Hera waved her fan back and forth as she began writing the theme of the Fourth Labor onto the ceiling of the grand hall.
[Solve the three riddles of Hermes.]
After the Fourth Labor was announced, the one most shocked was none other than Hermes himself.
“Eh? Lady Hera… me?”
He points to himself, confirming if it’s really him.
Watching his childlike smile, it seemed questionable whether his shock was genuine.
Nodding, Hera stared at Zeus and Hermes with a peculiar smile.
“Hera? Why… are you looking so terrifyingly at the handsome features of your husband…? Hmmahaha.”
As Hermes scratched the back of his head and lightly asked a question to ease the atmosphere,
There was no response.
Hera’s silence filled the grand hall.
Moreover, the screen displayed by the bat was heavily fogged, as if steam had settled over it.
The grand hall was suffused with Hera’s anger.
The oppressive aura was so intense that even Ares and Hephaestus, standing beside her, started coughing.
The silence was uncomfortable for Zeus, who began pestering Hermes next to him by poking his side.
It was a sign to do something about it.
Not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, Hermes reluctantly spoke after pushing Zeus’s elbow away.
“Lady Hera? Since you’ve already proposed the Labor, may I have a word? Hehehe…”
“Will I forgive you? For all the deceptions you’ve poured on me today?”
“Aahaha… Lady Hera, you know what? Until yesterday, I agreed with you that the lottery was wrong. But today, my thoughts changed.”
“…”
“How about this? If it hadn’t been for your persuasion, I might have raised my hand in favor instead of voting against it—”
“HOLD YOUR TONGUE!!”
Hera shouted loudly, reprimanding Hermes for his recklessness, igniting her candles.
A few gods closed their eyes tightly against the overwhelming pressure she exuded.
But Hermes, the man himself, softly endured her wrath with a smile.
Irritated by this, Hera threw her fan at his face,
Pointing to the Fourth Labor, now embedded in the ceiling.
“Hermes. I’ll be brief. Be the problem setter for the Fourth Labor.”
“Hmm… is that so?”
“To that moronic bug Ark, present a problem completely crafted by your wits. A problem that’s hard and enigmatic!”
“That’s not difficult… the criterion of ‘hard’ is rather subjective, don’t you think? I did my best, but it might not meet your expectations, Lady Hera.”
“Ho ho ho!”
When Hermes shrugged and expressed his reluctance with a sly smile,
Hera chuckled loudly, as if she had expected this, gesturing extravagantly with her shoulders.
It was as if she was utterly fed up with her child’s clumsy tricks.
“What’s subjective about your best effort? Isn’t there a very clear criterion…?”
“Hmm… could it be?”
“Yes. The Fourth Labor will be a 1-on-1 duel between you and the bug. If you lose, Hermes, it’ll be considered that you haven’t done your utmost.”
“Ahahaha~ It sounds like you’re taking it for granted that I can’t lose.”
“Of course. No god has resisted your tricks since you were young. So, your victory is certain.”
Hera concluded with these words and then suddenly gazed wistfully at a distant place beyond the window.
Knowing well that Hera never acts without purpose, Hermes swallowed hard and followed her gaze nervously.
“Perhaps… that direction? Where Maia hides.”
“Hey! Lady Hera!”
The ever-smiling Hermes finally dropped his grin, his face stiff with bewilderment.
Smiling in triumph at his trembling voice, Hera approached him with graceful steps and gently patted his wavy hair.
Her touch was so warm and kind, even from afar, it seemed like the touch of a family goddess, full of tenderness.
A touch that could calm a crying child into peaceful sleep.
“Hermes, you once said that your mother Maia died shortly after giving birth to you.”
“…”
His gaze, which had been on Hera, dropped.
“But that’s a lie, isn’t it?”
“…”
Unable to bear the weight of her eyes, his head also fell.
“In truth, for thousands of years she’s been living deep in the Calinnes cave to hide from my wrath and danger…”
“…”
Hera continued to stroke Hermes’ trembling head, as if forgiving all his child’s mistakes.
And then…
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The hand that had gently patted Hermes’s head suddenly changed, gripping his hair tightly as if grabbing a dog’s collar, sharply pulling his head back.
Crack!
A grotesque bone sound echoed as Hermes’ cervical vertebra shattered.
