Unlike the Olympus that later fell to the earth, at this time, Olympus, as the divine realm, was still suspended in the sky.
Below it was the boundless sea, the territory ruled by Sea King Poseidon, but if one climbed to the highest point of Olympus and leaped down, following the mountain wall, they would fall into the boundless River Styx controlled by Hades.
This was a special spatial overlap phenomenon that Olympus possessed as the divine realm.
It was daytime now, and the Golden Gate on the mountainside of Olympus, leading to the gods' residences, had opened, welcoming the deities who did not reside on Olympus but came from all corners of the earth. Ares also led Hecate inside. Here, he had become the host, while Moon Goddess Hecate seemed somewhat unwelcome by the other gods.
When the two passed through the Golden Gate, Eos, the Goddess of Dawn with rose-red fingers, who was guarding the gate, came to greet them with three virgin maidens, Hermes. This goddess, dressed in a long crimson gown, showed a joyful expression on her face when she saw Ares.
"Ares, you've finally returned," she said to Ares. "Without you guarding Olympus at night, we all felt very uneasy."
Ares looked down at this goddess. As she spoke, this beautiful goddess actually tried to rub against him, which scared Ares into quickly taking a step back, turning his body, and slightly avoiding her.
Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, was also a goddess who had a romantic affair with Ares in myths, and like Aphrodite, Ares was not her only beloved; she had both human and divine lovers, and even wanted to poach Orion from Artemis.
This was a thirsty and troublesome goddess, but in Ares's current memory, he should not have had any substantial relationship with this Goddess of Dawn yet, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"What are you talking about?" Ares angrily retorted while dodging Eos's approach. "Isn't Athena on the mountain? Isn't she stronger than me? Goddess of Victory, how awesome!"
His words were full of his displeasure and dislike for Athena. Now that he was out in such a crowded place, Ares had to uphold his "idol image" and play the part fully.
"Athena is very busy with many matters; how could she wholeheartedly focus her energy on guarding Olympus?" Eos sighed softly, looking at Ares with a resentful expression. "These days, only a few weak goddesses like us are still watching the gate, fearing that some monster might take advantage of this time to attack the mountain and disturb the great gods."
As she spoke, she twirled her braid and cast a flirtatious glance at Ares.
Ares: "…"
Auntie, please don't be like this, auntie, we are decent people.
It was clear that the beautiful Goddess of Dawn Eos had long admired the handsome and powerful Ares, but in Ares's memory, she used to be very reserved, at most smiling more happily when Ares entered and exited the Golden Gate.
However, this time she was so proactive, probably because the true Goddess of Beauty had been born, thus stimulating a sense of crisis in these goddesses and prompting them to act faster.
But Ares now had no desire to have anything with these beautiful goddesses. Just as he was about to harden his heart and push this goddess away to leave directly, he heard his teacher Hecate behind him let out a laugh:
"Ares, I didn't realize you were quite popular."
Hearing this voice, Eos vigilantly looked behind Ares, but when she saw Hecate, whose face was painted like a performance artist, her face visibly relaxed.
She glanced at Hecate's appearance and secretly compared it to her own reflection in the pool when she washed up this morning, and immediately a hint of contempt arose in her heart:
"A rookie, no threat at all."
However, Moon Goddess Hecate held a respected status, so outwardly, Eos still needed to greet her: "So it's the esteemed Hecate, you've come as well."
"Mhm." Hecate nodded, then reached out and deliberately patted Ares's arm with a loud slap, chuckling mischievously, "It was on the way, so I came with my disciple."
Eos saw that after her rough action, Ares showed no sign of anger at all, standing obediently in place. Even though she knew this was mostly because Hecate was strong enough, a trace of jealousy couldn't help but rise in her heart.
She wanted to continue her "pursuit" of Ares, but Ares took the opportunity to say, "Zeus's banquet is about to begin. We shouldn't delay. Being late to his banquet is a big taboo, Eos, you should finish up quickly and come over too."
After speaking, Ares fled, as if escaping, taking Hecate with him. Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, could only stomp her foot angrily on the ground, helplessly watching Ares depart.
There was no way. In terms of divinity and power, neither Ares nor Hecate was someone she could compare to. The only way for the Goddess of Dawn to win her beloved's heart was to desperately throw herself at him, but from the current situation, Ares was not falling for it.
Meanwhile, Ares and Hecate, who had followed the colonnaded mountain path to the cloud sea, finally arrived at the banquet venue.
The banquet was not held inside the God King's Hall, but rather in the enormous floating island garden outside the God King's Hall. Here, Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, had already led the team of maidens from Olympus, arranging the venue in perfect order. Rows of long tables were filled with various exquisite foods and divine wine, and many noble gods moved between these tables, chatting in groups of two or three.
Upon arriving at the banquet hall, Ares complained to Hecate, "See? I didn't lie to you, did I? I told you I'm too handsome and it would cause trouble."
"Just the Goddess of Dawn, can that even be called trouble?" Hecate scoffed, "You're a chief god. Just play with her for a bit, then dump her; she can't do anything to you, can she?"
"Don't even think about it. Once you have a relationship with her, that's, what was it called… right, getting entangled in karma." Ares said, annoyed, "I don't want to cause so much trouble right now."
As they spoke, the two walked towards the venue, and the arrival of Ares and Hecate attracted the attention of the gods; the former because of his noble status, and the latter because her face was painted so ugly.
All the guests at the banquet turned their attention to the two of them, but neither Ares nor Hecate paid any mind. They walked into the banquet hall, each took a cup of divine wine from the tray held by a maid, and then naturally separated. Ares took his wine cup to greet Zeus and Hera and other elders, while Hecate quietly retreated to a corner of the banquet hall by herself.
Even tucked away in a corner, Hecate's unconventional face would surely not go unnoticed, but because this Moon Goddess, who commanded magic and witchcraft, had a fearsome reputation, no one dared to foolishly provoke her. All the gods pretended not to see this goddess, chatting and laughing as before, and Hecate was quite satisfied with this situation.
However, at this moment, a male god suddenly approached Hecate with a wine cup.
"Hecate," Prometheus, the former God of Wisdom, said to her, "Do you have time now? Let's talk."