Ares, The God of War

The capital of the Phoenician Kingdom, one of the few large slave-owning city-states remaining on the land.

At the center of this city-state was the palace of King Agenor of the Phoenician, who was the son of Poseidon and Libya, and also a demigod.

Although Zeus had been shouting on Olympus to Hera that he, as the King of Gods, should lead by example, his brother had already taken a step ahead of him, giving birth to a king on Earth.

However, Zeus now had his eyes on Europa, who was ethically Poseidon’s granddaughter; it could only be said that true masters decide victory or defeat in an instant.

But enough of idle chatter; in short, not long after King Agenor became the King of the Phoenician, he gave birth to a princess of unparalleled beauty and gentle charm, named Europa. Princess Europa was, to King Agenor, the most thoughtful and adorable little girl, his most beloved apple of his eye.

Although King Agenor had many sons besides Europa, it was clear that King Agenor of the Phoenician was an out-and-out doting father to his daughter; for him, none of his sons could compare to his precious daughter, Europa.

In the early morning, King Agenor, sitting in his palace and handling city-state affairs, suddenly heard a burst of lighthearted girlish laughter.

He looked through the window and saw Europa, dressed in a beautiful long dress, leading a group of girls from prominent families, laughing and running towards a grassy area by the sea, which was the favorite gathering place for the daughters of the Phoenician nobles.

Seeing his adorable daughter, King Agenor clearly showed a “melted” expression, an expression that, appearing on a king’s face, greatly undermined his dignity. However, the generals and ministers who had just been discussing affairs with the king in the palace were now silent and dared not speak, clearly aware of the position Princess Europa held in the heart of the King of the Phoenician.

Only after watching Europa's figure disappear from sight did King Agenor turn his face back, his expression returning to his usual stern yet dignified look. He cleared his throat and said to his subordinates, “Alright, everyone, continue reporting on the kingdom’s situation.”

The Phoenician court meeting continued. King Agenor conversed with several ministers and generals for a while, arranging the affairs of the entire kingdom in an orderly manner. It must be said that, as the son of Poseidon, King Agenor’s abilities were indeed outstanding; he was not only physically strong and remarkably brave but also meticulous and thorough in handling matters.

However, just as the court meeting was about to end, King Agenor’s heart suddenly stirred.

Feeling this palpitation, a brief look of confusion appeared on his face, and his subordinates keenly caught this expression of the king. They asked,

“Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Today’s court meeting ends here. You may all leave,” King Agenor waved his hand and instructed.

The Phoenician generals and ministers exchanged glances and could only obey, leaving the area. After they left, King Agenor also rose and left the palace, heading directly towards the mountain path behind the palace.

As the residence of the King of the Phoenician, King Agenor’s palace was almost the highest point in the entire city of Sidon. Within Sidon, only one place was higher than the palace of the King of the Phoenician: a temple located at the highest point of the seaside cliff.

That was a place built by the Phoenician people to worship the gods; inside the palace, there were statues of all the main gods of Olympus, with the largest and tallest being the statue of Zeus, the King of Gods. The high priest of this temple also publicly referred to himself as the priest of Zeus.

When King Agenor arrived at the temple, the old man, clad in a black robe with his face hidden by a hood, was already waiting at the temple entrance. He dismissed the other priestesses and servants who served the gods in the temple, clearly indicating that this was a secret meeting between the priest and the king.

“Priest.” Upon seeing the black-robed priest, King Agenor immediately embraced him warmly, showing his affection and respect, while the black-robed old man, with a benevolent smile, happily embraced the strong king.

However, as they embraced, the black-robed priest quietly leaned into King Agenor’s ear and whispered to him,

“Blood sacrifice to the God of War.”

King Agenor replied, “Skulls offered to the Divine Throne.”

So, the two separated tacitly, sharing a knowing smile, and then the black-robed priest led King Agenor into the temple.

Inside the temple, before the tall statue of Zeus, stood a slender youth. He appeared to be a bit younger than Princess Europa, but his small face was already full of heroic spirit and considerable intelligence.

“He is from the heavens,” the black-robed priest said, pointing to the youth, to King Agenor of the Phoenician. “Adopt him, let him become a Prince of the Phoenician, Princess Europa’s dear younger brother. This is the will of the gods.”

Hearing the priest mention his daughter, King Agenor hesitated. He asked, “Is this truly the will of That Esteemed One?”

“Absolutely,” the black-robed priest nodded. “Rest assured, he will never harm Princess Europa, nor will he ever take Princess Europa away from you.”

Upon hearing the priest’s assurance, King Agenor relaxed. He nodded and said, “If that’s the case, then of course I have no objection. Anyway, I have many little rascals at home, so one more won’t matter.”

With that, he approached the slender youth, who was curiously examining his own hands and occasionally reaching out to pinch his arm, and gently asked,

“Child, what is your name?”

The youth looked up at the sound, his face showing a somewhat bewildered expression. He looked at King Agenor for a moment, then suddenly showed a smile that made the King of the Phoenician feel a little uneasy, even afraid.

“Cadmus,” he answered clearly. “Great King of the Phoenician, King Agenor, son of Poseidon and Libya, my name is Cadmus.”

“Cadmus? That’s a wonderful name.” King Agenor chuckled as he ruffled the youth’s head, then said to him, “Cadmus, from now on, you are my son, King Agenor. You will have the same status, power, and treatment as the Princes of the Phoenician, and I will certainly treat you as my own son.”

“I understand,” Cadmus replied.

“You are a clever child; you will surely become a great hero in the future,” King Agenor praised him, while the black-robed priest reminded, “Remember, King Agenor, publicly declare that he is the biological son of you and your Queen Telephassa. Do not forget.”

"Typhon?”

Ares naturally knew the name of this monstrous creature. If one were to forcibly label Zeus, the King of Gods, as the protagonist in greek mythology, then Typhon could be considered the arch-villain of the greek mythology world.

According to myths and legends, this monster was the offspring of the union between Gaia and Tartarus. He held the title of “Father of All Demons,” and his very purpose of being born was to oppose Zeus.

During the Titan War, Gaia supported Zeus in overthrowing his father, Cronus. However, after Zeus secured victory, he imprisoned his Titan elders in the deepest, lightless reaches of Tartarus. This act displeased Gaia, so she willingly united with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon, the last Titan giant.

Sometimes, Ares found Gaia, the Earth Mother in myths, to be quite troublesome. Initially, it was she who incited Cronus to overthrow Uranus’s rule. Even the sickle Cronus used to castrate Uranus was personally forged and given to him by Gaia.

Later, she felt Cronus was too tyrannical as King of Gods, so she incited her grandson Zeus to overthrow his own father. When Zeus overthrew Cronus and imprisoned his elders, she again felt Zeus was tyrannical and wanted to renege, thus giving birth to Typhon.

Ares actually felt that, although Zeus and Cronus were father and son, given the circumstances in the myths, their relationship was no different from that of enemies. Regardless of the reason, Zeus merely imprisoning Cronus after his victory could be considered merciful. Following the normal pattern of royal succession, would the remnants of the previous dynasty not be killed but kept for the New Year?

However, in this world, Gaia is merely the consciousness of the planet, and the greek mythology world is just one of many small surface worlds on the planet that Gaia has separated. Gaia likely doesn't care how Zeus dealt with Cronus, and Typhon clearly wasn't a monster born from the union of Gaia and Tartarus.

So, Ares humbly listened, honestly telling Hecate, “I’ve only heard the name, but don’t know the details.”

“He is the child of Gaia and Tartarus,” Hecate then said. “Of course, that’s a lie. Although he is also a self-aware being, he is actually a device to suppress the King of Gods, conceived by the planetary consciousness. After all, our Greek Pantheon, according to that spaceship, should be extraterrestrial inhabitants. Gaia couldn’t fully trust us.”

“A suppressor for the King of Gods?” Ares asked, “Does that mean if Zeus annoys Gaia, Gaia can directly order Typhon to kill Zeus, right?”

“If Zeus truly offends the suppressive force beyond redemption, then Typhon could easily kill him,” Hecate affirmed. “But as things stand now, Typhon definitely cannot kill Zeus, and it’s even hard to say if he can contend with the current, full-powered Zeus. However, Zeus just beat Hera, and the Queen’s heart must now be filled with resentment towards him. The position of Queen is not just for a pretty vase; the Queen also serves as the suppressive force’s overseer of the King of Gods. Cronus was killed because he repeatedly devoured his own children, finally incurring the displeasure of Rhea, the Queen at the time. Now Zeus is doing the same, so Typhon is likely to awaken once to give him a severe lesson.”

At Hecate’s words, Ares also recalled that there was indeed such an instance in greek mythology. The cause seemed to be Zeus hiding his divine lightning in a cave on Earth to rendezvous with a nymph, Pluto. When Gaia, the Earth Mother, learned of this, she informed Typhon, who then hid the divine lightning. Subsequently, Typhon directly attacked Olympus.

This Titan giant, born to oppose Zeus, was also the most powerful of all Titans. Even the Olympus Gods could not withstand him; except for Athena, the other main Gods transformed into animals and fled in haste to Egypt.

While Typhon occupied Olympus, Zeus was entangled with a mortal woman. Upon hearing the news, he returned to Olympus to face Typhon, but without his divine lightning, Zeus was no match for Typhon. He was struck down by Typhon, his limbs broken, and then thrown from Olympus to the mortal realm. Later, a human hero helped him steal back the divine lightning, allowing Zeus to finally defeat Typhon.

And that mortal woman with whom Zeus was entangled, Ares remembered, seemed to be Europa…

“Then isn’t it happening soon?” Ares asked in surprise, remembering this matter.

“Yes, soon,” Hecate nodded. “But you don’t need to worry. Zeus’s luck has not run out. Typhon will beat him badly, but he will likely be suppressed in the end. And the race that helps Zeus suppress Typhon should become the protagonists of the next era.”

“Then it’s the Demigod heroes…”

Ares mumbled, but he thought about it. The one who helped Zeus defeat Typhon seemed to be Cadmus, Princess Europa’s brother, and Cadmus didn't appear to be a Demigod with divine blood from either his father or mother.

Ares asked Hecate if she knew the origin of the character “Cadmus,” and the Moon Goddess, after divining with magic, asked strangely:

“Who is this person? There’s no human called that name in the world right now.”

“What’s going on…”

Ares muttered to himself:

“Could it be that Cadmus hasn’t been born yet?”

Thinking carefully, Princess Europa seemed to be only eleven years old right now. Zeus, that pervert, had only just set his sights on this beautiful princess but hadn’t yet made his move.

“Damn it, speaking of which, this is my chance!”

After remembering the cause and effect, Ares’s eyes lit up, and he stroked his chin.

To survive, Ares always demanded himself to think far ahead. He had already begun to consider the next era, and even the era after that, since the time of human birth. Now, upon entering the Heroic Age, Ares was already contemplating matters of the 20th and even 21st centuries.

And in this world, the only ones from the Divine Era who still had a chance to mess around in the modern age were the famous Heroic Spirits on the Heroic Spirit Throne, by degrading their Spirit Origin into Servants.

Even before the Heroic Age, Ares had considered creating several alt accounts in this era to see if he could get them onto the Heroic Spirit Throne. Now, with Typhon approaching, and Hermes having previously lent him his hypnotic staff, for Ares, everything was ready, even the east wind was in his hands.

“As soon as Typhon initiates the fight, I’ll open an alt account and flank him from behind.”

Ares made up his mind, then immediately looked at Hecate and requested, “Teacher, a favor?”

“What favor?” Hecate yawned, looking a bit tired.

Ares sincerely requested, “Let’s create humans!”

“Ah?”

Hephaestus fared much worse compared to Ares; his body was inherently weaker than Ares', and his divine power was also less. Ares also saw one of Hephaestus's legs violently strike a protruding boulder on the mountainside as he rolled down.

Although Ares's body was also badly battered, he was, after all, merely a clone made of materials. If anything truly went wrong, he could simply be 'returned to the factory' for a minor repair.

When Ares walked over and forcefully 'pulled' Hephaestus out of the massive crater he had created, he found that the God of Fire's leg was broken.

"This is utterly unreasonable!"

Ares, while fashioning a splint for the God of Fire's leg from a plank he had cut from a nearby tree, furiously denounced Zeus's actions:

"It was clearly his fault, yet now he wants to beat us brothers. Does this Zeus truly believe that no one under heaven can restrain him?"

Hephaestus silently watched his brother, then, after a long pause, he finally said, "Ares, I don't want to go back to Olympus."

"What?" Ares exclaimed in surprise, "Then where are you planning to go?"

"I want to return to the Ocean, to live with Oceanus," the God of Fire sighed, looking up. "Or go back to the volcano on Crete. In short, I don't want to make anything for Zeus anymore."

"That won't do," Ares quickly interjected. "Now, now is not the time. If you openly refuse to return, our tyrannical old father might imprison you in Tartarus, torturing you while forcing you to create things for him."

"Must I really create tools for such a cruel God-King, just so he can more easily impose his tyranny upon all things in the world?"

Hephaestus retorted.

"Of course not. For this kind of thing, you just need to do this." Ares motioned for Hephaestus to lean closer and then whispered something into his ear.

After listening, the God of Fire asked in surprise, "Do I really have to do that?"

"It doesn't matter. As long as you don't tell anyone, how would Zeus know you deliberately left backdoors in your creations?" Ares replied. "Besides, you don't talk much anyway. If he asks you anything in the future, just nod, shake your head, or ignore him. It's normal for you to react this way after what happened."

He looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were gradually dispersing, and it seemed Zeus's anger had also somewhat dissipated. So Ares took the God of Fire's arm and said to him, "Let's go. I'll take you back to Olympus."

