The Greece Antagonist

Outside the window, the night was dense.

The thick power of faith spilled out from each slumbering Minosian, converging crazily towards a small house from all directions.

Inside the house, on the bed, a deity was meditating quietly with closed eyes, as the tangible power of faith turned into golden divine liquid with his every breath, pouring into the space within his heart.

In the vast world, a massive halo turned in the sky with a humming noise, scattering the cold and darkness, bringing warmth and light, and then illuminating the babbling streams and dense forests on the ground.

However, regrettably, of the twelve facets of the light wheel, only two areas were glowing, casting the shadowy images of a golden bull and an azure unicorn whale.

Therefore, most of the world was still shrouded in chaos.

The incoming golden divine liquid, as if guided, poured into the third facet of the light wheel, tumultuously gathering in an attempt to sketch out a new holy spirit in that void.

Yet, despite repeated attempts, that vague shadow merely had a form without spirit.

As the rooster crowed at dawn, Luo En on the bed gathered the surrounding power of faith into his body, and then slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a long turbid breath with an expression of regret.

It had failed again...

Indeed, forming a divine incarnation wasn't just about piling up sheer strength.

The rules, or rather the authority that the gods possessed, was the crucial soul.

That meant he would have to keep targeting those relatives from Olympus, and continue shearing their wool.

Today was the day to judge Poseidon, and thinking of the imminent encounter with those adorable relatives, Luo En couldn't help but lick his somewhat dry lips, feeling a faint sense of anticipation.

The twelve facets corresponded exactly to the twelve points on a die.

Luo En estimated that if he could fill those voids, having twelve divine incarnations, he might manage to advance and ascend to chief god, thereby illuminating the next ring of the light wheel.

Through the edge's light, he noticed that the next stage wasn't twelve blank areas, but double that number: a whopping twenty-four!

And if he progressed even further?

Thirty-six or forty-eight?

Due to insufficient information, Luo En couldn't estimate.

But he believed that as long as he could keep devouring divinity and complete his transformation, one day he would pull the gods down from their pedestals, himself standing above the hosts, and unify all as the true King of All Kings!

At that moment, a gentle knock came from outside the door.

Upon opening the door, there was the Goddess of the Hearth who had just prepared breakfast. She was wearing an apron, waving a soup ladle, and revealing a radiant smile.

"It's time to eat. Today I made your favorite lamb chops!"

Luo En nodded and walked to the door, ready to step out of the bedroom, but inexplicably stopped in his tracks, and asked in a solemn tone.

"Why me?"

Hestia was slightly startled, then slapped her forehead in realization.

"You mean attending this council of divine powers on my behalf?"

"Just this one time?" Luo En responded, seriously scrutinizing the Goddess of the Hearth before him.

"Haha, you caught me. From now on, all the troublesome matters that Olympus needs me to handle, you can substitute for me!"

Hestia, having her thoughts read, scratched her head and showed an embarrassed but polite grin, candidly laying out her future plans.

Luo En raised an eyebrow and asked with a half-smile.

"Aren't you afraid that Athena and I will join forces and turn all of Olympus upside down?"

"Not afraid!"

Hestia shook her head firmly, with an earnestness on her cute face that had never been seen before.

This sudden seriousness caught Luo En off guard, and he involuntarily wanted to clarify the joke he just made.

However, Hestia shook her head again, revealing that radiant smile.

"You don't need to tell me what you want to do. Some things, if I am unable to make the decision, might as well be left to someone capable."

Then, the Goddess of the Hearth paused for a moment, gazed seriously at the face before her, and pondered each word she said.

"Because I believe, everything you do will make this world a better place!"

"..."

Luo En's heart trembled, and he fell into a long silence, looking at Hestia with a gaze that was astonished and also a bit shocked.

She had actually discerned his true intent, something not even Athena might have been able to guess correctly!

He no longer understood whether the Goddess of the Hearth before him was truly intelligent or if she had stumbled upon the truth by sheer luck.

Or perhaps, it was a bit of both?

