Shut Up and Get It Up
“We’re heading back.”
“Yes, Father. About face!”
At Styx’s command, Oceanus’s army moved with crisp, disciplined precision.
Watching them withdraw in perfect order, just as they had arrived, a strange sense of relief began to settle over the Titans and lesser gods.
“Even at the end, they look terrifying…”
“Thank the heavens. Honestly, I was sweating bullets wondering if they might actually point their spears at us.”
“It’s Oceanus’s army. There was no way they’d do that.”
“Now that you mention it… that’s true. Goodness… I never thought I’d live to see the day I felt grateful that man is a pacifist.”
These were the same beings who had openly mocked Oceanus for his weakness only moments ago.
Yet now, his refusal to turn his blade against his own kind somehow felt almost noble.
A fleeing weakling is nothing but a pathetic coward, but when a powerful figure turns his back and leaves with dignity, it appears as mercy and generosity.
Having planted something close to reverence in the hearts of the Titans and lesser gods, Oceanus and his family continued their return.
Or rather, their swift retreat.
“We made it… we actually made it… Wait, no… should we call this a victory? Right, Zelos?”
“Like I said… stop asking me, Nike.”
“All of you, be quiet. We cannot let our guard down until we reach the sea.”
Styx’s sharp rebuke cut through her children’s anxious chatter.
Yet even as she kept glancing over her shoulder, she couldn’t suppress the deep wave of relief washing over her.
The Titans’ main stronghold lay behind them.
The fact that they had managed to extract themselves from what could have become their grave, without so much as a scratch, using nothing but an army of shells, was nothing short of a victory—just as Nike had said.
On top of that, the news that Hephaestus had landed a solid blow on that insufferable Cronus at the very last moment still felt incredibly satisfying even now.
Watching her exceptionally capable nephew in action, a deep smile spread across Styx’s lips.
I really should ask him for that necklace later…
Now that the crisis had passed, remembering the modest little wish she had set aside was just an added bonus.
*
The moment Oceanus left, the stalled meeting surged forward like a rushing current.
The only person who had openly opposed the war had vanished.
Now that the situation had become ‘Fuck it, no one can stop me now,’ nothing stood in Cronus and the Titans’ way.
“Rise, my brothers! We shall reclaim the glory stolen from us by those arrogant gods!”
“For Othrys! For the Titans!”
“The King of Titans demands blood!”
“War! War without end!”
The Titans roared with fervent cheers in the heated atmosphere.
And so the first war among the gods that would shake the world began.
The conflict that would later be known as the Titanomachy had finally raised its curtain.
And then.
“Fly swiftly… to Olympus.”
From a hidden spot, a female Titan released a carrier pigeon.
Leto.
With a letter tied to its leg recording everything she had seen and heard today, the pure white dove shot off like an arrow toward Mount Olympus.
In the blink of an eye, the bird vanished from sight.
Yet in Leto’s heart at this moment, there was no relief at having successfully completed her mission.
Instead, a completely different emotion had taken root.
It was about the one being she had deliberately left out of her report—the only existence among everything she had witnessed today.
A variable that threatened to shake everything she had believed until now.
Could it be… that the person from the prophecy isn’t Zeus…?
She decided she would need to investigate this matter more thoroughly in private.
With that thought, Leto hurried toward the place where her father waited.
Meanwhile.
Similar to Leto yet fundamentally different, another Titan held a slightly different stance.
It has finally begun…
In the shadows, a young man silently watched the scene.
Prometheus—Cronus’s close advisor, a narrow-eyed Titan gifted with foresight and cunning intellect.
As he gazed at Cronus and the Titans shouting their war cries, a dark smile slowly spread across his lips.
Just as planned.
*
“So… it has come to this after all.”
Zeus stared at the single letter in his hand.
It had been sent via carrier pigeon by the ‘spy’ he had planted among the Titans.
His expression was clouded with complicated emotions.
War.
The news that the disaster he had desperately tried to prevent as a leader had finally arrived stirred two conflicting feelings inside him.
One was concern over the massive destruction and chaos that would follow.
Though power struggles had caused constant small and large conflicts, the Titans and gods had still each fulfilled their roles in maintaining the world.
Beasts multiplied, crops grew, rain and snow fell, and day and night came and went in their proper order—the natural rhythm of the world.
But now that weapons had been placed in the hands of the Titans and gods who were meant to regulate that order, the uncontrolled flow of the world would undoubtedly begin to shake violently.
