Outside the window, the night was thick and deep.
Dense faith power overflowed from one intoxicated, soundly sleeping Minos person after another, surging wildly from all directions toward a small house.
On the bed inside the room, the "god" quietly closed his eyes in meditation.
Around him, faith power that was almost tangible transformed into golden divine fluid with each breath he took, pouring into his heart-image space.
Within the vast world, a gigantic wheel of light rotated and hummed in the sky, dispelling cold and darkness, bringing warmth and light, and illuminating the flowing waters and the mountain forests below.
But unfortunately, among the twelve segments of the light wheel, only two regions were glowing brightly, respectively reflecting the phantom images of a golden bull and an azure one-horned whale.
As a result, most of the world was still shrouded in chaos.
The incoming golden divine fluid, as if guided, all poured into the third segment of the light wheel, constantly surging and gathering, trying to sketch a new holy spirit within that blank space.
However, after repeated attempts, the vague phantom was only an empty shell, completely lacking spirituality.
As the rooster crowed and dawn broke, Lorne, on the bed, drew the surging faith power around him into his body, then slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a long breath of turbid air, and revealed a look of regret.
Failed again...
Sure enough, condensing a divine incarnation did not only require the simple accumulation of power.
The rules, or rather the authorities, possessed by the gods were the truly crucial soul.
That meant he still had to continue targeting those relatives on Olympus and keep plucking their wool.
Today was the day to judge Poseidon.
Thinking that he would soon meet those lovely relatives face to face, Lorne could not help licking his slightly dry lips, a faint anticipation rising in his heart.
The twelve segments corresponded exactly to the twelve faces of the die.
Lorne estimated that if he could fill those blanks and possess twelve divine incarnations, he might be able to complete his advancement, ascend to the level of a chief god, and then illuminate the next ring of the light wheel.
Through the light at the edge, he discovered that the next stage did not have twelve blank regions, but doubled to a full twenty-four.
If he went one step further?
Thirty-six, or forty-eight?
Due to insufficient information, Lorne could not estimate it.
But he believed that as long as he could continuously devour divinity and complete his own transformation, one day he would pull the gods down from their thrones, stand above ten thousand armies, merge all things into one, and become the true King of Ten Thousand Kings.
While he was having such thoughts, a soft knocking sound came from outside the door as he opened the door, to see the Hearth Goddess who had just prepared breakfast standing there wearing an apron, waving a ladle and revealing a bright smile.
"Get up and eat. Today I made your favorite lamb chops!"
Lorne nodded and walked to the door; however, just as he was about to step out of the bedroom, he inexplicably stopped and asked quietly.
"Why me?"
Hestia was slightly stunned, then, as if realizing something, she slapped her forehead and said.
"You mean standing in for me at this divine authority meeting?"
"Just this once?"
Lorne asked back, carefully examining the Hearth Goddess in front of him.
"Haha, you caught on. Then from now on, whenever Olympus needs me to show up for troublesome matters, you can take my place!"
Having her thoughts seen through, Hestia scratched her head and revealed an awkward yet polite foolish smile, simply pushing everything aside and frankly stating her future plans.
Lorne, however, raised his eyebrows and asked with a half-smile.
"You are not afraid that Athena and I will join forces and flip all of Olympus upside down?"
"Not afraid!"
Hestia shook her head and gave a firm answer.
At this moment, an unprecedented seriousness surfaced on her delicate and innocent face, the sudden gravity making the young man pause, instinctively wanting to clarify the joke he had just made.
However, Hestia shook her head instead and revealed a bright smile.
"What you want to do, you do not need to tell me. Some things, since I cannot make up my mind to do them, I might as well let someone capable accomplish them."
Then the Hearth Goddess paused, looked seriously at the face before her, and spoke slowly, word by word.
"Because I believe that everything you do will make this world a better place!"
"..."
Hearing her words, Lorne's heart trembled, and he could not help but fall into a long silence.
Looking at Hestia, his gaze was filled with shock mixed with astonishment.
She had actually seen through his true intentions.
This was an answer that even Athena might not have been able to fully guess correctly.
He could no longer tell whether the Hearth Goddess before him was genuinely clever, or whether she had simply stumbled upon the truth by accident.
