American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 475 Magical Reform (19)

Hera readily agreed to Rune's suggestion, though the latter was initially surprised but quickly understood.

This goddess had long been dissatisfied with Zeus's long-term philandering on Earth, and had been targeting all of Zeus's illegitimate sons and daughters. This had nothing to do with inheritance rights or anything like that; Hera was simply taking her anger out on these innocent people.

Hera's request further confirmed Rune's idea; she demanded that Rune never allow Zeus to enter Earth again.

"Aren't you afraid he'll fight me?"

Hera sneered, "He can't beat you. Even if he really dies, he'll just be dormant for a while, which will teach him a lesson!"

As she spoke, Hera glanced at Hermes beside her. Her meaning was clear: Hera sided with Rune and did not support Hermes's revenge against Rune. Of course, this was also to appease Rune.

Pan has only returned to the Pantheon, he's not really dead, why are you in such a hurry?

"Besides, I need you to take care of someone for me," Hera said softly, and Rune already knew who that person was.

"Newborn?" Although it was a question, Rune's expression was certain, and Hera nodded. Her next words gave Rune a deeper understanding of this DC universe.

"Not all universes have a primordial state. Only when a universe is of a high enough level and powerful enough will a primordial state appear." Hera said, looking at Rune, "Just like Hecate."

Rune seemed to be deep in thought; he had long known that the Marvel and DC multiverses were hierarchical, such as the MCU's 19999 universe and the comic book's 616 universe. In these two universes, the difference in strength between heroes and villains was quite obvious.

But how do we determine the hierarchy between two universes?

Hera's statement gave Rune a reference point: certain special beings only exist in worlds of higher levels, such as the Primordial One.

Born as the eldest son of Zeus and Hera, he was born with a prophecy of patricide and was abandoned in the African wilderness. He was born with extraordinary strength and, like many children who are not loved by their parents, he always wanted to get their attention. So he established a kingdom and conquered countries everywhere, but Zeus never responded to him. In the end, he decided that if Zeus did not come to him, he would attack Mount Olympus.

The result was that he got what he asked for, and was struck by Zeus's full force and sent to the Earth's core. Although he did not die, it took him a full seven thousand years to emerge from the Earth's core.

He then stormed Mount Olympus, killed most of the Olympian gods, but was ultimately defeated again by Wonder Woman and fell back into the Earth's core.

At first glance, the newborn doesn't seem to be anything special; he's just a relatively powerful villain. However, his birth actually requires a certain level of world power. Only when the world power is high enough can the gods in this universe be powerful enough, so that Zeus and Hera have enough power to nurture the newborn.

Similarly, only a world powerful enough can give rise to a conscious magical concept, namely Hecate.

Hera briefly mentioned the newborn's abilities, but this clearly displeased Wonder Woman.

"You're shifting your own responsibility onto others! His anger towards the Olympian gods is nothing but the fault of your arrogant deities!"

"Watch your mouth!" Hermes interrupted. "From the moment of its birth, its future is predetermined. No matter what choices the gods make, it will become our enemy. Shen abandoned it in the wilderness only because he couldn't bear to see it mistreated by the other gods!"

Diana glared at Hermes, distrustful of the cunning, fickle liar, even though their relationship had initially been quite good.

"I agree." Rune held Diana down, silencing the words she was about to utter. "But if I'm to deal with the Newborn, simply allowing me to deploy shields on Earth isn't enough."

Hera remained silent for a moment.

She promised Rune that deploying a shield on Earth would surely provoke opposition from the other gods. The gods have a need to project their images onto Earth, whether out of faith or desire.

Early Earth was even the backyard of the Greek gods, and it's pretty much the same now.

Although there are more superhumans on Earth, the vast majority of them are unable to directly confront a god—even if the so-called god is just a nymph.

If Hera were to deprive the gods of their playground for her own selfish reasons, a rebellion would be a foreseeable future. As far as she knew, Apollo had long coveted his position, not to mention Hades and Poseidon.

Therefore, having Rune deal with the newborn is essentially a way for Hera to consolidate her rule; she wants to use future security as leverage to offset this.

After a moment of silence, Hera asked, "What do you want?"

"The request is simple: don't cause her any trouble," Rune said, pointing to Diana beside him.

He did this for three reasons: first, to prevent Diana from losing members while not fighting the Forgotten.

Secondly, he wanted to win Diana's favor—which was also a way to please Hephaestus. Although Rune had the Lasso of Obedience, he wasn't sure if the god of fire would like the gift. After all, the comics didn't explain the origin of the artifact in detail, and it might have been made by the god of fire from Earth 3.

Finally, to repay a favor, Rune felt bad letting Diana make a wasted trip.

Upon hearing this, Diana immediately gave Rune a grateful look and whispered to him that there was no need for that.

But Rune shook his head, insisting on his own request.

Hera gave Rune a deep look, nodded, and watched him leave. Then she looked at Hermes and said, "You'd better not mess with that man. He holds grudges as well as gratitude. Believe me, Pan's death was already merciful."

Pan may not have felt any pain when he died, but if Hermes were to cause trouble, even Hera wouldn't know what methods Rune would use.

Hermes lowered his head and agreed to Hera's request, but only he knew what he was thinking.

After the god of speed left, Hera narrowed her eyes. She had witnessed the ambiguous relationship between Rune and Raven, and Zatanna trusted Rune very much. Now it seemed that his relationship with Wonder Woman was also quite good.

These are all beauties! Could this powerful mage be a womanizer?

That would be wonderful! Hera was just worried about where Athena, Artemis, Hestia, and other goddesses would end up! Maybe she could persuade Rune to take them in?

In this way, the Greek gods gained the friendship of this powerful sorcerer and were also able to get rid of this hot potato—killing two birds with one stone.

Don't think Hera was unaware of Zeus's thoughts; that lecherous man had been eyeing these goddesses for quite some time.