The Hero Returns

* * *

Complete silence was the response of everyone at the conference venue to Athena's news.

The name that even made the gods struggle to breathe had been uttered by Athena today.

"Uranus," Su-hyeun thought, "Wasn't that creature Zeus's grandfather?"

He was a god that had been forgotten a long time ago whose name was rarely—if at all—uttered in the halls of Olympus. He was a fallen god who had become a Predator, after all.

Su-hyeun suspected that Uranus would be a powerful Predator, but today, he finally learned that the grandfather of Zeus was actually one of the Three Destroyers.

He was suddenly getting an ominous foreboding here—the kind where it felt like a big "something" was about to happen. The vicious winds had already ballooned past anyone's control. They had become a powerful storm, and this conference venue was the center of the said storm now.

The eye of the storm was always the most dangerous spot and the quietest, too.

"Is this information reliable?" Hades was the first god to break the heavy silence.

Athena nodded as she replied, "I trust that everyone here is aware of how Uranus, who was the predecessor, the ancestor, of our Olympus, had fallen to become a monster that devours other gods—that he is now one of the Three Destroyers."

"Does that mean Poseidon was...?"

"Along with the weapon he used during his life, the Trident, the Honored Uncle was devoured by Uranus. As for me, I..." She squeezed her eyes shut as a faintly trembling voice barely broke past her lips, "Only managed to escape from that place."

"Athena!"

BANG—!

The enraged Ares slammed his hand down on the table before him.

Athena was none other than the Goddess of War, not some common god. Unlike Ares who relied on strength to fight, she used her wisdom and intellect to win, but even then, the two of them were quite similar in several ways, perhaps more than any other gods present today.

Their most notable similarity would be their fervor toward warfare, as well as their unyielding pride in the battlefield.

"How dare you say something like that?"

"Ares."

A deep voice suddenly stopped Ares. The God of War couldn't continue the rest of his outburst as his half-rising torso flinched greatly. He then shifted his head to his side to look.

That voice belonged to Zeus. "Keep your mouth shut for a while, Ares," Zeus ordered.

Tap, tap, tap—

However, Zeus wasn't even staring at Ares. He tapped on the table and muttered quietly as if he was deeply engrossed in his thoughts, "Uranus, Uranus..."

Ares was unable to say anything until Zeus could collect his thoughts.

And so, when a bout of silence that felt like an eternity had come to an end, Zeus spoke up, "Does anyone here have something to say?"

No one answered.

It seemed that he wasn't aware how many hours it had been before he finally opened his mouth and how the other gods had to spend all those hours in sheer frustration unable to even breathe too loudly.

"If that's not it, then he can simply do whatever he wants?" Su-hyeun thought.

Zeus's atmosphere was completely different compared with how he was during his chat with Su-hyeun. Someone who initially came across as a well-built neighborhood grandpa was now lording over everyone present as their undisputed leader.

Just one word from Zeus—no, just a shift in his expression alone—was enough to alter the mood within the conference venue.

Even Hades, whom Su-hyeun thought was the sole individual capable of controlling Zeus to some extent, had become overwhelmed by the atmosphere surrounding the God of Thunder.

A few gods were even sweating profusely as if merely being here was proving to be too taxing for them.

In simple terms, the air in the venue was heavy that Su-hyeun even began wondering for the first time in a long while about how heavy gravity could be.

"We must...fight back," Ares finally managed to say something a while after Zeus asked his question.

His words promptly gained the attention of all the gods present.

Fight back, he said. In a way, what he said could be construed as far too simple-minded, but at the same time, it also sounded obvious.

One of the top gods of Olympus, who was also Zeus's brother, Poseidon, was killed. What Ares said didn't sound rebellious or problematic in that context since he was advocating for avenging his uncle's death.

However, the meaning behind his suggestion went past the level of being extraordinary and straight into the territory of terrifying.

"What are you so afraid of?" Ares scanned his fellow gods that numbered 10, including Zeus.

Some of them avoided meeting his gaze.

Ares, who had survived countless battlefields up until now, found it far too easy to read the expressions of his fellow gods. "Are you all that afraid?!"

"Ares, that is—"

"Are you all so scared of dying?"

