Argus slowly walked away from the burning temple behind him, he could hear the screams of agony and terror of the priests and priestesses behind him as they were being decimated.
The sound of broken bones and flesh being slowly torn apart while the temple of Zeus was going up in flame filled Argus with immense pleasure and satisfaction.
His lips slowly curved upward, and soon, a dark smile appeared on the face of the king of Argos.
Soon he was back in his palace, magnificent, imposing, and heavily protected.
But today, it was not his palace; today, that palace belonged to another, someone who had opened his eyes to the web of deceit around him and was offering him greatness.
As he entered the palace, his gaze fell on row and row of monsters, Titans, Giants, Gods, Half-gods, Humans, Nymphs, and more, all gathered here.
The space had been warped to allow even the Titans to stand here without any trouble, all that without attracting the attention of the gods of Olympus, who had their gazes cast on the country mere moments ago.
"The child is here my lord. Your brother is healthy and powerful,"
Argus said, kneeling on the ground and presenting the child wrapped in clothes to Maeron, who was seated on a massive golden throne.
The room was entirely silent and an oppressive energy was radiating.
Maeron gazed was fixed on the horizon looking at nothing and everything at the same.
His pupils had disappeared, leaving his eyes completely white, which gave a kind of regal and more godly appearance than his usual playful self.
"Come closer," Maeron said
"Yes,"
Argus slowly walked up the stairs toward his god, and as he did, the massive portal leading to Tartarus filled his view.
Tartarus that hellish place now partly belonged to Maeron, it's where his full force resided.
The portal was a massive thing that could only fit in the palace due to the transformation that had been made there.
But that massive gate was not the only gate that Maeron controlled.
Hovering all around Maeron were thousands upon thousands of gates, leading to the underworld, Olympus, and all the other important places in the world.
All gates were controlled, maintained, moved, and used to achieve his goal.
It was a massive endeavor that took nearly all of Maeron's attention and left him somewhat vulnerable.
The strain of that enterprise could easily make the head of another god explode in a matter of seconds.
"Here he is!" Argus said
Slowly, the babe started levitating in the air before landing in Maeron's arms, who softly cradled the child.
"Hello there little bro. How are you? My name is Maeron, I'm your older brother."
Maeron's pupil reappeared as he slowly rocked the child in his arm. His eyes, as he looked at his baby brother, held no malice, and there was even a hint of affection in them.
"I am the firstborn of our father, yes firstborn." He repeated
"We gods are different of mortal, a lot of us gain consciousness while we are still in our mother's embrace, this is why we are so aware and strong at birth," He explained, Argus didn't know if he was talking to the child to him or to someone else.
"You know one of your brothers, named Hermes, stole the cattle of another of his brothers when he was still a babe, or so the human said... And it's true, but you know that cattle was not just some random cattle it was a magical one with power and all, it is a big deal... And I-I could already understand the world and interact with it long before I was swallowed by my father, this is what saved me,"
"What I'm trying to say is… I know you can understand me,"
A strange stillness permeated the air as the eyes of many suddenly turned toward them.
Argus's eyes shifted toward the babe in Maeron's eyes with a hint of fear in the eyes.
'Is it true, does that mean that he is aware of what I did to his mother?' Argus asked himself, for an instant feared crept in his heart after all being targeted by a god no matter how weak and small is dangerous, like Maeron said all gods are dangerous from birth, but soon his fear subsided
'It doesn't matter, I would do it all over again if I had to,'
His resolve strengthening
All eyes fell on the babe in Maeron's arm who started to babble incoherently while reaching for Maeron when
Bam, Zizizi
A little lightning bolt shot from the babe's hand before hitting Maeron squarely in the eyes, momentarily blinding him.
"My lord!" everyone shouted, moving toward Maeron when the baby turns into a lightning bolt and shot toward one of the portals.
"Impressive!" The cool voice of Maeron resounded in the room calming everyone.
"You can launch Thunderbolt already, our father really dotes on you, huh,"
Before he could escape, the child found himself frozen in the air.
Slowly he regained human form and started struggling, screaming, and trashing in the air; thunder was furiously shouting from his hands, feet, mouth, and skin.
The attacks landed everywhere but failed to inflict the slightest damage to even the pavement, and slowly, the babe, who was frozen in the air, started to move backward and landed back into Maeron's hands.
