Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Aphrodite was slapped directly by Hera and immediately teared up with grievance.
She was indeed very capable of using her beauty to gain an advantage for herself, and normally, Hera would certainly not dare to directly slap her.
However, now, it was she who had an affair with Notus, the God of the South Wind first, and after being caught, she had completely lost face, so even if Aphrodite appeared pitiable at this moment, no other deity would stand up for her.
Zeus cautiously walked over to the dying Notus, the God of the South Wind, frowned, and looked down at the miserable state of the God of the South Wind, then asked Ares:
"Ares, beating him up was enough, why did you have to cripple him? Isn't that going too far?"
"Ah? Crippled what?" Ares looked innocent: "I just beat him up, I didn't even touch his lower body, and besides, that part of him was already broken before I came in. I only rushed in when I heard his screams."
Thus, the gods were astonished again. Among them, deities like Zeus and Poseidon, who had previously been involved with Aphrodite, subconsciously clamped their legs together. At the same time, Zeus also asked Aphrodite: "Aphrodite, what exactly is going on?"
Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty, immediately replied with sobs: "I don't know either..."
Ares, who was nearby, sneered upon hearing this: "So, you're not denying your affair with Notus, the God of the South Wind?"
"This..." The Goddess of Beauty was stunned. Hearing Ares' question, she only then realized that, given the scene, she could have logically and reasonably pushed all the blame onto Notus, the God of the South Wind, claiming he tried to rape her and she resisted out of necessity, leading to this outcome.
However, it was too late now. Aphrodite's thoughtless answer meant she had already admitted to cheating on her husband, and seeing her Ugly, most of the goddesses present showed expressions of disdain.
The Goddess of Beauty immediately began to struggle for her life. She looked pleadingly at her usual lovers, but both the powerful Zeus and the hot-tempered Poseidon silently turned their faces away, refusing to meet her gaze.
She then looked to Apollo for help, and the most handsome male god on Olympus merely sighed, saying in an operatic aria: "You were a good person, why did you become like this?"
"Ahem, let's leave it at that for tonight. Apollo, come and heal Notus, don't let him die." Zeus coughed and instructed: "Athena and Hephaestus haven't returned yet. Iris, go and notify them for me. When they return, we will then judge the matter of Aphrodite and Notus."
After speaking, Zeus waved his hand, dismissing the gods. Apollo also lifted Notus, the God of the South Wind, who was like a dead dog on the ground. The deities gradually dispersed. Even Ares, Hera, and other deities who disliked Aphrodite left the place. Finally, in the vast Temple of Aphrodite, only Aphrodite remained.
She untied the shiny belt from her waist, and then, recalling the situation when Notus had his accident, anger gradually burned in her eyes.
It was the mechanism on this very belt that had severed Notus's brother, and the answer to who modified this belt in such a way was naturally self-evident.
"Hephaestus!"
Aphrodite sat cross-legged on her bed, gnashing her teeth as she muttered her husband's name, while extending her hand and angrily punching the bed with her fist. However, her strength was so weak that the punch had no effect on her bed.
On the other side, after leaving the Temple of Aphrodite and returning to the God of War Palace, Ares, after having his avatar sit on the seat belonging to the God of War, began to observe the situation of humans on Earth through the authority of the God of War.
When he saw flames gradually rising on the Earth, a satisfied smile finally appeared on his face.
Prometheus was still steady. While the attention of the gods was drawn to the commotion caused by Notus, the God of the South Wind, and Aphrodite, this God of Forethought had already stolen the olympus holy fire stored in the God King's Hall and returned to Earth, giving this flame to humanity.
In this way, human civilization would gradually be established, but during this period, humans would also incur the wrath of Zeus, the King of Gods.
Such large-scale events like using fire and establishing civilization cannot be kept secret. Prometheus must have been prepared, which is why he had Ares promise beforehand to intervene during humanity's crisis and help them preserve the spark of continuation.
However, with the matter of Aphrodite and Notus acting as a distraction, this matter should be able to be delayed for some time.
Under Zeus's command, the messenger Iris quickly set off to notify Athena, who had returned to the deep ocean to visit relatives, and Hephaestus, who had gone to Lemnos Island to find forging materials. By dawn of the next day, in the God King's Hall, the twelve great gods of Olympus had gathered, and Themis, who was in charge of judgment, also arrived with her golden scales. The gods began to judge the affair between Aphrodite and Notus.
Because the evidence of the affair between the two gods was conclusive, with almost nothing needing to be proven, even though Aphrodite and Notus argued strongly, attempting to first accuse Hephaestus and Ares of harming other gods, this matter was originally the two gods violating the Heavenly Queen's iron law of marriage first. The judgment of Themis and Zeus quickly came down.
As important deities, Zeus naturally could not directly kill these two gods. The affair itself was not a capital offense, but Aphrodite and Notus both had to relinquish a portion of their divine authority as compensation to the aggrieved Hephaestus. Furthermore, while performing his regular duties, Notus also had to work as a slave with the servants of the gods for a hundred years to atone for his sins.
Throughout the entire judgment process, Hephaestus remained very calm. When Aphrodite and Notus accused him, it was mostly Ares who helped him argue his case. Only at the very end of the judgment did the God of Fire request Heavenly Queen Hera to grant him a divorce from Aphrodite.
This was, of course, also the result of Ares's behind-the-scenes pushing. After all, before catching the adulterer, Ares had already worked through the elder brother's thoughts. The marriage between the God of Fire and the Goddess of Beauty could never find happiness, no matter what.
Because Aphrodite had cheated first, Hera easily granted her son's request and, in the name of the Heavenly Queen and the Goddess in charge of marriage, announced the dissolution of their marriage. After these matters were concluded, a day had almost passed, night gradually fell, and the twelve great gods prepared to leave the God King's Hall and return to their respective temples.
But just then, outside the God King's Hall, Selene, Goddess of the Moon, suddenly ran in somewhat panicked and asked Zeus:
"Zeus, did you grant fire to humans?"
"What?" Zeus said, puzzled, upon hearing this: "When did I agree to give fire to humans?"
"Then come and see," Selene said, pointing outside the God King's Hall.
Zeus then led the great gods out of the God King's Hall and, through the floating corridor of Olympus, saw the flames gradually rising on Earth.
Upon seeing those flames illuminating the night, Zeus, the King of Gods, turned ashen-faced. He loudly bellowed: "Ares! What in the world is going on?! Who stole the fire?!"
"Huh? How the hell should I know!" Hearing Zeus's words, Ares also roared loudly: "Last night, wasn't I attracted by Notus and them?!"