Thessaly, Great Temple.
"Achoo~!"
The shadowy figure of the King of Olympus, appearing within the altar, inexplicably felt a chill and couldn't help but sneeze loudly.
Damn it, who is speaking ill of behind my back?
Zeus snorted coldly, gazing down indifferently at Hercules, who knelt in the temple waiting for a response, and dismissively waved his hand.
"Enough, the matter of the Old Gods is known to , you may withdraw now."
"What about the Divine Authority Council at War God Mountain tomorrow?"
"If they want to hold a Divine Authority Council, let them co to Olympus themselves. Surely you do not expect to dean myself!"
Zeus scoffed disdainfully, his face revealing deep displeasure.
Upon hearing this, Hercules couldn't help but urgently advise.
"Father God, the massive invasion by the Old Gods is imminent! As per the oracle you spoke of before, only by the gods and humans working together can we face this calamity. Now Thessaly needs you, and so do the mortals on earth. Please consider, for the sake of their day and night service to you, to set aside your prejudice against the gods and go to War God Mountain to discuss strategies against the Old Gods."
"Are you teaching how to conduct my affairs?"
The icy counter-question interrupted Hercules' advice as silver-gray thunderbolts roared and shot through the Great Temple.
"No, not at all..."
Hercules bit his lip and shook his head, trying to argue.
"I just think that humans are your people, and it is the Old Gods we should collectively confront..."
Upon hearing his son relent, Zeus's brooding deanor softened slightly, his voice emitting a slightly sarcastic snort.
"What belongs to the gods remains with the gods, and what belongs to the humans remains with the humans. According to the contract of Fate, the gods should not easily interfere in human conflicts. Since they are causing trouble in the mortal world, humans themselves should resolve it."
"What if humans cannot resist?" Hercules was still sowhat unwilling.
"Then we'll wait until they attack Olympus, and I will deal with it then!"
Zeus curtly cut off Hercules' query, his gaze sweeping over the Golden Saint Cloth that his son was wearing, his eyes flashing with displeasure and darkness.
"Focus on what you must do, it's not your place to ddle in these matters!"
"But if Thessaly is without the Chief God's protection..."
"What, you want to defy my oracle? Don't forget who gave you everything you have, and how your teacher and your mother taught you!"
"I understand, Father God..."
Under that scrutinizing gaze, Hercules nodded slightly, his once straight spine seeming to curve suddenly.
Seeing his son obediently bow his head once more, Zeus's brow relaxed, his apparition fading from within the altar.
Hercules rose from in front of the altar, unable to help clenching his fists before finally, despondently letting go.
~~
The next day, Luo En walked out of his residence feeling bright and breezy, arriving at the Great Temple at War God Mountain.
"Snap!"
The mont he entered, a wax tablet that flew off the table nearly plastered his face.
Luo En hastily dodged by turning his head, nonchalantly asking
"What's with the temper so early in the morning?"
"It's Zeus again!"
Athena bit her lip and huffed coldly, throwing down the iron pen she had snapped, her expression dark.
"He refuses to attend the Divine Authority Council at War God Mountain and won't allow anyone else to co either! With everything going on, he is still playing his power gas here!"
Upon hearing Athena's complaint, Luo En pulled back the foot he had tentatively moved towards the door.
It seed it wasn't because of his mischief with Hercules that she was angry, which was a relief.
Having cleared his doubt, Luo En entered and asked, "So, which of the Twelve Olympians can't make it?"
Athena, massaging her temples, replied irritably, "Ares has outright refused, Poseidon didn't respond, and Hers, the slippery one, gave vague answers..."
Luo En, pouring a cup of fruit brew for Athena, smiled reassuringly, "That's not bad, at least eight of the Twelve Olympians are on our side."
Athena took a sip from the cup and then looked thoughtfully at her brother.
"You don't seem surprised at all?"
"Ares and Hers were not wholeheartedly with us during the last battle in Olympus; though relations have eased now, their skepticism towards us is understandable. They are obeying Zeus's orders, which is excusable; as for Lord Bo's Divine Grade, well, everyone knows, he only wants gains without losses and won't be driven unless it's to the edge of a cliff. Expecting help from him might as well be hoping for a piece of lamb chop..."
Luo En sipped his drink leisurely, explaining at an unhurried pace.
However, Athena's gaze still fixed on Luo En, her golden eyes profound.
"And what about Zeus? How do you know he would not attend the conference at War God Mountain?" she asked.
"The divine punishnt of Atlas and Protheus was personally crafted by His Majesty the King of Gods. Do you think the Giant Spirit Clan could rescue these two Titans without alarming His Majesty?"
Luo En swirled his wine glass, his tone imbued with deep aning.
"Drive the tiger to devour the wolf? So that's how it is..." Athena suddenly realized, and couldn't help but sneer, "He only has one or two holy lands in the mortal world, and can't even compete with Hers in terms of faith. Instead of following this path we designed, it's better to just flip the table, use the Old Gods' hands to weaken the factions of the other chief gods and the power of the city-states, and in the end, co out to clean up the ss and force us to kneel before him again. After all, as long as fate is on his side, he will ultimately win."
