Greek Myth: Zeus Wants Me to Be His/Her (XXXX)?????-Chapter 150: The Ambush Banquet for Poseidon

"Sigh, come now, Lord Oceanus, what sort of thing is that to say?"

Eros shook his head, feigning a sigh.

"You're her parent, rescuing Acheron is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"

"And besides, since you prefer not to get involved in these petty affairs, didn't you say before that matters between me and Acheron should be settled by the two of us?"

"She lost fair and square. That's no one's fault but her own, right?"

His slippery argument had a strange logic to it, and it left Oceanus momentarily silent.

Clearly, she knew Eros was up to no good, but what he said… wasn't entirely wrong either.

After all, this man had tangled with so many of her daughters that he might as well be considered half a child of hers.

Children quarreling amongst themselves, was it really her place to interfere?

Still, the way Eros was so obviously planning to drag Acheron out of Tartarus just to set her up again felt a bit much.

Eventually, Oceanus spoke softly.

"Just… don't bully her too badly."

That line, said with quiet resignation, was as good as granting permission.

Then, without another word, she began to demonstrate how to retrieve someone from the depths of Tartarus.

The divine might of a primordial sea god surged.

The cosmic river encircling the world shimmered, reflecting an image of the underworld's abyss.

Through three layers of bronze gates, bypassing the drowsing Hundred-Armed Giants, Oceanus's gaze pierced into the black depths of the pit.

And once she locked onto Acheron's presence, she simply pulled her out.

Yes, just like that. Casually pulled her right out.

Tartarus may have been strong, but in the end, it was a dormant primordial deity.

For Oceanus, retrieving one person from it seemed laughably easy.

Then why the hell did everyone make it sound so difficult? Was this a multigenerational scam by the elders?

Eros watched the still-dazed Acheron, suddenly feeling very deceived.

No wonder when he got swallowed by Typhon, none of the gods seemed worried.

They probably were watching from the shadows, waiting to see how long he could last before pulling him out.

Peeping freak! If she claimed she couldn't help back then, Eros would never believe her again.

"Huh…? What's this place…"

Acheron blinked in confusion, staring at the marble floor beneath her feet.

Was she really… out of the abyss?

"You guessed it! And you should be thanking me! I went out of my way to ask Oceanus to bring you back."

Before Acheron could fully process her surroundings, a hand seized her by the collar and yanked her up.

The face smiling at her was the one she loathed most in this world.

"Eros?!"

Acheron's brain kicked into overdrive. She immediately tried to raise her head, ready to cry to her Father.

She still remembered being defeated by this perverted freak of a human.

But so what? She had backing! Her dad would handle this!

Unfortunately for her, before she could get a word out, Eros's arm looped around her throat in a mock chokehold, silencing her completely.

"Come on now, don't try to steal my credit in front of Lord Oceanus."

Maintaining a pose that looked exactly like an execution, Eros dragged Acheron off like a limp dog.

"Thanks again, Lord Oceanus! We'll be going now!"

Dragging her like a half-dead husky, Eros left the throne chamber with Oceanus saying nothing more.

Perhaps, in her eyes, this was just harmless play between children.

Once they were outside, Eros finally let her go.

Gasping for breath, Acheron immediately tried to bolt, but she froze in place as soon as he called out.

"If you run, I'll hang you naked at the gates of Deep Abyss City for everyone to see. All your sisters are here too, remember?"

She stiffened completely.

Suddenly, the quiet and boring abyss seemed like a paradise. Why had she come back again?

"…What do you want this time?"

Giving up, Acheron returned to Eros with clenched teeth, glaring at him with both hatred and resignation.

This bastard was clearly scheming something.

But… how did he escape the abyss? Did he really find a way?

"Relax, I'm not here to mess with you."

Eros flashed a friendly smile.

"I'm just being considerate, giving you a little heads-up."

"There's something big about to go down in Deep Abyss City. You'd best stay put and not wander off."

No need for mind control this time. No need for the Phantom Emperor Fist.

