Chapter 808: Fulfilling Past Promises. 2
Sensing the confusion behind the woman's angry face, Victor spoke a little incredulously: "You're a bit slow, huh? Didn't I just say you're in the same boat as Poseidon? You are just a toy to be used as my Wife sees fit."
Apparently, getting something wrong, Athena covered her assets. "Y-You… Are you going to do this to a woman? You are the same as Zeus!"
"... Woman, are you on drugs? Are you crazy?" Victor spoke with a disbelieving expression.
"Do you truly believe your treatment should be any different just because you're a beautiful woman?" Victor spoke with an incredulous expression.
"Have you never heard of the term gender equality? I don't discriminate." He was raised to be a warrior, for God's sake! From the moment someone pointed a sword at him, whether they be a man, a child, or a woman, it didn't matter. Their treatment would be the same.
Even some of his current Wives took a fist to their faces in the past. Victor's memories went back to when he met Natashia, Mizuki, Haruna, and Scathach. Even Aphrodite herself received Victor's disdain in the beginning. He might not have hit her, but his words back then were cruel.
'Honestly, I was too blinded by prejudice in the past.' Victor felt ashamed about this, but to be fair, Aphrodite didn't help much when she tried to control him with her Charm.
Victor snapped out of his thoughts and said, "And another thing, correct your delusional thinking. I don't plan on doing anything to you. I won't lay a hand on you." He spoke with a face of disdain... And disgust?
Disgust?
Athena trembled with rage! Having her femininity rejected in such a manner was more insulting than being defeated!
"I have beautiful and devoted Wives. Why should I go after trash?"
"T-Trash..." Athena was gobsmacked at what she had just heard.
"All the suffering that you will soon endure is just Karma being repaid. Because of your vanity, you hurt many Humans and even turned several of them into monsters, but I don't particularly care about that." Victor didn't care about the extras from the past. He wasn't a saint. He was a Dragon and a Demon King.
"The reason you're suffering this fate is simple. You're responsible for my beloved Wife's trauma. Poseidon raped her, and instead of supporting her, you abandoned her and turned her into a monster because you were jealous that Mortals were saying her beauty was greater than yours."
In other words, it was pure selfishness, pure retribution; he made a promise to Medusa years ago, and he's just fulfilling that promise.
"At least in this tragic tale, one thing remains true. Compared to my Medusa, you're much uglier." Victor smiled as he stroked Medusa's head. He laughed as he felt her hair wrapping around his arm as if alive.
Athena gritted her teeth in anger, but she didn't dare raise her voice. Despite the fact that her future prospects weren't looking good and the fact that she had just tried to take her own life, she didn't want to end up like Poseidon. She wanted to die, yet was also afraid of suffering.
Honestly, her thoughts were in chaos.
'At least I won't suffer through this alone. Artemis will be with me...' Athena thought, but the next scene made her open her eyes wide in shock.
"Y-Your Majesty."
"Hmm? What is it?" Victor looked at Artemis.
"Why am I here?"
"Huh?"
"I-I mean, I have nothing to do with Medusa! She was Athena's Maiden! I don't even know her! I only knew about her through stories Athena talked about in the past, as well as Perseus and Athena's Shield!" Artemis started with fear but soon let out everything she was holding in her chest, even though her speech became completely nonsensical in the end. She was terrified.
Yes, she did a lot of bad things in the past, but in this specific case, she was not at fault! She didn't even know Medusa!
Medusa growled when she heard the name Perseus. The woman had a lot of hatred in her heart for that man.
Victor blinked twice at Artemis and then asked Medusa: "Now that I think about it, that's true. Why is she here?"
"I don't like this bitch. I was trying to kill her on the battlefield, but she was dodging around so annoyingly." Medusa was completely honest.
In other words, she was being irrational.
"....." A strange silence fell around.
Victor looked at his Wife with an expressionless face. He then sighed and "Artemis, come here."
"Y-Yes!" Arthemis struggled to stand up, but she bit her lip and endured the pain. Then, she stood in front of Victor like a child about to be scolded by her father.
Victor touched her head with two fingers, and in the next moment, Artemis' appearance began to be restored, even her Divine Raiment was remade.
The influence of Victor's Soul attacks was completely withdrawn from Artemis' Soul. Victor's actions displayed Soul Control so precise that it would garner envy even from The Gods of Death.
"The pain... disappeared."
"There, you're healed." He caressed Artemis' head and said, "I apologize for my previous words."
Medusa pouted when she saw her Husband's actions.
"W-Why did you do that?" Artemis asked in shock, both by his actions and his apology. She never thought he would apologize for something!
'Isn't he a Tyrannical King? What's happening? ... His touch is nice...' Artemis shook her head from side to side to get that thought out of her head.
"I'm not irrational... Most of the time, of course." Victor laughed at his own joke that wasn't a joke and then said, "The people who harmed my beloved Wife the most are those two jerks. You just annoyed her recently, and she's being petty, so you being here is a mistake."
Acknowledging mistakes and apologizing wasn't humiliating for Victor. After all, he had this mindset even before becoming a Dragon. He knew that pride was good, but excessive pride that blinded you was just foolishness. Because of this, he acknowledged his mistakes, learned from them, and moved forward.
It was just that simple.
"Oh... Oh..." Artemis could only react this way. She was completely caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events.
"But don't get too optimistic; you're still cannon fodder." Victor quickly threw reality in Artemis' face.
"Or would you prefer to receive the same treatment as those two?"
"Hiih! Of course not! I'm cannon fodder! A perfect cannon fodder that will kill all your enemies! I am The Goddess of Cannon Fodder!" Artemis shouted in panic.
"Mm." Victor smiled widely. "I never thought someone would like being cannon fodder so much. You're amazing."
