[3rd POV]
On the edge of the God of War's Temple on Mount Olympus…
After being granted the title of God of War by the new King of the Gods, Zeus, Ares, the son of Zeus, sat there in a daze, staring blankly at the endless sea of clouds before him.
Ares' eyes were fixed on the endless sea of clouds before him, lost in thought.
The lesser gods and nymphs who served him inside the Temple of God of War watched anxiously.
They were worried that this fierce and violent god might decide to start a few wars just for amusement.
After all, Ares had been born long before Zeus led the gods of Olympus to defeat Kronos and his followers on Mount Olympus.
In that era, the God of War's bloodlust, aggressiveness, and brutality had spread across the battlefields of the divine war, striking fear into the hearts of all.
However, at this moment, Ares seemed to be thinking about something else. He held a black crystal pendant in his hand, gripping it tightly.
In fact, even though his body was still Ares, the God of War, his memories had changed.
Somehow, Taro's soul merged with another soul from a completely different world, and now that Taro had fully taken over.
There are two memories mixed together in his mind.
One was the life of Ares, the son of Zeus, fighting in the great war against the Titans, covered in blood, riding into battle with swords and armor. The other was Taro, an ordinary human living on Earth who was just going through normal, everyday life.
After staring blankly at the clouds for a long time, the chaos in his mind settled, and Ares could think clearly again.
Lowering his gaze, the handsome god with long red hair covered his face with one hand and muttered in disbelief:
"I just went for a damn sauna… and now I've become Ares from Greek mythology?!"
As the two sets of memories and consciousnesses merged into one, the newly reborn Ares, the God of War, slowly began to understand his situation.
Not long ago, Taro had been enjoying a sauna session at a public bathhouse, and steam rose everywhere… and then everything went black.
When Taro regained consciousness, he found himself in this world and transmigrated into Ares, the God of War.
The violent and bloody memories now flooding his mind undoubtedly belonged to the original Ares, the one who was born in this world and fought in the Titanomachy.
Ares looked away from the clouds and lowered his head, staring at the black crystal pendant in his hand.
It was a simple pendant he had casually bought from a flea market back in his original world.
He had only bought it because his friends liked wearing accessories like crosses or rings and figured, "Why not get one for myself?"
Now, after traveling through time and space, this black pendant had come with him.
It didn't take long to realize that this mysterious object was most likely the cause of his transmigration.
'But seriously… why did I have to become Ares?!'
With a deep sigh, Ares stood up from the edge of the temple. He could feel an incredible power inside him, like molten lava flowing through his entire body.
As the God of War, Ares had incredible powers. He could grow to the size of a Titan, summon giant flaming weapons like swords, shields, and spears at any time, and even set entire civilizations ablaze in war.
Despite feeling this overwhelming power surging inside him, Ares felt no excitement.
That's because he already knew exactly what kind of god Ares was.
He was the god of war, battle, courage, civil order, and chaos. He represented violence, bloodshed, and the horrors of war.
In the future, he would become the patron god of the Thracians and Spartans.
Despite being among the most powerful gods on Olympus, Ares was also the most embarrassing on Mount Olympus.
Even though Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, Zeus always doubted that he wasn't actually his child. He believed him to be the result of Hera's infidelity simply because Ares' older brother, Hephaestus, was born weak and ugly.
Therefore, Zeus found it hard to believe that Hera could suddenly give birth to a powerful, handsome God of War like Ares.
Because of this, Zeus never truly favored Ares.
Throughout his life, Ares faced one humiliation after another. First, his half-sister Athena stripped him of part of his authority over warfare and victory.
Then, he suffered countless defeats by just about everyone.
He had been beaten by his own father, Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, and, of course, Athena.
Moreover, Ares had an affair with his sister-in-law and was caught by Hephaestus. Hephaestus was furious and trapped Ares and Aphrodite in a golden net, dragging them in front of all the gods and humiliating them completely.
Even during the Trojan War, Athena helped a mere human, Diomedes, manage to wound Ares.
Except for the Spartans, who worshiped him, even human playwrights called him a "god without honor."
To end up as a main god yet be treated like this? In fact, from Ares' modern perspective, being a god with this kind of reputation was so embarrassing that he'd rather just disappear.
'I need to think of a way to turn this humiliating situation around.'
Ares thought to himself.