"…That's it?"

Acheron looked at him suspiciously.

"Of course," Eros replied, smiling brighter than ever.

"Uh-huh."

Like hell I believe you.

Inwardly, Acheron made up her mind.

If Eros wanted her to stay here, she'd do the opposite. She'd wait until nightfall and sneak out of Deep Abyss City.

Nothing good ever came from sticking around him.

Eros could already tell what she was thinking, but he didn't care.

Let Thetis worry about keeping her under control, that was her job now.

He was just here to nominate the candidate.

Next step? Send Poseidon an invitation.

Once she stepped into the trap, slam the doors and bring out the ropes. First try to make her swear an oath, and if she refused, down goes the potion and in she'd go with Acheron.

With Acheron as leverage, Poseidon's freedom would be as good as gone.

Perfect plan.

If Poseidon had no vulnerabilities, they'd make one.

Success wasn't guaranteed, but Eros knew he'd enjoy it either way. That was more than enough.

Brimming with glee, he returned to Eurynome's palace and shared the update.

"Acheron agreed to be the sacrifice, voluntarily. But heads-up, she might try to flee. Make sure she doesn't."

He plopped back into his seat. Eurynome immediately shifted away from him in disgust.

As for "voluntarily"? Thetis just stared at him and said nothing.

Well, if he'd chosen the person, there was no point arguing.

"Next issue, what about combat strength? Can we really take Poseidon down by ourselves?"

"No problem. I'll handle it."

Eros's calm confidence left both Thetis and Eurynome blinking.

"Seriously? You're sure we don't need backup?"

"Nope. We're good."

He even gave Eurynome a sidelong glance.

Why call for help when you had a pretending-to-be-weak creation goddess on standby?

When the time came, she could jump out and flying-kick Poseidon in the face.

Perfect plan part two.

Just pretend to be losing and toss Eurynome into the fight.

Eros rubbed his chin, already plotting.

Seeing how confident he was, Thetis stopped pressing, but mentally prepared some contingency plans.

"Well, if that's settled, let's move to the next point."

Eros tapped the table, his expression turning serious.

"I don't work for free. My fees are steep." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You want payment?" Thetis raised an eyebrow.

After everything, after all the sisters he'd seduced, after helping defend the "back garden" from Poseidon, he still wanted payment?

Really?

If she said that aloud, Eros would just answer: "Those were personal. Consensual. This is business."

He wasn't about to demand payment from every sea goddess, he had a reputation to maintain.

So he was clearly aiming to extract compensation from one person: Thetis, the ringleader.

"…I see."

Awkward silence followed. Thetis didn't really have anything Eros would want.

Or rather, she knew what he wanted, but she wasn't about to give it.

She offered treasure after treasure from the ocean, rare artifacts and relics.

Eros refused them all.

Eventually, she turned to Eurynome.

Now her estate? That was stacked with some truly rare and ancient items.

"…Very well," Eurynome sighed.

"Eros, don't worry about the reward. For this favor, and for the thank-you I still owe you… I'll prepare a gift that satisfies you."

Eros raised an eyebrow, then smiled.

"Alright. I'll look forward to it."

"With that settled, I'll go inform Poseidon. I'll say Amphitrite has agreed to return her divine authority. Sound good?"

A juicy enough bait. But Thetis and Eurynome insisted on adding more terms to make the deal more believable.

If it looked too easy, Poseidon would grow suspicious.

They suggested various harsh conditions to make the ruse more convincing.

Eros didn't really think it was necessary.

Poseidon would be cautious no matter how real it looked.

And even if it was obviously fake, she'd still come, because her power was on the line.

Still, he humored them and added the details.

After agreeing on a time and ironing out the last details, the ambush banquet for Poseidon was finally ready.

Well, not really a banquet.

Just a room full of hidden weapons and people waiting to shout, "Seize her!"

Eros smiled knowingly to himself.

Trying to coexist peacefully with Poseidon?

Yeah, right. That was never going to happen.