The moon rising in broad daylight.
Hail pouring down in midsummer.
Flowers withering before they could even bloom—an age of chaos and calamity.
Mountains and fields would be devastated, and countless living creatures on the earth would perish.
How many long years would it take to restore everything once the war ended?
Or rather, would restoration even be possible?
Unable to find any certainty, Zeus could only let out a heavy sigh and turn his eyes away from that grim future for now.
The war had already begun.
There was no way to turn it back.
He had neither the time nor the luxury to waste on unsolvable problems.
What truly demanded his focus right now was the other emotion rising clearly within his heart.
Despite everything, what he felt so vividly was an emotion called expectation.
It had already been over a decade since he had driven out his father and taken this seat.
Yet despite the title of King of the Gods, Zeus’s power was, in reality, only half of what it should be.
Although he had removed Cronus, countless Titans still occupied positions of power throughout the world.
They opposed Zeus and his siblings at every turn, constantly obstructing his ability to rule the world completely.
The reason he couldn’t deal with them recklessly wasn’t just their individual strength.
More than anything, he lacked proper justification.
He had not sat on this throne for very long.
Nevertheless, Zeus understood the nature of this position better than his grandfather Uranus or even his father Cronus.
One of those truths was that power wielded without clear justification would never last.
By persecuting his innocent children without proper cause, they had ultimately lost their power and crumbled under the very seeds they had sown.
But Zeus was different.
This war had been started by a father who devoured his own children and the Titans who supported him.
They had their own justifications about not wanting to lose their power, but politics had to be resolved through politics.
No matter how foul the game, the one who drew the sword first being dragged away was only natural.
In the end, Zeus had effectively been handed the perfect justification to legally sweep away the Titans who had drawn their blades first.
With this, I will completely end these tiresome political struggles. I’ll uproot every single annoyance that has plagued me all this time!
A thin smile formed on the ruler’s lips as Zeus rose from his seat.
Now that they had begun to move, he needed to respond swiftly as well.
Fortunately, he had the spy he had lured with the bait of being the ‘seed of the greatest male.’
With Leto’s help, he held the advantage in the information war.
Besides, Leto wasn’t his only hidden card—Zeus held several other secret trump cards in his hand.
Confident in their coming victory, Zeus began moving quickly.
First, I need to call Poseidon and Hades… gather the other gods as well. And since Oceanus has withdrawn, I should have Hera contact that side once more…?
At that moment.
Just as Zeus was about to leave the room, something suddenly appeared before his eyes.
An existence that dared to rudely block his path at such a critical time.
Yet despite the discourtesy, Zeus could not bring himself to get angry.
Because the one standing before him was the only being in all of Olympus who could stand as his equal…
“He… Hera?”
Ever since returning from Oceanus’s birthday banquet a month ago, Hera had become far more gloomy than before.
With no particular reason coming to mind, Zeus could only assume it was due to the guilt of failing her mission.
It would have been nice if she had simply told him what was wrong, but unfortunately, Zeus had no ability to read others’ inner thoughts.
In this situation, Hera had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Her eyes looked somewhat hollow, yet she had put on makeup and dressed in glamorous clothes, giving off a faint air of decadent allure.
She was always beautiful, but today she looked especially tempting.
Still, no matter how tempting she looked, they were right in the middle of starting something important, and his wife—who had been holed up in her room for so long—had suddenly shown up.
Zeus felt quite flustered and stammered.
“U-um… darling? W-what brings you here all of a sudden… Mmph!”
The next moment, Hera pressed her lips fiercely against his.
Caught completely off guard by the lethal strike, Zeus felt strength drain from his body.
He was helplessly dragged back into the room by Hera’s hand.
And then.
“W-wait… d-darling? I mean, Hera? I’m a little busy right now…”
Zeus stammered as he was half-forced onto the bed.
Even the world-renowned womanizer found himself flustered in this situation.
Hera, now straddling him, grabbed his face firmly.
She brought her own face right up to his nose and spoke, her eyes flashing with regret, exhaustion, and raw obsession.
“Shut up and get it up. Unless you want to watch me die.”
“?! W-what are you… Mmph!!!”
His wife’s incomprehensible declaration.
Yet as she roughly tore off her clothes and kissed him with renewed ferocity, Zeus was swept away by an unstoppable wave of arousal.
He never realized just how desperate his wife’s heart had become in that moment.
He never understood why she was acting this way.
I’m going to go insane… If I don’t do this… if I don’t give birth to a child somehow…!