Greece: I am Zeus!

Chapter 298 "Illusion" and "Reality"

Prometheus, at this moment, still maintained an extremely respectful demeanor.

He stepped forward and said respectfully, “Your Majesty, you once said that the sacrifice to your ox should be divided in two. You accept the human sacrifice, and the other part is a token given to humankind by the gods.”

"Now, the bull has been slaughtered and divided equally into two portions, strictly according to your instructions."

"You are the supreme ruler; please choose for yourself how to distribute them."

The smile on Zeus's face disappeared inch by inch.

Without a smile, the God-King's expression was so cold and stern. His deep golden eyes instantly turned like ancient ice, devoid of any warmth.

The lighthearted atmosphere seemed to freeze instantly under that gaze.

The smiles on the gods' faces froze and quickly vanished.

The temperature high in the sky suddenly dropped by several degrees.

Prometheus deliberately made the hide covering the fresh meat so bloody and filthy.

Gods are inherently noble, pure, and clean, so how could they possibly choose something so filthy?
Moreover, this is a sacred occasion, chosen by the most radiant and holy God-King.

This seems like the God-King is making the choice, but in reality, how else could he possibly choose?
What appears to be a submissive request is actually coercion.

Outwardly humble, inwardly scheming.

They used all their cleverness to "conceal the truth with a feint"!
That was true before, and it is true now!
This trick of using feints to conceal the truth was truly brilliant.

No matter how beautiful she is, she cannot hide her arrogance and lack of morality.

But He did not know that falsehood is falsehood and reality is reality.

To use falsehood to conceal the truth is deception.

And deception will always be discovered.

Not to mention deceiving the God-King!
Everything gained through deception will be repaid with double the pain and loss!

And this kind of "deception" in the sacred covenant ceremony is itself the greatest calamity!

The once light and lively clouds suddenly froze, becoming so still you could hear a pin drop, and all the gods looked at Prometheus with unfriendly expressions.

This clumsy little trick cannot fool any god.

Clymene, who was originally in a cheerful and relaxed mood and even proud of his son, turned deathly pale in an instant.

Her mind was in turmoil, she felt a tightness in her chest, and her spirit went dark. If Metis hadn't quietly helped her up, she probably would have collapsed on the spot.

She knew that Prometheus might have ulterior motives.

But she never imagined that Prometheus could actually do something as foolish and hopelessly stupid as his foolish brother Menotius!

No! It's even more foolish than what His father, Iapetus, did!
Before the gods, they played foolish tricks, attempting to scheme against and deceive the all-knowing and all-powerful King of Gods and the Olympian gods!

Foolish, so incredibly foolish!
Is there anything more foolish than this in the entire universe?

You might as well just rebel!

That's far better than this humiliation!

At that moment, she really wondered if there was something wrong with her.

How come none of her four sons are mentally sound?!

Prometheus's actions have offended all the gods present!
It is true that He loves His "children," humanity.

It's not wrong for Him to want to help humanity more.

But His method was completely wrong!

That's a fatal mistake!

He dared to use such deceitful and filthy means to openly plot against the King of Gods in the sacred covenant ceremony, in front of almost all the gods!
Using deception to cover up the truth, and employing that dirty performance of deception, they attempt to leave all the benefits to humankind!

This is not benevolence, this is usurpation! This is disobedience!
If today, this offering to the God-King has become the settled matter.

Therefore, in the endless years to come, all the sacrifices that the gods can receive will be made in accordance with this principle!

This is no longer a question of "who eats more," but a question of "who can be trusted."

God doesn't care about these offerings.

What do beef or fat mean to God?
God cares about faith!
After offering the sacrifices and completing the ceremony, you can suggest that the gods return this coarse and inferior food to humankind.

Anyway, God doesn't need these mortal things; it's enough for Him to feel the piety and reverence of humankind.

On this auspicious day, when everyone is happy, if you were to actually ask for it, would His Majesty possibly refuse?

The gods can bestow gifts, and mortals can pray for them.

However, you shouldn't lie to me directly!

This is a matter of attitude! This is a matter of principle!

The attitude this incident represents and the negative impact it has had are something that no deity could tolerate!
This means that from now on, the relationship between humans and gods will be based on "hypocrisy" instead of "truth"!
This means that Prometheus was openly and blatantly encouraging mankind to deceive and scheme against the gods!

