Crash——
"Zeus, is that all you can do?"
"It seems that your level as a God King is only this level."
The chaotic void rumbled like water under the disturbance of power. Near the entrance of the abyss, Asmodeus looked at Zeus who was leaning against the gate.
It must be said that compared to a thousand years ago, Zeus is much stronger now. Maybe this is due to the fruit of the day, but no matter what, the power is real after all.
"Oh, running? If a being like you dares to step into the world, I can suppress you with a flip of my hand. The Lord of Hell is nothing but a coward!"
In the abyss, in the void outside the Wanyuan Plain, Zeus responded with a sneer.
The ten thousand feet of his true body surrounded the thunderbolt, and the huge world celestial sphere slowly rotated above his head. Who doesn't talk big? Although the opponent's power is strong, it is far from being beyond his ability to deal with.
The reason why Zeus retreated here was just to choose an environment that was more favorable to him. In front of the portal that connected the two worlds, the suppression of the interface was weakened by more than one level.
In the battle just now, apart from some mistakes made by Zeus at the beginning, he quickly recovered his form and quickly made up for some of the disadvantages.
After all, strictly speaking, what he said was not entirely false. The Abyss was not his home ground, and although it did not seem to be the other party's territory, since Zeus could tie with the self-proclaimed Lord of Hell here, it meant that if the battlefield was on earth, the other party would definitely not be his opponent.
Having put aside his biggest concern, Zeus felt relaxed and at the same time felt grateful for his own steadiness and caution.
Sure enough, his strategy of testing things little by little was correct.
If there were no golden apple to act as a buffer, and he had simply displayed his power to intimidate the gods, who knows how many obstacles would have emerged.
Things are much better now. He can completely follow the plan and expand the conflict little by little to consolidate his authority and increase his strength. By the way, he can also figure out who are the enemies he is facing and who are the helpers he can enlist.
This was just the beginning. He had to find a way to further understand the other party's background and see if there was anyone he could win over. Like now, since this being in Tartarus but rejected by the abyss showed hostility towards him, it meant that the native life here might be able to be won over by him.
It's hard to judge, but there's still a chance. Because some intuition tells Zeus that this place should have something to do with him... just like the inexplicable closeness he had to the abyss when he was not yet the King of Gods.
Looking back now, it was probably not an illusion.
Buzz——
"Backhand suppression? Then you can experience it first."
Although he was thinking in his mind, the fight between the two sides did not stop.
Along with the echo from the depths of the abyss, a dark halo swept across from the distance, and deep evil thoughts approached Zeus from all directions.
Looking around, there are threats everywhere. The only opening is behind Zeus.
But could he retreat? Of course not, and there was no need. The other party could do nothing to him, but it was not certain that Zeus could do the same. If he wanted to leave, he would win a move first, and the opportunity was right in front of him!
Zheng——
"Hahahahahaha… As expected, you don't understand the power of the Divine King at all. You actually dare to chase him here."
"Do you think I'm really afraid of you? Come and witness my power!"
There was an exit behind him. The Lord of the Nine Hells obviously wanted to force Zeus out of the abyss in a desperate situation. However, at this moment, Zeus' eyes shone brightly.
The abyss rejects the world, just as chaos rejects order, but in fact, there is one point that has always been overlooked by ordinary people, that is, the power of the God King is ultimately special.
The giants in the past could be imprisoned in the abyss by Uranus, even if the price was to undermine the kingship of the Father of Heaven, but this was still done. Perhaps because the God King was granted by the present world, it can often show supernatural powers that do not belong to the current level in some places.
So in fact, Zeus has always known that as long as he is willing to pay some price, he can actually mobilize stronger power here.
And at the entrance to the abyss, the price one pays is undoubtedly the smallest.
Then, accompanied by a loud laugh, the tricolor scepter belonging to the God King appeared in Zeus's hand. At this moment, his power instantly increased significantly.
One blow is better than a hundred. A king does not need to have the power to defeat everyone in the world. That is a foolish choice made by tyrants like Uranus. For real power, deterrence is the most cost-effective choice.
Whether it was to win over potential allies or to intimidate this ancient god who had secretly intervened in the human world during the Bronze Age, Zeus needed a true victory!
"Open!"
With a roar, the celestial sphere fell, falling towards the spreading black light. The Lord of the Nine Hells did not seem to expect Zeus to suddenly burst out with such power, and he subconsciously dodged backwards.
However, the clash of great divine powers cannot be smoothed over by a small distance in space. Unless the person is truly great and symbolizes the power of time and space, this distance is meaningless!
"Hahaha...what are you hiding from?"
The laughter spread under the power of the God King and echoed in the chaotic void. Zeus intended to attract the attention of more beings.
He could only achieve his goal by defeating his opponent in front of everyone and then retreating!
"...hiss..."
"Hmm? Who?"
The tide of battle turned, the situation was upside down, and Zeus gained the upper hand in an instant, ready to teach his enemy an indelible lesson.
However, the next moment, Zeus, who was originally rushing forward, suddenly changed his expression, and Asmodeus, who had just retreated to try to avoid it, reversed his previous retreat and faced his attack without hesitation.
Something seemed to emerge from the deep darkness that was originally empty. Zeus suddenly realized that he had more than one enemy.
