After this oath was made, Ares immediately felt himself locked by the Restraining Force, and then a protection belonging to the Restraining Force appeared on his body.
However, after his words fell, all the gods present, whether Athena or Zeus, whether Poseidon or Apollo, were stunned by him, standing rooted to the spot, unable to recover for a long time.
Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, who had always been showering Ares with attention, fainted uncontrollably the moment she heard this oath.
And after hearing the oath Ares made, Hecate "pffft" spat out the wine in her mouth, then she covered her mouth, trembling with laughter, even her makeup was ruined by her.
"Ah, ah, truly worthy of being my Hecate's disciple." She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes as she spoke with a voice mixed with coughs and gasps, "What a genius."
The nearby Artemis looked at Ares with admiration, a thoughtful expression in her eyes: "Zeus has also been urging me to marry recently, should I also make an oath for myself?"
Olympus was silent except for Hecate's unrestrained laughter. After a long while, Zeus, the King of the Gods, slowly turned his head and asked his son in a bewildered tone, "Ares, what are you aiming for?"
"I will defeat Athena! No matter the cost!" Ares roared, "Whatever Athena has, I will also obtain. Whatever Athena agrees to, I will oppose! A man is not a man just because he is married and has children! Instead, he must rush to the battlefield according to his beliefs, and win victory no matter the cost. Only then can he be considered a man, a warrior!"
He clenched his fists, shouting with boiling passion. After Ares's words fell, the Gods' Garden on Olympus once again fell into a long silence, the second time in countless years.
After a long while, Zeus, the King of the Gods, spoke to his son with a respectful tone, "Ares, truly worthy of you."
As an old lecher, he truly couldn't imagine how he would live without being close to beautiful women. Thinking of this, even in his heart, a trace of awe for his son inevitably arose.
And after hearing Ares's "Great Virgin Oath," even Sea King Poseidon and Apollo were awestruck. The two looked at each other speechless, standing rooted to the spot, at a loss.
"Uncle, brother, are you still going to force me to marry Aphrodite like this? Hmm?" Ares stood with his hands on his hips, haughtily, taking a step forward and standing in front of Poseidon, staring at him.
"You're amazing, you're amazing." Facing this nephew of his, Poseidon didn't know what to say. He waved his hands repeatedly, then gave up on forcing Ares, and retreated back into the crowd of gods.
Apollo plucked his lyre, not knowing how to answer Ares, and could only say, "Ares, my admiration for you is beyond words. I can only express my feelings with music later."
After speaking, he also followed Poseidon back among the gods.
And when Ares saw Poseidon and Apollo being repelled by his shout, he immediately felt his whole body grow taller. He turned around, looked at the God of Love and Beauty, who was utterly bewildered by him, and loudly said:
"Did you hear that? Aphrodite, I am now the God of Virgins, don't touch me!"
"You... you!" Aphrodite shivered at Ares's roar, and tears immediately streamed down from her eyes. With tearful eyes, she pointed at Ares and shouted, "You mark my words!"
Looking at Aphrodite's wronged expression, many of the male gods present showed expressions of heartache for her. Afterward, they turned their very displeased gazes onto Ares.
Upon noticing the gazes of these male gods, Ares looked around and shouted with his head held high, "What's wrong? What are you looking at? What are you looking at, you bunch of midgets? If I hadn't voluntarily withdrawn to deal with Athena, would it even be your turn?"
He patted his chest and said, "Now you at least have a chance to marry Aphrodite. I left this opportunity for you. Not only do you not thank me, but you even hate me. Is there any logic to that?"
After hearing Ares say this, the surrounding male gods looked at each other, and then realized that what Ares said was suddenly unpleasant, but it seemed to really make sense.
As a result, some gods who had originally been hot-headed under the influence of the Goddess of Beauty's divine power and were ready to stand up for her, also calmed down. Some even secretly thanked Ares in their hearts.
In any case, Ares, as Zeus's son, was also the highest-ranking wealthy and handsome god on Olympus. If he made the virginity oath, even if these male gods couldn't obtain Aphrodite, they would undoubtedly have one less extremely powerful competitor when pursuing other desired goddesses in the future.
Seeing this group of people casually dismissed by Ares, Aphrodite angrily bit her lower lip, then looked aggrievedly at Zeus, pleading:
"Zeus, do I really have to choose a husband today?"
Zeus's heart softened at Aphrodite's pitiful appearance, and his attitude also loosened. He replied, "You don't have to choose, but your divine power is truly too special, Aphrodite. If you don't want to find a husband, you can only swear to become a virgin goddess, like Athena and Ares. Of course, you don't have to swear to the world, swearing to my lightning is enough."
In that case, it wouldn't be impossible for him to open a back door for himself to have affairs later.
Zeus was calculating his own scheme, but Aphrodite clearly didn't have the same determination to cut off her own wrist like Athena and Ares. Moreover, her own divine portfolio included "sexual desire," so it was impossible for her to completely avoid romantic relationships.
However, with her current discerning eye, she only regarded figures who were also among the Twelve Main Gods. But among the Twelve Main Gods, only Hephaestus, the unappealing God of Fire, and Hades, the somewhat gloomy Lord of the Underworld, remained.
Just as Aphrodite was hesitating between these two options, she suddenly heard the voice of the New Moon Goddess Artemis in her ear:
"Zeus, were the words you just said true?"
The gods followed the sound and looked towards its source, seeing the white-haired Moon Goddess in a moon-white long dress, pulling the beautiful and majestic Goddess of the Hearth, Hestia, both coming before Zeus.
"Artemis, Hestia, what is this?" Zeus looked at these two ancestors before him with some confusion.
The two beautiful goddesses exchanged a smile, then Hestia softly said to Zeus, "Actually, during this time, we have also been troubled by issues in this regard. After just seeing Athena's and Ares's oaths, Artemis and I both feel this is a very good solution. So, Zeus, let Artemis and me swear to your lightning; we also want to be virgin goddesses."