The dust of the Arena of Blood had barely settled when the system chime echoed in my skull, clearer than the roar of the crowd.
[Skill Acquired: Touch of the Conqueror (Divine Grade)]
[Description: Any entity you defeat or humiliate is subjected to an 'Absolute Dominion' check. If successful, the target's loyalty is forcibly redirected to you. For every thrall acquired, your 'Indecency' multiplier increases by 0.5x.]
I looked down at the gold-plated Minotaur kneeling before me. It wasn't just a monster anymore; it was a living battery for my power. I could feel its strength flowing back into me, a secondary pulse of necrotic energy purified into golden light.
"Jin-Woo, we need to move," So-Hee said, her voice sharp as she surveyed the stadium. "Ares didn't just place a bounty; he gave the Legion permission to use 'Desperation Protocols'. They'll bring the whole mountain down to kill us now."
"Let them try," I said. I looked up at the thousands of Spartans in the stands. Many were still frozen in awe, but the Butcher of Rhodes was already rallying the elite guards near the exits.
I raised my hand, and the [Touch of the Conqueror] flared. The golden light didn't just stay on the arena floor. It rippled outward like a tidal wave, washing over the front rows of the stadium.
[Dominion Check: Success.]
[Dominion Check: Success.]
[Dominion Check: Success...]
"Wait! My hand... it won't raise my spear!" a Spartan captain yelled.
"Why am I... why am I following him?" another gasped, his legs moving toward the arena floor against his will.
Hundreds of soldiers began to leap from the stands, landing in the sand and forming a protective circle around me. They weren't dead, and they weren't mind-controlled in the traditional sense. They simply looked at me with the same fanatical devotion that So-Hee and Yuna possessed, though without the romantic edge.
"Jin-Woo, you're... you're taking them?" Yuna asked, her shadow-eyes wide. "We're going to have a parade?"
"We're going to have an escort," I replied. "So-Hee, use the Minotaur as a battering ram. We're going to the coast. I'm tired of the mountains."
The escape from Sparta was less of a flight and more of a rolling disaster for the Greek Hunter Association. The golden Minotaur led the way, smashing through the heavy bronze gates of the city with a single swing of its purified axe. Behind it, a caravan of three hundred high-ranking Spartan legionnaires marched in perfect formation, their shields locked to protect us from the snipers on the ridges.
Ares watched from the peak of the mountain, his copper skin glowing in the moonlight. He didn't send his avatars. He just watched, his grin widening as I stole his army piece by piece.
By the time we reached the cliffs overlooking the Gulf of Messenia, the 'Divine Bounty' had attracted every mercenary in the Peloponnese. We were surrounded—forest on three sides, a five-hundred-foot drop to the sea on the fourth.
"They've blocked the coastal road," So-Hee noted, her ice-crown pulsing. "There are at least five Rank-S signatures waiting in the tree line. They're waiting for the sun to come up."
"They're waiting for nothing," I said.
I walked to the edge of the cliff. The Aegean Sea below was a dark, churning void. But as I looked out, I saw a single, bioluminescent trail cutting through the water. A ship was approaching—one that didn't appear on any radar.
It was made of living coral and translucent pearl, with sails that looked like the fins of a giant manta ray.
[Warning: New Divine Presence Detected.]
[The 'Goddess of the Sea' has entered the chat.]
A voice, wet and echoing like the sound of a shell held to the ear, whispered through the wind. "The God of War is a loud, bloody child, Kang Jin-Woo. My sister Aphrodite tells me you have... interesting hands. Come. My waters are deep, and my secrets are even deeper."
"The Sea Goddess?" So-Hee whispered, her eyes narrowing. "She's notoriously fickle. She's drowned entire civilizations for less than what you did in that arena."
"Better to drown in the sea than burn in Sparta," I said. "Minotaur! Clear the path!"
The golden giant let out a roar, leaping from the cliffside. It didn't fall; it plummeted like a meteor, crashing into the water with such force that it created a temporary vacuum. The pearl-ship glided into the center of the spray.
"Yuna, take the rear. So-Hee, freeze a slide for the men. We're going for a swim."
The Spartans didn't hesitate. They followed me off the cliff, sliding down a massive ramp of violet ice that So-Hee materialized in mid-air. It was a spectacle of absolute insanity—a level 99 Hunter and his stolen army diving into the mythical sea to escape the wrath of War.
As I landed on the deck of the living ship, the wood felt warm and soft, like skin. A woman emerged from the central mast—her body was made of water and sea-foam, shifting constantly between a hundred different beautiful forms.
Amphitrite. The Queen of the Tides.
"You brought a lot of guests, Little Conqueror," she said, her liquid eyes fixed on the [Belt of Irresistible Grace]. "But my ship is hungry. It requires... sustenance. In the form of mana. Or perhaps, something more intimate."
I looked back at the cliffs, where the Butcher of Rhodes and the rest of the Legion were staring down at us, powerless to follow into the Goddess's domain.
"I have plenty of mana," I said, stepping toward her. I felt the [Touch of the Conqueror] buzzing in my fingertips. "And I'm very good at sharing."
The ship began to dive, a bubble of air forming around the deck as we descended into the dark blue. Sparta was gone. The Arena was behind us. But as the system updated, I realized the 'Red Zone' of the sea was much larger than the one on land.
[New Arc: The Sunken Palace of Desires.]
[Current EXP: 1.2 Billion.]
[Harem Size: 2/100.]
I looked at So-Hee and Yuna, who were already sizing up the Sea Goddess. This was going to be a very long voyage.