The world-devouring dragon

After the hero defeated the god of war, he came to Lake Stymphalos. There, those powerful man-eating birds gathered in groups, and the whole lake was filled with the bodies and blood of the dead, which was extremely terrifying.

He tried to catch up with those birds, but every time the hero approached, those birds flew up and shot their iron-hard feathers like sharp arrows, making the hero dodge in embarrassment.

The birds hovered in the air, laughing at the hero and the mortals on the ground.

Even the hero who could defeat the god of war could not help but worry. At this time, Athena appeared.

"Alcides, it looks like you are in trouble."

The beautiful goddess in military armor appeared out of thin air behind the hero, and then smiled.

The surprised hero turned around and looked at Athena with surprise, and then bowed.

"Athena, I salute you."

Athena has helped him several times since he was born and even over the years. The hero is proud and conceited, but he will never be ungrateful to those who have helped him.

"You fought with Ares. You dug out one of his eyes and left him in the wilderness. Ares is very angry now."

Athena said seriously.

The news of the war between gods and men spread quickly throughout Mount Olympus. Some gods were surprised at the hero's fighting ability, while others gloated over Ares's misery.

As for Athena? She didn't feel anything for Ares.

Although Ares was her brother in terms of birth order, the relationship between the two was more like a brother and a nemesis (one-sided). Athena looked at her brother like a naughty child.

"So what? He wants revenge on me?"

The hero pouted.

Athena replied.

"Ares is arrogant and won't do that, but he has a strong desire to win, and he will seek revenge on you sooner or later."

"There is nothing to talk about between me and the god of war. Even if he wants to take revenge on me, I will take it. At this moment, I only think about how to kill those strange birds."

The hero turned around and looked at the lake full of corpses with a frown.

Athena smiled.

"It really fits your character, but Alcides, I am here to help you this time."

As she said, two gongs and drums appeared in Athena's hands, and then she said to the hero.

"As long as these two gongs and drums are struck, the sound will be as loud as thunder, enough to shake these strange birds off."

The hero accepted the pair of gongs and drums with great joy.

As the goddess said, just a slight collision, the sound was like thunder. The strange birds in the sky fell like rain in the wailing, and then the hero killed them all effortlessly.

After killing all the strange birds, the hero wanted to thank the goddess, but the goddess had already disappeared. Feeling regretful, the hero carried many strange birds on his back and embarked on a journey home.

In a place that mortals cannot see, the serpent goddess is accompanied by the goddess of wisdom, watching the hero going away.

"Athena, do you like Alcides very much?"

The serpent goddess named Mona asked.

Athena, dressed in military uniform, smiled and pointed.

"Don't you think he has a very special quality? Well... the quality that your father fears the most."

"Athena."

Mona frowned and emphasized.

A long time ago, the serpent goddess was given the power of immortality by her father and became an immortal corpse, but as a price, she was also deprived of emotions.

Therefore, she always speaks calmly, but only in very few things, her tone will fluctuate.

Athena smiled, then looked at the direction where the hero went away, and nodded.

"But you are right. I like this child very much."

"Can a goddess who doesn't know about love also fall in love?"

Mona asked.

Athena shook her head and denied it.

"It's not love, but respect. I am with these heroes, and I can feel that there is something very special in them, which is a trait that the gods have never had and probably will never have."

"What do you mean?"

Athena laughed and stretched out her hand, holding a scattered petal with her slender fingers.

The mighty goddess in military uniform lowered her head and looked at the petals on her fingertips, showing a gentle and quiet beauty at this moment.

"Mona, these heroes are not as powerful as the gods. Unlike the gods, the gods are immortal, eternal and youthful. But for these mortals, there are many things in this world that can hurt them."

"They will be injured, grow old, die, die from a cup of poisoned wine, die from illness and weakness, die from the tusks of wild boars, the claws of lions, drown in the river, fall off the city wall and die..."

Looking at the beautiful and short-lived petals in her hand, the goddess's fingers fell, and the petals floated down and fell into the mud.

