Chapter 67 Unwilling

"You used it very well, didn't you, Hermes?"

"I had a feeling something was off for a while, and it turns out it was this kid."

Artemis's complaining voice came from behind, and Hermes looked over.

She knew that Artemis, who harbored the same secret as her, would come, but she never expected that Artemis would be accompanied by the goddess of the underworld, who resided in the underworld.

When Hermes's avatar was on Earth handing over her mission to Thanatos, the god of death, she occasionally overheard him mentioning this goddess whom even Zeus, the king of the gods, treated with some respect.

—It's strange that Hecate is always inseparable from that bastard Eris. Have you seen them together? The sight of them standing side by side is more terrifying than any legend I've heard in the human world.

Perhaps it was because they had once helped Zeus kill his own people.

That may have been Thanatos's unintentional remark, but it easily stirred ripples in the still waters of Hermes's heart.

Because it reminded her of the reign of Cronus, when the second generation of gods were rampant.

Hecate was born in that era.

As for Eris, whose parents were both creator gods... Hermes instinctively felt aversion to this ominous daughter of conflict, even though she had praised Eris to her face without reservation, she could never forget how insane Eris had been before that.

Eris never concealed her contempt for Hermes's origins and her curses against the Olympian gods to whom she belonged.

According to Thanatos, this same Eris chose to join Hecate in siding with the Olympian gods, and even imprisoned the opposing Titans—from their own race—the old men who survived the great war, in the unfathomable abyss of Tartarus.

Do these two goddesses, with their ambiguous attitudes and formidable strength, also harbor some unspeakable secrets?

Hermes greeted Artemis and Hecate, her gaze fixed intently on the latter.

Hecate paid no attention to Hermes's obviously probing gaze and raised her hand toward the bronze triangular cauldron behind Apollo.

"..."

Hecate's expression was serious, as if she had discovered something important.

The next moment, the flames that had been extinguished inside the bronze triangular cauldron reignited, and the dark blue flames forcefully suppressed the burst of green light.

It was as if they were peeling away the false exterior to pull out the key representing the truth from the core.

Everyone saw Pan crawl out of the bronze triangular cauldron. His appearance, half-god and half-goat, changed from docile to ferocious. He was panting heavily in anger, his sharp fangs trembling, as if he would rush forward and tear all the gods here to shreds at any moment.

You shouldn't have done that.

His violet eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty red, and his voice was deep and hoarse, as if the monster's soul, which had twice trapped Hermes in illusions, was controlling this body.

"How dare you lowly ants repeatedly thwart my plans?"

It turned out that the monster had never left Pan's body; he had been hiding here, lurking among the new generation of Olympian gods.

Especially Hermes, the goddess favored by Gaia.

The monster kicked the bronze triangular cauldron, a sacred artifact crafted by Themis, the righteous goddess, and Helios, the sun god, and presented to Apollo, which was easily reduced to nothingness by his power.

And he continued to blaspheme Hermes with his dark gaze.

Even though the true will of the body's owner was confusing his mind, preventing him from pouring all his jealousy and hatred into her, the muddy, ugly darkness still engulfed Hermes, making her tremble with fear like a leech clinging to her bones.

If Hecate hadn't intervened tonight, Hermes dared not imagine what would have happened next.

She had not figured out the monster's true purpose, nor did she have the power to defeat it, even though she was one of the twelve Olympian gods.

"Lord of Cilicia, you despicable creature!" Hermes suppressed her inner tension and fear, mustered her courage, and stepped forward to confront the monster a few steps away. "Why have you been occupying my son's body and harming innocent humans? What is your purpose?"

The monster stared at her coldly, its pupils bulging like those of a wild beast.

Is he thinking?

Did he really want to kill her?

Apollo's voice came from beside him: "It's obvious he wants to destroy everything."

Hermes then realized that Apollo was standing close to her, just as he had done countless times before. Even without holding hands, the two gods could feel each other's warmth.

And—intense emotions.

