Just as Perseus was locked in a life-and-Death struggle with the demonized Medusa, in Athena's divine palace, Athena and two Goddess of Fate also quietly observed the battle through the pool in the palace.
Watching the demonized Medusa evolve three times, transforming into a great snake with huge wings, and shattering all the Stone Giants summoned by Perseus, Kroto, the Fate Goddess who weaves the threads of fate, whispered, "Medusa's strength is much greater than in the predetermined thread of fate. In the original thread of fate, she should have already died by Perseus's sword by now."
"This is all the consequence of Ares tampering with fate," her elder sister, Atropos, said from the side. "Correspondingly, Perseus's strength is also much greater than what was shown in his original fate. Look at his performance now; if he were facing the original demonized Medusa, Medusa would have died long ago. He can now be considered a top-tier demigod hero on the same level as Heracles."
"No matter what, as long as the final outcome is that the hero Perseus slays the monster Medusa, it's fine," Athena said, stroking her chin. "As for how history is written, that's just a matter of the victor's word."
"Indeed, although not perfect, this is already the best possible outcome under the current circumstances," Atropos nodded slightly. "If Lachesis were here, she would definitely be displeased; that child is too much of a perfectionist. But given our current situation, we can only do things like check for omissions and fill in gaps. Once the great menace Ares is completely dead, we can slowly begin to adjust fate."
"Ares's life won't be long," Kroto echoed. "We have already cut his thread of fate."
As spokespersons for the restraining force here, the Goddess of Fate actually do not have the ability to directly interfere with reality and kill a person in the current era. Although they can peer into many secrets of this world through the threads of fate, they also have their limits.
For example, matters related to wandering star, matters related to the mysterious spiritual particle computer beneath Tartarus, and Hecate's secret arts can all, to varying degrees, obscure the gaze of the Goddess of Fate.
Looking at it this way, the Goddess of Fate are actually quite fragile, but in return, they also possess a very terrifying ability: that is, to influence a person's fate. And this is also why Athena cooperates with them and wants to use them.
Just like now, they used the Goddess of Fate' Scissors to cut Ares's thread of fate. Although Ares will not die immediately, as time passes, something on Ares will be continuously weakened by fate.
This'something' is called "Qi Luck" , and its amount probably depends on how much a person's fate influences a world. Because Ares is one of the twelve main gods of Olympus, his position in the Greek World is crucial. Therefore, The Fates need to continuously weaken Ares's Qi Luck with the power of fate for two hundred years before they can completely deplete his Qi Luck.
And at the moment Ares's Qi Luck is reduced to zero by the power of fate, his Death tribulation will arrive. This Death tribulation might be a terrible disaster, or it might be a terrible person. Even the Goddess of Fate cannot know this, but it is certain that when a person's Death tribulation arrives, that person will definitely die in this fated calamity. So far, no one in the history of this world has been able to escape from the Death tribulation of fate.
Hearing the conversation between the two goddesses, Athena's attention was slightly drawn to Atropos and Kroto, and thoughts about the abilities of these two goddesses flashed through her mind.
However, if someone could truly survive a fated Death tribulation, what kind of existence would that person become? Transcending fate?
Athena couldn't help but start to imagine, but then she felt a sudden shock and quickly reined in her wandering thoughts.
For now, she should focus on the matters at hand. As for such possibilities, they were not questions for her to consider at present.
In the pool, the battle between Perseus and the demonized Medusa had entered a white-hot stage. Perseus, starting from phantoms and Stone Giants, later used various unexpected secret arts. He even used a magic that reverses the state of matter once, but even such magic was still insignificant in front of the demonized Medusa.
Every time Perseus temporarily restrained Medusa, Medusa would accelerate the absorption of the potion within her, undergoing targeted evolution and becoming even stronger.
After several rounds, even a powerful demigod hero like Perseus was reduced to merely dodging. He fully activated the invisibility ability of the helmet bestowed by Athena, dodging left and right amidst the sky-filling petrification rays released by Medusa.
Is he about to give out…
Athena narrowed her eyes slightly, contemplating how she should support Perseus.
The current state of Medusa, although the root cause was the curse she and Kroto placed on Medusa, the demonization curse on Medusa had long since spiraled out of their control. Medusa in her current state had completely transformed into a terrifying monster no less formidable than the Nemean Lion, Hydra, or Cerberus, and she also possessed troublesome petrification abilities. Even if Athena personally intervened, killing her would require some effort.
However, just as Athena was contemplating, her gaze suddenly noticed a certain part of Medusa's body. That should have been Medusa's abdomen before her demonization, but now this part showed an abnormal bulge, looking as if she were pregnant.
Athena narrowed her eyes, observed carefully, and then indeed glimpsed a trace of divinity from this part. It was clear that one or more new individuals were being nurtured here.
She was silent for two seconds, then turned and asked the two Goddess of Fate behind her, "If I'm not mistaken, Medusa should not have consorted with any male before her demonization, right?"
"Yes, Medusa is still pure," Atropos asked. "What's wrong?"
"Ares still held back a move."
Athena pointed at the monster in the pool and said,
"See for yourselves, the abdomen of the demonized Medusa."
The two Goddess of Fate walked to the edge of the pool and looked, immediately startled:
"How is this possible? She's actually pregnant?"
Kroto looked at the scene in the pool with surprise and uncertainty:
"Could it be Ares's child?"
"How is that possible?" Atropos said helplessly to her sister. "If Ares were to lay hands on a woman now, wouldn't he be cutting off his own retreat?"
"Then the life being nurtured inside is…"
"It's Medusa herself."
Athena said,
"First reaching the end of Death, then being reborn from it—this method isn't something the Gorgon Sisters could think of. It must be Ares's idea. We must hurry. You two, quickly help, and have Perseus directly slay this demonized Medusa before the divinity within Medusa is fully nurtured."