hotmtlnovel Chapter 116
Chapter 116
chapter 116 – city of poseidon
the place where all sea currents begin, where all waters converge, and the deepest part of the ocean.
however, no one dared to even gaze upon it with their eyes, nor touch it with their hands.
these meaningful epithets all referred to the palace of the god of the sea, poseidon.
everyone at least once wished for the goddesses of fate to guide their destiny, just like in the myths of zeus’s olympus.
the kingdom of hades, which everyone feared but ultimately found their way to.
and poseidon’s domain, which no god or hero could step foot in unless invited by poseidon himself.
even in the myths i had heard, this place was barely mentioned, and the actual myths surrounding it were almost non-existent.
yet, i was graciously guided by poseidon’s hand, and i had the honor of looking down from the highest (?) point.
how far had i drifted on the currents, thrown by poseidon’s hand into the sea?
as the sunlight gradually ceased to penetrate the depths, the surroundings grew darker, and my heart tensed.
deep in the ocean, a massive light flickered.
the current, driven by poseidon, seemed to head towards that light, and as i strained my eyes to see, a vast city in the dark ocean depths slowly came into view.
“...atlantis?”
that’s right, atlantis.
the ancient underwater city that those sunday morning mystery shows always claimed was discovered all around the world.
there was no other way to explain it.
have you ever been to an amusement park or a water park?
after escaping the rush of crowded streets, the bus fumes, and the oppressive gaze of skyscrapers, those places felt like a dream world—a fantastical escape that recreated human imagination and fantasy.
and myths, the starting point for such fantasies, are no different.
poseidon’s kingdom, a part of such myths, was incomparable to something like a human amusement park.
“wow...!”
in the middle of the vast deep-sea plains, the city was encircled by gleaming white marble and unknown gems.
above and below, giant seahorses and fish swam busily, pulling carriages, or rather chariots, as if flying through the sky.
on the wide streets, giant sea turtles swam in rows, their shells serving as platforms for vendors busily selling unnamed street foods, fruits, seaweed, and miscellaneous goods, while people haggled with merchants or leisurely walked pet sharks and alligators.
and those people had gills instead of ears, and webbed feet, resembling merfolk or the mermaids i was familiar with.
compared to the humans i was used to seeing, they were quite different in form, yet they laughed and chatted energetically, moving through their city just like any other people.
and above all, the most mysterious aspect was the city itself.
a 20-story insula carved out of a massive rock, domuses comparable in size to the namgung family’s manor with gigantic corals or sea anemones as their main structure, and mysterious stone temples covered in barnacles and luminous moss.
above all, the most remarkable thing was the gigantic palace overlooking such a kingdom from a high place.
and even from a dizzying height, there was an enormous statue of poseidon that seemed immensely large.
the jewel on the trident that the statue held high emitted a subtle light, brightly illuminating the surrounding area with intense energy.
“amazing...”
it truly was a magnificent sight—a city of the sea, a kingdom of the sea.
“ah! you have a discerning eye. that jewel is none other than the heart of the abyss, a jewel among jewels, gifted by gaia to poseidon. it is a fusion of immense powers, divine energy, and technology that demonstrates poseidon’s majesty to the entire ocean, serving as the city’s protective barrier, temperature regulator, light adjuster, and more. it is also called poseidon’s lighthouse, as the residents of the sea follow the light of the heart whenever they come to see the lord of the sea.”
“...?”
now, as we slowly approached our destination, the speed of descent, or rather, submersion, gradually decreased.
a chatty voice bombarded my ears with rapid-fire tmi.
as i tried to focus on my genuine admiration, i turned my gaze to the intruder.
a dolphin was flapping its fins while looking at me.
“oh! no wonder you smell like the land. goodness! these days, land dwellers only go back and forth between olympus and the courts of the affluent. coming to the beautiful and noble palace of lord poseidon, it’s indeed a very, very excellent choice. even the scent of your noble soul. surely, you must be of an extraordinary lineage. meeting such a great hero, i, delphesius, am just honored! truly honored!”
“no, no, wait. hold on a second. is this...?”
i had seen every kind of creature from the world of myths, but now a dolphin was talking to me?
and not just any dolphin—a very talkative one?
