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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 65
A blinding flash of divine lightning seared the world white, threatening to rob me of sight.
In that fleeting moment, a gentle hand swiftly reached out, covering my eyes, then forcefully turned my head away.
CRACK—!
A thunderclap exploded in perfect sync, swallowing the earth in its roar.
The lightning that had bleached the world gradually faded with time.
As it did, the hand shielding my eyes fell away.
“Benefactor, are you alright?”
“Yes… yes, I’m fine.”
Golden eyes searched my face with concern.
It was Vanessa who had covered my vision.
“I’m sorry—I didn’t have time to warn you.”
“No, I should be thanking you. You saved me, Lady Vanessa.”
Her response had been flawless. A moment’s hesitation, and I might have been blinded.
Even with my eyes shut, the brilliance of that thunderbolt had been overwhelming beyond imagination.
I turned to the side—Jeanne had opened her eyes.
“Jeanne, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Her clear violet eyes looked unshaken—she was unharmed.
Crackle—snap—
Sparks danced in the air.
I turned my head toward the place where the lightning had struck.
‘Unbelievable.’
As though defying the laws of nature, residual bolts still crackled, staining the air with pure electricity.
And from within that electric storm… a figure began to form.
No, not a figure—a god.
At last, the god stepped forth from the lightning.
He bore the form of a tall, powerfully built man—his long, snow-white hair swept back, muscle-bound frame radiating divine authority.
Eyes glowing a piercing blue like lightning itself scanned the surroundings with indifferent ease.
“We behold Lord Zeus.”
Pythia bowed to her knees as his gaze fell upon her.
He was the King of the Gods.
Zeus, Lord of Thunder and Lightning.
‘So this is a god…’
A chill ran down my spine.
Apollo and Hercules were fearsome—but this was something else entirely.
Just meeting his eyes made every hair on my body stand.
My entire being screamed in warning.
“Lord Zeus, to what do we owe the honor of your visit?”
“You dare ask what you already know?”
Zeus’s calm eyes flashed with suppressed fury.
“You used the Bow of the Sun in the mortal realm.”
His gaze pierced the bow Apollo held in his hands.
“A god entrusted with balance must not wield his weapon in anger. That rule exists for a reason, Apollo.”
“…But Hercules insulted me.”
“And were you not the one who first shirked your duty?”
“That’s… not exactly—”
“Will you now justify your negligence by blaming Hera’s watchful eye? Is that your excuse for abandoning your duty to purify him?”
Zeus’s voice carried the full weight and majesty befitting the King of the Gods.
His words were unimpeachably just—so much so that Apollo could offer no excuse.
And yet, for all his righteous rebuke, no one was more cautious around Hera than Zeus himself.
After all, it was Zeus who abandoned his lawful wife and amassed more than forty lovers—a legendary philanderer even by the standards of Greek mythology.
He was the sort of man who took every beauty he laid eyes on.
Because of that, Zeus found himself unable to object when Hera meddled in Hercules’ affairs.
‘How could he defend a child born of his adultery in front of the very goddess he had betrayed?’
So much so, in fact, that even the name Hercules—a blend of Hera and kleos, meaning glory was chosen to appease her ‘Hera’s Glory’.
And now that very Zeus was admonishing Apollo in a voice steeped in authority, leaving the latter dumbstruck.
He had much to say, no doubt—but none he could voice aloud.
Zeus’s true motive was clear: unable to support Hercules directly, he sought to use Apollo to vent Hercules’ madness—under the pretense of mediating the conflict.
‘Just in case…’
“Forgive me, but would you two please return for now? I’ll summon you again shortly.”
Before Zeus’s attention could fully turn toward me, I dismissed Jeanne and Vanessa.
Both were too beautiful—easily enough to draw the god’s gaze.
And when Zeus’s infamous eyes locked onto beauty, trouble always followed.
The god who could behave himself one moment and then lose all sense at the mere sight of a lovely woman… that was Zeus.
‘Thankfully, his attention was still fixed on Hercules.’
“Hercules.”
“Speak, Father Zeus.”
“The twelve labors I assigned you were trials of atonement—for your sins.”
