"Boom!"
Zeus, whose defense had been completely broken on the spot, raised his hands high.
Fierce lightning instantly intertwined and gathered in the sky above the wedding venue, turning into silver-blue swords that pierced through the dark clouds and fell straight toward the extremely foul-mouthed culprit.
"Dionysus Cosmos [The Small World Enveloped by the Blue Sky]..."
Accompanied by a low chant, a thick, massive, exquisitely crafted divine shield was raised smoothly.
The patterns carved on the shield's surface: earth, sky, ocean, the tireless sun, the full and round moon, and numerous stars, shone with dazzling light like a garland adorning the heavens, outlining the contours of the [World].
At the same time, the phantoms of the two cities Athens and Thebes rose from the ground.
The "residents" inside, old and young, male and female, also manifested to fill in the details of the [World], giving that piece of heaven and earth life and vitality.
The moment the lightning fell, the people living within it seemed to sense danger as they all put down their work and prayed devoutly.
Rising and falling voices sang the divine name "Dionysus" together.
The unified faith coalesced into a cyan dome above the [Small World].
"Bang bang bang bang!"
The silver-blue lightning bolts that fell one after another were instantly swallowed by the cyan light rising from the shield's surface and could never touch the figure hidden behind that [Small World].
How is this possible?!
Zeus was horrified.
He swung his raised hands downward with force, trying to further increase the power of the thunder.
"Bang!"
However, before the god-king could react, a shield thrown out spun toward him at lightning speed.
The thick and massive shield face smashed solidly into Zeus's old face.
"Crack~"
Accompanied by the crisp sound of a broken nose bridge, Zeus's divine incarnation, condensed from divine power, fell backward.
Golden divinity factors like light dust scattered from the wound.
The sour and painful sensation on his face made the god-king's vision go black and he could not help shedding hot tears, his expression twisted and grief-stricken.
"You actually dare to treat this king like this. I will..."
"Thud!"
A condensed blood-colored spear whistled through the air, easily tearing apart the hasty divine barrier Zeus had raised in front of him, directly piercing the god-king's chest and brutally nailing him to the marble pillar behind.
Large amounts of golden divinity factors scattered.
Zeus clutched the large hole in his chest and looked in disbelief at the figure that had thrown this god-slaying spear.
"You actually..."
"Buzz!"
Before he could finish speaking, the tip of the blood-energy spear lit up with several fiery red Hermetic characters.
Their meaning was — explosion.
"Boom!"
A dull roar sounded.
Zeus's divine incarnation, along with the half marble pillar behind him, was blown to pieces.
"Damn it! This king will never let you go! Never!"
Accompanied by an angry roar, the miserable divine incarnation disintegrated into golden divinity factors and converged toward the sky.
Lorne bent down to pick up the divine shield that had just been tested in actual combat.
Then he stood up, turned his head, and looked around with a sincere gaze.
"You all saw it. He made the first move. I was only acting in self-defense."
The gods nodded in unison, expressing agreement.
"He wants to provoke another divine war before three days have even passed. This is too much! This kind of situation absolutely cannot be tolerated. We must strike hard!"
The gods nodded again like a flock of chicks pecking rice.
"So everyone should get along well in the future and not learn from those who break the rules as soon as they show up."
The gods nodded in unison once more.
Their unconsciously moving throats faintly produced swallowing sounds, while the gazes focused on a certain [Shepherd] carried traces of horror.
This guy is still a main god?
Could it be that the Three Fates gave him special privileges to mediate the disputes of the mortal world for the next three hundred years?
The gods' minds were filled with thoughts and they could not help re-evaluating the value of the title [Shepherd].
Soon, Lorne smiled and clapped his hands to ease the atmosphere.
"Alright everyone, do not be nervous. The small interlude has been handled. Next is the time for the banquet.
Let us continue the music and continue the dance."
The Three Graces and the Nine Muses, who were in charge of the on-site artistic performance, promptly played the harp and sang poems.
Their elegant and exquisite performances diluted the bloodiness from earlier.
Meanwhile, the Gorgon Three Sisters led by Medusa, along with the Maenads under Lorne and the priestesses of Athena's temple, pushed food carts and served dishes full of color, aroma, and flavor, as well as jars of sweet immortal nectar and fine wine, formally entertaining all the guests at the wedding venue.
