At the same time, on Olympus.
The once majestic and solemn great temple had already turned into broken ruins.
Beams of divine light fiercely collided in the center of the shattered walls and pillars, continuously forming dazzling auroras in an attempt to disperse the gathering dark clouds and thunder around them.
However, on the golden throne, the god-king Zeus, whose large half of his body and one arm were bound by chains, still used his free hand to tightly grip his own Aegis shield as he gathered the thunderclouds in the sky and stubbornly blocked the joint assault from the gods.
He even had energy left to manipulate thunder and launch counterattacks.
"Boom!"
Thick lightning bolts as wide as water barrels fell from the thunderclouds above, forcing the exerting gods on the field to temporarily avoid the sharp edge.
"Why? Why are you all betraying this king!"
In front of the divine seat, Zeus, who had gained a chance to catch his breath, furiously questioned the numerous rebels before him. His heart was filled with shock and rage.
Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite... Out of the twelve main gods, seven had actually rebelled.
How did it come to this?
"You should ask yourself that!"
Poseidon, who held the deepest grudge against Zeus, this god-king brother of his, sneered and roared, then without hesitation, he smashed his trident into the ground.
Immediately, deep blue ocean divine power surged out from the cracked ground fissures, gathering the ether factors in the air to form light-like raging waves that howled forward.
His Atlantis kingdom was gone, a large number of his sons and subordinate gods had died, and even the little bit of face he had left had been pressed to the ground and rubbed repeatedly.
Did they really think he would forget these deeply engraved hatreds?
Thinking of those humiliating scenes from the past, Poseidon intensified the divine power in his hands.
Furious dragons transformed from ocean divinity tore and bit toward Zeus in front of the divine seat.
Zeus hurriedly raised the Aegis shield in his hand, gathered surging thunderclouds, and blocked this fierce incoming strike.
Seeing his painstakingly gathered offensive neutralized once again, Poseidon looked gloomily and resentfully toward Hera beside him.
According to the original plan, it should have been the heavenly queen wearing Aphrodite's golden belt.
She would use the love god's authority to lure Zeus into the bedchamber, have intimate relations with him, and wait until he disarmed himself and was completely defenseless.
Only then would the gods hiding outside the hall swarm in and jointly subdue the god-king.
This was learned from Hephaestus's successful experience in catching adultery.
After all, living beings are often at their most unguarded moment during copulation.
Back then, Ares and Aphrodite, who were secretly having an affair, were easily captured alive by the lame Hephaestus precisely because of this.
However, Hera refused to sacrifice her chastity and share the clouds and rain with her husband no matter what..
She even expressed strong disgust at any intimate-level contact.
Lady, this is your husband.
Although, the gods were speechless, under her resolute stance, they had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and act inside the great temple.
Hera was only responsible for wearing Aphrodite's golden belt to lower Zeus's vigilance and lure him onto the golden divine seat that Hephaestus had tampered with in advance.
And this plan had successful precedent as well.
Once, Hephaestus wanted to retaliate against his mother Hera for abandoning him.
Using his forging talent, he created an extremely beautiful chair, the Throne of Hephaestus.
Then he placed the chair on Hera's inevitable path.
Hera was immediately attracted by this exquisite creation and sat on it without any guard.
As a result, the mechanisms in the chair locked all her joints, rendering her immobile, and her divine power was sealed.
Ok the end, the gods were helpless and could only ask Hephaestus to return to Mount Olympus to release Hera.
They promised him a divine position and many benefits before the matter was satisfactorily resolved.
The golden divine seat that now restricted most of Zeus's body was an improved work by the craftsman god Hephaestus.
But in reality, the gods' initial goal was to wait until Zeus was fully seated, with his body and limbs completely fixed on the divine seat, before formally rebelling together.
However, for some reason, this god-king, who had clearly been bewitched by beauty, suddenly sobered up at the moment he was about to sit completely.
He swung his arm and flung away Hera, who was supporting him, successfully breaking free with one hand and a small half of his body.
What was more troublesome was that although they had taken out the three Cyclopes in advance and sealed Zeus's [Thunderbolt], they did not expect him to actually carry the [Aegis Shield] with him.
He used this defensive divine artifact to block several joint beatings from the gods and successfully gained a chance to catch his breath.
As a result, the situation fell into a stalemate.
Sensing Poseidon's resentful gaze, Hera's face could not remain calm.
She immediately drew the [Heart-Seizing Bow] Coronacht and used her divinity to create a rain of arrows that tore apart the thunderclouds gathering above Zeus.
