Underworld King's City.
That voice, seemingly hollow yet filled with divinity, suddenly rang out.
Sora.
Persephone.
Neither were deaf, so they could naturally hear it, and they could also hear the suppressed rage that almost wanted to destroy everything.
"Demeter?"
Sora frowned slightly. Regarding this person.
He naturally knew who it was.
Persephone's mother.
However.
Records of Demeter in mythology were actually not many. Although she was also a daughter of Cronus and Rhea.
Compared to her one sister and one younger sister, three younger brothers, her stories were far fewer.
At this moment.
Presumably.
Something must have happened in Olympus.
"Mother."
Persephone also stood up. Her eyes, like gems, were now emitting a completely different light, with endless divine power beginning to spread out.
"Dust..."
Persephone turned her head, her eyes no longer showing the gentleness of the past, even carrying a hint of pleading.
"Hehehe~~~"
Sora smiled and said gently: "Persephone, don't hesitate. Go. No matter what, she is your mother."
"Alright."
"Dust."
Persephone smiled brightly, and endless divine power instantly spread out.
Olympus.
"..."
All of Olympus was in silence.
Back then.
Why Zeus left, no one knew.
However.
After Zeus left, the divine clothes belonging to the twelve Olympian gods were all taken away.
After that.
Zeus announced Apollo as the new God King. At that time, Athena, who was already the Lord of Earth, or Hephaestus, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera.
Nominally.
As the eldest son of the God King and Queen of Heaven, Hephaestus was most qualified to inherit the God King position.
However.
Compared to everything Hephaestus had experienced, both Zeus and Hera doted most on their youngest son Ares.
But even Ares didn't sit in this position.
In the end, Apollo was chosen.
How could people accept this?
And as Persephone became the new Underworld King, displaying God King divine power, all of Olympus could be said to be in turmoil. But the key core point was still.
No one dared to move. Only by being a god could one truly understand a God King.
If you are not a god, seeing me is like a frog in a well looking at the moon in the sky.
If you are a god, seeing me is like a mayfly seeing the blue sky.
That's how terrifying it was.
No matter why Apollo stepped into the God King realm, God King and below God King was truly a difference between heaven and earth. This was something that could never, ever be changed.
But no one expected.
Demeter, who had always kept a low profile in Olympus, would actually do such a thing.
This shocked all the gods - no one dared to imagine.
But.
Thinking carefully, it seemed quite reasonable.
Besides Demeter, who else could accomplish this?
Demeter's daughter was the new God King, the new King of the Underworld - Persephone!
What she could do really didn't mean they could do it.
But...
This was ultimately too bold.
Even Persephone had no way to come to Olympus and face Apollo.
"Demeter actually broke into the Hall of the Gods?"
"But the problem is."
"How exactly did Demeter accomplish this?"
"God's Heart, Aegis."
"This..."
All the Olympian gods couldn't understand. Your courage being great was one thing, Demeter, but how exactly did you succeed?
The God's Heart was the core method Zeus once, and now Apollo, used to control the Olympian gods.
It had always been stored in the Hall of the Gods.
And the Hall of the Gods had massive seals. Under such seals.
How exactly did Demeter succeed?
Well!
That aside, how exactly did Demeter get her hands on Aegis?
This...
This...
In summary.
Too many things had happened, and it was too chaotic.
Compared to the God's Heart.
Aegis was the most important foundation.
Apollo was very clear.
The specific situation with Persephone wasn't clear yet. Actually confronting Persephone wouldn't be appropriate. Wait until the Holy War began again, then see the specific situation before making plans.
Precisely because of this.
Even if Demeter took away her God's Heart while he wasn't paying attention, that was fine.
Turn a blind eye to it.
However.
Demeter actually also took Aegis - that was unacceptable.
Aegis.
There were two of these shields - one in Zeus's hands, one in Athena's hands.
The first Aegis was actually forged by Hephaestus initially. He resented his father and mother for abandoning him, so he created this Aegis specifically to counter Zeus's divine artifact Thunder.
