Isolated and Helpless
Hephaestus, flustered; Antaios, silently kneeling; Apollo, whimpering as he desperately searched for Hephaestus.
It was, quite literally, a total disaster.
Could there possibly be a more chaotic scene in all of Greece?
'Probably not.'
And I wasn't the only one thinking the exact same thing.
"By Zeus..."
Hephaestus, running a hand through his hair as if he couldn't possibly comprehend the situation, looked between me, Antaios, and Apollo before finally turning his gaze toward me.
"What on earth is going on here?"
"Bro-brother! That, that bastard. That bastard is..."
"It was a clear case of self-defense."
"W-what did you say?"
I explained everything to Hephaestus, leaving nothing out—from what happened on the island of Erytheia to why I had ended up here.
"Hah! Is that true?! You... you have inherited the ancient divinity of Mother, of Hera? And Apollo interfered with that?"
"Yes. Afterward, I held a rite at his temple to clear up the misunderstanding, but as you can see..."
I bowed my head before Hephaestus like a sinner making a confession.
"Therefore, I ask this of you, Hephaestus. If you would return the god Apollo to Olympus and convey my regards to Zeus, I, Dianes, shall honor that grace for a thousand generations."
The justification I held was already immovable.
It wasn't just anyone; it was Hera.
The Queen of the Gods, the Great Goddess of Olympus, and Hephaestus's own mother. It was shocking enough that she had passed her ancient divinity to me, but since divinity meant the very existence of a god, interfering with the exercise of that divine duty was a violation of the taboos set by Zeus.
But in such a situation, if I were to forgo the golden opportunity to order weapons from Hephaestus—a warrior's dream—and instead return the captured Apollo, claiming I desired reconciliation with Olympus?
'He has no choice but to listen.'
If the whispers of Mara could make even those who refused to listen to my words bow their knees, then I should hang up my title as the Heavenly Demon if I couldn't sway someone who had already opened their ears to me.
"Bro-brother...! D-don't listen to him... He is a demon! It was that bastard who used wicked arts to bypass Olympus's protection and drag me down here...!"
"Apollo..."
Hephaestus merely glared in silence at Apollo, who was groaning while bound in golden ropes next to Antaios.
"Tsk, you've had a hard time because of my foolish half-brother."
"Not at all. It is all due to my own lack of virtue."
"Br-brother...?"
Apollo looked as if he couldn't believe his own ears at Hephaestus's words, muttered while glaring at him with pity.
"The Queen has already told me. You coveted Dianes's lover, Atalanta, and caused such a scandal in Chiron's territory that Lady Athena herself had to step in to mediate!"
"H-Hephaestus, brother!"
"And yet, you still haven't come to your senses, cowardly launching a surprise attack on a hero acting on behalf of Mother Hera? And now you try to frame the hero who asks for reconciliation?!"
"I-it's the truth! H-how can you listen to the words of that wicked man instead of your own brother! And you call yourself one of the Twelve Olympians..."
-BOOM!
Suddenly, a massive brass hammer grazed Apollo's ear and pulverized the floor.
To cover up your own disgrace, you dare insult the authority of Olympus and mock me!?
"....!"
Under the terrifying aura of Hephaestus, which felt like an erupting volcano, Apollo turned deathly pale and had to shut his mouth.
'...Stupid bastard.'
Here in Greece, the authority and power of Olympus were truly transcendental. Logically speaking, which was more credible: that the Sun God of Olympus was forcibly dragged down here by sorcery, or that Apollo had acted like a fool, suffered defeat, and then tried to frame me?
"...Dianes, I apologize on his behalf. I can't believe this idiot would use such an absurd frame-up as an excuse."
"Haha, it is fine. Apollo must just be a little confused."
Hephaestus shook his head with a grim face as he apologized, and I waved my hands with a troubled expression. Of course, from Apollo's perspective, it was enough to drive him insane.
"Th-this cunning bastard...!"
Well, what could he do? He should have blamed his own stupidity for picking a fight with me for no reason and launching a surprise attack to boot.
'Heh.'
"Youuu...!"
When I gave Apollo a subtle sneer from an angle where Hephaestus couldn't see, the noble Sun God ground his teeth until they nearly shattered, glaring at me.
'So what are you going to do about it?'
The entire board was already being played on my terms, and on that board, Apollo had acted like a ruffian, mistaking a losing hand for a winning one. In the end, he had handed over both the justification and his own life line to me as the stakes. Handing him over to Hephaestus to be repatriated to Olympus was a very humane treatment. If I had wanted to, I could have thrown him into a void or shattered his mind even more thoroughly than I did Artemis's.
'Compared to that, throwing some aggro at Olympus is a very generous treatment, isn't it?'
Artemis, whom I was already kneading with the Soul-Stealing Technique, was already a high-risk factor. In such a situation, rather than touching Apollo as well, it was better to manipulate the situation so that he would run wild in accordance with my goals without even realizing it.
