Reincarnated As Poseidon

The ocean groaned beneath the weight of the moment. The sound wasn't merely the crash of waves or the distant roar of a storm—it was the sea itself shuddering, as if some ancient force stirred in its depths.

Poseidon stood at the heart of it all, the salt-scented wind whipping through his long, damp hair. His gaze, sharp as a trident's point, was locked on the jagged wall of enemies that dared to step foot upon his domain.

But these were no mere mortals.

The gods had come.

Above, a crescent moon tore through the storm clouds, casting pale silver over their faces—Aegirion, draped in a robe of foaming blue, his eyes like whirlpools; Nerthys, goddess of tides, her voice a song of drowning; and Calvess, the war-god of the reefs, his armor encrusted with barnacles that still dripped with seawater.

Three of them… to face one.

And yet Poseidon did not yield. His voice was calm, almost cold, carrying across the roaring wind.

"You come to my waters uninvited, and you expect to leave breathing?"

Nerthys's lips curled, her voice like a wave whispering just before it drags you under.

"You are not the Poseidon we remember. The real one—our brother—fell long ago. You're just a vessel… and we have come to break you."

The words stabbed at him—not for their truth, but because of the shadow of memory they invoked. Somewhere deep inside, the ancient being known as Thalorin stirred, and Poseidon felt the familiar, heavy thrum of its presence in his soul.

They think you are weak, the voice whispered inside him. Show them the ocean's cruelty.

The first attack came without warning.

Calvess lunged forward, dragging the ocean floor with him. Coral spikes erupted from beneath Poseidon's feet, jagged enough to pierce ships' hulls. He leaped aside just as they shattered the surface, the explosion of seawater drenching him to the bone.

He landed, spun, and swept his trident through the air—yet it was not mere metal that moved. The sea itself obeyed. A spiraling column of water surged upward, smashing into Calvess's side and sending him tumbling through the waves.

Aegirion laughed—not mockingly, but like a man thrilled by the challenge.

"Yes… this is the fight I came for."

With a wave of his hand, the ocean split. The water around Poseidon was suddenly ripped away, creating a chasm that left him standing on wet sand, exposed to the air. The walls of water loomed above, thousands of tons of it held back only by Aegirion's will.

Then, with a flick, Aegirion let it crash down.

Poseidon braced.

The wave struck with enough force to level cities. It should have broken every bone in his body. But instead… it stopped. The water curled around him like an obedient serpent before dispersing harmlessly into mist.

When the haze cleared, Poseidon's eyes glowed faintly, a deep abyssal blue. His trident hummed in his grip, and the voice of Thalorin rumbled in his veins.

Good. Now take more.

He didn't need to be told twice.

The sea began to rise behind him—no longer a passive body of water, but an army. Each swell became a clawed hand of brine, each crest a jagged blade. He sent them forward.

Nerthys answered in kind. With a fluid sweep of her arm, she bent the tides into a cage of water around him, a sphere that spun faster and faster, grinding the sand beneath into silt.

Poseidon stabbed his trident into the ground.

A crack tore through the ocean floor, glowing with deep cerulean light. In an instant, the water cage froze—not in ice, but in salt-crystal formations that spread like lightning. Nerthys's eyes widened as her control shattered.

"Impossible…" she breathed.

Calvess roared from somewhere to the left, slamming his barnacle-encrusted fist into the seabed. Massive coral spires erupted, aiming to impale Poseidon from every direction.

Poseidon moved like the current itself—fluid, unpredictable. The first spike missed, the second grazed his arm, but the third—

—was caught.

He gripped the coral barehanded, the salt and razor edges slicing into his skin. Blood dripped into the water. But instead of weakening him, the scent of it seemed to make the sea pulse.

Thunder cracked overhead. The storm worsened. The ocean began to heave violently, not in natural rhythm, but in sync with Poseidon's heartbeat.

Aegirion's expression shifted—calm, yet calculating. "So… the rumors are true. You're not just him. Something else lives inside you."

Poseidon's lips curled in a faint, dangerous smirk.

"You're starting to understand."

With one sweeping motion, he slammed the butt of his trident into the ground.

The effect was instantaneous. The ocean floor split wider, and from the chasm rose tendrils of water so black they reflected no light—water pulled from the deepest, coldest parts of the abyss. Each tendril moved like a living thing, wrapping around the enemy gods, dragging them downward.

Calvess fought furiously, tearing at the tendrils with coral blades. Nerthys vanished into mist, reappearing behind Poseidon with a dagger made of pure tidewater.

It almost reached his neck—

—but Thalorin's voice roared inside him.

Mine.

Without thinking, Poseidon twisted, catching her wrist. He forced her dagger into the sand, where it fizzled into foam. Her eyes widened in shock—she had underestimated his speed.

"I told you," he said softly, "you came here to drown."

And then he shoved her into the sea.

But not just the sea.

The moment her body hit the water, the black tendrils surged, dragging her downward with horrifying speed. Her scream was swallowed almost instantly.

Calvess bellowed in rage and desperation, but Aegirion raised a hand to stop him. His eyes never left Poseidon.

"This battle ends here," Aegirion said. "For now."

Poseidon could feel it—the retreat wasn't out of fear, but calculation. Aegirion had seen enough to know that fighting further risked more than it gained.

One by one, the enemy gods pulled back, vanishing into the churning storm. The ocean stilled, but only slightly.

Poseidon stood alone, his chest rising and falling heavily. The taste of salt and blood lingered in his mouth.

They'll be back, Thalorin whispered, almost amused. And when they do… you will need more than my strength.

Poseidon didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the spot where the moonlight broke upon the waves, thinking of the war to come.