"Godslayer? Su Mo?"
Seeing the shock on Apollo's face, the terror on Dionysus's, and the momentary relief on Athena's, Zeus narrowed his eyes, a glint of wisdom flashing within them.
Although Athena had recovered her triple-goddess form, due to their mythological connection, Zeus still possessed a portion of Metis's wisdom. He easily deduced the current situation.
"It seems you are the 'master' Athena spoke of?"
His gaze turned to Su Mo, and the power of the lightning in his hand swelled once more.
"Hestia, Artemis, step back! Do not make me say it a second time!" Zeus's voice was a low, threatening growl, feeling the threat from Jibril.
If they disobeyed his command now, they would likely be slain on the spot by the King of the Gods.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Hestia and Artemis exchanged a helpless glance and retreated to their original positions. No one could stand against the current Zeus, not even all the Olympian gods combined.
"My Lord…"
Seeing Su Mo appear before her, Athena felt a sense of relief. She immediately stepped forward, wanting to relay information about Zeus.
The Zeus the Father before her possessed a power far beyond that of the other gods, even surpassing the Jibril from before.
She believed Su Mo could handle a being of this level, but she worried he might underestimate his opponent without knowing the full details.
However, before she could speak, Su Mo saw Zeus's current state at a glance.
"You've fused with the power of the Olympian pantheon… Are you trying to walk the path of the One God?"
Hearing this, all the gods were shocked. Very few could see this at a glance. Even Athena had only just learned of it. How could a mere human see it so clearly?
"That's right! Since you know, you should understand that you shouldn't have incited Athena's betrayal. That will only benefit me!" Zeus sneered. "Of course, even if you hadn't done so, I would still become the One God. No matter what happens in this world, it will inevitably work in my favor!"
These overly narcissistic words might have sounded like madness on the surface, but they held a deeper meaning.
"An interesting concept," even Su Mo had to praise.
At the very least, compared to Michael, who was always waiting for the return of his Lord, Zeus, as a god, had a much more proactive and enterprising attitude, making him feel more like an independent being.
"A pity it's too late." Su Mo shook his head, not optimistic.
"!" Hearing this, Zeus's face turned ashen, clearly having been struck a nerve.
Watching their cryptic exchange and Zeus's drastic change in expression, Athena began to doubt her own worth as the Goddess of Wisdom.
Otherwise, why couldn't she understand what they were saying?
After a moment's hesitation, she asked in a low voice, "My Lord, why can Zeus become the One God? Isn't that impossible given his origins?"
She still couldn't figure this out. Not just her, but few among the Olympian gods understood why Zeus was doing this.
But for Su Mo, this was no problem at all.
"What if the One God Zeus, being omniscient and omnipotent, arranged the myths himself, spanning the dimension of time, manipulating the threads of fate, and controlling Cronus to give birth to himself?"
Both his parents and the creator goddess Mother Earth, Gaia, could be explained by this theory.
Why was the One God not Gaia, who created the world, but the third-generation god Zeus?
The answer was simple: it was all the will of the One God Zeus.
The myth was the way it was because Zeus wanted it to be so. It was all Zeus's script, so it was only logical that he was the One God.
Human logic cannot comprehend God; it can only accept God.
"Huh?" Athena was dazed by this rogue logic. You can spin it that way?
In that case, couldn't any god claim to be the One God? The reason would be simple: the god's script willed it so.
"Would anyone believe such a far-fetched myth?" she asked, unable to understand.
To this, Su Mo's answer was simple.
"Both Egyptian mythology and Christian mythology have done the same thing, and it hasn't been a problem."
"As long as your method of spreading faith is effective enough, the theoretical foundation can be left to the theologians to explain. History has proven this to be feasible."
In Egyptian mythology, the first god to emerge was the primordial water, Nun. The creator god Atum-Ra was hidden within Nun's body and only later gained consciousness.
However, despite being the second being to gain consciousness, he was the creator god himself, because he had already given birth to all things before he even realized who he was.
With this explanation, Egyptian mythology "successfully" resolved the bug of a later-born god being the creator.