Because the God of Fire had fallen down the mountain and now had a limp, they walked very slowly. By the time they passed through the Golden Gate of Olympus and followed the long corridor back to the sky where the Twelve Temples were located, it was already close to dusk.

Zeus had probably long since gone to the mortal realm to find Europa, the princess of the Phoenician Kingdom. However, when Ares and Hephaestus returned to the mountaintop, the God-King shamelessly approached and ordered the God of Fire:

"Hephaestus, you must make three things for me."

"First, a hound. I want it to loyally guard its master. Second, a javelin. I want it light enough for even a weak human woman to easily throw. Third, a bronze giant. I want it to absolutely protect its master and homeland."

He didn't care whether the God of Fire, whose face was as black as a pot, agreed or not, and simply continued to give his orders:

"Notify me when they are done, and I will come to collect them."

With that, the King of the Gods hummed a tune and turned to leave. Ares even detected a hint of the youthful giddiness of a boy newly in love in his steps, which made the God of War feel utterly disgusted.

Hephaestus turned his head to look at the Watchtower Temple, located at the outermost edge of the circular area of the Twelve Temples. His and Ares's mother, Hera, was still suspended there by Zeus for public display, her dignity and decorum completely lost.

Seeing Zeus's retreating figure, the God of Fire couldn't help but extend his middle finger at him and curse furiously, "Damn it, why don't you just die already!"

"Alright, Hephaestus, there's no use saying these things now." Ares pulled him, gently persuading him, "Come on, I'll help you. Let's try to make that thing's weakness a bit more obvious."

...

Ares's divine power clone silently followed the God of Fire to help create the three Noble Phantasms Zeus wanted to use for his romantic pursuits, while his main body had already followed Hecate to settle in the Underworld.

Nowadays, after receiving Hades's invitation, Hecate no longer stayed at home every day, staying up late to study magic or catch up on sleep. Instead, she went to Hades's palace every day to help the King of the Underworld deal with the phantoms that had accumulated from the great flood of the previous era.

For convenience, Hecate herself had also moved the Tree Palace into the Underworld. Now, her palace was located within a sea of blooming Lycoris radiata in the Underworld. In the Underworld, apart from Hades's own palace, this area should be considered the best place. Originally, by seniority, it wouldn't have been Hecate's turn to live here; it should have been occupied by either Thanatos, the God of Death, or Hypnos, the God of Sleep.

But unfortunately, in the Type-Moon world, a goddess who has mastered the true meaning of magic is stronger than the brothers, the God of Death and the God of Sleep. Even though Hecate's own divine rank is only that of a secondary deity, her combat power is stronger than that of an average main deity, almost reaching the realm of the Three God-Kings. Since she wanted this land, Hades tacitly approved, and the two brothers, the God of Death and the God of Sleep, naturally didn't babble any more.

During Hecate's relocation, Ares's main body also used the art of transformation to turn into a box and was mixed in with Hecate's luggage, secretly brought into the Underworld by her. This was actually better for Ares, as it was Hades's territory, and the King of the Underworld paid great attention to the privacy of his subordinates, basically not being as suspicious and prying everywhere as Zeus. Moreover, the gazes of Poseidon and Zeus could hardly reach this place.

Furthermore, this place was very close to Tartarus, making it more convenient for Ares or Hecate to go and operate the super device located beneath Tartarus.

After Hecate returned, Ares finally couldn't help but complain to Hecate about the situation. After quietly listening to Ares's account, Hecate was not surprised, merely replying:

"Normal, normal. If Zeus wasn't like this, why would Athena and Prometheus rebel against him?"

"Son of a b*tch, I've never seen such an unreasonable god." Ares was genuinely angry this time, a rare occurrence. He furiously kicked a stone on the ground and cursed, "Damn Zeus, your mother! Oh wait, Rhea is a good goddess, it has nothing to do with her..."

Seeing Ares fuming, Hecate also advised him, "What are you raging about uselessly here? Didn't Zeus hit Hera and hang her up? Just wait, the Queen of Heaven is not someone the God-King can bully casually. Zeus's retribution is coming."

"Huh? Retribution?" Upon hearing this, Ares immediately leaned closer and asked, "Teacher, please elaborate."

"Let's put it this way." Hecate thought for a moment, then asked, "Have you heard of Typhon?"

After the great flood receded, following the advice of the Goddess Athena, the gods each took individuals they favored from the surviving humans and guided them to various corners of the earth, helping them establish city-states, build civilizations, and multiply.

What they didn't know was that these surviving humans were not actually the descendants of Deucalion and Pyrrha, but rather humans from the Silver Age who had directly persisted from the previous era.

Unfortunately, according to Hecate, the human race was also subjected to the interference of the inhibitory force. The Silver Age humans, who should have been immortal unless killed, would now die of old age in the new era. Moreover, no one had yet successfully achieved Magnetic Field Rotation, which Ares taught them, at most only reaching the realm of Electric Current Propulsion.

However, their average physical quality was already much stronger than that of the original Bronze Age humans. And although they had aged, following Ares's instructions, they passed down the magic and combat techniques Ares had taught them before sensing their end was near.

With Ares's impetus and the gods' assistance, the humans of the Greek Pantheon world quickly transcended the tribal era and rapidly entered early city-state civilization, establishing kingdoms centered around various city-states.

And after these early kingdoms were established, Zeus, who had long been impatient, finally prepared to put Athena's last plan, the so-called demigod plan, on the agenda.

The curtain for this new era, the age of heroes, was slowly drawn open by the propulsion of various forces.

…

Ares's first day in the new era began with the Noise of Hera and Zeus. When he arrived at the God King's Hall with his divine power clone for the main god's morning meeting, he saw his “mother” and “father” arguing fiercely from the God King's throne and the Queen's throne.

Spittle flew between them; Hera cursed and cried while Zeus retorted and raged. Their exchange was interspersed with various intimate greetings to each other's parents. The other main gods present quietly acted like ostriches, standing silently in their positions, waiting for the God King and Queen to finish arguing.

Ares thought carefully. It seemed Hera and Zeus were siblings, sharing the same parents.

Cronus, far away in Tartarus prison, and Rhea, living in seclusion on Earth, felt utterly frustrated.

Seeing Ares enter, Zeus and Hera merely glanced at him before continuing their quarrel.

Ares scanned the God King's Hall and found all the gods present staring at him, frantically winking. He lowered his head in thought and decided that, according to his persona, he could no longer remain silent.

So Ares directly interrupted Zeus and Hera's argument and asked in a deep voice, “Father, Mother, what are you arguing about again?”

“Ares, don't butt in!” Zeus glared at Ares, but Hera had already covered her mouth and began to wail to Ares, “Ares, you be the judge! Your father is going to betray your mother again and go have an affair with some disreputable woman!”

“Don't talk nonsense, Hera!” Zeus immediately bristled and glared, “Europa is not some 'disreputable' woman!”

“Oh, so that's what this is about.” Ares immediately understood.

The woman Europa could be said to be one of the progenitors of the Greek heroic age; it was her marriage with Zeus that opened up the European continent and also gave rise to countless kingdoms that held important positions in Greek history.

Ares had only just learned that Europa had been born. The humans he had placed out there were now ancient history. Although humanity's connection to him had been passed down according to Ares's plan, during this period, at Hades's request, Hecate had to go to the Underworld to help. Therefore, Ares also had to assist the Moon Goddess in moving all the secrets hidden in her Tree Palace to the Underworld without being detected by the other gods.

There was no other way; most of Ares's secrets, including his main body, were hidden in Hecate's domain. Now that Hecate was moving, Ares had to help. He and his witch teacher both had many secrets they didn't want outsiders to know, so mutual concealment and assistance were necessary.

This matter occupied most of Ares's and Hecate's energy, which also made it almost impossible for Ares to pay detailed attention to the situation on Earth during this time.

So after a brief thought, Ares began to speak up for his mother: “If that's the case, then it is indeed a bigger problem for you, Zeus.”

“What do you know? Scram, little virgin!” Zeus roared, “Do you think I'm lustful? I'm fulfilling the plan we all decided on earlier—demigods, demigods! If I don't go pick up girls, how can I have children with humans?”

“You're talking nonsense!” Hera cried out, “Are you the only god on Olympus? Apollo, Hephaestus, Poseidon… If you really don't want to be with her, you can let other male gods go!”

“Alright, alright.” Poseidon interjected upon hearing this, “Brother, I can bear this hardship for you. Let all those mortal women come to me, Poseidon!”

“You shut up!”

Zeus glared fiercely at the Sea King, but with little effect. The Sea King whistled and looked at the sky, completely disregarding his warning. But Zeus currently had no energy to deal with his annoying brother. He patiently and quietly explained to Hera:

“I am the God King; in such matters, I must set an example and a good precedent, no matter what.”

“I don't want to talk to you anymore!” Hera shouted, “Anyway, if you dare to go, I'll directly kill that slut!”

“Hera!” Zeus stood up, pointed at his Queen, and angrily rebuked, “Don't forget who the God King is? And how did his Queen come to be?”

“How did I come to be?” Hera wiped away her tears and also angrily said, “Yes, how did I come to be? Of course, it was when you turned into a cuckoo and raped me, your older sister!”

“Insolent!” Zeus retorted, “If I hadn't taken you, could you be the Queen?”

“Hmph? Do you perhaps think that among our siblings back then, only you could be the God King?” Hera laughed sadly, “If I had known, I should have gone to Hades or Poseidon…”

“You dare!”

Zeus finally lost his patience. In a fit of rage, he slammed his hand heavily on the table in front of him, then stood up, picked up his divine lightning, and walked towards the Queen:

“Since we married, I have always tolerated you. It seems if I don't teach you a lesson today, you won't know what's good for you!”

“Zeus, don't hit Hera!” Ares very cooperatively pounced forward, intending to take the opportunity to test Zeus's strength. But his clone, despite gathering divine power, was casually swept aside by Zeus with the divine lightning in his hand. Bolts of lightning coiled around his body, even causing his spirit to ache faintly, and this clone collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

Seeing the God of War in such a state, the other main gods dared not intervene further. Except for Hephaestus, they all pretended not to see the domestic violence unfolding before them, standing silently in place.

Before Zeus, the weak Queen was powerless to resist his brutality. She was directly seized by Zeus and dragged to the highest lookout temple on Olympus. Her feet were bound to an anvil by Zeus, her hands tied with golden chains, and she was hung upside down in mid-air for public display. All the gods on the sacred mountain of Olympus witnessed this scene with their own eyes, but they were all intimidated by Zeus's wrath, and no one dared to approach her to plead for the Queen, except for her two sons born to her personally.

“Zeus, this is too much!”

Hephaestus followed Zeus and Hera out, and when he saw the King of Gods hanging his poor mother, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and accused his father.

Ares, on the other hand, was more direct. As the divine lightning power within his clone slightly diminished, he drew his weapon and charged at Zeus with a cry of “Waaah!”

However, after only one exchange, he was knocked to the ground by Zeus. The enraged King of Gods kicked his son directly off Olympus.

“Is this the strength of the God King?”

Ares plummeted below the clouds, but his mind was constantly calculating the details of their recent exchange.

“Indeed, with the divine lightning in hand, no one in this world, apart from extraterrestrial beings and the inhibitory force, is his match.”

This time, Zeus was at fault, and furthermore, Hera had her mother Rhea and her adoptive parents, Oceanus and his wife, supporting her. He couldn't simply kill Ares. Therefore, Ares merely protected his body with divine power and landed steadily on the plains below Olympus. Aside from damaging a section of the ground, there was no other loss.

However, not long after he landed, he saw his unlucky elder brother, the God of Fire, also fall from the clouds with a scream, crashing heavily into the ground next to him.

The couple quickly entered the cabin, and indeed, at the very back of the cabin, they found the two baskets of stones. So, they moved the two baskets of stones out, put on their veils, untied their belts, and then Pyrrha, following her husband, picked up a basket of stones each, skeptically, and began throwing them behind them.

As expected, after they threw the stones behind them, the stones rolled onto the ground and immediately began to change shape, transforming into humans, some tall and strong, others beautiful and gentle.

The stones Deucalion threw all turned into tall and mighty men, while the stones Pyrrha threw all turned into beautiful and intelligent women.

These humans quickly formed a crowd, dividing into two lines, following behind Deucalion and Pyrrha, and praising them: “Ah, Deucalion and Pyrrha, you are our father and mother; from today on, we shall serve you as we serve the Gods.”

The activities of these humans soon caught the attention of Zeus, the King of the Gods in the heavens. So, he urgently summoned the Twelve Great Gods to the God King's Hall and, in a fit of rage, questioned them:

“Will someone tell me? What exactly is going on? What happened to the promised extinction of humanity? And where did these humans come from?”

“Didn’t they just pop out of stones?” Ares bellowed. “I saw it.”

Crack!

Before he could finish speaking, Zeus zapped him with a bolt of lightning. Fortunately, Ares’s body was just a clone and felt no pain, but for the sake of the performance, he still cooperated by lying on the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

“Poseidon!” Zeus turned his head and roared at his brother, “Can you tell me why humanity isn’t dead?!”

“How should I know?” The Sea King spread his hands innocently. “Anyway, I’ve been trying my best to stir up the seas, and I’ve made sure that all humans in the water are dead.”

“Hades!” Zeus then contacted Hades, the King of the Underworld, who was far away in the nether regions, through the sacred flame. “How could you not have counted the number of humans properly?! Why didn’t you tell me when people were missing?!”