"You are even stronger and have more potential than I imagined,"
Maeron looked at his baby brother with a trace of pity who quickly vanished and hardened.
Getting up, he started to walk down the stairs toward the outside of the palace.
"I was thinking about keeping you alive in the beginning but your talent is nearly equal to mine and you possess great intelligence already,"
They arrived outside with Maeron cradling his brother in his arms; the sun was still covered by clouds filled with thunders.
"I wouldn't want you to become the second me,"
With that, Maeron placed a hand on his brother's chest, understanding that death was about to take him, mere minutes after his birth, the baby started to cry in fear and indignation.
A bright yellow light started to glow from Maeron's hand while the cries then, the babe too started to emit a beautiful blue hue.
He wanted if possible take what he wanted and keep the baby to live until death as a mortal under surveillance somewhere.
After all not all gods are geniuses.
But the demonstration of the baby convinced him otherwise; with a potential like that, it was possible that the babe could somehow recover like a hero and come back for his revenge; it wasn't a risk that Maeron wanted to take.
"I already have too much blood on my hands already to stop,"
Far away from the gods, those who had previously felt the birth of another son of Zeus looked worriedly in the direction of the Kingdom of Argus.
It was even more true for the others children of Zeus, who could feel it better due to their blood connection and the fact that they had stayed not too far from the kingdom of Argos to welcome their new sibling.
They had not stayed there because Argos was relatively safe, and their father had dispatched his own force, including gods in his temple, to protect his son at the moment of his birth.
Unfortunately, they couldn't have imagined that those gods had been targeted and taken out by bigger, fiercer, and stronger monsters long ago, who took them by surprise before they could even react.
"What is happening?"
"What the fuck!"
"Has he been targeted by monsters?"
Even though they weren't together the children of Zeus seemed to have the same reaction.
"Who is stationed in Argos? They better hold on until I arrive," With that, Hermes started to sprint toward his brother as he sent orders to the gods to converge toward Argos to save his brother.
Questions swirled in the minds of Zeus children as they felt the energy of the newborn god flicker irregularly as if asking for help, while they all abandoned their previous duty and immediately they sprang into action, leaving the country that they were defended to fend for themselves not knowing that it was the exact opportunity that some people expected and wanted.
"The gods… The gods are running away!"
"The gods are abandoning us!"
"What, what are we supposed to do now!"
In many kingdoms, villages, or cities, the same kind of chaos was unfolding; people were despairing, seeing their hope vanish.
This is when that happened: "Do not be afraid!" in a little village, a powerful voice rang out, and a man stepped on the roof of a burning building.
"I am Astair, you all know me, but I am here today to tell you that not all gods abandoned us, I am one of the swords of the beloved god Maeron. A new and powerful god, he is our salvation, my lord knew that the Olympian wasn't worthy of trust and send me to protect you,"
As Astair started to preach, a powerful light emanated from him, and the image of Maeron handsome, godly and pure appeared behind him.
"If you renounce the old god and decide to follow my lord he will protect you," Astair shouted and pointed his sword forward as a powerful and radiant light enveloped it.
Woosh,
A powerful ray of light shouted toward the approaching horde of mindless abomination.
Boom
A enormous explosion resounded and many monsters were destroyed.
"..."
"Praise the god Maeron," one man said falling on his knee.
"Our salvation,"
"The god of salvation,"
"…"
Following the first man, others followed, falling on their knees, praying for Maeron.
Seeing that Altair smiled and jumped toward the horde of monsters with his followers behind him.
Altair and his men had been prepared for that for a long time; he was among the ones who had gained their powers by killing a god and stealing his power with the help of Maeron magical daggers.
Altair legion now shared part of his light powers.
But even though all that was planned, the fight was still real and fierce because Maeron was using it to tamper with his men.
The poor people of the village, meanwhile, didn't know that the god that they were now praying to was the one that had unleashed that infestation on the world and destroyed their peaceful life; he was, in essence, the architect of their pain.
This kind of scene was being repeated in many kingdoms.
In Argos, the thundercloud that had gathered in the sky seemed to gain life, and slowly, a face started to take shape there.
"Finally," Maeron said looking at the face taking shape above him. "Nice to meet you, father,"