Myth: The Spiritual Dominator

【Thunder Arrow】, the magic weapon transformed from Zeus' power.

Although with the breakthrough of the boundaries of true God, this artifact that once made great contributions is no longer as useful to the God King as before, it is still a powerful weapon.

As one of the few high-level divine weapons in the world that specializes in combat, Hera, holding the thunderbolt, is fully confident that she can fight against any god. However, at this moment, the Queen of Heaven's angry attack could not penetrate an inch in front of a small sheepskin shield.

The sharp body was unable to cut through the leather. The scattered lightning trembled in front of the eye-like pattern, then solidified into a solid, turning into tiny gravel and falling to the ground.

That is the Shield of Aequis, a divine weapon born with Athena.

Its appearance is so ordinary, and in fact it is so, its power is not actually strong among the artifacts.

Even though Aequis was loaned to Zeus' son, the "pay-to-win" player Perseus thousands of years ago, and absorbed Medusa's petrifying power to strengthen himself during his adventure, the foundation of this artifact is ultimately just a sheepskin that is ordinary to a god.

Therefore, this artifact specializing in defense has hardly ever demonstrated its power. Whether it is Athena's own Spear of Victory or the Sword of Judgment of the goddess of justice Themis, they can cause damage to Aequis.

There was only one exception. When facing thunder, even though the power of the two artifacts was very different, Equis still blocked the thunder and lightning firmly, preventing it from moving forward.

Boom——

It happened so quickly that the sound of the bowstring vibrating rang out amid the thunder.

The deep purple thunder was blocked behind the shield, and Artemis, with her bow drawn, seized the opportunity accurately.

In later myths, the king of gods prepared a golden bow and a silver bow for his two children respectively. Apollo got the latter and shot the giant python Python with it, leaving behind the reputation of the god of long-range shooting; while Artemis got the former and was worshipped by hunters as the god of hunting.

Of course, Artemis in this world no longer has the golden bow, but she has a "moon bow".

The new moon is a crescent moon, and the [Crescent Crown] can also become a [Crescent Bow]. The gift that Keto had sent before turned into an arrow in the hands of the Lord of the Wilderness, and shot straight towards Hera as the power surged.

whoosh-

A stream of light flashed in the air, and the distance inside the hall seemed to be nothing in front of the artifact bow and arrow.

Among the Olympian gods, only Hestia reacted hastily and raised her hand to erect a barrier in front of her. However, in just a blink of an eye, the arrow broke through the goddess' defense and hit the queen's brow.

laugh--

"what----!"

With a cry of pain, the actions of the goddess of fire were not in vain after all, and Hera still responded.

She turned her head to try to avoid the sharp arrow, but the arrow passed by her cheek, leaving a bright blood mark.

The wound was not big, but it brought Hera a heavy blow both physically and mentally. Feeling the warmth across her cheek, the Queen of Heaven was furious.

"Athena, how dare you!!"

Anger accumulated in her chest, and even her voice became sharp and piercing. The arrow that had passed by her spun back into its owner's hand, but at this moment, compared to Artemis, Hera looked directly at Athena with hatred.

In the thousands of years since she became the Queen of Heaven, Hera has only been harmed by two beings.

One is Typhon, the crazy and powerful king of demons who still makes Hera feel fear from the bottom of her heart, and the other is Athena in front of her.

She never really took action, but everything was related to her. This was the case with the power of the outer gods that eroded through the sacrificial channel not long ago, and it was the same with Artemis now.

And in fact, deep down in Hera's heart, there have always been some thoughts that she couldn't express clearly.

She was jealous of Metis, jealous of her intelligence, jealous that she was Zeus's first wife; she was also jealous of Athena, her strength, wisdom, youth and beauty, and she was like the continuation of Metis, proving that even if that woman was gone, her daughter was better than all of Hera's children.

"Athena, you are a dead bastard left behind by Metis! How dare you still be here and offend the Queen of God like this! Athena, do you think you are invincible?!"

Anger blinded her reason. The name of Metis had always been a taboo for the God King. He never wanted others to mention her, but Hera had obviously forgotten this at this moment.

