60. The Men of This Bloodline
60. The Men of This Bloodline
In front of the main gate of Cronus's temple.
Hera stood quietly before the main gate and opened her mouth.
"Cronus, I request an audience."
[.............]
No answer came back.
Hera opened her mouth once more and spoke.
"Cronus, as Queen of the Gods, I demand it. Open the door."
[................]
The door still did not open.
"....You son of a bitch."
As expected of one Sure enough, was it.
Hera, just a little, but clearly,
lowered her head toward Cronus and spoke.
"Your child beseeches you. Please, open the door."
[....I permit it.]
Creeeak.... creeeeaaak....
The great gate began to slowly open.
Hera calmly raised her head and muttered.
"You crazy bastard."
Has that bastard changed not one bit?
Though her face twisted sharply, Hera strode squarely into the temple.
"...Seeing Mother use honorifics, that's a first since she buried Father during the council meeting."
"He is an opponent worthy of it, so it can't be helped."
"Don't pretend to be close to me."
"..............."
As if anyone would call her a fool.
Athena let out a small scoff and strode past Ares.
"....Did that bitch just mock me?"
"Ha-ha-hat! Getting worked up over that will only give you a headache!"
Just as tempers were starting to heat up, Hermes stepped in to mediate perfectly.
Somehow, the four gods entered the temple and soon arrived at the divine throne where Cronus sat.
"It has been a long time, my child."
"Cronus..."
"Your speech is short."
"....Cronus."
"There. What business brings you here, my child."
"............."
Cronus sat upon the divine throne, looking down below with languid eyes.
Hera felt revulsion at the sight, and at the same time, her own position of having to bow her head felt miserable to her.
'If that fellow had just conducted himself properly, this wouldn't be happening...!'
How could he appoint such an idiot as an apostle and create this hopeless situation?
Just as Hera was calming her boiling insides and clenching her trembling fist, Ares asked Hermes from behind.
"Cronus was definitely... a male god, right?"
"To be precise, he 'was' a male god."
".....I see."
Was the only thing one could become after having their manhood cut off a goddess?
Seeing the figure who had become a true 'goddess' in a different sense than herself, Ares felt a slight, but real, 'possibility'.
...A matter that would make Hera seriously consider fitting her with a chastity belt if she noticed, but let's move on for now.
"I shall not... speak at length. Please... save my child..."
"To save your child, is it. Regrettably, I have not the surplus strength left to do so."
Even she grew old, it seemed.
She was no longer like the old days.
Without even meeting Hera's eyes, Cronus gazed at her fingernails.
Though her nails were clean with nothing caught between them, Cronus kept flicking them with a clicking sound, as if some unpleasant dust were lodged there.
At this, Hera realized.
'That damned bastard really...!'
Was this much not enough?
She, the Queen of the Gods, had bowed her head, so was that insufficient, and did he wish for more than that?
Hera gritted her teeth sharply and glared at Cronus.
"What is it... that you wish for?"
"Did I not already say?"
Cronus spoke.
"This body, has no strength remaining."
"....You..."
In a sense, a blatant remark.
Cronus continued.
"What can be done about it? This body is what is commonly called a has-been, a relic that should no longer step forward. Is this era not wholly the domain of you children?"
"........Don't tell me.."
The domain of you children.
If it is wholly the domain of you children, I cannot touch it.
Hera was quickly able to grasp the meaning that statement implied.
'This... power-crazed old geezer...!'
She wanted to slap him right then.
She wanted to smash the temple and assert her own authority.
But she could not. She must not.
Because he (she) was the only one who held the one remaining chance they had.
"Haaaaaaah......"
Hera let out a slow breath.
Yes.
She could endure a momentary humiliation.
What could she not do to prevent the coming calamity, to protect her child below right now?
"Cronus, no, my master of old,"
"....Ho-oh?"
Hera knelt.
She lowered her head, and paid her respects.
The Queen of the Gods lowered her own honor before a past throne long since vacated.
"I require your wisdom. Please, share your glory with me."
"...To bow your head to one who has already departed, the Queen of the Gods possesses quite the cheap neck, it seems?"
"Ugh...!"
The chilling touch felt atop her head.
Cronus stroked Hera's hair and smiled.
"There, there. If things get hard, come find this 'Father' anytime. Is that not the 'affection' between family? Is it not?"
"Ugh.... ngh, urgh...!"
The hand touching her hair was never rough.
It was soft, warm, and to the very end, the 'touch of a father caring for his child,'
and that very fact made it feel vilely, excruciatingly repulsive to Hera.
"At any rate, are those your children behind you? No wonder, there are many faces I haven't seen before."
Come hither.
Cronus addressed the gods standing in the back.