Yes, there seemed to be a difference between Keto and the human's power, but he had previously thought that it was just the difference in the authority of a person. Who would have thought that the abyss that had always been used as a prison could actually produce two beings that could threaten him?
"Zeus, as I said, your tricks are too immature."
Facing the enemy head-on, the Lord of the Nine Hells' arms crackled under the weight of the huge falling sphere, but he faced the enemy head-on as if he didn't care.
"Zeus, you can't!"
······
boom...
At the junction of the underworld and the abyss, roars from shallow to deep continued to be heard, shaking the void.
The collision between simple substances is not enough to shake the world. This is the manifestation of the conflict of laws at the material level.
The continuous turbulence caused the entire underworld to sway from side to side, like a ship in a storm.
Of course, the underworld is a relatively complete interface anyway, and it will not cause any real damage. It just poses a great threat to the life in the underworld.
Fortunately, after the vibration continued for a while, the shaking was temporarily stopped when a powerful royal force flowed into the abyss along the channel.
This is the power from the God-King that comes from the order of this world, but it also stabilizes the time and space of the underworld.
After all, although the underworld, like the starry sky, already has some areas that are not covered by the laws of the world, its main body is still part of the Chaos order. Under the power of the God King, those originally unstable laws immediately returned to normal, as if the shaking just now was just an illusion.
The noise of the world disappeared, and the vast dust seemed to be quiet all of a sudden. Only the river of fire was still rolling, and the low-level undead wandering on the ground continued to wander unconsciously.
It seemed as if the disaster was over, but also as if it had just begun. The whole world was like the calm before the storm.
Boom...
…
A dull sound came from the entrance of the abyss again.
The creatures on the gray earth looked up at the sky blankly, but it was obvious that all this would not stop because of them.
Boom...
…
Boom——
…
Boom!
Then, three more noises came one after another.
The low noises became duller and louder. Behind the gate of the abyss, there seemed to be some terrifying existence knocking.
But the gate of Tartarus was so strong that it was not until the third time that this gate that isolated the chaos of the outside world finally seemed to be overwhelmed and collapsed under the onslaught of torrential rain.
Endless light shone from the edge of the underworld, even the underworld moon was briefly obscured. The next moment, a blazing sun seemed to shine over the underworld.
Boom—Boom!
Snap!
In an instant, the Milky Way turned upside down.
The sky of the underworld, which had remained the same for thousands of years, was surrounded by lightning, and a huge figure fell out from the portal of the abyss.
The true form that was revealed was even larger than the hundred-armed giants of the past, but for some reason, its lower body was empty.
"hiss--"
"Zeus, you can't!"
BANG——
The giant falls through the portal, but is followed by a giant shadow.
Time seemed to have lost its meaning. One second ago, the great changes had just begun, and the next second, it was as if a "wall" with no top appeared on all sides of the entire underworld.
At this moment, only a few gods with authority over the underworld could see this terrifying change from a higher perspective. A giant snake that was winding endlessly coiled around the underworld three times in an instant.
Its body was still in the abyss, but its huge head had already touched the giant's body.
"hiss..."
"Asmodeus is right. You are still far from it."
boom--
Great sounds are silent, and great images are invisible.
In the eyes of the creatures in the underworld, they could not see the giant snake. They could only see two rounds of light appearing next to the dark moon, and the sky suddenly fell.
The giant seemed to want to resist. He tried to support the sky with his remaining arms, but his old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet been generated. At least at this moment, he could only use one tenth or one twentyth of his strength.
So, like a mantis raising its arms to face the wheels, or like a mayfly trying to shake the earth, after only a moment's resistance, the giant fell under the pressure of the sky.
And the place where he fell... was naturally the center of the underworld.
…
"Go!"
"Zeus again! You—"
Almost bursting into a curse, in the Pluto's Palace, looking at the gods and demons colliding in the sky, Hades waved his sleeves without hesitation, taking advantage of the moment when the giant and the "sky" were in a stalemate to take all the people in the Garden of Truth, then mobilized the authority of the underworld and disappeared from the spot.
What did he say just now, unless a great power directly attacked his temple? It was not directly attacked, but Hades felt that if Zeus fell, the difference between that and direct attack should not be that big.
At this moment, Pluto has begun to doubt whether there is something wrong with the place he chose to build the temple. After all, Chaos's fate is real.
Maybe he should go to the human world and ask the three goddesses of fate on Mount Nyssa for a suitable location?
And to be honest, Hades didn't know whether he should say he was lucky or unlucky at this moment. Because it was not just the palace. Looking at Zeus' current situation, there was no doubt that his other "prophecy" had also come into effect.
"…"
Looking back, Hades, who had already fled thousands of miles away, continued to move away while looking at the location of the Garden of Truth.
Sure enough, the giant's figure was falling, and he did not block the falling sky at all. His breath was slightly choked, and Hades could not help but swear secretly in his heart.
"Next time, next time I will definitely build a temple that is connected to the origin of the underworld. By then, even if all the great powers in the world come here, they will not dare to destroy my temple at will!"
No matter how angry you are, you still have to run away.
Helplessly walking away, Hades' only consolation at the moment was probably that several of Zeus' legs were indeed broken.
Chapter 356 Lies
On the land of Hades, Hades' figure flashed quickly.
