Chapter 555: The Arrogance of the Gods. 2
This was entirely accidental, and it happened while Victor was training at Clan Adrastea. Victor had been curious about those red threads that connect everyone and everything.
He tried several times to interact with these wires since, if he could see them, he should be able to interact with them, right?
But this proved to be more complicated than he initially thought, he could see them but couldn't interact with them, and he didn't even know what they were.
But caught up in the moment, he tried different ways to interact with these threads that only he could see.
And after many tests and attempts, he found a way to interact.
He used his progenitor power by covering his hand with his 'true' form, and he was finally able to interact.
It was nothing noteworthy. He could just touch the wire, and when he touched them... Nothing happened.
He didn't feel anything. Not even his sense of touch could feel anything, he seemed to be touching something 'invisible', and he only knew he was touching it because his unique vision was seeing his hand touch it.
Slightly frustrated, he just hit the wire, and that proved to be a bad idea.
Because the thread he 'attacked' shook, and the stone that this thread was connected to shook internally and shattered, but the thread remained intact.
Shocked by what happened, he looked at a random tree and did the same thing, and just like the stone, the tree was broken from the 'inside', but the thread connected to the tree was still intact.
That day, after testing it in several surrounding landscapes, Victor decided to research these wires even more.
After reading several books in the library of Clan Fulger, Snow, and Scarlett, he found nothing that could satisfy his curiosity, he even tried talking to Scathach or the countesses about it, but they had no idea what he was talking about.
"What are these wires?" Victor wondered.
Just from his observation, he understood that the threads covered all 'existence', and whenever that thread was damaged, the existence connected to that thread was damaged, but upon understanding this, another question popped into his head.
Why could he interact with it?
Victor doesn't know it, but he bets 100 dollars that this power is intertwined with his progenitor power.
Victor had never attacked the 'thread' of a living being before, he just did it on the stones or nature, but now he understood what the reaction of someone who received this attack was.
'If I completely cut these wires, what would happen?' He really wanted to know.
Angered by the gods' demonstration, Victor used the two arrogant gods as test subjects.
And the result was splendid, gods who are 'stronger' than he is lying on the ground while covering their faces in pain.
He made sure to keep that outcome in mind.
'Hmm?' Victor raised an eyebrow, as he felt extremely tired right now.
'What the fuck was that?' A feeling of fatigue enveloped his body, and it was as if he had used all of his powers at full power simultaneously. The last time he felt like this was when he fought Scathach, but he didn't let it show on his face.
"Victor, what did you do?" She looked at Loki and Freya, who had bleeding eyes.
"Are the gods all like that?" Victor didn't answer and just looked at Aphrodite and pointed to the two gods, specifically their attitudes towards Victor.
And before Aphrodite could respond, he spoke:
"… Nevermind, they are." He spoke in disdain. His mood was very bad right now.
"...." Aphrodite sensed her husband's mood and understood why he was so upset.
'He felt like his privacy was invaded.'
It wasn't just that.
Victor had secrets, secrets he wanted to keep hidden, and one of those secrets was related to a certain tree.
[Master, don't worry, I completely hid my main body, and that being inside you is also helping to keep my body hidden in your soul.] Hearing Roxanne's voice through his Personal Link, Victor spoke:
[It doesn't matter, their attitude displeases me, they call me here, one tries to control me or use some kind of mental power, something I hate, and to make matters worse, he violates my privacy.]
[And the other tries to do the same thing.]
"Aphrodite, I'm leaving."
"W-Wait."
"You don't need to react—."
"Aphrodite." Victor's voice was stern.
"...." And Aphrodite felt her heart flutter in pain. He wasn't calling her with his gentle tone like she was getting used to now.
"How do you feel when someone looks into your secrets without your permission?"
"... I would be upset, depending on the case, I would kill this nosy being."
"Right?" Victor nodded.
"A god tried to play a 'joke' that wasn't funny at all." He looked at Loki with his eyes glowing blood red.
