Chapter 372: Simple, Won't It Be Settled if I Become the King?

At the same time, in Thessaly.

The city walls were collapsing, with corpses strewn across the ground.

Just as the steadily retreating god-blooded heroes thought today would be the final hour for Thessaly and themselves, a tragic, dazzling pale-silver lightning descended upon the battlements, revealing a majestic figure holding the Aegis and the scepter of thunderbolts.

An urge to prostrate in worship and the wild euphoria of surviving a catastrophe welled up within everyone’s hearts.

The guardian deity worshipped by Thessaly had finally arrived!

Zeus? How is this possible!

Didn’t that woman say he wouldn’t intervene?

Seeing this outside the city, Cronus was filled with disbelief.

Didn’t that woman state that he would not step in?

“Your Majesty, he has arrived. Our plan may have been exposed, and neither you nor Lord Typhon have fully recovered yet. To be safe, should we withdraw first?”

Squeezing out from among the Gigantes, Prometheus stepped forward to offer a cautious reminder.

However, Cronus’s gaze turned cold, grinding his teeth in rebuttal:

“So what? The Gods of Olympus are scattered across various lands, so how could they react so swiftly? Even if Zeus arrived first, it’s merely a bluff!”

Thinking of this, a sinister chill surfaced within his eyes.

“This is fine too—let’s take this chance to slaughter this wretched spawn together!”

With that, the Titan God King waved his hand to issue the command for an all-out assault, sending thousands of Gigantes and monster beasts surging toward the collapsed breach in the city walls in a grand formation.

Facing the monsters flooding in like a tide, Zeus atop the battlements raised the scepter of thunderbolts high and struck it against the ground, letting out a resounding roar. “Gods of Olympus, assemble here and sweep away the mighty foe!”

In an instant, stars flickered across the sky as beams of starlight plummeted before the city of Thessaly.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

The sharp whistles of tearing air rose continuously as javelins carved with divine runes fell like a dense meteor shower, blotting out the clouds and the sun.

The vanguard of monster beasts surging into the breach collapsed in swathes like wheat before a farmer’s scythe, pinned dead to the earth.

Immediately following, synchronized footsteps echoed from the distance like muffled thunder, unleashing an earth-shaking rumble.

Amid the rising smoke and dust, a formation wearing Spartan helms, holding bronze shields, and bristling with spears closed in along an intercepting arc, made up entirely of muscle-bound warriors radiating violent auras.

“No prisoners! No mercy!”

A pair of relatively slender twin brothers, holding swords and shields on opposite wings, raised their blades against their bucklers while roaring with raw fury.

Expertly overlapping their bronze shields, the soldiers thrust out their spears through the gaps, advancing with ruthless resolve.

After hacking and dismembering the metal constructs along their path, they impaled the remaining hundreds of stragglers into pincushions and hurled them out, firmly sealing most of the breach while peeling off detachments to the flanks to relieve their exhausted allies.

Like a rotating millstone, these flesh-and-blood bodies crushed every monster beast attempting to break the blockade into fine powder.

It made one wonder whether they were actually a pack of monsters clad in human skin.

“Castor and Pollux! It’s the Spartan reinforcements!”

Seeing the two familiar figures at the head of the ranks, King Admetus was overjoyed.

As if the loud shouting had drawn the enemy’s attention, flocks of wyverns took to the skies, diving straight toward King Admetus.

Yet before the beasts could close the distance, golden light-arrows rained from the sky, shooting down two-thirds of the wyvern host in an instant.

At the same time, hundreds of griffins flew out from the starlight, pouncing on the remaining wyverns to methodically cull these low-tier dragonkin.

Gazing at the familiar figure mounted atop the leading griffin, King Admetus felt a surge of emotion.

“Lord Apollo!”

His bosom friend had arrived as well.

“Demigods Royal Guard, assemble and charge!”

Invigorated, Admetus rallied his troops and heroes to charge out from the city gates, swinging their notched weapons with force to hack down monster after monster, preparing to rendezvous with the reinforcements.

Yet just as morale peaked, the Gigantes in the rear could hold back no longer.

Trampling the monster beasts blocking their path into meat paste, they swung tree trunks, mountain peaks, and other crude implements across the ranks, their crimson shockwaves sending severed limbs and broken torsos flying wherever they passed.

Flesh-and-blood mortal frames were ultimately too frail compared to the might of gods.