The sky seemed to tilt for a moment, causing the stars to fall to the earth. He was trying to get away from the center of the impact and try his best to mobilize his strength to stabilize the underworld.
That is to say, the sky of the underworld is not the real sky, and it does not need any tools to support the sky. Otherwise, the fall of Zeus would destroy more than just the Garden of Truth.
Whoosh——
The 'meteor' streaked across the air, and after only a brief pause, the 'celestial body' continued to droop.
Black flames wrapped around the outer edge of the 'meteor', and the fire of hell continued to burn on Zeus' body.
That is one of the symbols of hell. The divided Muspelheim brought fire to the Nine Hells, and the inherent darkness of the silver humans gave the fire a tendency. Together, they constituted the devil fire that belonged to hell. Of course, although the origin seemed to be not small, it did not mean that the fire had the ability to burn Zeus.
For Zeus, these flames burning on his body could not actually cause him any harm. In fact, the only thing they could prove was that he really had no time to care about anything else.
"Ugh—get up!"
Zeus raised his head with his hands, and his eyes flashing with lightning and fire met the huge snake pupils in the sky.
Only this big snake, as expected, although he had fallen into the trap just now, at least he had succeeded to a small extent.
The Lord of the Nine Hells, who had taken his attack head-on, was definitely not feeling well, and the fact that the other party did not pursue his victory was proof of that. Now, as long as he could block the attack of this terrifying monster, he still had a chance to save the situation...
Yes, a monster. In Zeus' eyes, the Serpent of Midgard was undoubtedly like the Giants and Typhon, an existence that did not belong to the divine system, and a demon that was not recognized by most gods.
"Uh... get up!"
He tried his best, and under Zeus's wide eyes, his falling speed did not seem to increase that fast.
When he left the abyss and returned to the real world, his strength increased at a very fast speed. If there was enough time, he would be fully capable of blocking this attack.
However, the next moment, Zeus realized in despair that he might not have that much time, because although his falling speed slowed down, the distance between the underworld and the earth was far smaller than that on the ground.
Before he could fully recover his strength, the earth was already within reach. Zeus even felt that his lower body was about to touch something hard and sharp, and the sharp feeling of the metal was so clear.
But this was probably an illusion. There were no enemies in the underworld, and he didn't sense the presence of other gods below him. Excluding the possibility that someone was holding a weapon and preparing to attack him, it couldn't be that the geology of the underworld had changed... huh?
As he fell uncontrollably, Zeus's expression suddenly changed. Pain continued to come from his body, flesh and metal collided with each other - when did the ground and palace of Hades become so hard? ? !
Swish!
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere.
Zeus, who was trying his best to fight against the giant snake, had no idea that he would be stabbed in the back again from below. The sharp edges of the Pluto Temple were like sharp blades, stabbing towards him fiercely under the influence of Zeus' own falling force.
The expression on his face twisted instantly. Under normal circumstances, although these buildings were strong, they could not do anything to Zeus's body; if he still had even a trace of strength left, his instinctive defense would not allow him to be hurt so easily; even if the owner of these palaces was not the Lord of the Underworld, and Hades did not mobilize his strength to stabilize the land of the underworld, then the greatest possibility for them would be that they would be blasted into a lower place in the collision and buried in the ruins by smoke and dust.
But in reality, Hades did not dare to let Zeus hit the ground of the underworld without any preparation. So standing in the distance, watching the trajectory of Zeus's fall, Hades only hesitated for a moment and continued to maintain the toughness of the ground.
Well, Zeus only suffered a little, and he came to the underworld without saying hello. In any case, this is much better than the underworld being hurt and him suffering the backlash.
So when the earth was strengthened by the power of the entire underworld, the originally continuous buildings were like ore sandwiched between iron felt and a forging hammer. They would either melt themselves or be broken by the two things that hammered them.
And the result this time... naturally, all three of them suffered injuries of varying degrees.
Boom!
The world was still for a moment, and then a huge tremor resounded through the void, echoing under the sky of the underworld along with the roar of the God King.
"Ah--H-DI-S??!"
One impact turned most of the Garden of Truth into a basin.
The originally endless complex of buildings had vanished into thin air, but Zeus, who had caused all this, was not having an easy time either.
Although gods can regenerate flesh and blood, it takes some time. At least Zeus, who was caught in an unexpected accident, had no time to rebuild the missing half of his body.
So at this moment, a large amount of specially cast divine metals were interspersed in his flesh and blood. These materials, which were close to the strength of divine weapons, were not so easily erased. But Zeus couldn't figure out why Hades spent so much money to build a palace. What was his purpose?
Could it be that Hades had a hidden prophetic ability and knew that he would be injured here today, so he deliberately built such a building? This joke is not funny at all!
Boom——
In the center of the huge basin, with another tremor, Zeus stood up from the ruins. The muscles in his bloody body squirmed, constantly expelling broken metal fragments.
The damned building had completely disappeared, and at this moment the God King looked up at the sky. He looked at the giant snake that had stopped attacking him since he fell, and his heart was filled with resentment and anger.
The opponent did not continue to attack because Zeus, who had left the abyss and returned to the world, was no longer so easy to deal with. The advantage of one move was enough, and continuing would only give him a chance to turn the tables.
Even Zeus himself could be sure that if the giant snake dared to continue to attack him, the order of the world would respond and begin to strengthen itself to restrict this enemy from outside the world.
