Chapter 373: Come On, Pay with Your Body!

Seeing the hall fall into silence, Lorne nodded internally and then, under the watchful eyes of the gods, he strode into the temple and took the seat belonging to Hestia.

Seeing this, Queen Hera and Artemis stepped forward as if nothing had happened, swiftly claiming the seats to his left and right to squeeze Lorne into an impromptu sandwich.

Watching their practiced maneuvers, Athena, who was following right behind Lorne through the doors, felt her face darken, complaining incessantly in her heart.

We were partners collaborating in the Great Temple just moments ago, so how did the ship of friendship capsize so casually?

You’re not even bothering to act anymore, are you?

Fortunately, the Goddess of Wisdom still possessed an ardent ambition for her career.

After venting a few brief gripes, she took the seat originally belonging to her, calling upon the assembled gods to take their places.

Since this was a war between New and Old Gods, all Twelve Main Gods of Olympus were naturally invited.

Among them, aside from Lorne, Athena, Hera, and Artemis, five other Main Gods formally attended: Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, Apollo, the God of Light, Hephaestus, the God of Fire, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, and Hermes, the God of Swiftness.

Poseidon, the Sea God did not show his face, sending Prince Triton to attend in his stead;

Zeus refused to cooperate, so Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory and one of the Twelve Titans, stepped in to fill the vacancy;

Meanwhile, Ares the War God was absent for unspecified reasons, leaving his seat vacant, which led King Admetus of Thessaly to be granted an exceptional seat to sit in on the proceedings.

After all, Thessaly was the primary target of the Gigantes’ assault and harbored a vast assembly of god-blooded heroes within its walls, making it necessary to heed the counsel of these city defenders and grant them a certain degree of voice.

Originally, there had been a far more suitable candidate for this seat: Heracles, the great hero whose fame resounded across Greece.

Yet during the recent battle against the Gigantes, even as Thessaly stood on the brink of falling, the future God of Strength had failed to make an appearance.

With all twelve seats formally occupied, Athena waved her hand to invoke the Authority of the [Labyrinth], shifting all unlisted personnel out of the grand hall before clapping her hands to declare the official commencement of the Divine Council.

“Everyone, regarding how we shall repel the invasion of the Old Gods, let us hear your respective thoughts first.”

Apollo spoke directly: “Sparta employs an elite-force doctrine, leaving only limited troops to spare, and we must also counter threats originating from the sea…”

“Typhon came from the Sea of Chaos, which has nothing to do with us,” Triton, speaking on Poseidon’s behalf, passed the buck immediately before casting a sidelong glance at King Admetus of Thessaly, adding coolly, “Furthermore, affairs on land do not fall under the jurisdiction of our Sea God Temple…”

Hermes’s eyes darted about, a troubled expression surfacing on his face. “I only just took over Corinth, and the defensive works have barely begun…”

Hearing their excuses, the straightforward Hephaestus could not help snorting coldly. “Then I shall only be responsible for Sicily and the volcanic islands in the outer waters of Oceanus…”

Watching the Main Gods state their positions one after another, Athena and Lorne exchanged a glance, a mocking gleam flashing in their eyes.

Sure enough, ever since the battle of Olympus, these Main Gods, freed from Zeus bearing down upon them, had grown unruly in their ambitions.

Even when facing a full-scale offensive by the Old Gods, they only wished to safeguard their own petty domains, unwilling to submit to another’s command.

Yet with this mindset of sweeping the snow before one’s own door while ignoring the frost on another’s roof, how could they hope to rival the unified army of the Old Gods?

Bang!

Hera slammed her hand against the table and stood up, an icy fury surfacing on her elegant face.

“What time do you think it is, that you are still brooding over self-preservation?! Do you wish for your sacred domains to become the next Golden Apple Garden? Or do you wish to end up like me?”

Hearing this, the gods froze, deep clouds of gloom rising in their eyes.

It had to be admitted that the allied Father of Monsters Typhon and God King Cronus could easily sweep across more than half of Greece by sheer brute force.

If they chose to fight alone, even with the empowerment of their sacred domains, faith, and temples, they would be utterly outmatched by those ancient monsters, destined to be crushed and picked off one by one.

“Regardless of what you decide, I and all the city-states under my banner will obey the strategic arrangements of War God Mountain!”

Having spoken, Hera sat down with a cold face as if displeased with the gods’ selfishness, though she covertly cast an implicit, sultry glance toward her young lover.

Feeling the heat in that gaze,

Lorne’s scalp went numb, his half back twitching faintly.

Great, looks like I’ll be working overtime again tonight.

“Me as well! Whether the elite troops of Arcadia or the warriors of the Amazons, they are at the disposal of War God Mountain at any time!”

On the other side, Artemis swiftly rose to declare her stance.