As for Christianity's operation, one only needed to look at the heavily patched concept of the Trinity and the Holy Lance that slew the Son of God to understand.
No matter the myth, as long as there were enough patches, it could be self-consistent. Logical flaws were never the problem.
"In fact, Zeus has made similar attempts before, but they failed," Su Mo added.
In the early days of Greek mythology, Zeus's divine power wasn't particularly outstanding. Even in the middle and late periods, he needed his thunderbolt scepter to match Typhon.
But in the later stages, Zeus in the myths had become strong enough to defeat all the Olympian gods by himself.
At that time, his faith was infinitely close to that of a monotheistic god.
Almost all believers in Greek mythology prayed to Zeus the Father alone, his status no less than that of the Christian God. If this trend had continued, Zeus might very well have become a true One God.
Unfortunately, his ambition did not succeed.
"The gradual transition of Greek mythology to monotheism was a historical trend, but this process was completely interrupted by Christianity. Having cultivated monotheism for many years, Christianity completely defeated the transitioning Greek mythology and snatched away all the faith of the Greek Divine Realm!"
In terms of monotheistic theory, Christianity had too many advantages.
Coupled with the strong promotion by Emperor Constantine, traditional myths like Roman, Norse, and Greek mythology were directly swept away, losing their soil to grow.
"Zeus didn't succeed back then, and it's even more impossible for him to succeed now… The Greek Divine Realm doesn't have much room for change, and even if it did, it's not something you all can grasp." Su Mo stated the facts.
Hearing this, Athena and the Olympian gods finally understood the source of Zeus's ambition. And hearing his assertion that Zeus could not succeed, the gods all turned their gazes to Zeus.
After hearing Su Mo's assessment, Zeus naturally could not remain indifferent.
"As expected of a child of a fool, truly dull! You've seen this far, yet you don't understand that I am only half a step away from that position?"
"As long as I resolve the final prophecy and completely absorb the power of the Earth Mother Goddess lineage, I will command all the power of the entire pantheon, control the entire Divine Realm in the name of the Supreme God, and in turn, interfere with the faith of the mortal world."
"At that time, I will completely destroy and replace Christianity, becoming the true ruler of thousands of worlds!"
Zeus clearly did not agree with Su Mo's view, his words filled with confidence. Considering the Authorities of fate and time that gods possess, reversing cause and effect was not impossible for them.
"That's right! Father will surely become the supreme god, and then you all will be nothing more than evil gods and demons!" Inspired by Zeus, the wine god Dionysus also grew confident and began to taunt them.
"Dionysus?" Seeing the unusually agitated wine god, Athena tilted her head, unable to understand. I've never seen you this close to Zeus before!
Seeing her confused look, Su Mo casually explained, "If Zeus can ascend to become the One God, Dionysus can take the place of the Son of God, completing the final piece of the mythological puzzle and sharing a third of the divine throne."
All ancient myths borrow from each other. Looking at Zeus's operation, it was clear that to ensure his plan to become the Supreme God, he would directly copy the myths of Christianity.
The mystery cult that worshiped the wine god Dionysus already existed. Without much effort, he just needed to publicize the cult's contents, and Dionysus could debut as the Son of God.
That was why the wine god was so anxious. If Zeus failed, he wouldn't get a piece of the action.
Athena was suddenly enlightened.
After figuring out the thoughts of the various gods, she looked up at Zeus, her tone slightly mocking. "Zeus, you only see the half-step. Have you ever seen the chasm that lies within it?"
Sometimes, half a step is a world of difference, not to mention that the age of mythological contention was long past. After hearing Su Mo's explanation, she no longer believed Zeus could succeed.
However…
"A chasm? Are you referring to something that is about to be crossed?" Zeus sneered, then looked at Athena and Su Mo. "So, you, who has found a new master for yourself, what right do you have to speak of the glory of the Earth Mother Goddess?"
The moment he said it, Athena's blood pressure skyrocketed.
Before she could explode, Zeus's lightning erupted once more.
A power that surpassed any single god began to pour into the thunderbolt.