I impersonated God in America

"You think this is enough to atone for your sins?"

The owl's voice was soft, without mockery or accusation, simply stating a fact.

But it seemed to have touched a nerve with Xu Ge, who was afraid to face a certain thought, and he interrupted him somewhat impulsively.

"What do you know..."

"You are not atoning for your sins, you are running away."

"You dare not continue living, dare not continue to face the things you have done every day you are alive."

"Sometimes dying is easier than living. You just think you've done everything you should have done, and the revenge is over."

The owl gently raised a section of its wing.

Xu Ge clenched his fists, somewhat hesitant to admit that the other party was right.

They didn't even dare to follow the other person's line of thought.

Xu Ge stared at the strange owl in front of him.

"who are you?"

"I'm just a messenger who happened to be visiting the descendants of Medusa."

"But the result was such an escapist."

Wait, Medusa?

Xu Ge's eyes widened suddenly. Wasn't that from a myth?

As an Italian, he grew up listening to Greek mythology.

Medusa was a familiar name to him in Sardinia, after all, it was the birthplace of the Medusa legend.

Could it be that...?

The messenger's words seemed to have aroused his desire, and Xu Ge waited quietly for what the other party would say next.

"Since you have already awakened... in today's terms, it is extraordinary power."

"Then why haven't you thought about it, or rather, why haven't you dared to think about something?"

The owl tilted its head at a 180-degree angle, looking at Xu Ge with an almost curious gaze.

"Shugo Moretti".

"Don't you want to resurrect your sister?"

bang

Upon hearing this, Xu Ge's mind went blank.

resurrection?!

Chapter Sixteen Medusa

"resurrection……"

Xu Ge leaned against the balcony; the snake's tail had retracted, and his legs had returned to human form.

The owl in front of me perched on the windowsill, its grayish-brown feathers tinged with a warm brown by the sunlight.

Little owl with vertical stripes on its belly?

Its scarlet eyes still made Xu Ge feel uncomfortable.

That feeling of being seen through to the bone.

The owl tilted its head and explained.

"Because Anna Moretti's soul did not go to heaven, when she died in the backyard of Gislin Manor, she was murdered, buried, and forgotten. There was no final confession, no priest, no holy water."

"According to the rules jointly established by the three realms, before the war begins, such souls will not be assigned to any permanent area of ​​the Heavenly Realm, nor will they belong to the Spirit Realm."

"Oh, you might be more familiar with the name 'spirit realm' or 'underworld.' Generally speaking, it's located at the boundary between souls, waiting to dissipate."

The owl tapped its claws lightly.

"So all you need to do is find the person who controls the entrance to the underworld to bring back your sister's soul."

"Who are you looking for?"

Medusa.

Xu Ge's snake scales rose uncontrollably from the back of his hand.

Snake hair, stone eyes, and a head cut off by a hero.

This is the other party's tag.

But thinking of his current state, he swallowed the words he hadn't said.

But why is Medusa associated with the underworld?

The owl's wings opened slightly, then closed again.

"A monster? That's what you think, isn't it?"

It repeated the word.

“You’re right about using the Greek patriarchal narrative.”

"Medusa was not originally a monster, but a maiden known for her beauty and beautiful hair. She was a priestess in the temple of Athena. Poseidon, the god of the sea, coveted her beauty and raped her in... the temple of Athena."

The owl paused for a moment for some reason, then continued its explanation.

"Athena was furious that the two had defiled the temple, so she turned Medusa's beautiful hair into venomous snakes, making her a monster that would turn anyone who saw her face to stone."

"Yes, this is the most widely circulated version during the Roman period."

"Her head is set in the shield, her name is used in mythology to frighten children, and her image is painted on armor, on helmets, and in the very center of shields."

The owl's gaze did not move.

"But why is she called Medusa? What does that name mean in Greek?"

Xu Ge did not answer.

He is Italian, not Greek.

“Μεδουσα,” the owl read aloud, “from μεδω, meaning to guard, rule, and protect.”

"Before Hesiod wrote Theogony, before the first cornerstone of the Parthenon was laid, she was the ancient mother goddess of Sardinia, and the original belief of the local people."

“The ancient Sardinians would place masks in the shape of Medusa on the faces of the dead, hoping that Medusa would protect their families on their journey to the underworld.”

"Medusa is essentially a regional mother goddess whose head was cut off during the process of being conquered by the patriarchal system."

"Therefore, she is the one who guards the path for the Sardinian dead to enter the underworld from the human world."

"If you want to resurrect Anna, you must go through Medusa."

silence.

Xu Ge closed his eyes.

Now he has too many questions to ask: the rules set by the three realms, the border areas, the other party's identity, and the other party's purpose.

But right now there's only one main problem.

What should I do next?

The owl blinked its scarlet eyes.

This was the first time Xu Ge had ever seen it blink.

It shook its wings, leaving behind a single feather.

"Find the Gorgon Stone. It is the only medium left by Medusa. Then, by sacrificing the souls of a group of heinous criminals, we can open the gate to the spirit world."

Xu Ge stared into the other person's eyes and asked, "Leaving aside the sinful souls, what about the clues to the Gorgon Stone? I can't just search aimlessly, can I?"

"The Stone of Gorgon was said to be a stone slab carved with the head of Medusa, which disappeared long ago."

"According to the prophecy, fate will guide Medusa's descendants to find the Gorgon Stone."

The next moment, in Xu Ge's eyes, a door opened in the void behind the owl.

"Once you find it, break off the feather, and it will lead you to me."

The door closed.

The owl disappeared.

The room fell silent again.

The first thought that popped into Xu Ge's mind was, "Where can I find a large number of sinful souls?"

A prison?

Xu Ge felt somewhat bewildered.

But he frowned, remembering that he seemed to have heard Brunel talking on the phone with someone before he went in.

Is the content about a party?

He stood up and placed Brunel's finger on the phone.

----------

Click.

Xu Ge grabbed the phone and crushed it instantly.

"Hehehe."

He now realizes that people can actually laugh when they are extremely angry.

[Masquerade Party Two-Legged Sheep Needs List]

"Perfect, let's settle both old and new scores together."

"Are you going to invite all your friends over for a masquerade ball?"

Why bother looking for a soul that has committed heinous crimes?

Aren't there tons of them at a ball?

In that case, all that's left is to find the Gorgon Stone.

--------

Several days later

"Our city's philanthropist, Mr. Brunel, died unexpectedly at home during a robbery..."

Xu Ge rested in his temporary room and casually scrolled away from the news.

He still gets a headache thinking about the Gorgon Stone.

fate?

There's no such thing as an easy thing.

Perhaps that owl was just trying to cast a wide net.

He got up, intending to go get some water.

The software sent a live stream notification.

[An unprecedented ancient site has been discovered in Sardinia; experts speculate it may be related to Medusa...]

Xu Ge didn't pay any attention, and simply raised the cup in his hand and took a sip.

The camera shows a cave.

No, it's not a cave.

It is a tomb.

The stone wall is covered with murals depicting half-human, half-snake figures.

At the end of the corridor, a 20-meter-long stone snake statue coils around a central gray-green square stone platform.

Pottery jars, bronze mirrors, bone combs.