Chapter 347: Dionysus Is a Man Who Can Become My Father

"By Father Zeus above, Heracles, my friend, you are still as valiant as ever after all this time!"

Amid the lively atmosphere,

Telamon laughed heartily as he stepped out from the crowd to warmly throw his arm around the muscular giant.

King Admetus walked over with a face equally full of smiles, pounding Heracles’s rock-solid chest with force while personally picking up a wine jar to pour him a drink.

Both men were old friends of the Heracles, having forged a deep friendship together while jointly hunting down rampaging monster beasts in the past.

Upon hearing that Thessaly was suffering from raids by the Gigantes, Heracles had traveled day and night, rushing over at top speed to render assistance.

With the three meeting again, a round of warm pleasantries was naturally unavoidable.

"Heracles, my child is about to be born soon, so since you happened to arrive, why not help me choose a name for him?"

Hearing his good friend Telamon’s request, Heracles glanced at the sky outside the hall.

A soaring eagle spiraling past made his eyes light up as an idea struck him instantly.

"Hey, Telamon, may your child be as agile as this soaring eagle.

How about naming him Ajax?"

Hearing such a wonderful meaning and blessing, Telamon gladly accepted, giving his bosom friend another tight embrace to express his gratitude on the spot.

Standing in the crowd,

Lorne listened to the conversation among the three, his eyes flickering subtly.

Telamon’s son, Ajax the Great—a hero of the Trojan War, famous for defending against the supposedly unstoppable thrown spear of Hector, the great hero of Troy, using a shield layered with seven hides over bronze.

Fate is still endlessly turning and moving forward.

’I wonder if I will ultimately be able to rewrite that so-called [Destiny] in the end.’

Lorne looked at Heracles, who had become the center of attention in the venue.

He originally intended to take advantage of the gap as the men finished their conversation to step forward and get acquainted with this child of destiny, making it easier for future planning.

Unexpectedly, as Heracles spotted him from afar, the giant beamed with a smile and actively walked over.

"Are you from Athens?"

Lorne nodded, asking with a smile.

"Is something the matter?"

"Nothing major," Heracles waved his hand slightly, speaking frankly.

"I just wanted to ask how that Dionysus is doing lately. Is he still on War God Mountain?"

Hearing his words, Lorne’s eyelids twitched as a surge of vigilance rose in his heart, feigning curiosity as he pressed further. "He has always been on War God Mountain. Why do you ask about these things?"

While waiting for an answer,

Lorne narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully observing the subtle shifts in expression on Heracles’s face.

In fact, after the Gods fell into slumber, he originally planned to take this child of destiny under his wing; or at the very least, heavily intervene to raise him in advance so he could become a sharp weapon against destiny.

However, after merely contacting his mother Alcmene once in secret and giving him the meaningful name Heracles, he felt a intense sensation of being watched, along with an indescribable constraint.

Clearly, his excessive interference had drawn the gaze of the Three Fates.

To be safe, Lorne had no choice but to terminate that dangerous probing and abandon the tempting plan of raising Heracles.

Since then, he also seemed to have lost his perception of Heracles, as if something was blocking his focus on this child of destiny.

Counting carefully, this was his third formal meeting with Heracles in decades.

Yet right upon meeting, the kid unexpectedly asked about Dionysus’s current situation out of nowhere, leaving Lorne personally somewhat alert for fear that the Three Fates were directing this behind the scenes.

At this moment, completely oblivious to the danger alarms ringing on the opposite side, Heracles scratched the back of his head and let out a hearty laugh.

"My mother said that back then, he and Queen Hera picked me up from the wilderness and brought me back to the city together, sparing me from death.

In the past, I was still young and busy with training, lacking the ability to travel alone, but now that I’ve grown up, I want to take the time to visit War God Mountain and offer my formal thanks to that benevolent Lord."

’So it was because of that?’

Hearing this, Lorne felt a slight sense of relief in his heart as a warm smile spread across his face.

"Alright, when I return to Athens,

I will certainly convey your gratitude to Lord Dionysus, and I’ll help ask him if he has time to meet you."

Heracles caught the implication in his words, looking at Lorne in surprise.

"Are you very close with Lord Dionysus?"

"Mm, I am a believer of the Dionysian Cult, as well as an apostle of that Lord."

Lorne smiled as he threw out an alternate identity, continuing to fool him.

Before confirming all of Heracles’s intentions and whether any danger existed, he did not plan to meet his little brother under his main identity for the time being, nor would he let him directly climb War God Mountain.

After all, too many secrets were buried there.

Whether it was the Sanctuary and the Eighty-Eight Star Palaces that touched upon the divine power of the sky, or his grandmaster Hecate imprisoned in the dungeon, these were all matters that absolutely could not see the light of day.