"Let's go, eat first!"

Her cheerful voice interrupted Luo En's whirlwind of thoughts, that radiant and pretty face wearing the same naive and charming smile as always, seemingly able to melt away all darkness and scheming. A fair hand reached out to him.

With a sigh, Luo En helplessly extended his own hand and was obediently dragged by Hestia toward the dining hall.

In this confrontation, the plotting side was utterly defeated.

Because sincerity was indeed the greatest trump card.

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An earnest breakfast was rich and delicious; Athena and Luo En ate their fill before reluctantly setting down their utensils. They left the house with the pastries Hestia had prepared for them and boarded their chariots.

"Wait for me to return!"

Like a departing husband instructing his wife to keep the house, Luo En left these softly spoken instructions; then he cracked the reins, and the divine horses "Xanthus" and "Balius" neighed in unison. Striding forward, they pulled the bronze chariot behind them, turning into a dazzling meteor racing through the sky, closely following Athena's golden chariot, heading straight for Olympus amidst the stars.

The whooshing wind echoed in their ears as the view on the ground swiftly receded and shrank.

After about several hours of racing as if lightning-struck, breaking through the twinkling stars and pervasive mist, the two chariots descended from the clouds, arriving at a vast and majestic square.

As the Titans were born immense in size, the architecture here was even more imposing and magnificent than the temples in the mortal world, sending forth a majestic and boundless aura that involuntarily filled the hearts of onlookers with fear and awe.

As the chariots came to a halt, Luo En followed Athena's indication and accompanied the Goddess of Wisdom toward the Great Temple, which stood like a massive mountain in the distance.

"Excuse me, coming through!"

However, barely a few steps later, a flurry of hurried shouts approached from ahead.

A figure wearing a winged cap, flying shoes, and carrying a caduceus with two serpents, darted over from afar like a whirlwind, advancing hastily.

Seeing this, Athena promptly pulled Luo En aside to clear the way, while softly instructing.

"Keep an eye on your pockets."

Upon hearing this, Luo En instinctively grew wary of the youth with a smile on his face, hastily casting several protective spells on himself and further distancing himself.

After Athena's reminder and the man's signature attire, his identity was unmistakable.

The legendary ancestor of thieves, the god of thieves and swindlers, Hermes, the God of Speed.

As Luo En reacted, the distant shouting further confirmed his guess.

"Damn cattle thief, stop right there!"

His old acquaintance, Apollo, was in hot pursuit, his face turning ashen with anger as he failed to catch up with Hermes's speed, his chest heaving violently.

"I've told you, it wasn't me! Those bull's broken teeth, having lost much of their spirit, aren't worth much, only you value them like treasures! What do I want with them?"

"You know so much about it, yet you claim it wasn't you. You lie through your teeth, thief, give back what you stole!"

Enraged, Apollo immediately drew his bow and loosed a flurry of arrows at the erratically darting Hermes.

But before the arrows could reach him, a gust of wind rose around Hermes, blowing the incoming arrows away.

As the God of Extreme Speed, Hermes might not be able to best Apollo head-on, but when it came to running and saving his skin, he was confident that there were few in Olympus who could catch him.

"Bang!"

However, before he could revel in his escape, a golden net cascaded from the sky, ensnaring him tight.

Suddenly, Hermes's jubilation turned to dismay as he was wrapped up like a dumpling and heavily crashed to the ground.

"What about the ore, divine artifacts, and a box of jewels from my warehouse? Hand them over!"

Craftsman God Hephaestus, with his rough appearance and limping on one leg, was brandishing a large forging hammer, furiously confronting the downed thief.

"Divine artifacts? What divine artifacts?"

"The wings crafted by Daedalus! I barely managed to collect the fragments and had restored them."

"A mere mortal's creation? What do I want with that broken thing? It's neither edible nor sellable!"

"Still trying to deny it!"

At that moment, hearing the dispute between the victim and the accused, Luo En's eyelid twitched, and without any desire to stop and watch the drama, he immediately quickened his pace.