Or perhaps, both.
"Let's go, eat first!"
The lighthearted words interrupted Lorne's chaotic thoughts.
That bright, lovely face wore the same innocent smile as always, as if it could melt away all darkness and schemes as a fair hand stretched out toward him.
Lorne sighed, helplessly placing his hand in hers, obediently letting Hestia pull him toward the dining room.
In this exchange, the scheming fellow suffered a complete defeat, but he was not frustrated or angry at all...and could only bow his head down in defeat, after all, as everyone knows sincerity is the greatest killing move of all.
~~
The breakfast meant for setting out was rich and delicious.
Athena and Lorne ate until they were full, only then reluctantly setting down their tableware.
Taking the pastries Hestia had prepared in advance, they walked out of the house and mounted their chariots.
"Wait for me to come back!"
Like a husband reminding the wife who stayed behind to mind the home, Lorne left behind a soft instruction.
Then he snapped the reins as the divine horses "Xanthos" and "Balios" let out a unified neigh, spread their four hooves, and pulled the bronze war chariot behind them, transforming into a brilliant meteor as they sped through the sky.
Closely following behind Athena's golden chariot, they headed straight toward Olympus among the stars.
The howling wind echoed in his ears, and the scenery on the ground gradually pulled away and shrank.
After racing forward at lightning speed for several hours, breaking through flickering starlight and drifting mist, the two chariots descended from the clouds and landed upon a grand and majestic plaza.
Because the Titans were born gigantic, the buildings here were even more towering and magnificent than the temples of the mortal world.
A vast and mighty aura rushed toward them, making one instinctively feel fear and reverence in the heart.
As the chariots came to a stop, Lorne, at Athena's signal, followed behind the Goddess of Wisdom and walked toward the great divine temple in the distance that resembled a colossal mountain.
"Make way, make way!"
However, after only a few steps, an urgent shout came from ahead.
A figure wearing a winged cap, stepping on winged sandals, and holding a caduceus flew past like a violent gust of wind from afar, rushing forward in a hurry.
Seeing this, Athena immediately pulled Lorne aside to clear the way, and at the same time whispered a reminder.
"Watch your pockets."
At these words, Lorne instinctively became wary of the smiling young man and quickly cast several protective spells on himself, further widening the distance.
Because after Athena's reminder and that person's distinctive attire, his identity was already obvious.
The legendary ancestor of thieves, the swift god who protected thieves and liars, Hermes.
And just as Lorne reacted, the curses coming from afar further confirmed his guess.
"Damn cattle thief, stop right there!"
An old acquaintance, Apollo, was chasing after him, but unable to catch up with Hermes' speed, his face turned iron-blue with rage, his chest rising and falling continuously.
"I already said it wasn't me!
Those lousy Pithon fangs have lost most of their spirituality.
They're not worth much at all.
You're the only one who treats that junk like treasure. What would I want them for?"
"You know it so clearly, and you still say it wasn't you, you lying thief.
Give my things back!"
Apollo, in his anger, immediately drew his bow and nocked an arrow, shooting wildly at Hermes as he darted around.
However, before the arrows could reach him, a fierce gale rose around Hermes, blowing the incoming arrows away.
As the god of speed, Hermes might not necessarily be able to defeat Apollo head-on, but when it came to survival and escape, he was confident that there were very few in all of Olympus who could catch him.
"Bang!"
Yet before he could be pleased for long, a gigantic golden net fell from the sky, tightly covering him.
In an instant, Hermes, who had gone from joy to disaster, was bound into a human dumpling and slammed heavily onto the ground.
"The ores in my warehouse, my divine artifacts, and a whole box of jewels. Where are they? Hand them over!"
The rough-faced craftsman god Hephaestus, limping on one leg and holding a massive forged hammer, angrily launched his accusations at the captured thief.
"Divine artifacts? What divine artifacts?"
"Daedalus' flying wings! I finally gathered the fragments and restored them!"
"A mortal-made item? What would I want that piece of junk for? It can't be eaten or sold!"
"Still trying to deny it!"
Hearing the confrontation between the victim and the culprit, Lorne's eyelid twitched.
However, with no intention of stopping to watch the show, he immediately quickened his pace.
(End of Chapter)