Morning dew dripped from oak leaves onto the boy's trembling back, as Mobius stared at the face in the stream, a face that would dim the beauty of the goddess of love herself.
The golden divine power gathered at his fingertips flickered, reflecting the inner turmoil raging in his eyes.
"Aren't there enough romantic entanglements on Mount Olympus already?" He grabbed a sharp flint and pressed it against his cheekbone, the cold stone edge making his temples throb.
When the first streak of blood tore through his porcelain-white skin, a flock of crows suddenly startled in the forest, black feathers falling like the veil of the Queen of the Underworld.
The intense pain made the boy curl into a ball, his nails digging into the dirt.
In the reflection on the water, the face scarred with a spiderweb of cracks by the flint resembled the vengeful spirits Mobius had heard about in his previous life. The moment a drop of blood fell into the stream, the entire riverbed suddenly boiled, and schools of silver fish leaped madly out of the water.
As for obtaining divinity by selling himself, Mobius had never even considered that.
How do you know that what you desire will definitely be given to you? Divine positions are extremely important to the gods!
Besides Zeus, Apollo, and Hermes, who else would have a spare divine position to give you?
The greatest possibility is that they'll be attracted by your looks, play with you until they're bored, and then discard you like a broken rag doll, leaving you to fend for yourself in some unknown place.
Don't underestimate the moral depths of the Greek gods!
These are just their everyday lives. To promise a daimon such a thing—are they crazy, or is Mobius too naive?
If he believed their sweet words, then he would become part of the floral mud of the earth.
Mobius thought to himself, "Beauty is not wrong, but being alone is the greatest misfortune. If I were a god now, I could use this face to maneuver and gain many benefits, but not now."
Feeling the sharp pain on his face, he finally let out a sigh of relief. He didn't have many demands regarding his appearance; as long as he could become a god, everything else was negotiable.
After losing that captivating face, he would face far fewer threats from the gods. As for other dangers, he could only rely on luck.
After doing all this, Mobius only pondered for a moment before preparing to go outside. After all, hiding in the forest and working in isolation was not a solution.
He couldn't just wait for opportunities to come to him, so going out was the best choice. After all, scarring his face was also preparation for going out.
If he were to retreat now, what was the point of everything he had just done? Was it a joke?
Olympus, Temple of the Hunt.
The crystal dome refracted the clear moonlight, and Artemis suddenly crushed the golden arrow in her hand. The nymph kneeling at the jade steps trembled, and the dewdrops on her hair shattered into ice crystals with the shock of divine power.
"You said he personally destroyed that face?" The deer patterns on the goddess's silver armor glowed with a bloody light, and the wolf-head bows hanging on the four walls of the temple hummed in unison.
"Ye-yes, Your Highness." The nymph's leafy dress rustled. "He used flint to make multiple cuts, and now he looks more terrifying than a sinner cursed by the Furies."
Artemis rose abruptly, her moonlight-woven cloak sweeping over the gilded candelabra. The flowing beeswax solidified on the ground into a weeping face—it was Osiris, whom she had banished.
"Go tell the tree nymphs," the goddess said, her beast-blood-stained fingers pinching the messenger's chin, "if they dare let his blood pollute even half a stream, I will make their life trees wither."
Mist welled up in the nymph's emerald eyes: "But Your Highness, the boy is about to leave your forest..."
"Then let my silver wolves follow him!" Artemis suddenly roared, slamming her divine bow against a pillar. The moonstones embedded in it shattered and flew. "Until he reaches Apollo's territory, if any filthy being dares to approach—"
The divine bow suddenly drew itself to full tension, and a moonlight arrow, condensed from the void, pierced through the temple dome. In the distance, the dying wails of a monstrous beast could be heard.
"I understand, Your Highness." Before the nymph transformed into scattering ginkgo leaves and vanished, she heard the goddess's almost inaudible sigh: "Zeus's power is not something I can stop... I'm sorry... Osiris..."
Artemis shook her head with a bitter smile: "I hope so. I hope he never discovers that secret, otherwise, that jealous Queen of Heaven will stir up another storm of blood and chaos."
Mobius cautiously moved through the forest. In his past life's memories, this forest was full of dangers, teeming with wild beasts. He had been chased by them many times and almost lost his life.
As a daimon, being chased by wild beasts and fleeing in disarray was a complete loss of face, and such an incident had happened more than once.
Strangely, this time, he walked for a long time without seeing even a shadow of a wild beast. Without the threat of wild beasts, it was naturally for the best. After leaving this forest, he would go to seek the path to godhood; he did not want to be trapped in this ordinary fate forever.
Soon after, Mobius had traveled far from the forest where he had resided. At this point, he saw a graceful figure in the distance. He subconsciously wanted to hide, as in this world, humanoid creatures often meant danger, not just humans.
However, the figure seemed to have already spotted him and quickly called out, "Hello, I mean no harm." Saying this, she pursued him.
Upon seeing Mobius's ugly and grotesque face clearly, she was startled, then softly said, "I'm sorry, when I just saw your face, I thought of Hephaestus, the god of fire." This was already a very tactful way of speaking, as everyone knew what the god Hephaestus looked like.
"My name is Eleuna, and I am a tree nymph. I just sensed divine power from you. Are you a daimon or a demigod?"
Mobius immediately became wary and replied, "I am Mobius, a daimon. Because I am ugly, I am always disliked."
Hearing this, a look of pity appeared on Eleuna's face: "Me too. I was just born, and the surrounding white oak nymphs seem to look down on me, always mocking me." At this point, a hint of grievance welled up in Eleuna's eyes.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the surroundings, and Eleuna, startled, turned pale and shrieked, hiding behind Mobius. Mobius was speechless, completely bewildered as to what was happening or why she was screaming.