Hera had been unable to endure Aphrodite not just for a day or two, but as a True God with powerful Divine Power, in the Divine Court, the Goddess of Beauty was not very afraid of Hera. Thus, faced with the Heavenly Empress's obvious dissatisfaction, she merely glanced at her lightly and then acted as if she saw nothing.
Zeus turned a deaf ear to this, and the other Deities did not intend to get involved in the conflict between these two, so the great hall was somewhat quiet, with the gods all focusing their attention on the image floating in midair.
"This is... the bow and arrow you had the Cyclops forge before?"
After watching for a while, as if recognizing something, Hestia asked hesitantly.
The silver bow in Apollo's hand was familiar to her; it was indeed a weapon crafted by Cucrops. Although it was not a Divine Artifact, on earth, its power was equally formidable.
"Yes, there was also a golden bow, but it might not be able to fall into its owner's hands for the time being,"
Speaking of this, Zeus paused for a moment, then naturally breezed past the topic.
"Let's watch the young man's performance instead—what a beautiful shot!"
Accompanied by the Divine King's praise was an arrow piercing straight into the eye socket of the python. It traversed through the beast's brain, putting a complete end to its life.
Zeus was the first to applaud, and the other gods soon followed suit. For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall heated up again.
"It seems we should bring him up to Olympus; if you need, I can personally make the trip."
Gradually realizing something, Hestia glanced at her brother.
Zeus was not a god who took such good care of outsiders. The fact that he was so concerned about this new god who was about to join Olympus probably had another reason.
And then looking at Hera, whose mood had clearly deteriorated quite a bit that day, Hestia understood that this was probably a child of Zeus.
"Of course, my sister, but before that, the victor should also receive his reward,"
With the collapse of Mount Othrys, the extinction of the Golden Humanity, the demise of the Silver Humanity; one ascended to 'heaven', the other descended to 'earth'; and then, the third generation of humans created by Prometheus was destroyed in a flood under the Divine King's insinuation.
Without any concealment, the pillars displayed the past history. Apollo silently read them over and then continued towards the center of the temple.
The content described here was different from what he had heard along the way, but certainly, the records of this sanctuary were more credible than the rumors among mortals. Ignoring the passages leading to the various side halls, Apollo finally arrived at the heart of the temple.
"Spirit Lord, Mother Earth, and Divine King?"
Looking at the spot for the chief sacrifice, Apollo recited the three existences Leto had told him about, yet the sight before him brought some confusion. At this moment, one position on the three floating stone platforms at the high altar was conspicuously empty — the place symbolizing Mother Earth had nothing, making it look particularly jarring.
"How strange..."
Although surprised, Apollo was not well-acquainted with this ancient Primordial God. Perhaps things were meant to be this way, so he just placed the sacrifice on the altar, showed his respect to the three divine beings, and then moved forward.
Leto had told Apollo that his father had left him a treasure here, which could grant him the world's most supreme power in a single leap. Although the young deity did not like the Father God whom he had never met, nor did he want to accept this gift, seeing Leto's hopeful eyes, he had still agreed at the time.
He would rather achieve all this by himself, but since he had agreed, Apollo did not intend to hesitate any longer. Within a few steps, the young deity stood before the lowest stone platform, looking at the Sacred Stone symbolizing the Divine King.
"A Sacred Stone that 'died' in place of the king? This force of life... is truly powerful."
Murmuring softly, at some point, the surface of the Sacred Stone before Apollo had turned as crimson as blood. Even wisps of gold and red mist were entwining above it, exuding a terrifying yet enticing aroma.
The Divine King's lifeblood, the Golden Apple bestowed by Mother Earth, through two epochs tilting the years of the Divine King's succession, when they merged together, the Sacred Stone, once baptized by the fire of the Sun, had become one of the world's top divine artifacts.
The attraction between [Light] and [Sun], the connection of bloodlines, and the instinctual longing for the life force of the Golden Apple — at this moment, Apollo could not deny that this was indeed a rare opportunity.
So under the distant gaze of the Olympian Gods, he extended his hand, grasped the Sacred Stone, and allowed the blood-like ripples surging on the stone to flow into his body.
Brilliance shone, illuminating the hall, and an unprecedented sense of power emerged from every limb and joint of Apollo. It was night, yet a soft light spread across the sky, brightening the dim earth.
The deity who presided over [Light] thus took the place of his brother and obtained one of the few divine artifacts of Zeus. He proved with facts that even for the deity race, the timing of birth was equally significant.