Phobos sat on the floor with his helmet off following his father and tapped the ground.
The snake is a genius who digs tunnels. However, when the monstrous snake, the size of a bear, passed through the ground, it crumpled as if struck by an earthquake. Phobos, disgusted, took a few steps back from where he was standing. The ground shook. The snake’s head showed its hideous appearance.
As its eyelids were peeled off, red irises and reptile-specific long pupils were revealed.
Phobos guessed that the snake was wagging its tail in joy, though hard to believe. Because the ground was vibrating weakly.
“Go. Go eat it up, Akimo.”
At the end of Phobos’ words, the snake crawled out of the gutter and joyfully slithered to where the bodies were piled up. The Thebeans, who had remained on the battlefield to retrieve the bodies of their comrades, hurriedly left the scene with a disgusted look when the horrifying monster appeared. However, they had no need to. Akimo’s diet consisted of the Marean army who fled the war without having been ordered to. The snake relaxed into a delightful meal. It opened his mouth greedily wide enough to rip off its scales.
‘Is there no human women?’
“We have wiped out all the villages in the vicinity, so will there be any human women left?”
Phobos understood the snake and threw a stone at it. He sat with his hips on the floor, grooming the sword.
‘I’m sick and tired of eating only what I eat all the time.’
“Are you complaining without tasting it, Akimo?”
‘I want a human woman to eat.’
Phobos glared at the snake, squinting his gray eyes, similar to that of Ares’. Is this snake rutting? After thinking about it, he plucked the grass again and wiped the blood from the sword.
‘I want to eat soft human flesh.’
“Shut up and eat what you’ve been given, you snakey little sh—”
Phobos swallowed the rest of his words as he looked at Akimo’s long fangs. He grazed further as if he had said nothing and rubbed his chest around the surface of the armor. The snake mumbled and wiped the floor clean of the bodies. When he was satisfied enough, he gently rubbed himself and crawled on the ground and went back to the cave where he had come out from. Phobos kicked the soil into the hollowed-out tunnel entrance. After doing a rough patched up work, he was the last to leave the battlefield.
***
Blood was contaminating the earth with sorrow and anger, despair and fear. The god of the field shed tears as he looked back at his scarred body. No one listened to his complaint. Because Zeus ruled that he was not responsible for the collateral damage caused by the exercise of Ares’ power. Everyone is just sitting on the sidelines. But the earth was charred to the point where it was sour and no crops could be grown. Above all, the gods, who had countless deaths and good feelings, were sickened together.
Grumbling!
A round ball rolled. After the snake passed, it rolled down the uneven field. The goddess’s bare feet drove the ball away. Every time she passed by, gold coins poured down. Picking up the bloodstained ball and she wiped it with her collar. She wore a large hollow horn on her side, just as Ares had put his helmet in his side. Gold coins were jingling down at the entrance to the horn.
Wearing a gold crown, she looked like a queen. But her face was young. A long, curly silver hair, characteristic of the goddess of fate, flowed down her shoulders. It was the goddess of luck, Tyche. Why is it suddenly a ball game on the battlefield? Tyche held her ball dearly in her arms. The horn she was holding, Cornucopia, dropped gold coins incessantly. On a dreary afternoon, it was the barracks where Thebes’ troops stayed where the goddess walked as she made her way with gold coins sparkling in the sunset.
There was a fortress built of stone so loosely that it was unfit to be called a barrier on the hills. It was the camp of Thebes. The back is the border. It really shows their desperate situation of having been pushed to the end.
Leaving the horn on the wall, Tyche walked into the fortress with only her ball. The jingle of coins could no longer be heard. The goddess walked lightly. Her feet, however, were strewn with soldiers groaning on the bare ground.
As she went a little further inside, the cold bodies lay neatly. Victims of today’s battle. Those who survived stood before them with somber expressions. There was a bitter smell as herbs burned in the brass bowl. The hands stripping the dead recovered from the battlefield of their belongings next were solemn and serious.
Somebody sang a requiem.
