On the slope, Admetus, king of Thessaly, stared at the terrifying figures crawling out of the pits, his face turning deathly pale.
Gigantes!
They were the bloodline of the Titans, also called the Giants.
Legend had it that when the second-generation god-king Cronus obeyed Mother Earth Gaia's command and castrated Sky Father Uranus, Uranus's divine blood sprayed from the wound between his legs.
Gaia absorbed it and gave birth to a host of Titan giants—the ancestors of the Gigantes.
Later, during the Titanomachy, Olympus and Othrys clashed in a bloodbath across Thessaly, and Olympus won.
But the Titan blood that refused to submit did not bow to Zeus.
Instead, they merged into the Gigantes and continued their war against Olympus.
Yet against the rising power of the Olympian gods, the Gigantes suffered defeat after defeat.
Their last major offensive had been more than a decade ago, when the sky-bearing Titan Atlas rebelled.
Even with Atlas leading them in a furious assault on Olympus, they were crushed by the wisdom goddess Athena.
Atlas himself was now a prisoner, condemned to hold up a corner of the sky.
After that crushing blow, the Gigantes had gone silent, licking their wounds.
No one expected that after just over ten years, they would crawl out of their underground holes again.
And of all places, they had chosen Thessaly—his own kingdom.
Surrounded by towering shadows, the king of Thessaly craned his neck, swallowing hard as he looked up at the mountain-like giants.
At this moment, he regretted not heeding the temple priests' warnings.
Lately, strange noises had come from underground.
The insects, fish, birds, and beasts in the mountains had all shown signs of unrest.
The priests had urged him to offer a great sacrifice to Zeus for divine guidance.
But at the time, he had been newly married, lost in bliss with his wife, and had paid no attention.
One wrong step, and now disaster had taken root.
Realizing the danger, the king of Thessaly drew the bronze sword at his waist and roared at his guards behind him.
"Ride back at once! Tell the city to seal the gates and go on full alert!"
As the colossal figures strode closer, Admetus tore off his loose robe, grabbed the round shield handed to him, and charged forward with a shout.
"Form up! Meet the enemy!"
He was trying to build a makeshift defensive line around himself.
In the world of gods, humans were too small and fragile.
Even the divine-blooded guards from the royal builder lineage were nothing more than slightly stronger ants before these Gigantes.
Right now, the only one who could slow them down was himself, the demigod descendant of the city-builder.
Whether out of kingly duty or warrior's pride, he had to step forward and buy time for the people of Thessaly to react.
As he moved, Admetus pushed the handsome shepherd behind him, signaling his guards to put the young man on a horse.
Though he ruled this land, Thessaly was a poor, war-scarred region.
His own life had never been luxurious.
But ever since he followed Zeus's oracle and the priests' prophecy and took in two foreign slaves, everything in Thessaly had begun to improve.
Fishing and herding had flourished under the two foreigners' hard work.
And because he had treated the shepherd kindly, he had even gained great fortune and married a beautiful wife.
The king of neighboring Iolcus had promised his daughter only to the man who could arrive in a chariot pulled by lions and bears.
The shepherd, with his uncanny ability to control animals, had helped him meet the condition and win the princess.
Now he and his wife lived in perfect harmony and happiness.
To thank the shepherd, Admetus had not only lightened his labor but often set aside his royal dignity to sit and listen to the young man play.
Over time, though Admetus had vaguely guessed the shepherd's extraordinary identity, he had been tactful enough not to pry.
The shepherd seemed content with the arrangement, and the two had become close friends.
Whether out of friendship or gratitude, he wanted this shepherd to live.
Yet the shepherd stood rooted to the spot, refusing to mount the horse, wasting all his effort.
Admetus raised his shield, blocked a gray-brown arm, hacked off two tree-trunk-thick fingers, and turned his head in fury.
"You idiot! If you don't go now, it'll be too late!"
"No need…"
The shepherd murmured under the pushes of two divine-blooded guards, then looked forward, his handsome face darkening and brightening, a strange humiliation flashing in his eyes.
