The Little Golden Mouth

The Sun Chariot fell from the sky!

But the one driving the Sun Chariot wasn't Helios, the Sun God, but his son, Phaethon, who had not inherited his father's divine power.

"Has it finally happened?"

Seeing the scene before him, Hermes couldn't help but recall the prophecy he had inadvertently triggered earlier in the Temple of Light, using Apollo's prophetic powers.

The disaster caused by Phaethon was a major event in Greek mythology.

Because of his reckless actions, not only did he bring ruin to his father's Sun God position, but he also destroyed the last remnants of the Titan's glory.

The one most pleased by this turn of events was undoubtedly Apollo, as he had been waiting for such an opportunity.

"A mere demigod dares to meddle with the control of the Sun Chariot? This is a blasphemy against the God of Light!"

Shouting in anger, Apollo snapped back to reality, immediately charging out of the temple. He used his own divine light to block the blinding sunlight from the sky.

There were many gods in the sky, but since it was daytime, Apollo's mother, Leto, the goddess of light, wasn't in the sky.

Thus, Apollo's urgency was more about form than real emotion.

However, as the divine power of daylight was being absorbed, a slowly growing dark curtain began to cover the sky.

This was the ancient world barrier formed by Nyx, the goddess of night, the first protective shield of the world. It connected the stars and galaxies and was the current dwelling place of Uranus, the personification of the heavens.

"This is too much!"

Following Apollo, both Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, voiced their concerns.

Hestia, being a compassionate goddess, couldn't help but show her anger upon seeing the lives of the Earth being scorched by the celestial fire.

"Zeus, we must go down and help save the lives of the beings below. You also need to act quickly, or the celestial fire will spread across the Earth."

With those words, Demeter and Hestia descended from Mount Olympus.

"But shouldn't we be putting out the fire now?"

Poseidon, who was among the few still able to maintain composure, turned to Hermes with a question. However, Hermes simply shook his head at his uncle.

Now wasn't the time. Though it might sound cold, had they not noticed that Zeus was still sitting on his throne, not moving?

As the god of thunder, Zeus, if he and Poseidon worked together, could easily extinguish the celestial fire.

But Zeus clearly had no such intention, and it seemed that he might even enjoy the spectacle.

Zeus had long wanted to destroy the golden humans. Ever since Prometheus led humanity to offer sacrifices to the gods and deceived Zeus, the king of the gods had already marked the end of this generation in his heart.

It was only due to his respect for the Earth Mother, Gaia, and the fact that unnecessary slaughter would harm his rule that Zeus hadn't acted sooner.

But now, it was Helios' son who had done this, a descendant of the Titans.

"Forget it. I'm heading back."

At first, Poseidon had still been enjoying the show, but once the daylight began to fall into the regions surrounding the Aegean Sea, he could no longer remain indifferent.

Unlike Okeanos and Pontus, Poseidon was the king of the seas, and these were his domains!

With the departure of Demeter and Hestia, the grand temple was left with only Zeus, Hera, and Hermes.

"Zeus, as the king of the gods, you have the right to punish this villain who has tarnished the glory of Olympus."

After watching her siblings leave, Hera, who had been furious, suddenly calmed down and began to restrain her anger.

Looking at the Sun Chariot that was still flying erratically in the sky, Hera smiled.

"Hmm."

Nodding, Zeus put away his casual demeanor and assumed a rare air of authority.

He raised his hand, and a scepter appeared out of thin air. Zeus lifted the scepter high and unleashed a bolt of lightning.

"Boom!"

The silver lightning cut through the sky, striking the Sun Chariot.

The Thunderbolt Scepter in Zeus' hand was said to possess the power to destroy gods.

Regardless of how much truth that evaluation held, from what Hermes knew, it was this very scepter that helped Zeus defeat his father, Cronus.

Currently, not even Helios himself could withstand the lightning from Zeus' scepter, so it was no surprise that Phaethon didn't stand a chance.

The lightning shot through the sky, and Phaethon, along with the Sun Chariot, fell into the great river below.

"Oh no, my son!"

From afar, the Sun God Helios let out a wail, but it couldn't stop what had already happened.

"Hermes, deliver my command: Helios has failed to properly govern, allowing his son to take control of the Sun Chariot, causing great destruction to the Earth. He is unworthy of being the Sun God. I hereby order him to relinquish both the title of Sun God and control of the Sun Chariot."