But just as he had seen, the opponent withdrew in time, after an attack with almost absolute advantage, and Zeus, as the king of gods, had just forcibly used his royal power in Tartarus, and he could not violate the order again in a short period of time and start a fight in the world.
This was clearly his own plan - to retreat directly after winning a move in the abyss. But now, the lives in the abyss may have seen his "heroic figure" in repelling the Lord of Hell, but the process of him being knocked to the ground was also seen by the lives in the underworld.
In fact, it was not just the underworld. At least the primitive gods that covered the underworld were definitely watching all of this.
"This snake...and Hades!"
Unexpected things happened one after another, and this damn feudal system. If the underworld was under his direct control, then once he left the abyss, he could instantly mobilize the power of the entire underworld to bless himself, so how could he be beaten into the ground by the other party in such a miserable way.
But things have come to this point, and there is no way to change it... The aura rose from his body, spreading out in an almost provocative manner, but the giant snake in the sky did not react at all. It was like he was watching a clown performance, his unknown length of body twisting and turning.
"call--"
Zeus exhaled slowly. The opponent would not continue to fight with him according to his idea. At the portal of the abyss, the breath of the previous opponent was faintly revealed.
Although he didn't know why he didn't stand up together, at this moment, Zeus could only suffer this loss.
"Who are you and why did you attack me?"
With a gleam in his eyes, Zeus asked loudly.
He was expecting a response from the other party, be it "all's fair in war" or even directly mocking him for not noticing it in time, he could accept any of that.
However, high in the sky, the humanized head of the giant snake seemed to smile, and a hint of malice flashed across its body.
"Sneak attack, God King of the present world, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"Have you forgotten that just now, I almost beat you to death by myself - oh, I almost forgot.
"The living gods... have to maintain their dignity, right?"
"shut up!"
A faint voice echoed in the sky, and Zeus' vision almost went dark.
It was obviously he who tampered with the truth. When did even these monsters who were not gods learn to lie?
However, when Zeus looked around, he found it embarrassing that it seemed that no one could prove what happened in the abyss.
······
The Sea of Pontonoris, below the deep trench.
There was no difference from his previous position. Contrary to what many people thought, when Erebus noticed the changes in the abyss, he did not rush forward to get involved.
On the contrary, he was just watching from the perspective of his own field. Of course, he also opened a "live broadcast" for Pontos beside him.
After all, unlike on earth, what happens on earth will most likely be transmitted to the underworld, because every corner of the earth can lead to the portal to the underworld, but the reverse is not necessarily true. This is also brought about by its unique space-time structure.
In addition to being a "spectator", faced with such a practical example, Erebus decisively played the role of "commentator".
But his 'explanation'...is obviously a bit unfair.
"Look, Pontus, as I said before, once Uranus wakes up, Zeus may not be able to protect your safety at all, so there is no point in relying on him."
"You are also a god who has lived through three eras. You have witnessed the clashes between great divine powers more than once. You should know that as beings in the same field, there is a huge gap between us, just like the huge gap between you and those true gods with weak divine powers."
He spoke with a smile, listening to the conversation coming from the giant snake in the image in front of him. Although Erebus thought in his heart that the other party was completely making up stories, he still provided evidence as the original god at this moment.
"Who is Zeus and what are his achievements?"
"At the end of the Second Age, when he stood in front of Kronos, he dared not even utter a sound, and could only hide behind Gaia and tremble. Later, he became great with the help of the throne of the God King, but his performance was far inferior to that of his grandfather and father. The results of their respective battles with Gaia are proof of this."
"Uranus's strength was greatly weakened, but he was still able to suppress Gaia and the twelve Titans. When Kronos was at his peak, he could subdue Gaia and capture the sun with just one hand. And what about Zeus? He could only win by relying on the opponent to make mistakes. Even so, he fought for three days and three nights before making the Earth Mother retreat."
"…Maybe, but what about Typhon?"
It was well-reasoned and convincing, but although Pontos felt that what Erebus said made sense, he still asked again.
After all, he was not very clear about the difference in power between the great gods, and there was no other standard of measurement except for battle records.
"Typhon, why? Its last battle with Zeus took place near the sea. Pontus, don't tell me you don't know what's going on."
With a faint smile, Erebus showed no mercy:
"If conspiracy and trickery can be considered strength, then do you think Zeus has a chance to give Uranus a 'one-day fruit'? He is a tyrant, not a madman. Without the help of external objects, how can he fight against his father who is far more powerful than himself?"
"Pontos, the current situation is a clear proof. Any great god who pops up from nowhere can beat Zeus like this. At best, he is an ally of the sea gods in the future to fight against the Father God, not a king. Moreover, in the face of this situation, Zeus, as the king of gods, not only does not face up to the gap, but he immediately tries to use his traditional skills to confuse right and wrong, trying to describe his failure as 'carelessness' and 'sneak attack' like Typhon did."
"Then the question is, Pontus, do you believe what he says?"
"...Of course I don't believe it. This is not the first time he has done such superficial work. Your Highness Erebus, you are right. Zeus is indeed unable to protect the lineage of Poseidon in front of Uranus."
After a moment's silence, considering that the other party had a criminal record, Pontos decided to trust the big snake and the Lord of Darkness.
