Three days later, a handsome silver-haired man and a beautiful silver-haired woman crossed the surging waves and set foot on the Attica Peninsula, smiles of a bountiful harvest hanging on their faces.
They were none other than Athena and Lorne, who had vanished after the battle on Crete.
Of course, the two of them had not been idle during this time.
Instead, they had gone and done a "big thing".
Namely—collecting a debt from the Sea God's Temple.
During the previous judgment regarding the beast-tide catastrophe, Poseidon, as the party at fault, was supposed to compensate the Minos people according to the agreement.
Yet until now, he still had not finished paying what he owed.
In the past, the Sea God's Temple had overwhelming manpower, so, even if Athena was dissatisfied, she could only swallow her anger and endure it.
But now, the Sea King had already been hauled back to Olympus by Zeus for temporary detention.
Atlantis had been sunk, and the entire ocean god faction had been frightened out of their wits by the sudden descent of the three Hecatoncheires.
One by one, they shut their doors tight, terrified of becoming collateral damage.
If they did not take this opportunity to settle old accounts, it would be an insult to King Minos, who had calmly gone to his death, and to those war spirits who had sacrificed themselves so generously.
Thus, Athena decisively brought along Lorne, the nominal "sole surviving seedling" of Crete, to go stir up trouble with Poseidon's family.
With Atlantis fallen, Poseidon's carefully managed lair naturally no longer existed.
Having nowhere to go, the Sea Queen Amphitrite ultimately brought Prince Triton and the remnants of Atlantis to seek refuge with her elderly father, Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea.
After receiving this news, Athena and Lorne rushed to Naxos Island and made a few "friendly" rounds in the vicinity.
The old sea god, wearing a face full of sorrow, promptly opened the barrier and invited them inside.
In the end, under Nereus's mediation, the Sea Queen Amphitrite and Prince Triton, who werefearful of retaliation, could only obediently lower their heads and repay the overdue debt at a hefty price.
Among the compensation were three extremely rare resources: orichalcum, silver star sand, and gamanien.
Orichalcum was something Lorne had already come into contact with.
Whether in hardness, sharpness, or magical conductivity, it was top-tier...an extremely precious forging material and strategic resource of Atlantis.
Silver star sand was said to be nurtured at the boundary between land and sea.
It was a near-perfect divine medium, capable of self-repair and providing its user with basic healing.
Of the first two, Lorne had at least some understanding.
They were tangible and comprehensible. But as for the third, he had never even heard of it.
So-called gamanien was a special magical substance.
Because it was formed through eruptions from the abyss beneath the seabed, it contained primordial divine power, capable of perfectly fusing different forging materials together and drawing out their maximum effectiveness.
When demanding compensation, Athena smoothly recited the names and quantities of all three items, clearly having come well prepared.
Lorne did not know whether Athena's asking price was considered high, but judging from the distinctly green faces Amphitrite and Prince Triton wore in the end, this "protection fee" was definitely not cheap.
After all, orichalcum alone amounted to ten tons…
Naturally, Lorne had a share in this as well.
Athena was quite generous, so, he received a full ton.
Whether for crafting a main weapon, armor, or one-time consumables, it would be enough for him to use on his own for decades.
In addition to this, under the effect of the "victim halo", Lorne also received two other compensations.
One was a mount called the "Meteor Chariot", pulled by two divine horses, "Xanthos" and "Balios", capable of racing across sea and sky at meteor-like speeds.
Poseidon was not only the god of the sea, earthquakes, and storms, but also the god of horses.
As such, these two divine steeds were not only intelligent and incredibly fast, but also possessed the immortality unique to gods, perfect for charging into battle (or blocking incoming attacks).
Given that Sea King's famously indiscriminate romantic habits, Lorne guessed these two might very well be the result of Poseidon's one-night stand with some four-legged creature.
The other compensation corresponded to the golden oracle's reward and was related to Poseidon's divine authority.
—A fragment broken from the trident during the Titan War.
Legend had it that the three prongs of Poseidon's trident represented three distinct divine authorities.
The first prong was known as "Neptune's Point".
It was the trident's primary offensive component. "Neptune's Point" was extremely sharp...when Poseidon thrust it forward with force, it could easily pierce an enemy's armor and defenses, dealing devastating damage.
