Chapter 925: Ch 924: Checkmate, Zeus

Somewhere in an outer universe belonging to Little Garden, in the heart of a thriving modern city, there was a "not exactly legit" massage parlor.

Inside it, a muscular red-haired young man with a towel around his waist and a body straight out of a Greek sculpture was clutching his forehead and groaning in agony.

At the same time, a contemptuous sneer rang out in his head.

"My boy, why do you think you slipped past Athena and Hephaestus so easily? Why do you think you got out of Little Garden and into this outer universe?"

"Did you really think I wouldn't guess you were planning to run to the outer worlds and dodge the war over the changing of the kings?"

"Too sweet. Far, far too sweet, Ares!"

Ares dropped to his knees with a thud, hands pressed to his skull, tears and snot running down his face. "Father, please, have mercy. I'll never do it again!"

"As expected. I put you on the War God's throne, and you still haven't shaken off being a useless waste. Even Hermes is more use than you. At least he knows how to keep me happy. And being the messenger has its perks, you know."

The voice in his head delivered all this with cold amusement, then suddenly turned warm and kindly.

"Still, you did make a contribution. You gave me your precious body and spirit rank."

Ares froze.

It was a long moment before his body climbed off the floor and flopped onto the sofa, rubbing his temples.

"A defensive Another Cosmology. A strange move that rivals the Big Bang. And that bottomless well of possibility..."

"That disobedient daughter of mine really has created a terrifying monster!"

Having gotten that off his chest, Zeus, now in possession of a young body, let out a laugh. "After all this running around, I've ended up with a four-digit rule-breaker body again, right back on track."

He had given up a three-digit God King's body, yet Zeus was in a surprisingly good mood.

In his view, if you wanted to live well and live freely in Little Garden, you couldn't climb too high. One-Digits had no way of being born into them. Two-Digits were bound by Little Garden's restrictions. Three-Digits were stuck on the upper layers, surrounded by powerful rivals. Only the four-digit rule-breakers, wedged in the middle, had the easiest life of all.

Looking upward, they were strong enough to fight three-digit opponents, and any shortfall in divine body or power could be made up for some other way.

Looking downward, a four-digit rule-breaker crushed everyone beneath them. With Authority and a powerful Spirit Rank, a rule-breaker could flatten any lower-tier expert as if hitting them from a higher dimension.

Add the environmental gap between Little Garden's upper and lower layers, plus the central core's regulation, and you could say four-digit rule-breakers were the people who had traded away physical evolution for the greatest freedom possible.

That was exactly why the Greek pantheon's strategy was to hold everyone back at the same level, all staying at four-digit rule-breakers together.

And from Zeus's own experience, four-digit rule-breaker was also the best stage for building up strength before breaking through to two digit.

That was why he'd been so furious when Ryo forced him to ascend.

"But the situation has flipped now. Who's in the light and who's in the dark has changed." Zeus curled his lips and bared a row of cold, gleaming white teeth. "I'll take apart everything you care about, one piece at a time, just like I did to Metis back then."

Knock, knock.

A knock came at the door, followed by a clear woman's voice.

"Sir, your masseuse is here"

Zeus turned his head, a pleased smile tugging at his mouth. "Oh? In that case, come in."

The door creaked open. As it slid wide, the smile on Zeus's face stiffened, bit by bit.

In the doorway stood a golden-haired warrior goddess in golden divine armor, the Aegis shield in one hand and the Spear of Victory in the other.

Behind her stood a steady, good-natured young man who somehow also felt like a volcano waiting to blow.

And behind him was a blonde boy in a winged helmet, hunched down with his neck pulled in, muttering "Don't blame me, don't blame me," looking absolutely pathetic.

Zeus fell silent.

The steady young man stepped forward and held up an ancient-looking stone tablet. A faint, unnamed light of chaos flickered across its surface.

Unable to move, Zeus looked at the silent young man and spoke in a calm voice. "The Another Cosmology of Roman Mythology!"

"A Cosmology aimed only at gods, especially the born deities. It can force foreign gods into submission and turn them into servants. Ha, I never imagined you could talk Hephaestus into using this treasure the gods sealed away. And I never imagined you could pin down my location so precisely."

The golden-haired warrior goddess answered evenly. "There are things gods and buddhas can't do. That doesn't mean the demons opposed to them can't."

Hearing that, Zeus understood exactly where he'd lost.

He gave a hearty laugh. "Bwahahaha. I never thought you'd bow your head to Algol. Is that one more of the possibilities that brat Ryo brought along?"

Athena watched Zeus calmly, the aura of Roman faith slowly rising around her. "Zeus, your biggest problem is that you never understood that an enemy isn't always an enemy. And you never understood how ruthless a woman's heart can get when she wants revenge."

Hermes, hearing that, pulled his neck in even further. His eyes stayed glued to the end of the hallway, and he radiated an overwhelming desire to run away.

The moment Zeus sensed the change in Athena's aura, though, he was truly shocked. He even jumped up from the sofa, his voice cracking.

"You...you gave up Athena Spirit Rank?!"

Then it hit him.

"Metis, Medusa, Athena, the three-in-one Queen...I see. You used that unfinished Spirit Rank as your bargaining chip with Algol, didn't you?"

"You'd actually part with your Spirit Rank? You'd actually let it go?" he muttered over and over, baffled.

Athena's lips curved, and she smiled brightly. "A man who killed his wife and swallowed his child probably can't understand how precious a gift from a man to his woman can be."

Zeus stared at her. "Somebody gave you that unfinished Spirit Rank on purpose, didn't they? Handed it to you deliberately so you'd have something to trade with Algol?"

His face suddenly changed, and he said in horror, "Did Ryo give it to you? Are you and that brat...?"

Athena didn't answer. She just turned to Hephaestus, who was quietly unfolding the Another Cosmology. "How long will it take to remake Zeus's Spirit Rank into an artifact?"

Hephaestus gave Athena an odd look. He hadn't expected that after all the careful planning it had taken to finally corner Zeus, she'd choose to do that with him.

In the end, though, he said nothing. He did some quick math.

"Give me five days. No, three will do."

"Fine. I'll leave it to you." Athena walked out of the room as she spoke.

Hephaestus let out a breath and finally turned to the man who had once been his father. He opened his mouth to say something cutting, then thought better of it.

Maybe he had never really wanted revenge on Zeus. Aphrodite had meant nothing to him from the start.

What he had wanted was a father. A real one, who wouldn't treat him like a tool or force Aphrodite on him as a wife.

Now Zeus was dying, and Hephaestus felt no sense of victory. If anything, he felt a quiet relief. The grudge that had eaten at him for so long was finally letting go.

With complicated emotions, Hephaestus said, "Next life, try being a father. A good—"

That was when Hermes popped out, interrupting him as he yelled, "Don't worry, Father! I'll take good care of your lovers for you! Don't blame Sis for being cruel, and don't blame me either. It's just that the stepmoms taste so good~"

Not satisfied yet, he added, "As for Hera and all the other goddesses you wanted to touch but never got to, I'm sure Sis will have brother-in-law look after them too."

Zeus' eyes went wide. Before he could say a word, the radiance of the Another Cosmology spread out and swallowed everything.

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