“Zeus! That’s enough!” Facing his younger brother’s questioning, the gaunt King of the Underworld also grew somewhat annoyed. Behind him, the busy figures of the God of Death and the God of Sleep could vaguely be seen.

Currently, there aren’t many Gods in the Underworld. Hades doesn’t have a Queen of the Underworld, and Zeus hasn’t yet brought forth the three judges who would later be responsible for judging the souls of the dead—Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. Even Hecate, the Moon Goddess, who should inherently belong to the Underworld, is still lingering on Earth, which leaves the vast Underworld without even a single guard dog.

It was fine before, when there were only a few humans on Earth, and not many died. The God of Death and the God of Sleep could handle it completely, and Hades’s main duty was to guard their parents, the Titans. But now, the spirits of an entire human race are pouring into the Underworld on a massive scale at the same time. His two brother gods alone are simply overwhelmed, and Hades has had to personally intervene, even going so far as to pull in several river gods of the Underworld and Charon, the ferryman, to help busy themselves with judging these souls.

Under such immense pressure, and having to face Zeus’s unreasonable accusations, the Lord of the Underworld uncharacteristically became enraged. He lowered his voice and replied, “I haven’t even asked you yet why you’ve crammed so many souls into my Underworld in such a short time?! Do you take my Underworld for a dump?!”

When the King of the Underworld raged, a wave of death aura immediately surged back from him. The Twelve Great Gods on Olympus even seemed to smell a decaying scent through the sacred flame. Hermes, who had just taken Hades’s place, shrank his neck in fright, and Zeus was speechless for a long time.

Only then did he remember that Hades was the eldest among their siblings. Although Zeus had an advantage over Hades in battles on the sky and land due to his divine thunder and his authority as King of the Gods, within the Underworld, the King of the Underworld was the only God.

“Enough! I’m not arguing with you!” Seeing the somewhat fearful expressions of his younger brother and the younger generation through the sacred flame, Hades also restrained his anger. He glanced behind him and then replied:

“I’m very busy here right now. Goodbye!”

With that, the King of the Underworld actively disconnected the communication with Zeus.

Seeing the sacred flame return to its clear state, the God King's Hall on Olympus fell silent for a long time, the atmosphere very awkward.

After a while, Zeus finally rubbed his nose and initiated conversation. Having been rebuffed by his elder brother, he was even more annoyed, so he shouted:

“Don’t just stand there, all of you! Think of a solution!”

“I will!” Ares, who had just gotten up from the ground, immediately rushed forward, raising his hand and shouting, “Zeus, I’ll go kill those people for you!”

“Get out!” Zeus roared at Ares. “Ares, if you say another word, I’ll kick you out of here!”

The God of War immediately lowered his head sullenly, hiding his gloating smile.

“Zeus, calm your anger.” At the crucial moment, it was Athena, the wise strategist of Olympus, who stepped forward. She gently said to her father, “Since things have come to this, the rise of humanity cannot be stopped. We can only control them and guide them.”

“Hmph!” Seeing Athena’s stance, Zeus knew perfectly well that he had been played by his good daughter, good brothers, and good children. His gaze slowly swept across the twelve main Gods in the God King's Hall. Except for a certain God of War who was bowing his head as if standing in punishment, he felt that everyone else was problematic.

“Tell me your plan, Athena.”

“Yes.” Having received Zeus’s approval, the Goddess of Wisdom immediately spoke eloquently: “First, we must assign responsibility for this matter. Notus, the God of the South Wind, was responsible for destroying humanity. Since humanity was not destroyed, this is clearly his dereliction of duty. Zeus, you should punish this God who has repeatedly made mistakes.”

“Hmm.” Zeus said indifferently, “Tell Notus that he no longer needs to return to Olympus. Let him stay among the slaves for good.”

“Secondly, we must gain the faith of humanity.” Athena continued: “We must make them build our temples and our idols on Earth, and offer sacrifices to us. We must establish religions among them and promote sects to become the dominant force among them. We must use our power to help their development, but we cannot always help. When necessary, we also need to send down divine punishment to make humanity understand who the true rulers of this world are.”

“Hmm.” Zeus nodded lightly, expressing his agreement.

“The last point, and the most essential one, I believe this matter should be personally led by you, Zeus.” Athena said with a gentle smile, “I suggest that the Gods may henceforth unite with beautiful men and women among humans, giving birth to demigods who inherit some of our power but do not possess eternal life. These demigods will become heroes and champions among humans, becoming their leaders. In this way, humanity will forever submit to divine authority.”

“Good!” Hearing Athena’s words, Zeus’s eyes lit up. If Athena’s previous measures were merely attempts to mend the fold after the sheep were lost, this particular suggestion truly resonated with the King of the Gods.

Even if Athena hadn’t said it, Zeus would surely not mind having more demigods with human beauties.

“Then let it be so.” Zeus raised his hand and settled the matter. “You all go down, choose the couples you deem worthy among the current humans, and according to Athena’s plan, guide them to establish city-states, develop civilization, and control them.”

The Olympus Gods all affirmed their agreement. Seeing this, Athena, who was nearby, smiled.

“Zeus, you have already lost.”

She thought to herself:

“The humans of today are all my creations. They are naturally drawn to me, and even demigod heroes cannot stop this affinity. When the time comes, both heaven and earth will be filled with my people. Zeus, what will you use to fight me?”

And Ares, seeing Athena’s smile, also revealed a smile that seemed somewhat foolish to the other Gods.

“I guess my virgin sister must think she’s won now.”

He thought to himself:

“Truly, great minds think alike. I think so too."

Ares huddled to the side, listening to the entire conversation between Athena and Prometheus.

As expected, both of them had various calculations regarding the destruction of humanity in this era. As a modern person, Ares, after hearing this debate, surprisingly agreed with Athena, despite their many disagreements. However, the goals of either of them were probably not good for him, so Ares could only silently apologize to them and prepare to disrupt their plans.

He saw Athena, after speaking with Prometheus, transform into a golden light and fly into the vast expanse of the world, presumably to search for Deucalion and Pyrrha's ark. After watching Athena depart, Prometheus suddenly murmured to himself,

"Come out, God of War, you must have been eavesdropping."

Ares's heart stirred, but he did not reveal himself. Instead, he pretended to be a blade of grass, lying motionless in a rock crevice.

Indeed, after a few seconds, he heard the God of Forethought muttering to himself again:

"Strange, is he not here?"

"Hmph, I knew it. In your current weakened state, you still think you can sense me?"

Ares chuckled inwardly, but then heard Prometheus mumble softly:

"That's fine too. If he's not here, it means Athena has already taken a step ahead in the next era. Ares, when the age of humans arrives, even if you keep a hundred sparks, it will be useless. Just hiding won't allow you to survive... Heh, but this is also good. His existence is always an unstable factor."

"Damn, what does this guy mean?"

Ares looked at the God of Forethought in surprise, pondering inwardly.

"Damn it, I went through all that trouble to help you steal fire, and now you want to mess with me?"

He strained his ears, wanting to hear if the weakened God of Forethought would reveal any more of his plans through his self-talk. However, Prometheus was too weak; he was hanging on the giant rock and soon fell into a state of semi-consciousness. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a sharp shriek came from afar. A giant eagle suddenly flew over again and began cruelly pecking at Prometheus's abdomen right in front of Ares, which made the God of Forethought wake up in pain, letting out screams.

Seeing that eavesdropping was fruitless, Ares slowly slipped down from the rock crevice. He reached the mountainside of the Caucasus Mountains, which was almost submerged by the flood, looked up at the giant rock where Prometheus was, then narrowed his eyes, and quickly began to think.

According to the historical trajectory of the Nasuverse, the God of Forethought Prometheus should have eventually been freed from the giant rock in the Caucasus Mountains by the centaur Chiron, who exchanged his own immortality for Prometheus's freedom. However, considering the unexpected factor of Kratos, Prometheus might very well be "freed" by this person in another way. The probability of these two events happening is currently fifty-fifty.

But this also means that as long as Ares prevents the tragedy that befalls Chiron, Prometheus will undoubtedly become a sacrifice for a certain Spartan Ghost.

"Since you were heartless first, don't blame me for being unjust."

Ares's eyes flickered:

"No matter how brilliant your strategies are, if you're dead, they're all useless."

...

On the other side, Deucalion and his wife had been drifting amidst the storms for nine full days.

Initially, due to the extreme turbulence, Deucalion and Pyrrha couldn't even eat the dried meat they had prepared. They could only cling tightly to the mast of the boat and pray to the gods for the storm to pass quickly, until they lost all strength.

However, later, when a giant wave was about to engulf the entire ark and smash them, a faint light suddenly rose from the water, protecting them from the wave. Not only that, the appearance of this light also made the entire ark stable. Slowly, the two could live normally on the boat, eating, drinking, and sleeping, and also feeding the animals in the cabin.

A few more days passed, and even the lambs they had in the cabin could actively come out onto the deck for a stroll. At the beginning of creation, these animals received gifts from the gods that humans did not, possessing a stronger perception of dangerous things than humans.

Therefore, Deucalion and Pyrrha, seeing this scene, unanimously believed that although the heavy rain and floods between heaven and earth had not yet dissipated, the gods had already forgiven them.

Indeed, by the ninth day, Zeus, King of the Gods, sat on the clouds, observing the vast land swallowed by the flood. Seeing no trace of humans left amidst the surging waves, he felt relieved and nodded with satisfaction. He then summoned his divine messenger, commanded Notus, God of the South Wind, to retreat, and called upon Boreas, God of the North Wind, a subordinate of Hades, to stir up a biting north wind that dispersed the dark clouds in the sky.

The heavy rain stopped. Poseidon, standing on the waves, looked up at his brother seated on the clouds, then put away his trident and retreated into the ocean. With the retreat of the Sea King, the floods on the land gradually receded, revealing the submerged earth.

In the gradually receding floodwaters, Deucalion and Pyrrha's ark drifted with the current and soon docked on the summit of Mount Parnassus. The two disembarked from the ark and quickly built an altar on the ground. They then held a sacrifice using their only remaining meat, offering it to the gods to appease their wrath. Deucalion also prayed to the heavens through this altar, hoping that the gods would restore humanity to its former state.

Just as they finished their prayers, a pleasant female voice suddenly echoed in the hearts of Deucalion and Pyrrha.

"I have heard your prayers," the woman slowly said. "I am Themis, guardian of justice and order. I will tell you the method to restore humanity to its former state. Now, leave my sacred altar, put on veils, loosen your sashes, and then throw the bones of your mother behind you."

Upon hearing the words of the goddess who called herself Themis, Deucalion and Pyrrha exchanged astonished glances. Then, Pyrrha hastily prayed to the altar, "Noble goddess, forgive me. I must disobey your will, for I cannot discard my mother's remains and do not wish to offend her spirit!"

Moreover, even if she wanted to, Pyrrha couldn't do such a thing now. When the flood came, Pandora, the mother of humanity, didn't get on the boat at all. Now, her mother had long since been swept away by the flood to who knows where.

However, Deucalion truly lived up to being Prometheus's son. After careful thought, he suddenly pulled his wife Pyrrha and said to her,

"Pyrrha, don't rush. If I understand correctly, the goddess's command is not asking us to do anything disrespectful. The earth is our benevolent mother, and the stones must be her bones."

"Really?" Pyrrha looked at her husband with some doubt. "Deucalion, I haven't studied, so don't lie to me."

"We are husband and wife, how could I deceive you?"

Deucalion chuckled:

"Given our current situation, it's unlikely the gods would ask us to complete an impossible task. And I remember, there were two baskets of stones on our ark, I don't know who put them there."

Notus, the God of the South Wind, who was diligently moving bricks alongside the servant races of the gods, became ecstatic upon hearing Zeus's decree.

He didn't even have time to wipe the dust from his face or the sweat from his body, nor did he change his clothes, before hastily following his brother to the God King's Hall on Olympus to receive this command from Zeus, the King of the Gods.

After receiving Zeus's approval, Notus, the God of the South Wind, didn't even have time to return to his own temple to change into presentable clothes. He hurriedly took flight, transforming into a south wind that swept across the land, bringing dark clouds, thunder, and torrential rain to the devastated earth.

As a lesser god, Notus naturally didn't possess the ability to single-handedly destroy humanity on a vast land, but with the blessing of Zeus's divine authority, even Notus, the God of the South Wind, could now unleash power comparable to a major god. He exerted all his might to unleash his divine power, as if to wring out his last drop of rain, causing endless torrential rain to fall upon the ground.

After the rain, which was far from normal rainfall, fell upon the ground, the rivers on earth and the oceans surrounding the land immediately swelled wildly, transforming into massive floods that swept away houses, submerged caves, and caused countless mudslides on the hillsides. The surging floods quickly engulfed everything on the land. Amidst the tumultuous winds and rain, only a single small boat in the human world swayed in the terrifying waves.

Ares's clone stood on the Caucasus Mountains, watching the ark from afar. He saw Athena's spirit transform into a shimmering owl, landing on the bow of the ship, guiding Deucalion and Pyrrha through the raging waves. Its scattered feathers formed a divine barrier, doing their best to protect the creatures on board amidst the surging waters.

Ares then noticed that as the floodwaters rose to submerge the entire continent of the small world, Poseidon, who was in the sea, immediately used his authority as the Sea King to take control of the floods on land. He stood at the heart of the storm, raising his trident high, angrily directing the giant waves to crash repeatedly upon the original land, as if to crush the last vestiges of human flesh into pulp.

But in reality, he was using this method to provide cover for Noah's Ark in the flood, subtly concealing the whereabouts of Deucalion and Pyrrha with the spray.