Her words were directed at Athena, but her eyes involuntarily drifted toward the man beside her.

“After all, were it not for Dionysus’s timely aid, Arcadia would have fallen long ago to the beast tide unleashed by Typhon.”

Listening to that high-sounding gratitude, Lorne felt his lower half twitching even more violently.

Right, a double shift tonight…

“Count me in as well. If necessary, I will do my utmost to muster the active forces of my sacred domain to follow War God Mountain’s lead. Correspondingly, however, War God Mountain must also extend a hand when my domain faces crisis, confronting the enemy together.”

Another figure rose from his seat, following suit to declare his stance.

Hearing that well-reasoned request, Lorne nodded slightly, though upon seeing Apollo’s handsome face, he felt an instinctive clench in his core.

Surely this one won’t require me to work overtime, right?

At this moment, seeing Queen Hera, who once held half the authority on Olympus, along with the heavyweights like Artemis and Apollo siding with War God Mountain, the remaining Main Gods declared their positions one by one.

“The Eleusinian Mysteries can provide a thousand personnel to maintain grain production across the city-states.”

“The giants of Sicily and I can forge whatever divine constructs and armaments you require.”

“Cyprus’s spices, mineral resources, and maritime outlets can be mobilized at any moment.”

“Of the Hermes-sect astrologers and alchemists, I can only spare three hundred; mustering greater strength will have to wait until I stabilize Corinth’s defenses.”

Demeter the Goddess of Agriculture, Hephaestus the God of Fire, Aphrodite the Goddess of Love, and Hermes the God of Swiftness offered their responses in turn.

.

.

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Meanwhile, as the sole god-blooded mortal in the hall, King Admetus of Thessaly rose, pressed a hand to his chest, and bowed deeply to the gods, tactfully displaying the utmost humility and resolve. “Were it not for the mercy of the Gods, Thessaly would have fallen long ago. Our lives were snatched from death’s jaws; we no longer care for life or death, and are willing to fight to the very last breath for victory!”

Out of the twelve seats, War God Mountain already commanded three votes through Athena the Goddess of Wisdom, Dionysus Lorne, and Mnemosyne the Goddess of Memory.

With the backing of seven Main Gods including Hera and Artemis, alongside a mortal king, only the faction of Poseidon the Sea God remained silent.

As gaze after gaze converged upon him, Triton, attending on behalf of his father Poseidon, broke into a cold sweat.

He felt that if he did not agree today, he might very well never walk out of these doors alive.

Finally, after a brief wait, the conch shell held tightly within his palm emitted a peculiar vibration.

Having received his father’s response, the merman prince leapt up from his seat as if his rear were on fire, speaking decisively:

“The Sea God Temple is also willing to join, jointly resisting the resurgence of the Old Gods! However, we request that once everything concludes, a tract of land be granted to the Sea God Temple.”

Lorne and Athena exchanged a glance, nodding faintly.

The old Sea King wants a domain of faith—understood, a very reasonable demand.

At worst, once the Old God alliance is shattered, we can carve out a piece of Zeus’s territory and toss it to

His Majesty the Sea King.

Naturally, the closer to Mount Olympus, the better…

Having made up their minds, the two leaders of War God Mountain wore matching, scheming smiles on their faces.

Seeing the other party agree so readily to the Sea God Temple’s conditions, Triton wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, breathing a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

“Then we have no further objections, and are willing to heed War God Mountain’s deployments.”

With the resolution for alliance passing unanimously,

Lorne, now the uncrowned king, rose without hesitation to state his strategic assessment in a deep voice:

“At present, the Old Gods consist of two forces: one is the Gigantes led by Cronus and the nine Titan Main Gods, while the other is Typhon and the monstrous army under his banner. Their vectors of attack are essentially two.

“First, centered on Typhon, using that Father of Monsters’ divine nature to unleash typhoons and tsunamis, advancing inland from the sea while multiplying monster beasts along the way to slaughter all life on land.

“Second, centered on Cronus, utilizing the Earth Authority to trigger earth tremors, capturing Thessaly, and using that ancient battlefield as a staging ground to reconstruct the Titan divine order, storming the sacred Mount Olympus to overturn heaven and earth.

“Therefore, our defensive priorities actually boil down to only two.”

Athena narrowed her eyes slightly, speaking thoughtfully.

“The coastline of the Peloponnese peninsula, and… Thessaly?”

“Precisely!”

Lorne nodded gravely.

Gathering starlight, he projected a rough topographical map of the Greek Age of Gods and the distribution of divine factions across the table, offering a direct walkthrough to the assembly. “The coastline of the Peloponnese peninsula is long and winding, making it the most suitable vector of attack in theory. Yet what makes it advantageous also makes it a double-edged sword…”

He paused briefly, turning toward Triton with a radiant smile:

“The Oceanus Sea is His Majesty Poseidon’s domain—how could an Old God be permitted to run rampant across it?”

