Mansion of the Goddesses, Aphrodite's personal bedroom.
"If things continue in this way, I fear there will be no hope for Mount Olympus."
"Hope...?" The disdain in Aphrodite's tone was evident,
"Those are too good of words for the predicament the Zeus Faction is facing. The situation on Mount Olympus is horrible."
"...That's true; the Gods who side with Zeus are only doing so because they have no other options. In this three-way war, Zeus's side is the weakest... What should I do?"
Aphrodite didn't respond right away. Instead, she just tapped her finger rhythmically on the table as she thought about the information she just received from one of her spies on Mount Olympus.
Three-way war. This is the state that unfolded from the civil war on Mount Olympus.
Three Factions were fighting for their own goals.
The Zeus Faction fought to keep the current King as Ruler; at least, that's what was on paper. The true story is that the Gods in that Faction have nowhere to go; after all, the two other Factions want nothing to do with them.
The Faction of the Titans led by Kronos wants to usurp the Throne of Olympus, which, according to the words of Kronos, was rightfully his.
Aphrodite couldn't help but snort at those words. In the history of Mount Olympus, the Throne of The King of The Gods had always been obtained through usurpation.
Kronos killed his father, the Ancient King Uranus, and became King. Then it was Zeus who defeated Kronos and became King.
There was no such thing as a 'right' to the Throne of The King of The Gods.
It was just a fallacy.
The Factions of Zeus and Kronos were in direct confrontation. Several battles had already occurred between them, with several Gods and Titans having already been forced into a prolonged sleep to recover, likely to only awaken after several hundreds of years.
Despite suffering casualties in both groups, it was evident that the Zeus Faction was losing. The reason for this was simple. They lost support from the Gods of The Underworld.
Persephone, the New Ruler and Queen, who controlled the entire Greek Underworld, had closed the Gates to everyone. She stabilized Hell, closed the Gates of Tartarus, and isolated herself from the war.
This was a variable that changed everything in the war.
'Persephone... To think that you would become an excellent Ruler...'
Not only was Persephone a huge variable, but Gaia's sudden appearance preventing Typhon from running wild surprised everyone on Mount Olympus.
Even Aphrodite herself couldn't believe her spy's report.
'What is that bitch's plan? Why did she suddenly decide to interfere? Wasn't the death of Zeus her orgasmic dream?' Aphrodite couldn't understand Gaia's motives.
This was an unusual move for the spiteful woman she was known as.
Initially, Aphrodite thought Typhon would taste Zeus' flesh and make him a skewer, but she never expected Gaia to stop her son from causing more chaos.
Typhon was a Beast with the Concept of 'END'. He was a son of Tartarus and Gaia, the monster Gaia created to flay Zeus' existence.
'Why did she stop it? Didn't that go against everything she wanted? I don't understand... Ugh,' Aphrodite felt a headache. Despite her experience interacting with the Gods, she still couldn't understand Gaia.
In fact, this went for all the Primordial Gods of the Greek Pantheon. She rarely had contact with them. Perhaps the only Goddess who knows each personality of the Primordial Gods would be Nyx.
'It's not better to think about it. Dealing with the Primordial Gods is always problematic. No matter Gaia's plan, what matters is that she removed Typhon from the battlefield.'
Typhon may be a Beast created to destroy Mount Olympus, but he was still a child of Gaia. He wholeheartedly obeyed the Primordial Goddess.
Which meant Gaia had a powerful weapon in her hands right now.
Aphrodite pondered about the current status of the Gods.
'Persephone's rise to power, Zeus and Kronos are seeking her support; because of this, this impasse has been created.'
War was not just about defeating an enemy or not. You had to think about what to do after the enemy's defeat.
The war between Zeus and Kronos could continue, and Kronos, as the stronger side, might even win the war, but the damage to both sides would be catastrophic.
What's the use of winning the war if you'll have nothing to govern at the end of that war? You will basically be a King only in name, a King without power.
And both Leaders of the two Factions knew this.
Because of this, the war had entered a fragile balance. Both Leaders sought Persephone's support, and whoever got that support would win the war.
'How ironic. For a simple Goddess who was the 'glorified' Wife of Hades, she came to possess and exercise such great power that the future of Mount Olympus depended on her decision.'