Ares looked up at the sky again and found that Apollo, who had hardly paid attention to Helios, a subordinate god, since taking over the Sun God's divine duties, had suddenly used his authority to make Helios's sun chariot hide behind the dark clouds stirred up by Notus, the God of the South Wind, reducing visibility in the flood and preventing the gods on Olympus from discovering the small boat.

"Damn it, a bunch of traitors."

Ares spat. Needless to say, Apollo and Poseidon must have made a secret deal with Athena. These three, each with their own motives, did not want humanity to be destroyed.

However, it was a coincidence that he also didn't want that, so regarding such treacherous behavior, the loyal Ares could only reluctantly turn a blind eye, pretending not to see.

He continued to climb the Caucasus Mountains, wanting to see Prometheus, the God of Foresight, react to the current scene. Ares had already thought it through: if he looked calm, it meant that the current situation was within his expectations, and he felt nothing for humanity's suffering, but was merely calculating for some purpose of his own. If he looked calm with a hint of heartache, it meant that his current calculations were indeed for the human race.

But just as Ares climbed to the base of the giant rock where Prometheus was imprisoned, he suddenly heard a familiar, clear voice.

"Prometheus, does your heart ache?"

Ares was startled. He recoiled his hand, almost falling off the mountain, but thankfully, he forcibly clung to the rock with Magnetic Field Rotation and then transformed into an earthworm, crawling along the cracks in the stone to the giant rock. Then, he transformed into a blade of grass, peeking out from the rock crevice, and looked towards the source of the sound.

Standing before the bound Prometheus was a beautiful goddess with golden hair and bright eyes, none other than Ares's dear virgin sister, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.

Upon hearing Athena's words, Prometheus slowly raised his head. This God of Foresight, once handsome and free-spirited, had long lost his former vigor. He had been hung there by Zeus, enduring daily wind and sun, hunger and thirst, and being pecked by a giant eagle, leaving him withered and emaciated.

He looked at the goddess, who was once his friend, and slowly replied in a hoarse voice, "It aches, of course it aches... But Athena, humanity always has to pay a huge price to gain something or learn a lesson. I think using such a disaster in exchange for the curiosity bestowed by Zeus, this trade is not a loss."

"You calculate far ahead." Athena nodded, then suddenly said, "But do you know why Zeus, after dealing with you, still insisted on annihilating all of humanity?"

Prometheus wearily raised an eyebrow, signaling her to continue.

"Because of me." Athena opened her mouth and softly uttered malicious words: "Because I secretly told Zeus that a powerful child, capable of destroying his kingship, would be born among humans in the future."

"You truly stop at nothing." Prometheus looked at her and said, "What you desire, for a goddess, is truly too much."

"What do you mean by 'too much'? Is what you desire 'not much'?" Athena raised an eyebrow, looking at Prometheus with an expression of disgust: "You male gods, relying on being male, always think that only you have the ability to dominate and acquire this world. You use brute force and violence to oppress your wives, and casually discard your daughters like objects. Did Zeus think that by devouring my mother and forcibly twisting my destiny with the King of the Gods' authority, making me born as a girl, he could change the fate of his kingship being overthrown?"

She looked at the continuous torrential rain between heaven and earth, and waved the spear in her hand as if fighting a great god, then continued, "I, Athena, will say no to this fate. I will prove to you that even a goddess has the right and ability to hold all things in the world in her palm!"

She slowly clenched her hand towards heaven and earth, as if to grasp everything in the world:

"Prometheus, just you wait. When I ascend to Olympus and become queen, I will come and free you, and you will kneel on the ground and kiss my feet."

"Hmph." Prometheus, bound to the giant rock, raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly, "Then I shall await."

Actually, the description “came aboard” isn’t quite right; it should be said that Ares’s avatar had already quietly blended in with the ship since its construction began.

Unlike Athena’s high-level maneuver of entering the stream of dreams, Ares, without the arrogance of a chief god, was more willing to lower his status. As early as when Deucalion and Pyrrha began selecting animal young, Ares secretly attached a wisp of his spirit to a lamb in their sheepfold.

Ares chose the most beautiful male lamb, and the lamb he possessed was naturally chosen by Deucalion and Pyrrha and placed on the ship. Thereafter, Ares hid deep within the lamb’s spirit, silently observing all the actions of Deucalion and Pyrrha as guided by Athena.

As a key subject of Zeus's attention, the Goddess of Wisdom Athena's will could not remain in the mortal realm for too long, lest it arouse the suspicion of the King of Gods. Thus, after misleading Deucalion and Pyrrha into carrying those two baskets of stones onto the ship, Athena departed.

The moment Athena’s attention departed, Ares’s spirit emerged from the lamb’s subconscious. He controlled the little lamb, and while chewing on the grass in its mouth, it came before the two baskets of stones and observed them carefully.

After the Magic Circuit rotation was completed, Ares’s cultivation in the magical arts also increased by a notch. Now, he was able to discern what tricks the Goddess of Wisdom had played with these two baskets of stones.

Indeed, these two baskets of stones were not ordinary stones at all. The myth about “mother’s bones” was all a lie. Even if Deucalion and Pyrrha had divine blood, they had not awakened their divine power, and Gaia, the planet’s consciousness, was even less likely to help a group of creatures living on her surface.

These two baskets of stones had clearly already been created by Athena and infused with souls, just one step away from forming the “prototypes” of humans.

It seems Athena was determined to become the ancestor of humanity in the Greek World and usurp Prometheus's achievements.

Fortunately, Ares had already discovered Athena’s plan. Therefore, after seeing through the Goddess of Wisdom’s scheme, Ares’s true form directly summoned the men he had previously chosen as seeds, and the women with Magic Circuits in their bodies, whom he had created with Hecate. He then said to them:

“The time has come, children. Zeus is about to unleash divine punishment and destroy humanity. And now, I will send you to the ark. You will become the sparks of humanity, causing human footprints to once again spread across the earth. You will establish nations on the earth. I will call your nation a great nation, and you will become its rulers, turning away from evil and doing good, never abandoning your oaths. I, Ares, will grant you unending ambition and unyielding courage.”

He bestowed upon these humans concepts useful for human progress that he possessed, such as struggle, competitiveness, and curiosity. He then meticulously instructed them on what to do in the future and made them swear an oath never to reveal their connection with Ares to anyone other than Hecate. Finally, Ares invited Hecate to cast a spell, transforming these humans into two baskets of stones identical to Athena’s, with the men in one basket and the women in another.

Hecate then performed a disguise spell on the stones transformed from these humans, making it impossible for Athena to discern their authenticity. At night, when the gods rested and the veil of Nyx, the Goddess of Night, covered the earth, Ares quietly passed through Hecate’s teleportation gate and arrived at Deucalion and Pyrrha’s ark, silently performing a “The Cat Substitutes for the Prince” (a literal translation would be “civet cat for prince,” meaning a secret substitution) with his two baskets of humans and Athena’s two baskets of stones.

After the two chief gods had plotted and carried out their treacherous acts behind the back of Zeus, the King of Gods, the next day, as if a switch had been flipped, Pandora, who had been married to Epimetheus for many years, had children, and had almost forgotten about the magic box she carried, suddenly remembered the matter.

She recalled the gods’ warnings, wanting to forget about it, but at that moment, Pandora’s curiosity was like a flood with an open valve, impossible to hold back.

As if by a ghost’s prompting, she stood up and quietly went to the inner room. The magic box was a wedding gift given to her and Epimetheus by the gods, so even though it was useless for improving their lives, Pandora and Epimetheus had specially built a room for it and devoutly enshrined it.

Pandora entered the room, saw the patterns on the box, and could no longer resist her curiosity, reaching out to touch its lid.

“I’ll just take a look, just one look, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Hypnotically comforting herself, Pandora’s hand applied a slight force, pushing open a crack in the box’s lid.

At that instant, countless terrifying black mists surged out of the magic box, carrying gusts of foul-smelling gales. They transformed into the most evil and malicious spirits, flying past a horrified Pandora and heading towards the boundless earth.

At the behest of their respective masters, they entangled themselves with the human race. In an instant, the once thriving human race was beset by various natural and man-made disasters. In some places, earthquakes began, and the earth split open with giant fissures, directly swallowing entire tribes. In other places, humans silently aged and died, turning into piles of white bones.

In some places, humans were plagued by various unexplained Plagues, which spread among the populace, causing decay and corruption. In other places, humans clashed over trivial matters, eventually escalating into large-scale Wars that implicated several tribes.

Seeing these disasters on earth, Pandora quickly closed the magic box, and the lid of this magic box, as Zeus had expected, locked in Athena’s so-called “world-destroying” bomb.

In the heavens, Zeus, the King of Gods, sensed the opening of the magic box and immediately summoned all the gods to the God King's Hall. He looked through the olympus holy fire at the various disasters happening on the earth, laughing with uncontrollable glee.

“Old pervert!”

Seeing this, Ares cursed under his breath.

Perhaps feeling somewhat out of character, Zeus quickly reined in his laughter once all twelve chief gods had arrived. He surveyed his surroundings and said in a deep voice, “You have all seen it. The human race has completely corrupted and cannot be kept. Therefore, I have decided to destroy humanity. Let us discuss what method would be best?”

“War!” Ares faithfully fulfilled his persona, raising his hand first and shouting, “We want War!”

“While War is good, it is not thorough enough,” Poseidon retorted. “There will always be victors and losers, and the ultimate victors among them will survive. I do not think it is appropriate.”

“What?” Ares glared at Poseidon, immediately retorting without hesitation, “Can’t there be mutual destruction in War?”

“Enough, Ares, I understand your feelings.” Zeus waved his hand, dismissing his foolish son. “Poseidon is right this time; War is indeed not thorough enough and inefficient.”

He thought for a moment, turned his head to look at his divine lightning, and then said, “Let’s just use heavenly lightning to destroy them.”

“Zeus, no,” Athena interjected. “Your heavenly lightning is too powerful; it will not only destroy humanity but also harm the earth. If that happens, Gaia will come looking for trouble with you.”

“True.” Zeus gently countered, “Then, Athena, do you have any good ideas?”

“I think we can use heavenly fire to destroy the world,” Athena said, seizing the opportunity. “Let Helios fly his Sun Chariot around the surface of the earth, and all humans will die.”

“Hmm, good idea, but there are places heavenly fire can’t reach. What if some humans hide underground?” Zeus nodded, then chuckled, “I think we should use a flood to destroy the world. Hmm, where is Notus, the God of the South Wind?”

“Zeus,” Eurus, the God of the East Wind, replied, “He is currently moving bricks at the mine.”

“Then go find him quickly,” Zeus commanded. “Tell him to atone for his mistakes. If he does well this time, I will directly waived him from his punishment.”

"It worked."

Ares's heart was filled with excitement as he watched the mountain wall collapse and felt the surging, alien energy boiling within him.

As early as when he mastered Magnetic Field Rotation, he had been contemplating such a power combination. Magnetic Field Rotation was a force capable of controlling almost everything, but it couldn't control magic. This was because in the universe where Magnetic Field Rotation originated, there was no such thing as magic on planets. However, Magic Circuits could convert other energies into pure magic.

Ares at the time thought, if he could input Magnetic Field Rotation into a Magic Circuit, then convert the corresponding magic from the Magic Circuit, and control it using the methods of Magnetic Field Rotation, could he achieve an almost omnipotent magic? However, Ares didn't have a Magic Circuit at the time, so he couldn't perform this operation.

But after Hecate inscribed the Magic Circuit onto his body, Ares, through this experiment, finally successfully confirmed his conjecture.

This was an almost omnipotent magical mode. Using this method, Ares, a "black household" with no attribute bonuses, could, like Tohsaka Rin, the "dragon tsundere" with all attributes of earth, wind, water, and fire, manipulate various elemental magics at will. He could even control the magic of the six major conceptual elements.

Moreover, as his internal magnetic field power continuously strengthened, accompanied by the increased resonance between the magnetic field and the outside world, the difficulty and quantity of magic he could wield would also increase daily.

"This power shall be called Magic Rotation," Ares thought, clenching his fist.

After returning to Hecate's Tree Palace through the teleportation gate, Ares did not hide anything and directly told Hecate this method along with the cultivation method for Magnetic Field Rotation.

The Moon Goddess was also very interested, but after hearing that practicing Magnetic Field Rotation required undergoing the self-abusive "Electric Current Propulsion" training that Ares had previously endured, she regretfully gave up.

According to Hecate, the reason she chose magic as her primary focus was her fear of physical pain. Training like a muscular brute was worse than death for her.

Ares let her be. Anyway, he had told Hecate every detail of the method, so he didn't feel indebted to her. As for whether she learned it or not, that was Hecate's own business.

The research on the power system had come to an end. Next, Ares began to focus his energy on his next plan.

Watching Zeus create Pandora and Pandora's Box, Ares finally recalled what event this was.

In mythology, after Prometheus twice deceived Zeus, the enraged King of Gods ordered Hephaestus to bind him with chains to a giant rock in the Caucasus Mountains. Furthermore, the King of Gods sent a giant eagle, born of Typhon and Echidna, to peck at Prometheus's constantly regenerating internal organs day and night.

And after this, the King of Gods still felt unsatisfied, so he unleashed his wrath upon Prometheus's innocent creations, humans. He commanded Hephaestus to create the beautiful Pandora, and also made Pandora's Box, into which the gods placed all the calamities of the world.

When Pandora married Epimetheus, and due to the curiosity given by Zeus, she uncontrollably opened the box, releasing calamities. Zeus then naturally ordered Notos, the God of the South Wind, to unleash torrential rain, destroying humanity with a flood.