Who knew whether the eyes of the Three Fates were constantly resting on Heracles, so to play it safe, it was better to test this little brother a few more times.

At this point, hearing that the person before him seemed able to contact Dionysus directly, Heracles’s eyes lit up.

Seeing that no one was around, he pulled Lorne behind a pillar and lowered his voice. "Actually, I’ve also been troubled by something recently, and I wanted to ask him in person..."

"What is it? Tell me about it, as perhaps I can be of help."

Lorne asked with a smile as the affinity originating from [Rose] was quietly released.

Looking at the Dionysian apostle who felt strangely familiar before him, Heracles could not help speaking out the doubt in his heart.

"I want to know... is he actually my father?"

"Pfft—!"

Hearing these words, the mouthful of wine Lorne had just taken sprayed out instantly, his face filled with utter shock.

"Dionysus Lorne is your father?"

’I treat you as a brother, yet you want to be my son?’

’Isn’t the generational rank completely off? Great-grandson?’ (Lorne and Heracles’s maternal great-grandfather, Perseus, were brothers, so calling him that was not technically wrong.)

’Don’t tell me you also want to enact the traditional Greek dynamic of "filial comedy"?’

Lorne felt a quiet vigilance in his heart, unconsciously pulling back some distance from Heracles.

At this moment, the muscular giant scratched the back of his head, letting out a helpless, bitter smile.

"I’m not sure either, as this was told to me by a strange old woman I met on the road."

Saying that, he recounted his encounter with the old woman from the previous night, along with the advice she gave, entirely to the Dionysian apostle in front of him.

He then pulled out the bronze Gorgon badge engraved with his name from his shirt and handed it over.

For some unknown reason, the person before him made him feel immensely close and familiar, as if they had known each other for a very long time.

"So that’s what happened..."

Lorne rubbed the bronze badge in his hand, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

Seeing this, Heracles froze slightly.

"So, that Dionysus is indeed my father?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

The party involved—wearing a disguise, shook his head repeatedly, sternly rejecting the recognition of such a fine son.

Heracles furrowed his brow.

"So, that old woman was lying to me?"

"Not that either, as what she spoke was a symbolic metaphor rather than a biological relationship."

Lorne shook his head, explaining in a deep voice. "What the old woman meant was that if you regard Queen Hera as the mother who granted you new life and take her favor as your glory, then she believes Dionysus Lorne, who saved you alongside her back then, is the father who granted you new life.

Furthermore, that God might give you necessary assistance at critical moments, becoming your spiritual mentor."

After listening to the well-reasoned analysis from the person before him, Heracles came to a sudden realization.

Yet soon enough, a new doubt surged in his heart.

"Strange, why did she tell me all this?"

"The answer lies within the literal meaning from earlier, so you might as well guess."

"Could it be..."

Heracles thought briefly, snapping his head up in shock.

"Her Majesty Queen Hera?"

Seeing that he had grasped the answer, Lorne smiled and took his leave, giving Heracles some time to slowly think and digest it.

After all, they were not familiar with each other yet, and he had already slipped in a lot of personal agenda during the conversation just now.

Acting overly intimate could easily backfire, potentially even drawing the gaze of the Three Fates.

To hit a perfect ending in a raising game, what was needed most was patience.

Yet the moment Lorne turned his back, the smile on his face vanished instantly, grinding his teeth in dark annoyance.

’I act as the dad, you act as the mom, and you even managed to stuff a son to me along the way?’

’Was the last time on War God Mountain not enough trouble for you? If you want me to be a father that badly, I’ll make sure you get to be a mother properly next time!’

After venting a few complaints in his mind, Lorne calmed his composure slightly, a slight crease forming between his brows.

Triton and the two Mechanical Gods from Poseidon’s faction have arrived; Heracles from Zeus’s faction has arrived; the Gemini brothers from Apollo’s faction have arrived;

The Athena and Dionysus faction represented by myself has also arrived; even Hera seems interested in getting involved...

The situation in Thessaly was becoming increasingly complex, and it remained unclear what moves the Old Gods would make next, or whether this war would evolve into the destined [Gigantomachy].

Just as Lorne was pondering, he caught sight of the soaring eagle in the sky outside the city, which seemed unable to land for a long time.

In fact, more and more birds were bursting into the sky from the forest, letting out panicked cries.

’Something’s wrong—something is coming!’

Lorne became alert in an instant, yet before he had time to voice a warning, heavy, dull tremors of the earth spread all the way from outside the city toward the royal palace hall.

Wherever the tremors passed, walls collapsed and houses crumbled into utter ruin.

Dozens of towering, mountain-like, colossal figures crawled out from the fissures in the earth, marching into the city with sneering grins.

(End of Chapter)

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