His authority was already unstable.
His face was handsome yet cold.
Between his brows lay the heavy indifference of ages past. The king who once commanded all gods with swagger now resembles an old man bent by the weight of destiny.
At any time, he may face the risk of collapse.
That's why he needed the roaring war god below to establish his might.
"Don't panic, don't panic, I'm not here to play with you."
Ian pulled out a scroll of parchment from his inner pocket, shook it gently, and the scroll fell to the ground. It was covered in strange writings, some segments even rearranging themselves.
"I'm looking for a talking rose," Ian said.
Upon hearing this.
Zeus's eyebrows twitched.
"I will have the gods help you find it."
He spoke in a deep voice.
"And the epiphyllum honey, as well as the blood of the godslayer." Ian took out his list, checking it while announcing the items needed, as if he were placing an order.
Zeus's white robe moved without wind.
Ian keenly noticed that when he spoke the last word, the old divine king's left pinky twitched slightly — the youthful divine king from three thousand years ago did not have such small movements.
"I'll have Hermes take care of the rose and the honey," Zeus spoke quickly, as if eager to complete some transaction. He looked towards the nearby battling Kratos and the Colossus of the Sun God.
"As for the blood of the godslayer, he's right there." He suddenly revealed a sinister smile, and Ian followed his gaze. Amidst the burning tower ruins, a towering man covered in tattoos was fighting the animated colossus. Even from such a height, the fury emanating from him was palpable.
His dual blades traced crimson paths, each slash leaving a molten wound on the bronze colossus.
"Mortal!"
The Sun God's statue roared like rolling thunder.
"You dare challenge the gods?" Its wisdom had been endowed by Zeus, though it was not a profound method, merely a variant of the transformation technique.
Kratos laughed coldly, gripping the Blade of Chaos tightly, its edge glowing red in the dark.
"I'm not a mortal," he growled, "I'm the Godslayer! You pseudo-gods, control me, deceive me, betray me — now it's my turn to judge you!"
No sooner had he finished speaking.
He suddenly leapt from the tower, spinning in the air like a black lightning bolt, diving straight at the Sun God's statue's chest. The Blade of Chaos sliced deep into the chest of the statue, sparks flying.
Huge cracks spread instantly.
"Blasphemy!"
The Sun God's statue roared, sweeping a palm hot with a fiery blast towards Kratos. The war god barely evaded, but was still hit by the edge of the blast.
The entire person crashed into the rubble below, raising a cloud of dust.
However.
Before the Sun God could continue the attack, Kratos burst from the debris, stepped on broken walls, and vaulted into the air again. He traced a bloody arc through the sky, his twin blades crisscrossing as he wildly hacked at the statue's face.
"You're nothing more than another puppet of Zeus!" Kratos roared, "Without your own will, what right do you have to rule the world?"
The Sun God's statue was enraged beyond measure, its scepter slammed to the ground, and the earth shook violently, collapsing surrounding buildings. Kratos was flung by the shockwave.
He landed heavily on distant stone steps.
Feeling somewhat dazed, uncertain of life and death.
Seeing this.
"Kratos?" Ian asked softly.
"Yes," Zeus nodded, with a surprisingly complex tone, "My son."
"Heh." Ian's lips curled slightly, his gaze falling on that fainting figure instinctively climbing back up, leisurely shaking his head.
"That's your son, you're so ruthless."
To be honest.
Ian wasn't very fond of such family dynamics.
Zeus was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, his voice suddenly like glacial wind: "I have many sons. He's the most disobedient."
He raised his right hand.
A small thundercloud rumbled in his palm, "But it doesn't matter, he's about to die. Once the colossus crushes his bones, I'll personally put his blood into the Anfala Jar for you."
Needless to say.
The attitude is indeed cruel.
Ian quietly watched Zeus. Upon hearing the words, he also sensed that this Zeus was very different from the leader he had seen in the Ancient Times.
His personality had become colder.
Perhaps this is the price of becoming a god. In the Ancient Times, Ian had seen the King of Gods—Zeus was full of ambition and ideals back then.
