"What?" Upon hearing Apollo's words, Ares immediately switched his focus and said to him, "Someone dares to steal your cattle?"
The cattle of the God of Light, Apollo, were naturally not the kind Epimetheus molded from mud that were now running around on the ground, but rather divine cattle bestowed upon him by Zeus. There were fifty of these cattle in total, and every single one of them was full of treasures.
Apollo himself usually couldn't bear to slaughter these cattle for food. Only during special periods when the gods held large feasts to celebrate something would he occasionally butcher one or two, inviting everyone to taste them, and even then, it depended on whether the god hosting the banquet could earn Apollo's respect.
Even if Zeus wanted one or two of these divine cattle, he would first have to discuss it with his son. At this moment, Ares could only think of one deity in the entire world who would dare to be so audacious.
Indeed, after Ares finished asking, Apollo said with a furious expression, "The scoundrel who stole my cattle is a son born from Zeus's affair. This devil truly has the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard to dare lay hands on my cattle!"
"Zeus had another affair?" Ares thought for a moment. "Right, Hera has been breaking more things lately. Who is his affair with? A god? Or another race?"
"It's Maia, the goddess of rain and wind," Apollo replied. "I already know where Maia and her son are hiding. Let's go, come with me."
Ares thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "Alright, let's go!"
The son of Maia, the goddess of rain and wind, and Zeus, was Hermes, the future God of Commerce, Travelers, and Herdsmen, and the messenger of the gods, who would later become one of the twelve great gods of Olympus. However, this "brother," to Ares and Apollo, was merely someone who could run a bit fast; other aspects were not worth mentioning. Even if Ares stood before Hermes and let him strike freely, Hermes would not be able to break through the defense of the God of War's divine power avatar, even if he exhausted himself to death.
He was able to displace Hades or Hestia to become one of the twelve great gods of Olympus partly because his father was Zeus, and partly because he was extremely loyal to his father.
Unlike the group of double-crossers like Athena, Apollo, and Ares, Hermes genuinely offered all his loyalty to Zeus. He understood that unlike his siblings who possessed inherent strength, his ability to thrive on Olympus depended on his father. If Zeus were gone, Hermes would be nothing more than an annoying fly to Ares and the others.
Therefore, Ares and Apollo did not bring any weapons on this trip; they simply went with their hands in their pockets. The two main gods clearly did not take Hermes and Maia seriously at all.
Led by Apollo, Ares and he arrived at a mountain range called Arcadia. Deep within these high mountains, shrouded in thick mist, sat several temples, extremely difficult to detect. That was the residence of Maia, the goddess of rain and wind.
Apollo and Ares landed directly between these temples. Seeing the divine power emanating from the two, the mythical creatures serving there dared not stop them, only watching helplessly as the two gods entered their deity's sanctuary.
"Is anyone there?"
As soon as Apollo entered the temple, he began to call out.
"Coming."
Following Apollo's call, a moment later, a beautiful goddess emerged from the back of the temple, approached Apollo and Ares, and bowed slightly to them:
"It is the esteemed Apollo and Ares. Your Highnesses, is there something you need from me?"
"Goddess Maia," Apollo looked at the goddess, who exuded the aura of a married woman, and then asked, "I don't want to waste any more words. Let's get straight to the point: where is your son?"
A hint of panic flashed in Maia's eyes. She forced a smile and asked, "Why does the noble Apollo seek my son?"
"Alright, stop playing dumb, auntie," Ares stepped forward, interrupting Apollo, and said to Maia, "Apollo is the God of Prophecy. You shouldn't think of hiding something like this from him. Call your son out. For the sake of your entanglement with Zeus, we don't want to make a scene too ugly, otherwise..."
He clenched his fist at the goddess, making his knuckles crack loudly.
Before gods other than Hecate and Prometheus, Ares always remembered his mission, maintaining his image as a rude and unlikable character.
Goddess Maia looked at Ares's fist, which was as big as a casserole, and her eyes welled up with tears in fear. However, at that moment, her lover Zeus's voice suddenly echoed in her mind:
"Maia, it's alright. Go and bring our child out. Let him meet his two elder brothers."
Upon hearing this, Maia's face showed a helpless expression. Despite her myriad unwillingness, she could not defy Zeus, the King of the Gods. Therefore, after Ares finished his threat, Maia reluctantly turned back into her temple and brought out a young boy wearing a feathered hat, a short-sleeved tunic, and winged sandals.
This young boy, like Apollo and Ares, bore certain characteristics of Zeus. Perhaps because his mother was the goddess of rain and wind, who was more compatible with Zeus in terms of attributes, this young boy was also Zeus's most similar son to date. He had white hair and white eyes, but unlike Apollo and Ares, he was very thin and lacked divine power, seemingly not having inherited Zeus's strength and power.
Upon seeing Apollo and Ares, the young boy also appeared somewhat afraid, and the moment Apollo saw him, a furious expression appeared on his face.
"It's you, you little scoundrel!" He rushed forward, scaring Maia into quickly shielding her son behind her. "Give me back my cattle!"
Hermes, shielded in his mother's embrace, rolled his eyes, and a lie instantly came to his lips: "Divine cattle? I don't know anything about that."
He looked at Apollo with innocent big eyes and said, "Brother, how long have I been born? How could I possibly have the ability to run out and steal your divine cattle right under your nose?"
"You!" Apollo angrily clenched his fist, but after glancing at Maia, he suppressed his temper. Hermes's lie was clearly a deliberate attempt to shift the blame onto Apollo, saying things like "under your nose" and "I've only been born for a few days." If Apollo admitted it, it would mean that in front of Hermes, he couldn't even guard his own divine cattle, which would be even more humiliating.
However, Apollo had brought Ares along precisely to deal with such situations. So, upon hearing Hermes's words, Apollo gave Ares a look, and Ares, understanding, stepped forward.
With his strength, he pulled away Maia, who was trying to protect her son, then steadied the small, young god, who was a head shorter than him, by the shoulders, and looked down at him with a smile.
Hermes looked at Ares, his body somewhat stiff, but he suppressed his fear and forced a smile, asking Ares, "Big brother, I really haven't seen any divine cattle."
"No rush, no rush, that's not important," Ares said, patting his shoulder and laughing heartily. "We can talk about these things later. Come, let's have a fight first!"