Anyway, apart from Apollo, most of Olympus was either in a close relationship with me or had no connection to me at all. In a situation where Zeus had already implicitly agreed to maintain a neutral relationship, if Apollo returned to an Olympus already tense from the conflict with Poseidon and stirred up trouble by bringing me up, would Zeus really look upon him kindly? On top of that, his sister Artemis was already dancing as my puppet without even knowing it.
Apollo was already isolated and helpless.
"Damn it, as a fellow god of Olympus, this is nothing but shameful. Hey! Take that blockhead to my workshop!"
"Yes, Lord Hephaestus."
"Let go, let go! Do you know who I am! How dare a mere statue..."
"If you say one more word, I'll pour molten iron down your throat so you can't even open your mouth."
As soon as Hephaestus picked it up, his massive hammer began to glow red-hot. Apollo, with that hammer aimed right in front of his eyes, couldn't say another word and was carried away like a piece of luggage by the golden handmaidens.
"...Stupid bastard."
To think he would even insult the golden handmaidens that the quintessential engineer Hephaestus cherished so much. If he weren't a god, he would have died a lonely death long ago.
"The fun is all spoiled. Since things have turned out this way, I should hurry back to Olympus as well."
"It is a pity. I was just lamenting the fact that I haven't had a decent sword for a long time."
Honestly, I had been trying to wrap Hephaestus around my finger, but it was certainly true that I had enjoyed drinking with him. Just as Hephaestus praised the Muses for singing after a long time, there weren't many people with whom I could reflect on my old memories as seriously as this. On top of that, the greatest blacksmith in history—no, in the entire world—was offering to forge my weapon himself; how could I not be excited as a warrior?
'What a pity, what a pity!'
I had to struggle to suppress my own racing heart, matching the excitement in the eyes of the god who was already wondering what kind of weapon he should make for me. If I hadn't, I would have forgotten about Apollo and everything else and begged him to just make me a sword!
"It is unfortunate... but it is fortunate that we were able to avoid even a small conflict with Olympus."
I was trying to soothe my regret with the gains I had made this time when a palm the size of a pot lid suddenly patted my shoulder.
"Why are you so regretful? Stop by the workshop when this is all over."
"...Pardon?"
At my reaction, Hephaestus laughed heartily and continued.
"Pardon? What do you mean, pardon? It will be difficult since I have to go up to Olympus right away, but can't I forge a decent piece of equipment for a brother who has inherited the old burden of my mother?"
"Hephaestus...!"
"...And I'd also like to talk in more detail about that three-bodied giant."
-Hahaha! I'll send someone later!!
With a sincere laugh and a joke that didn't sound like a joke, the god Hephaestus disappeared, leaving only a hot gust of wind behind.
"...He's gone, right?"
"It seems so."
With Hephaestus gone, Antaios and I checked the situation for a moment and then bolted out of the room without waiting for the other.
"Water! No, ice! Is there anything like an ice room!?"
"I don't know what that is! But there is a lake in the garden over there!"
No more words were needed. I hadn't said it out loud, but it felt like the temperature in the room rose by 10 degrees every time Hephaestus's mood fluctuated. Whether he did it on purpose or because his divine power was just that immense, by the time he threw his hammer at Apollo's head, the paint on the ceiling was melting.
-SPLASH!
"Argh! I thought I was going to die of heat!"
"Huff... huff... The son of Poseidon almost got steamed to death..."
That wasn't a joke. If Hephaestus had thrown a tantrum even a little longer or asked for one more drink, Antaios and I would have been steamed to death.
"Huff, huff... Did it go according to the picture you drew?"
"For the most part...?"
I had already achieved the purpose of coming to Erytheia, and I had dealt with Apollo, Artemis, and even the god Hephaestus. Although the situation was a bit precarious, I had thrown every move I could make at Olympus with this.
"Whether it goes one way or another, Zeus and Olympus won't be able to stop me from growing my power for the time being."
The gods of Greece were more powerful and more fickle than the emperors or feudal lords of the Central Plains. If I were to leave everything to them and bow my head, I would surely suffer a disaster sooner or later. Besides, I even had a kingdom where I was revered as a guardian deity.
"Antaios, pick out the smart and capable ones from your subordinates and get them ready. It's time to go back to Greece."
"Pardon? What do you mean by that...?"
"What do you mean, what do I mean?"
The demigods of Arcadia, especially Heracles and Atalanta, must be itching to move. After living in the forests for so long, holding their breath, they had tasted the power of the secular world and confirmed their own strength!
"By now, they must have secured a few decent ports."
If Zeus intended to deal with me or Arcadia using human power rather than divine power, it would almost certainly be through Athens. Especially since Theseus, the Prince of Athens whom I had let live, must be burning with a grudge against me by now; it was obvious that he would target my main base, Arcadia.
"How long are we going to hide on the sidelines? Let's slowly return to the Greek mainland."