"What was the damn joke? Would he control me and make a fool of me? Was he going to prove he was superior or some shit like that?"
"Hmmm?"
"I am talking to you. Answer me." His voice came out with a tone of authority while he tried to use his vocal 'charm' to control the god, but just as he expected, nothing happened.
Loki glared at Victor with visible irritation, but with just one look from Aphrodite, his hostile attitude changed to neutral. He knew that with just a wave of the goddess's hand, he would have become the woman's puppet.
"I would control your senses, and play with your mind a little, tease your fears, and laugh about it later."
"… See?" He just looked at Aphrodite.
"...."
"No need to react so much, it was just a funny joke." Loki, who recovered, got up from the ground.
"This is not funny. This is just sick." He spoke in disdain for Loki.
"And to make matters worse." He turned his gaze to Aphrodite:
"He invaded my privacy. Our privacy."
"..." Aphrodite cringed when she realized that he was also upset that Loki saw their 'bond'.
"Were you planning to reveal that you married me in that special way?"
"N-No, I intend to keep it a secret because it will cause chaos." Aphrodite understood her position. She's just too popular, and if everyone knew what she did, the entire population of male gods would come and kill Victor.
The goddess of beauty was much desired, but no one could ever really have her for themselves.
It was worth mentioning that the gods would be very jealous of Victor.
"And for them? Would you reveal it to them?"
"I would keep it a secret too." She spoke in a smug tone.
"They claim to be your friend but don't respect your privacy."
Freya snarled with her eyes dripping golden blood, every good impression she had of Victor now gone to waste, a good impression caused by his appearance that was more beautiful than the god's most handsome man.
"... You're talking too much for someone who's only just met us."
"Mortal, know your place. Our relationship is not as simple as your mind can fathom."
Victor completely ignored Freya and looked at Aphrodite.
"Do I need to say anything else?"
"...." Aphrodite's silence was the answer he needed.
"I don't know what relationship you guys have." Victor spoke while looking at Freya…
"But a friend who tries to play mind games with his so-called new 'friend', a friend who invades his 'friend's most intimate privacy...'"
"In my view, they are not good friends."
"Haah." Freya visibly sighed, "You don't need to be offended by this, Loki always does that, and I admit looking into someone else's soul without their permission-." Freya started to speak but was cut off by Victor again.
"Offended…?" Victor looked at her with an unbelievable look.
"Pfftt… HAHAHAHA." Victor's high-pitched, demonic laughter was heard throughout the apartment, and the whole apartment seemed to shake, glassware shattered, and the sense of danger began to build.
"..." Aphrodite clearly felt Victor's feelings now.
His feelings shifted to anger and disgust, but it wasn't directed at her.
"Offended? It's an understatement for how I'm feeling right now."
"I'm angry." Victor's eyes glowed blood red.
Seeing the confused gazes of the gods, Victor's eyes changed from red to violet, while his eyes flashed in disdain as he understood something:
"…I see. You guys don't understand what I'm feeling, huh?"
"...." Victor looked at Aphrodite.
"Seems like only Aphrodite understands me."
"...." Aphrodite bit her lip.
The whole environment was calm, and Victor looked at everything in a neutral and indifferent tone:
"Gods are always like that, annoying, proud pests who think they are above everyone else and can treat others as they please."
"For a few seconds, I thought you guys were different, but in the end, it's all the same shit."
"You guys are just the same kind of cocky pieces of shit."
"Honestly?"
"Fuck off." He raised his middle finger.
Victor turned and entered the elevator again.
"Some advice? Get your fucking dick out of your ass, you pieces of shit. The world doesn't revolve around you."
Veins popped on Freya and Loki's heads. That man was being very disrespectful!
Victor ignored the two and looked at the goddess of beauty:
"Aphrodite, I'm waiting for you at home."
"Mm, I will be there soon."
??
30 minutes after Victor left.
"What did we do wrong?" Freya asked as she wiped her face, as a slight feeling of fear welled up in her heart.