"Fufufu~, you seem troubled, my beautiful Wife."
Aphrodite stopped thinking and looked ahead. Soon, she saw a man walking through the wall with a smile on his face.
Aphrodite's pink eyes sparkled.
"Lady Aphrodite?"
Hearing her subordinate's voice, she awoke from her stupor and turned back to look at the screen before her: "For now, just hide. I will contact you shortly to give you further instructions. I need to think."
"Yes! I will be waiting for further instructions."
Aphrodite gestured with her hand, and the transparent screen before her disappeared.
"How did my subordinate not hear your voice?"
"I have several ways to make the sound that comes out of my mouth heard only by those I want." Victor walked over to the chair in front of Aphrodite's office desk and sat down
comfortably.
"I see... That is quite useful for circumventing other Beings' enhanced senses."
"Mhm." He nodded his head while keeping the same smile on his face.
Aphrodite felt Victor's emotions and smiled a little when she felt only trust, love, and affection toward her.
"Aren't you going to ask me about my problem?"
"If you want me to know, you will say so. If you don't want me to know, you won't tell me."
"... Is it that simple?"
"Yes."
Aphrodite's pink eyes stared into Victor's violet eyes for a few seconds. During that silence, Aphrodite felt Victor's emotions, but as expected, nothing changed, no fluctuations in emotion or anything.
He even didn't seem to care what happened to Aphrodite.
Something she knew wasn't true. He cared but wouldn't interfere until she asked for help.
That was Victor's way of showing confidence to his Wives.
An attitude that Aphrodite was very fond of, an attitude that made a big happy smile appear on her face. She didn't need to be watched over or cared for like she was something fragile. She was a Goddess, one of the most influential, powerful Goddesses out there. She knew how to take care of herself.
Without exception, all of Victor's Wives were talented, competent, and influential women.
And one thing they all had in common was that they supported each other like sisters.
If Aphrodite couldn't do something independently in her schemes, she'd ask one of her other sisters for help.
Victor's departure to Hell greatly damaged the girls and left them very shaken, but it was also something that strengthened their union even more.
Despite each moving towards different goals, all of them, in the end, had only one intention: The growth of their Family.
Such was the case with what happened with the Blood God Religion, an endeavor that Aphrodite herself also helped by giving her experiences as a Goddess.
Such was the case for Ruby's goal: even now, she was using her contacts to help the redhead.
And that was the same case now in her current venture. She wouldn't be interested in what's happening on Mount Olympus out of the 'kindness' of her heart.
If it were up to her, Mount Olympus could disappear, and she wouldn't feel anything. Mount Olympus was no longer her home.
Her home was the man sitting across from her with a smile on his face. He was her home and safe haven... And she would do anything to protect that home, even if it meant utterly destroying her old home.
"The situation on Mount Olympus has changed."
"... Tell me more."
Aphrodite nodded and then proceeded to explain all the changes that had taken place on Mount Olympus since the last time she was there.
The explanation didn't take long. The whole story ended in 10 minutes. She left out a lot of details, but her explanation was enough to paint a big picture for Victor.
"A stalemate in the war, and a three-way war... No, the more correct thing to say would be an inevitable Status Quo, huh." Victor absorbed the information he'd been given quickly, and plans were already starting to form in his head, but he didn't say anything yet, not until Aphrodite stated her intentions. "So? What do you want to do with this situation?" A gentle expression appeared on Aphrodite's face: "Suck Mount Olympus dry, down to the last drop."
"I will take all their treasures for us. I'll put the Gods who operate in the management of Mount Olympus into a coma, thus causing a collapse in Mount Olympus' society itself. I will cripple Mount Olympus and take everything from them."
"Heh~, will you condemn them all for our Family?"
"Their survival doesn't matter to me as long as I receive benefits for our Family."
Anyone who witnessed Aphrodite's 'gentle' expression and listened to what she was saying would likely experience a deep sense of fear. The expression on her face and her cruel words didn't match each other!
"Hmm~." Victor flashed a big smile. He found Aphrodite very sexy right now.
"If you wish to do that, we have to do it in a way that the 'System' of Primordial Entities is not harmed."
"I know. Because of that, I'll just jettison them."