Instead of showing each other sincerity and honesty!
This means that at this very moment, just as His Majesty the God-King established the "Covenant between God and Mortal," He, the "middleman," was already personally destroying the very foundation of trust in this "covenant"! Faith, faith—if there is no faith, what else is there to talk about?
This is simply the greatest, most shameless, and most unforgivable provocation against the majesty of the God-King!
To put it bluntly, Prometheus has practically betrayed the gods!
He has completely sided with humanity!
His love for humanity has become pathologically greater than His reverence for order and the King of God!
They have even lost their loyalty to His Majesty the God-King!
He is spoiling those humans!

No, this is simply obsessive love!

He is even forcibly imposing his own selfishness and scheming on those who are still innocent and ignorant!

Newborn humans would never have thought of such deception, and even if they had, they would never have dared to be so presumptuous in front of the gods!

All the gods could see that His Majesty the God-King was in an extremely pleasant mood today.

Even if someone truly desires something and asks for it directly, given His Majesty's generous and benevolent nature, he would not refuse.

But now... everything is different.

His current approach is itself the greatest and most egregious offense against the majesty of the God-King!
The holy goddess Rhea, whose usually smiling and gentle face was now completely expressionless.

Even with her gentle and loving nature, this expression was already the angrier she could be.

Gaia, the mother goddess of all things, looked at Prometheus with an extremely shocked expression.

She was filled with astonishment: 'Iapetus, such a dull child, fathered sons who are all so incredibly audacious! Each one more daring than the last!'

That's incredibly brave!

No points lost!

'I, Gaia, hereby proclaim you the most valiant god of the second generation of Titans!'

Of course, she only thought about it; she would never dare to plead for Prometheus.

In today's situation, anyone who dares to plead for mercy will face certain death.

In fact, she herself couldn't understand Prometheus's actions.

As for the Goddess of the Night, her cold and noble face was framed by raised eyebrows and a chilling smile that couldn't be colder.

To humiliate the God-King she loves most is to humiliate her!

Tartarus! We must conquer Tartarus!

Let this audacious scoundrel go and keep his equally audacious brother company!

There are countless goddesses who have this idea.

The sacred goddess of justice and order, Themis, now had her eyebrows furrowed in anger.

The sword of order that judges all things at her waist has already been drawn three-tenths of its length, and the golden light of order flickers uncertainly on the blade.

The ruler who schemes, deceives, and defiles the order—this is the greatest destruction of the sacred and just order!

Her gaze was as sharp as a cold blade.

Hera's little fists were clenched so tightly they were making a cracking sound.

His golden eyes were filled with undisguised ruthlessness.

If Zeus gave the order, she wouldn't mind taking matters into her own hands and smashing Prometheus's divine body to pieces with a single divine punch!

Even the warmest Hestia felt utterly speechless and disappointed at this moment.

Even a benevolent and generous goddess like her could not comprehend the peculiar thinking of the gods of the Iapetus family.

Just tell me what you want!
Everyone is their own god, and His Majesty is, after all, your "father god." It's not a big deal; the God-King is never stingy with his gifts.

And whether or not it is granted is another matter.

But you start lying right from the start, that just doesn't make sense!

In his dealings with humanity, did Zeus ever do anything wrong from beginning to end?
On the contrary, He has already shown the utmost generosity and love!
Isn't that enough?!

Just how greedy are you!

That's really... way too much!
At this moment, the originally joyful and relaxed atmosphere high in the sky seemed to have been gripped by an invisible hand and completely frozen.

The shower of petals and rain that had been falling from the sky had quietly stopped sometime ago.

The endless auspicious clouds were being rapidly swallowed up by the dark, heavy clouds, which were spreading in all directions at a visible speed until they completely covered the entire sky.

Blinding lightning flashed silently amidst the churning cloud scales. The light did not erupt, but rather danced back and forth in the sky like the cold gaze of a god-king.

A dull rumble of thunder began to sound softly from deep within the clouds.

It was no longer a joyful melody, but had turned into a somber "echo" like a death knell.

But who knows, for whom will this death knell toll?

Zeus, the king of the gods, sat high on his throne, his back straight like a pillar of heaven, solemn and majestic. The tips of his fingers, which rested on the armrests, were faintly crackling with a chilling electric light.

Countless gods sighed inwardly, for what should have been a perfect "team building" for the gods was about to end flawlessly when Prometheus had to create such an incredibly foolish incident.

The slight goodwill that the gods had developed because of humanity's simple and sincere performance vanished instantly under Prometheus's blasphemous act.

Of course, there are no gods left to care about those insignificant humans.

(End of this chapter)