According to mythology, only two humans survived: Deucalion, Prometheus's son, and Pyrrha, Epimetheus and Pandora's daughter. They were the ancestors of humanity in the next era.

And the next era was precisely the most brilliant era in greek mythology, gathering numerous heroes and leaving behind countless popular epics—the Age of Heroes. A considerable portion of the Heroic Spirits who dominated the mainstream of Earth in this universe originated from this era.

If Ares's guess was correct, Athena must have placed her bets on this era, and he was doing the same. To survive until after the Common Era, Ares had to leave his mark in these many epics.

So, after the completion of Magic Rotation, Ares immediately began to continue his arrangements.

He did not go to see Prometheus. Just as the God of Forethought had once evaluated him, Ares didn't quite understand why Prometheus was willing to pay such a huge price for his creations. He couldn't guess whether Prometheus was truly a holy god with noble ideals or had other motives for humanity.

But in any case, the current bound state of the God of Forethought at least restricted his activities. Whatever his purpose, as long as he was bound on the Caucasus Mountains, it could not be realized.

During the following period, Ares juggled three tasks: on one hand, he managed the War God's divine duties on Olympus, keeping an eye on Pandora's movements after she was sent to Earth by the gods; on the other hand, he continued to use his clones to instruct the powerful humans he had chosen as seeds; and the remaining energy, Ares devoted entirely to the creation of humans with Hecate.

This creation of humans was not the other creation of humans. Ares was still bound by the Oath of the Inhibitory Force, so even if he wanted to create in that way, he wouldn't dare. Therefore, Ares and Hecate used Prometheus's and Athena's methods of creating humans, secretly making a new generation of women corresponding to the men within the Tree Palace.

Ares used the goddesses on Olympus as models, shaping a number of women corresponding to the number of men. Hecate, while they were still clay figures, inscribed a considerable number of Magic Circuits within their bodies.

Not only that, Ares also took the time to secretly pluck a strand of the curiosity Zeus had bestowed upon Pandora, dividing it into several portions and giving it to these women. The first generation of men had no curiosity, and Ares felt this was unacceptable. Although curiosity often led to misfortune, it was also one of the driving forces of human progress. Humans lacking this were incomplete.

So even if the first generation of men had no curiosity, as long as they combined with these women, their descendants could inherit everything from them.

While Ares was secretly planning and arranging everything within the Tree Palace, Athena was not idle either. Several years after Epimetheus and Pandora combined, when their daughter Pyrrha also married Deucalion, Prometheus's surviving son, this goddess secretly manipulated the couple through dreams.

She gave Deucalion and Pyrrha revelations in their dreams, then guided the couple to cut down the strongest trees on the high mountains, make them into a large ship, and place a pair of seeds and younglings of all creatures on Earth onto it.

After years of arduous effort, Deucalion and Pyrrha, with the help of Athena, successfully obtained an ark capable of surviving the flood. On the day the ark was completed, Athena also secretly used divine power to obscure the gods' vision, and, unbeknownst to the gods, placed two baskets of stones on this ship. However, while her actions fooled the inattentive gods, they could not escape Ares, who had already secretly planted his eyes around Deucalion and Pyrrha. On the day Athena placed the stones, Ares's avatar also quietly arrived at this ship.

“It seems Athena is preparing to make her move in the next human era.”

Inside Hecate’s Tree Palace, Ares’s true form was discussing this topic with Hecate:

“Zeus sealed the thing she threw inside to the very bottom of the box, and he even deliberately warned Pandora not to open that box. I suppose this time, when Pandora’s Box opens, Athena’s item won’t be able to come out.”

“If Tartarus manages to analyze that thing from the yusei Star Ark, we might be able to understand its purpose, and thus Athena’s objective,” Hecate said to Ares, propping her chin on her hand, holding an ink brush, and lying on her hammock. “But why are you telling me all this? I won’t get involved in your struggles.”

“I need someone to confide in, Teacher,” Ares sighed. “An ordinary god like me, with such fragile psychological resilience, would go insane if I had to play a role for too long.”

“You, with fragile psychological resilience?” Hecate wrote the last stroke on the papyrus in front of her. “Oh, stop talking about that. Come take a look. I researched that ‘Magic Circuit’ thing you mentioned last time, and I found it’s actually quite useful.”

After speaking, she gathered the scattered papyrus sheets on the hammock, arranged them in order, stacked them, and handed them to Ares.

“What? You’ve even created a Magic Circuit?” Ares’s spirits lifted, and he quickly took the stack of papyrus from Hecate, muttering as he looked through it, “Let me see…”

After all, these things were the foundation of the future Magic world. It was difficult to research them from scratch, but once Hecate had actually created them, understanding them wasn’t hard. Ares carefully read through the material once, then understood its operating principle.

“This thing, it was the Rubik’s Cube you brought back from the yusei Star Ark that gave me the inspiration,” Hecate said, wagging her finger. “Look, isn’t that Rubik’s Cube covered in various patterns? I tried following that pattern, and found that running magic that way indeed made it faster. I optimized it a bit, and it became this. This Magic Circuit can convert other energies, like heat, mental power, or life force, into magic. However, I think in our current environment, this circuit is useless.”

“Indeed, but it won’t be in the future.” Ares nodded, then thought for a moment and added, “Teacher, can you help me create a few such Magic Circuits inside my body?”

“I can,” Hecate asked, puzzled. “But I still don’t understand what you plan to do with such a thing?”

The Moon Goddess’s vexation was quite normal in the Age of Gods. After all, even Magic users of the Age of Gods inscribed Magic Circuits onto tools. Ares’s behavior, in Hecate’s eyes, was like asking her to help him get a tattoo, and a full-body one at that.

In terms of magic absorption and conversion efficiency, Ares’s divine body was immeasurably stronger than a Magic Circuit.

“I definitely have power to convert,” Ares earnestly requested. “Please, Teacher, guide me!”

“Alright, alright.” Hecate waved her hand. “First things first, this thing has to be carved directly onto the body. Unless it’s created from scratch, the inscribed person will feel intense pain. Don’t hit me later.”

“Hmph, you underestimate me, Teacher,” Ares said disdainfully. “I, Ares, am a dignified God of War. How could I not endure a little pain?”

He had his confidence, because the God of War’s divinity had indeed given him a high degree of pain tolerance.

“You said it yourself,” Hecate jumped down from the hammock, found her slippers, and then took out some suspicious tools from a nearby cabinet. “Then come with me.”

Ares followed Hecate closely into a side room within the Tree Palace. At some point, Hecate had turned this side room into something resembling a sickroom. In the center of this room, there was a bed woven from vines, on which the Moon Goddess had laid a mattress stuffed with wool.

Upon arriving, Hecate patted Ares’s lower back, then pointed to the bed and said, “Lie down.”

Ares complied, and as he lay down, he calmly extended his hand to Hecate, saying, “Teacher, come on. I endured being struck by lightning. I don’t believe this tiny Magic Circuit—Ah!!!”

Hecate raised a hand and pointed, and several magic chains appeared out of thin air, binding Ares’s raised arm to the bed. She said, “Don’t move! Otherwise, don’t blame me if I slip and carve crooked.”

…

“Phew…”

Several hours later, Hecate, covered in sweat, climbed down from the equally sweaty Ares.

At Ares’s earnest invitation, the Moon Goddess also took her tools and, without hesitation, carved Magic Circuits into every corner of her disciple’s muscular physique.

Now, Ares’s entire body, covered in Magic Circuits, looked like a homunculus straight out of the Einzbern Family. He dared say that his current Magic Circuits were definitely more numerous than Ilya’s; after all, Ilya was just a little loli, while he was a nine-foot tall man, so there was no comparison in terms of sheer volume.

Moreover, his Magic Circuits were created by the Goddess of Magic from the Age of Gods, and their quality was absolutely of the highest standard, matching his main divine body.

“It’s done.”

The Moon Goddess said to Ares, while tidying up the blood-stained tools:

“You are now a walking Magic Circuit. What exactly do you want to do with this? Begin your performance.”

“Mhm.”

Ares lay on the blood-soaked mattress, panting for several breaths. Once the pain in his body gradually subsided, he slowly sat up from the mattress, then clenched his fists and began to imagine.

Within everyone’s mind, there is a “mechanism” to activate their Magic Circuit. This mechanism is usually a specific image, such as a gunshot, or a knife piercing the heart.

However, what appeared in Ares’s mind at this moment was a fiercely burning flame. When this flame ignited from the lightless darkness, the Magic Circuits within Ares’s body activated at that moment.

Hum.

Due to the excessively high quality of the Magic Circuits, dense, shimmering patterns appeared directly on Ares’s body, covering him entirely. These patterns flowed with a magical glow, making him look even more like a robot.

And after activating his Magic Circuits, Ares did not stop. He took a deep breath, then silently activated another power within his body.

Magnetic Field Rotation, fifty thousand horsepower.

Sizzle—

As the power of the Magnetic Field appeared within his body, and Ares’s cells rapidly rubbed together with the Magic Circuits activated, a wondrous phenomenon occurred: the Magnetic Field within him began to combine with magic under the influence of the Magic Circuits, transforming into an even more wondrous power.

Ares maintained this state, glanced at Hecate, who understood and raised her hand to open a portal to Tartarus.

After Ares passed through this portal to a secluded corner of Tartarus, he used this combined power of Magnetic Field Rotation at fifty thousand horsepower and magic, and casually punched a nearby mountain path.

Whoosh!

Accompanying his fist, a translucent force shot out, landed on a certain mountain wall in Tartarus, then silently disappeared into the wall. Moments later, with a rumbling tremor, the mountain wall suddenly collapsed violently, turning into ruins that crashed onto the ground.

As Ares stepped into the God King's Hall, all the main gods turned their heads to look at him.

"Ares, come over quickly, you're the only one left."

Zeus beckoned to him.

"What's going on? What are you all doing?" Ares feigned confusion as he approached, asking, "I only heard from Hephaestus that you, Zeus, were looking for me."

The God of War walked up to the gods, and they made way for him, allowing Ares to see the woman who was still a clay sculpture. He immediately looked at the sculpture in amazement, circling her several times, and said with a clicking sound:

"So you're all here playing with figurines. This person is sculpted really well, but why do I feel like it resembles someone..."

"This model was created using Athena as the prototype," Aphrodite said, somewhat displeased.

"Oh—" Ares drew out his voice, giving Athena a meaningful look that made her shiver. However, the God of War quickly moved his gaze away after looking, and he asked, "Zeus, what are you making this thing for?"

"Hmph, Prometheus's debt hasn't been fully settled yet. Although he himself has been tied to the Caucasus Mountains by me, humans dared to collude with their creator to deceive the gods. We must teach them a lesson, otherwise, where would Olympus's dignity be?"

Zeus laughed cruelly:

"I'm going to send this woman to Prometheus's foolish brother, Epimetheus, for him to marry her, and then bring the most terrible disasters to humanity, to let them know the might of us gods!"

Then, he pointed at the clay sculpture of the woman and said to Ares:

"Come on, Ares, you're the only one left. Infuse her with the concept of how you think she can become more alluring, and then I will give her life."

"Hmm..." Ares pondered for a moment, but didn't make a move. He asked, "Let me get this straight. So, you want this woman, who embodies a part of your concepts and is modeled after Athena, to seduce Epimetheus, right?"

All the gods nodded in unison.

"Damn it, don't you think it's a bit disgusting?" Ares asked with a look of disdain. "We're giving this woman a part of our concepts, and it's all just for Epimetheus to 'use.' Doesn't that mean a part of us is being—"

He swallowed, looking at Athena, who seemed a bit disgusted already, and continued, "Especially since this woman's prototype is Athena, wouldn't Athena feel a bit uncomfortable watching her and Epimetheus unite?"

"Enough!" Zeus's eyebrows twitched as he snapped at Ares, "Ares, if you don't want to contribute, then don't say anything more!"

"Exactly, it's just a part of our concepts, how can it be considered a part of us?" Apollo nodded, and at the same time, quietly reached out, wanting to retrieve the musical talent he had instilled.

However, his action was immediately discovered by Zeus, who slapped his son's hand away and glared at him.

Apollo showed a resigned expression, sullenly retracting his hand.

"Zeus." Athena swallowed with difficulty and pleaded with Zeus, "Why don't we call Hephaestus back and have him change her appearance again?"

"Alright, just don't look if you don't want to! Why are you being so delicate?" Zeus said impatiently, "It's already made, do you still want to rework it?"

Then, he glared at Ares again and cursed, "Ares, you talk too much!"

"I'm just speaking the truth," Ares lowered his head and rubbed his nose.

Zeus blew on his white beard, then stomped his God King's scepter forcefully. Then, he didn't know where he pulled out a large bronze box. This bronze box was carved with various strange patterns, looking very mysterious.

Zeus placed the box in front of Ares, then pointed to it and said, "Ares, since you don't want to infuse this woman with a concept, I won't force you. After all, you... well, you made that oath before. However, you must put your most terrifying concept into this box. Yes, put the concept of War into it."

Is this Pandora's Box?

Ares curiously glanced at the bronze box. On the surface, it looked unremarkable, but it could actually lock away the concepts of the gods. Clearly, it was also from the hands of the world's most excellent craftsman, Hephaestus.

Ares thought for a moment, then agreed, "Alright, Zeus, I'll put the fuse of War into this box."

Saying that, he raised his hand and pointed, then placed the calamity of War into this iron box.

"Hmm." Seeing Ares's concept enter, Zeus nodded with satisfaction, then he rallied the gods, "Come, come, everyone, put all the concepts that can retaliate against humanity into it."