'What was that attack? How did he harm us? Did he use his progenitor power? But I didn't see the energy being condensed.' Freya was analyzing what happened.
Loki's eyes flashed in disdain. "Does it matter? That bastard, he-."
"Loki..." Aphrodite looked at Loki:
"One more word and I promise you that tomorrow you will wake up in the middle of a bunch of monsters that will love to use your hole." Aphrodite's tone was extremely serious.
Everyone knew that if Loki said one more thing about Victor, the fate the goddess promised would come true.
"..." Loki just gulped, sat down on the sofa, and said:
"I was just kidding, hahahaha..."
"You guys did everything wrong." Aphrodite answered Freya.
Freya and Loki looked at Aphrodite.
"Starting with Loki. Why would you play with him? And try to control his mind?"
"It's just a joke."
"That might be for bored gods who live thousands of years and are resistant to it thanks to their divine senses, but for a mortal?"
"…What happened to the mortals you teased like that?"
"They died..."
"And to make matters worse, you used your divine senses to spy on our relationship."
"That is extremely offensive."
"Are we not friends? We've done this several times before-." Freya tried to speak, but Aphrodite cut her off.
"Is Victor your friend?"
"As far as I know, he is a stranger to you, and as far as he has interacted with you, it has been on his cell phone in the chat group."
"How would you feel if Odin spied on your secrets?"
"..." The two frowned.
"See?"
"You didn't just invade his privacy, a stranger you've just met in person, a stranger who is something very close to me, your 'friend'."
"You also tried to control his mind." She looked at Loki in disdain,
"...." The two were silent.
"He just didn't attack you out of respect for me."
"Even if they attacked us, they wouldn't harm us."
"Hahahaha, Loki, that's why Odin calls you a fool sometimes."
"What is a progenitor of vampires?"
"He who walks between life and death and has control of the souls of the dead and the blood of the living." Loki replied as if it were common sense.
'Was that it?' Freya thought:
'Is his hold on souls so great that he can harm us? Is that possible? He hasn't even matured yet.' Freya was thinking deeply about it.
"It seems you've forgotten why Vlad is so feared… Actually, that's a good thing since, because of that, the gods didn't put as much focus on Victor." Aphrodite spoke.
"A progenitor of vampires can erase a soul from existence by causing permanent death. If Victor were to use that power, even the two of you would need to keep your guard up."
"… What if Victor attacked you both."
"I would help him too." She stated it as a fact.
??
"Would you throw our friendship away that easily?"
"He is my husband. I made a soul marriage with him."
"...." Freya opened her eyes wide, looked at Loki, and the man had a face that said; 'I told you'.
Aphrodite's eyes went lifeless, "Even if I hadn't married him, if someone threatens the existence of Victor, my husband, my Darling. They will be eliminated, friends or not, acquaintances or not, all will be purged from existence."
"..." The two gods felt a genuine shiver as they looked at Aphrodite.
The woman seemed so…distant.
The doubt the two had about whether Aphrodite would attack their 'friends' or not was completely erased now.
She was going to do this; she was going to attack them. If things escalated out of control, Aphrodite would make them her enemy.
'...Did that man use some mind control on her or something? Why is she reacting like this?' Seeing her obsessive eyes, she dismissed that thought. She saw a similar look in the god of love of the Hindu pantheon. It's a normal thing when a god of love falls in love.
"Gods are always like that, annoying, proud pests who think they are above everyone else and can treat others as they please." Aphrodite echoed Victor's words.
"Darling is correct."
"Why didn't you two just act normal?"
"Did you guys want to be kinky or something? Just act normal! Discuss what we agreed on!
"Haah." Freya sighed, "You are being extremely unfair to me right now."
"You know it was Loki who started it." Freya threw Loki under the bus.
"..." The man had no words for his defense.
"Don't run away from guilt, Freya."
"Due to your boredom and maybe trust in Loki, when he asked you to use your divine senses, you did it and didn't even think about how rude it was or anything, correct?"
??
"Because you are friends, you subconsciously thought it would be okay to do this."