"That's right, hahahahaha… Well said, very well said, Hera. You finally stood up for once. But it's true, when facing people other than Zeus, you always seem to be tough, ahahahahahaha…"

Laughing wildly, Poseidon, who had taken the initiative to attack, strode forward.

Half a day ago, as the Human Assembly was going on, clouds gathered in the sky and heavy rain was brewing on the city-state. The gods who were concerned thought that this was a sign of dissatisfaction from the God King, but in fact it had nothing to do with Zeus.

He changed the topic himself, how could he not think of the possible consequences? That was actually Poseidon's anger.

Zeus arranged the wedding of the sea nymph Thetis without his permission, but he tolerated it for the time being because Hestia came to act as a lobbyist and also hinted that Zeus's behavior was related to the prophecy; as the god who actually caused the flood and destroyed the Bronze Age, he still tolerated hearing mortals questioning the justice of the gods. After all, all the gods in heaven and on earth gathered here, and if he dared to do anything, Zeus would never let him go.

But now, Zeus is no longer here, and no one can subdue Poseidon by force.

Moreover, the Lord of Storms who shook the earth could not tolerate the possibility of rebellion of the ancient sea gods, which was the foundation of his control over the sea. So Poseidon, who claimed to be the king of the sea, raised his trident and pointed it at Artemis and Keto who were blocked by the shield of Aequis.

"Keto, come out here - and you, my dear niece, you won Athens from me, and let that vile mortal run rampant on the sea. I have long wanted to see what you can do, come, this ridiculous shield can't stop me!"

In a blink of an eye, the former palace of Pontus was almost turned into a battlefield, and the attitudes of Poseidon and Hera were obvious.

Seeing this scene, Phoebe, who was farther away and was once only a palm away from the golden apple, had a flickering look in his eyes.

The situation had developed to this point, and it was almost impossible for her to compete for the golden apple. However, the arrow shot by Artemis just now made her heart move.

As the goddess of light, Phoebe actually has a path that leads directly to the true God. Just like the complete ocean, if she can subdue the sun, moon and stars and become the true supreme of light, then it will be more in line with her divine duties than the "most beautiful goddess".

Before, this was destined to be just a delusion, as the sun alone was a problem she could not get around.

But now, Apollo is her grandson, and they have a good relationship. As for the moon... looking at the crescent crown, Phoebe struggled in his heart.

It wasn't just Phoebe, there were many gods in the field who were struggling and hesitant, and the situation changed because of it.

When Poseidon's voice fell, Artemis pulled the bow again. Farther away, Aphrodite covered her face and glared at Keto fiercely.

Ares was overjoyed to see this. This time, he no longer had to hesitate between his wife and the goddess. Moreover, the enemy was the hated Athena, so he happily drew out his bronze sword and stood with Poseidon.

However, when he approached, the Sea King looked at him with disdain and secretly kept his distance.

He is more reckless, but that's just because he can't control his emotions. Most of the time he knows the consequences, but Ares is different.

He probably didn't mean to make the two goddesses angry...but seeing how happy he looked, Poseidon himself wanted to beat him up.

As the God of War moved, the situation in the hall gradually became clear. The gods seemed to be divided into three parties, two of which were in confrontation and one was neutral.

Apollo and Leto stayed aside. Although the sun god himself preferred Athena, he still stayed with the mother goddess. Zephyrus, the wind god, was loyal to Zeus. The other three wind gods surrounded him and had no intention of participating. Moanda, the goddess of life, stood aside and watched. The goddess of agriculture wavered. She hated Poseidon, but she also didn't like Athens on earth, so she stood with Hestia and also withdrew from the competition.

Near the main seat of the temple, Nereus was thinking about the situation, but his younger brother, Phorcys, the Wrath of the Sea, made a choice first and stood decisively beside Keto.

Like Keto in the past, he has an appearance that is incompatible with the gods, and is called the "Father of Monsters" by the world.

So he didn't care what Nereus thought at all, and before the eldest son of Pontus had the chance to reprimand his younger brother for making a decision on his own, Thaumas, the miracle of the sea, made his own choice again.

