Chapter 578 Determination
Mount Olympus, Golden Palace.
On the tall throne at the head of the God Court, the God King's avatar seemed to be dozing with his eyes closed.
After all, ever since the avatar successfully sent back a message, Zeus's mental state had not been ideal.
Across two distant realms, the twisted time sequence was hard to grasp.
As a result, whether it was day or night, the God King always seemed a bit listless.
Such days had been going on for some time, and even external matters were becoming difficult to focus on… Fortunately, Zeus was Zeus after all, and this little hardship couldn't defeat him.
Gradually, he began to seek inspiration from the fleeting insights he had experienced earlier. After several attempts, he finally came up with a method to stabilize his mental state.
Externally, he used the royal authority of the God King to perceive the world's operation and comprehend the laws of natural movement; internally, he used his own will to comprehend the immortal divine power left behind by Typhon.
Allowing the complex information from all things in the world and the remaining will of the King of Ten Thousand Demons to counteract other influences, and ultimately finding a 'balance' point from it—this was Zeus's plan.
And the fact that he still had the leisure to project his thoughts onto his avatar proved that this method was indeed feasible.
With this, his spirit finally relaxed a bit, and the avatar in the abyss, after thoroughly repairing the [Thunder Pool], immediately opened the sacrificial gate, allowing the main body and the clone to complete several material exchanges between Asgard and Tartarus, which made the God King feel even more that his efforts were worthwhile.
From now on, the enemies from hell could be ignored; they would be contained by the Demon Mother and the Demon Prince, who was on the path to promotion.
However, when the sacrificial gate was opened, feeling the faint repulsion from his God King power, Zeus ultimately only took that special artifact and did not take the remaining foreign Thunder God origin after repairing the [Thunder Pool].
It wasn't that he wasn't interested in those origins; it was just that after repeated confirmation from the perspective of Great Divine Power, the God King regretfully discovered that even if he integrated this foreign origin into his Divinity through the God King royal authority, it would not allow the Divinity of [Thunder] to undergo a qualitative change and thus possess the Authority of Great Divine Power level.
If he hadn't repaired the [Thunder Pool], perhaps he would have had a sliver of a chance… Of course, a greater possibility was that he still wouldn't have had one.
After all, for [Thunder] to condense its own 'symbol,' it was not that simple.
Like [Sky], [Sun], [Ocean and Water], these were all existences that inherently occupied a large proportion in the world's cycle.
As long as the world's source power ascended and their own Authorities gradually unified, their condensation of symbols would almost be a matter of course.
But in contrast, [Thunder] was not so easy.
Unless Zeus could one day gather the [meteorology] of the ancient Titan God, and even the [Spring], [Summer], [Autumn], [Winter] of the Spirit Realm, only then would it be possible to complete the condensation of the symbol… Or, from another perspective, when he truly became the de facto ruler of the heavens, earth, and sea, and then, in the name of the supreme God King, transformed [Thunder] into a weapon to punish all those who violated 'royal authority' in the world, transforming it into 'Heaven's Punishment' that judged all gods, humans, and beasts, then he could also complete another kind of 'symbol' sublimation.
Other than that, even if he possessed enough Thunder origin, he could only continue to accumulate in the realm of quantity, not complete a qualitative transformation.
After all, to construct a symbol, one must occupy a very important position within the overall circulatory order of the world.
It could be innate, such as [Sky], [Earth], [Night], [Life], which would spontaneously condense with enough source power.
It could also be acquired, like [Reincarnation] and [royal authority]; they did not originally exist in the world but were given important positions by people.
So, since [Thunder] did not inherently possess a sufficient status, and Zeus did not yet have the ability or opportunity to assign it a crucial position in the acquired sense, it naturally could not form.
Therefore, under these circumstances, he naturally chose an arrangement more favorable to himself.
The artifact could be attempted to be reforged, allowing it to complement the [Thunderbolt Arrow] and further enhance his power, but the Thunder God origin was entirely unnecessary.
Zeus was also very interested in Tartarus.