"Ares, watch what you're saying," Hades intervened, unable to sit still.

Zeus didn't say anything and simply watched on, his arms across his chest.

Meanwhile, Ares didn't stop, "No, there's no need to watch anything, uncle. Did you not hear that Honored Uncle Poseidon has fallen in battle?"

Hades could only sigh at Ares's combative words.

The God of War continued, "Let's forget about revenge for a moment. Do not forget that Uranus has begun getting involved directly now. The bastard who avoided getting in conflict with Olympus and only focused himself on devouring gods has declared war on us!"

A few gods quickly averted their gazes when Ares's eyes began burning in pure rage.

Without a doubt, he possessed the greatest combat prowess out of all the gods in Olympus bar Zeus; Hades could exhibit all of his strength in Hell, but this was Olympus, not Hell.

Not only that, if this situation was the opening act of the war as Ares had alluded to, then no other god's suggestion would be more trustworthy than his.

"Even if we don't do anything, the other side will act first," Zeus, who had been quietly listening, finally said something.

Ares looked back at his father and nodded in agreement. Several others—Athena, Hades, Hephaestus, and finally, Artemis—also nodded in unison.

"You're indeed correct, brother."

"It seems that war is unavoidable, father."

"We'll get busy for a while, then."

"Yes, I was thinking that this peace has been going on for too long already."

The four gods each said some things.

In addition, Ares and Zeus joined them. Meaning, more than half of the remaining gods had said some things that sounded as if they approved of starting the war.

The rest of the gods couldn't deny what their fellow gods were saying. In all honesty, they also knew what it meant when Uranus personally got involved.

"It's decided, then." Zeus uncrossed his arms and issued a new order, "Ares, Athena."

"Yes, father!"

Clack, clack—!

Ares and Athena stood up at attention simultaneously.

The two deities of war had been called out at the same time. As such, they could already anticipate what Zeus's new order would be.

And finally, the command that had not left Zeus's lips in such a long time was made, "Prepare for war!"

That was the decision of Zeus and Olympus itself.

* * *

They agreed to suspend the meeting for a little while.

The gods returned to their respective temples in the meantime. The busiest of them were Ares and Athena, as they needed to prepare for the upcoming war.

As for Su-hyeun, he followed Apollo and returned to the Sun God's temple.

He didn't have a place to stay anyway, so he simply chose to set up camp in Apollo's temple. Besides, the Sun God was the very first god Su-hyeun had met, and he also happened to be the closest to a friend Su-hyeun could consider among the gods.

Maybe that was the reason why Zeus's order to Apollo concerning Su-hyeun's stay wouldn't be found lacking. To put it in another way, Apollo was now tasked with guiding Su-hyeun around Olympus as a visiting guest and making sure the latter had a good time during his stay.

Now that Apollo had officially invited Su-hyeun to stay in his temple, he spoke as he moved to settle down on the sofa, "Well, we now call it a war, but we shouldn't mistake it for something else. Father is probably worried. By a lot, too. He must be thinking about Olympus falling into danger."

"Is that creature that threatening? Enough to scare all the gods to this degree?"

The intense emotion Su-hyeun picked up from the gods during the meeting was, almost universally, fear.

That was the emotion every god felt with the sole exception of Zeus. Even the one who argued for the option of fighting back, Ares, was also afraid inwardly.

Olympus was the land that the great and powerful gods like Zeus, Hades, Ares, and Apollo called home.

But now, an enemy so strong had appeared that all these gods still felt afraid although they would be working together. Su-hyeun found such a thing too hard to even imagine.

"Well, the Three Destroyers are the most dangerous existences in not just this universe but in every realm out there, so I guess it's something a bit hard for you to properly grasp."

"Looks like I asked a wrong question," Su-hyeun decided to change his line of questioning. He figured that continuing down this line wouldn't get him the answer he wanted to hear. "Can we win this fight?"

"Not sure," Apollo shook his head. He chose not to lie.

Apollo was supposed to be even more proficient in Insight than anyone among the Five Godly Sages, yet someone like him was shaking his head?

Su-hyeun had been thinking that the Sun God would've been able to "see," but this...

"Originally, I would've replied that it's impossible."

"Originally?"

