The Sea King's figure transformed into a swift wave, arriving before the olive grove in the blink of an eye.
But even so, he only had time to support his son's headless corpse, then watched helplessly as Halirrhothius's head, its expression frozen in confusion, fell onto the grass before him.
As if sensing his rage, the sea outside Athens immediately began to churn violently, a storm gathered in the sky, and the earth began to tremble ceaselessly.
The Sea King raised his hand, gripped his trident tightly, and then spun around abruptly—
Bang!
The swiftly striking trident pierced the shield surface of Athena's aegis, which she had already raised to protect her chest. The divine powers of the two main gods collided, causing a visible shockwave to explode, blasting a huge gap in the three mountain ranges that encircled the Athenian plain.
Golden divine power rippled out like a barrier, protecting Athens, which was not yet fully built. Maintaining her blocking posture, Athena calmly met the Sea King's furious gaze.
"He cut it himself; I didn't lay a hand on him."
She said to Poseidon.
"Bullshit!" Poseidon roared, divine power exploding as the two figures quickly separated. Athena braced her spear and shield, retreating to the gates of Athens, while Poseidon flipped and leaped into the sea, transforming into a colossal giant made of waves, coldly overlooking the entire city of Athens.
Just then, a bright lightning bolt streaked across the sky, parting the dark clouds. Zeus and the other main gods stood on the clouds, shouting at Athena and Poseidon:
"Enough, Poseidon, Athena, do you two intend to start a divine War here?"
"Zeus, you won't get away with favoring your daughter this time!"
Poseidon, transformed into a towering giant of water, spoke with a sound like an earthquake.
"I'm not trying to favor Athena, Poseidon."
Zeus's stern face, commanding without anger, looked down at his elder brother:
"Strife among the Olympus Gods is forbidden; that's the rule. Have you two forgotten?"
Considering that Poseidon might truly be enraged at the moment, Zeus relaxed his expression and said to Athena and Poseidon:
"I'm not denying you a way to resolve your conflict. How about this: let your followers fight for you."
"Alright!"
Poseidon reached into the sea, then pulled out his trident, as tall as a mountain. Then, he brandished the trident, pointing it at the terrified Athenians:
"My army, destroy this city!"
"Poseidon!"
Zeus bellowed, and thunder exploded in the sky again. He lowered his voice, looking at his elder brother, and said gravely:
"I said, gods are not allowed to intervene in this War!"
The King of Gods' eyes slowly swept over the sea creatures in the waves, finally landing on the half-man, half-fish Triton, who quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet Zeus's gaze.
Then, Zeus met Poseidon's eyes, and their gazes clashed fiercely in mid-air. After an unknown amount of time, the giant of water that the Sea King had transformed into collapsed, and Poseidon returned to his normal size.
He air-grabbed his dead son's body, held it in his arms, and stood on the waves, staring coldly at Athena.
"Just you wait, dear niece."
He said:
"In one month, Atlantis's fleet will completely destroy this city!"
After speaking, the Sea King paid no mind to the reactions of the gods in the sky or Athena, and directly led his army back into the deep sea.
After watching Poseidon's army depart, Zeus, the King of Gods, and the other main gods on the clouds breathed a sigh of relief.
Only Ares stared disinterestly at Poseidon's receding figure, muttering "coward," then he looked at Demeter and said triumphantly: "Demeter, I won this round, didn't I?"
"Indeed, Ares won this time, Demeter..." Zeus looked questioningly at one of his wives.
"Hmph, isn't it just a Midas Staff? Take it." Demeter said, somewhat displeased.
"Don't be angry, Demeter." Zeus handed both the Flame Sword and the Midas Staff to Ares, while comforting his sister and wife: "Although Ares won this round, he lost the other one he bet on. He bet on Poseidon's victory, but now, look at these Athenians, who among them would still vote for Poseidon?"
"True." Demeter glanced at the fearful Athens on the ground, feeling a little relieved.
For the gods, the safety of the mortals in Athens was irrelevant to them. Whether Atlantis's fleet flattened Athens or if the nascent Athens made a desperate counterattack to defeat Atlantis, for the immortal gods, it was merely a good show in their long lives. Who won or lost made no difference to them.
Except for Athena.
To overthrow Zeus, she urgently needed to establish her image and authority among humans. The current situation was not good for Athena; if Atlantis truly broke Athens, then in the future, within the Greek World, Goddess of Wisdom Athena's image among humans would completely collapse. It would likely be a long time before humans like these Athenians, who would not hesitate to take up arms and defy their masters to follow the goddess, would appear again.
But conversely, this situation was also an opportunity for Athena. If she could truly lead the Athenians to turn the tide in desperation, then in the future, Goddess of Wisdom Athena's name would resound throughout the land, and all humans would likely sincerely respect this wise goddess who brought victory.
The gods in the sky gradually departed, but Athena did not return to Olympus. She came to the cliff by the sea in Athens, quietly gazing into the distance, seemingly not planning to return to the heavens for the time being.
The gods understood her; after all, encountering such a situation, it was natural for Athena not to return immediately. So, when the gods left, they did not call for her.
After all the gods in the sky had departed, the goddess, who had been standing silently by the coast, turned and returned to Athens.
She quickly appeased the Athenians and made them believe in her power, allowing the construction of Sparta to continue in an orderly fashion.
No one knew what she was thinking; this goddess seemed to have an air of effortless control over the current situation, as if "everything is going according to plan."
But Ares could not stop his plans just because he couldn't fathom Athena's thoughts. So, on the other side, he directly manipulated the High Priest of Sparta, bringing him to the forge within Sparta and giving orders to the blacksmiths who had learned the Fire God's superb forging techniques.
"From now on, mass-produce weapons and armor, as well as arrows and longbows. No, we are indeed going to War in the future, but the main purpose is not to supply Sparta."
Ares instructed the rulers within Sparta:
"We are making these things to do business, brothers, our business opportunity has arrived!"