Lightning burst forth across the sky, its unmatched power sweeping the surroundings with the majesty of divine thunder. The scene fell into an awkward silence.
But lightning isn't a cloud—it can't linger indefinitely. What comes quickly goes quickly. In less than ten seconds, it dissipated into nothing.
Aside from making Hera look imposing, it accomplished precisely nothing.
Thea could see the mockery in Cassandra's smile. This woman's voice magic was devastatingly effective against ordinary people. If allowed to run her mouth freely, the Amazons—save for a few with iron wills—wouldn't withstand it.
"Your Majesty, I have a subordinate who should be able to counter the voice magic," Thea whispered to Hera.
Reading the gleam in her eyes, Hera understood immediately. Without wasting words, she simply held up one finger—indicating Thea could choose one item from Zeus's treasury.
With such wealth at her disposal, Hera hardly cared about the treasury. The treasures belonged to Zeus anyway; the throne of God King was hers. Her calculations were crystal clear.
Thea gave her a look that said "you can count on me," then teleported directly back to Earth. None of her Earth-based subordinates were suitable for dealing with rule-based abilities. She summoned Sister Blue and the Indigo Tribe.
Having revised the Tribe's mandate, membership had grown from just over a hundred to more than three hundred. Thea didn't summon everyone—just Sister Blue leading a hundred members.
The Indigo Tribe's teleportation was unrivaled. They arrived almost instantly. After Thea briefly explained the situation, she brought them back to Mount Olympus.
The Indigo Tribe members' unusual appearances drew astonished exclamations from the gods. Thea felt their worldview remained stuck in the "flat earth" era—there was simply no way to explain what aliens were.
Sister Blue, wielder of the Book of Nu, immediately revealed the massive tome. Compassion transformed into subtle energy, flowing into the heart of every wavering Amazon. The fearful received encouragement, the hesitant reclaimed their courage, the reckless found reason, and the timid stood tall.
The remaining Indigo Tribe members used their constructs to establish a new defensive line—a barrier of the mind. Compassion possessed unparalleled inclusiveness, accepting both good words and absorbing evil ones. This was precisely why Thea had summoned them.
"That man desperately needs compassion," Sister Blue observed, her tone detached as she gazed at the Firstborn.
Brainwash a deity? Thea studied Sister Blue, who now radiated an increasingly otherworldly presence, her mind racing. Honestly, it wasn't a bad idea. The Firstborn's power matched hers. If they could recruit him into the Indigo Tribe, it would qualitatively boost their weak combat capabilities.
It would also allow the Firstborn to release his hatred and reunite with Hera as mother and son—truly a wonderful outcome.
The only problem was subduing him first. Force-feed him emotional light beams and brainwash him? Thea lacked that ability. Divine resistance was too high. Actual implementation would require a clever plan.
As Thea pondered the feasibility of brainwashing the Firstborn, Cassandra down below kept rambling. After talking herself hoarse without any reaction from above, she glanced sheepishly at the Firstborn.
"Useless!" The vicious Firstborn shoved Cassandra aside like a feral beast. His eyes glowed with amber killing intent. Seeing Hera's figure crushed what little rationality he had left. He pulled a dragon-tooth javelin from his back and hurled it at Hera.
Diana grabbed her shield, ready to intercept. Thea stopped her, secretly holding up three fingers to Hera—raising her compensation to three treasures. Seeing Hera nod readily, she drew the whip from her waist.
This divine weapon once belonging to Heronimil, the God of Mars, had been repurposed and reintroduced to the divine realm.
"Crack!" The whip snapped with a crisp sound. Thea flicked a flourish, then jerked her wrist powerfully. The whip extended tens of thousands of meters through the air, intercepting the dragon-tooth javelin.
The crimson whip deflected slightly, its tip coiling around the black javelin like a red serpent.
The javelin's momentum broken, Thea sent it flying.
Instantly, she became the focus of all the gods. The Greek stragglers wondered why she was interfering—this was Olympus's war, and she wasn't one of them.
The Firstborn was equally puzzled. Who was this figure in a golden robe with a hood obscuring her face?
"You are...? Which deity?" The Firstborn asked bluntly.
Thea desperately wanted to say she was just passing by, but she couldn't. If she didn't step up, Diana would have to. She could only steel herself and take the spotlight.
She didn't answer his question—it was genuinely difficult to answer. The Firstborn was here for revenge and, incidentally, to claim the divine throne. From both legal and moral standpoints, his cause was justified.
For Thea to intervene, she couldn't invoke the Greek gods' cause. To avoid being seen as unjustified, she needed to devise her own reason.
Her mind spun twice. "I heard you're Zeus's firstborn. I challenge you!"
The Firstborn was initially confused but quickly understood her intention. A challenge? His scarred face broke into a grin.
"Fine. Let's see what you're capable of!" He pulled a "sword" from the void—a blade ten meters long. Relative to his ten-foot height, it looked almost comical when wielded. The blade had no edge; it was dull gray, more like a stone pillar. Only the waves of killing intent emanating from it revealed this was a deadly weapon.
"This sword was forged from the spine of the black dragon I slew, hammered for six thousand years in the earth's core. Today it shall drink the blood of the gods." The Firstborn continued applying psychological pressure.
"Hmph." Thea snorted coldly. Outdated fool. Black dragons were impressive? Mages and warriors had slaughtered so many dragons they were practically an endangered species. If these giant lizards hadn't fled into dimensional spaces, they'd be on the protected species list by now.
"In a world you know nothing about," Thea said, raising her whip, "this was a god's weapon." Wasn't this just bragging about past achievements? Who was afraid of whom? You killed a dragon—so what? She'd killed a god.
The Firstborn stopped talking and charged forward, wielding his ten-meter longsword.
"Brute force," Thea muttered. Fighting two deities on the mountain would inevitably harm innocents. She immediately shifted the battlefield to the sky, swinging her whip. Magic surged through it as silver-white flames ignited at the tip.
Silver Fire! This was the technique Thea had mastered from Heronimil's Living Flame. Unlike him extracting it from vast mental power, she could only simulate it with pure, attribute-neutral magic.
The Living Flame's idealistic nature disappeared, replaced by magic's versatility.
Caught off guard, the Firstborn found his ankle ensnared by the whip tip. He quickly swung his sword to cut the whip. Thea withdrew it immediately. The whip returned, but the Silver Fire clung to the Firstborn, his dragon-hide boots sizzling and smoking despite their impressive magic resistance.
"Not bad!" The Firstborn extended his massive palm and grabbed the Silver Fire directly, crushing it between his hands until it shattered.
"I've got plenty more tricks!" Thea danced the whip continuously, silver fire blooming everywhere.