CHAPTER 403: CHAPTER 396 FROST’S SORROW AND FANGTIAN HALBERD_2

The king looked at the frightened civilians with a satisfied smile. Feeling quite pleased, he swaggered to the foot of the Gold Mountain, grabbed a handful of treasures, greedily inhaled its scent, and said with a triumphant lift of his chin, "Hercules, this Gold Mountain now belongs to me. You may leave."

Nezha smirked faintly and replied, "As long as my mission is completed, I couldn’t care less whether the Gold Mountain is yours or your people’s. But what about the half of your cattle herd you promised me earlier?"

The king waved dismissively with disdain, saying, "Hercules, do you see this? My army surrounds us everywhere! No matter how strong you are, can you possibly outmatch my entire military?

I heard you came here to complete your mission. Now that it’s done, leaving obediently is your best option."

Nezha, thoroughly amused, burst out laughing. "Are all Western kings this entertaining?"

The king, feeling his dignity gravely insulted by Hercules’s laughter, flew into a rage and barked, "You fool! Do you think being called some ’great hero’ makes you so special? You’re nothing more than a lowly servant of the Mycenaean king!"

Nezha watched the king’s clownish tirade, then struck him with a single punch. The king instantly vaporized into nothingness. "Physical evaporation—like I always say, I never owe anyone, but anyone who owes me better weigh the consequences carefully."

"The king is dead. Now this Gold Mountain is ownerless," Nezha remarked.

The once-silent civilians suddenly found courage surging through their veins—ah, the allure of wealth!

"Everyone, attack! Reclaim the Gold Mountain that’s ours!"

The civilians, armed with pickaxes, wooden clubs, and all sorts of tools, charged at the soldiers’ blockade. Though the soldiers were well-equipped, without a guiding leader, they were overwhelmed—and some even had family or relatives among the rebels.

After two rounds of clashes, the army spontaneously dissolved and joined the fray for the Gold Mountain.

Nezha watched the chaotic madness unfold with an impassive face. This was human nature. If he were one of them, he’d probably join without hesitation too.

Wasn’t the Hongmeng Purple Qi he sought akin to the ’golden bait’ Old Deng scattered for him?

Thus, Nezha didn’t look down on them—instead, he admired their courage in pursuing a better life.

Bending low, Nezha leapt out of the crowd and left the area entirely. With courage to seize comes the need to bear consequences, and what followed was none of Nezha’s concern.

Taking half of the cattle herd for himself, Nezha left the scene. With over fifteen hundred heads of cattle, it would last him a good while. He was also curious to find out what Divine Bull tasted like.

Returning to the Mycenaean Palace, Oulistros finally got his share of beef. Nezha didn’t care one bit about the so-called divine nature of these bulls—he only cared whether they tasted good.

The two were feasting joyfully, but not everyone was pleased—Hera, for one. Though blindly confident in Zeus’s strength, she couldn’t underestimate Hercules either. She had to admit, based on Hercules’s displayed power, nothing in the mortal realm could challenge his tasks anymore.

Her son, the War God Ares, came to offer a suggestion. He knew of some monstrous birds with iron wings, iron beaks, iron claws, and deadly poison. Their rapid reproduction made it nearly impossible for anyone to exterminate them all.

Hera gleefully accepted her son’s idea. Though her son might lack Hercules’s handsomeness, intelligence, and strength, he was still her son, and that was enough.

Meanwhile, after a night of feasting and drinking with Oulistros, Hercules learned about his next task: to slay the monstrous birds at Stymphalian Lake in Arcadia.

This was something Nezha knew a bit about—in the original timeline, Hercules used this trial to consolidate his martial skill into a style, which had even been manifested as a treasure in a particular game: Shooting Hundred Heads.

Though Nezha hadn’t studied that style, he could still accomplish it using sheer power and speed. However, this time, he planned to take a different approach in dealing with the monstrous birds.

Saying farewell to Oulistros, Nezha headed straight to the shores of Stymphalian Lake in Arcadia. It was a lush, scenic area that should have been teeming with wildlife under normal circumstances.

But the lake had been completely overtaken by the monstrous birds.

Not only were the birds hideous and obnoxiously loud, but they preyed on humans and were exceedingly temperamental. Nezha saw not a shred of pity for them.

While pondering whether these monstrous birds were edible, Athena suddenly appeared behind him. Perhaps to test him—or just for fun—she reached out and placed her hand on his back.

Nezha, not one to tolerate such antics, instantly grabbed Athena’s hand and flipped her over with a shoulder throw. His lightning-fast reflexes and overwhelming strength left Athena no time to react.

Boom!

From within the massive pit, Athena, now thoroughly disheveled, exclaimed indignantly, "Is this how you treat your older sister who’s come to visit you?!"

Nezha squatted down and looked at the dust-covered Athena with amusement. "An excellent warrior must always stay alert—even more so when an unknown hand comes creeping from behind."

Athena extended her hand, signaling Nezha to pull her out of the pit, all the while grumbling, "I swear, you were so much cuter as a baby. Now you even resort to violence against your sister coming to help—it’s such ungentlemanly behavior! No wonder the other goddesses won’t favor you."

Nezha, finding Athena as sly as a fox, couldn’t be bothered bantering further. While pulling her up, he asked nonchalantly, "Why are you here?"

"I’ve come to help, of course. I’m good friends with the Fire God, and I’ve asked him to craft a Divine Artifact for you. How about that? Would it help resolve your current crisis?"

Current crisis? What crisis? Some worthless monstrous birds?

Nezha gestured for Athena to step aside, then took a deep breath. Facing the tranquil lake, he suddenly bellowed, "I LOVE FRYING PANS!!!"

Terrifying sound waves burst out from his mouth, indiscriminately attacking everything on and around Stymphalian Lake. The monstrous birds circling above fell to the ground in flocks.

Hidden within the forest, countless bird eggs shattered from the sheer force of the sound waves. They didn’t even require manual intervention—every yolk was thoroughly mixed on its own.

Athena activated her Divine Artifact to shield herself, witnessing the frightening spectacle of flying dust and debris. Her understanding of Hercules’s terrifying strength deepened once again.

Could he really defeat Zeus?

The thought kept surfacing in her mind, impossible to suppress. If he could, would this mean her mother and brother could come back to life?

Struggling to regain her composure, she asked Hercules a question once he stopped shouting, "What kind of Divine Artifact is a frying pan? Is it powerful?"

Nezha was momentarily embarrassed, but quickly made up an explanation. "I found that these monstrous birds are deeply afraid of wolves. I once encountered a very remarkable wolf from the Wolf Clan named Grey Wolf. Whenever he unleashed his power, he would shout, ’I LOVE FRYING PANS.’ So, I shouted it purely to intimidate the birds!"

Athena, evidently uninterested in Grey Wolf, asked, "Hercules, you’ve passed this trial with your own strength. But even the bravest warrior can’t fight empty-handed. I can ask the Fire God to forge a couple of Divine Artifacts for you—do you have any particular requests?"

Nezha understood her intentions—this little lady doubted him but was beginning to invest in him nonetheless. While he didn’t have much regard for this world’s Divine Artifacts, he decided not to reject Athena’s goodwill and replied, "Then have him forge me a durable Great Sword called Frost’s Sorrow and a heavy spear called the Fangtian Halberd."

Zeus might embody the Thunder God and be his ultimate rival. When the time came to ’pay my respects,’ these two weapons might not be too useful, but their names would certainly bring good fortune!