For a moment, Zeus's hand holding the Aegis shield trembled slightly, and he let out a muffled groan.
Before ascending to his divine position, in order to win the favor of this sister of his, he had sworn to share glory and power with sister Hera.
Therefore, in addition to her own divine rights, Hera herself had also been granted part of the authority to manipulate thunder and storms.
But the premise was that they needed to be a united husband and wife...
At this point of collective rebellion, where it was a life-and-death struggle, why could Hera still share his authority and manipulate his thunder power?
The injured Zeus was puzzled no matter how he thought about it. His heart was both shocked and furious, and his words were half threat, half persuasion.
"Hera, have you gone mad? I am your husband! If you rebel with them, you will no longer be the heavenly queen! Come back to my side and stop this nonsense. I will not pursue your mistakes."
However, what responded to him were several rains of arrows and thunder that had once crushed the Titan army, along with Hera's disdainful cold laugh.
"I am very sober, more sober than ever before! I have long had enough of those days in the past. Whoever wants to be the heavenly queen can have it! You will never manipulate me with this again, Zeus!"
Zeus in front of the divine seat hurriedly raised the Aegis shield and blocked this fierce wave of arrow rain and thunder.
But because the enemy and he shared the same origin, even the Aegis shield with supreme defense could not completely isolate the erosion of that power. This caused Zeus's arm to go numb, his internal organs to shake violently, and a wisp of golden-red divine blood to overflow from the corner of his mouth.
"Enough!"
The injured Zeus flew into a rage. He suddenly grabbed the Aegis shield in his hand and swung it toward Hera in front.
"Boom!"
In an instant, a golden lightning bolt smashed down from the clear sky and directly hit Hera standing in place. The smell of scorched flesh accompanied a suppressed muffled groan and immediately spread.
Legend had it that the Aegis was the symbol of thunderclouds. When placed in the sky, the weather would turn dark. When Zeus picked it up, the sky would clear up.
Therefore, this divine shield could not only be used for defense but also for offense.
High concentrations of electric charge crackled and flashed in the air. Hera, who had taken a direct hit from the thunder, stood disheveled in the charred deep pit. Her face was pale, her hands holding the bow trembled, and a trace of golden-red blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. She was clearly seriously injured.
Seeing this, a fierce glint flashed in Zeus's eyes. Without hesitation, he raised the Aegis shield again and pushed his authority to the extreme.
A fierce lightning bolt snaked down from the sky like a venomous python, forming a dazzling silver-blue streak that headed straight for the heavenly queen Hera on the field.
If this powerful strike hit Hera again, it would definitely severely wound her, and the power that could threaten Zeus himself would immediately weaken.
At this moment, the fully armed Athena flashed forward. She decisively put away the Spear of Victory and raised another Aegis shield with both arms to block Zeus's unstoppable thunder.
The god-king Zeus's full-powered strike slammed into the Aegis shield, causing Athena below to let out a muffled groan.
Realizing that she had underestimated the might of this thunder, the wisdom goddess on the field immediately gritted her teeth. The muscles in her arms suddenly tensed as she fully burned her divinity and authority, forming a mighty light like a newborn star exploding.
"Boom!"
Two powerful divine forces collided, stirring up a terrifying ether storm around them. The ground on the square cracked layer by layer, and the entire Mount Olympus shook violently.
Athena and Zeus, who were clashing head-on, both staggered and retreated. Then they simultaneously vomited a mouthful of golden blood.
"Why are you still not making a move?"
Before the aftershocks subsided, a low roar came from the spreading smoke and dust.
The watching gods suddenly woke up as if from a dream and immediately joined forces to attack the injured god-king.
Aphrodite swayed her graceful figure and emitted a rich body fragrance to disturb Zeus's mind with beauty;
Artemis and Apollo drew their bows toward the sky, using the radiance of the sun and moon to shoot down dense arrow rains that sealed Zeus's movements;
Hephaestus chanted spells to tighten the chains while swinging his heavy hammer at the ground, causing dozens of flame pillars to erupt beneath Zeus's feet;
Seeing the situation turning bad, Zeus suddenly stamped both feet on the ground. The muscles on his back bulged, his eyes flashed with intense lightning light, and the sky instantly darkened. Silver-blue lightning bolts gathered and churned within the dense clouds, forming a terrifying oppressive pressure.
But at the same time, Poseidon also hardened his heart and swung his trident like a madman. The worldly Oceanus sea responded to the ocean king's divine authority and surged with towering giant waves.