"... Y-Yes... T-Thank you...?" Artemis was almost crying now, but she was internally relieved. She'd prefer to fight in a war and die than suffer the fate of Athena and Poseidon.
"Artemis... You traitor!" Athena roared with anger.
"... Huh? Who are you? Do I know you?" Artemis spoke neutrally.
"Eh...?" Anger shone even more in Athena's gaze. "Stop pretending! It's me, Athena!"
"I'm sorry, but Athena died in the war. I don't know you."
Artemis might be slow at times, but she was a Goddess of Wild Animals, so she knew how nature worked. This man was the Alpha Predator, and she lost to him, meaning he owned her.
If he said the sky was pink, the sky from then on was pink. If he said Athena didn't exist, then Athena mysteriously disappeared.
The best way to survive this predator was to do everything he said! So, she would behave!
Artemis had no idea how much this mindset would help her survive the 'tyrant' known as Victor in the future.
After all, Victor might be a tyrant, the man who destroyed a Pantheon and enslaved the Gods, but deep down, his values as a warrior were strong—
something Scathach taught him when he stepped into The Supernatural World.
Martial Honor; there was a reason his followers claimed he had a Divinity in such a thing.
As long as someone was competent and worked for him, Victor wouldn't mistreat them. On the contrary, he might even reward them for good service.
That was what happened in his own Hell.
That was what happened with Hephaestus; the God promptly submitted to him and even performed an Unbreakable Vow. Even though he was Victor's 'enemy' a few hours ago, Victor made him his subordinate.
While Athena was incredulous about what she was witnessing now, Victor approached her and touched her head.
"W-What?"
A small golden light emerged from Athena's head and floated into Victor's hand.
"What-..." Athena, Aphrodite, Persephone, and Artemis widened their eyes.
"Metis... The True Goddess of Wisdom, the woman who always advised The God King, Zeus."
"....."
"What? Did you really think Zeus had the brains to rule Olympus?" Victor spoke with disdain. "Behind his albeit rare intelligent actions, this woman was the one responsible."
"The Primordial Goddess of Wisdom, Metis." Victor touched his chest, and another golden light emerged from his body.
"Metis was originally split into two parts. One was with her daughter, and the other was in her husband's body." Victor brought the two golden lights together, and a woman the size of his hand appeared. She was in a fetal position with her eyes closed.
Victor didn't need to do anything and just brought the two Soul fragments close to each other, and the whole process was natural.
'As expected of Gods' Souls, they're quite resilient. For a Being to survive so long in this divided state, only Gods could do that.' Victor thought.
"Mother... What-" Athena was about to say something, but Victor silenced her with a hand gesture.
"Medusa, take these two toys and have fun. If you need anything, let me know... And protect Roberta's mind if you're going to do something too graphic." Victor closed his hand and placed Metis into his Internal World.
"Yes, Husband. Don't worry, I'll protect her, as I always have." Medusa spoke with a serious expression.
"Mm, good." He nodded satisfactorily. He suddenly thought of something, "Tell me, girls. Do you want to be separated?"
"... Eh?" The voices of Roberta and Medusa resonated as if two people were speaking at the same time.
"With my Natural Powers, if I separate your Souls and create a body for each of you, it's possible... A bit complicated, but possible."
"What do you think?"
"Hmm..." A silence fell around them as the two women in one body visibly seemed to be talking to each other.
"We refuse."
"We like the situation as it is now."
"Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do if Medusa left my body," Roberta said.
"Indeed." Medusa agreed.
"I see..." Victor closed his eyes and accepted her words. "If you change your minds, let me know, okay?"
"Mm!" The voices of the two were heard.
"Now, go have fun."
"Yes, Husband!" Medusa looked at the two Gods, and soon, several Magic Circles appeared on the ground, followed by several Gorgons emerging from the earth.
Medusa took out an orb and shouted, "Natalia!"
A portal opened not too far away, and soon Natalia's head appeared.
"What?" Natalia asked. "I'm busy, you know? I have to take these Gods to Nightingale. Honestly, it's exhausting and tiring." She subtly looked at Victor as she said that.
'Sly woman!' Aphrodite, Agnes, Violet, and Medusa thought.
"Don't worry, you'll be rewarded later, Nat."
"Mm!" Natalia smiled contentedly.
"Take me to Nightingale, to the underground," Medusa barked irritably.
"That place?" Natalia asked as she stepped out of the portal.
"Yes."
"Unfortunately, that place is full of Maria's Ghouls."
"Tsk, then take me underground in the forest!"
"Okay."
"Girls, you know what to do," Medusa spoke to the Gorgons.
"Yes, Lady Medusa."
"Natalia, ask Ruby to send someone to protect Medusa and send a Goddess of Medicine to heal Poseidon and Athena when needed."
"Yes, Darling."
When Medusa left with Natalia,
Victor looked at Artemis. "Go back to the courtyard and wait for Natalia to take you to Nightingale."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Artemis started running to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"Don't run."
She immediately stopped running.
"..." Victor looked at this with a funny smile on his face. "You can walk slowly, Artemis."
"Y-Yes!" Arthemis began to walk... Slowly, like a turtle.
Victor put his hand to his forehead, containing the urge to sigh.
Aphrodite chuckled softly at this scene. She never thought she would see Artemis so domesticated like this.
'She really wants to live, huh?' Aphrodite thought.
"You can walk like a normal person, Artemis."
"Yes!"
When Artemis left, Victor looked at Persephone.
"Now, it's your turn."
Persephone swallowed slightly. She wondered what kind of fate awaited her. At the same time, she couldn't help but look at a certain pink-haired Goddess with frustration.
'Again, Aphrodite is on the winning side, while I'm on the losing side.' This thought left her completely sour about the situation.