With the Norse Valkyries, the Amazon warriors of Rome, and the newly arrived Greek Battle Nymphs, the high-tier forces under his command had expanded quite a bit. They had already formed an overwhelming advantage here.
The handful of fire spirits, the Ifrits, in the Persians' genie lamps would never withstand Greece's anti-air forces, even with the authority of Mithra, the God of Light, strengthening them.
Samael's thoughts turned, and he nodded in satisfaction, his expression growing more relaxed.
To show his thanks, the Ancient Serpent raised his hand and tossed out a small bag of snacks, letting the old Nymph friends gathered nearby divide it among themselves. The chattering little things quickly snatched it all up.
Daphne, whose hands were too slow, barely got any. Her delicate nose wrinkled, and her expression turned gloomy.
But then her arms suddenly grew heavy. The little Nymph looked down at the small pouch someone had secretly slipped to her, and her face instantly brightened. She carefully glanced around, then grabbed her prize and sneakily kept it all for herself.
The special treatment made her beam with joy. Like a little dragonfly, she bumped into Samael's face, gave him a quick peck, then happily fluttered her tiny wings and flew toward a hidden corner to enjoy it alone.
Samael froze for a moment, then brushed the damp mark on his cheek with his thumb and chuckled, shaking his head. This girl was still as reckless as ever.
Gulp…
The Ancient Serpent glanced at the silly bird beside him, who was staring straight at him and unconsciously swallowing. He reached out, pulled out another bag of snacks, opened it, and held it in front of Harpy.
"If you want some, take it yourself."
The Harpy, whose appetite had been stirred, had her eyes light up. She impatiently dug out the contents and swallowed them whole.
One tiny fruit went down, and its sweet-and-sour taste, richer than nectar, made Harpy's appetite surge. Her hand dipped into the bag faster and faster.
Seeing this, Samael simply tossed the whole bag to the silly bird beside him, appearing extremely generous.
After all, he had lifted them from the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom. It was not as if he felt bad about it.
A certain unscrupulous foster father blinked innocently, tossed a salted olive into his mouth, and chewed it as a pleased smile curved his lips.
Boom!
Just as Samael was ravaging his adopted daughter's private stash, the clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds. A series of branching silver-white lightning arcs exploded, and beneath the flickering light and shadow, the outlines of two towering, vicious beasts, one black and one white, were revealed.
Crack!
A flash of lightning struck the black beast flying at the front. The instant its movements stalled, dense hail, violent winds, meteors, and explosive flames bombarded it without pause.
Bang!
The monster caught in the concentrated fire immediately trailed black smoke and fell toward the ground, landing right in front of Samael.
Boom!
In the next instant, just as the monster crawled out of the deep pit and before it could recover, a stream of silver Ether light descended from the sky, forming an impact like a falling meteor that struck its forehead with perfect precision.
"Awooo…"
Amid the billowing dust, a miserable scream came from the cone-shaped crater.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
And that was not the end of it. The ground shook violently, and the soil churned.
"Spit it out!"
At the source of the voice, a little girl with silver hair and golden eyes, white bat wings on her back, and fine silver scales along her tail and joints was riding on the black monster's neck. She raised her pale pink fist and smashed it down on the creature's forehead again and again, each blow like a meteor hitting the earth.
Judging from the black monster's outline, Samael could just barely tell that the thing seemed to be a giant dragon.
But that proud Dragonkind was being beaten like a sandbag under the silver-haired little girl's fists. Its eyes spun, its face was bruised and swollen, and it had no ability to fight back at all. In the end, it fainted stiffly on the spot.
Boom!
The ferocious dragon head dropped weakly to the ground. The silver-haired girl jumped down from the top of the dragon's head, skillfully pried open the giant beast's savage upper jaw, and shoved her other arm into the black dragon's throat, feeling around inside.
"Not this…"
A moment later, the silver-haired loli glanced at the two gold bricks she had pulled out of the black dragon's throat and casually threw them onto the ground.
Then the half-person-tall little girl simply propped the black dragon's huge mouth open with a flagpole and jumped into its throat to keep searching.
"Not this… not this either… wrong…"
Cold mutters came from inside the black dragon's mouth as one item after another was thrown out.
"Found it!"
Finally, after nearly a hundred pounds of various treasures had been dug out of the black dragon's throat and stomach, a slightly cheerful voice rang out. The silver-haired loli held two low-grade Earth Hearts in her left hand and three "Athena's Bronzes" in her right, examining them in the sunlight with satisfaction.
"He actually dared steal from Big Sis. Serves him right getting beaten!"
Harpy watched from the side with a face full of gloating.
"That's Ladon, and… the Colchis Fierce Dragon? She hit him that hard. Is he going to be okay?"
Samael's facial muscles stiffened, and his voice turned dry.
"It's fine, he won't die! In less than half a day, he'll be jumping around again."
Harpy waved her hands repeatedly, looking completely used to it. Clearly, she had seen this older sister knock out her younger brother more than once.
Out of consideration for the fellow's contribution in abandoning darkness for light during the Quest for the Golden Fleece, as well as the few gems he had secretly offered him, Samael hesitated, wanting to step in and mediate so the Colchis Fierce Dragon would not end up miserably dead in the street.
But the Greeks who rushed over after hearing the commotion more or less found their own lost belongings among the steadily growing mountain of stolen goods, and cried out in shock.
"Ah, my gilded family crest!"
"My ruby pendant!"
"Damn it, why is the kitchen's whole set of gilded wineware here?"
"Wait, why are there so many Persian gold coins? These look like the things stolen from the warehouse!"
Watching as over a hundred victims retrieved their lost property with Ladon's tacit nod, the Ancient Serpent's face darkened with righteous indignation.
First you raided Ladon's dragon lair in the Arima Cavern, then you stole the offerings from the Sacred Grove of Colchis. I knew you'd never change!
Beat him! Beat him half to death! I support the victims' righteous revenge. I cannot coexist with evil!
The Ancient Serpent denounced that shameless behavior with upright fury in his heart, then quietly dragged Harpy along and edged away.
However, after only a few steps, the dense forest ahead shook violently. The sounds of trees snapping rang out nonstop, and flocks of birds were startled into flight.
"Hiss!"
In an instant, nine pitch-black serpent heads burst out of the pool, hissing sharply. Their snake eyes were like lanterns, crimson as blood.
"Awooo!"
At the same time, three dog heads bristled and growled low. A hind leg raised toward the pool trembled as it lowered, and the dripping wetness beneath its belly instantly cut off. Its four paws kicked hard, sending it shooting far away. Then it bared its teeth in a show of false bravado before decisively turning and running.
Immediately afterward, the furious nine-headed Hydra caught up to Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound. Snake and dog tangled together, biting and tearing at each other, kicking up dust all along the way.
"Can't you aim when you pee? How did you end up doing it right at Hydra's bedroom door?"
The defenders of Thermopylae watched the two divine beasts fight in chaos, cursing weakly while dodging with practiced ease. Their expressions were already numb, and they assigned Magi to set up an isolating Magecraft barrier.
Maybe having too many reinforcements isn't such a good thing after all…
As the mentor of Typhon's children, Samael watched the scene with the corner of his mouth twitching, his face burning with embarrassment.