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King Minos, now the religious and political leader of the city-states on Crete Island, the common lord of all Minosians, was also the son of the Divine King Zeus and the divine consort Europa.

Legend had it that Zeus, transformed into a white bull, brought the Phoenician princess Europa to Crete Island, where he wooed her, giving birth to their sons Minos, Radamanthys, and Sarpedon. He promised them dominion over the land.

To inherit the throne, the three brothers became enemies and fought against each other.

Ultimately, Minos banished Radamanthys and Sarpedon, emerging as the victor of the ordeal.

Though he had seized the throne, he led the civilization of Crete Island to its zenith, thanks to his outstanding personal talents.

During his reign, he was famous for his stringent legal governance, which turned the whole of Crete Island into the most prosperous and developed human settlement of the time.

Now, as the enormous waves from the sea subsided, several priests and generals gathered in the great hall, reporting to King Minos on the throne about the damage and casualties across the city-states of Crete Island.

"The twenty-seven boats that went out to sea during the day have all been confirmed destroyed, with 98 confirmed dead, 32 injured to varying degrees, and 64 missing…"

"Two sea ports outside of Knossos City have incurred minor damage, currently under urgent repairs. In addition, three merchant ships and four fishing boats collided, but rescue and blockade were timely, and there are no casualties at the moment…"

"Two villages in the city of Nossia are destroyed, with 37 dead and 21 missing…"

"A hundred and twenty acres of good farmland in Gidus City have been flooded with seawater, resulting in 29 deaths and 15 missing…"

"Kidonia City…"

With each piece of bad news reaching his ears, the furrow between the old man\'s brows on the throne deepened, forming a brand steeped in sorrow and frustration.

"Enough!"

Finally, a voice that could no longer bear it echoed through the vacant palace. The old man opened his half-closed eyes; his unkempt white hair danced with the surge of divine power.

"Wasn\'t the warning message disseminated through the temple right away? Why are there still so many casualties in those city-states?!"

The somber roar, like a chill wind, swept through the hall. The reporting priests and generals, feeling the weight of that authoritative divinity, couldn\'t help but bow their heads even lower.

"Father, it may have been that the disaster struck suddenly, and my brothers were not prepared in time…"

With a crisp, pleasant voice, a fair-haired young woman wearing a white priestess\'s attire and holding a golden scepter with a winged bird design entered from behind the curtains. She knelt down before the throne, gently calming King Minos\'s unsettled chest.

Seeing the pretty, egg-faced girl with serene and refined demeanor appear beside the throne, the trembling priests and generals below breathed a sigh of relief.

Ariadne, the second daughter of King Minos, was a princess known for her gentleness and kindness.

She was also the High Priestess serving the main Goddess Athena, overseeing the administration of the temple in Knossos City, as well as the corresponding sacrificial ceremonies.

In a sense, the princess held an even higher place in religious authority than King Minos himself, who was the High Priest.

After all, the Minosians worshipped the Goddess; King Minos was merely a symbol of royal power, while a female priestess was seen as a more accurate representation of divine authority in the world.

However, Ariadne was not the eldest daughter; her elevated stature came partly from her own excellence, which won her the deep trust and affection of her father, King Minos.

On the other hand, it was because the eldest princess, Acacallis, defying her father\'s decree, had a clandestine meeting with Apollo, a male god from Olympus, and bore him offspring.

Enraged, King Minos banished Acacallis from Crete Island, causing a rift between father and daughter.

Thus, the position of High Priestess naturally fell upon the second daughter, Ariadne.

Luckily, Princess Ariadne did not disappoint King Minos\'s favor, often patiently humoring her increasingly eccentric old father to cheer him up. Since her appointment, she also managed the duties of worshipping the gods and overseeing the temple with meticulous order.

Based on past experience, as long as the princess intervened, King Minos would usually calm his rage.

"Silence! Don\'t make excuses for them!"

However, this time, not only did the anger within King Minos not subside, the fury on his face only grew denser.

"These rebellious children clearly think I am old and disregard my orders!"

Hearing that grinding voice, the priests and generals in the great hall lowered their heads and dared not speak, each one feeling as if they were sitting on pins and needles.

Apart from the one not to be spoken of in the labyrinth, King Minos had a total of ten children, with sons and daughters each accounting for half.

In order to expand the influence of royal authority and consolidate his rule, naturally, as the princes came of age, King Minos deployed them to several important city-states on Crete Island to guard the capital, Knossos.

However, the relationships between fathers, sons, and brothers in Greece have always been rather unfriendly.

Free from their father\'s control, these newly appointed princes gradually revealed their own restlessness.

Especially as King Minos aged, this tendency became increasingly evident.

Ordinarily, for the harmony and prosperity of the cities of Crete, King Minos could turn a blind eye.

But now, as crisis loomed, the princes\' negligence of duty obviously crossed King Minos\'s red line.

"I am old..."

On the throne, the aging lion pushed away his daughter Ariadne\'s comfort and suddenly stood up. His tall body, nearly two meters high, towered at the steps, his imposing presence burst forth, nearly suffocating those present.

"But I am not dead!"

The words came out one by one from the mouth of the elderly lion, his pale gold eyes looking down at the generals and priests gathered in the palace, growling coldly.

"Make them all roll back here and report to me in person!"

"Yes! Yes!"

The priests and generals responsible for delivering orders nodded frantically like pecking chickens and, after King Minos waved his hand impatiently, wiped their cold sweat and rushed out of the palace as if granted amnesty.

A lion who has seen blood, no matter how old, is not one to be defied or challenged by cubs living in a greenhouse, as long as its teeth have not all fallen out and its claws have not worn away.

It seems the brothers who have been lax for a long time are in for a tough time on their return.

Ariadne, watching her father in his towering rage, couldn\'t help but sigh inwardly.

But at this critical juncture concerning the survival of Crete Island, there was no room for soft-heartedness. Her brothers had yet to see the real crisis facing the Minosians. If they were to be disciplined, they had no one else to blame.

After all, compared to these insignificant accountability issues, the disaster brewing at sea was the truly enormous trouble.

In the empty hall, father and daughter looked out at the deep night sky and simultaneously let out a sigh.

Suddenly, the bronze bird-shaped wind chimes on the eaves rang out a clear tone, instantly dissipating the oppressive atmosphere in the hall.

The father and daughter both startled and turned their eyes together toward the figure at the entrance.