Greece: I am Zeus!

Chapter 308 Disaster
Mortal spirits are "resources," "soil," "tools," "playthings," and "sacrifices."

Even the lowest-ranking divine beings do not regard mortal beings as equals.

Gods and mortals are absolutely different.

For many divine beings, especially those whose divine bodies are not divine forms.

Devouring "humans," beings that resemble gods and possess advanced intelligence, greatly satisfies certain unspeakable and twisted desires within them.

It is a distorted imitation of the superior by the inferior.

It's a dark possessiveness that says, "If I can't be you, I'll eat you up."

They both revere and admire those true masters, and feel both respect and envy for them.

We can't afford to mess with those big shots.

But do you think we can't afford to mess with you humans who are just 'looks like gods'?
You, a bunch of insignificant, fragile, and humble mortals!

You bunch of mortals who don't even have divinity!
Even the smallest spiritual beings need the protection of a soul bestowed by His Majesty the God-King to prevent them from dissipating!

How can someone look so much like a real god?!

By what right do they possess truly superior intelligence?!

Why should you so easily obtain the treasures we've all been striving for?!
As for certain higher-ranking divine beings who already possess divine form and advanced intelligence, they have no interest in tasting what other intelligent beings are like.

Yet I would still very much like to raise a group of intelligent beings.

After all, it would be incredibly boring to raise those ordinary creatures that have no intelligence.

Foolish mortals, unable to communicate, understand, or perceive, will quickly become bored.

But if these are kept as pets, these are truly intelligent beings, and the pleasures they can bring to their dull and monotonous lives are far too many.

After all, not every divine being is qualified or capable of receiving the service of intelligent beings.

On Mount Olympus, in the paradise of the supreme god-king, those fairies were inconspicuous.

However, these fairies who served the Olympian gods were also great beings in the mortal world, whom no living being dared to neglect in the slightest.

The fairies who serve the Olympian gods enjoy perks and privileges that are worth fighting tooth and nail for.

His Majesty the God-King would not allow those gods and fairies who have worked so hard to improve to become merely servants of the gods after they have succeeded; but that's a story for another time.

True wisdom is a rare treasure in the universe.

Unfortunately, humanity today does not have the capacity to protect it.

Humans currently pose no threat to divine beings, but they possess wisdom and a sense of self.

They can communicate, understand intelligent thinking, and also think, resist, despair, flatter, and even deceive...

The joy of "cultivating," the thrill of "control," and the pleasure of "being served" are simply a great pleasure for God!
The first to attack humans were those gods and monsters who were close to the water and had some backing (but not much backing, and unlikely to be willing to support them), and some intelligence (but not much intelligence).

Their purpose was simple, pure, and unpretentious.

I just wanted to try these top-quality "new dishes" that I had never dared to look at before and had never tasted before, but which I knew were incredibly delicious just by smelling them.

A medium-sized tribe with a population of six thousand.

The hundred or so people responsible for fetching water for the tribe were carrying rough wooden buckets and animal skin water bags, walking along the familiar riverbed and wet gravel, until they arrived at the riverbank they knew so well.

Time can always dilute the deepest sorrow.

Even though this period of time without divine fire and divine protection was truly too agonizing and too difficult.

However, these humans who survived the blood and tears are still trying their best to maintain a positive attitude and live their lives.

They seem to be able to face all the hardships they are currently experiencing with equanimity and firmly believe that they will eventually overcome them.

Even without the sacred flame, even if life is too bitter, too tiring, too dangerous...

But life will always find a way.

The lingering sorrow of losing loved ones still remains between their brows.

However, they can also chat and laugh during breaks from work.

They learned to fold the pain in their memories and use busyness to cover up the startled awakenings in the middle of the night.

I've learned to speak with a smile.

Even in his laughter, there was an indelible hoarseness and bitterness.

However, it is impossible to survive on this cruel and wild land if one is constantly immersed in sadness and pain.

They kept in mind God's teachings to live better lives.

Live better, carrying the hopes of those who have passed away.

While they were talking to each other, encouraging one another, and discussing today's achievements and plans for tomorrow.

Unbeknownst to them, a deadly danger was lurking beneath the seemingly calm river.

Or……

Even if it is discovered, it is completely useless.

Danger is creeping in.

There is no way to avoid it now.

boom--!
Two terrifying shadows, each over ten feet tall and whose ferocity defies description, suddenly rose from beneath the riverbed, carrying with them massive waves!

With a whooshing sound that tore through the air and a tooth-grinding sound of bones shattering, those two truly gaping maws suddenly opened wide!

Its sharp teeth gleamed coldly, and with a single bite, it crushed several people!

They swallowed it, along with the animal-hide water bag and the wooden bucket, into that endless, dark throat.

"Pfft-"

In an instant, limbs and fragments mixed with blood and internal organs rained down like a storm, completely staining the wide, clear river surface a nauseating crimson.

The catastrophic disaster came far too suddenly!
Those survivors who were lucky enough not to be swallowed up immediately were not even able to react.

Their minds went blank with extreme fear, and they just stood there, not even noticing that the water bags in their hands had slipped from their grasp.

Their pupils still reflected the twisted, extreme terror of their companions before their deaths.

Then several more of their companions were swept away and devoured by the monster that fell from the sky, using some kind of limb they couldn't see...

The remaining people, amidst that tremor that originated from the deepest part of their souls, suddenly came to their senses!
“Ahhhh——!!!”

"Monster! There's a monster!!!"

"Run!!!!"

Cries and screams shattered the momentary tranquility, and the sounds of despair echoed across the entire riverbank.

They cried out and screamed as they scattered and fled, despair washing over their reason wave after wave, like the blood-red river.