"We don't need to run."
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
At the same moment, the earth trembled. Ether in the air surged wildly as a majestic golden bull phantom shot out from the mountain path like lightning, charging straight through the Titan giants, trampling everything in its path, and slamming down like a mountain in front of Apollo and the Thessalian king's pasture.
The Titans and monsters that had just crawled from the pits were caught completely off guard, hurling high into the air, before crashing back down as blood sprayed everywhere, and the crisp sound of breaking bones rang out nonstop.
Three giants who prided themselves on strength and courage swung their fists and charged together, trying to tear the rampaging bull apart.
But the moment they made contact, the mighty bull suddenly blurred and turned into a nimble goat that leaped high over their heads, then brought down two legs wrapped in golden divinity like steel whips, whipping through the air with howling wind.
With a dull explosion, the three Titans' heads burst open.
Red, black, and white foul sludge sprayed from their severed necks like rain, drenching the surrounding forest and ground.
"Damn it! It's one of Olympus's bastards! Get him together!"
The lion-headed leader saw his comrades fall one after another and roared, ordering the others to deal with this rear threat first.
On command, eagle-winged Titan monsters, burning rock giants, and primordial beasts with seven or eight snake heads charged out, unleashing their deadliest attacks.
Bronze feathers shot like arrows, surging black-red flames, and waves of dark-green venom came flying at once.
Seeing there was nowhere to dodge, Lorne stomped hard, and the wheel behind him spun.
Streams, moisture in the air, even underground water veins were drawn by divinity and gathered around him, forming a gigantic blue water unicorn whale.
The whale swung its head and tail, opened its mouth, and swallowed every feather, flame, and venom in one gulp.
Then, at the very limit, the whale, now dyed black-green, roared and rammed into the enemy formation, exploding violently.
The unsuspecting eagle-winged monsters, rock giants, and primordial beasts were drenched head to toe.
Their bodies instantly sizzled and corroded, thick acrid smoke rising in clouds.
Painful screams followed.
"My turn!"
At the same moment, the figure on the mountain path had already used the [Goat]'s divine speed to burst into the fray.
Behind him, the golden [Bull] phantom instantly reappeared, and the arm wrapped in golden divinity swung down like a massive siege hammer.
The rock giant at the front was instantly smashed to pieces, scattering as charred black stones.
Its primal living fire was completely extinguished under the violent divine surge.
The eagle-winged monster right behind it didn't even have time to react before a hand grabbed its thigh.
In the next instant, the dozen-meter-tall Titan creature was swung around like a torn sack, slammed left and right into the ground, leaving one terrifying crater after another.
Feathers and chunks of flesh flew everywhere, turning the scene bloody and brutal.
"Hiss~~!"
Seeing its two companions meet such miserable ends, the last primordial beast let out a terrified screech.
It raised several snake heads already corroded down to bone and sprayed a torrent of venom mixed with its own divine blood.
The thick green liquid hit the air and instantly spread into a vast, poisonous fog that rolled forward.
In seconds, the surroundings turned dark and murky.
Any plant or animal that touched the toxin withered and died instantly; even stones began to sizzle and smoke.
Lorne only breathed in a little from afar, yet his head immediately felt dizzy and his vision blurred.
One had to admit that in the age of Greek gods, the divinity of [Poison] was extremely hard to evaluate; its ceiling and floor were both sky-high.
Even the great hero Heracles and the sage Chiron had fallen to the corrosion of [Poison].
As the toxic fog spread, Lorne twisted his head back.
His gaze passed over the foaming cattle and sheep lying on the ground, then landed on several human figures swaying drunkenly before collapsing, his brows knitting tightly.
The poison opposite them might not be as terrifying as the nine-headed Hydra's, and it was far from enough to take him down, but ordinary demigods and mortals might not be able to withstand it.
In just a few seconds, everyone caught in the area had already collapsed.
Seeing his divine-blooded guards and the demigod king Admetus lying unconscious, faces turning purple with black blood leaking from their mouths, Apollo finally could not hold back.
