"Really?"
Perhaps it was due to being Athena's subordinate god, and thus having somewhat absorbed the Goddess of Wisdom's'spiritual energy,' that this secondary god under Athena expressed doubt about his colleague's words:
"I always felt that when we asked the main gods for help, Ares compromised too quickly. When he was on Olympus, was he really a god who compromised so easily with Zeus and the others?"
"What if he doesn't compromise? No matter how powerful he is, he is still just one main god. The other main gods are pressuring him together, including Zeus, the King of Gods, and the most powerful Athena."
This Hermes' subordinate god was also a newly born deity. Like his main god Hermes, he was a newcomer on Olympus, and therefore unaware of the ancient intrigues between Ares and Athena.
He squatted beside him, patting his colleague's shoulder, and chuckled:
"If Ares was really that powerful, his divine authority over victory wouldn't have been taken by Athena. He's only overbearing towards us minor gods. You don't really think he's strong, do you? No way, no way?"
His words resonated with the two subordinate gods next to him. These subordinate gods, in truth, harbored more or less prejudice against Ares. This was because Ares was in charge of patrolling Olympus, and everyone understood what the Olympian gods enjoyed. Thus, during his night patrols, he inevitably stumbled upon some rather unseemly scenes in dark corners.
Perhaps stimulated by the affair between Aphrodite and Hephaestus, Ares, who originally didn't bother with such matters, transformed into a pure-love warrior who hated evil since then, slaying one cuckold after another. These subordinate gods, who indulged in more extravagant pastimes, were mostly dealt with by him.
Having been dealt with, they harbored resentment. Openly, they only dared to be obsequious towards Ares, but behind his back, gossip was certainly unavoidable. Ares actually knew about these things, but he pretended not to, and deep down, he even welcomed these gods' actions.
To this day, Ares still maintains the image of a simpleton in the minds of all gods except Athena. These comrades of the self-proclaimed War Deception Bureau have contributed immensely!
And now, under the work of the War Deception Bureau's subordinate gods, this subordinate god from Athena's faction was finally fooled by them.
"Perhaps I was just overthinking it."
He sighed, then settled down with a relaxed mind, beginning to bond with his colleagues.
As a subordinate of Athena, this subordinate god actually had no interest whatsoever in the crude jokes these secondary gods were telling. However, for the sake of socializing, he still forced a smile and shared some dirty jokes with them.
As they chatted and laughed, the vanguard troops ahead were already nearing the edge of their sight. These few subordinate gods didn't feel anything amiss, merely watching them, seeing them off, with even a hint of relief in their eyes that they wouldn't have to take their place.
However, just as the Heroes were chatting and laughing, the table in front of them suddenly vibrated, and even the wine glasses and roasted meat on it were knocked to the ground.
"An earthquake?"
Hermes' subordinate god stood up somewhat displeased. He gazed into the distance, then muttered:
"Ares' combat aftershocks are too strong, aren't they?"
"Hey, show him some respect!" Demeter's subordinate god next to him glared at him, then whispered, "If you call out his name directly here, he can feel it! Ares is petty, don't provoke him."
"So annoying." Hermes' subordinate god sat down with a frustrated expression, fiddling with a drachma coin embossed with Hermes' effigy.
Thud!
However, no sooner had he sat down than the table before him vibrated again. A piece of roasted meat drizzled with honey was directly flung up, landing on his luxurious clothes and leaving a large stain on his chest.
"Damn it!" Hermes' subordinate god jumped up, but at that moment, Athena's subordinate god beside him also stood up, his face filled with terror.
"This isn't an aftershock from the front!"
He shouted:
"It's from behind, we've been outflanked!"
"What?"
All four subordinate gods turned their heads to look, and saw countless towering Snake-Footed Giants, bringing with them rolling dust and sinister smiles, charging towards them. These Snake-Footed Giants were all clad in gleaming armor, clutching torches and massive rocks in their hands. The thirteen leading Giants even held exquisite magical weapons, whose craftsmanship appeared to be no less than that of Hephaestus.
One of the Giants drew a large bow in his hand, and with a single arrow shot, the thick arrow condensed from magic on the longbow transformed directly into a railgun-like bombardment, piercing through the army formation of the rear camp with a thunderous roar, leaving a shocking scorched mark on the ground and causing countless casualties.
"Enemy attack!"
Seeing this sight, the four secondary gods leaped into the air, shouting loudly at the same time.
…
Have they arrived?
Ares, who was fighting valiantly at the front, slashed the neck of the Snake-Foot Giant in front of him with a sword, then looked towards the rear of the army.
There, his clone Ephialtes had already charged from the rear towards their position with the true main force of the Snake-Footed Giants. In his sight, the armies of the other gods, with whom he was at odds, were collapsing under the Ravage of this group of Snake-Footed Giants.
Ares counted for a few seconds, then abruptly pulled his sword back and retreated. When he reached the front of the remaining vanguard, one of his adjutants, "Famine," immediately spread its black wings and came before the battle formation to report to him:
"Lord! The rear of our army has been ambushed. Another group of Snake-Footed Giants suddenly appeared there, and our rear army has collapsed!"
Under Ares' command, it deliberately spoke very loudly, so that everyone on the battlefield could hear it.
"What!"
Ares also pretended to be shocked and enraged, retorting loudly:
"How many of those Snake-Footed Giants are there?"
"Approximately one hundred and twenty, even more than here!"
"Famine" responded loudly:
"Moreover, among them are thirteen exceptionally powerful Giants. According to our assessment, they all possess combat capabilities comparable to a main god!"
At this moment, Ares deliberately relaxed his divine power's control over the vanguard. After the exhilarating effect in their minds disappeared, these surviving soldiers gradually calmed down. Then, they heard the conversation between Ares and his adjutant, and their hearts immediately sank as if into an ice cellar, leaving them chilled to the bone.
"There's no other way!"
After "Famine" finished reporting the enemy's strength, Ares pretended to grit his teeth unwillingly, then shouted:
"Victory in this battle is impossible. My command is for all troops to retreat!"
Having said that, in the stunned expressions of the vanguard, he used his height advantage to step directly over their heads and then ran towards the central army in the rear.