NOVEL WEB Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Between Like and Hate
"So, what kind of place is the Silver Whirlpool?"
On their way to find Eros, Apollo turned to Athena and Prometheus with the question.
She rarely left Olympus and didn't know much about the mortal world, not like Athena and Prometheus did.
"Hmm…"
Athena hesitated. Honestly, if it weren't for Eros being there, she wouldn't have set foot in a place like that in her entire life.
"How to put it… I guess you could say it's a place that suits Eros very well?"
She chose her words carefully. After all, from what they'd heard, Eros spent most of his time in the Oceanic Court throwing parties.
Surely he was having just as much fun at the Silver Whirlpool.
But as that thought crossed her mind, Athena's expression changed.
"No, that can't be. Why has the blessing I left on Eros suddenly been exhausted?"
Without warning, she felt the power she'd placed upon him completely drained.
Which could only mean one thing. Eros was in danger. A danger so great that he hadn't even had the chance to call out to her before being overwhelmed.
"We need to move faster."
Just as she lifted her gaze, a blinding light forced her to squint.
Apollo had already spread her radiant wings wide, streaking toward the Silver Whirlpool.
Athena and Prometheus exchanged a look, then quickly followed.
"Huh. I'm not dead?"
Eros stared at his hand, surprised.
Sure, he'd given it his all just now. But by any logic, there was no way he should've survived that.
It was like a hurricane pouring all its pain and hatred into one ultimate strike, an attack that no defense could stop.
Even breaking through to the Seventh Sense shouldn't have let him take a blow from Typhon.
Yet here he was, alive. Maybe burning his life force had actually worked?
"You fool. Even now you'd still throw a punch like that?"
A voice came from behind. Hera's voice.
She stood there, holding up an invisible barrier, keeping Typhon's hundred arms at bay, arms as heavy as mountains, poised above Eros's head.
"Hebe?"
Relief washed over Eros. His battered body couldn't hold him up anymore, and he leaned back against Hera.
"H hey!"
"Relax. Let me rest a second."
Hera flushed with embarrassment and irritation, but Eros was human, fragile. She couldn't just shove him off.
At least he wasn't taking advantage, just leaning politely against her shoulder.
"If you had this kind of shield, why didn't you use it sooner?"
Eros glanced up at the barrier above, its surface faintly marked with the pattern of a shield.
"What are you thinking? I'm only borrowing a sliver of Aegis's power. I can't keep this up for long."
There was no way she could've just stolen Zeus's beloved Aegis. She was drawing on it temporarily through her divine right as his wife.
And this body was only a vessel anyway. It wouldn't hold out for long.
"You'd better start thinking of a way out of this mess. I don't care, but if you die here, there's no coming back."
Honestly, Hera figured she'd be better off hoping Amphitrite came up with something.
And Eros, going toe to toe with Typhon like an idiot? Who did he think he was?
Eros could only give a helpless smile.
"I know who it is. I know who its parents are. What I don't know is why it wants to kill me."
He was just as confused as anyone why Typhon had decided to make him its target.
"Well, figure something out fast. I can't protect you forever."
Typhon's relentless assault didn't stop. Its blood red beastly eyes were locked onto him, unblinking.
If not for Aegis's shield, Typhon would've broken through long ago.
Eros's body began mending itself, at least enough for him to stand on his own again.
"Okay, but seriously, how are we supposed to break through this barrier and get word out?"
He thought for a second. Maybe his nonhuman charm could help?
But Typhon definitely didn't look like a monster girl. That probably wasn't going to work.
Besides, even if it did, look at those eyes. No way it would just back down.
A dead end.
"Or…" Hera said with a hint of disdain, "you could just believe in that little woman of yours. She's working herself sick trying to save you, you know."
She couldn't understand what Amphitrite saw in him. Eros was the kind of man who fell in love with every woman he met.
Amphitrite deserved better.
"Amphitrite?"
Eros blinked, then laughed softly.
"Well then. I guess I have no choice but to believe in her."
Now Hera was the one caught off guard. He believes that easily?
"What else can I do? I have to believe in her. So let's do our part, keep Typhon's eyes on us so it can't interfere with whatever she's trying."
Hera stared at him, baffled.
Why could he believe so completely, without hesitation?
When they'd rallied behind Zeus to overthrow Cronus, it was because Zeus was destiny itself. There'd been no doubt that he would win.
But Eros? What made him trust like that?
Was it because he too carried that kind of confidence?
"If you fail, you'll die."
The words slipped from her lips before she could stop them.
"A human in Tartarus… there's no coming back. Your soul would be erased."
Shouldn't he be panicking? Shouldn't he be trembling at the brink of death?
But Eros simply smiled and cracked his bones back into place.
"Of course I know that."
"If all I wanted was to live, I'd never have left the Abyssal Capital. I wouldn't have gone looking for Poseidon."
"But don't you think that'd be boring? Life needs passion."
"Love, desire, joy, purpose, striving, anything can be that passion."
As he slowly worked his body back into fighting shape, his voice was calm.
"Without passion, life's no different from death."
What did that have to do with anything? Hera opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"Because when we believe in each other like this, isn't that the coolest thing of all?"
Eros turned, grinning at her.
"Doesn't that make life worth living?"
"And right now, that includes you too. I'm trusting you."
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