But at that moment, the ocean beneath the sea of clouds suddenly became violent.
The waves crashed wildly, and a massive whirlpool formed at the center of the sea that could even be seen from Mount Olympus!
At that moment, a furious roar echoed from Zeus' temple:
"Zeus! I never expected you to be this kind of being! I was wrong about you! You're no different from your father, Kronos!"
The voice was so powerful that it shook the heavens, and nymphs trembled in fear inside the Temple of God of War.
Ares turned toward Zeus' temple and saw a furious figure storming out—Oceanus, the Titan God of the Ocean, one of the Titans who had supported Zeus during the Titanomachy.
With an angry expression, Oceanus jumped off Mount Olympus and returned straight to the sea.
In Taro's memories, Oceanus was already considered part of the second generation of Greek gods.
After the Titanomachy, Oceanus wasn't imprisoned in Tartarus, but he still lost most of his divine authority and was eventually replaced by the third-generation God of Sea, Poseidon.
However, in the memories of this Ares, Oceanus was still one of the Twelve Olympians.
At this point, Mount Olympus was still young.
Zeus hadn't yet done all of his infamous romantic affairs, and gods such as Apollo, Artemis, and Athena hadn't even been born yet.
Therefore, many of the second-generation Titans who had sided with Zeus during the Titanomachy still held positions among the Twelve Olympians.
At this moment in history, the Twelve Olympians consisted of Zeus, King of the Gods, Hera, Queen of the Gods, Poseidon, God of the Sea, Hades, God of the Underworld, Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, Demeter, Goddess of Agriculture, Prometheus, God of Wisdom, Oceanus, Titan God of the Ocean and Rivers, Helios, God of the Sun, Selene, Goddess of the Moon, Hephaestus, God of Fire and Blacksmiths and finally… Ares, God of War, occupies the lowest rank among them.
Aside from Zeus' siblings and children, the Titans, such as Prometheus, were included among the Twelve Olympians only because they had sided with Zeus during the great war against the Titans.
Among these Titans, the one with the most significant authority was undoubtedly Oceanus, the Primordial Ocean God.
As a second-generation god, Oceanus' divine power was just as strong as Poseidon's, God of the Sea. Furthermore, his daughter was none other than Metis, Zeus' first wife, and Athena's mother.
Metis had played a pivotal role in the Titanomachy.
She was the one who created the potion that forced Kronos to vomit up Hades, Poseidon, and the others, allowing Zeus' side to become strong enough to win the war.
If this father-in-law of Zeus were to truly lose his temper, not even Zeus, in his current state, could afford to act recklessly and would have to restrain himself and appease him.
Because of this, Oceanus was not someone Zeus could afford to act recklessly.
However, Ares couldn't help but feel puzzled as to why Oceanus suddenly became angry.
He then decided to head toward Zeus' temple.
Of course, the current Ares was no longer the reckless and foolish God of War of the past. He knew better than to provoke The God of the Ocean.
Instead, Ares looked for Prometheus, who was standing at the entrance of the Hall of the Gods, staring out at the ocean with a troubled expression, lost in thought.
"Prometheus."
Ares greeted him.
After all, this was the god who, in the future, would steal fire for humanity.
"Oh, it's you, Ares."
Prometheus' mind was clearly elsewhere. When he heard Ares' voice, he responded absentmindedly, "Do you need something?"
"Yes."
Ares subtly stepped closer, lowering his voice as he asked, "Why is Oceanus so furious?"
Prometheus let out a long sigh and muttered, "Sigh… it's a complicated story."
He lifted his head and glanced at Ares before sighing and looking away again. He didn't want to discuss this with someone as reckless as the God of War.
Ares glanced up at the sky.
The clouds were still clear, but some had grown unnaturally thick and heavy, which was a sign that Zeus was in a bad mood.
He then peeked into the throne before leaning closer to whisper to Prometheus:
"Since this isn't the best place to talk, let's go to my temple. It's big, private, and there won't be anyone listening."
Prometheus looked at Ares in surprise.
Ares was not the type to say something like that.
The God of War had always been the most clueless Olympian when reading the room.
Before Prometheus could think further, Ares had already grabbed his arm and dragged him all the way to his temple.
Once inside, Ares dismissed the nymphs and lesser gods serving in the hall, ensuring they were alone.
"Alright, speak."
Ares turned to Prometheus.