“By Athena above, with my shield I protect the city-state! With my sword I summon victory!”

Just as the Gigantes sought to push the battle lines forward, radiant figures resembling falling stars descended through the starlight.

Thousands of armored knights mounted on Pegasi, uniformly equipped with water-god-forged armaments, launched a concerted assault upon the Gigantes under the leadership of dozens of Saints.

Facing god-blooded warriors bolstered by Saint Cloths and riding Pegasi, those towering frames were reduced to lambs awaiting slaughter.

It’s the Pegasus Knights of Athens! And the Saints!

The reinforcements from War God Mountain are here too!

Guarding their king, Telamon and Caenis looked up to confirm the sight, letting out a collective sigh of relief.

Immediately after, smoke and dust rose along the forest line southeast of Mount Thessaly as the Hydra, sporting nine mountain-like serpentine heads, craned its necks to spit venom, flame, and frost, sweeping away the outer monster beasts and Gigantes across a wide area.

The serpent mother with purple-scaled coils on her lower half coalesced dense magical diagrams before her.

Amid rumblings outside the walls, the terrain altered drastically, with toxic swamps, falling boulders, and earthen spikes erupting in succession.

Nine Harpies whipped up howling gales, their spread wings acting like sharp guillotines as they pounced and tore, detonating bursts of fire along their path.

Faced with this purge by the original archetypes, the degraded monster beasts were routed, scattering in all directions under the terror of bloodline suppression.

A monster mutiny?

King Admetus froze for a moment, but upon seeing the two purple-haired goddesses commanding these offspring of Typhon, his heart settled completely.

—It’s Lady Athena and Lady Medusa!

It seems they have already subdued Typhon’s original offspring, turning them into aids for humanity!

At this moment, more and more starlight touched the ground as additional Main Gods, gods, and heroes arrived.

Fluttering transparent wings, battle nymphs followed the golden-horned deer chariot driven jointly by the Hunt Goddess Artemis and Atalanta, joining forces with the Amazon warriors under Queen Hippolyta to advance toward the main Thessalian battlefield.

Alchemical golems marched out from magical formations as Hermes alchemists arrived at the battlefield, surrounding their patron deity Hermes.

Raging waves swept in at an angle as Prince Triton sounded his conch horn to unveil his faction’s assets.

Dozens of pitch-black metal warships surfaced from the water, their decks lined with armored mechanical soldiers calibrating their spirit-fluid cannons.

The newly reinforced Mechanical Gods Apollo and Artemis also made their debut under Poseidon’s instructions.

Queen Hera, Hephaestus the Craft God, Demeter the Goddess of Agriculture, and other Main Gods arrived one after another…

Watching his own forces cut off and encircled alongside the endless stream of enemy reinforcements, Cronus’s face turned exceedingly grim.

Damn it, they actually prepared large-scale teleportation formations in advance!

Seeing the assured victory turn into an intricate deadlock where he could no longer swallow Thessaly in one bite, the former god-king became hesitant.

Attack? Or withdraw?

Having just issued the siege order, Cronus felt caught in a dilemma as he watched the stalemate unfold.

Just as the Titan God King wavered, a muffled roar of pain carried from across the Oceanus Sea.

“What happened?”

Startled, Cronus snapped his head around to ask.

Swallowing dryly, Prometheus answered in a hoarse voice.

“Your Majesty, Lord Typhon has been defeated…”

“So quickly? Tell that fool to hold the line!”

“He has already retreated.”

Prometheus cleared his throat, adding faintly. “Moreover, he left a message for you.”

“What is it?”

“We’ve been deceived!”

Hearing this, the last shred of wishful thinking within Cronus was extinguished.

He stirred his Earth Authority to disrupt the enemy lines while tearing open a fissure stretching dozens of leagues across the earth, roaring at his subordinates.

“Retreat! Fall back, quickly!”

Having suffered heavy losses, the Gigantes and monster beasts jumped into the fissure in a scramble upon hearing the order, fleeing this bloody purgatory.

Seeing that the retreating forces were barely two-thirds of their original number, Cronus pulverized a nearby giant tree into powder with a single punch, roaring in fury. “To dare play me for a fool! Zeus, just you wait!”

“And that woman—the next time I see her, she will be executed on the spot!”

Prometheus nodded repeatedly, dragging and pulling the near-berserk Titan God King into the subterranean rift.

As the allied forces of Gigantes and monster beasts receded like a tide, the exhausted Thessalians collapsed to the ground, their eyes filled with the relief of surviving disaster.

