The Myth of the Greek Heavenly Demon

Chapter 112 – In Search Of Neri

Truly a bright idea, truly a wise plan.
Educating the young ones who dared to play politics, and solving the matchmaking requests from my sisters-in-law whenever I went to the sea.
A true win-win.
It wasn’t for nothing that I was called the Heavenly Demon King, not just a martial hero.

Before Theseus, with his face full of humiliation, could protest, the young heroes, burning with passion, almost kidnapped their general and dragged him away, leaving the hearth quiet.

“Dianes, then I’ll head over to that side…”

“Don’t. If you join them and start fighting me, even if it’s you, someone will end up dead.”

Hestia’s hearth suddenly became cold.
The only ones left were the women with bewildered faces and Hercules.
After finishing the meal in the now quiet dining section and standing up, Hercules followed me and started babbling nonsense again.

“But still! I heard the Nereid nymphs are so pretty…”

“Stop it. It’s not a one-on-one sparring match, but if you go wild and things get out of hand, there’ll be at least a hundred casualties. Do you want to see Asclepius coming with a poison needle?”

For reference, I had taught Asclepius some minor martial arts and internal body arts because Atalanta owed a lot during her training.
In addition to the original throwing needle technique and acupoint sealing method I taught, the sight of that pale guy flying through the air with needles reminded me of the great master of the Tang family.

“That’s because you taught him weird stuff… The kids complain to me. They ask what you did to Asclepius to make him the fourth Erinyes.”

“That’s because you keep causing trouble by killing people, and Asclepius has to run around saving them.”

But right now, Hercules’s chatter about matchmaking and Asclepius wasn’t the priority.

“Anyway, about the question you were going to ask earlier…”

“Oh, that one! I forgot because of all the commotion.”

“I think I know what it is. You’re wondering if there’s a way to control Zeus’s lightning, right?”

The goddess Hera once said: Zeus almost single-handedly raised the reputation of Olympus with his infidelity.
Eris claimed him to be the god who spread discord from his loins.
Even Ares said, “He may be my father, but he’s a bit embarrassing.”
Yet, despite their harsh criticisms, not even the gods dared to question his power or his reputation as the King of the Gods.

I, too, could understand why Zeus was considered the supreme god from the fragment of power Hercules showed.

‘He directly countered the Reverse Heavenly Art’s demonic energy that was half out of control?’

Moreover, Hercules had only instinctively wielded his power, which he had just awakened.
To withstand and even push back with just raw punches and the divine force overlayed on them, without any special technique.
Leaving aside the sheer amount of innate qi and monstrous body, it was proof that the essence of that qi was quite pure and powerful.

‘A rather usable material—no, almost a complete work of art by itself.’

In martial arts terms, he would be called a Heavenly Martial Body or even beyond that.
Every time I looked at him, I couldn’t help but think about what techniques or skills I should teach him next. His body was truly a divine-level physique for a martial artist, and even his innate qi was the most powerful and purest among natural qi, the Lightning Qi.
Sure, with his path as a mythological hero laid out before him, he could probably figure it all out on his own, fighting and stumbling along the way. But with the power he had just awakened and his monstrous strength, leaving him to his own devices felt like a waste.

“Our confrontation was, so to speak, a fight between a beast and a human.”

“No, to put it that way is…”

“Wasn’t it?”

“I can’t say it wasn’t…”

Either way, Hercules was quite honest and straightforward.
Although he originally had a slightly arrogant side, given his innate strength and background, it could be considered confidence.
However, after I dismantled his monstrous strength with martial arts several times, forcing him to his knees, and with Atalanta, whom I personally trained, catching up right below him, Hercules had come to trust my words greatly when it came to fighting.
To the extent that he would readily acknowledge even when I made remarks that would hurt his pride.
Moreover, seeing Asclepius quickly mastering the martial cultivation techniques I taught, I decided that I must teach him these techniques.

‘If I teach him some proper level martial or cultivation techniques, he might reduce the chances of getting into trouble by drinking excessively or causing a scene.’

Martial cultivation involves not only internal qi absorption but also self-reflection and mental training through meditation.
For now, I was holding the role of a suppressor, keeping the drinking and chaos in check, and making sure no one got too cocky just because of their strength, but who knows what might happen later.
As a senior in life and a former best in the world, it was necessary to guide the future best so that their life wouldn’t get tangled up with alcohol and women.