Ares, Athena, and Hermes.
All three gods approached Cronus, lowered their bodies like Hera, and paid homage──
"Are you my grandfather?"
"Ho?"
──was something that simply couldn't happen.
It was a family that made a business of immorality for generations, after all.
Ares, the legitimate daughter carrying on that bloodline of depravity, approached Cronus and looked him up and down.
"More like a grandmother than a grandfather... You're quite my type?"
"........."
Indeed.
The bloodline of this family.
Muttering that the blood of incest never strayed far, Cronus was quietly marveling when,
"So how about it, one night with me── Kwuek! Ow, you... Athena, this bitch?!!"
"Please. Shut up."
"Oh yeah? Today let's settle who's on top──Guwegh?! M-Mother?!!"
"For the last time, let's just shut our mouths."
Athena and Hera.
Both gods reined Ares in.
If you're going to rub up against someone, rub on someone other than Cronus.
Besides, do you really want to do that to someone who's practically your grandfather?
Hera's stomach turned at Ares's actions, but at the same time, the feeling that this was truly the child of Zeus washed over her, making her dizzy.
'If that old man's feelings are hurt even a little....'
What more would he demand next?
Time was already flowing, and the children were growing exhausted.
Hera grew increasingly impatient, and Cronus slowly savored Hera's expression.
'What a wonderful expression...'
Contrary to Hera's expectations, Cronus was immensely pleased with the current situation.
Ares? Zeus's child? To be honest, just thinking about it curdled his stomach.
But watching Hera fumble around because of Zeus's child, the joy derived from Hera's reaction far outweighed any anger caused by Ares.
"So, you said you wished to spend a night with me."
"Oh? You actually get it?"
"Indeed, our family history is one of incest. There would be no issue with mixing a little blood between parent and child."
"Heh heh... then today, how about that night after all──Thwack...?!!"
"For God's sake, please, just, stay still, you hothead...!"
A single strike from Hera.
This time, there seemed to be some real force behind it, as Ares clutched the back of her head and crawled back, scrambling.
'Truly, a farce one can only laugh at.'
Had those wretches not been present, she would have burst out clapping and laughing.
Cronus resolved to record this moment for eternity and reminisce forever.
"Hera, my child. I shall help you."
However, there is a condition.
Cronus spoke toward Hera.
"Appoint the 'name' of the one who will be your child, to my child."
"!...That means..."
"Yes."
Bestow the name of Heracles.
The one and only hero who would end the Age of Gods, defeat the monster that would crush the Human World. The sword of hope prepared for humanity.
Hera was not one to be unaware of what that implied, so
"...I am..."
Hera was torn.
A choice where her child was in danger right now, but the world could be endangered even more.
At a crossroads where a hasty decision could not be made, Cronus smiled and continued.
"It must be difficult to decide hastily. How could you children so easily change the hero you yourselves newly established for your own era, according to your own will? I, too, acknowledge that fact."
Cronus proposed.
"Declare upon the River Styx, that if he defeats that great calamity, you will give my child the name 'Heracles.'"
"What...!"
The Troll.
Though not on the level of the calamities to come in the future, it was a monster far exceeding what the children could handle for now.
An opponent beyond their caliber. Cronus was declaring they could overcome an opponent where one should worry about survival first, let alone virginity.
'It is an impossible task... but'
Hera thought.
If they had the skill to bring down a troll already, how strong would they become in the future?
Also, as Yuno was Hera's apostle, having observed her from close by, Hera also knew what kind of disposition this 'Child of Cronus' possessed.
'A pure love devotion that never strays.'
The pride to uphold fidelity, to even refuse temptations that that one's apostle would have long since fallen for.
If she were to name that child as her own, it was perhaps only natural for her heart to lean more toward Cronus, who would have the child earn the name himself, rather than Zeus who one day brazenly claimed the child as his.
"Very... well."
"Ho?"
Ultimately, Hera spoke.
"I swear upon the River Styx, if your child slays the Troll, I shall declare the name 'Heracles.'"
"Good."
With this, it was done.
Cronus extended his hand toward his child in the mortal world and shouted.
"Save my children, my young and foolish children. And spread your will far and wide across the world!"
A Divine Word.
In the words of the mortal world, an 'Emergency Mission.'
Soon after, Cronus's apostle, as if having resolved himself, headed toward the danger alone.
[....How am I supposed to get there, you ask?]
".....Whoops!"
Or rather, Cronus's apostle had no idea how to get there and was spacing out.
At the sight of Cronus hurriedly stopping time and opening a gate, Hera quietly closed her eyes.
"The men of this bloodline..."
Really, every single one of them is so consistently the same.
There is always one thing clumsy about them.