Hearing that Hermes's words seemed to be truly important, Zeus no longer felt angry. He immediately sat up from the nymph's lap and said to Hermes:
"Wait for me a moment."
"Zeus, are you leaving?"
Seeing the King of Gods rise, the nymph asked weakly.
"Yes, my dear." Hearing the nymph's words, Zeus turned his head affectionately and said to one of his lovers, "Wait for me here. I'll return victorious soon and then come to be with you."
"Mm, good luck." The nymph said shyly to the King of Gods.
Blessed by the beauty, Zeus was full of pride, feeling that his journey would surely be unstoppable, that he could easily take the monster's head, and that he could also bring back some spoils of war to please her.
However, when he and Hermes were halfway there and turned back to retrieve the Divine Lightning that he had hidden in the cave, they discovered that the Divine Lightning was already gone.
"Zeus, are you alright?"
Seeing his old father sweating profusely as he faced a mountain wall blackened by intense heat, Hermes quickly asked.
"I'm fine."
Zeus clenched his fists and snorted:
"It's just a Giant, isn't it? During the Titan War, even without the Divine Lightning, I fought countless of them bare-handed! Let's go!"
The father and son arrived on Olympus. Seeing Zeus return, the gods who remained on Olympus found their backbone. They looked at Zeus eagerly, praising the King of Gods's name. Hermes said to Zeus:
"Second Uncle just tried to fight that Giant, but he was no match for him and was defeated. Zeus, you must be careful!"
"Hmph, Poseidon is always like this. Among us three brothers in the Titan War, he was only good at bragging."
After hearing Hermes's words, Zeus smiled disdainfully. He glanced at the distant Giant disturbing the stars and pushing the sky, and said without turning his head:
"I am different. Your father has always been invincible! You wait here, I'll go kill a Giant and be back!"
All the gods looked at him expectantly, just as they had previously looked at Poseidon. However, what they didn't notice was that the only main gods present were Hermes, Hestia, and Aphrodite.
While all the gods were unaware, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, and Hephaestus had already quietly left. Ares noticed Apollo pulling Artemis away, and seeing this, he also pulled Hephaestus out of the garden, then took him to the Queen's temple.
"Hephaestus, go in and persuade Hera to leave with you." Ares said to Hephaestus with a solemn expression, "That Giant named Typhon hates Zeus. We cannot let Typhon find Hera; she will be torn to shreds by Typhon."
"Oh, I understand." Hephaestus didn't ask much. If it were before, he might have asked Ares why he thought Zeus couldn't defeat Typhon. But ever since Zeus threw them brothers off Olympus because of a mistress, even breaking his leg, the God of Fire no longer wanted to care about anything concerning his father.
Ares pushed him, urging him to take Hera away quickly, but the God of Fire walked two steps, then turned to stare at his brother, asking with some concern, "What about you, Ares?"
"Me?" Ares laughed heartily and said, "As the God of War, of course I'm going to cover your retreat."
He pushed Hephaestus's arm, urging the God of Fire, "Go, don't worry. Typhon won't truly kill me no matter what. Besides Hera, the Queen, and Zeus, the King of Gods, it doesn't really have much animosity towards us main gods."
After Ares's persistent persuasion, Hephaestus finally gave up the idea of escaping with Ares. He walked into the Queen's temple under Ares's gaze. After the last incident, the Queen had a better opinion of her son, so it wasn't long before she was helped out by Hephaestus. Mother and son together got into a precious chariot made by the God of Fire, quietly ascended into the sky, and left Olympus.
Ares watched them leave, then returned to his own temple, took out his full armor, and put it on. When he walked out of the temple and returned to the garden, he happened to meet Athena walking from the other end of the path.
This Goddess who commanded military strategy and victory had now changed out of her long dress and put on a form-fitting golden armor, wearing a helmet adorned with wings. She held the aegis and a spear, and happened to meet the fully armed Ares. Their eyes met, and Athena snorted, saying to Ares:
"I didn't expect you to still be here and not run away, Ares. I thought that as the God of War, you would at least be able to tell who was stronger, Zeus, who had lost the Divine Lightning, or that Typhon."
"Of course I can tell, don't look down on me, Athena." Ares also snorted in response, "I am the God of War. Even if all the gods on Olympus flee, I will not flee. Even if I can't defeat Typhon, I will fight it to the end!"
"Hmph, suit yourself."
After Athena finished speaking, she withdrew her gaze. The two stopped talking and walked into the garden together, but the atmosphere between them was as chilling as the north wind in the depths of winter.
The garden, located on the edge of Olympus, was now filled with the gods of Olympus. They gathered here, watching the battle between the King of Gods, Zeus, and the last Titan Giant, Typhon. As Ares and Athena entered the garden, they heard the gods gasp, as if someone had choked them.
They followed the gods' gaze and looked towards the horizon, where they saw the King of Gods, Zeus, who had lost his lightning, now held in Typhon's hands. Although he had summoned all his divine power and strength, trying to prop open Typhon's palms, in a pure test of strength, the King of Gods was clearly suppressed by the Titan Giant.
Soon, Zeus, who had transformed into a ball of light, was crushed between Typhon's palms and forced back into his original form. Then, amidst Zeus's screams, Typhon, with a cruel smile, extended a finger, drew out Zeus's tendons from his hands and feet, and then threw Zeus towards the earth like trash.
"Gods of Olympus!"
After Zeus, the God of War, Typhon pulled out a section of lightning, shimmering with high heat and light, from who knows where—it was Zeus's stolen Divine Lightning. It raised this Divine Lightning with some effort, brandishing this weapon of boundless power, and then roared loudly, "You have lost!"
The gods were silent, looking at each other. The atmosphere on Olympus was so heavy it seemed as if water could drip from it. At this critical moment, it was Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, who spoke first. She shouted loudly:
"What are you still doing standing there? If you don't want to die, run quickly!"