After all, everyone knows that they are monsters. How can these lunatics tell lies? Therefore, what He said could not be a lie.
Chapter 357 Glory
Deep in the trench, Pontos finally agreed with this statement.
However, what really made the original sea god determined in his idea could not be because of Zeus' previous behavior of tampering with history and reversing the truth, nor could it be the ridiculous reason of believing that the giant snake from the abyss must be very honest.
This is just something to joke about, but if we really want to make a judgment, we obviously need more actual evidence.
For Pontus, the direct reason for his judgment was undoubtedly Zeus's own character and his desire for power.
Needless to say, the struggle between the sea gods throughout the Second Era was nothing more than to unify the sea and break through the upper limit of the power of the true gods.
His so-called seclusion from the world was actually because he was frightened by the sun bathing in the sea and felt that his possibility of defeating the Ocean God was very low, rather than that he had truly seen through the world.
As for the former... this is Zeus' consistent style.
Although there is no word "politics" in Chaos today, words with similar meanings still exist. At least in Pontus's view, Zeus is undoubtedly a being whose thinking is more inclined to political thinking rather than divine thinking. He is also a rare outlier among the innate gods.
Just as he had judged Zeus before, if the original sea gods were willing to obey the Divine Court, then the King of Gods would definitely forgive them for their past mistakes.
But on the other hand, if he chose to abandon Zeus and completely break away from the gods to establish his own lineage, what kind of reaction would Zeus give?
"A wise choice, Pontus. Zeus is such a man. Even if you set up your own business, he will definitely weigh the pros and cons and make the most 'appropriate' decision when the day comes."
Nodding slightly, Erebus felt more at ease when he saw that Pontus had finally given in.
Even though he holds the card of Uranus, if Pontus is determined to give up everything and refuses to cooperate with him even if he wants to sleep forever, then Erebus really has no choice.
After all, he is not the God of the Sea. In the world of the innate gods, violence cannot solve all problems. Fortunately, the other party has figured out the key points, so the rest of the things will be much easier.
"Now, let's talk about what happens next. Zeus probably won't stay in the underworld for too long. When he comes back, it will be time for me to leave."
"Let's get back to the point. If you want to gain more powerful strength, you are probably destined to put aside your past grudges with your old friend and get together with him."
"...good."
Pontos nodded in agreement and had no objection to this.
Unifying the sea is the most direct way for the God of the Sea to increase his power, but before, both he and the God of the Ocean wanted to achieve the unification by themselves.
But now they are probably going to have to take a step back. After all, facing the impending threat, if they don't want to pin all their hopes on Zeus, they will have to start over.
Although Zeus is a person who will give in for his goals, the prerequisite is that you must have the capital to make him give in.
For him, the only thing that can bring him benefits but not threats is the wheat in the fields. After harvesting one year, there will be wheat next year. Just like the goddess of agriculture, Zeus never considers what she thinks.
And those who can bring threats to him but cannot bring any benefits at all are the demon kings like Typhon, who are the existence that destroys the stability and peace of the current world. Zeus will only bring all the gods in the pantheon to try to destroy you. If he cannot defeat you, he will reject you. There will be no other option.
Only the third type of gods would really make him put a lot of effort to win them over, that is, those who could bring benefits and pose enough threat to Zeus.
When the Father of Heaven awakened, he and Zeus automatically had common interests, so as long as he made himself threatening enough, the crisis from Zeus would collapse on its own.
If it were Poseidon, he might get so angry that both he and the traitor would suffer losses, but Zeus is not that kind of person.
"You have convinced me, Your Highness Erebus... But before that, I still hope you can understand."
Pontos said in a deep voice as he looked at the Dark Lord's arm holding the warm ball of light.
"I don't know about others, but at least I will never accept a result where Oceanus gets the most benefit. Otherwise, what was the purpose of my struggle for the past era?"
"...Oh, of course, I will."
The Dark Lord spoke calmly, not caring about Pontos' words.
Let them make trouble if they want to, but it would be best if they continued to make trouble after the war that he predicted would end the Third Age was over.
········
The underworld.
On the vast site of the Garden of Truth, after being freed from combat, Zeus' body finally gradually recovered its integrity.
But compared to the recovery of his physical injuries, his mental trauma was far from recovered.
The giant shadow in the sky disappeared at some point, but the traces it left behind remain.
The edge of the underworld seemed to have an extra layer of wall that was so high that the top was invisible. The breath left by the powerful life made any foreign objects instinctively unwilling to approach.
But this is not the reason why Zeus is in a bad mood. In fact, the person who really makes him put on a smile is not someone else, but his own brother.
"Hades, you're here. I didn't seem to see you much just now... As the King of Hell, is your palace usually empty?"
He forced a smile, but Zeus couldn't help but secretly express his dissatisfaction.
However, Hades, who hurried back to the old site of the temple, had a blank expression on his face. He looked cold and indifferent, which was no different from the stereotype of him that the gods had had in the past.
"Zeus, the Temple of Hades is usually occupied by people, but after the gatekeeper of the underworld reported your whereabouts to me, no one is here anymore."
"After all, you are here to track down the enemy, and I don't have much confidence in you."
Hades spoke calmly, his words blunt and merciless.
"...Hey, Hades, my brother, you didn't believe the monster's lies, did you?"
"As you can see, it didn't dare to attack me again. The initial failure was just an accident..."