He hugged his friend, bit his lip until it bled, and turned to the figure in front of him with a humiliated roar.
"Help me!"
Zheng~!
At that exact moment, a crisp seven-stringed lyre note cut through the green, poisonous fog, followed by flutes, divine words, and chants joining in perfect harmony.
"Song of sound, chapter of music, I command you—restore the light!"
With elegant chords and chanting, dense ether answered the call of divine rhythm, turning into countless musical notes that crashed into the fog.
Sizzling sounds filled the air as the foul gray-green mist was burned away, like sunlight breaking through clouds.
For a moment, the Gigantes who had long lived underground clutched their eyes and let out pained wails.
The lion-headed leader was clearly someone who knew what he was looking at.
When he saw the nine intellectual goddesses arriving with instruments, scrolls, and writing tablets, his pupils shrank, and he immediately waved his hand and roared.
"It's the Muses! Retreat! Retreat now!"
Hearing that iconic name, the remaining dozen or so giants frantically leaped back into the pits, using the earth's protection granted by their divinity to flee deep into the ley lines.
As the last Titan monster vanished over the horizon, this small-scale rebellion of the Gigantes clan once again ended without achieving anything.
The nine Muses who had come to the rescue flew swiftly through the dispersing poison fog and arrived at the slope before reaching out, trying to help their former lord to his feet.
"Lord Apollo, are you alright?"
"Get away!"
But Apollo, still dressed as a shepherd, swept his arm and ruthlessly shoved the flock of beauties aside.
At this moment, his face was as dark as stagnant water.
"A bunch of useless trash!"
Suddenly scolded for no reason, the nine Muses bit their lips, their faces turning pale.
Lorne frowned at the sight and spoke up for them.
"Apollo, what are you doing?"
"I'm disciplining my subordinate gods. Since when is it your place to interfere?"
Hearing the question, Apollo shot a sideways glare at Lorne behind him, his anger growing even stronger.
It was all this guy's fault that he had been forced to show his most wretched, most unbearable side in front of his own subordinates!
And these Muses were also a bunch of useless trash!
They didn't show up earlier or later—they had to wait until he was forced to beg for help before appearing.
At that moment, seemingly unable to stand Apollo's workplace bullying any longer, Lorne spoke righteously and loudly on behalf of the innocent Muses beside him.
"During the time you were being punished, Lady Artemis entrusted them to me to look after. When I see them being treated unjustly, of course, I have the duty to protect them!"
Those words struck Apollo like a bolt from the blue.
His face instantly turned liver-red as he stared at the Muses around him and then at Lorne in disbelief.
"You… you've been taking care of them?"
"That's right!"
Lorne nodded and calmly laid out everything that had happened over the past three years.
"Because you were punished, they also became targets of the covetous eyes of the others and were implicated. To keep them safe, Lady Artemis asked me to take care of these Muses on your behalf."
"Take care of them on my behalf?
So should I thank you?" Apollo's voice trembled with cold fury.
"No need. I was simply acting on Lady Artemis's request."
Lorne waved his hand magnanimously, then his expression changed as he pointed at the Muses behind him and spoke with righteous indignation on their behalf.
"These Muses never abandoned their duty even after being dragged down by you. They continued to maintain your temple. And when they heard Thessaly was unsafe, they left Olympus and traveled thousands of miles just to visit you. You not only show no gratitude, but you even speak cruelly to them. That is simply too much!"
Hearing such merciless scolding, the Muses didn't feel happy or angry, because they knew the God of Light very well...
And because they understood Apollo's temper well, hearing Lorne's words, they immediately turned deathly pale in fright.
They were just about to speak up to smooth things over when the God of Light let out a gloomy, cold laugh.
He looked at the Muses and Lorne with disgust and humiliation, as if staring at a group of adulterers who had hooked up behind his back.
"Fine, fine, fine! So you've all become one group now. Do you want my position as well? I'll let you have it!"
(End of this chapter)