Due to the Demons' invasion of the globe, billions of lives were lost, and the Souls of those lives were still being counted.
As the Leader of Biblical Hell, Victor understood this very well. He had seen Aline repeatedly complaining of a headache due to her extra work as 'Ruler'.
Although most Souls are counted almost automatically, a substantial percentage needs the Rules' own eyes.
It is, therefore, essential that the 'Heaven' and 'Hell' of the Greek Pantheon are functioning correctly.
"I don't want to get into trouble with the Primordial Entities. I understand very well how much they value 'Balance'. If Mount Olympus is destroyed now, this 'Balance' will definitely be broken."
"The current state is only temporary, Aphrodite."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"When the Souls that were killed are accounted for completely, the flow of Souls will greatly decrease; after all, the world population has been greatly reduced."
"I predict that in the future, some Hells and Heavens that are part of the 'System' will no longer be needed."
"Of the current official Pantheons, I predict only five remain." "Those five being Biblical, Hindu, Shinto, Greek, and Nordic."
"The Chinese Pantheon is destroyed, and the Egyptian Pantheon will soon be thrown out of the System."
"...That's a pretty dangerous prediction, Vic. Are you sure about this?"
Decreasing the number of 'official' Hells and Heavens meant that the flow of Souls in the other Pantheons would increase, causing an increase in 'importance' for those Pantheons. Which meant they'd have more decision-making power at the next gathering of Supernatural Beings.
"Yeah. Honestly, I initially thought that the official Pantheons would be whittled down to three, namely the Hindu, Biblical, and Shinto Pantheons, but I find that very unlikely to happen in the short term. Balance is required after all."
Giving too much power to three groups cannot be considered a 'Balance'.
Primordial Entities play a long-term game. For them, Time was irrelevant. After all, they knew that with the passage of Time, Civilizations and Empires would fall and be built again. This had happened several times in the past and would occur again in the future.
In the face of time, no Empire lasted forever.
That's why the 'Balance' was necessary, the light cannot exist without the dark, and the dark cannot exist without the light because they are opposites. They complete each other.
At least, that was what Victor thought after analyzing Diablo's memories of his deal with the Judges of The Abyss.
"Anyway, there's no use thinking about or worrying about the future now. Who knows what's going on in the minds of these Beings that have been living since The Beginning of
Existence?"
"Indeed... There's no use thinking about it now." Aphrodite nodded as the frown on her face softened a little.
"Since you plan to cripple the Greek Pantheon, I must inform you of my plans regarding the Norse Pantheon, specifically Helheim."
"I think we can put our plans together and kill two birds with one stone."
"... Do you plan on going to Norse Hell?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
He laughed, "That's what I'm about to explain now." Victor began to explain his plans for Norse Hell, and with every word that came out of his mouth, the shocked expression on Aphrodite's face grew, and as she got over the shock, she began to think of how to use this to target the Greek Pantheon.
At that moment, the two had very similar smiles, smiles of conspiracy.
After two hours of discussion, with the two throwing conspiracy after conspiracy from one side to the other, Aphrodite said:
"Unfortunately, we won't be able to kill two birds with one stone... Odin isn't as stupid as Zeus, but this method could be used to wreak havoc on the Greek Pantheon." She looked
seriously at Victor, and asked:
"Is it okay if I use this idea?"
"Go ahead, set the circus on fire. Just do not forget to let me know when you're going to do it. I desire to watch from the box. And don't forget to let the girls know about your plan."
"Mhm." Aphrodite nodded. Despite being lost in thought, she still listened to Victor: "I'll warn them. I do not desire to make risky moves alone; I'll need their help too."
"..." Victor nodded in satisfaction.
"Oh... I remembered something. Tell me about the personalities of the Primary Gods of the Norse Pantheon."
"Okay, I will."
"Odin-." Aphrodite was about to start explaining until Victor interrupted her, saying:
"Before we continue, I have a question. Is the Godly Chat Group still active?"
"... Now that things have calmed down, most are active... Do you want to get in touch with Freya?"
"No, I want to talk to Loki."
"..." Looking at Victor's smiling face, Aphrodite felt pity that amounted to the tip of her pinky finger for Loki.
...
Edited By: Davo 2138, IsUnavailable
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