But he was still emotionally abundant.
The Lord of Thunder who would weep for his people now only had cold calculations in his eyes. Beneath the divine glory was a soul darker than Hades' Nether River.
"You sure are a heartless person."
Ian couldn't help but sigh.
"Those who desire to wear the crown must bear its weight." Zeus's face twisted momentarily, the cloud patterns on his white robe suddenly turning into the ashen gray of a storm, embodying a cold and emotionless power.
"Or maybe you have been influenced and tempted by the God of Death, your Netherworld is built somewhere within the Misty Illusion Realm, isn't it?" Ian looked at the gray-black on Zeus with some thought.
Regarding this question.
Zeus did not respond.
"I hope you won't interfere in our family affairs, Raven."
Every word he said carried the precursor of thunder, "Take what you want and leave, this world is fine now, it no longer needs variables like you…"
It has to be said.
Zeus has indeed become somewhat narcissistic now.
Before Ian could respond, Zeus's figure exploded into countless golden points of light. These light points reassembled in the air, once again forming that majestic giant eagle. It glanced at Ian one last time, its gaze so complex it was breathtaking—then, Zeus unfolded his wings that covered the sky and soared toward the storm-gathering clouds.
Ian stood at the edge of the shadows.
The wind blew his cloak into a fierce flutter.
Not far away, Kratos had just used chains to wrap around the ankle of the Colossus, leveraging himself onto its knee. The roar of the Spartan Warrior even pierced through the high-altitude wind noise.
"Interesting, Kratos has been brought out as well."
Ian murmured to himself.
Organizing his own list.
A rose, a drop of honey, and a bottle of blood—besides these, he actually needed to acquire another thing, but this thing couldn't be told to Zeus.
"The heart of a deity."
Ian didn't know whose heart he should obtain, but he knew he still needed to make some preparations. He gently closed his list, his figure starting to turn transparent. Before completely disappearing, he glanced at the sky one last time—Zeus, in the form of a giant eagle, was weaving through the clouds, each flap of his wings triggering a lightning bolt.
And further away on the horizon, the silhouette of a Ghost Ship could be vaguely seen.
It belonged to the wizard.
A wizard also recorded unknown histories.
Ian watched the story unfold.
Time passed little by little.
The dusk of Rhodes Port was steeped in blood. The setting sun poured like molten gold over the war-torn harbor, gilding the shattered ship wrecks, collapsed walls, and scattered corpses with a layer of illusory brilliance. Kratos stood in the port's center, the Blade of Chaos drooping by his side, droplets of fresh blood falling from its edge, blossoming into dark red flowers on the stone slabs.
His chest heaved violently, each breath carrying the taste of rust. Piled around him were the bodies of three hundred Rhodian Soldiers—not, they were not slain by him. Ever since that damned Zeus drew his Divine Power and infused it into that accursed Olympus Sword, he had been as weak as a mortal. These soldiers died from...
"My gift, my son."
The voice came from above, deep like thunder, yet with a hissing sound like a viper. Kratos jerked his head up and saw a hawk perched atop the Colossus of the Sun God Helios.
The statue stood over a hundred feet high, the bronze-cast body more magnificent than the tallest lighthouse at Rhodes Port, crowned with a radiating Crown, right hand holding high a torch like a beacon illuminating the Mediterranean—only this time, the torch did not burn with Holy Fire, but with thunder, Zeus's thunder, looking down at Kratos from on high.
The eyes of the hawk were golden, lightning flickering within the pupils.
"Zeus!"
Kratos forced the name through his teeth as if it were some poison needing to be chewed and crushed.
The Blade of Chaos hummed in his hand.
He was all too familiar with this aura—the thunder atop Mount Olympus, the majesty of the King of Gods.
"Someone wants you dead."
Zeus suddenly spoke.
He was truly without honor.
Actually passing the blame to an observing Ian. As the giant eagle transformed back into human form, Kratos followed Zeus's pointed direction and saw the Little Wizard.