“GAH! Kuuuuuuh…!”
Though in agony from the shattered vertebrae, Hermes writhed,
But Hera, grinning creepily, urged him further by pulling his head back even harder.
“Infuriating bastard! So far, I’ve pretended not to notice your lies to protect the peace of my household!”
“Krhah, kuh! He, Hera… ni…m.”
“Will you repay my deep grace with such deceit? I will oversee this Labor. If you fail to stop Ark, watch what happens to Maia, your mother! I will definitely drive her into the depths of despair.”
“…”
“Knot by knot, as they say. If only you hadn’t opposed me, things could’ve been resolved easily. For playing around during a sacred divine council, you will bear all responsibility.”
“AAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!”
Hera sharply pulled Hermes’s head further back, eventually completely shattering his neck.
Hermes, his head limp like a plush toy with its fur removed, fainted.
But Hera didn’t stop.
Still burning with rage over being manipulated by Hermes,
She continued slapping the unconscious Hermes’ cheek.
Smack! Smack!
The cheek reddened.
The insides of his mouth split, pooling blood, and his lips swelled up.
When Hera brought his head down forward, she again grabbed his hair with her left hand and lashed his cheek even more viciously.
No god of the Twelve Olympians could stop Hera, who was cruel and merciless.
Hestia, who loves peace, fainted in shock at Hera’s unfamiliar and cruel demeanor, collapsing,
Demeter ran to Ares urging him to stop it,
Ares, thinking Hermes deserved it for being so crafty, only encouraged Hera’s wild aggression.
Finally, even Zeus, Hermes’s father and Hera’s husband, closed his eyes as if watching a frightening and cruel movie scene, hoping this moment would pass quickly.
Because it was overreach once someone encroached on the authority of the family.
Looking at just this state of the grand hall,
It seemed as if Olympus was ruled solely by the absolute queen Hera.
And what’s more, like a tyrant.
“Stop this!!!”
I could no longer sit idly by and jumped up.
Isn’t this too much, even if you do it?
I picked up a few stones around me and threw them at the entrance.
Crunch!
The electric barrier at the entrance sent electricity flowing through the rocks, blocking entry.
“Damn… is there no way?”
Bang!
Unable to restrain my anger, I slammed my fist into the ground.
Clouds burst from the shock.
And at that moment!
Something sharp streaked between the rising clouds at an incredible speed.
The object that flashed past my eyes like lightning was,
A winged flag.
Crackling! Boom!
A flag flying straight from somewhere penetrated the electric field guarding the entrance and embedded itself in the steps.
Like a small hole causing a giant dam to collapse,
The sharp tip attached to the end of the flag tore a small hole in the electric field and ripped it wide open.
“What the… is this suddenly?”
No.
This isn’t a time to be curious about irregular situations.
Now, I must immediately enter the grand hall and stop Hera’s rampage fueled by raw emotions.
I hurried up the steps.
Suddenly, a wind blew from behind, and I instinctively turned my head into it,
Blinded by the sunlight, my bleary eyes caught sight of a cloud-covered hill.
And on the hilltop stood someone.
Somebody who stood proudly with their arms crossed, fluttering white wings!
“Hmph…”
I turned back and quickly ascended the steps into the grand meeting hall.
Remembering the goddess who had granted me this chance.
While observing the V-shaped shadow cast by the flag embedded diagonally in the steps, illuminated by the sun.
I pushed both hands against the grand wooden door to enter.
The scene inside confirmed what I had seen wasn’t a lie,
“Mindless creature!”
Slap!
“Bastard!”
Slap!
“What nerve do you have to climb up because I briefly showed you kindness?!”
Slap!
Hera still held Hermes’s unconscious hair and slapped his cheeks.
How many times and how hard had she hit him? Hermes’s face was so swollen it was unrecognizable.
By now, it was difficult to see this just as Hera being angry at Hermes.
It also seemed like a cruel example she was setting for the other gods of the Twelve Olympians who might go against her will.
Bang!
“Now stop it, Lady Hera.”
I drew attention by slamming my fists on the wooden door and interrupted the unjust violence.
“What? Who are you? How did you get in?”
Hera, surprised by my presence.
But such shock was fleeting.
After roughly shaking Hermes’ head again, she turned that fierce anger towards me.