The second Aegis was held by Athena. Later, Medusa's head was mounted on it, giving it petrification divine power.
Simply put.
Zeus's Aegis was a divine artifact with special effectiveness against Thunder.
Athena's Aegis, while having powerful defensive capabilities, also possessed petrification divine power.
Two divine artifacts.
These were all top-tier divine artifacts, no less than the truly supreme divine artifacts like the Cloak of Invisibility, the Trident, and Thunder.
This was also why Apollo was completely enraged. What Demeter had taken was not merely her own divine heart, but also the Aegis that Zeus had left behind.
How could this not make Apollo furious?
"Success?"
Demeter's figure moved extremely fast, having already reached the exit of Olympus.
She looked at the gradually closing entrance.
Demeter knew she had to be faster. Otherwise, if she were truly trapped here, she would never be able to leave again.
Olympus!
Although it was located within the heavenly realm, it was quite special in itself, belonging to an independent space, just like the underworld's original dimensional universe. Olympus also belonged to a special dimensional universe.
"Demeter."
"Some things, even if you've done them, I don't particularly care about."
"But you."
"Should not have touched the Aegis."
"That is not a divine artifact you are qualified to touch."
Endless divine power began to spread forth, and Apollo's phantom had already manifested behind Demeter.
He slowly lowered one finger.
But with just this single finger, Demeter felt that she had no power to resist whatsoever.
"..."
Demeter did not answer Apollo, only picking up the Aegis. She bit her thin lips lightly, her expression extremely serious.
Could she survive?
Demeter herself was not certain, but she could only choose to fight. The Aegis—this was something she absolutely had to take away.
What exactly had happened in Olympus?
No one was clear about this.
But all the gods heard Apollo's roar and then saw a figure, covered in wounds, falling from the heavenly realm like a meteor crashing toward the earth.
Demeter was bathed in blood, her eyes already beginning to turn white, and her consciousness was starting to fade.
Obviously, even as one of the twelve main gods of Olympus, borrowing the divine power of the Aegis, wanting to block Apollo's single strike was completely unrealistic.
This was truly the difference between heaven and earth.
It could only be said that Demeter survived, but if no one helped, no one rescued her, she would certainly die.
But for Demeter, as long as she left Olympus, it was already enough. As long as she could leave Olympus, everything would be safe.
"Mother."
Demeter only felt her consciousness beginning to gradually blur.
At this moment, a gentle voice, like water and very similar to her own voice, had already reached her ears.
Demeter struggled to open her eyes, and a strand of divine power had already wrapped around her.
The divine power healed Demeter's injuries.
The next moment, Demeter had vanished without a trace.
She arrived in the Underworld City.
"Persephone..."
Feeling her injuries had healed in an instant, Demeter stood up and raised her head, looking at her daughter before her. Tears began to fall uncontrollably from her eyes.
Demeter valued her daughter extremely highly, a care that came from the heart, from the soul.
This point could be seen from the myths.
And in this world, since her daughter entered the underworld from the mythological era, she had completely lost all trace.
For Demeter, over all these years, she had almost been living in pain.
It could even be said that Demeter chose self-isolation. She didn't want to know what had happened. She lived in Olympus like a walking corpse.
Today, she finally saw her daughter again.
Persephone stepped forward and gently embraced her mother, her voice tender as she said, "Mother, wait a moment. I will handle everything."
"Mm!"
Demeter looked at her mature, steady, and graceful daughter, also filled with emotion.
The daughter who was once gentle and ladylike had changed so much at some unknown time. She had truly changed!
In Demeter's view, this was naturally not a bad thing.
But as a mother, she was truly worried. Her daughter had grown up so much!
As a parent seeing their child grow up, naturally they would feel gratified, but they would also feel heartache. Without experiencing much, which child would grow up?
From beginning to end, Sora sat on the side, watching this scene of mother and daughter reunion.
Hmm...
How should he put it?
Demeter.
This mother of Persephone, Demeter had over seventy to eighty percent similarity with Persephone. From appearance alone, they were almost like twins.