“I’m not forcing you, alright? Anyway, there’s a lot of work right now, and I think I’ll be busy too, so let’s think about it slowly and talk later.”

I’d grown quite tall myself, but I still patted the shoulder of Hercules, who was a head taller than me, and stepped lightly away from the hearth.

The boar man’s rehabilitation project should be left for him to decide appropriately.
What was important right now was meeting with my beautiful sea princess, Nesneria.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t spent much time with Neri lately.’

Originally, nymphs do not need to sleep.
For these complete spiritual beings, meals and sleep are merely preferences or hobbies, not necessities.
Yet Neri would come to me every day simply because she liked me, sleeping with me and sticking around until I woke up in the morning.
Though Neri still had the appearance and mannerisms of a child, I had decided long ago to face her distant journey from Passos and her affection seriously.
Today, I’d make up for all the time we hadn’t spent together lately. And I’d also let her know about the matchmaking for her sisters.
When she returned to the sea with that news, she’d be welcomed back as a hero.
Knowing how much Neri adored her sisters, she’d be overjoyed.

“Let’s see… where could she be?”

Usually, she would come to my room every night and fall asleep with me, but for some reason, when I woke up this morning, she was nowhere to be seen.

“Did she not come?”

Recently, she had been spending more time with the nymphs in the forest. Maybe she had been so caught up in playing that she didn’t come over.

I walked through the forest looking for Neri, my steps light, but something felt off.

“Is Neri here?”

“Oh, she didn’t come back last night? Didn’t she go to your room?”

Even Chariclo, who seemed busier than usual today, didn’t know.

“Nesneria? Hmm?”

“I only saw her leave in a good mood yesterday.”

Neither did the nymphs in the forest where she’d been staying.

“Neri!!”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She wasn’t even at the stream or the brook in the forest, where she often went.

“Where did she go?”

Neri was always lively around me and the nymphs, but she was still a bit afraid of the human world, having been raised cautiously by her sisters.
She almost never wandered around alone during the day when there were many people around, so where could she have gone?

“The last place left is…”

Only Poseidon’s coast remained.
However, the fact that Neri went to the sea at this time gave me a bad feeling.
If Neri had gone to the sea without my escort or even a goodbye, it could only mean one thing: she was really, really upset.
And if she had already gone deep into the ocean, it would be almost impossible for me to find her.

“…..”

A sharp, cold sense of dread shot down my spine and lodged in my mind.
Without further hesitation, I kicked off the ground and leaped into the sky.

In an instant, the ground below shrank away, and I could see the vast Mediterranean stretching out beneath me, its blue waves crashing against the coast of the Forest of Heroes.

And then I saw someone I hadn’t expected, staring right at me.

His body was rugged and covered in scars, with a dark blue beard and hair swaying like crashing waves.
He was the very image of a handsome middle-aged mariner from ancient Greece.
However, his wild aura and intense indigo eyes were reminiscent of a pirate ship captain or the leader of a grand fleet.
As soon as this pirate captain saw me, he immediately erupted in a thunderous voice.

[It’s you!!]

When the pirate captain pointed at me with his hand as big as a cauldron lid and clenched his fist, the surrounding energy instantly transformed its form.

“Ugh?!”

I was certainly floating in midair, yet for some reason, my breathing became labored, and my limbs felt heavy, as if I were sinking into deep water.
However, that was not the end.

[Come down right now!!]

-Thudududududu!!

“Ugh?!”

It was like a massive tidal wave.
The lightning Hercules showed yesterday seemed like child’s play compared to this intense and rough energy wave.
A massive wave of force, as if an unstoppable tidal wave were crashing behind me, struck my entire body, shaking me to my core.

That pirate captain, with just a gesture, had created an ocean in the middle of the sky.

“Th-this…!”

At this point, even someone oblivious would have no choice but to notice.
The vanished princess of the sea, and the man with grand muscles and a wild, immense aura encountered while searching for her in the sea.

[How dare you make my lovely youngest sister-in-law cry?! In the name of Poseidon, I will not forgive you!!]

The man before me was none other than Poseidon himself—riding the white waves, the god of the sea who calls forth earthquakes, and beloved brother-in-law of my beautiful lover, Nesneria.