The monster suddenly flew into a rage, opened its blood-red maw, and launched a fierce attack with its long, black tongue.

Hermes reacted swiftly, pulling Apollo to the other side and dodging the monster's attack, which was covered in sticky venom.

But the monster's pursuit did not end there.

Familiar black feathers fell rapidly, blocking all escape routes from all directions.

At the same time, Apollo used his divine power to create a protective shield, enveloping himself and Hermes in golden light. This power of the god of light could ward off all evil in the world, just as it could heal all unbearable wounds.

Hecate, already understanding the situation, led Artemis and Pythia to hide among the floating waves in the air, thus avoiding the monster's attacks.

"Watch out! Hermes, Apollo!"

As the crows cawed and flapped their wings, flying away from the temple and into the higher sky, Typhoon, enraged, laughed and roared, shattering the damned Temple of Light.

He changed his mind and thus stopped mingling with the Olympian gods like an idiot, even though it disobeyed His command and this desperate act would bring about his own demise.

"Hahahaha! I should have done this a long time ago! Why should I be confined to that damned cage? No one can stop me! No one can defeat me!"

Amidst the monster's maniacal laughter, Hermes could not hide her terror, for not only was the Temple of Light destroyed, but the ground beneath her feet was also trembling violently.

It felt as if the ground would crack open at any moment, plunging these gods, who had barely managed to survive the monster's attack, into the depths of hell.

He seemed to want to imprison them in the abyss of Tartarus.

He didn't even want to let go of the two serpent spirits on Hermes' scepter—his children.

"Tsk."

Amidst the screams of the serpent spirits, Hermes heard the voice of Apollo.

“It seems that Athena doesn’t need to inform Father God of this news.” Hermes smiled, but was clearly very distracted. “The gods must know by now.”

While Apollo was doing his best to maintain the protective shield, he glanced at the girl beside him.

"These shouldn't be your last words, right, little genius?" he asked.

"Haha, you're right, that's definitely not my style."

Hermes stroked her belly, just as the monster was staring intently at her, she was also staring intently at him.

"After all, how could I possibly die because of such a disgusting guy?"

Hermes expelled the scepter she had long possessed from her belly. As her fingers touched the crackling sphere, she grinned with delight, holding two different sacred objects in her hands under the monster's gaze.

One belonged to Zeus, and the other to her.

"You did it anyway." Hecate's sigh came from the air.

But Hermes didn't have time to pay attention to Hecate's inexplicable words.

She pushed off Apollo's protective shield with her feet, and in an instant, countless versions of herself, imbued with the natural power of the Earth Goddess, rushed straight towards the treacherous monster.

Apollo spared half of his healing power to surround them, protecting the goddess girl who always did unexpected things.

He had clearly told her that the thunder scepter she had swallowed wasn't real.

But now, even if it was fake...

Apollo's eyes darkened.

Hermes never doubted whether she could truly master the thunderous power belonging to the Supreme God-King, because she could do it if she wanted to.

Because after breaking through the protective shield, even when the seemingly light but actually heavy black feathers landed on her, they did not harm her in the slightest.

Moreover, Gaia had instructed her to eliminate this wicked fellow.

She had always protected her, even if it wasn't for her sake.

The serpent spirits screamed as they departed from the top of her scepter, their target the monster's vulnerable neck and eyes.

Yes, she noticed; those evil, beastly eyes were unusual.

Those monstrous eyes that manipulate illusion after illusion.

"Damn it, get out of here..."

Typhoeos slowly opened his blood-red eyes, which reflected the image of Hermes raising two scepters and smashing them down on him.

He had considered that she might be able to deflect his attack.

But when she actually did it, he still felt heartbroken.

"Get away from me!!!"

Because of that familiar green glow emanating from its entire body—

"Get out of Pan's body!"

—It was clearly the goddess who had ruined him to this point.

Typhoeos's eyes blazed with flames, driving back the two serpent spirits that had betrayed him. But they still relentlessly coiled themselves around his neck and waist, and the powerful force of nature gradually shattered his already volatile mind.