Ares took a step back, then saw the gods gather around, one by one, throwing in various negative concepts. Apollo threw in the bane of men, Aphrodite threw in the bane of women, Hermes threw in Plague, Poseidon threw in earthquakes, Hades bestowed Death upon this magic box, and Zeus threw in many evil spirits. However, when it was Athena's turn, the Goddess of Wisdom took out a benevolent blue opaque small magic cube.

"This is the bomb I made."

Before throwing it in, the Goddess of Wisdom deliberately held up the blue cube and explained to the surrounding gods:

"When this magic box is opened and everything inside is released, this bomb will destroy the world."

All the gods sensed the terrifying magic power contained within this blue cube, but being "illiterate," they didn't know what this blue opaque cube actually was, so they all exclaimed in wonder at how terrifying the Goddess of Wisdom's wisdom could be.

But Ares knew what it was. He had personally seen the Goddess of Wisdom take this thing out of that unlucky Youxing Vanguard's body.

Athena didn't lie either; this thing would indeed destroy the world when it exploded, but not the human world, rather the entire Greek World.

Seeing this blue cube, Zeus also urged quickly:

"Oh, oh, oh, then quickly put it in, Athena."

Athena smiled lightly and nodded, finally placing the blue cube into the box. Zeus immediately took the box, sealed the contents with his divine power, and conveniently placed Athena's blue cube at the very bottom of the box.

He didn't trust his daughter in his heart. Although he didn't know what this cube was, it was safer to keep it from coming out.

Having done all this, Zeus closed the box, then gently blew on the clay woman, and she came to life.

She gently opened her eyes, transforming from clay into a beautiful and delicate girl with smooth, rosy-white skin. Her eyes trembled slightly, and when she blinked, one could almost see the subtle flutter of her eyelashes, which made the surrounding gods' hearts stir.

"Gulp."

Zeus swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing his possessive desires, then walked in front of the woman and placed the box in her arms.

"You are called Pandora, the first woman in the world." He said to Pandora, "You will marry Epimetheus as his wife, and this box is our wedding gift to you from the gods."

In the imaginary space at the bottom of Tartarus, the flow of time was chaotic compared to the outside world.

When Ares came out and successively connected with his clones, restoring his mental link with each of them, he was astonished to find that five years had passed in the outside world since he and Hecate entered Tartarus.

Fortunately, before Ares followed Hecate, he had separated a part of his consciousness and maintained his clones in their respective working states, which prevented his clones on Olympus from being exposed by the gods. Although this carried the risk of mental fragmentation, Ares only used it as a temporary stopgap, so there was no major issue.

Many significant events had occurred within these five years. First, there was the succession of divine authority on Olympus: Zeus brought Hermes to Olympus, and during this period, Hades also voluntarily withdrew from the ranks of the Twelve Great Gods of Olympus, ceding his position to Hermes.

Moreover, after this little scoundrel arrived at Olympus and took over Hades's position, he immediately took a liking to Aphrodite, who had just divorced Hephaestus and was unattached. With Zeus's encouragement, he succeeded, which made Hermes even more loyal to his old father.

Secondly, Prometheus finally took that step for humanity. He once again deceived Zeus, dividing a bull into two parts: one was good meat covered with hide, and the other was bones covered with suet.

Zeus chose the bones. Of course, Ares didn't believe that Zeus, the God King, who was nearing his peak in the Greek Pantheon, couldn't see through Prometheus's little trick. However, Zeus definitely did it on purpose, then seized the opportunity to rage and hang Prometheus, who had asked for trouble, on Mount Caucasus, having an eagle peck at his liver daily.

Ares could even clearly discern Zeus's thoughts: even if this ritual had binding power over all gods, the human species created by Prometheus would be destroyed sooner or later, so whether this ritual existed or not made little difference.

This idea was perfect and correct, but unfortunately, at least in Ares's perception, among Zeus's children, at least he and Athena, two main gods, did not wish for humanity to be destroyed.

Others, like Apollo and Hephaestus, might also harbor pity in their hearts for this species that was like the gods.

The gods on Olympus, regarding this matter, were not entirely in agreement with Zeus, the God King.

However, despite saying so, the gods of Olympus outwardly followed Zeus's instructions, slowly acting to destroy humanity.

On the day Ares reintegrated his consciousness and took over his God of War clone on Olympus, Ares, who was on a routine patrol of Olympus, suddenly encountered Hephaestus on the road.

This was not uncommon. Although Hephaestus was a severe homebody, he would occasionally come out to stroll along the Olympus corridor and get some fresh air after work.

What surprised Ares was that Hephaestus had some bruises on his face, looking as if he had been beaten by someone.

“Hephaestus, what happened to you?” Ares walked over and carefully examined Hephaestus's unremarkable face: “Did someone hit you?”

He asked in surprise, “Did you anger Zeus?”

In Ares's perception, on Olympus, apart from Zeus and himself, there didn't seem to be any other god who dared to beat Hephaestus.

“No.” Hephaestus shook his head, his expression looking a bit awkward.

“Not Zeus?” Ares's face showed surprise, “Then who? Who else would dare to hit you?”

Hephaestus looked up at the sky, his face resembling a middle-aged man smoking, then sighed, “It was Athena.”

“What? Athena? She dared to hit you?” Ares indignantly rolled up his sleeves: “She's gone too far! Does she really not know who the boss is among the fourth generation of gods on Olympus? Don't worry, I'll go find her and demand an explanation!”

After speaking, Ares angrily started to walk towards the Goddess of Wisdom's temple. Seeing this, Hephaestus quickly pulled him back and shouted, “Don't go, don't go! This is my fault, I deserved the beating, I deserved it!”

Ares stopped, turned his head, and asked suspiciously, “Really? Could it be that woman has some leverage over you?”

“Oh, no, really.” Hephaestus was a bit shy. He looked left and right, then pulled Ares to a secluded, deserted corner and quietly told him, “You are my best brother, so I'll tell you the truth. This is what happened…”

After hearing Hephaestus explain the whole story, Ares understood what had happened.

It turned out that to deal with humanity, Zeus had initiated the mythical “Pandora” project. He ordered Hephaestus to create a new human in the likeness of a goddess, then have her seduce the foolish Epimetheus, who still lived on Earth and led humanity, and incidentally bring various calamities to the human race.

Hephaestus accepted the order but faced difficulty when choosing a model.

Zeus's requirement was to make Pandora as beautiful as possible. Logically, Hephaestus should have invited his ex-wife Aphrodite to be the model. However, 'ex-wife' implied that the conflict between Hephaestus and Aphrodite was irreconcilable, especially since Aphrodite immediately got involved with Hermes after he ascended Olympus.

Hephaestus didn't want to find his ex-wife, and he estimated Aphrodite wouldn't agree anyway. So, after much thought, Hephaestus simply chose Athena, a goddess he admired.

As the saying goes, men and women working together are most likely to spark passion, at least Hephaestus thought so. During the creation process with Athena as the model, the more he looked, the more beautiful he found Athena to be, even more beautiful than his ex-wife Aphrodite.

And during Pandora's creation, Athena, the talkative goddess, also chatted and laughed with Hephaestus, occasionally showing charming and approving smiles, which gave Hephaestus the illusion that Athena was also slowly falling for him.

So, when he felt the atmosphere was right, the clumsy Hephaestus, in a rough manner like forging iron, proposed to Athena.

Then he was violently beaten by the angry virgin goddess, turning him into his current state.

“Sigh, I told you long ago, Athena wouldn't fall for you, why didn't you believe me?” After listening, Ares lost interest in troubling Athena. He patted Hephaestus's shoulder and said to him, “Listen to me, let Hera arrange for you to marry one of the Three Goddesses of Grace or a similar goddess. Although they aren't the most beautiful, at least they won't cause you so much trouble, and you can live a good life with her.”

Hephaestus was somewhat unwilling but eventually nodded. He covered his eyes, and tears shimmered through his fingers: “Brother, you're right. Ugly people don't deserve love.”

“…” Ares was speechless, unable to respond.

“Oh, right.” Hephaestus, who was lamenting the unfairness of divine life, seemed to remember something and looked up at Ares again: “I've moved Pandora's model to the God King's Hall. Zeus and the others are blessing that woman. You should go there quickly too.”

“Oh, oh, oh, that sounds amazing.” Ares exclaimed, “Since that’s the case, do I have some awesome ability?”

“Hmm, there are pros and cons.” Hecate raised an eyebrow and pondered for a moment, then replied, “The good thing is that when you practice those magic spells with side effects in the future, the side effects will no longer affect you.”

“What about the cons?”

“The downside is that no matter what magic you learn, you won’t be able to enjoy the benefits that come from attribute compatibility,” Hecate continued.

Ares rubbed his head, thought for a moment, and then exclaimed, “So, what this means is that I’m an outsider, I don’t get local benefits, and I’m not subject to local jurisdiction?”

Hecate nodded, “That’s pretty much what it means.”

“So what am I good for?” Ares pointed at the blue cube and asked, “Could it be that as an unregistered individual, I can break through that seemingly incredibly powerful barrier and just go straight in?”

“Of course not.” Hecate smiled slightly, put her hands on her hips proudly, and said, “But your teacher once developed a very, very powerful magic that only men like you, who have no origin, can use. Come closer, I will teach you that magic now!”

…

A moment later, within the imaginary space, Hecate looked with satisfaction at an amorphous energy block floating before her.

She praised, “Not bad, not bad, as expected of you. A Main God learns magic quickly.”

The amorphous energy block rippled slightly, and then Ares’s voice emerged from it, “Teacher, is this what you call a very, very powerful magic? Turning myself into a mass of… magical power?”

“Not magical power, it’s an Aether block.” Hecate wagged her finger to correct him, “This is a type of hypothetical attribute. It should have been converted into one of the four attributes: earth, wind, water, and fire, but the peculiarity of your origin allows you to cast this magic, allowing you to maintain the form of Aether. Hmm, it seems my conjecture was indeed correct; only someone without an origin like you can…”

“Hmm? Conjecture?” Ares asked suspiciously, “Teacher, you’re not experimenting on me, are you?”

“Cough, cough, you’re overthinking it. No matter what, I, Hecate, would never experiment on my cute disciple, alright?” Hecate coughed twice, waving her hands repeatedly to cover up, “Besides, this magic of yours is just the beginning. There’s a whole string of subsequent ideas that I once imagined but couldn’t complete. If you complete them, you might be able to create a very powerful magic.”

After placating Ares, Hecate waved her hand and said,

“Alright, go try it now. If you maintain this Aether form, that thing’s defense mechanism should not classify you as a sentient individual, and the defense mechanism will no longer block you.”

“Then I’ll give it a try.” Ares hesitated for a moment, then struggled to split his Aether-transformed body in half.

“…” Seeing this, Hecate couldn’t help but retort, “Is it really necessary? I definitely confirmed that this device had no offensive capabilities before letting you in.”

“Of course it is. Better safe than sorry. When facing the unknown, I must protect myself, and the same goes for you, Teacher.”

Ares replied while painstakingly controlling his current “body” as he floated towards the blue cube.

His spirit entered the physical interior of this cube, and then he looked up and saw the infinitely distant barrier that Hecate had spoken of. Ares controlled his body, floated in front of this barrier, and carefully separated a portion of the Aether that his body had transformed into, slowly approaching the barrier.

Unexpectedly, this barrier truly ignored Ares completely, just as Hecate had said, allowing his portion of Aether to float inside. The device seemed to regard him as a mass of energy that could be recycled and utilized.

However, once inside, this part of him lost contact with the outside world. It seemed that the concept of “infinite distance” also caused his mental signals to decay.

Since there was still a part of “himself” outside, he wouldn’t truly die. Ares continued to go deeper. After crossing this barrier, he “found” himself in a pure white space, and at the center of this space was a small blue light, wrapped in a faint membrane of light.

Although that light membrane looked fragile, in reality, it should be the so-called “Eight-Dimensional Spiritual Particle Barrier” that Hecate was utterly helpless against.

Ares continued to control his Aether-state body, came before this halo, and then carefully extended his “hand” towards it.

He, in his Aether state, encountered no obstruction. In fact, a suction force emanated from within the halo, pulling him in abruptly.

…

Hecate, waiting outside, began to extend her spiritual sense to carefully observe the movements of Ares’s portion after seeing him enter.

Although she was the one who let Ares in, she didn’t fully intend to exploit Ares. After all, Ares was her magic disciple, and furthermore, Ares, who only wanted to live a peaceful life, was quite likable to her, given her own laid-back personality.

However, after Ares’s Aether block crossed that conceptual barrier of infinite distance, Hecate’s spiritual sense could no longer penetrate. She waited for a while, then began to grow anxious outside, but since a part of Ares remained outside, she had to maintain her teacher’s dignity in front of him, so she could only turn her back to him, feigning calmness.

“Could he really have been eaten?” The Moon Goddess, with her hands clasped behind her back, looked at the cube in the sky and muttered to herself in a low voice.

However, just as she became impatient and wanted to try forcibly breaking through that conceptual barrier of infinite distance to see what was happening inside, she heard a soft “hum” sound in her ear.

Subsequently, a dispassionate voice spoke in the language of the Greek Pantheon:

“Command confirmed, object to be parsed detected, commencing parsing.”

“Object parsing in progress, please wait.”

Accompanying this voice, Hecate saw lines of light slowly descending from the blue cube, beginning to scan the starship cube.

“Did it succeed?” Seeing this, Hecate breathed a slight sigh of relief.

At this moment, the portion of Aether that Ares had transformed into also floated out of the cube. The two Aether blocks merged into one, and then slowly transformed back into the War God’s original form. Seeing him emerge, Hecate quickly composed her expression, feigned confidence, and nodded to Ares, “How was it? Disciple, I didn’t lie to you, did I?”

