For Athens, the historical Theseus was undoubtedly a wise ruler.
When he arrived, bandits ran wild outside the city and Magical Beasts roamed unchecked. Inside, the city-state was weak and impoverished. His uncle's fifty sons coveted the throne, stirring up the nobility to rebellion. The citizens distrusted one another, the whole city lay under a pall of lifeless gloom, and his father, Aegeus, hid inside the royal palace, living in constant fear.
Along the way, Theseus eliminated Sinis the pine-bender, the bandit Cercyon, and the great robber Damastes. He defeated the Crommyonian sow and the Cretan Bull. He abolished the humiliating custom of sending young children to Crete as sacrifices to the Minotaur.
After arriving in Athens, he used strategy to kill the fifty rebellious sons of his uncle Pallas, and in the end, after building up enough merit and prestige, he ascended the throne.
During his reign, Theseus abolished the separate councils and independent institutions of the various towns, unified the different classes of Athens, established festivals, and fostered a shared cultural identity. He transformed Athens from an isolated royal stronghold into a true city-state with broad influence and cohesion, one increasingly accepted and celebrated by the people.
He also guaranteed equal rights for all residents, attracting new immigrants, while defining separate rights and duties for each social class.
And as king, Theseus placed limits on his own power. Just as he had promised, he subjected royal authority to the restraint of the noble council and the people's assembly.
It could be said that Theseus was Athens's unquestioned founding father.
And yet, the Athenians were hardly loyal to that founding father.
While Theseus was trapped in the Underworld, the Athenians, fearing war, handed Helen, whom he had abducted, back to Sparta. After that, a divine-blood noble named Menestheus proclaimed himself the people's leader and plotted to seize the throne.
When the former king of Athens finally escaped and returned to rule again, the country was already in chaos, and Menestheus, the leader of the rebellion, had the support of the nobility.
The nobles even honored Theseus's uncle Pallas and his sons, calling themselves the Pallas clan, and openly stood against Theseus.
With public sentiment boiling over, even those who had once hated Theseus no longer feared him. The common people, incited by Menestheus, were unwilling to obey the king's orders as well.
At first, Theseus tried to suppress the unrest by force, but because of opposition both open and hidden, his efforts failed. And so, the founding father who had once laid the foundations of Athenian civilization was left with no choice but to abandon the city he could no longer control. On his way to live in exile in another land, he was betrayed and assassinated by Athenian nobles, dying in a conspiracy.
As time passed, Theseus's sons fell into hardship. They were treated as ordinary soldiers and even marched out to fight in the Trojan War. Only after Menestheus died did the leaderless Athenians invite them back to reclaim the throne.
Legend says that a century later, when the Athenians fought the Persians at Marathon, the spirit of the great hero Theseus rose once more from beneath the earth. He led the people in defeating the invading Persians. After that, the oracle at Delphi instructed the Athenians to recover Theseus's remains and bury him with full honors.
The Athenians lined up to welcome Theseus's remains, as though he had returned alive to his homeland, and bestowed on him every possible honor in death.
And yet, it was only centuries after his death that the Athenians, his descendants, showed endless gratitude and reverence to the hero who had given them freedom and established the laws of Athens. But what the hell was the point of that?
By the same token, Samael's contributions to Athens far exceeded even his.
Creating humanity, passing down the flame, contending with Zeus through the Great Offering, suppressing Pandora's Box, installing the Three Goddesses, raising the Areopagus, founding the Academy of Athens, establishing the legal code, forming the Greek League, the war against the giants...
The glory brought by each of these great deeds was, in the end, inherited almost entirely by the Athenians.
And what was the result?
After the Three Goddesses and the 88 celestial palaces departed for the Inner Sea of the Planet, every scheming monster and demon with ulterior motives came crawling out, all of them eagerly carving up power without the slightest shame, treating the Holy King as though he were nothing.
Even the so-called members of the Pandion family were, for the most part, descendants of his nominal uncle Pallas's sons.
After all, Aegeus, the old king chosen by Athena, had hardly left any heirs of his own in order to make room for Samael.
As time passed, and under the seductive slogans of freedom and democracy, the Athenians grew obsessed with the worship of individual power and gradually betrayed their own king.
In a sense, the Athenians did not deserve "Theseus," and they deserved his achievements even less.
No wonder Little Ana, who had watched all of this coldly from the shadows, felt so indignant.
But the spirit of Theseus returning to aid Athens against the Persians?
That so-called fate really did line up perfectly with what he himself was going through now. Fate really was impossible to escape.
Coming back to himself, Samael's eyes softened. He raised a hand and gently stroked Ana's smooth purple hair, then said with a light smile,
"Alright then. Let Helen and Gorgo handle state affairs for the time being. Times change, and it's about time the Spartans got a taste of what it feels like to sit in the council hall of the Areopagus. So, would you mind preparing the necessary formalities for me, Lady Goddess?"
"Mhm!"
Little Ana nodded eagerly. Reluctantly breaking free from Samael's head pats, she dashed out of the hall on her short little legs and ran toward the corridor like the wind.
Watching Ana's figure grow more distant, Samael smiled and murmured softly,
"Leonidas, old friend. Back in Mesopotamia, you stood up for the Greeks and fought for this serpent goddess. Now it's her turn to bestow her favor on the Spartans.
"One giving, one receiving, as if ordained by heaven. Maybe this is what fate is."
After a moment of reflection, the Ancient Serpent gathered his thoughts and buried himself in work again, pushing through the remaining affairs of state at top speed. At last, before sunset, he had more or less completed the preparations for the coming campaign.
And just as Samael brewed himself a cup of hot tea, intending to steal half a day of peace and properly enjoy the evening glow over the Areopagus,
"Run, little sleigh~ like the wind~ row, row~ across the world♪..."
A high, cheerful female voice suddenly rang out. A tide of Ether swept through the area, and the birds and beasts in the woods, already driven to nervous collapse by the day's torment, all began foaming at the mouth, convulsing, and dropping to the ground.
Crack!
In an instant, Samael's heart clenched, the thick veins on his forehead throbbing wildly like writhing worms. His hand shook, and the cup he had just prepared shattered into shards of pottery, sending tea splashing all over the table yet again.
Again? Is this ever going to end?!
Bang!
Samael exploded with rage, transformed into a streak of light, shot out of the hall, raced to the source of the sound with lightning speed, and kicked open the carved wooden door.
"Behold my genius! Hear the applause of ten thousand thunders! Hold in your heart the glory of a ruler!
Bloom like a flower...
Open, Golden Theater!!
Let this round be the offering...
Dance and scatter into splendor, cleave and cut into stars! This is supreme beauty...
Now praise it! Sing of this star-streaked final rose!"
Under the amplified glow of the True-Body Machine God, a projected theater formed from metallic constructs rose from the ground. At the center of the stage, the tyrant swung a crimson greatsword with energetic flair and sang at the top of her lungs.
And off to the side, Altera, munching on sweets with one hand while scattering rose petals with the other, cheerfully played accomplice to the chaos.
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