"So, Your Majesty, I don't care which of you is telling the truth, but what are you going to do about the destruction of my palace?"
"…"
He was speechless for a moment, and Zeus' cheeks twitched a little.
If possible, he would naturally want to say something like "Then I'll build another one for you", but just as he was about to say it, he suddenly found that he didn't seem to have the ability to do so.
Well, that's right. After all, Hades was so cruel that he actually used divine materials to build such a large temple.
You know, with this amount of material, even Hades, who holds the corresponding authority, would probably have spent at least hundreds of years collecting the material, and as for Zeus... So it's not a question of whether it's precious or not, but that the God's Court simply doesn't have that much in reserve.
After all, for normal use, no god would need so many materials. If there was no demand, there would be no storage.
And thinking of this, Zeus's face couldn't help but turn black. He felt waves of phantom pain coming from his body, and he still couldn't figure out why Hades chose to do this.
"...Let's put aside the matter of your palace. My brother, can you answer a question of mine first?" Zeus took a deep breath and asked as calmly as possible: "Why did you build such a palace? I mean, it is not necessary at all."
"No, it is necessary. It has collapsed three times before, and twice it was related to you, and now it is the fourth time."
"So it turns out that not only was it necessary for me to do this, but I also didn't do enough. After all, no one would have thought that this time it would be destroyed by you personally."
Speaking quietly, Hades looked at Zeus and then continued to ask soul-searching questions.
"So, Your Majesty, the King of Olympus, how are you going to compensate me for the loss you made by entering the underworld without prior notice and then destroying my property? Since you didn't do it on purpose, my request is not high. You just need to build me a new one exactly as it is."
"…"
Speechless again, Zeus suddenly remembered what happened in the 'previous two' destructions, and it was indeed related to him.
At this moment, Zeus felt that he should not have come to the underworld, because all that awaited him here were troubles... Fortunately, although the situation was a bit awkward for a moment, he immediately thought of a way to temporarily solve the problem.
"Ahem, Hades, listen to me. I deeply sympathize with your experience, but you can see that every disaster before was not caused by me, but by someone who wanted to challenge my authority."
"Well, the banquet on the ground is still going on. Before I left, the gods were already at loggerheads. I need to go back and stabilize the situation first. As for your palace..."
After a moment's silence, Zeus made a promise.
"Once the new palace is built, I will bless it with the authority of the God King, giving it indestructible power. And just like the seal that once imprisoned the giants in the abyss, this blessing will exist with the power of the God King. It will never be destroyed, and even if it is damaged by a force that exceeds the limit, it can be restored to its original state."
"What do you think of this approach?"
Hades was slightly stunned when he heard this. In fact, he didn't expect Zeus to build a new one for him. After all, most of the minerals in the world were under his jurisdiction, and he knew very well whether the other party had the ability to do so.
But he thought the new compensation plan proposed by Zeus was not bad.
Indeed, he had not thought enough before. If he simply connected the palace with the power of the underworld, it might not necessarily be indestructible forever. But if he could add an insurance from the authority of the God-King, it should be foolproof.
After all, there is no shortage of crazy gods in this world, such as Gaia. She dares to collide with even the pillars of heaven, so she doesn't care about the underworld. But Hades has never heard of anyone who can destroy the authority of the God King.
The throne of the God King lasts as long as the world. Just as the gods will never die, the authority of the God King will never be in question.
"Okay, I agree, but remember to send the Cyclops over, as well as Hephaestus. I'll send you a message when the new palace is built."
His tone softened a lot, and Hades accepted the compensation.
Double-layered protection.
This time, there will definitely be no problems with his fifth-generation temple.
…
The affairs of the underworld finally came to an end, and Zeus tried to unify with Hades about his failure.
But unfortunately, Hades said that there are not many gods in the underworld, but infinite mortal creatures, and the primordial god and the goddess of the underworld are watching, so it is not as easy to handle as things on the ground.
And like the case of Typhon, no matter what, Zeus won in the end, so if you win, it's easy to explain it. But Zeus obviously didn't win in the short fight not long ago, so any explanation would only have the opposite effect.
"Then let's exaggerate its evilness and let the gods know that no matter how strong this monster is, it must be evil enough to not coexist with the gods."
Making the decision silently was the only solution Zeus could think of.
After crossing the Styx Acheron, the God King decided to return to the human world. But at this moment, he suddenly looked back.
In the underworld... not in the abyss, some intuition told him that something closely related to him seemed to be happening there.
What was that? Zeus was somewhat puzzled. This was not the first time that he had this special feeling about the abyss.
However, at this moment he was well aware of the danger there. No matter what, he would not go there until he was absolutely sure.
"…It seems I have to think of other ways."
"This intuition of fate... No, I still need to understand it."
I can't get in, and the gods who have gone in may not be able to come back. So what kind of existence can go in and has the ability to avoid being killed by ordinary native creatures and not be targeted by the two beings of hell?
"Humans, like Perseus in the past, hold the artifacts of the gods and help them solve their problems."
"I remember that I seemed to have left a child like this in the human world a few years ago?"
It seemed to be the case, Zeus remembered, and the child accidentally had some relationship with Hera.
It is said that before recognizing the child's true identity, Hera gave him a name... I think it was called "Hera's Glory"?