“uh...?”
at least chiron and the centaurs were half human.
“aha, are you surprised? well, on the mundane earth, you wouldn’t have seen a finned delphini as knowledgeable, erudite, and splendid as me. thanks to hermes for guiding our meeting! delphini, delphesius, the external affairs minister of poseidon’s court and master of hospitality, greets you. poseidon’s court welcomes you, brave one from the land.”
“uh... nice to meet you. i’m dianes.”
the entire view of the kingdom was barely visible as we still had a long way to land, and the guide, mythical and even allegorical, intrigued me.
i decided to quietly listen to the dolphin’s chatter.
perhaps i might hear something about neri.
the dolphin, or rather delphini, who introduced himself as delphesius, greeted me with a rather amiable attitude.
the excessive, or rather extremely excessive, talking was a bit overwhelming.
anyway, according to his explanation, those highly spiritual dolphins were a species called delphini. long ago, when poseidon courted amphitrite, they provided great assistance to him. as a result, the dolphins themselves were placed among the constellations, and the descendants of the brave dolphin delphini were now held in high regard in poseidon’s palace.
“ah~ amphitrite and poseidon quarrel almost daily. just from the aftermath, massive storms often rage at sea. if their simple quarrels cause that much, imagine the chaos when they competed for courtship in the past... we, the descendants of delphini, always admire the courage of our ancestors who saved amphitrite and prevented poseidon’s mistakes amidst that majestic war. and a hero guided to this kingdom by such a great poseidon must surely be an incredible person, right?”
“haha, i still have a long way to go.”
“wow~ so humble! however, i, delphesius, have lived many years as the host of poseidon’s palace. since lord poseidon personally invited you to the kingdom and sent me as your guide, you must be an extraordinary hero. could it be that lord dianes is also permitted by lord poseidon to become a suitor for the treasure of the sea, lady nesneria of oceanus? indeed...”
amid the chatter of delphesius, there was a statement that couldn’t simply be ignored.
a suitor for nesneria?
‘honestly, it was lucky for that bastard.’
if, by any chance, the news that neri cried because of a man reached their father’s ears...
‘...oh dear.’
a massive wave, enough to cover greece, would sweep from the kingdom of the deep sea to olympus.
all just to catch that bastard. just that one bastard.
‘perhaps neri knew that and came to me...’
in the unlikely event that later on neri cries because of that bastard, and the news reaches her father’s ears, the queen of the sea, amphitrite, needed to prevent such a mishap in advance.
at the same time, she needed to engrave in that insolent bastard’s head who the true wife was.
“neri, listen carefully. what do you think deepens love?”
“love?”
at the single word ‘love,’ neri’s eyes widened in an instant.
at that sight, amphitrite’s head throbbed, but she mustered all her patience to endure it.
“yes, the bond between you and that bastard... ahem, the guy named dianes has been long-standing. but you don’t know if he loves you as much as you think.”
“no, dia also loves me...”
“that’s why. you need to test how much he cherishes you, and how far he would go for you. listen carefully...”
when the sisters’ conversation was slowly heating up with tension.
it happened.
-boom!
“eek?!”
“neri!”
a powerful shock that shook poseidon’s palace, and simultaneously, a massive aura began to be felt.
a historic event in the deep-sea kingdom where no threat existed except for the wrath of poseidon and amphitrite disrupted the sisters’ argument.
“how dare... what god shows such disrespect in poseidon’s palace?!”
“oh... this aura...?”
amphitrite gritted her teeth while holding her sister, who almost fell, and her aide hurriedly reported the situation.
“your majesty! it’s an intruder!”
“who on earth dares to invade poseidon’s palace?! have their numbers and affiliation been confirmed?”
“th-that is...”
the mermaid, who had lived almost her entire life as amphitrite’s lieutenant, hesitated as if she couldn’t even believe herself, then spoke with difficulty.
“th-the intruder is just one person! a-a human invited by lord poseidon!”
“what...?!”
since an intruder had entered from the outside, the most precious treasure had to be evacuated first.
“neri! come here immediately—neri?”
however, the precious, dangerous little water drop had already disappeared.
“...pontus, heavens.”
with a dizzy heart, only amphitrite’s lament remained softly in place.