Having struck Phaethon into the river with his thunderbolt, Zeus immediately issued an order to Hermes.

"Hmm."

Hermes nodded but didn't immediately leave. Instead, he looked at Zeus.

"Father, you must know that Helios is a powerful Titan. If I go alone, he may not accept the judgment willingly."

This was an obvious statement. While the Greek gods lived carefree lives, they still inherently valued power.

Currently, Hermes had Zeus' favor, but he lacked powerful divine strength. Even with the king of the gods' command, he likely wouldn't be greeted with respect—if anything, he might be ridiculed.

"As Zeus' messenger, your task is to convey the king's commands. For you to question it now is blatant defiance!"

Hera, never one to miss a chance to strike at these illegitimate children, intervened before Zeus could speak. She immediately twisted Hermes' words into something malicious.

Hermes' intention was to push Zeus toward a more careful decision, but Hera turned it into an accusation.

"Isn't the Queen of Heaven being too sensitive?"

With a smile, Hermes didn't seem angry at being targeted. Instead, he spoke calmly.

"As the King of Gods, it is your duty to punish guilty gods. However, to rule over the gods, one cannot be purely harsh. Only by combining mercy and justice can the Thunder King show fairness and generosity. If we were to abruptly remove Helios' position as the Sun God, then, may I ask, what will we do with the Earth, shrouded in the embrace of Nyx, the goddess of night?"

"You…"

Hera glared at Hermes, but before she could speak, he interrupted her.

"Please, Queen, allow me to finish."

After getting a nod of approval from Zeus, Hermes continued, "Thus, I believe Helios must be punished, but we must also soothe the Titans. Furthermore, the transfer of the Sun's power must be done peacefully."

"Father, I have something to say!"

Before Hermes could finish, a clear voice suddenly interrupted from outside the temple: "The sun and moon are one. When the Sun is unbalanced, the Moonlight can restore it. Let the Earth experience eternal night first, and then my brother and I will go to the Sun God's temple to deal with Helios."

With a bow and arrows, wearing light armor, and with a resolute expression, the Nature Goddess Artemis strode into the temple.

Seeing her, Hermes' eyes flickered—Artemis was here. It was clear that Apollo had planned this all along.

"Heh, as a Nature Goddess, do you have the right to command the Moonlight?"

After Hermes had just given Hera a piece of his mind, Hera, not in a good mood, coldly retorted as Artemis entered.

Everyone knew that there were only three goddesses who could control the moon. The first was Phibie, Apollo and Artemis' grandmother, the ancient Moon Goddess; the second was Selene, the daughter of Helios, who controlled the phases of the moon; and the third was Hecate, the Moon Goddess of the Underworld.

Artemis, though a granddaughter of Phibie, didn't yet have the power to command the moon's light.

Considering her earlier statement, Zeus might think that she intended to call upon her grandmother, and Hera had just set a trap for her.

"Hera, you really talk nonsense. Though I am the Nature Goddess, I can still create a domain of eternal night with my mother! How could I not suppress the sun's light?"

Realizing Hera's scheming, Hermes silently sighed, but didn't speak out.

He got along with Apollo, but with Artemis, it was like their energies didn't match. Since she didn't like him, Hermes didn't see a need to help her.

After all, even if he helped, Artemis wouldn't thank him, and Hermes didn't want to be disliked for no reason.

"Hermes, what do you think of this?"

Zeus, watching Artemis clash with Hera, mumbled to himself and then shifted the trouble onto Hermes.

Although it seemed that Zeus cared for Hermes, it was just an attempt to divert the blame.

Hermes had long figured out Zeus' habits, so he replied calmly, "Among our generation of gods, only my brother Apollo possesses the power of light."

By this point, Hermes' meaning was clear.

Since the Titan War ended, many gods still hadn't sorted out the division of power, and Zeus had long harbored dissatisfaction with them.

So, of course, Helios had to be disposed of. However, if Helios' title as the Sun God were revoked, Apollo, as the only god capable of taking up the Sun God's mantle, was the only one who could assume that power.

This was the only way forward.

Even though Hera and the twin gods of light didn't get along, at this point, they could only begrudgingly accept this fact.