Faced with such a colossal creature straight out of mythology, the women, children, and disabled people responsible for fetching water could not muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

Of course, facts have proven that their desperate perception was completely and absolutely correct.

Even setting aside the various bizarre abilities that the other party possessed by nature as a deity, and the divine power that was naturally contained within the other party that mortals could not resist...

Even with just their massive, hill-like size, they completely crushed any possibility of resistance. These two divine beings were typical "gods and monsters."

It is the kind of being that has a truly ferocious and menacing appearance, and is terrifying to the extreme.

These are two "Nightmare of the Abyss".

If the mythical creatures born from the deep sea were beautiful, that would truly be bizarre.

Their appearance is beyond description using any ordinary language.

Its entire body is filled with the "unique diversity" created by the ocean.

If a timid mortal saw it, they wouldn't even need to lift a finger; just one glance at it, and they would be terrified to death by the chaotic divine aura.

Unfortunately, these poor humans couldn't even escape.

One of the monsters had a streamlined body like a shark, but its head was an indescribably ferocious beast head, covered with irregularly arranged compound eyes.

Beneath its body grows a dozen sharp claws with giant webbed feet.

Each claw is larger than an adult human.

His lower body also had more than a dozen thick, dark tentacles, like those of a giant python.

The tentacles were covered with barbed spikes, and the tips of the spikes were constantly secreting a sticky substance that was clearly highly poisonous.

He didn't even need to chase after them; he could simply flick out his flexible tentacles and easily hook the fleeing humans one by one in front of him.

Then, the desperate scream abruptly ceased within the dark, gaping maw, vanishing completely without a sound.

The other being was even larger in size.

Overall, it looks like an octopus.

However, his head looked more like an old sea turtle covered with layers of barnacles.

Apart from the fact that the tentacles covering his entire body had become "a few hundred million" more, there was nothing else that was significantly different.

It just has two heads.

This also means that his hunting speed far surpasses that of his friends and brothers.

After all, too many hands and too many mouths.

None of the hundred or so people responsible for fetching water had a chance to escape. In just a few breaths, they were devoured in utter despair and agony.

The tremendous commotion along the riverbank has already attracted the attention of the tribespeople in the settlement.

When they saw the two monsters standing in the river, "tasting" the corpses of their companions, everyone reacted in the same way as the water collectors.

That was absolute, suffocating despair.

They, too, had no intention of confrontation whatsoever.

The leader who remained behind was filled with immense terror the moment he saw the two "monsters".

But he acted decisively, using all his strength to roar at his clansmen who were already in a state of chaos and daze:

"Abandon everything!"

"Everyone! Scatter and escape immediately! Every survivor is a life saved!!!"

But he, who was already furious, brandished his rough stone axe, roared, and charged fiercely at the invincible terror!

He let out his final roar and charged resolutely toward the two terrifying monsters!

His burly body, covered in wounds, unleashed its final strength due to extreme anger and fear!

Behind him, dozens of the tribe’s most valiant warriors did not obey the order to “survive.”

Driven by extreme fear and knowing they were doomed, they roared and followed their leader into the deepest abyss of despair they had ever seen.

The outcome was inevitable.

These two young demons from the abyss are stirring up a storm without restraint.

The icy river water, stirred by their divine power, transformed into a terrifying torrent, spreading and overflowing towards both banks.

They listened with excitement to the desperate cries and wails of these mortals.

They watched with amusement as these mortal spirits scattered in panic, displaying their pathetic state.

In this "play," they savored these top-notch "delicious" experiences, which they had never tasted before and which exuded the "fragrance of wisdom."

They did more than just destroy human bodies.

Under their chaotic divine corruption originating from the deep sea, the human soul was also devoured.

And indeed, some of humanity's "wisdom" was absorbed by them as a result!

Ordinary divine beings would not be able to devour human souls so easily.

Not to mention, one can increase one's spirituality and wisdom by devouring souls.

But they are children of the deep sea.

The sea is both the source of life and the abyss of its end.

Therefore, by devouring spirituality and life, they can indeed draw wisdom and power from the other party.

In the past, ordinary mortal beings were not as intelligent as them, and their spirituality was pitifully thin, so no matter how much they ate, it was useless.

However, these humans, who were clearly more "intelligent" than them, immediately felt a completely different kind of "nourishment" after devouring them!
That meager increase in spirituality and power was insignificant to them.

However, the growth of "wisdom," that feeling of spiritual clarity and mental clarity, is immediate!

Originally, they just wanted to try the taste and have a little treat before leaving.

But unexpectedly, there was such a huge surprise!

As wisdom grows, so does the instinctive greed and desire...

That instinctive desire to "complete" themselves instantly took over their newly "smart" minds!

So their gaze turned to the vast tribal settlement that was now in complete chaos, filled with deafening cries and screams.

Within those numerous eerie pupils, each the size of a millstone, lay an uncontrollable greed.

Greed for "wisdom"!

This medium-sized tribe of over six thousand people suffered a complete and utter annihilation.

The entire tribe, except for those who had gone too far away, was wiped out.

Everyone in the tribe was completely devoured.

This divine monster born from the sea stirred up towering waves in the river, with terrifying waves reaching tens of meters high, crashing down with a deafening roar.

Both banks of the river became a vast swamp.

Mortal beings, with their feet firmly on the ground, cannot fly in the sky, nor can they escape the roaring tides and deadly eddies.

Human beings are fragile. Even if they are born into extraordinary circumstances and have physical abilities far superior to those of later generations, they are still just ordinary beings.

Death embraced them gently and mercifully.

(End of this chapter)