“It was alright.” Ares nodded distractedly, not paying attention to Hecate’s current appearance.

Through the mental reintegration, he also had the memories of what had just happened. When he, transformed into Aether, was sucked into the core of that cube, he hadn’t had time to change back and contact the core as a sentient being to obtain the device’s operational permission. Then, he saw that within the Aether block that his body had transformed into, the black crystal suddenly jumped out on its own. This thing spontaneously reverted from the Aether’s material state to its solid form, and then Ares didn’t know what operation it performed there, but anyway, this thing hacked into the cube’s core, helping him obtain the highest operational permission for this cube.

And after obtaining the highest operational permission for this cube, Ares also understood its true identity: it was a similar alien observation device to the “mooncell,” the main stage where the “Holy Grail War” took place in a parallel world.

Ares didn’t know if this thing was placed in Tartarus in his current parallel world, or if there was another one on the Moon in this world. In any case, Ares had now become the highest authorized user of this device.

However, this thing is not as versatile as the machine that constructed the Holy Grail War. That machine was built to observe Earth and human history, evolving to that extent after many years of development. But in the current era, human civilization has just begun, and this machine only retains some observation records from the First and Second Divine Ages.

But it was originally a device of the same level as the yusei Ark, and it was more than enough to parse a damaged core of a starship.

“How long will this thing take to parse?” Hecate asked, watching the light rays continuously scanning the core.

“I don’t know, but it definitely won’t be something t

“Teacher, where are we going?”

Inside the bottomless tunnel, Ares followed the petite Hecate, treading carefully.

After Ares agreed to Hecate's terms, the Moon Goddess, without resting for a moment, immediately opened a portal and brought him to the stone temple within Tartarus.

Ares had been to this stone temple before. It contained only a statue of Hecate that she had sculpted herself to mislead others. In reality, the temple was her secret laboratory. Last time, Ares had also tested the black crystal, which called itself the “Multiverse Intelligent Navigation System,” there.

However, what Ares didn't know was that there was another secret beneath this stone temple. After they arrived at the stone temple, Hecate cast a spell on her statue, and then, beneath the statue, the entrance to the tunnel they were currently in appeared.

In this era, the Underworld and Hell are physically connected to the earth. The most typical example is Sumer; one only needs to dig a hole in the ground to fall into the Underworld. The Greek Pantheon is no different.

However, unlike the earliest and simplest Sumer, Hades in greek mythology is a bit more restrained. He obscured the Underworld, preventing the possibility of entering it by simply digging a deep pit from the surface. Nevertheless, some caves in Greece that lead underground can still directly reach the River Styx.

And further down from the Underworld is the bottomless Tartarus. Theoretically, this should be the lowest level of the small world partitioned by the restraining force for the Greek Pantheon. However, Ares and Hecate are currently at the bottom of Tartarus. The tunnel before them is bottomless, and it is unknown where it leads. The darkness within the tunnel is also peculiar; it can even obscure Ares's divine eyes after he cultivated Magnetic Field Rotation.

After Ares asked this question, Hecate did not answer, only telling him to keep following her.

The teacher and student continued downward for an unknown duration until a massive magic reaction finally appeared in Ares's perception. At that instant, the darkness before him vanished without a trace. He and Hecate had, at some point, arrived in an imaginary space.

The world stretched endlessly, with only countless straight blue lines extending to the horizon. Those were the spirit particles pulsating within this imaginary space. In front of Ares and Hecate was a massive blue cube, roughly a thousand meters in length, width, and height.

Those blue spirit particle lines extended from within this cube, spreading throughout the entire imaginary space. The broken core he had retrieved from the Starship was also there, lying directly beneath this large blue cube.

“I call this thing Tartarus,” Hecate told Ares. “During the Titan War, to avoid the conflict, I secretly used magic to sneak into the then-empty Tartarus. I found this thing in the deepest part of Tartarus’s darkness. Instinctively, I felt it was very important, so I hid it in the depths of Tartarus using imaginary space. To this day, I am probably the only god in the entire world who knows about this thing.”

After speaking, she even reached out and patted Ares's arm: “Disciple, don’t sell me out. If Zeus really knew I was hiding something like this, he might just eat me directly, like Metis.”

“If I sell you out, you’ll definitely sell me out too. Then we might both end up being sliced up by Zeus as a teacher and student meal,” Ares quipped, then looked at the blue cube and asked, “Teacher, what is this thing?”

“It is the core of Tartarus, or rather, it is Tartarus,” Hecate smiled. “Of course, just like the conceptual gods like ‘Uranus,’ ‘Chaos,’ and ‘Gaia,’ Tartarus is not something from our Greek Pantheon at all. I suspect it might be an observation device left behind by some advanced life form that once visited Earth in ancient times. I don’t have authorization for this thing, but after continuous research over the years, I have figured out some of its simple uses.”

“You want to use it to analyze that Starship cube, don't you?” Ares understood.

“Yes, I see they are both cubes, so they might be from the same origin. But analysis is possible, the problem is…” Hecate frowned, a troubled expression on her beautiful face. “I don’t have its authorization. I can only pile on magic to try and hack into its deepest core to gain its permission, but I failed. My power is not enough.”

“You can't get in, and you expect me to?” Ares thought for a moment. “Oh, or rather, you brought me here to use me as a power bank, to replenish your magic when you run low?”

“Neither,” Hecate shook her head. “After the last attempt, I realized that the core of this thing is not something we can enter right now. That light-year barrier, without analyzing its technology, is an infinite distance that cannot be broken through even after countless centuries. Moreover, there is an even sturdier eight-dimensional spirit particle barrier inside. Wasting more magic on it is meaningless.”

“Then why did you bring me here?” Ares asked. “I can't help you with this thing.”

“I just wanted you to try. Perhaps you don't even know it yourself, but shortly after you began your training, I helped you determine your ‘Origin’.”

Hecate said:

“Your Origin is extremely special, which is why I suggested you try. It might have an unexpected effect.”

“I see,” Ares suddenly understood. Although this setting seemed to have been discarded by the author of the previous world, according to previous works, Magic user families would determine the Origin of their offspring at birth. A person's Origin fundamentally determined the properties of their magic. For example, Matou Sakura's “Imaginary” allowed her to manipulate imaginary magic, and Shirou's “Sword” made him more adept at using projection magic to create swords.

Ares had been training for a long time, yet Hecate had never mentioned his Origin.

He had previously thought that divine-era magic didn't require understanding such things as Origins, as awakening one's Origin was also a bad thing. Although it could grant greater power, the personality would mostly be swallowed by the Origin. Someone like Shirou, he thought, would probably become a form where he “couldn't live without selling swords.”

But he didn't expect Hecate to suddenly bring it up today, saying it was because his Origin was too special.

Hearing Hecate's words, Ares still felt a little anticipation. After all, in his opinion, Origins like “Sword” and “Imaginary” were already powerful enough, but in Hecate's eyes, such Origins were probably only considered acceptable. He just didn't know what his Origin truly was.

So he decisively asked, “Teacher, what is my Origin?”

“You have no Origin,” Hecate replied. “Unlike the Origin of ‘Void,’ your Origin is directly nothingness, it is non-existence. It's as if you weren't born in this universe at all.”

Ares had already started planning to exploit Hermes the moment he learned he was going to meet him with Apollo.

Unlike opinionated gods such as Apollo and Artemis, this kid had firmly stood on Zeus's side from the very beginning. He was untrustworthy and unapproachable, and later he even served as Zeus's eyes and ears. For someone with many secrets like Ares, the weaker Hermes was, the better.

Actually, Ares had originally wanted to snatch Hermes's winged sandals, which he relied on for survival. Without those shoes, Hermes would be useless as a god. However, Zeus would never stand by and watch one of his sons take away another son's divine artifact. What he wanted was a balance among his children; if they mutually restrained each other, no one could threaten him. But if one son became too strong, that would be problematic.

However, snatching Hermes's Caduceus was still a pure gain for Ares. He remembered that this staff had the ability to induce sleep. Although it couldn't make Zeus, the King of Gods, fall into a deep slumber like Hypnos, the God of Sleep in greek mythology, this staff at least possessed the power to put Argos, the hundred-eyed giant, to sleep.

With this Caduceus, Ares gained a lot more room for maneuver in his future plans.

Apollo, who had also come to demand an explanation, also obtained a new musical instrument from Hermes. Evidently, this instrument, named the “lyre,” captivated Apollo, the God of Music. He even disregarded Ares's dissuasion and insisted on giving his brother two divine cattle, a male and a female.

Both Ares and Apollo were very satisfied with their gains from this trip. After returning from Argos, Apollo immediately took the lyre and went to study accompanying musical scores with his subordinate gods, the Muses.

Meanwhile, Ares created a burrowing marmot familiar, which carried Hermes's Caduceus all the way to Hecate's Tree Palace and handed the staff to her.

After carefully storing his “trophies” from this expedition, Ares threw his clone back onto the divine throne in the God of War Palace on Olympus, then continued to advance his plans by training those humans.

Several days later, one afternoon, as Ares's main body sat in the garden in front of Hecate's Tree Palace, deep in thought about a magical problem he had created for himself, a teleportation portal suddenly appeared. Then, a weary-looking Hecate slowly emerged from within it.

When she first stepped out of the portal, she was a tall, perfectly proportioned, beautiful woman with waist-length purple hair. After taking only two steps, she seemed to deflate, reverting back into the form of a small girl.

Seeing Hecate's sudden return, Ares blinked, then abruptly stood up and walked towards her.

“Teacher, you're back,” he said, pulling a smile, and asked Hecate, “Have you figured out what that giant magic cube is?”

“Not yet, my power alone isn't enough.” Hecate yawned and shook her head, “Let me recover first, then we can talk.”

“Oh.” Ares nodded. At this moment, Hecate peered towards the back of her Tree Palace, asking as she looked, “Where's my dog? Has he been eating well these past few days I was gone? Has he not torn anything of mine apart?”

She wanted to go to the doghouse in the back to check on Cerberus, but Ares subtly took a step across, using his height advantage to block Hecate's line of sight.

“Teacher, don't worry, that ungrateful dog has been eating and sleeping well these past few days, living a very healthy life.” He forced a smile, showing concern for Hecate, “You look very tired. You should rest quickly. Come, come, let me help you make your bed and cover you with a blanket, okay?”

With that, Ares pushed Hecate's back, trying to guide her into the Tree Palace, but the Moon Goddess forcefully stopped. She turned to look at Ares and asked,

“What's wrong with you? Did you do something in my house while I was away? You never show me such a disgusting smile normally.”

“W-what could I have done?” Ares said, shuffling his feet, glancing at the sky, and whistling.

“You definitely did something!” Hecate then turned and walked towards the backyard. “Move aside, let me go check back there!”

“Ah, wait a moment, Teacher.” Ares spread his arms, trying to stop Hecate. However, as he reached to embrace Hecate's waist, Hecate in front of him suddenly turned into an illusion, scattering like purple butterflies. Behind him, the Moon Goddess's figure had silently appeared without him noticing, and she was walking towards the backyard.

“Ah, never mind, it's not like I could really hide it from her anyway,” Ares thought to himself, looking at the purple butterflies filling the sky. “I still have a long way to go on the path of magic.”

Seeing him squatting in place as if giving up resistance, Hecate looked at him suspiciously, then went to the backyard and immediately saw the sight that made her gasp.

In the goddess's backyard, there were two groups of people. One group consisted entirely of robust men, each one of them. They were shirtless, practicing various martial arts under the command of an Ares clone, sweating profusely. Their sweat flowed over their glistening muscles, even reflecting the sunlight. From time to time, one-on-one wrestling and boxing training would break out among these strong men, with occasional sounds of flesh colliding and the excited panting of the men.

The other group wore black robes that covered their entire bodies, even obscuring their faces. They sat together in a circle around an Ares clone, who was also wearing a hooded robe. The group was muttering something in low voices. Although Hecate could tell from the occasional words they spoke that they were discussing magic, no matter how she looked at them, this group did not seem like good people.

The Moon Goddess silently observed the two groups, then glanced at her demonic hound, which was curled up in its doghouse, intimidated by the War God's might. Her blood pressure instantly shot up, reaching a certain threshold.

“A—res! Get over here!”

…

A moment later, inside the Tree Palace, Hecate sat barefoot on her hammock, legs crossed, arms folded, and chin raised, still looking somewhat angry at Ares.

And the War God, who was always arrogant and confrontational even in front of the twelve Olympian gods, now sat obediently cross-legged before the Moon Goddess, bowing his head in apology:

“Teacher, I was wrong.”

“So you do know you were wrong!” Hecate raised her voice, shaking her foot somewhat indignantly, and continued, “I am a goddess, after all. You brought so many humans here, to live on my territory, and they're all men! If you had to bring people, you should at least bring some women, right? What would Aunt Leto, Apollo, and Artemis think of me if they came here?”

Ares lowered his head and thought for a moment: “Praise Teacher for your great vitality?”

Slap!

As soon as he finished speaking, Hecate struck him on the head with a magic whip.

“Don't hit me, don't hit me, I know I was wrong.” Although the magic whip couldn't break his defense at all, Ares still had to surrender to Hecate for the sake of those humans. “I really couldn't find anywhere else to settle these people. They won't stay here forever, Teacher. Just let me borrow this precious place for a while, okay?”

“Ha.” Looking at Ares's attitude, like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Hecate sighed deeply. “Fine, ever since I took you as a disciple, my troubles haven't stopped. I knew I shouldn't have let you in… Are those humans outside the ones Prometheus asked you to hide for him?”

