Along the Peloponnesus coastal defense line.
The gods of Olympus stood arrayed in a single line, towering and immovable. The divine-seal puppets that had been holding back the giant army roared one after another and pulled back to the rear to rest, with Typhon, the three-headed Hecatoncheires, and the three Titan Main Gods covering the rotation as they swapped places with the gods.
"Your Majesty, since when have the proud gods needed to lower their heads and ask those tiny humans for help?
A battered ship like that can't possibly shake anything in this dead sea. Why pin our hopes on a bunch of useless cannon fodder?"
Hera glanced back with open disdain, her face twisted with resentment.
The Moon Goddess, who had once taken part in the Argo expedition, looked just as stiff and displeased. She started to step forward, only for her younger brother Apollo to catch her arm and hold her back.
Plenty of Divine Spirits acted friendly toward humans on the surface, but it was mostly the kind of friendliness that comes from looking down from above. So even if they didn't fully agree with Hera, most of them stayed silent.
Besides, in this Titan War, the Divine Spirits were the true main force against the Alien vanguard. Even if a handful of human heroes were exceptional, they'd largely been reduced to set dressing in this brutal war.
In the eyes of some of the older, prouder gods, humans didn't even qualify to stand on the same stage.
Greece had been forged by the ancient Titan gods.
As for humanity, those ants clinging to the earth were nothing more than miserable wretches drifting up and down the long river of fate, lucky enough to scramble onto a single leaf, tossed by the waves, spinning and dancing on the crest for a brief moment. Not worth mentioning at all.
"I say we conserve our strength and withdraw to Olympus—"
Boom!
The moment Hera dredged it up again, thunder detonated overhead. The Queen of Heaven's hair stood on end. Lightning arced across her brow as the silver mark flared, and a needle-like agony stabbed into her forehead, as if a red-hot iron pin were being twisted inside her skull. The white-armed goddess let out a stifled groan, her face going bloodless as she crumpled to the ground.
"The one doing this is Areopagus!"
Beneath the clouds flashing bright and dark, Zeus stood with the thunder scepter in hand. He swept his gaze across them, cold enough to freeze bone and marrow, like a starving wolf picking its prey. Then, through clenched teeth, he spat out a brutal verdict.
"The proud gods don't need to bow to insignificant humans. Because you only need to kneel to me!"
Zeus swung the thunder scepter forward. Lightning spread like banyan roots and branches, splitting into hundreds of arcs that crashed down in a curtain of light, vaporizing the giant war machines and all manner of twisted monsters within dozens of miles into powder in a single blow.
"And it was my decision to hold the Alien vanguard at sea. Who here objects?"
Zeus's cold, silver-white gaze swept over them. Whether it was the exalted Queen of Heaven or the powerful Poseidon and Hades, all of them fell silent, lowering their heads without daring to offer a single word of dissent.
"Hmph. Then coordinate the defense. Do your jobs."
With an impatient wave, Zeus dismissed them. He turned to the Storm Sea, where the light cocoons were blooming open like flower buds, petal by petal, and the irritation in his chest only grew heavier.
So-called Divine Spirits were stronger than humans, yes, but also far more arrogant, and far more ruled by desire.
That was why he'd known from the start that not every god had the resolve to stand against the Titans. He had even secretly created the divine seal to bring the pantheon under one will.
But it didn't matter. Divine Spirits were simpler than humans in one respect: the weak obeyed the strong.
As long as he held the power and Authority to dominate them, every dissenting voice would be crushed and erased.
And he was the supreme God King who led the Age of Gods in Greece.
Humans… don't say this king never gave you a chance. Let the gods see for themselves what right you have to shout that you'll replace us!
...
Meanwhile, in the human camp.
Hundreds of pure white owls, some made of light, some with solid bodies, burst out of the command tent and scattered in every direction with urgent dispatches.
A moment later, more than a hundred streaks of light cut across the sky like falling stars, racing toward the rally point.
In barely ten minutes, the tent that had seemed spacious grew cramped as figure after figure poured in, the air turning heavy and solemn.
Samael stepped to the front, swept his eyes over everyone, and smiled easily.
"Fellow Argonauts, do you remember our agreement? Getting you all together wasn't exactly easy."
Memories of that expedition surfaced one after another. The heroes, familiar with one another, relaxed without thinking, a nostalgic warmth in their eyes as the mood softened into something far more comfortable.
"Among you I see Spartans, Thebans, Calydonians, Arcadians, and Athenians.
You come from all corners, born of different blood, but you share one name… Greeks.
There's no doubt about it. Every one of you is a hero who can stand against a thousand, unmatched in this age. You hold the finest of every city-state within you. You are the brightest stars in this world.
We met because of the Argo, and for a shared goal we set out on a great journey, one filled with hardship and peril.
And now, I'm forming an Argo Expeditionary Force. I'm inviting you to join a brand-new adventure!"
The Ancient Serpent spread his arms, his voice rising, his gaze deep.
Then the three goddesses behind Samael laid out the mission's objective and the current state of the war in full.
"What are our chances of breaking through this dead sea sealed by the Titans, reaching Atlantis, and completing the mission?"
Sisyphus, brought in at the last minute, rubbed his chin and asked seriously.
"Our chances? Only… one in ten thousand."
Samael didn't sugarcoat it. He'd pictured the sea carpeted with Titans, the dense ranks of humanoid combat weapons, and the Twelve Machine Gods in Atlantis whose situation was still unknown, and gave his answer plainly.
The three goddesses' expressions shifted, as if to stop him, but the number had already rippled through the crowd.
Then, to everyone's surprise, after a brief silence, loud, easy laughter broke out.
"One in ten thousand? Now that's fun. Just hearing it gets my blood boiling! I got left behind last time, so there's no way I'm missing this!"
"Right! It's been ages since we've had an adventure that actually feels like one. Count me in."
"Hah! Looks like I've got another story to brag about to the brats back home."
"Hmph. The harder it is, the more I want to do it. This won't stop me!"
"…"
Sisyphus, the Calydon prince, Heracles, Caenis, and heroes from old and new alike stepped forward one after another, faces bright with anticipation.
"Good. At daybreak, the gods will do everything they can to hold the Alien vanguard in place. And you…"
Samael rose to his feet, looking down at those familiar faces, his voice steady and forceful.
"Rest easy. For the final chapter, for victory, for Greece to see the sun on the third day… we'll give everything we have to break through this dead sea and seize that one-in-ten-thousand chance!"
Heracles answered with solemn certainty. Under the great hero's lead, the others struck their right fists to their chests in unison, swearing their vow.
"Exactly. A hero does what heroes do: turning the impossible into possible, using frail human hands to create miracles that even the gods can't ignore!"
Orpheus plucked his seven-string lyre, a stirring melody rising as expectation lit his face.
"Come, everyone. I'll be the one to record this unprecedented adventure, and I'll sing a human myth grander than any hymn to the gods!
I can already see it… glory will belong to the Argo Expeditionary Force!"
With emotions running high, the prodigy singer pulled out pen and paper and, in a burst of poetic fervor, started calling people up, even taking it upon himself to tally the roster and write down every name.
"Glory to the Argo Expeditionary Force!"
The tent erupted at once, the atmosphere boiling over as the heroes raised their fists and shouted their names to be counted.
...
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