He came to Hera's side, willing to fight for her, because his daughter, Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, had been Zeus's messenger during the Titan War and later became Hera's messenger.

All the gods took sides at once, and the vast temple seemed to be split into several parts.

And holding Selene's hand, Hecate's smile became even brighter.

She did not join Keto's side, and of course, she would not join the other side.

After all, strictly speaking, she and Athena didn't have any close relationship, and her relationship with Hera was even more distant. She just watched all this with interest, and felt that her trip today was not in vain.

"Hey, Selene, who do you think will win - or rather, how many do you think Athena can beat?"

The joy in her voice was undisguised, and beside Hecate, the moon goddess couldn't help but puff out her cheeks.

"It's best not to fight. What's the point of fighting?"

"Don't say that. This is rare... Huh?"

Suddenly, Hecate's attention was attracted by a short figure.

He was a cripple, a rare disabled person among gods. However, on his legs, he had a mechanical means of transportation.

He took a few slow steps forward, and under Hera's fiery gaze, he stood on Athena's side.

"That's... Hephaestus? I remember that he was invited to Mount Olympus by Zeus after the Typhon Plague. He seems to be the son of Hera, but he has some unpleasantness with her. I didn't expect that he would stand on her side now..."

"What is this, a different kind of courtship? Tsk, but whatever it is, I'm sure Athena won't be interested in him."

The god of volcanoes and craftsmen, the most low-key, least sociable, and least visible god in Olympus. Many people say that the only reason he became the god was because of his mother-son relationship with Hera, but it seems that their relationship was not so harmonious.

But no matter what, this ugly god came to Athena silently, and Athena, who had been sitting in her seat from beginning to end, sighed when she saw this, and a trace of helplessness finally emerged on her girlish appearance.

Don't hit a smiling person. The other party has not done what he did in the virtual world, so Athena can't call for his death.

"Finally, we have come to this point..."

A sigh crossed her perfect face, and Athena's expression gradually became serious.

As someone who had read the script, she had anticipated the incident with the golden apple, and she could actually see some of Zeus's plans.

If she wanted, today's events would not have developed to this point. She was fully confident that she could persuade Artemis not to get involved in Keto's affairs, and she was also confident that she could cleverly escape the impact of the Golden Apple incident.

As long as Zeus is still playing with her within the rules, she will always find a way to refuse.

But as the goddess of wisdom, Athena also clearly knows that rules are always tools used to maintain rule, not objective things. Only when the benefits brought by its existence are greater than its non-existence, will the people who created it maintain it.

So what is the greatest benefit for Zeus? Probably to rule over everything and to rise in power. To achieve this, he must unify the various factions within the God Court, gradually replace the main gods who were established because there was no choice before... and then subdue the old gods who are still unwilling to obey the God King.

So after realizing this, Athena let Artemis go and watched the situation develop. Because Zeus' decision was unavoidable, she could only choose the best time to take this move.

The only one who could fight against the great power was another great power. She was not sure whether the Lord of the Spirit World cared about the disputes in the human world, but now it seemed that there was another being behind Keto who was very interested in intervening in the human world.

“[Hell]…”

In Athena's perception, Andrea possessed a power of a similar nature - she was her clergyman after all. When the two stood in the same palace, she immediately recognized each other's identity.

That was her own chosen one, the princess of the King of Athens, and now she might very well be the favored one of hell.

The other party intends to interfere in the human world, perhaps to compete for faith, or perhaps for other reasons. Hell, which has no power in the human world, obviously needs opportunities and helpers, so he stirs up disputes and expands his power. Athens may also be one of his targets.

Therefore, if you don't make a decision when you should, you will suffer the consequences.

Athena didn't know if this was the best time, but she knew it was definitely not the worst, and she should respond... So she stood up from her seat, and the goddess' eyes swept over the gods one by one.

Since there is no way to avoid it——

"Then come on."

Slowly speaking, Athena's dress transformed into armor.

The spear was held in her hand, and light flickered on the tip of the spear.

She is the goddess of wisdom and the king of victory, so victory always stands by her side.