After all, even though Hera had long lost faith in Ares, he was still her offspring.
If one day Heracles really managed to teach Zeus a lesson with the support of some Abyssal Greatness... then perhaps the Divine King would need to rely on the War God's help to turn the tide.
"From a heartfelt perspective, Hera's plan indeed has a certain feasibility."
"As long as you have no choice, you can only continue down this path."
"But she clearly doesn't know that you have other paths you could take."
The sound of cracking wood echoed as the abandoned puppet increasingly resembled the one the Great Hero had carried along the way.
Its head rotated 270°, and Ande looked towards Heracles's direction.
"And you wouldn't wish to be her pawn, would you?"
"... Perhaps not."
Slowly rising, inserting his hand beneath the mound, the Great Hero spoke in a faint tone.
"Changing the path only means changing the chess player; what's the difference either way?"