Chapter 358 Omen
There are always many legends about the Son of Zeus in the world.
After all, in the past thousand years, no one except Zeus himself knew how many offspring he had left behind.
Among these beings with the blood of the King of Gods, there are mortals, demigods, and true gods. Although most of them eventually became known to the world with the passage of time, there are still two children who, for various reasons, have not left a name in the world to this day, and almost no one has even heard of their existence.
The first one was a natural god, he was the offspring of Zeus hundreds of years ago, the founder and builder of Thebes, and the grandson of Cadmus. This prince who made contributions in the Typhon Rebellion had more than one child with the goddess of harmony, Harmonia, and Semele was the most beautiful one among them.
Then, in an unexpected (?) encounter, the young princess ran into the god king who was incarnated as a mortal at the time. Zeus, who called himself Cronides (son of Cronus), easily captured the princess' heart with his superb skills, and soon gave birth to a bloodline with her.
However, according to past experience, the fate of women who get involved with Zeus, unless they are gods, is often the same: either they die or live in pain.
So this time is no exception. Wherever Zeus cheats, Hera will follow.
When the Queen of Heaven learned about Semele and her child, she was naturally furious. She immediately transformed herself into an old woman to meet the pregnant Semele and began her daily persecution of mistresses.
She first inadvertently led the princess to mention her husband who was away all year round, and then questioned Semele when he was showing off. She claimed that the man could not be Zeus, the king of gods, and everything was just Semele's grandstanding, or even she was deceived.
The princess was naturally furious when she heard this, but she was also somewhat confused and uneasy in her heart. After all, Zeus had never shown the deity's deity before, so was he really the king of gods?
The young princess decided immediately that she would ask Zeus to reveal his true form the next time they met - the divine form that embodied the power of the king of gods. Coincidentally, on the day of their next meeting, Zeus promised the princess that in order to compensate for his long absence, he would agree to a reasonable request from Semele.
The subsequent story is very logical. The ignorant mortal princess and her palace were reduced to ashes in the thunder and fire. The true god no longer had a non-god mother. Only the immortal god, her son with Zeus, survived by chance.
Well... the world does not know what the story behind this is. No one knows how this unborn god in his mother's womb continues to grow.
In short, there is no record of the deeds of the son of the God King who was born a god. Considering that there were no gods born in the Third Age, many gods on Mount Olympus doubted whether this god named Dionysus actually existed.
However, as the son of Zeus, he still has a little presence.
Dionysus was the first, and the second unknown son of Zeus was this 'Glory of Hera'.
If the former was unknown, it was because under the influence of some force no relevant news was circulated among the people. As for the latter, it was simply because he was too young.
He was still far from adulthood, and even his name was only acquired recently because of Hera's existence. But since Zeus would think of him at this time, it was not without reason.
"Hera's glory... he should be called 'Hercules'. Haha, he was able to strangle the serpent sent by Hera right after he was born. With such an outstanding talent, no matter how bad he is in the future, he will not be worse than the King of Athens."
"The son of the God King, who accidentally drank Hera's milk and killed a snake-like monster shortly after birth, is truly the guidance of fate. I originally wanted you to be the king of Mycenae and the leader of my many bloodlines in the world, but now it seems that you may be able to do more for me."
This was a matter of killing several birds with one stone. After all, before the birth of this child, the strange fluctuations of the world's power had not yet occurred, so Zeus wanted to give birth to such a child, so that he could gather his descendants of gods in the world, strengthen the connection between royal power and humans, and even turn his name Zeus into a symbol in human civilization.
But plans cannot keep up with changes, and now he doesn't want his offspring to rule the world.
The great war in the mortal world is imminent, and the gods themselves should be allowed to participate in it. In this case, this gifted child naturally has more value in existence.
"Yes, that's it."
After passing through the gate of the underworld, as his thoughts changed, Zeus suddenly realized that he might really need such a capable offspring in the human world.
Maybe many of his things can be accomplished with his help, such as restoring his image in the underworld, or dealing with an ancient god who has supported the sky for half an era, to see if he has any intention of repenting.
"But don't worry. It's still hard to say whether he can grow to the level I need. And before that, I need to make some preparations..."
Anyway, it won't happen in a day or two, so it doesn't matter if you wait a little longer. A few years or even a dozen years is nothing to God.
When he grows up, I will test his abilities a little bit and finally decide whether to entrust him with an important task and let him go into the abyss to complete his mission.
After all, other places were easy to deal with. Even if there was a problem, he could make up for it in time. Perseus used to use the artifacts of the gods to cheat all the way. But Tartarus was beyond his control.
Once you enter, don't expect outsiders to help you. Zeus doesn't care much about whether a child is dead or alive now, but if he messes up in the future, it will be a difficult problem to solve.
······
The human world, Acropolis.
Zeus' journey to the underworld was temporarily declared over, and in the meeting place of the Acropolis, Gaia, who was not present but was repeatedly mentioned, finally looked at the masterpiece in front of her with satisfaction.
At this moment, the crowd in the venue built along the mountain was a little confused, because although the brief confrontation in the underworld not long ago did not completely affect the ground, it still left some traces.
A minor earthquake is not a big deal on the plains, but it is a big disaster for a city built on the hills.