Those overwhelming angry waves were rarely seen even by the ocean gods. Waves rose thousands of feet high, like a pair of giant hands reaching out from the depths of the ocean, stirring between the stars and constantly interfering with the gathering of sky and thunder authorities.
Under the gods' full-powered assault, the activated chains extended across Zeus's entire body, digging into his other hand that held the Aegis shield and continuously pressing the small half of his body that was barely standing toward the divine seat.
"Thud!"
Finally, accompanied by the sound of a heavy object landing, the former god-king sat on his beloved divine seat. Numerous moving rune chains firmly bound him to the throne.
The Aegis shield fell from Zeus's hand with a clang, and the thunderclouds in the sky dispersed along with it.
Success? They succeeded?
After a series of changes and fierce battles, the gods who launched the rebellion looked at Zeus, who had become a prisoner before them. They could hardly believe it and for a moment felt as if they were in a different world.
But soon, the unreal feeling in the gods' hearts was completely replaced by excitement.
That's right, they had won! This was a complete and utter victory!
Just as the gods were preparing to consider how to deal with this god-king and how to divide his authorities, the Oceanus sea once again surged with overwhelming waves.
Three enormous figures moved toward the Olympian sacred mountain at extremely high speed. They had fifty heads and one hundred pairs of arms. Their collective angry roars were like the sky collapsing and the earth cracking, deafening.
— The Hundred-Handed Giants!
The rebel gods, who thought the dust had settled, saw this scene and their expressions changed drastically.
Weren't they supposed to be guarding the primordial ocean? Why had they suddenly come to Olympus!
To prevent Zeus from summoning the three Hundred-Handed Giants to help in his desperation, they had activated a magic array at the very beginning of the rebellion to isolate all internal and external information flow on Olympus.
In theory, Zeus had absolutely no way to call these rescuers.
And soon, the rebel gods saw a certain red-haired, black-winged guide holding two bloody short swords.
"Look, I told you there was turmoil on the sacred mountain and Father God was in danger!"
The goddess of strife Eris greedily absorbed the rich [Strife] divinity in the sky above Olympus and proudly showed off her accurate judgment to the three Hundred-Handed Giants behind her.
The gods who had been caught red-handed had gloomy faces and looked fiercely at Eris in mid-air, wishing they could pluck all the hair from her body.
But before they could act on their thoughts, two auroras as brilliant as stars also arrived upon hearing the news and descended at the periphery of the Olympian sacred mountain.
As the blood-red and cyan light faded, the figures of the god of savage war Ares and the god of speed Hermes appeared.
At this point, except for the grain goddess Demeter and the hearth goddess Hestia, the ten main gods of the main Olympian force had all arrived.
Zeus, who was restrained on the throne, could not help but be overjoyed at the sight.
"Eris, well done!"
A few months ago, Eris was reported for secretly sneaking into the sacred garden and stealing more than twenty precious golden apples.
Hera was furious and prepared to teach this lawless divine descendant a good lesson.
Originally, Zeus did not particularly like this trouble-loving daughter either, but considering her slight connection with the night goddess Nyx, Zeus ultimately stepped in to mediate, protected Eris, and then sent her back to the primordial ocean as usual to continue causing trouble for the lives in the Oceanus sea and weaken the ocean's divine rights.
Unexpectedly, this unintentional act of protection allowed Eris to bring the three Hundred-Handed Giants to the Olympian sacred mountain at the critical moment.
Sure enough, as the Three Fates had said, he was the god-king of heaven's mandate! As long as the mandate of heaven was with him, no one could shake his authority!
Zeus struggled hard to break free from the restraints on the divine seat while issuing a solemn command.
"What are you three waiting for? Quickly help this king suppress the rebellion!"
Upon hearing this, the three Hundred-Handed Giants let out low roars and jointly ascended Mount Olympus to join the battlefield.
Then, Zeus looked gloomily at the other two figures in the clouds.
"Ares, Hermes, don't tell me you two also want to be rebels?"
"How could that be, Father God?
I'll come help you loosen your bonds right away!"
The quick-witted Hermes immediately put on a full smile and rushed toward the divine seat, staying far away from the most dangerous battlefield.
"I, I'll come too!"
Ares looked at his biological mother surrounded by the three Hundred-Handed Giants, then at his biological father bound on the divine seat.
Finally, he smartened up for once and followed behind Hermes to help the god-king loosen his bonds together.
Seeing the situation reverse before their eyes, Apollo, Athena, Hera, and the others on the rebel side felt their hearts sink to the bottom and a trace of determination flashed in all their eyes.
They would go all out!
(End of this chapter)