By the time Alaric returned to Greece, the Trojan War had long since ended.
Although Aphrodite had now joined the magic pantheon, and the incident of the three goddesses sparking the Trojan War over the golden apple never occurred, this still did not spare Troy from destruction.
Because, for the Olympian gods, the Trojan War was necessary.
As mentioned before, in order to maintain the Greeks' faith in the gods, Greece had always remained in a state of division, generally speaking, royal authority and divine authority stand in opposition.
Beyond that, wars and the problems caused by various magical beasts were also excellent means to make people believe in the gods.
The closer one is to life-and-death situations, the more uncertain fate becomes, the stronger the reliance on divine power.
In fact, such methods had long been overused by various religious factions.
On Earth, medieval Europe was extremely chaotic, only then could the papacy maintain its authority.
And in worlds where gods truly exist, such as the world of Abeir-Toril, known for the continent of Faerun, numerous nations and even city-states coexist.
It is precisely because of such divisions and conflicts among humans that the gods can freely compete for faith.
Thus, the outbreak of the Trojan War was entirely a scheme of the gods.
However, while it was a scheme, the war itself was not completely pre-planned, at most, it was a consensus among the majority of the gods.
Through this war, the gods were also resolving their own internal disputes.
The divine factions split along the sides of the war.
On the side of the Greek coalition stood Ares, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Hera, Hermes, and others.
On the side of Troy stood Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, and Artemis.
In fact, the true force behind the Greek coalition was Zeus.
However, as the king of the gods, it was not appropriate for him to openly take a stance when nations that worshipped the Greek gods were waging war against one another, so he did not personally intervene.
As for the cause of the war, it was still the Trojan prince Paris, but this time, it was a "bromance dispute."
Simply put, the delicate and handsome youth became the object of competition between two gods, Zeus and Apollo.
Paris had always been a beautiful youth favored by Apollo. In Fate/Grand Order, he even possesses a skill called:
Beloved of the Male God: B
He receives Apollo's favor.
Although Paris might feel troubled, he was actually quite happy about it.
This skill is almost equivalent to being loved by a goddess.
It is practically close to a curse.
It is enough to demonstrate his relationship with Apollo.
However, although the two shared a close bond, Zeus also took a liking to him.
Speaking of Zeus, he had a prior connection to Paris.
In the past, Zeus had a male lover named Ganymede.
The moment the king of the gods saw him, he was captivated by Ganymede's unparalleled beauty and was consumed by passion.
He transformed into a giant eagle, abducted him, and brought him to the heavens as his lover, where Ganymede replaced Hebe, the goddess of youth, as the cupbearer of the gods.
It should be noted that Hebe was the daughter of Hera, the queen of the gods.
In the end, Ganymede was even immortalized as the constellation Aquarius (because of his role as cupbearer), attaining eternal divine status.
And Ganymede's identity was that of a son of Tros, the king of Troy at the time.
Naturally, Hera was extremely jealous of Ganymede, and thus her enmity toward Troy was planted.
As a prince of Troy as well, Ganymede could be considered an ancestor of Paris.
Tros had sons, Ilus, Assaracus, and Ganymede. Ilus begot Laomedon; Laomedon begot Tithonus, Priam, Lampus, and others, forming the lineage of Troy.
And Priam was precisely Paris's father.
According to the family tree, Ganymede would be considered of Paris's great-grandfather's generation.
However, Zeus paid no heed to such things.
Because of Ganymede, he had a deep impression of the beauty of the Trojan royal family. Thus, when Paris appeared, he immediately took a liking to this handsome youth.
And so, just like the judgment of the golden apple, Paris once again had to make a choice.
Only this time, he was not choosing between goddesses, but between gods, and specifically, "the most attractive god in his eyes."
Between the bearded Zeus and the handsome Apollo, Paris ultimately chose the latter.
Apollo was naturally pleased, while Zeus could not openly show his displeasure in front of his own son.
However, from that moment on, he bore a grudge against Paris.
Coincidentally, Olympus needed a war, and Troy had recently become the most powerful among the nations, so war it would be.
With Hera stirring things behind the scenes, war broke out at once over such a somewhat absurd cause.
Since his beloved companion had been dragged into this because of him, Apollo naturally could not allow it, and thus stood firmly on Troy's side.
Zeus could not intervene directly, so Hera stepped forward to support the Greek coalition.
After all, Apollo's mother was not Hera, and the two sides were already opposed, so the gods naturally took sides.
Artemis and Apollo were twin siblings.
Although she felt that starting a war over such a reason was rather ridiculous (she even considered Apollo more like her younger brother), in such a situation, who else could stand by his side?
Thus, Artemis chose to support Troy.
Aphrodite believed that Paris and Apollo's bond was true love.
Paris had chosen love over the authority of the king of the gods, which aligned with her ideals of love (though it was somewhat nauseating). Naturally, she supported "true love."
However, the real reason was Artemis.
As a goddess of love striving to become Alaric's perfect partner, Aphrodite believed she should be magnanimous and unite with his other lovers, including Artemis, who had yet to officially join.
On Hera's side, Aphrodite's stance immediately drew in Ares and Hephaestus.
As for Aphrodite, Ares both loved and hated her. He loved her beauty, but hated the fact that he could not have her.
The goddess he pursued had always rejected him, and had even taken away his subordinate Amazon tribe, though the reason was that Ares himself had abandoned them after the Argonaut incident, using them as scapegoats for the gods' failed plans.
As for Hephaestus, he had lost face due to a broken engagement. Lacking the destiny of a protagonist, this was his chance to step forward and cause trouble.
As for Poseidon and Hermes, the former was Hera's brother, while the latter, like Ares and Hephaestus, was Hera's son. Naturally, they supported their mother.
Seeing Hera's side grow in strength, and with Zeus subtly backing them, Athena also stepped forward and joined the Trojan side.
Opposing Zeus was something she was more than happy to do.
Coincidentally, among the Greek-side gods, aside from Poseidon, all were members of Hera and Zeus's immediate family, in mortal terms, the legitimate wife and legitimate children of the king of the gods.
Poseidon, as the brother of both Zeus and Hera, was also closely aligned with them, forming the core of Zeus's support.
In contrast, the gods on Troy's side were different. Aphrodite was born from the sea foam, her power originating from the ancestors of the Olympian pantheon.
The sun and moon siblings, along with Athena, were akin to "illegitimate" members of the divine family, yet because of their superior abilities, they were often suppressed (especially Athena).
And so, the Trojan War began.
At the same time, the seeds of division among the Olympian gods were sown.