Won… we actually won!

King Admetus struggled to push himself up, quietly gazing at the weeping city and the corpse-littered plains outside.

With complex emotions, he walked toward the King of the Gods atop the battlements who had arrived at the critical juncture to turn the tide.

Regardless of everything,

His Majesty had ultimately extended a hand to Thessaly.

As subjects, they could only accept this belated divine grace and offer their solemn gratitude.

Yet before Admetus could reach him, the King of the Gods raised a hand, speaking with gravity.

“The war is not yet over. Gods, assemble at War God Mountain at once for council!”

With that, he stepped off the wall, his figure dissolving into the descending starlight.

The remaining gods on the battlefield followed suit along with their followers.

Left on the spot, the King of Thessaly paused in surprise.

Just as he opened his mouth, he, along with Telamon and Caenis beside him, were whisked away by the descending starlight.

After a brief trance, the patron gods and god-blooded heroes of every city-state gathered within the Great Temple of War God Mountain.

“Father God, the Old Gods have fully revived. What should we do next?”

Hephaestus, walking with a limp due to his straightforward nature, was the first to step forward and ask.

However, the King of the Gods in the hall shook his head, speaking leisurely:

“First, to correct one point—I am not him…”

The deep male voice transformed into a melodious female tone, and the majestic frame of the God King rippled like water, revealing a serene goddess holding a scroll and an iron stylus.

“Lady Mnemosyne? Why is it you?”

Looking at the Goddess of Memory who had abruptly appeared before them, the gods and heroes exchanged bewildered glances.

“Someone refused to come, so I could only come in his stead,” Mnemosyne answered flatly, crossing out a line of text in her book before looking up to add calmly, “Of course, the person who asked me to play this role was another…”

Memory was an Authority adept at roleplay and deception, especially when the target was harboring doubts and weak of will.

Sons know not their fathers, and fathers know not their sons.

After all these years, they remain the same; the moment a slight breeze stirs, fragile trust collapses completely.

Seeing their longed-for “Father God” turn into the Goddess of Memory, King Admetus, Telamon, and Caenis felt surprisingly little disappointment.

Replacing it was a sense of relief instead.

“Then, can you continue to play Father God and force the Gigantes to retreat?”

King Admetus asked cautiously, not forgetting to add a solemn guarantee.

“Of course, no matter what, the people of Thessaly are grateful for your aid and are willing to erect a temple of the highest specifications for you!”

Mnemosyne shook her head, gently shattering the petitioner’s illusion.

“Such deception only works when catching them off guard. Cronus is not that foolish.”

Hearing this, the hopeful light in King Admetus’s eyes dimmed.

It really won’t work, after all?

Then where will Thessaly go in the future without the protection of the Gods?

The three Thessalian heroes pressed their lips together, looking at one another with lost expressions.

Amid this oppressive atmosphere, the excitement of repelling the Old Gods faded from the gods’ faces, giving way to gloomy discussion.

“Not only Cronus, but Typhon has revived as well!”

“Thessaly was on the verge of destruction, yet he still refused to act. Just what is he thinking?”

“Must we wait until they lay waste to the mortal realm and march upon Olympus before he’s willing to lead us in resistance?”

Listening to the gods’ chatter, Hermes’s eyes flickered as he spoke cautiously. “How about I go plead with Father God?”

However, upon hearing Hermes’s suggestion, silence fell over the hall.

Most of them had participated in that rebellion, having long torn their faces with Zeus.

Once they bowed their heads to that God King, there was no telling if he would seize the chance to make excessive demands, or use this catastrophe to force the Three Fates to dissolve the covenant, restoring his absolute dominance.

Sensing the unspoken resistance of the gods, Hermes reminded them helplessly. “The other side has two Old God Kings and nine Titan Main Gods, yet we don’t even have a single God King. How are we supposed to win?”

Just as the atmosphere turned bleak, a fair hand pushed open the heavy doors of the temple, striding inside gracefully:

“Simple—won’t it be settled if I become the King!”

At the same time, a pitch-black, hideous dragon head was tossed into the hall—none other than the head of Typhon, the Father of Monsters.

The gods were startled at first, then turned their collective gaze toward that Shepherd of Humanity who had just emerged from a brutal battle, their restless and anxious hearts settling into an inexplicable calm.

Indeed, the human realm had a King of its own!

(End of Chapter)