"Peace talks?"
Zeus's words nearly made Hecate laugh out loud.
"You're the one who started the war, and you're the one proposing peace. Do you think you can start a fight whenever you want and call for a truce whenever it suits you?"
"What do you want, then?" Zeus glared viciously at the goddess before him, like a wounded lion. "Do you really mean to fight to the death with us?"
"All right then, let's begin!" Hecate put on an eager, ready-to-strike expression. "You lot are full of badly wounded soldiers. Now's a perfect chance for me to finish off a few more of you."
As she spoke, magic began to gather around Hecate; a powerful spell seemed poised to erupt at any second.
"You…madwoman!" Zeus had not expected her to actually want to go to war; he'd thought that after the collapse of the boundary, her power had been expended in the fight.
Could the goddess of magic be that strong? Or did she not need divine power to fight at all, only to draw on an endless supply of mana?
Just as Zeus tried to brace his injured divine form for a final fight, a mage rose into the air on Colchis Island and flew to the goddess's side to stop her.
It was Alaric.
"Goddess, please pause a moment," Alaric said to Hecate in the tone of a chosen mortal speaking to a deity. "Don't rush into battle, won't you listen to my suggestion first?"
Seeing Alaric arrive, Hecate halted the spell for the time being.
She deliberately put on a displeased look, stared at Alaric for a long beat, then nodded.
"Since you did me a favor earlier, I'll indulge you and hear what you have to say," Hecate said, her tone stern.
"I hope your words actually mean something to me, otherwise I will let you know the price of presuming to boss a god around."
A standard, lofty deity attitude.
"Yes," Alaric nodded, unfazed. "Then may I ask, Goddess, what exactly falls under your domain as the patron of mages and ruler of the magic network?"
"Of course it's all mages, all magic, and the entire magic network," Hecate said, looking at Alaric as if he were ridiculous.
"Did you put so much effort into stopping me just to ask that stupid question? Do you really want me to punish you so badly?"
As she spoke, Hecate carried herself with regal hauteur, so commanding that Alaric felt a hot, impulsive surge to pin her down on the bed.
But not now.
Suppressing the urge, Alaric shook his head and continued in a calm voice.
"If that's the case, Your Grace should recognize that the scope you govern does not overlap at all with the Olympian gods, neither the magic network nor spellcraft are under the control of the gods of Olympus. As for mages…"
He glanced at Zeus as he spoke.
"The position of mage demands extraordinarily high talent. Mistra Academy searches the entire Greek divine realm each year and can hardly find fifty prospects.
Compared to the vast population of the Greek domain, fifty more people each year becoming the goddess's followers is hardly significant.
For the Olympian gods, this shouldn't be a big deal, right?"
Although the question appeared directed at Hecate, it was really aimed at Zeus.
Alaric's words struck a chord with Zeus.
From his perspective, this human, though he had just almost annihilated the gods using the magic goddess's power, did not seem keen on continuing the divine war.
So when Hecate looked poised to rage on, Zeus had immediately moved to interpose and persuade.
A peacemaker like this could be temporarily useful to the weakened Olympian pantheon desperate for a ceasefire.
He promptly inserted himself into their conversation.
"This mage makes a fair point," Zeus said.
"Though we Olympian gods govern the divine realm, the magic network and spellcraft do not fall within our usual purview.
Fifty people a year joining Hecate's fold isn't a great issue…in fact, given Hecate's power, even if that number were multiplied several times, it would still be yours by right."
Zeus's response pleased Alaric, so he continued addressing Hecate.
"What do you think? The King of the Gods also believes that Olympus and you are not natural enemies, doesn't he?"
"That's true, you make sense," Hecate nodded, but her voice grew loftier and more severe. "But so what? Our conflict didn't originate from jurisdictional disputes. Don't you know that?"
"You're right, Goddess," Alaric agreed, bowing to Hecate's queenly air.
"In fact, I believe there were places where the Olympian gods were at fault, for example, the harsh treatment and abandonment of certain goddesses in the past, and also their reckless provocations."
Those words made Zeus's face darken.
Was Alaric trying to start a fight too? What, then, had been the point of his earlier words?
While Zeus wrestled with that thought, Alaric turned to him.
"Truthfully, even gods must admit mistakes and seek ways to make amends and obtain apologies from others, shouldn't they?
If a sincere apology is offered, I believe that conflicts between deities can be resolved."
Zeus breathed easier.
It seemed this human did not want to fight but wished for redress.
Compared with the current, weakened state of Olympus, facing a seemingly far stronger goddess of magic, offering some concessions to negotiate was acceptable.
With that in mind he began nodding repeatedly.
"Indeed, Lady Hecate, our past conduct was a grave error on the part of the Olympian gods. If there is any way to gain your forgiveness, I am more than willing to oblige."
Good, he was playing along.
Alaric mentally gave Zeus a silent thumbs-up.
But Hecate still looked implacable.
"Hmph, the mere Olympian gods, what could they possibly offer me that I need?" she said disdainfully, casting a contemptuous glance at Zeus that darkened his expression. "Rather than waiting for them to compensate me, I'd sooner strike now; once I crush them, wouldn't Olympus itself belong to me?"
Her brutal words shocked Zeus, that was outright plunder. If she succeeded, what then?
And thinking further, if Hecate unleashed her full strength now, there would be nothing left for them but escape. In that case, she would indeed have the chance to pillage Mount Olympus.
In that moment Zeus acutely felt how painful it was to be outclassed.