Phobos sat on the floor with his helmet off following his father and tapped the ground.
The snake is a genius who digs tunnels. However, when the monstrous snake, the size of a bear, passed through the ground, it crumpled as if struck by an earthquake. Phobos, disgusted, took a few steps back from where he was standing. The ground shook. The snake’s head showed its hideous appearance.
As its eyelids were peeled off, red irises and reptile-specific long pupils were revealed.
Phobos guessed that the snake was wagging its tail in joy, though hard to believe. Because the ground was vibrating weakly.
“Go. Go eat it up, Akimo.”
At the end of Phobos’ words, the snake crawled out of the gutter and joyfully slithered to where the bodies were piled up. The Thebeans, who had remained on the battlefield to retrieve the bodies of their comrades, hurriedly left the scene with a disgusted look when the horrifying monster appeared. However, they had no need to. Akimo’s diet consisted of the Marean army who fled the war without having been ordered to. The snake relaxed into a delightful meal. It opened his mouth greedily wide enough to rip off its scales.
‘Is there no human women?’
“We have wiped out all the villages in the vicinity, so will there be any human women left?”
Phobos understood the snake and threw a stone at it. He sat with his hips on the floor, grooming the sword.
‘I’m sick and tired of eating only what I eat all the time.’
“Are you complaining without tasting it, Akimo?”
‘I want a human woman to eat.’
Phobos glared at the snake, squinting his gray eyes, similar to that of Ares’. Is this snake rutting? After thinking about it, he plucked the grass again and wiped the blood from the sword.
‘I want to eat soft human flesh.’
“Shut up and eat what you’ve been given, you snakey little sh—”
Phobos swallowed the rest of his words as he looked at Akimo’s long fangs. He grazed further as if he had said nothing and rubbed his chest around the surface of the armor. The snake mumbled and wiped the floor clean of the bodies. When he was satisfied enough, he gently rubbed himself and crawled on the ground and went back to the cave where he had come out from. Phobos kicked the soil into the hollowed-out tunnel entrance. After doing a rough patched up work, he was the last to leave the battlefield.
***
Blood was contaminating the earth with sorrow and anger, despair and fear. The god of the field shed tears as he looked back at his scarred body. No one listened to his complaint. Because Zeus ruled that he was not responsible for the collateral damage caused by the exercise of Ares’ power. Everyone is just sitting on the sidelines. But the earth was charred to the point where it was sour and no crops could be grown. Above all, the gods, who had countless deaths and good feelings, were sickened together.
Grumbling!
A round ball rolled. After the snake passed, it rolled down the uneven field. The goddess’s bare feet drove the ball away. Every time she passed by, gold coins poured down. Picking up the bloodstained ball and she wiped it with her collar. She wore a large hollow horn on her side, just as Ares had put his helmet in his side. Gold coins were jingling down at the entrance to the horn.
Wearing a gold crown, she looked like a queen. But her face was young. A long, curly silver hair, characteristic of the goddess of fate, flowed down her shoulders. It was the goddess of luck, Tyche. Why is it suddenly a ball game on the battlefield? Tyche held her ball dearly in her arms. The horn she was holding, Cornucopia, dropped gold coins incessantly. On a dreary afternoon, it was the barracks where Thebes’ troops stayed where the goddess walked as she made her way with gold coins sparkling in the sunset.
There was a fortress built of stone so loosely that it was unfit to be called a barrier on the hills. It was the camp of Thebes. The back is the border. It really shows their desperate situation of having been pushed to the end.
Leaving the horn on the wall, Tyche walked into the fortress with only her ball. The jingle of coins could no longer be heard. The goddess walked lightly. Her feet, however, were strewn with soldiers groaning on the bare ground.
As she went a little further inside, the cold bodies lay neatly. Victims of today’s battle. Those who survived stood before them with somber expressions. There was a bitter smell as herbs burned in the brass bowl. The hands stripping the dead recovered from the battlefield of their belongings next were solemn and serious.
Somebody sang a requiem.
