Livia, who had collapsed on the ground, struggled to raise her trembling body.

She had a premonition that something terrible would happen if she didn’t do something. Perhaps something even more frightening than she could imagine.

“Triton, no….”

Zagreus also seemed to have steeled himself, facing the approaching Triton while raising an even darker power than before.

“Now I know who you are. You’re that winged beast who invaded what’s mine in dreams.”

“…That’s rich coming from a god who reeks of fish.”

“They called you a filthy bastard born of noble blood.”

At Triton’s words, golden lightning stormed in Zagreus’s eyes. Triton, who had been staring at him intently, laughed roughly while increasing the wave motions in his eyes.

“In the end, that just means you’re a mongrel, doesn’t it?”

Swish!

With an eerie sound, black mist filled with Zagreus’s power instantly rushed at Triton. Blue power and black power mixed in the air, creating a thunderous noise. It felt as if heaven and earth were being shaken. Demeter’s small garden instantly transformed into ruins.

“What is this!”

That’s when it happened.

The garden’s owner and the banquet’s host burst in simultaneously, throwing open the door. The faces of the goddesses watching Triton and Zagreus’s clash changed moment by moment.

Demeter’s face showed anger at those destroying her space, while Persephone’s face revealed a mix of worry, anger, and self-loathing.

Persephone, who had been rolling her eyes constantly trying to understand what was happening, quickly waved her hand at another thunderous sound.

Green stems wrapped around their space, creating a barrier. As the stems completely covered the ceiling, the incoming rain stopped abruptly, and a quiet darkness settled beneath.

Only then did Demeter seem to understand Persephone’s intention, creating a barrier around the garden to prevent anyone from entering.

The completely dark, sealed garden filled with blue light emanating from Triton’s divine power.

This made the ruined garden look like an ancient temple submerged in the sea. The sacred blue light rippled like seawater.

Perhaps because of this?

The black power that had been resisting the tsunami-like blue force began to be pushed back little by little. As golden lightning sparked in Zagreus’s grinding eyes, lightning stretched out from within the black smoke.

“…Triton!”

Livia unconsciously called out his name in surprise.

Could he be hurt by Zagreus’s power?

Her heart felt constricted with pain when she couldn’t see him through the thick black mist.

However, Livia’s worry proved unfounded as Triton emerged as the damp wind scattered the black mist.

Simultaneously, the water drops circling around Triton transformed into dozens of ice spears and instantly shot toward Zagreus.

Bang!

The tremendous destructive power shook even the garden protected by the earth goddess. Ice shards flew everywhere, creating a water mist. Through it, Zagreus, transformed into a giant wolf, glared at Triton.

Grrrr!

The wolf’s body was covered in cuts and gashes. Though apparently wounded by Triton’s ice spears, his spirit remained unbroken and fierce. Several scorpion-like tails sprouted behind the snarling wolf’s back.

As it seemed a full-scale fight was about to break out, Demeter quickly raised the earth to block between the two.

“You dare cause trouble on my land after receiving my invitation?”

“That thing seduced what’s mine.”

“For such a trivial reason…!”

“…Trivial?”

Triton’s cold eyes turned to Demeter.

“Did you just say trivial, Demeter?”

All life returns to the earth and is born again from the earth. The earth goddess had watched human lives flow into death and return to life for thousands of years.

To Demeter, who had witnessed the wheel of life and death countless times, possessiveness and attachment could only be described as ‘trivial.’

‘I’d heard the sea god’s possessiveness was remarkable, but to think it would be to this extent.’

Demeter swallowed a sigh and attempted to mediate.

“I didn’t mean to judge your anger, so please calm down. No matter how enraged you are, surely you don’t think it’s right to ruin my banquet?”

Triton smirked and retorted to Demeter’s words.

“Then we’ll just move away from this land.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a stream of water instantly shot out and wrapped around the neck of the wolf-transformed Zagreus.

“Grrrk!”

Zagreus resisted being dragged away while Triton tried to pull him out, leading to their clash.

The scorpion tails carrying poison behind the wolf’s back rushed at Triton at frightening speed. Triton’s water drops deflected them, but unfortunately, Zagreus didn’t have just one tail.

All six attacked Triton simultaneously.

He blocked five, but one grazed Triton’s shoulder. Though deadly poison turned the smooth shoulder black, Triton paid no mind and counterattacked.

Eventually, the fight between the two men began to intensify again.

As Demeter pressed her forehead as though she were having a headache, Persephone moved. Not toward Zagreus or Triton, but toward Livia.

“…It seems you’re the only one who can stop those two right now.”

When Persephone’s touch reached the water chains binding Livia, green stems grew up along the water.

As the sprouting shoots instantly absorbed the water and grew larger, the chains disappeared immediately.

Persephone held onto the freed Livia and glanced up briefly. Though Persephone and Demeter had created a double barrier, there was no way the sensitive gods wouldn’t notice the disturbance.

If the gods’ attention gathered, ‘she’ in Olympus would also look here.

Persephone watched her illegitimate son, becoming bloodied in beast form, with complicated feelings.

Zagreus hadn’t been born of his own will either. But Persephone had been uncomfortable seeing him and had ignored him.

However…. She didn’t want to watch him die by another’s hand, nor did she want him to be dragged away by ‘that woman.’

‘…Hera.’

She was a woman who would chase Zeus’s illegitimate children to hell to kill them. It was all because of that woman that Zagreus lived in hiding in the underworld, and the other Zagreus, Dionysus, lived half-mad.

If the fight grew larger, that woman would surely notice this disturbance and discover Zagreus.

“She promised not to touch ‘that child’ anymore if he promised never to show himself under sunlight.”

Hades said he had gotten this promise from Hera to protect Zagreus.

So if she found out Zagreus had come out of the underworld….

Persephone, who had been glaring at the sky with a complicated expression, suddenly turned and gripped Livia’s shoulders firmly.

“No matter how strong a bloodline Zagreus inherited, he’s only half a god… at least now, he’s not at a level to match Triton, the ruler of the seas.”

Livia watched the two clashing gods with trembling eyes. Compared to Zagreus who was becoming increasingly bloodied, Triton had only a wound on his shoulder at most.

“…If this continues, Zagreus will die, Livia.”

Livia drew in a sharp breath and clenched her teeth. Persephone was right.

If things continued like this, Zagreus would surely be annihilated in an instant.

At that moment, her mind cleared. If Zagreus, who had helped her despite the risks, died here, it would all be her fault.

Above all, she couldn’t watch Triton kill another god because of her. If this great sea god accumulated the karma of killing another god because of her, it would surely affect him badly in some way.

So she had to stop these two from fighting here.

Even if she got hurt, even if her life was endangered!

Gritting her teeth and nodding, Livia ran toward Triton without hesitation.

Bang!

Black smoke and water mist swirled threateningly. The two men, too focused on glaring at and checking each other to notice Livia running toward them, were about to launch another attack when.

“Triton!”

Everything happened in an instant.

Livia rushed toward where Triton seemed to be. Did her desperate voice, crying out like a scream, reach the man blinded by rage?

The moment Triton stopped moving, black mist containing deadly poison descended on his head. Beyond the black mist, Zagreus’s panicked face could be seen as he belatedly noticed Livia, but it was too late.

Sizzle!

“Aagh!”

A terrible scream burst from Livia’s lips. The fierce poison, strong enough to melt even skin blessed by the Styx, covered Livia’s entire body.

Gray smoke that arose from melting living flesh enveloped her. Livia’s eyes rolled back from the horrible pain.