In the Queen's Hall, two crows flew back and landed on the throne.
Hera raised her right hand, and crows jumped on her fingertips, passing Russell's entire itinerary today to Hera in the form of memory sharing.
"How's it going? What did that kid do today?"
Ares couldn't wait to ask, and he attached great importance to the duel with Russell.
As the God of War, and whose authority tends towards killing and destruction, whenever there is a war, as long as there is slaughter and death, Ares is the biggest beneficiary.
This is completely different from Athena's guard. One is for aggression, and the other is to protect the homeland.
Therefore, in order to prepare for the decisive battle two days later, he specially sent envoys to move around the world and provoke wars between countries. Whether it was a national war or a local conflict, the more the better.
In addition, if you know yourself and your enemy, you will be victorious in any battle. Although Ares cannot say this sentence, he still understands similar principles.
To prepare for war, in addition to strengthening your own strength, you also need to collect intelligence on the enemy.
Hera helped Ares and sent crows to observe Russell's every move while he was growing his strength.
"He... was taking a bath all day long, and even made homemade barbecue in the evening."
Hera frowned. Although Russell had been using the power of the Sun God, it would be too childish if this could be considered a skilled authority.
"Take a bath? Barbeque?"
Ares plucked his ears and said he didn't understand: "Mother, take a closer look. Did you miss anything?"
"..."
Hera looked displeased. She was the Queen of Heaven, not a shameless woman like Aphrodite.
Besides, she had already looked at it very carefully, in every aspect, and couldn't be more careful.
"Mother, please..."
"Get out!"
…
The next day, in the garden of the Temple of the Sun, laughter and laughter continued one after another.
The nymph goddesses are dressed in white clothes, exposing the delicate skin of their arms and calves. They dance gracefully and hide among the green trees and shrubs. They are full of youth and vitality.
Russell's eyes were covered with a piece of cloth, he was rubbing his hands while he was chasing the nymphs running around in the garden.
Hearing the sound of footsteps from the four o'clock direction, Russell turned around instantly and gave him a bear hug.
Snap!
(?_?)
Ai'e raised her hand and put it against Russell's forehead, pulled off his blindfold, and said silently: "After tomorrow, it will be the day of the decisive battle between you and Ares. Don't you want to..."
"In no mood!"
Russell directly interrupted Ai'e's words and said decisively: "If you can't beat the strong ones, there's no point in hurrying. If you hit the weak ones casually, there's no need to rush at all, so it's the right thing to enjoy yourself in time."
You are so right!
"If you think it makes sense, you might as well join in. It's boring to be alone."
Russell made the invitation at the right time: "And they are so clumsy that they have no idea that the fun of this game is to be caught by me. It's different for you. I'll be sure to catch you."
(?beneficial?)
Ai'e didn't say anything and was angry. For someone like Russell, she wouldn't be surprised if he was beaten to death by Ares on the spot.
Soon after, Zeus arrived.
Zeus tried his best but failed to persuade Hera to take a step back, so he came to Russell to try his luck.
When he saw the little game invented by Russell, he immediately lost his hurry and happily asked to join. After being chased away by Russell, he quickly ran back to Taifani Peak and organized dozens of nymphs on his own.
The old guy changed his mind and thought about it. He played all day long and completely forgot about the purpose of coming to Russell.
At night, Ares came to the Queen of Heaven's Hall as usual. Today he went to the human world in person and tempted several human kings to start a war. Because of his authority, his strength has grown further.
"Mother, how is the boy doing? What unusual behavior did he do today?"
"..."
Hera didn't know how to speak, and Russell didn't do anything unusual because he was unusual.
In a few words, Helios was plotted and his power was taken away forcefully. Based on these alone, Hera would not think that Russell was an ignorant person who was greedy for pleasure.
But his behavior was too weird, he didn't take Ares seriously at all, and he even acted more ridiculous than usual.
Did Death deliberately confuse me so that Ares would lower his guard?
Hera frowned and thought hard. After thinking about it, she thought it was impossible. There must be something wrong, but she never found it.
"Mom, why don't you say anything? Did that kid take a bath again today?"
"roll!"
…
On the last day before the decisive battle, Russell appeared early in the middle of the garden, held his breath and took a stance, then inhaled and exhaled, as if he was comprehending the true meaning of life and nature.
However this is impossible.
Five minutes later, he took out the blindfold from his pocket and shouted out the nymphs at the top of his lungs.
"That's enough for you!"
Ai'e stepped forward quickly: "Tomorrow is the day of the duel. Even if you are confident of winning, your opponent is not an ordinary person. Ares is not only the twelve main gods, but also the son of Hera. In order to target your ability,
They are definitely well prepared."
"Hey, are you worried about me?"
"Otherwise, let me worry about Ares?"
Ai'e was convinced, but she didn't know if Russell was really too ambitious or if he didn't have a sense of crisis.
