Deep in the night, with everything quiet, Medusa, who had been on edge all day, lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
She rolled around in bed, wondering if it was because of the apple Athena had given her that day; she felt her body was burning, unreasonably hot.
The fruit basket Athena had given her was still on the table. Fearing Athena might harm her, Medusa had only eaten that one apple the goddess had offered. In fact, she hadn't even wanted to eat that apple, but with Athena personally watching, she had no way to refuse.
Another half an hour passed, and Medusa gradually felt parched. So she decided to get up temporarily and drink some water. She put on the robe by her bed and sat up. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but as she got up, she felt as if her perspective was slightly farther from the ground.
However, Medusa, whose consciousness was rather hazy at this moment, didn't pay attention to such a minor detail. Due to her different nature, she was already growing and would soon grow taller than her sisters by a head. Therefore, she just shook her head and walked towards the water jug in the room.
She picked up the water jug and shook it, only to find that there wasn't even a drop of water left. Upon realizing this, Medusa helplessly covered her forehead and sighed.
"I've been living in a daze."
Medusa put down the water jug with a sigh. There was nothing she could do. Although she didn't want to go out late at night, there was no water left at home, and she was truly thirsty. Therefore, she could only go to the well outside to fetch some water for daily use.
It was so late; besides the patrolling soldiers, she shouldn't encounter anyone else if she went out now. Moreover, Poseidon had been driven back to the sea by Ares, Athena, and two demigod heroes. He shouldn't return to Athens.
Therefore, Medusa, going out tonight, did not wear her hood and scarf that concealed her face, for the first time in a long while. She just took a water jug and walked towards the nearest well in Athens.
Halfway there, Medusa encountered a squad of soldiers carrying torches, patrolling at night. In this era, night was quite dangerous for humans. Even within a city-state, it wasn't necessarily absolutely safe. Besides other humans who would come to raid city-states and abduct people at night, humans also had to face various monsters and demons living in the Age of Gods. These creatures would also come to prey on humans under the cover of night. Therefore, almost every city-state had military forces assigned to patrol at night.
So, Medusa didn't pay much attention when she saw these patrolling soldiers. She even greeted them. After all, she was Athena's direct priestess, holding a high position in Athens. Many of these soldiers had also seen her face at various ceremonies and sacrificial activities.
However, what Medusa didn't expect was that after she politely greeted these soldiers, she not only received no response but instead heard their screams.
"Mon-monster!"
"Monster? Where?"
Upon hearing the soldiers' screams, Medusa also tensed up, ready to help them deal with any monster daring to break into Athens at night. But after looking around, she found that all the soldiers were looking at her with terrified eyes, drawing their bronze daggers and spears, keeping a certain distance, and surrounding her.
"Why are you surrounding me?" Seeing the soldiers' actions, Medusa asked, confused and a little flustered, "I am Medusa, the priestess of Athena. Don't you recognize me?"
"Shut up! You monster!" The soldiers roared at her, "How dare you impersonate her in a priestess's robe? Where did you take Priestess Medusa?!"
"Monster?"
Medusa instinctively reached out and touched her cheek. To her horror, what she felt was not her fair and smooth, lovely face—which even her two sisters, the old woman selling fruit in the market, and even Athena couldn't help but touch—but something hard, cold, and somewhat sharp. It felt like scales.
"How could this be?"
Medusa took a step back. She then lowered her head and looked at her palm. When she discovered that her face had scales, it seemed to trigger some kind of catalytic effect. Her palms quickly deformed and twisted, her fingers elongated, her knuckles widened, and her nails curved and grew, turning into something like animal claws. Even more terrifying, the skin on her hands was rapidly shedding, like a python shedding its skin, revealing rows of pale yellow snake scales.
"Hiss, hiss."
Suddenly, a snake-like sound echoed in her ears, making Medusa's scalp tingle. But just then, she suddenly noticed that her beautiful purple hair had also twisted together, slowly transforming into long purple snakes. One of these snakes turned its head, flicked its red forked tongue at her, and licked her cheek.
The series of sudden changes not only left Medusa herself at a loss but also scared the patrolling soldiers of Athens, who witnessed the entire process, out of their wits. Many soldiers froze in place. The aura of a superior monster, directly fallen from a deity, emanating from Medusa, made them tremble all over, unable to move. Some even wet their pants from fright.
However, a few braver soldiers, led by their captain, charged forward. They drew their daggers, ready to deal with Medusa, intending to cut off her head while this monster was stunned.
Several soldiers bravely charged forward and fiercely struck Medusa with their bronze daggers. However, their blades only tore through Medusa's robe, and when they struck Medusa's body, they only produced a few sparks.
In this short time, Medusa's body had also undergone a shedding phenomenon, covered in pale yellow snake scales. These snake scales formed a protective layer on her body, like a biological armor, making her look like a fully armed warrior, impervious to mortal weapons.
"Ah! Don't come near me!"
Although she was not injured, being struck by swords scared Medusa. She quickly retreated, but during this process, her feet had unknowingly transformed into a thick, heavy snake tail.
The soldiers' attack missed, but seeing Medusa actively retreat, seemingly scared by them, their courage rose. They gripped their daggers, ready to continue their assault, but just then, their gaze met Medusa's panicked eyes.
Crack.
The completely out-of-control, rampaging highest-level petrification demonic eyes erupted at this moment. Several soldiers of Athens instantly turned into stone statues, standing motionless.
"Why is this happening?"
Seeing these soldiers accidentally killed by her, Medusa felt sorrow in her heart, but she could only desperately flee from there. She had now completely degenerated into a monster, and her vision was gradually turning red. A desire to tear apart all the humans before her surged within her, and she felt she was about to lose control of herself.
Therefore, Medusa shook off the soldiers behind her, swung her snake tail, and swiftly glided to the city wall. With a fierce flick of her snake tail, she shattered the city wall and then escaped from the city through the crack in the wall.