We fight Typhon? Are you serious?

Catching the underlying implication, the merman prince’s eyes bulged as cold sweat beaded across his forehead.

What kind of joke was this?

Back during the war against Typhon, his father had been battered black and blue by Typhon, nearly getting crippled in the process.

Granted, due to the covenant of destiny, the Authorities and divine natures of the Gods had been downgraded to varying degrees, but an unwinnable fight was still an unwinnable fight, wasn’t it?

Noticing Triton’s visibly unnatural complexion, Lorne pressed his hands downward in mid-air, offering a reassuring smile.

“Do not worry. My intention is merely for His Majesty the Sea King to quietly calm the storms and tsunamis across the sea and disperse the beast tide gathered by Typhon, without needing to engage him in a frontal clash.”

I see, that’s manageable then…

Hearing the specific mission requirements, Triton sighed in relief.

Though the Sea God Temple dared not clash head-on with Typhon, subduing storms and scattering sea beasts remained well within their capabilities.

After all, they were the overlords of the Oceanus Sea; having served as the undisputed local powers for so many years, they still retained considerable means.

What was more, Father God Poseidon kept trump cards like the Bronze Race and the Twelve Mechanical Gods hidden up his sleeve; at worst, they could deploy them to handle the rampaging sea beasts.

Seeing Triton’s expression soften, Lorne added fuel to the fire.

“Naturally, to ensure safety, we will construct sea walls along the Peloponnese peninsula and establish teleportation formations across each city-state. Should the situation take a turn, we will immediately assemble the gods and mobilize military forces from nearby coastal cities such as Corinth, Sparta, Athens, and Cyprus to reinforce the Sea God Temple!”

Recalling the Gods and reinforcements descending like heavenly warriors during the battle of Thessaly, Triton felt his heart lighten further.

Lorne nudged Typhon’s severed dragon head by his feet, an aura of pride surfacing on his face.

“You only need to hold back the beast tide and prevent the catastrophe from spreading. When the critical moment comes, I shall take action!”

Gazing upon the hideous black dragon head on the floor, all hesitation vanished from Triton’s heart as he nodded decisively. “Good! Leave the matters at sea to us!”

Lorne patted the merman prince on the shoulder, his smile exceptionally warm, though a trace of mockery danced deep within his eyes.

Taking action is one thing, but defining what constitutes a ‘critical moment’ is another.

At the very least, we must wait until the old Sea King reveals his assets and bleeds a proper amount first.

After all, having heard the account from Mechanical God Aphrodite, he harbored immense curiosity toward that hidden trump card held by the Sea God Temple.

Seeing the maritime threat properly addressed, the assembled gods were equally pleased.

Holding the enemy beyond their borders and containing all fighting and destruction within the Oceanus Sea was undeniably the most optimal outcome.

After all, neither sacred domains nor domains of faith were easy to maintain.

If the city-states they had painstakingly constructed were reduced to ruins, their losses would prove catastrophic.

Furthermore, their plans to use faith to overtake the curve within three hundred years, strengthen their Authorities, and evade Zeus’s future reckonings would be strangled in the cradle, leaving them no choice but to return obediently to Olympus and offer humble apologies to that God King.

With the first agenda item smoothly settled, Lorne tapped on the table, his expression growing solemn.

“Now then, let us discuss the matter of Cronus and the Gigantes.”

Hearing this, the gods could not help frowning.

Unlike Typhon at sea, the Gigantes, capable of tearing open the earth at any moment to assail cities, were a dagger pointed at their throats.

Moreover, War God Mountain had proactively turned and gathered the scattered spawn of Typhon beforehand, leaving a void in the mid-to-high-tier combat strength of the monster army; thus, keeping an eye on Typhon alone resolved most of the problem.

The Gigantes were different.

As ancient Titan bloodlines, there were as many as a hundred and fifty named gods among their ranks alone.

To say nothing of the fact that they were currently commanded by Cronus the Titan God King and nine Titan Main Gods.

Recently, they had liberated Prometheus the Forethinker and Atlas the Sky-Bearer, sacked Hera’s Sacred Garden, and sacrificed the Golden Apple Tree of [Immortality], further elevating their collective might.

Facing the Gigantes alone now presented a trial no less daunting than the ancient Titanomachy.

Amid the brief silence, Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory who once held the Authority of Prophecy, spoke leisurely. “According to the revelation of the Three Fates, if we wish to emerge victorious in this battle against the Gigantes, we require a figure of absolute consequence.”

“Who?”

“The Child of Destiny—Heracles!”

Hearing this name, the gods furrowed their brows, their eyes flickering with varied thoughts.

(End of Chapter)