If there was any difference, it was that Demeter's figure was more stunning than Persephone's.
Persephone could be called perfect, while Demeter was suitable to be called alluring? Voluptuous? Well! He wasn't quite sure, but in any case, very eye-catching.
Besides this, Demeter also possessed that kind of mature woman's mature charm, plus a feeling similar to a widow always filled with sorrow.
Hiss!
Sora almost couldn't control himself and drew in a sharp breath. This Demeter perfectly matched his inner concept of the perfect widow.
"You are?"
At this time, Demeter also looked toward Sora, greeting him softly, using respectful terms in her speech.
Demeter didn't know Sora's identity, but Sora had been sitting there from beginning to end.
If Sora were truly her daughter's subordinate or kept lover, that would be absolutely impossible.
Sora smiled and said, "Persephone calls me Dust. You can call me the same."
"Dust..."
Demeter quietly murmured this name.
At this time, Persephone's divine power spread out, and both their gazes were attracted to her again.
In the vast universe, two phantoms had already begun to manifest.
Persephone.
Apollo.
The only two god-kings of the current era, or the only two to appear.
At this moment, two phantoms had condensed, quietly standing in the vast universe.
Within the phantoms of these two god-kings, it seemed as if endless galaxies were contained, countless stars and vast galaxies were all included within.
This also proved from the side just how enormous and terrifying these two god-king phantoms were.
"Persephone."
Apollo only looked deeply once and said quietly, "Demeter may leave. Hand over the Aegis."
Apollo didn't intend to entangle with whether Demeter left or not. For him, the most important thing was the Aegis.
"The divine artifact my mother took away is naturally an artifact of my underworld."
"Apollo."
"Do you think that with mere words, you can make me hand over the divine artifact my mother risked her life to bring back?"
Persephone similarly asked back with a cold voice.
"Hmm..."
Apollo frowned slightly.
In an instant, the entire universe seemed to welcome annihilation. Everything was just in a moment. Except for Earth itself, the entire universe instantly perished, turning into crumbling nothingness.
That vast boundless universe, at this moment, completely turned to dust. Everything seemed as if it had never existed.
As for the life that existed in the universe? Whether there was life? These didn't matter. Under a god-king's thoughts, with just one thought, the entire universe would completely perish.
As for Earth?
Earth was the source of everything. The internal situation was very special. Not to mention Apollo's dissatisfied thoughts bringing influence, even if you bombarded Earth day and night, you couldn't shatter it.
Otherwise!
The Gold Saints all possessed the power to punch at light speed, even exceeding light speed. Such wars, every 243 years, or counting the various gods causing trouble, they fought on Earth almost constantly.
If Earth couldn't withstand it, it would have been gone long ago.
Persephone, from beginning to end, showed no change at this scene, only saying indifferently, "Apollo, as a god-king, your former elegance, propriety, and benevolence seem to have all disappeared, replaced by a god-king's arrogance and coldness."
Persephone similarly just had a thought pass through, and the universe that had just perished was as if time had reversed, being born again.
Everything seemed as if no change had ever occurred.
But...
Anyone with understanding would know that this was not time reversal, but truly meaningful recreation. In just a single thought, Persephone had already recreated an entire universe and made everything unchanged, perfectly matching what existed before destruction.
"Persephone, this has nothing to do with you. Hand over the Aegis."
Apollo sensed Persephone's divine power in that instant.
Very clearly.
This was Persephone's divine power. She was a true god-king, not some false illusion.
Since that was the case.
Then he couldn't be careless at all.
This was a god-king.
What was a god-king?
One thought births a universe.
One thought destroys a universe.
The entire universe, containing countless lives, was merely a matter of a single thought in a god-king's eyes.
And Apollo was also very clear.
Whether he could retrieve the Aegis today was truly uncertain. After all, facing a true god-king, if both sides positioned themselves for all-out war, who would dare say they could definitely win?
Even in the ancient War of Three God-Kings, when Zeus defeated Hades and Poseidon, there were many twists and turns. It wasn't a true frontal defeat, which was why Apollo found it troublesome.
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