SSS Awakening: Conquering Worlds with My Cupid System

The Mother of Monsters, Echidna.

The name alone had survived thousands of years. In Greek mythology, Echidna was not simply another monster. She was the Mother of Monsters.

She was a primordial creature described as having the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a gigantic serpent. She was said to dwell beneath the earth, hidden away from the eyes of gods and mortals.

Her importance came not merely from her own strength, but from what she produced.

Echidna was traditionally regarded as the mother of many of the most infamous monsters in Greek mythology.

Cerberus; the three-headed hound of the Underworld; the Lernaean Hydra; the serpent-like beast whose heads multiplied when severed; the Chimera; the monstrous creature possessing features of multiple animals; the Sphinx; the Nemean Lion, and other creatures whose names had become synonymous with terror.

She was, essentially, a source of monsters, a mother whose bloodline had produced creatures capable of challenging heroes, slaughtering armies, and becoming legends themselves.

But mythology had simplified her. Humanity had always done that. They saw a creature, gave it a name, wrote stories, and then forgot the truth behind those stories.

Silas’s system had already confirmed it. Echidna wasn’t merely an S-Rank monster. She possessed Divine Essence, and that changed everything.

[Mythological Entity: Echidna.]

[Classification: Primordial Monster.]

[Title: Mother of Monsters.]

[Known Authorities:]

[Poison.]

[Monster Creation.]

[Bestial Evolution.]

[Divine Blood.]

[Primordial Reproduction.]

Silas’s eyes narrowed.

”Monster creation...”

The words alone were enough to make him uncomfortable. The Echidna, as described in mythology, had given birth to monsters, but if the mythology contained even a fraction of the truth, then what exactly did Monster Creation mean?

Could she create monsters from nothing? Could she transform existing creatures? Could she evolve them? Could she produce offspring stronger than herself?

Or worse... Could she create monsters specifically designed to counter whoever fought her?

[Warning.]

[The entity possesses an Authority related to the creation and evolution of monstrous life.]

Silas’s expression became serious.

”So basically...” He slowly tightened his grip around his dagger. ”She’s a walking monster factory.”

Chloe glanced at him.

”That’s one way to describe her.”

A deep rumble shook the ground. Neither of them laughed. The darkness ahead moved. Something enormous was approaching.

Trees bent, the earth cracked, and then she appeared. First came the tail. It dragged across the ground, crushing trees beneath its enormous weight.

Then the serpentine body emerged from the darkness. Massive, far too massive. Her lower body alone stretched dozens of meters through the forest.

Black scales covered her serpent half, but they weren’t entirely black. Faint purple and crimson patterns ran between them, glowing like veins filled with poisonous mana.

Then came her upper body. A woman, beautiful and almost unnaturally so. Her beauty even rivaled Silas’s own. Long, dark hair flowed down her back. Her skin was pale, her eyes were golden, and two enormous horns curved backward from her head.

Yet there was something profoundly wrong about her beauty. It wasn’t the beauty of a human. It was the beauty of something that had never needed to obey the laws of nature.

Echidna slowly lifted herself.

Her enormous serpent body coiled behind her as her gaze settled upon the two teenagers standing before the ruined observatory.

Her eyes narrowed, while the surrounding forest became silent. Silas didn’t move immediately. His threads spread- hundreds and thousands. They disappeared into the surrounding darkness, attempting to map every inch of Echidna’s body.

[Analyzing...]

[Analysis failed.]

Silas’s eyes twitched. ”Again.”

[Analyzing...]

[Analysis failed.]

[Target possesses superior resistance to information-based abilities.]

Silas frowned. That was annoying. Chloe stepped forward, and frost immediately spread beneath her feet. The temperature dropped.

The moisture in the air froze. Her eyes, once ordinary, now carried the coldness of something ancient. Echidna looked at her.

For the first time, her expression changed.

”That power...”

Chloe’s spear appeared in her hand. This was not the spear made by AAG, but one formed from the essence of ice, frost, winter, and giants.

Echidna stared at the weapon, then at Chloe.

”You carry the scent of an old goddess.” Chloe’s eyes narrowed. ”Skadi.”

The name seemed to make the air itself tremble. Echidna smiled.

”Ah.” She understood. ”The Goddess of Winter.”

Silas glanced at Chloe, but she didn’t react.

Echidna’s smile widened.

”Interesting.”

Her golden eyes shifted back toward Silas.

”And you...”

Silas immediately felt something crawl across his skin. Echidna was examining him, something deeper. His soul, his blood... His existence.

”You smell of something I haven’t encountered in a very long time.”

Silas’s expression hardened.

”What?”

Echidna tilted her head.

”Divinity.”

Silas’s pupils contracted. Chloe immediately stepped closer to him.

Echidna noticed.

”How adorable.”

Silas’s expression became annoyed.

”I’m not a child.”

”To me?” Echidna smiled. ”You are.”

The pressure suddenly increased.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground beneath Silas and Chloe shattered. A wave of poisonous mana erupted from Echidna’s body. Silas immediately activated his aura, while Chloe’s Absolute Zero spread outward.

Pink and white collided with the poisonous darkness. For several seconds, the three forces fought for dominance. Then the poison began freezing.

Chloe’s eyes sharpened.

”She’s strong.”

Silas smiled faintly.

”Yeah.”

He lowered his body. His fingers tightened around his daggers.

”That’s why we’re not running anymore.”

Echidna’s smile disappeared.

”Oh?”

Silas looked directly into her golden eyes.

”You woke up.”

His pink eyes began glowing.

”So let’s see what the Mother of Monsters can actually do.”

Echidna’s enormous tail slammed into the earth.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The forest exploded.

And the battle between the Mother of Monsters, the Heir of Cupid, and the Heir of the Goddess of Winter finally began.

The pink circle behind Silas instantly flared and released thousands of arrows.

Piercing Arrows. They shot towards Echidna, tearing through space as though gravity and resistance were nonexistent.

Echidna’s eyes widened at the sudden attack. This was unexpected. But she wasn’t worried. If anything, she was excited. She flexed her claws and, with a thought, formed a huge shield of monstrous essence.

The arrows hit the shield and even pierced through, but it was only their heads. Her shield managed to block all the arrows. But instead of Silas’s being shocked, it was Echidna who was shocked.

The shield was created using a bit of her divinity. Divinity was unlike normal mana. For a single arrow skill to pierce through her shield, it only meant that it had an amount of divinity or something worse.

Something only those beings who couldn’t be classified possessed. She could tell it was the latter. She could also tell that Silas wasn’t using the full power of that atttack or else, she would’ve had to use every defense skill and ability in her arsenal to avoid being turned into a porcupine.

”You!”