“No, he only asked me to help humanity when they faced a crisis of life and death.” Ares replied, “But I thought this way would be more efficient and allow me to gain an advantage in the coming era, so I did it.”

“Hmph, if you want to gain an advantage, that's fine.” Hecate stroked her chin, her eyes darting around, then she raised a finger and said, “You can continue to keep those humans, but you have to do me a favor.”

"Fi-fight?" Hermes asked, his mouth twitching. "Brother, we have no grudges, why would I fight with you?"

"Ah, I'm telling you, I'm not very smart, and I don't understand your twists and turns, but I know Apollo is the God of Prophecy, and if he says you stole his cattle, then it must be true." Ares shook his head. "Besides, we are all Zeus's son. Regardless of whether we have a feud, we can always communicate with our fists."

He grabbed Hermes's shoulder, not allowing the young god to use his speed to escape, then showed Hermes a sinister grin: "Before I came, I heard you invented an interesting sport here in Arcadia, it seems to be called... boxing? I'm very interested in it, why don't we two brothers practice now? If you can beat me, then this whole Apollo business will be over, alright?"

Hermes looked at Ares's strong, chiseled muscles, then at his own arms, thin as kindling, and quickly shook his head.

"Hmm? Don't want to fight me? Right, it would be too much bullying you to fight me." Ares turned his head, exchanged glances with Apollo, then smiled: "Then let the victim, Apollo, fight you. How about that, hmm?"

Hermes looked at Apollo again upon hearing this. The latter happened to brush his golden hair, more beautiful than a woman's, with his hand, revealing strong muscles beneath his sleeve that were as perfectly proportioned as a Greece sculpture. Hermes thought for a moment, then still shook his head desperately.

"Neither this nor that, then what do you want?" Ares grabbed him, then thought for a moment, revealing a look of surprise: "Could it be that you want to take on both of us by yourself?"

"I don't—" Hermes was interrupted by Ares before he could speak. The latter burst out laughing, patting his back as he laughed and said, "Oh, oh, I misjudged you. As expected of Zeus's son, to have such spirit! How about this, if you really want to take on two, then I'll decide for Apollo. Regardless of win or loss, we'll consider this matter settled!"

You want me to die—

Hermes's eyes widened in fright, and the observing Goddess Maia also anxiously rushed forward, pulling Ares's arm and shouting, "God of War, no!"

"Go away, Auntie, do you also want to box with us?" Ares slightly raised his arm and pushed Goddess Maia aside: "I don't hit women."

After pushing the Goddess of Wind and Rain away again, Ares simply pressed both hands on Hermes's shoulders, firmly gripping his body, and leaned down, saying, "Don't make us wait too long, I'm very impatient. If you're not quick about it, I'll lose my temper, and I won't be responsible for what happens then."

After he finished speaking, his fingers tightened, pinching Hermes painfully.

Feeling the creaking sound coming from his shoulders, Hermes quickly pleaded, "I surrender! I surrender!"

"So you admit you stole my cattle?" Apollo looked at him and sneered.

"I just thought it was fun..." Seeing Apollo's clenched fist, Hermes quickly shouted again, "I didn't touch your cattle except for sacrificing two to the gods! They're all safely in the cave where I was born!"

"Hermes." Zeus's voice sounded again. He said, "Quickly return the cattle to Apollo. Don't do this again next time."

After he finished speaking, Apollo, Ares, and Hermes and his mother all felt a powerful will disappear from the place. The King of Gods had already left.

"Little thief, hurry up and take me to get my cattle!" Apollo urged Hermes.

The Goddess of Wind and Rain, Maia, wanted to follow, but she was stopped by Ares. Intimidated by the God of War's fierce might, she dared not continue to follow and could only watch helplessly as her son was taken away by two fierce male gods.

Ultimately, this matter was originally Hermes's own mischief. Even Zeus had stated that Hermes should return the divine cattle, so Maia's further opposition would be useless and would only needlessly incur the displeasure of Ares and Apollo, the two main gods.

Under Hermes's guidance, Ares and Apollo each grabbed one of his arms, directly escorting him to a hidden cave at the foot of Mount Arcadia.

The entrance to this cave was very narrow, only allowing two people to pass side by side, but it was quite spacious inside, with a large open area. The more complex inner caves were even divided into areas such as a living room and bedrooms. Not long ago, when the Goddess of Wind and Rain, Maia, was being pursued everywhere by Hera for having an affair with Zeus, it was in this very cave that she secretly gave birth to Hermes.

Apollo's divine cattle were also here. Seeing his herd, the God of Light released Hermes and walked to the cattle to count them. He found that the number of divine cattle was indeed as Hermes had said: he hadn't touched any of them except for the two sacrificed to the gods.

Hermes himself was a deity, so there was no need to wonder who he sacrificed to. In the entire world, only the King of Gods, Zeus, was worthy of receiving sacrifices from another deity. This was why Zeus had appeared and spoken earlier, intending to make Apollo and Ares give up their revenge on Hermes and his mother, giving him, the old father, some face.

"You've seen the cattle, can I go now?"

Seeing Apollo finish counting the cattle, Hermes struggled slightly, looking eagerly at Ares, and asked.

"No, brother." Ares smiled, "This matter isn't over yet. You stole the cattle, and we'll pretend the sacrifice to the gods didn't happen, but you can't make us come all this way for nothing."

"Exactly." Apollo also walked over, nodding in agreement with Ares's words upon hearing them. "The amount isn't important, but you have to give some compensation, right?"

As they spoke, the two main gods, like two petty thugs, pressed the junior Hermes against the cave wall, holding him so he couldn't leave.

Hermes desperately cried out to his father in his heart, but Zeus completely ignored him. It seemed the King of Gods also approved of Ares's and Apollo's statement.

So, the God of Thieves could only sigh inwardly, then pulled out a tortoise shell from his embrace. This tortoise shell had strings on it, looking like a musical instrument.

"Oh?" Apollo's eyes lit up when he saw it, and he quickly asked, "What is this? A zither?"

"This is a musical instrument I invented, called a lyre. I made it from a tortoise shell and sheep intestines." Hermes looked at the tortoise shell in his hand, somewhat reluctantly, but still silently handed it to Apollo: "Can I offer this as an apology?"

"Yes." Apollo patted his shoulder, then took the lyre made from the tortoise shell and played a few simple notes with great fondness, his face full of joy.

Hermes hadn't even had time to breathe a sigh of relief when Ares's face suddenly appeared in front of him, asking anxiously, "What about mine? What about mine?"

"Uh, Brother, as for yours..." Hermes scratched his head in a bit of a dilemma, whispering, "I don't seem to have anything else on me..."

"How can that be?" Ares pointed to the winged shoes he was wearing on his feet, "I think these shoes of yours are pretty good."

"You can't have these!" Hermes bent down in a bit of fright, protecting his shoes: "These are my lifeblood!"

"Then you still have to show something," Ares said disappointedly.

Hermes thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers: "Then how about this?"

As he spoke, he reached out and suddenly summoned a golden staff. The head of this staff had a pair of wings, and two snakes were coiled around the staff.

"This magic staff was a toy my mother gave me." Hermes reluctantly handed the magic staff to Ares: "It has the magic to make people fall asleep. Do you think this will do?"

Ares snatched it, weighed the snake-coiled staff in his hand, then laughed, "Ha, it feels pretty good. I can use it to hit people later!"

After speaking, he released Hermes's shoulders and patted his head at the same time: "Good, kid, you're quite sensible. When you come to Olympus in the future, I'll look out for you!"

"What?" Upon hearing Apollo's words, Ares immediately switched his focus and said to him, "Someone dares to steal your cattle?"

The cattle of the God of Light, Apollo, were naturally not the kind Epimetheus molded from mud that were now running around on the ground, but rather divine cattle bestowed upon him by Zeus. There were fifty of these cattle in total, and every single one of them was full of treasures.

Apollo himself usually couldn't bear to slaughter these cattle for food. Only during special periods when the gods held large feasts to celebrate something would he occasionally butcher one or two, inviting everyone to taste them, and even then, it depended on whether the god hosting the banquet could earn Apollo's respect.

Even if Zeus wanted one or two of these divine cattle, he would first have to discuss it with his son. At this moment, Ares could only think of one deity in the entire world who would dare to be so audacious.

Indeed, after Ares finished asking, Apollo said with a furious expression, "The scoundrel who stole my cattle is a son born from Zeus's affair. This devil truly has the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard to dare lay hands on my cattle!"

"Zeus had another affair?" Ares thought for a moment. "Right, Hera has been breaking more things lately. Who is his affair with? A god? Or another race?"

"It's Maia, the goddess of rain and wind," Apollo replied. "I already know where Maia and her son are hiding. Let's go, come with me."

Ares thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "Alright, let's go!"

The son of Maia, the goddess of rain and wind, and Zeus, was Hermes, the future God of Commerce, Travelers, and Herdsmen, and the messenger of the gods, who would later become one of the twelve great gods of Olympus. However, this "brother," to Ares and Apollo, was merely someone who could run a bit fast; other aspects were not worth mentioning. Even if Ares stood before Hermes and let him strike freely, Hermes would not be able to break through the defense of the God of War's divine power avatar, even if he exhausted himself to death.

He was able to displace Hades or Hestia to become one of the twelve great gods of Olympus partly because his father was Zeus, and partly because he was extremely loyal to his father.

Unlike the group of double-crossers like Athena, Apollo, and Ares, Hermes genuinely offered all his loyalty to Zeus. He understood that unlike his siblings who possessed inherent strength, his ability to thrive on Olympus depended on his father. If Zeus were gone, Hermes would be nothing more than an annoying fly to Ares and the others.

Therefore, Ares and Apollo did not bring any weapons on this trip; they simply went with their hands in their pockets. The two main gods clearly did not take Hermes and Maia seriously at all.

Led by Apollo, Ares and he arrived at a mountain range called Arcadia. Deep within these high mountains, shrouded in thick mist, sat several temples, extremely difficult to detect. That was the residence of Maia, the goddess of rain and wind.

Apollo and Ares landed directly between these temples. Seeing the divine power emanating from the two, the mythical creatures serving there dared not stop them, only watching helplessly as the two gods entered their deity's sanctuary.

"Is anyone there?"

As soon as Apollo entered the temple, he began to call out.

"Coming."

Following Apollo's call, a moment later, a beautiful goddess emerged from the back of the temple, approached Apollo and Ares, and bowed slightly to them:

"It is the esteemed Apollo and Ares. Your Highnesses, is there something you need from me?"

"Goddess Maia," Apollo looked at the goddess, who exuded the aura of a married woman, and then asked, "I don't want to waste any more words. Let's get straight to the point: where is your son?"

A hint of panic flashed in Maia's eyes. She forced a smile and asked, "Why does the noble Apollo seek my son?"

"Alright, stop playing dumb, auntie," Ares stepped forward, interrupting Apollo, and said to Maia, "Apollo is the God of Prophecy. You shouldn't think of hiding something like this from him. Call your son out. For the sake of your entanglement with Zeus, we don't want to make a scene too ugly, otherwise..."

He clenched his fist at the goddess, making his knuckles crack loudly.

Before gods other than Hecate and Prometheus, Ares always remembered his mission, maintaining his image as a rude and unlikable character.

Goddess Maia looked at Ares's fist, which was as big as a casserole, and her eyes welled up with tears in fear. However, at that moment, her lover Zeus's voice suddenly echoed in her mind:

"Maia, it's alright. Go and bring our child out. Let him meet his two elder brothers."

Upon hearing this, Maia's face showed a helpless expression. Despite her myriad unwillingness, she could not defy Zeus, the King of the Gods. Therefore, after Ares finished his threat, Maia reluctantly turned back into her temple and brought out a young boy wearing a feathered hat, a short-sleeved tunic, and winged sandals.

This young boy, like Apollo and Ares, bore certain characteristics of Zeus. Perhaps because his mother was the goddess of rain and wind, who was more compatible with Zeus in terms of attributes, this young boy was also Zeus's most similar son to date. He had white hair and white eyes, but unlike Apollo and Ares, he was very thin and lacked divine power, seemingly not having inherited Zeus's strength and power.

Upon seeing Apollo and Ares, the young boy also appeared somewhat afraid, and the moment Apollo saw him, a furious expression appeared on his face.

"It's you, you little scoundrel!" He rushed forward, scaring Maia into quickly shielding her son behind her. "Give me back my cattle!"

Hermes, shielded in his mother's embrace, rolled his eyes, and a lie instantly came to his lips: "Divine cattle? I don't know anything about that."

He looked at Apollo with innocent big eyes and said, "Brother, how long have I been born? How could I possibly have the ability to run out and steal your divine cattle right under your nose?"

"You!" Apollo angrily clenched his fist, but after glancing at Maia, he suppressed his temper. Hermes's lie was clearly a deliberate attempt to shift the blame onto Apollo, saying things like "under your nose" and "I've only been born for a few days." If Apollo admitted it, it would mean that in front of Hermes, he couldn't even guard his own divine cattle, which would be even more humiliating.

However, Apollo had brought Ares along precisely to deal with such situations. So, upon hearing Hermes's words, Apollo gave Ares a look, and Ares, understanding, stepped forward.

With his strength, he pulled away Maia, who was trying to protect her son, then steadied the small, young god, who was a head shorter than him, by the shoulders, and looked down at him with a smile.

Hermes looked at Ares, his body somewhat stiff, but he suppressed his fear and forced a smile, asking Ares, "Big brother, I really haven't seen any divine cattle."

"No rush, no rush, that's not important," Ares said, patting his shoulder and laughing heartily. "We can talk about these things later. Come, let's have a fight first!"