"But because of this, these short-lived mortals actively try to grasp everything, want to make the greatest achievements in their most limited lives, and achieve their own legends."

"Mona, this kind of will is not possessed by the gods, and this may be... the trait that your father fears."

Athena said her own feelings.

Among the gods, Athena is the closest to the mortal heroes, and often helps the heroes in critical moments. Therefore, she is respected as the "Friend of the Hero" by the mortals.

During this long contact, Athena realized something that other gods would not understand, the reason why those heroes are called heroes.

The heroes have different personalities, some are good and some are evil, but they are all trying to do things that ordinary people cannot do. Drive away wild beasts, defeat giant dragons, climb to unreachable peaks, conquer huge and vast territories, and achieve various stories that are sung by the world...

A mortal with a lifespan of less than a hundred years finally accomplished what many immortal gods failed to do, so people respected them as heroes.

"Immortal gods, perishable heroes?"

Mona just commented on this.

"Maybe."

Athena said casually.

Then she looked into the distance and said something suddenly.

"But maybe soon, we will have an immortal hero? Who can say for sure?"

Immediately, the uniformed goddess disappeared from the same place. Mona thought for a moment and disappeared.

The path to becoming a hero is not that simple.

…

Far away on the sacred mountain, Ares's painful wails broke the Queen's heart.

"Ares, my child, who is causing you so much pain?"

The one-eyed God of War covered his injured eyes and stumbled back to the sacred mountain. His voice was painful and low, like a wounded lion.

After the Queen's questioning, she quickly came to see her child accompanied by many maids.

Faced with the queen's concern, Ares pushed his mother away angrily and shouted.

"That mortal, that damn bastard! I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him... ah, my eyes."

The golden divine blood overflowed from the socket of the missing eye. The God of War was in unbearable pain and hit his head on the earth, causing the shaking mountain to shake. The gods, who were alarmed by the huge movement, all asked what happened, thinking that it was the giant titans under the underworld who came to the sacred mountain to kill them.

If it were an ordinary wound, it would be nothing to the gods. Because they will not be injured, even if they are injured, it is an illusion of incarnation, and the true divine body will not change, otherwise the God of Fire Hephaestus would not have to drag his lame leg all the time.

But that's not the case when the god's body is damaged. If the God of War's eye is gouged, it means it is really gouged. Unless he can find his own eye from the wilderness, he will always be able to live with only one eye.

"That mortal? That Alcides?"

The surprised diva immediately realized what was happening and quickly asked.

Ares covered his painful eyes and gasped.

"Yes, my mother is your Heracles, your glory."

Heracles is the glory of Hera.

Hera did not discover the true identity of the wilderness baby at that time. Because of the mercy of the Queen of Heaven, she also gave him the glorious name of Hera. The name promised by God has its own unique magic power. This name is destined that the child will achieve great achievements in the future.

But things are so outrageous. That child turned out to be the illegitimate son of Zeus. Hera personally gave the child born of her husband's affair the name of glory...

Over the years, Hera has never forgotten this great humiliation.

She made the great hero mad, killed his wife and children, made him atone for his mistakes, and made him serve as a slave to the mortal king, which relieved her discomfort a little.

But now, this illegitimate child has turned against his favorite child and even gouged out his eyes?

"My poor child, I won't let you be humiliated like this. I will help you get revenge."

Holding her child's head and kissing his hair, Queen Hera comforted him softly. Ares, who was angry because of his injury, finally calmed down in front of his mother.

As for Ares's missing eye, Queen Hera just covered his eye socket with her palms. After a while, Ares felt that he no longer felt pain.

When the queen took back her palm, Ares was surprised to find that her eyes had grown.

The Queen rarely shows her magical power, but this does not mean that she is weak, it is just because there is no need.

"Mother, I want to kill that mortal."

Ares gritted his teeth.

Queen Hera looked at Ares and nodded slowly.

"good."