"Huh - not bad, it looks like you succeeded... Pandora, right? How is it? How do you feel? Or to be more specific, how do you feel about it now?"
In a corner of the platform, a woman in her forties looked expectantly at Pandora in front of her.
Just now, when the earth shook for a moment, Gaia could clearly feel that these divine fragments that originally symbolized the power of "matter destruction" suddenly flashed with light.
The original will of Perses suddenly became a little clearer, briefly curbing the chaos in the fragments; at the same time, because of the earthquake, the people of the entire Acropolis felt panic in an instant.
Many of them began to pray for the protection of the gods, hoping that this was not a large-scale natural disaster. In the process of praying, many people mentioned the phrase "asking the gods to drive away the witch of disaster."
In this situation, Pandora's spirit seemed to be boosted. When she touched the fragment of divinity, she seemed to have the ability to connect with the power of faith to a certain extent. Although this is not as good as the gods, there is always a difference between having and not having.
So her originally collapsing spirit stabilized instantly, and as expected, she successfully contained this fragment of divinity.
Slowly opening her eyes, in Pandora's eyes, the world seemed to change.
Things that were originally blurry became clear, and many things that she could not touch in the past became tangible.
And the most important thing is that after so many years, Pandora has mastered the power beyond the mortal world for the first time.
The power of destruction flowed through her, and she was now a bona fide demigod in every sense of the word—not in terms of race, but in terms of sheer power.
You know, although she lived for a long time in the past, in order to prevent her from having the ability to rebel against him in the human world, Epimetheus never allowed her to access truly powerful supernatural knowledge.
So until today, she had never mastered true power. But now, everything is different.
"Yes, I succeeded, I survived..."
With her palms clenched, Pandora, who had just completed the promotion, felt as if she could tear the sky and the earth apart and possess the power to destroy everything. However, soon, reason overwhelmed this sense of expansion.
There was no way she could be a match for Gaia, and she might not even be able to defeat Epimetheus now.
The fragment of divinity she contained was not the largest one, so Pandora took a deep breath, suppressed the thoughts in her mind, and turned to look in the direction Gaia indicated.
There, countless points of light were still twinkling, but it was obvious that Gaia was referring to the largest one.
That was the core of the power of Perseus, the god of material destruction. Whoever controlled it controlled the supreme divine power.
Pandora had no feelings towards it before, but now, perhaps because of the fusion of the fragments of divinity, an inexplicable connection was born between the two.
"I feel like I can influence it, but only a little. It can also influence me, and a big part of it. But..."
After hesitating for a moment, Pandora continued:
"It seemed to sense that a destruction had just occurred beneath the ground beneath its feet."
"Yes, I understand. Being able to communicate normally and not showing any signs of being seriously affected mentally... Pandora, you are performing much better than I thought."
Without paying attention to the latter sentence, Gaia naturally knew what had just happened in the underworld.
She was naturally happy that Zeus was injured, but the state of Pandora in front of her made her even more excited.
"It seems that my guess was correct. Fate is indeed favoring you. If it weren't for this sudden disaster, you probably wouldn't have been able to complete this step so easily. It would also be difficult to know what to do next to increase your chances of successfully fusing higher-level divine fragments."
"But now it's different... The destruction of matter can actually stimulate the consciousness in the fragments and reduce the chaos; and if life connects this disaster with itself, it can stimulate your spirit and anchor your state... This looks a bit like an alternative 'ritual'."
"Pandora, from this perspective, you have set a precedent for future lives in the world that will fuse fragments of divinity."
The voice softened, and Gaia gently stroked the ordinary-looking pottery jar.
This is the power of fate... Although she doesn't know whether this is fate or not, since the result is good, she will just take it as it is.
"Now that I succeeded, can I leave?"
Although the most critical step has passed, Pandora's mind is still constantly impacted by the spiritual realm.
The destruction of all things, the shattering of rocks, the change of course of rivers, everything in the world related to [Material Destruction] has been impacting her will for tens of millions of years, but not as fiercely and crazily as when she just merged.
She just wanted to rest and get away from the ancient god, but Gaia had no intention of letting her go.
"You can't leave yet, Pandora. I didn't come to you just to get you to fuse a fragment of divinity."
"This is just the beginning, and there is still a lot to do."
"I see."
Pandora lowered her head slightly, and as the information brought by the fragment of divinity surged in her mind, a desire for destruction rose in her heart.
But she endured it because she didn't have the ability to resist.
However, as she lowered her head, the witch who brought disaster and curse glanced at the brightest star among the millions of stars, which was also the core of the power of [Material Destruction].
She told Gaia about her feelings, saying that she sensed the destruction of the underground, but in fact, she didn't tell the whole story.
Because this authority seems to be able to sense not only the destruction of the past, but also the destruction of the future.
And that other destruction that she didn't mention... seemed to happen not long after, in a corner of the human world.
"That direction, as I recall, was... a small country that was subject to Athens."
The impression had long been blurred, and Pandora just kept it in mind.
The reason she concealed this matter was not because she thought the destruction would affect Gaia.
She just wanted to know how much control Gaia had over her, these fragments of divinity, and even the power of destruction.
If there isn't much... the power that tries to destroy all matter in the world is flowing through the body.
Spirits, as long as they are close enough, will always influence each other. No one knows what this witch, who has been a tool for creating disasters since her birth, is thinking at this moment.