"Besides, there's what the avatar said, that Memory he didn't synchronize with me, which I can only get after I retrieve him…"
Seated high on the throne, watching Ares rush in, Zeus wondered what madness he was up to again, while silently pondering the avatar's words.
Cannot synchronize, can only be personally browsed after retrieving the other party… It seems he must have discovered something extraordinary.
And from the avatar's description, this message was by no means a simple secret, but rather contained terrifying danger.
However, the abyss could not do without him now; as the God King, it was impossible for him to send his avatar into the abyss through the sacrificial gate.
Fortunately, it wouldn't take too long; the matters of the human world wouldn't take much longer… All things were done; next, it was time for him to begin his true actions.
His gaze gradually sharpened, and the aura around him became condensed. Zeus had carefully pondered the avatar's experiences.
The Snake Demon who leaked his avatar's identity, did it come from the Spirit Realm, or was it someone else? This was no longer important.
Because no matter who it was, Silvermoon City and the starry Skybehind it, and even the Spirit Realm, were his last enemies in the human world now.
Once they were swept away, the Four Seas and the starry Sky would naturally unify. And the first thing he needed to do was to ascertain the movements of the Lord of the Spirit Realm.
"Only the unknown is the most unfathomable enemy."
"So next, I need to give these main gods some confidence."
Shadows covered the avatar's face, and the God King silently watched Ares, who was performing like a clown below the high platform.
At this moment, the other party was pointing at the wounds on his body, accusing the enemy of cruelty to the God King.
With a light sigh in his heart, as the Queen, Hera was good in every way.
But only in terms of bearing children, she had accomplished nothing.
Whether it was Hephaestus or Ares, these were both unreliable fellows. If only they had half of Athena's Wisdom, he wouldn't be so helpless.
Was he disappointed? Perhaps a little.
But looking at the God of War, who had no idea he was accusing the God King, Zeus felt he had gotten used to it.
No expectations, no disappointment; such was Ares.
Since that was the case, let him… be the first spear destined to break.
"…Ares."
He spoke faintly, without joy or sorrow.
In the Golden Palace, seeing that he had finally received a response, the God of War quickly looked up.
However, from this angle, Zeus's figure seemed to be obscured by shadows. He could only see the other party's eyes, but not the God King's expression.
"…Father God!"
"You finally responded to me, look, I…"
"Enough!"
"Ares… do you know that because of your dereliction of duty, the gods' prisoner has escaped from your custody?"
A cold voice interrupted the God of War's accusation, and above the Golden Palace, a phantom image slowly appeared.
An empty cell appeared before Ares's eyes, and his eyes widened; he recognized its origin at a glance.
"This is… a Centaur? He actually dared to escape on his own?"
Words blurted out without thought, but the next moment Ares reacted.
No, he didn't escape on his own, but was rescued.
That human demigod who suddenly appeared near Olympia, he must be the accomplice. Although he was the one who attacked him first, this must be the other party's fault…
—Slap!
—Father God!
A wine glass fell from the Sky, shattering loudly on Ares's head.
He looked up, but there were only Zeus's cold eyes.
His slight anger instantly vanished; the God of War didn't know why the God King would react this way.
However, what followed was Zeus's judgment, devoid of any emotion.
"Ares… my child."
"You are my and Hera's only son, and also the one who disappoints me the most."
"From the day you were born, you received the best things in this world—the Divinity of War, the most beautiful wife, and the status I bestowed upon you."
"I…"
Boom—!
A monstrous aura suppressed him, instantly silencing Ares.
Looking at his son before him, Zeus's thoughts became clearer and clearer.
"You had everything, you had everything first."
"At that time, your sister Athena, who should have been born earlier, had not yet descended into the world, and you could gallop across the land. But Ares, after so many years, tell me, have you accomplished anything?"
"No, not a single thing."
"But it doesn't matter. Since you can't do it yourself, then as your father, and even more so your monarch, I will tell you that I can not only bestow upon you status… but also give you punishment."