“I understand.”
“And yet I’ve heard that outsiders have joined you in these trials.”
Those lightning-blue eyes turned toward me.
Zeus furrowed his brow.
“You are not the only outsider, are you?”
He looked around me, as if the one he sought wasn’t me—but someone else.
Good thing I dismissed them when I did.
There was a high chance Zeus had already glimpsed Jeanne and Vanessa from the heavens.
Judging by his behavior, nearly a hundred percent.
“Where have your companions gone?”
That alone confirmed it.
“They’ve stepped away for now. They’re not present.”
“Is that so? A shame—I had hoped to see all who took part in the labors.”
Zeus showed a brief flicker of interest, but it quickly faded.
‘He hadn’t gotten a proper look at Vanessa or Jeanne.’
If he had, knowing Zeus, he wouldn’t have let the matter drop so easily.
“Then I suppose I’ll confirm it next—”
Swoooosh...
As Zeus spoke, the crescent moon emblem on the back of my hand began to glow, releasing a cascade of moonlight.
The gathered light took shape—forming the image of Artemis.
“Artemis? What brings you here?”
“He is my Apostle.”
“Oh?”
At Artemis’s words, Zeus’s blue eyes gleamed as they shifted toward me.
There was interest in that gaze now.
“I thought you’d sworn never to take another Apostle after Orion.”
“There simply hadn’t been a mortal worthy of the title until now.”
An Apostle—one who forms a direct covenant with a god.
Apollo’s Apostle had been the priestess Pythia, who channeled his power and delivered his oracles.
Just as I had wielded Artemis’s divine hunting power through our bond.
But—
“The first since Orion?”
That was news to even me.
It seemed this world had intrigued Artemis enough to do what she hadn’t done in ages: choose a new Apostle.
‘...I’m absurdly lucky.’
It was like winning the divine lottery.
The only Apostle of a goddess who had refused to take another.
A lone Apostle.
Which also meant I alone held her power—undivided.
And with only one Apostle, Artemis’s focus would be entirely on me.
Zeus, perhaps surprised, seemed to forget all about Jeanne and Vanessa.
Maybe that had been Artemis’s intention all along.
She had deliberately drawn Zeus’s attention elsewhere.
“Didn’t you come to intervene in the fight between Apollo and Hercules?”
“There’s something I must ask first. Taygete. Where have you hidden her?”
“I cannot tell you that.”
“…”
Zeus’s lightning-filled gaze turned on Artemis.
But even in the face of that fierce glare, she did not flinch.
She had already experienced what it meant to lose someone dear to Zeus.
“…”
For a moment, Zeus stared silently at Artemis, then turned back to Hercules.
“Hercules.”
“Yes.”
“The Twelve Labors were meant to be a trial—for you alone.”
“I understand.”
“But the Moirai have meddled. Outsiders have become involved.”
He glanced at me briefly before continuing.
“Olympus has reached a consensus: the Labors must be increased.”
“…”
Hercules was silent.
Zeus’s words meant the Labors—already grueling—would grow once more.
“What is your will, then?”
“Hera proposed adding four new tasks, but I have judged that two will suffice.”
“I will obey.”
Though Hercules often acted rashly, the one person he always obeyed was his father, Zeus.
But for me, this was far from welcome news.
‘More Labors? On top of everything already?’
‘Is it because of the Gigantomachy?’
The only matter grave enough to attract the collective interest of the Olympian gods in Hercules’s trials was the Gigantomachy.
There had been a prophecy from Prometheus: Olympus would need the aid of a mortal hero to triumph over the Giants.
And so, Olympus had staked everything on nurturing that mortal hero.
And who had the most potential to fulfill that role?
Hercules.
The Twelve Labors were, in truth, a test to decide whether Hercules would ascend to Olympus.
But now, the Labors had grown too easy—making it inevitable the gods would revise them.
They feared Hercules would not grow strong enough if the trials were too trivial.
Personally, I thought they were worrying over nothing.
And so…
“Lord Zeus.”
“…”
“Increasing the Labors will only waste Hercules’s time.”
I stepped in—interrupting Zeus’s decree.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 65