Under the combined catalysis of dance, song, food, and wine, the gods gradually relaxed and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to this extremely luxurious banquet.
After all, they were not planning to cause trouble.
A fair faith competition was more beneficial than harmful for most main gods.
Therefore, whether the shepherd in charge of mediation retained main god strength or was demoted to god level did not affect them much.
It was just that the god-king, who was used to acting tyrannically, had to make such a scene at someone else's wedding and ran into the gun barrel, becoming the chicken killed to warn the monkeys.
The gods grumbled a few words in their hearts, then raised their cups and drank freely.
Their faces showed not the slightest sympathy, but rather some schadenfreude.
The cake of faith was only so big.
If others ate one less bite, they could eat one more.
Although Zeus, as the god-king of Olympus, had not deliberately developed holy lands, his accumulated prestige over the long years still gave him considerable threat in this faith competition.
Because of this wedding, their most competitive opponent had been kicked out first.
They were too busy being happy to have any mind to speak up for Zeus.
And that god-king had just lost a divine incarnation.
It would probably take some time before he could descend to the mortal world again.
They could use this window period to infiltrate their influence into a few city-states that believed in Zeus.
With their thoughts cleared, the gods who peacefully enjoyed the banquet felt that today's wine and food were especially delicious.
The wedding venue, filled with toasts and exchanges of cups, was full of lively and festive atmosphere.
In the corner, Lorne poured a cup of honey wine toward the distant Olympian mountain among the stars as a toast to the god-king who had left the venue early.
He of course knew that Eris was the chief culprit behind the Golden Apple Incident and that there was no instruction from that god-king behind it.
After all, Zeus was not yet brainless enough to urgently stir up trouble right after the three-day truce of the divine war, and using such a childish prank.
But so what?
You've wronged so many people for thousands of years... finally, the one being wronged is you!
Lorne smiled wickedly, picked up another cup of honey wine from the table, drank it in one gulp, and felt extremely refreshed in his heart.
After holding it in for so long, although he could not send that god-king into Tartarus to reunite with his mother Semele yet, he could at least collect some interest first.
After sighing with emotion, Lorne put down his wine cup and looked around the venue.
However, he still did not see a certain red-haired, black-winged figure.
"No need to look. Eris already slipped away during the chaos."
Thetis beside him picked up the wine jug, poured some wine for her husband, and added softly.
"It was right when you were fighting Zeus."
"Tsk, she runs really fast."
Lorne shook his head and muttered, feeling somewhat helpless.
Although Eris's methods of causing trouble were very low-level, her sense of danger was quite sharp.
"Don't worry. It seems someone has already gone after her."
Thetis pointed to a certain spot and spoke with a faint smile.
Lorne looked over and, seeing the empty seat, immediately showed a gloating expression.
"It looks like the hair that Eris just grew will not be safe again."
The person who went to chase her was Athena.
Clearly, this goddess of wisdom had been paying attention to the goddess of discord's little tricks.
And once she made a move, Eris, who was crushed in both wisdom and martial power, would definitely be properly beaten.
Moreover, going to beat Eris also meant that Athena knew very well who the real culprit behind this Golden Apple Incident was.
With the goddess of discord to vent her anger on, she probably would not come looking for trouble with him again, right?
Lorne thought of his group-roasting performance at the venue earlier and muttered inwardly.
"Don't get too happy too soon. One left, but there are still two remaining, right?"
Thetis beside him reminded him with a smile, then raised her hand to point at the figures peeking out several times from the corridor.
"Look, it seems someone is looking for you over there."
Lorne turned his head and immediately felt a headache.
It was Aphrodite.
Among the three goddesses of the Golden Apple Incident, she was the one he found hardest to deal with.
"You two take your time chatting. I will leave first."
Thetis smiled and waved.
Before leaving, she did not forget to throw out a sweet date.
"Tonight, I will wait for you in the wedding chamber."
After whispering that, the beautifully dressed bride pretended to be unable to hold her liquor and, supported by the Three Graces, left the wedding venue.
Lorne had no choice but to greet and send off guests alone until the afternoon, when he finally saw off the satisfied guests one after another.
But clearly, these guests did not include the bitter victims who had suffered grievances at the banquet earlier.
As the crowd dispersed,
Aphrodite, who had held it in for most of the day, walked over from the porch.
Her pretty face was somewhat dark.