Clang—
A broken sword wreathed in flames descended from the Sky, embedding itself in the floor of the Golden Palace.
A fallen and chaotic aura surged from it, alarming the God of War.
This was once a divine artifact, a naturally formed divine artifact, but it was now broken.
Some powerful force had forcefully broken it into two pieces, destroying its integrity.
And even so, Ares could vaguely judge that the original owner of this sword was definitely no less inferior than himself.
But such a strong person, his fate is probably worrying now.
"Take it, Ares, and go reclaim what you have lost—not to reclaim a prisoner, but the cause of that prisoner's existence."
"This time, it is my last chance to you… And this time, you are not going by my command, but to prove that you are still worthy of standing here, shoulder to shoulder with the gods!"
"Ares, I hope you remember."
"If this time you still bring me the same result… then, in the name of the God King, I will personally cast you into the abyss."
Bang—!
Without giving him a chance to speak, Zeus waved his large hand, sending the God of War and the broken sword out of the Golden Palace.
Sitting on the throne, the seemingly angry God King showed no emotion.
That broken sword came from the Demon Mother, and its origin was also very clear.
Because she heard that Zeus had even spent his Divinity origin to repair the [Thunder Pool] just to see her, the moved Maya couldn't help but feel that she also needed to do something for him.
It was just that in the past, she never cared about treasures, because there was nothing in the abyss that could move her heart anyway.
Fortunately, in the deepest part of the abyss, Maya found the severed chain sword of the first original Balrog ancestor, which had broken when he attacked hell. Although it was broken, it was still a powerful weapon.
The God King had intended for Hephaestus to reforge it, but Hephaestus was temporarily unable to move the divine artifact of the abyss.
So he simply bestowed it upon Ares, making him the first god to personally descend and actively target mortals.
This was not his command, but Ares's self-initiated action to wash away his shame. So if he succeeded—which was impossible, because Zeusdidn't believe he could single-handedly conquer Silvermoon City and Athens.
Then, when the defeated God of War had done his best to probe a portion of the enemy's movements, his mission would end.
Next, the great God King would personally step forward to cast this incompetent fellow into the abyss, letting him hone his ridiculous abilities under the arrangement of the avatar and allies.
But in corresponding to that, his opponent must also pay an equal price.
The God King casting his own son into the abyss was genuine sincerity, but the beginning of the entire incident was Achilles disturbing the God Court, so Silvermoon City must accept the God Court's judgment.
As for the outcome of the judgment… if they accepted, Zeus would even be willing to pardon all of them after pronouncing the crime, because accepting the God King's judgment itself already meant obedience.
Without bloodshed, he could obtain the fruits of his victory and bring the Spirit Realm's influence in the material world under his control.
Conversely, if they chose not to accept… then he had already done his utmost.
The observing Night Goddess and the ally Erebus, whose true purpose was unknown, would witness his respect for the Primordial God; only out of helplessness would he be willing to resort to War.
The gods of heaven and earth would witness his virtue, and the fairness with which he dared to judge even the main god's own son.
For royal authority, the support or opposition of the people was power, and right or wrong in justice was a weapon.
So at this moment, Zeus was not angry at all, and Ares… this was also what you deserved.
"Let the abyss teach you well… the customs there will make you understand how to be a God of War."
"And you… Spirit Realm…"
"Almost ten thousand years have passed in a flash…"
"And what you gave me back then… I should return it now."
The first time he met the Lord of the Spirit Realm, he saw the 'corpse' of the Sun God.
The second time he was about to meet him, the catalyst was also the divine sword forged from the Sun's remains.
Sometimes, thinking about it, Zeus also found it very ingenious.
Where you fall, that's where you get back up.
That's how a God King should be.
······
The center of the human land, the ruins of Mount Othrys.
Since the Second Era, there had been no human traces here.
The Heavenly Pillar disintegrated here, bringing with it a mountain range stretching for countless miles.
It extended along where the peaks collapsed, cutting off the east-west connection of the land and blocking the passage of north-south water veins.