"....." Freya seemed to shrink even more when she saw the twinkle in Aphrodite's eyes.
Freya broke out in a cold sweat. She had no words to deny Aphrodite; she was right.
"Haaah, that was my fault too. I should have kept my guard up, and I should have warned you guys to act normal. I didn't prepare enough."
?? The two looked at her, confused.
"I got careless because I was visiting my friends."
Aphrodite's eyes glowed, and an extremely powerful veil surrounded her entire existence. Even if the two gods wanted to use their divine senses, they wouldn't see anything right now.
"I will not make the same mistake again."
"… Do you need to go that far?" Loki spoke.
"Yes, I should have done that from the beginning. When I get home, I will teach my Darling to control my blessings to protect his soul from the divine senses."
"Luckily, I taught something similar a few hours ago, and being a progenitor, he has a basic 'idea' on how to protect his soul, but that's not enough." Aphrodite gets up from the couch.
"Are you leaving?" Freya asked.
"Yeah, I have no business here anymore."
"Are you going to abandon the plan?" Loki narrowed his eyes and continued:
"Remember what you said. This is important."
"…Are you going to apologize?"
"..." The two were silent.
Even if they were the most reasonable of gods, their pride was still high, and they wouldn't apologize to a mortal.
"See? There is no way this alliance can work. My husband is a spiteful man; he may not have done anything out of respect for me, but he never forgets an offense."
"..." Aphrodite recalled the time that because of their getting off to a bad start, Victor avoided her like the plague. What Loki did now was something similar to what she did, and this time there's no 'Anna' to remedy the situation.
"Between the two of you, only Freya can stand a chance of being his ally if she apologizes, of course.
"Loki has already become his enemy."
"… Isn't he very emotional? It was just a joke. I wouldn't have harmed him." Loki spoke in disdain.
"Would you say the same if Thor somehow surpassed you in illusion magic, and the man controlled your body and had fun with it?"
"..." Loki made a disgusted and irritated look, just imagining that he felt like going back to the time when he tried to kill Thor.
"See?"
"Now I completely understand how he felt and because he's a mortal, you think you can do whatever you want, and he'll forgive you." Aphrodite, for the first time, saw what it was like to deal with the gods from the point of view of a mortal.
And when she understood that, she felt even worse when she remembered how she treated Adonis. She knew she had done something bad to the man but never 'really' understood him.
She just thought she 'understood' him, but when she felt Victor's feelings now, it was as if her mind had been opened.
'So that's how he felt in the past, huh?' She thought wistfully.
"I will call Kali and Susanoo."
'The two have a similar mentality to Darling, and they didn't treat him badly for being a mortal.'
"Darling is a reasonable man, and he adheres to the dogma; Treat me with respect, and I'll treat you with respect. Treat me with hate, and I'll give you 100x more hate."
"That's pretty similar to Susanoo." Freya commented.
"Yeah, knowing the two gods' personalities, they'll get along with Victor. But I'll let them know just in case, since I don't want to make the same mistake again. I'll see you another day." That was the last thing Aphrodite said before she disappeared.
"..." Freya and Loki just looked at each other.
"Haah, what now?" Freya spoke.
"I don't know. We need that progenitor to enter Helheim, the place where any fire cannot burn. Only he who has an inherently strong soul and who has the power of fire can survive there."
"How long has your daughter not been in touch?"
"Since this whole mess started… I've been worried about Hela."
"... If I could only use my Valkyries... But they're all busy right now."
A moment of silence fell around, and Freya suggested:
"... Apologize to him then?"
"Never. I didn't do anything wrong."
"..." Freya just kept silent. She expected that answer. Loki was a stubborn man, so stubborn that not even Odin could fix it.
'Soul marriage, huh... To think that the goddess of beauty desired by everyone would find someone to love.' Freya thought, and she couldn't help but be a little curious. Just what was so special about this man for the goddess of beauty to fall so deeply in love with?
'Should I try again? This time, I'll go alone so Loki won't cause trouble.' Freya considered.
...