"Why did you scold me? And you scolded me so harshly!"
"It was an emergency."
Lorne spread his hands to defend himself.
But reasoning worked on rational people.
It clearly did not work well on the overly emotional goddess of love.
"That is still not okay. I did not offend you. Why did you have to humiliate me like that?"
Aphrodite felt extremely wronged.
Her gaze toward Lorne revealed resentment and disappointment.
"And I thought you really understood me..."
The love goddess's accusation stopped abruptly.
Her eyes stared straight at a golden emblem swaying in front of her.
The sun and ray relief on it looked very familiar.
"On the southeast coast of Sicily, in an abandoned cave of the Cyclopes, Adonis is temporarily detained there. Take this and you can rescue your little lover."
Lorne lifted Aphrodite's hand, placed the golden emblem in her palm, and added with a half-smile.
"Also, I have already notified Apollo not to trouble you and Adonis anymore."
"!"
Aphrodite's full belly of resentment instantly vanished like smoke and her gaze toward Lorne instantly became hot and excited.
This is a good person!
He must have had unavoidable reasons for scolding me, right...
How could I blame him?
"From now on, if you fall for any beautiful girl, I guarantee I will get her for you!"
The goddess slapped the shoulder of this close friend, who was anxious about what she was anxious about and thought what she thought, and vowed solemnly.
Lorne felt somewhat helpless and amused upon hearing this.
Although he understood this was Aphrodite's way of expressing gratitude and repaying him, with the few at home already almost more than he could handle, if she stuffed him with more mortal lovers, would his future days not become even more chaotic?
At this moment, the love goddess who wanted to reunite with her little lover as soon as possible, gripped the sun emblem in her hand and was already eager to return.
"I will leave first. When you have time, remember to visit Sicily as a guest. Adonis and I will definitely treat you well!"
"Wait, do not be in such a hurry.
I still have something to say!"
Lorne quickly stopped Aphrodite, who was about to leave.
Looking at the puzzled goddess, he thought for a moment before speaking in a deep voice.
"As the goddess of love, there is no problem with you pursuing your own love. I also sympathize with you and am willing to help you within my ability. But doing this seems a bit unfair to one person..."
"Who?"
"Hephaestus..."
Hearing Lorne's answer,
Aphrodite fell into silence.
Although as a face-con, she was destined to be unable to fall in love with that ugly, lame craftsman god.
But to be fair, Hephaestus had always been extremely good to her.
After marriage, he kept making her various gorgeous jewelry, hoping to win her favor.
Even knowing she kept lovers outside and cheated repeatedly, because of various reasons he suppressed that bitterness in his heart and only vented through forging.
He rarely truly blamed or forced her.
Therefore, over all these years, she had not given her real husband even a son or daughter.
Now, in pursuit of love, she had simply separated from Hephaestus and lived a happy two-person world with her little lover Adonis on Sicily.
Thinking about it carefully, she really did owe her husband quite a lot.
"I also know this is not good, but I really do not want to live that kind of life again, being manipulated, with love and marriage beyond my control.
I do not know how to end it in the future either."
Aphrodite looked at her close friend and poured out her long-held bitterness and depression.
"The war of the gods has ended, and the gods will withdraw behind the scenes from now on.
At least for these three hundred years, Zeus cannot interfere with your choices. You can go live peacefully with Adonis."
Lorne comforted her gently, then changed the subject and spoke thoughtfully.
"On the other hand, you should seriously consider Hephaestus."
"But I really cannot fall in love with him." Aphrodite answered with a helpless face.
Lorne, who already had an idea in mind, smiled and reminded her,
"Then find a suitable love for Hephaestus. You are the goddess of love. You would not be unable to do even this, right?"
'That's right! Why didn't I think of that!'
In an instant, Aphrodite had a flash of insight and she excitedly gave the answer.
"Aetna, my sister, is also in Sicily. She is very interested in forging and has previously studied the craft under the Cyclopes. If you introduce her to Hephaestus, they are bound to get along!"
"Just do as you say."
Lorne smiled and nodded, full of encouragement.
After several discussions with Aphrodite, they jointly settled the craftsman god's future marriage.
If he remembered correctly, in Sicilian legends, Aetna was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia.
In the future she indeed ended up with the craftsman god Hephaestus, and the two even had offspring.
(End of this chapter)