"Yes, originally."

"A future that's no longer 'original?' What has changed?"

When Su-hyeun asked that, Apollo, who was now comfortably seated on the cushions of the sofa, began staring at his conversation partner without saying anything.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward at that.

Su-hyeun asked again, "What is it?"

"You really don't know?"

"How can I when you don't...Mm?" An uncertain expression formed on Su-hyeun's face as he pointed to himself. "Wait, could it be because of me?"

"Bingo," Apollo replied without a moment's hesitation.

Su-hyeun became lost in his complicated thoughts for a moment there and ended up standing still with a dazed face.

The future had changed again? And it was because of him?

"Hey, dude, what's up with that face? Wait a minute, you still haven't recognized what kind of an existence you are?" Apollo spoke in a dismayed tone after seeing Su-hyeun's expression. "Didn't you kill one of the Ten Great Evils, Kali? With no one's help, to boot? And you also won against Ares, didn't you? Unless we're talking about my uncles fighting against Ares in their backyards like the oceans or Hell, only my father is strong enough to beat him in Olympus. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the tides of the upcoming war have changed after someone like you joined our side."

It felt like a heavy burden was suddenly placed on Su-hyeun's shoulders.

Zeus requested his assistance by even hijacking the trial system. Not only that but Apollo, the God of Fire and Prophecies, whose Insight was supposed to be equal to, or even better than, that of the Five Godly Sages, was now saying such things, too.

"Could it be that you have seen the future?" Su-hyeun asked, wondering if Apollo had indeed taken a peek at what might happen.

"I'm always 'looking,' whether I want to or not."

"Just what kind of future have you—?"

"My bad, but I can't tell you that."

Su-hyeun could only frown at Apollo's firm refusal.

This discussion definitely was related to him. It also concerned the potential continued existence, or even destruction, of Olympus.

Yet, Apollo chose not to say anything—not during the meeting and also not to Su-hyeun.

"May I ask why? Wouldn't your predictions have a purpose only by talking about them in the first place?"

"I only speak of the future that will come true," Apollo replied as he stood back up. "However, the future that can change? Something like that isn't a prediction or anything like that," he continued, his confusion showing on his face.

He was right, however; a future that could be changed was "meaningless." Something like that was not worth bringing up even if you had seen it.

Countless possibilities existed for the future, but the actual future could only be one out of all of them—and Apollo was unable to make any predictions about it.

Apollo then abruptly began heading outside his temple.

Su-hyeun asked, "Where are you going?"

"I want to speak to my father. Get some rest in the meantime. I'll be back soon."

* * *

Inside the deepest part of the Palace of Olympus...

Zeus was currently standing still in front of the Well of God Title with his hands resting behind his back. He just stood there in silence, staring at the surface of the water, evidently deeply submerged in his thoughts right now.

Step, step—

The sound of footsteps had reached him, and upon hearing those steps coming from beyond the thick and heavy doors, Zeus asked, "You've come, son?"

Rumble—

The doors didn't open; Apollo simply phased through the doors themselves with his figure enveloped by flames.

Did he just use his powers inside the palace? In any other times, he would have already been sternly reprimanded because of such an action.

However, despite knowing that, Apollo remained unfazed when Zeus didn't bother to say anything.

"There's something I'd like to ask you, father."

But that was because, compared to the severity of the events happening right now, Apollo's little indiscretion was as insignificant as a speck of dust existing out there in the great cosmos.

"You may ask."

"I saw the future," Apollo said and then held his breath for a moment or two.

Zeus didn't urge his son to carry on and simply stared at the well in silence, waiting for the next part of the inquiry.

"But it was a future that would change, so it doesn't even qualify as a prediction of what's to come. But through that version of the future, I ended up learning something that I did not know until now."

The future could be changed; even if that was true, though, it didn't mean the power of prediction would lose all of its usefulness.

Even if that possibility of the future was not going to be the reality, something that would change eventually anyway, it was still one of the possibilities that could happen, regardless.

So, as a clue to what might happen, or even as a piece of information, what he saw was still quite valuable.

"Is that so? What is it that you wish to ask me, son?"

"I only have one question, father."

Zeus finally turned around Apollo uttered, "Just...what is he?"