Its sharpness and material made it unrivaled, allowing Poseidon to gain the upper hand in battle.
The second prong was "Poseidon's Fork".
This was used to control and command the seas.
Poseidon could insert it into the ocean and, through his will, dominate its power.
With it, he could raise massive waves, tsunamis, and storms, destroying enemy ships and cities.
He could also use it to create currents, control tides, and command sea creatures, allowing him to move freely through the ocean and rule over vast marine domains.
The third prong, whose full name was "Oceanus Spear", was the rarest yet most special. "Oceanus Spear" granted Poseidon control over earthquakes and subterranean water systems.
By driving it into the earth, he could unleash violent quakes, making him one of the most destructive gods in nature, capable of reshaping entire landscapes.
What Lorne obtained was a fragment from the second prong.
Originally, this item had been a gift from Poseidon to Prince Triton, symbolizing his inheritance of oceanic authority and control over Atlantis.
However, now that the ocean gods had declined and Atlantis had sunk, faced with two terrifying debt collectors, Triton, no matter how unwilling, could only shed tears as he shattered his own trident, extracting the embedded fragment and handing it over to Athena and Lorne as payment for his life.
Naturally, Athena did not spare Nereus either, following the principle of shared responsibility.
A pile of rare materials, gemstones, and minerals was stripped from Naxos Island.
If Lorne had not stopped her, Athena might have very well wanted to uproot the entire island and rebuild her grand temple elsewhere.
In the end, father and daughter tearfully saw Athena and Lorne off after three days of being thoroughly skinned alive.
Of course, after paying such an exorbitant price, the other side was not without demands.
—That graceful lady had chosen submission primarily for her husband's sake.
At present, Sea King Poseidon was temporarily detained by Zeus.
The public trial seven days later, by all appearances looked unlikely to end lightly.
Given the God-King's infamous reputation, Amphitrite did not dare go alone to Olympus to plead for mercy.
For all she knew, Zeus might suddenly decide to play out a "Madam, you wouldn't want…" scenario.
Thus, Amphitrite deliberately remained on Naxos Island.
She was likely waiting for the victims to come knocking, using her father Nereus to mediate talks with Athena.
Between the lines, the Sea Queen hoped that, in light of this generous compensation, Athena would put in a good word for Poseidon during the divine council, refraining from kicking him while he was down and causing mutual destruction.
After all, as long as the Sea King lived, he could still bear some pressure for Olympus, and a complete fallout would benefit no one.
Clearly, Amphitrite herself probably had not come up with this rhetoric.
The mastermind behind it was most likely the ocean nymph famed for her wisdom—Thetis.
As for the olive branch extended by the Sea Queen, Athena, having taken her fill of benefits, responded with an ambiguous nod.
After all, she would still need that uncle to keep taking hits and stepping on mines in the future.
Without such a windbreak, some of her own little maneuvers would face greater risk of exposure.
Thus, even if Amphitrite had not asked, Athena would still have rationally lent that uncle a hand when necessary.
Driving tigers to swallow wolves, driving wolves to chase tigers, such hidden schemes and power plays were hardly the exclusive tools of the God-King.
After a tacit consensus was reached, the atmosphere between both sides grew increasingly harmonious.
Lorne and Athena enjoyed the highest level of hospitality.
Whatever they glanced at, the warm and generous ocean folk would quietly slip it over.
If not for the approaching date of the divine council and other matters to attend to before heading to Olympus, the two would have loved to stay a few more days and continue experiencing the ocean people's enthusiasm.
"What a pity Thetis wasn't here. I was even thinking of trying a little 'father's debt, daughter's repayment' and making her serve me for a few days."
Athena murmured regretfully, looking back at the vast Oceanus Sea behind her.
On the surface, Lorne remained expressionless, but inwardly he was grumbling.
If he remembered correctly, weren't they close friends?
Just because she picked the wrong side once, was it really necessary to hold a grudge forever?
That said, he was also rather curious to meet that legendary ocean nymph famed for both beauty and wisdom.
Though he had not officially met her yet, at least one thing was certain.
—Mm. Very smooth.
(End of the chapter)