At the same time, countless goddesses of nature, who could no longer tolerate his destructive power, surrounded him.

He couldn't even tell which one was the true form of the cunning goddess.

So when the two scepters, imbued with supreme divine power, swiftly and accurately pierced his eyes, he instinctively let out a muffled groan and took a few steps back.

Immediately afterwards, streams of dark red blood flowed from his eyes, which had lost their sight and illusionary abilities.

"It hurts...it hurts so much..."

Typhoeos tried to control himself from roaring out in grief and anger again, but he still felt sad and wanted to tell someone about his pain.

Why, why did they have to do this to me?

Mother.

Mother.

My beloved mother—

Typhoeos could no longer see anything around him, but his other senses became much more acute as a result.

After Hermes pulled out the two scepters, Typhoon finally left Pan's body unwillingly and quietly went to his new place of rest.

He was afraid that his scheming and ruthless mother would really kill him at this moment.

Otherwise, he wouldn't understand why she gave all her power to this goddess who should have been no match for him.

Tiphios remained resentful.

...

Hermes looked at Pan lying at her feet—this time the real Pan, whose eyes, along with Typhoon's, had been destroyed along with his senses, and who was now lying unconscious amidst the ruins, his body a mess.

Overwhelmed with mixed emotions, she remained silent for a moment before retrieving the two scepters.

After the mission was completed, her clones disappeared one by one.

Apollo walked back to Hermes' side. After a few seconds of thought, he clearly understood why she hadn't completely destroyed Typhoon.

Because that great master wouldn't allow it.

Hecate, along with Artemis and Pythia, stepped out from the floating waves in the air.

Artemis gave Hecate a strange look and took out another thunder scepter that she had found in Cilicia.

“Perhaps you should explain this to us.” Artemis did not mention that Hecate had stopped her from helping Hermes earlier.

Because of the years of nurturing she had received, Artemis had no desire to doubt the powerful goddess of the moon.

“They are indeed all fake, illusions created by the Lord of Cilicia, perhaps to bewitch the gods.” Hecate’s gaze swept over the backs of Hermes and Apollo, her eyes filled with complex emotions as she spoke. “After all, the real one has already been destroyed.”

"You should take action, Zeus."

Upon hearing the name of the God-King, everyone finally reacted and turned to look at the most noble king in the world who had come shrouded in the dark night and moonlight.

A tall, imposing figure with blond hair and blue eyes slowly stepped into the ruins created by the monster.

Behind him, jet-black crows cawed and flew toward the highest point of the mountain, where the Muses, who had witnessed everything, were waiting.

Good night, Your Majesty the God-King.

"Father God."

Pythia, Artemis, and Apollo all made their moves, but Hermes remained standing still, staring blankly as Zeus walked towards her.

Apollo tried to pull Hermes behind him, but Zeus's piercing gaze made his restless right hand freeze at his side.

“I intended to wait a few more days until Hermes and Apollo returned from the underworld after completing the mission assigned by Hera.”

Zeus stood before Hermes and Apollo, wearing a red robe adorned with gold and diamonds, but his golden head was not adorned with the crown that symbolized royal power as usual.

He looked down at his children with a calm expression, taking in the fleeting surprise on Hermes' face.

It turns out that His Majesty the God-King had always known what his noble wife was thinking.

Is that something like a couple working together to achieve great things? Were the so-called Hera camp and Zeus camp not originally independent of each other?

Hermes found it absurd.

But she could clearly sense that Hera and Zeus each harbored their own ambitions.

“The three Cyclops left me some leeway when they first forged the weapon for me, so there’s no need to worry, my children.” Zeus suddenly smiled and reached out his hand to Hermes. “Then return it to me, Hermes, my most beloved child.”

Hermes was stunned again.

"As a reward, I will heal the severely injured Pan and grant you the power to share the power of thunder with me."

"You used it very well, didn't you, Hermes?"