Looking at the widespread fires on the ground, God King Zeus was finally truly enraged.
Granting or not granting fire to humans was a decision only he, the God King, had the power to make. Now, someone stealing fire for humans was undoubtedly challenging his authority as God King.
At Zeus's wrath, the entire Greek World sky was instantly covered by dark clouds. Thunder rumbled within the clouds, and scorching bolts of lightning occasionally descended from the sky to the earth, demonstrating how terrible the God King's mood was at that moment.
Seeing Zeus's face so gloomy it seemed water could be wrung from it, the Goddess of Order, Themis, quickly advised, "Zeus, don't be impulsive. Humans certainly don't have the ability to obtain fire themselves. Someone must have stolen our flames and given them to them. You should investigate the truth before making a decision. Don't act on impulse and harm innocent races."
"Does that even need thinking about?" Zeus gnashed his teeth and said, "Who else in this world could ascend to Olympus, obtain the gods' flames, and then be willing to give fire to humans, besides their creator, Prometheus?"
He turned around and commanded Ares, "Ares, consider this your chance to atone for your mistakes. Go to the ground and bring Prometheus back to me. I want to see how he tries to quibble!"
"Understood!" Ares also scowled, responding with obvious displeasure.
After speaking, the God of War swung his arms, picked up his weapon, and left Olympus without looking back. He descended to the ground and arrived at the residence of Prometheus's brothers. By the time he got there, Prometheus had already had his younger brother Epimetheus waiting for him outside the door.
"God of War." Seeing Ares arrive, Epimetheus nervously said to Ares, "My brother asked me to greet you. He is waiting for you inside."
Ares nodded and walked into the small house where the brothers lived. The furnishings in the house were extremely simple, with most of the furniture made of wood. However, in the center of the house, there was already a bonfire, with warm flames flickering within. A pot of what seemed to be some kind of paste-like food was cooking over the fire.
Prometheus sat on a low chair by the bonfire. Seeing Ares, he stood up and said with a smile,
"Thank you so much for your help tonight, God of War."
Ares looked up at him: "My help to you ends here. You must know why I'm here today, don't you?"
"Of course I do." Prometheus nodded.
"Then come with me." Ares looked at him: "I hope you've already thought of a reason to tell Zeus."
"Of course, I've already thought of it. In fact, even if you hadn't come for me, I would have snuck into the God King's Hall eventually. It's just a matter of time," Prometheus said with a smile, shaking his head. He pointed to the paste he was cooking in the pot and invited Ares, "But before I go, I'd like to have a bowl of this. This is a food that those children outside recently discovered. It tastes quite good, God of War, would you like a bowl?"
Ares thought about it. Since Zeus hadn't demanded that he immediately bring Prometheus back, he simply nodded, put down his weapon, and sat down on the other side of the bonfire.
The paste in the pot soon cooked, emitting a unique aroma of food. Prometheus first served a bowl for Ares and handed it over.
"Here."
Ares took it and took a sip. The paste tasted a bit like vegetable batter with a little salt, and there were also some diced meat, though he didn't know what kind of animal it was. Although it couldn't compare to the food the gods on Olympus ate, it was certainly edible.
"Not bad, right?" Seeing Ares's expression, Prometheus showed a somewhat proud smile. He also served himself a bowl, tasted it, and then said with a smile, "At this moment, the wild beasts outside are still eating raw meat and drinking blood, but as soon as I brought back the fire, those children researched this food themselves. Their wisdom truly cannot be underestimated."
"Didn't you trick Athena into giving these humans the concept of wisdom?" Ares retorted, holding his bowl.
"That was just a key. Even the Goddess of Wisdom cannot truly manage the concepts of all things in the world, otherwise Metis would not have been directly devoured by Zeus back then," Prometheus said, shaking his head. "Just like you, Ares, you possess the authority of War, but not all Wars can go as you wish. For example, the ancient Titan War was outside your scope of power. We gods may be called great, but we are not omniscient and omnipotent."
Ares mused:
"Then if I give up my authority and my divine duties, can I still live?"
"Of course you can," Prometheus said with a smile. "Your teacher, Miss Hecate, once gave up her innate authority to be able to access fragments of all divine authorities. Now, her authorities, to put it plainly, are just some neglected things; those were concessions Zeus made to save her face."
He paused, then looked deeply at Ares: "However, I don't recommend you do this now. Generally, this kind of action can only be done unnoticed when the situation is chaotic. Your teacher Hecate gave up her authority during the Titan War. If you give up your authority now without any reason, it will certainly arouse suspicion and doubt from other gods."
"I generally understand." Ares nodded, then sat up straight: "So what about you? If I'm not mistaken, you're going to mess with Zeus's mind regarding the sacrifices next, right?"
"This is something that must be done," Prometheus sighed. "If I could, I wouldn't want to give Zeus even a tiny bit of sacrifice. However, while humanity hasn't fully developed, the gods' protection is necessary. After all, it is still the Age of Gods."
"Then have you considered what consequences you will face for doing this?" Ares countered, "Zeus will not let you go."
"Of course I know," the God of Stolen Fire said with a calm smile. He continued, "Humans are my children, created by my own hands, Prometheus, and are certainly a great race that will replace the gods in the future. Since that is the case, then offering myself as a sacrifice to my children is only natural. Parents protect their children, creators protect the created, isn't that normal?"
"What a noble sentiment." Ares couldn't help but sigh, "I can't achieve your level of ideological awareness. I just want to live."
After speaking, he drained the paste in his bowl, then stood up and said, "Alright, it's about time, Prometheus. We should go see Zeus."