind you? If the princess of this land is offered as sacrifice, the sea gods might accept it.
“Impossible. That won’t happen.”
—Isn’t it? A man—and a hero—cannot flee and abandon the woman he fell for at first sight.
“What did you say?!”
Boom!
Aethiops finally began moving in earnest.
Its tails struck twice as fast as before, and the sea—now under even stronger control—raged wildly.
Then the gigantic whale’s jaws opened, unleashing a torrent of searing flame.
“Guh!!!”
The golden-patterned Aegis unfolded as countless small wounds accumulated on Perseus.
The blazing flames engulfed him, boiling the seawater and melting the entire strait where they fought.
The problem was…
“Damn it!!!”
That the flames’ reach extended all the way to the pillar where Andromeda stood.
It was Perseus’s mistake.
“My lady!”
Unable to move freely against the heat and sheer mass of the flames, Perseus desperately tried to return to the pillar.
But contrary to his fears, Andromeda was unharmed.
In fact, she was even cheering him on.
“I’m fine! Don’t get hurt—win safely!!”
In a situation where mere indirect heat was melting buildings, Andromeda’s perfect safety baffled everyone who could still endure the scene.
How?
“As expected of a great mage.”
“Exactly! Once we fulfill our dream, we should definitely follow that mage!!”
“Agreed.”
Only two people—who had grasped the full situation—Philomela and Zora—let out sighs of admiration.
Only after Aethiops’s flames finally subsided could the others see it.
How Andromeda, standing in the very heart of the inferno, remained safe.
Around her, transparent rose sculptures intertwined, forming a complete rose garden.
Andromeda sat within that transparent garden like a queen—untouched by any of the flames’ interference.
[Sub Rosa—Under the Rose]
“What a pity. I brought out a new spell, but the flames were weaker than I expected.”
“Lord Njord!”
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