The Greece Antagonist

Netherworld, early morning.

The melodious chirping of birds filtered through the carved window lattices into the bedroom, where Luo En comfortably stretched and opened his eyes, awakening from meditation.

He got out of bed, drew back the curtains and windows, and was greeted by the fragrant scent of the soil and a breeze mixed with the aroma of flowers, refreshing and delightful. The lush, elegant garden in front of him made it hard to believe that he was in the sunless Netherworld.

However, once his gaze moved beyond the greenery at the edge, the grey, desolate true colors of the place seeped back into view.

Truth be told, no matter how beautifully constructed this garden was, it was nothing more than a sophisticated birdcage, and Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, was the canary trapped within.

But birds, by nature, belong to the sky.

Although she had already freed herself from her shackles, unable to take flight once more, she did not wish for her daughter to follow in her footsteps and spend her life in the sunless depths of the Netherworld.

Poor are the hearts of parents everywhere...

Just as Luo En was moved to contemplation, the firmly closed door was suddenly pushed open. A rebellious-looking, pale-skinned girl with short black hair burst in.

"You..."

"Hmm?"

Luo En raised an eyebrow and turned to cast a deep look at the newcomer.

Instantly, Melinoe, who once held unrivaled status as the princess of the Netherworld, shrank her neck like a mouse that had seen a cat, hurriedly bowed her head and corrected herself with a somewhat unfamiliar title.

"Bro... Brother..."

"Hmm, remember, just call me that when you go out."

Hearing the reluctant but finally spoken word, Luo En nodded in satisfaction and solemnly advised with the air of someone speaking from experience.

"Don't think I'm taking advantage of you, I'm doing this for your own good. Escaping the Netherworld is only the first step, and a relatively simple one at that. The harder part is not getting caught and sent back afterwards. If you want to live freely above ground, you need to start by forgetting that you're a princess of the Netherworld and keep a low profile. Otherwise, you'll end up like Sisyphus, who escaped three times only to be thrown back into Tartarus for punishment."

"Oh..."

Melinoe quickly nodded her head, putting on an obedient, eager-to-learn facade.

Luo En glanced at the obedient child before him, his gaze falling to her feet as he spoke solemnly.

"Also, what else have I taught you? Knock before entering."

Hearing this, Melinoe hastily stepped back outside the door, knocked on the door panel, and after receiving permission, timidly asked in a pinched voice.

"If you're up, shall we have breakfast together? Brother? Mother made it herself."

"Hmm, you go ahead, I'll be there after I change my clothes."

He looked towards the door, where he had just managed the Goddess of Conspiracy, and nodded in satisfaction, waving his hand.

Only after receiving a firm reply did Melinoe carefully close the door again, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, and furiously shook her fist in the air.

There was no helping it; even at her prime, she couldn't defeat him and had been thoroughly beaten.

Moreover, now that her divine power was sealed, her divine artifact, the Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction, was confiscated, and even her mother, Persephone, stood behind him, supporting him.

When the situation is beyond your control, you have to bow your head.

Of course, true to Melinoe's temperament, she hadn't hesitated to resist and seek revenge.

For instance, after suffering a punishing ordeal, she took advantage of a dark and windy night, armed with a small knife, sneaked into someone's bedroom intending to stab him a few times to vent her anger.

However, a devious individual had prepared in advance, catching her red-handed and even pulling the Queen of the Underworld out from hiding to act as a witness.

From then on, a thoroughly disappointed Persephone turned from a loving mother to a stepmother, ignoring her own daughter and fully supporting that outsider instead.

Thus, right after getting out of bed, she found herself thrown back into the solitary black room to be punished with sheep, crying and making a fuss throughout the remaining torturous hour.

After repeated setbacks, Melinoe was certainly not reconciled. After recovering, she regrouped and set out on revenge once more.

This time, having learned from painful experience, she took the initiative to slaughter all the sheep in the garden first, thinking that even if she failed, at least she wouldn't continue to be tormented by them.

However, just when she thought the sheep punishment was the worst of his inhuman limits, she discovered he could descend even further into cruelty.

—Water torture.

During this punishment, the victim's body was bound, and the head also fixed in place, with water dripping repeatedly on the same spot on the forehead. The cool water made the forehead progressively cooler, and body temperature slowly lost. Particularly when blindfolded, everything was darkness, and in the enclosed room, the only company was the sound of water drops hitting the forehead. It was a double torture, both physical and psychological, made worse by the dark, quiet environment driving the victim to madness.

—Coffin torture.

A coffin just over a meter in length, width, and height, or even smaller, only big enough for an adult to sit hunched over or lie curled up like an infant; filled with a gel that fixed the victim's body in a specific position, preventing any movement. Once the coffin was closed and buried underground, not a glimmer of light or sound penetrated, it was so quiet one could hear their own heartbeat. Yet, the enhanced body remained acutely awake, feeling every second ticking by, along with that loneliness more terrifying than death itself.

...

With his mother's tacit consent and even cooperation, that bastard kept enforcing 'fishing-law enforcement', then enticing her to err and using those excruciating and inhuman punishments to torment her over and over again, all under the guise of 'character education'.