"Why is the God of War so insistent on this matter?"
Prometheus hesitated before asking.
"Because Oceanus just stormed out of Zeus' temple. If he's this angry, it must have something to do with Zeus.
Ares replied, "As the Son of Zeus and a major god of Olympus, I believe I have the right to know the reason."
Prometheus studied Ares for a moment, and then his stance softened. He nodded and said, "You're right. You do have the right to know."
After carefully choosing his words, Prometheus began to explain,
"Ever since the alien visitor, the Wandering Star of Predation, shattered the barrier of Chaos and descended upon Earth, the original divine essence was broken apart and scattered..."
'Huh? What the hell? Something about this timeline feels… very wrong?!'
Hearing this, Ares immediately interrupted Prometheus, asking, "What did you just say? Wandering Star of Predation?"
"Ah, I nearly forgot. It makes sense that a third-generation god like you wouldn't know about it. This happened during Uranus' era."
Considering Ares' usual low intelligence, Prometheus ultimately chose to skip over the complicated details and simply said, "In short, all you need to know is that this thing caused massive destruction to all the gods at the time."
"Oh… okay."
Ares nodded, pretending to understand, but inside, he was panicking.
If he remembered correctly, the "Wandering Star of Predation" should have only existed in an anime world he had seen in his past life. And in that story, gods like him were doomed to fall.
"From that moment on, every King of the Gods had the curse of being overthrown by their own descendants. Just as Kronos overthrew Uranus and Zeus later overthrew Kronos. When Zeus became King of the Gods, Kronos spoke a new prophecy."
"It said that the child of Metis and Zeus will surpass him in strength and overthrow him, becoming the King of both Gods and Men."
Prometheus sighed.
"And so, just now,… Zeus did what his father once did. He swallowed his own wife, Metis."
Metis was Oceanus's beloved daughter, and no wonder he was so furious just now.
"Because of this, Oceanus has sworn never to support Zeus again, and will not return to Mount Olympus. Olympus has just been established, and we've already lost one of our strongest gods."
"I see."
Ares nodded.
He wasn't surprised by this at all. Zeus pulling something like this was completely expected. Moreover, it was precisely because of this that would eventually lead to the birth of Athena, the greatest goddess of Olympus.
'But according to my previous knowledge, Prometheus should have some ability to foresee the future. If that's the case, he should already know about Athena's birth... So why does he look so worried?'
Seeing the troubled expression on Prometheus' face, Ares grew suspicious and pressed further:
"Prometheus… is there something else you've seen?"
"W-what? Of course not."
Prometheus forced a smile, clearly trying to brush off the question, "I'm only worried about the internal conflict this incident might cause among our fellow gods."
"It's definitely not just that. You have the power to see the future. If it was just about Metis being swallowed, you wouldn't be this worried."
Ares pressed on aggressively.
"You must have foreseen something, didn't you? Tell me, Prometheus. In exchange, I will help you unconditionally in the future."
"This…"
Prometheus took a step back, his expression uncertain. In his memory, Ares was never this sharp.
"Tell me, or I'll go straight to Zeus and tell him you're hiding something from him."
Ares smirked, but it wasn't like the Titan could uncover his real identity anyway.
"You once betrayed Kronos. Do you really think Zeus completely trusts you? What do you think he'll do when I tell him you're keeping secrets?"
As he spoke, Ares gripped Prometheus's shoulder firmly, preventing any chance of escape.
"This… I… sigh. Fine, I'll tell you… but you have to promise not to tell anyone else."
As the God of Wisdom, Prometheus had planned for everything except getting tricked by Ares.
He hadn't even considered Ares a threat after coming here. After all, the old Ares was nothing more than a brute—someone he could easily fool with a few clever words.
"I saw a future where Zeus is killed... by his own son."
"Oh, that's it?"
Ares shrugged and wasn't even surprised.
Sure, in the mythology, Zeus had never been overthrown, but this was Greek mythology and gods getting betrayed by their kids was practically tradition.
If all that Wandering Star of Predation stuff was real, then maybe the Age of the Gods was doomed to end anyway.
"So, who is the child who kills Zeus?"
"He's a demigod."
Prometheus said, his face pale with sweat as if he had seen a terrifying vision.
"His name is Cratus... or, you can call him, Kratos."
"Huh? ...HUH?!"
To be continued...