"Also, don't you think everything is developing too quickly, and the timing is too coincidental?" Luo En thought about his own experiences from Arcadia to Thessaly, squinting slightly, "How long has it been? First, Arcadia was hit by a Beast Tide, then Demon Ancestor Typhon reappeared; soon after, Thessaly suffered from the assaults of the giants and the revival of the Titan Old Gods; then they hit a setback in Thessaly, and went on to rescue Protheus and Atlas in the outer seas; finally, they invaded the Sacred Garden and severely wounded Hera... With so many events clustered together, I always feel like there is an invisible hand manipulating everything from behind."
As he spoke, Luo En couldn't help but recall in his mind the Titan temple underground, where he encountered a mysterious girl with dark purple hair.
After listening to this reminder, Athena's brow furrowed slightly, "Now that you ntion it, sothing does seem off. Could it really be related to him?"
"Although there's no direct evidence, it's always better to be cautious," Luo En shrugged, and then his eyes darkened, "It seems like our King of Gods is not quite inclined to abide by the rules of the last three hundred years."
"He's not inclined? Well, I'm even less inclined!" Athena retorted sharply, clearly without any reverence for the King of Gods, "Once we've dealt with those antiquities underground, we should also start preparing early."
"Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Just as they were discussing future plans, the warning bells in the Acropolis of Athens rang urgently.
It has begun!
Luo En and Athena exchanged glances, and without saying a word, they dashed out of the Great Temple.
anwhile, off the coast of Athens.
Waves nearly equaled with War God Mountain surged toward the shore, covering the entire Acropolis of Athens with a tsunami, the pervasive deep blue and the harsh salty air nearly suffocating.
Suddenly, billions of tons of seawater were about to crash down, and the jingling of tal ornants resonated in the temple on War God Mountain, as if heaven and earth had paused in respect.
In an instant, dusa, clad in a white chiffon gown and holding a scepter, stepped off the stairs and magically shifted herself several kiloters away to the sea surface.
With her greenish-white fingertips rhythmically waving the scepter, blue-white starlight descended from the sky, forming a splendid light curtain that barricaded the massive waves at sea.
Having absorbed so of the Sea God Pontos' divinity, dusa also possessed so mastery of the sea's authority.
However, the torrential waves impacted with astonishing force, causing the Golden Scepter to continuously chi, and the star-covered curtain flickered with light.
And before this round of tsunami could fade, the next wave of giant waves was already on its way.
dusa frowned deeply, about to summon her two sisters to join forces, when, atop War God Mountain, the statue of the Goddess of Wisdom, carved from pure white marble and towering dozens of ters high, seed to co to life, swinging its arm forward.
Suddenly, the spear in the palm of the Athena statue, like a teor tearing through the sky, trailed a long tail of fla caused by intense friction with the air and crashed into the second tidal wave.
Boom!
The marble spear exploded in the curtain of water, its fragnts scattering wildly and slicing the waves into thousands of pieces. The mixed kinetic energy of the fragnts neutralized each other, and the formidable impact dissipated on its own before reaching the shore.
A casual strike, simplifying complexity, presented a comparison between the marble spear and the giant wave in size and montum, reminiscent of an ant lifting a mountain.
The important factor that caused the waves to neutralize each other and created this stunning miracle was the application of wisdom.
In the Academy of Athens, magicians, scholars, and warriors, looking up at this awe-inspiring scene, beca excited and enlightened, silently thanking the Goddess of Wisdom for the inspiration.
Do not be intimidated by difficult questions. Calm down, find the right approach, and even the most challenging problems may be resolved smoothly.
Wisdom holds limitless potential, capable of redefining order in a chaotic world!
At that mont, dusa, standing in midair and seeing the crisis averted again, relaxed her grip on the scepter slightly and looked up at the silvery-white streak rushing from Olympus, her eyes filled with envy.
Lady Athena's mastery over power had grown stronger.
I must also hasten to catch up!
Bang!
The silvery-white teor crashed down in the center of the Acropolis of Athens walls. The Goddess of War, riding Pegasus, held high the Victory Scepter and the lambskin Divine Shield, racing along the wall, her figure shining brilliantly, inspiring cheers of excitent from all the Athenians.
"Athena! Athena! Athena!"
In the past, their Goddess had twice defeated Poseidon, the lord of the ocean, naming Athens after herself and bringing prosperity and peace to the land.
Now, their Goddess was still with Athens, with the people!
After nearly incanting a charm that maximized the city's morale, Athena decisively took over control of the entire city-state, thodically gathering the people from outside the city and initiating the coastal magical defenses.
To minimize losses and preserve manpower, the Goddess of Wisdom unhesitatingly sent out most of the remaining military forces from War God Mountain, to maintain contact with the various towns under Athens' jurisdiction.
Heroes dressed in Bronze, Silver, and Golden Saint Cloths, riding various breeds of Pegasus that had multiplied into tribes, streaked across the sky like teors, carrying out their missions to different places.
Beyond War God Mountain, the potential of the Academy of Athens was also fully mobilized.
All teachers and students were urgently conscripted to inscribe Defensive Charms, calculate the range of the tsunami impact, and address how to respond to the next wave, among other issues assigned to these scholars and mages.
The Athenians, enthusiastic and faithful, diligently fulfilled the oracles from War God Mountain, fervently fortifying the city walls, transforming the defenses, or donning sword, shield, and armor to join the guard, each face glowing with satisfaction and pride.
With these "gears" and "screws" at work, the entire city, like a tightly wound machine, displayed astonishing vitality.
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