In the side hall of the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom on the Areopagus, candlelight flickered as the returned King of Athens sat at the table, skimming at a glance through compiled reports on Athens's military, civil administration, economy, judiciary, and more. The cross-shaped stars in his eyes were running at full power, flickering ever more darkly as his brow tightened.
"A bunch of iron wastes!"
Suddenly, Samael slammed his fist onto the table. The dull impact echoed through the hall, and the burst of ether it kicked up blew outward in all directions. A fierce gust swept through the chamber, making the surrounding candle flames waver wildly.
"Y... Your Majesty Theseus, is something wrong?"
Below the steps, the High Priestess of Sparta, who had been waiting in attendance, bent down to gather the scattered papers. After straightening them and placing them back on the desk respectfully, she could not help asking.
"Of course something's wrong! Forget embezzlement, bribery, oppressing the people, twisting the law, purging dissent, all that garbage. Just the military issues alone are enough to get people killed!
"The god-blood warriors of the Areopagus are short by a third, and not even half of the eighty-eight constellation Saints are qualified! The Twelve Zodiac Temples are basically stuffed full of descendants that these Athenian god-blood nobles shoved in there just to pad their prestige! What use are embroidered pillows like that when real fighting starts?"
"The Academy of Athens, which was supposed to gather the best talents in all Greece, got shut down because Socrates was voted to death by the citizen assembly. Now Athens barely has any Magi or scholars left."
"You could say Athens's internal defenses are basically nonexistent. No wonder I poked one hole and the whole thing collapsed!"
Flipping through the documents, Samael's face turned ashen with anger. He rattled off the various problems and their consequences at high speed, pointing out each festering sore with bitter fury.
According to the information left behind on the Holy Serpent, the eighty-eight constellation Saints who possessed the original Cloths and had successfully ascended to godhood had been taken by Athena and the others into the Inner Sea of the Planet to investigate the situation.
To prevent the rear from being hollowed out and to make it easier for Greece to respond to the war with Persia, Athena, Medusa, and Themis had decided to relax the restrictions and allow the Areopagus to replenish the Saints of the eighty-eight temples on its own.
The Cloths worn by these successors were basically stellar projections blessed by the Authorities of the three goddesses of Heaven, Earth, and Order. They could greatly amplify divine power and also grant a certain degree of understanding and skill.
So in theory, the stronger and more promising the god-blood hero, the more the star temple Cloth would multiply his effectiveness.
The eighty-eight temples were supposed to gather the finest god-blood heroes in all Greece, while the Academy of Athens was supposed to train the finest Magi and scholars from every city-state. Together, they were meant to serve as the sword and shield that upheld the alliance and guarded the Areopagus and Athens.
But ever since the Three Goddesses withdrew from sight, those Athenian god-blood nobles, free from restraint, had gradually grown bolder and more brazen.
Now the eighty-eight temples were practically filled with the relatives of those old fossils. The city-states that refused to behave had gained no benefits whatsoever and had long since been pushed out of the core of the Areopagus power structure.
The Academy of Athens, which had dared question the authority of the assembly hall, was shut down as well. Socrates, leader of that school, was sentenced to death under the charge of "insulting the gods of Athens and corrupting the minds of the youth."
It could be said that in all of Athens, no one remained capable of opposing the authority of the assembly hall. And the surrounding city-states, cowed by the strength of the Areopagus and the Athenian navy after repeated beatings, had no choice but to meekly offer tribute and maintain a humiliating subordinate relationship.
But because of that, the Greek alliance that had once been tightly bound together during the war against Velber was already splitting at the seams. If Persia had not existed as a common external enemy, the Greek alliance would probably have collapsed long ago and descended into total chaos.
"When I told you to turn Greece into 'the Greece of the Athenians,' I meant integration. One hand with the carrot, one hand with the stick. Promote a Pan-Hellenic cultural identity led by Athens. I didn't mean for you to bully your own side, hog everything for yourselves, and treat the other city-states like servants. You pig-brained idiots!"
The more Samael thought about it, the angrier he became, until his face darkened like the bottom of a pot. In his fury, he kept slapping the table and venting.
As a member of Sparta, the High Priestess Helen kept her eyes lowered and her expression composed, pretending she had heard nothing of the Athenian king's grand ambitions.
Once Samael's anger eased a little, Helen turned to glance at the brightly lit assembly hall and asked hesitantly,
"What do you intend to do with those people?"
"What do I intend to do? They should all be dragged out and fed to Stalin."
"St... Stalin?"
"Oh, a magical beast I saw up north. Also called the Benevolent Father. It especially likes eating traitors and idiots, and it loves sending criminals to frozen lands to dig potatoes."
"I see... If only Greece could import a magical beast like that."
Helen nodded thoughtfully, unable to help sounding a little wistful.
"Ahem. No need to go to that much trouble. Once dawn breaks, the ones who deserve killing get killed, the ones who deserve arrest get arrested. If I'm in a good mood, I might even leave a few obedient old ones behind at the Areopagus as decorative mascots."
Samael pressed his lips together in a cold smile, his eyes flashing with menace. Then he raised a hand to his chin and muttered softly,
"As for the charge... colluding with Persia? Mm, that one sounds good..."
From the corner in the shadows, Gorgo's eyelid twitched, and the corner of her mouth spasmed slightly.
It seemed that tonight, many god-blood noble households in Athens would be receiving a "gift" from Persia.
By then, the Ancient Serpent had already gathered his thoughts and was flipping through the records to identify the high-ranking god-blood nobles who needed to be cleaned out. With a cold smile, he drew up a "purge list" and handed it over to those berserkers who so loved chopping people apart.
You've enjoyed my authority for long enough. Now it's time to pay your debt.
"Your Majesty Theseus, isn't it too hasty to launch such a purge right before battle? Thermopylae..."
Below the steps, Queen Gorgo of Sparta hesitated for a moment, worry gathering in her brow before she could not help voicing her concern.
"Relax. I never planned to rely on those idiots in the first place. Keeping them around would only ruin things. Give me a little time. By the day after tomorrow at the latest, the fleet Athens has assembled will depart at once."
Samael stopped his pen, looked up at the two deeply worried Spartan envoys, and offered them a slight smile of reassurance.
"Before that, I've already entrusted two friends I met on the road to go to Thermopylae and help Leonidas hold the line. With them there, nothing serious is going to happen anytime soon."
It was them.
Gorgo and Helen exchanged a glance and both remembered the two foreign women who had come and gone in a hurry that night. The hearts they had held tight all along the road finally eased. Looking at this saintly king who had calculated everything in advance, they bowed their heads even more devoutly in gratitude and respect.
"All right, you've spent days and nights on the road without even closing your eyes, so stop standing around in a daze. I've already had Hildr prepare two guest rooms for you. Go take a bath, eat a hot meal, and get some proper rest. Leave the rest to me for now.
"Oh, and don't forget to settle the protection fee you still owe me."
Samael gave a teasing wink and a light laugh, nodding for dismissal. Embarrassed, the two Spartan envoys nodded awkwardly and withdrew.
As he watched the two employers disappear gradually into the night, the Ancient Serpent finished drawing up another blood-soaked "purge list" and casually tossed it to Eric Bloodaxe and the warrior king Sigurd.
And just as the two Norse heroes left, the person Samael had been waiting for at last stepped into the hall.