As a bystander, she knew very well that Russell had the ability to defeat Ares, but once Hera intervened, his situation would be very dangerous.
"I'm telling you the truth, don't spread the word."
Russell looked around, beckoned Ai'e to come closer, and whispered: "When fighting Helios, I suffered serious internal injuries, which cannot be cured in a short time. I can only wait for the sun god's power to be completely stabilized.
Once I get down, my injury will slowly heal on its own."
"What! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Ai'e was shocked: "I heard that Ares stirred up wars in the world and continued to increase his power. If this is really the case, wouldn't you have no chance of winning at all?"
"It's not like there's no chance of winning."
Russell's face straightened: "I learned a trick from Zeus that can quickly heal my injuries. If it succeeds, I will be invincible against Ares even if I don't have the authority of the Sun God."
"What can I do?"
"Come here with your ears..."
Russell approached Ai'e, finished in a low voice, and then nodded vigorously: "How about it, are you willing to help me?"
Russell:(?????????)
Ai'e: (?Benefit?)
The nonsense method sounded like nonsense, and since it was Zeus's move, it was even less convincing. Ai'e became so angry that she glared at Russell and left angrily.
She decided to help Russell collect the body tomorrow.
After Ai'e left, Russell threw away the blindfold, pondered for a moment and walked into the temple. He took out two sword molds from the casting room, heated them up in the furnace, and started banging them.
In the middle of the process, Zeus came to persuade him again. Russell was addicted to blacksmithing, hitting the sword embryo with the hammer again and again, turning a deaf ear and completely ignoring what Zeus was saying.
Zeus saw this, threw up his sleeves and left.
At the vent on the top of the wall, two crows quietly left, passing this scene to Hera.
"Mother, what on earth is he thinking? Does blacksmithing have something to do with the authority of the Sun God?"
Ares was agitated. The more strange Russell behaved, the more suspicious he became, his mind full of random thoughts, and his mood was uneasy.
It got better soon, because when he talked about blacksmithing, he thought of his elder brother Hephaestus, and then Aphrodite. His heart was already racing, and he just wanted to spend one night alone with Aphrodite before the big battle.
Listen to his words of encouragement.
"You have to ask Helios about this, but as far as I know, there is a forging room in the Temple of the Sun. It is Helios' personal hobby. He likes to forge weapons and give them to his friends."
Hera was silent, maybe there is some necessary connection between this.
"Mother, the duel will be held at noon tomorrow. Do you have anything to give me?"
Ares pursed his lips. That day in the Hall of the Gods, Hera sent a message that there was a way to make him not afraid of lightning and thunder.
"Now is not the time. I will give you before noon tomorrow..."
…
On the day of the decisive battle, Ares rushed to the hall of the gods early, wearing a shawl and armor, including a helmet and hand guards.
The armor shows wear and tear in many places. It looks worn out, but actually it implies bloodshed and murderous ferocity. It is a medal left over from the battlefield, proof that he used force to conquer powerful enemies.
The older generation of gods looked indifferent, as if they didn't care about the upcoming battle. In fact, everyone knew that these people were already laughing in their hearts.
Hera sat firmly on the throne, saying nothing from the beginning to the end, just like a person who stayed out of the incident.
Zeus also had an expression on his face, his peripheral vision passed over Ares' breastplate, and his breathing stagnated slightly.
He closed his eyes and acted as if he didn't know anything.
To be fair, between Ares and Russell, he prefers Russell to win, even though Ares has prepared a lot of help for this battle.
Therefore, he pretended to have no knowledge of Hera's secret help, and estimated in his mind that this battle should be a 50-50 draw and end in a draw.
Zeus likes this result. The God of War is still the God of War, and the God of the Sun is still the God of the Sun. His power on the sacred mountain will not be affected at all.
Russell came a step late, deliberately, as a good omen, because being late is the privilege of the strong.
Under normal circumstances, the person who arrives last is the final winner.
"Sun God, you are so big, I thought you wouldn't come."
Ares looked at Russell with a sneer. You can lose in love, but your love rival must die. Only one of him and Russell can survive today.
With the props supported by Hera, he was confident that this was a sure thing.
"I saw that the sun had not yet risen, so I fell asleep. As I was sleeping, I suddenly remembered that I was the sun god, and hurriedly got up to go on duty...On the way, I remembered that the Sun Chariot was at Apollo's place, so I went home to sleep again.
So it’s late.”
Russell explained that he had a good reason for being late on purpose.
"..."xn
In the main hall, all the gods were speechless. If a son of Zeus hadn't been maimed or killed today, they wouldn't have come so early.
"Stop talking nonsense, I will accept your authority today."
Ares snorted coldly, waved his hand to summon the golden-armored war horse, bursting into bloody fighting spirit, and took the lead to rush to the battlefield.
Ares was too fast, and Russell prepared several harsh words, but they were of no use.
It's not a big problem. If he is so self-respecting, he will definitely have a chance.