While Ares, using his divine power avatar, was busy dissecting Typhon and stripping materials as spoils of war, Cadmus was not idle either. He led the team as Cadmus and continued towards the continent of Europa.
When Ares's divine power avatar finished 'milking' Typhon, Cadmus, on his side, also successfully reached his goal.
Because Ares remembered the myths, his target was very clear: Delphi. This city was built under the patronage of Apollo, the God of Light. Because a chief god protected it, it was very prosperous.
The most popular place in Delphi was undoubtedly the Delphi Temple, which primarily enshrined Apollo. People from all over the Greek World liked to go there to pray, because Apollo was also the God of Prophecy, and these people could go to the temple to ask the High Priest for Apollo's prophecy.
Although the chaos caused by Typhon some time ago led to Apollo taking his entire family and fleeing to a region in Egypt on the edge of the Greek World, which caused the Delphi Temple to 'close for business' for a period, after Zeus defeated Typhon, these fleeing gods heard the news and gradually returned to Olympus.
Apollo ran the fastest and returned the fastest. Among the chief gods who fled Olympus, he and his sister Artemis were the first to return to Olympus. After Apollo's return, the Delphi Temple also reopened for business, welcoming visitors.
Ares brought the team into the city. He estimated that Zeus had already entrusted the matter of Europa to Athena. Soon, someone would come forward to inform him about Europa and his own future.
Ares also made up his mind that if no one came by then, he would go to the Delphi Temple himself and ask his good brother Apollo for a divination.
As expected, when Ares and his servants arrived in Delphi and had just found a place to settle, a priest from the Delphi Temple came to find him, saying that the High Priest of the Delphi Temple had a divine prophecy to give him.
Ares told his servants to wait there for the time being, then followed the priest into the Delphi Temple and met Apollo's High Priest.
After performing a series of sacrificial activities with the High Priest, the High Priest led Ares to the Castalian Spring. Across the spring's waters, Ares finally saw the radiant God of Light, Phoebus Apollo.
After several days apart, this chief god, who was the first to flee to Egypt, still looked majestic and handsome, showing no signs of his inglorious experience of cowardice before battle. Ares envied Apollo, who was born with the talent of a method actor; his switching of expressions, demeanor, and temperament was seamless, not even needing to be learned. He knew that to deceive the gods, he had practiced these aspects in Hecate's Garden during his free time and was often ridiculed by his unscrupulous teacher.
However, now, behind a layer of 'Cadmus' skin, Ares couldn't casually walk up and pat Apollo's shoulder as he usually would. The moment he saw the chief god appear, he immediately adopted a devout posture and bowed to Apollo.
"Great Apollo, I have come to seek a prophecy."
"Hmm, I already know your purpose." Apollo nodded gently, revealing a smile, acting like an omniscient deity: "Your sister Europa has become the consort of the King of the Gods. She will spread her lineage on another continent and become the ancestor of humanity there. You no longer need to search for her."
"But," Ares immediately frowned, appearing very worried but not daring to speak directly, saying, "When we left Phoenician, the Phoenician King demanded that we must find our sister, otherwise we cannot return. So now I can no longer go back."
"It's alright. You helped Zeus defeat Typhon, and the gods will not forget your achievements." Apollo said to Ares, "Take your team, leave from here, and head west. There, you will encounter a cow in a solitary pasture. This cow has not yet been yoked, and it will lead you forward. When it lies down to rest on the grass, you can build a city there and name it Thebes. This city will become your dwelling place."
"I understand."
Ares, with reverence, thanked Apollo again. Only when the chief god's figure disappeared from the spring did he stand up, bid farewell to the priests and divine officials in the Delphi Temple, then rested for two days, replenished his dry rations and water, and then led his team, following Apollo's instructions, to continue their journey.
As he walked, Ares also began to ponder other questions. In the myths, after Cadmus arrived at the location of Thebes, he encountered the poisonous dragon sent by Ares. According to the nature of the Type-Moon world, after becoming a Heroic Spirit here, some of his abilities and Noble Phantasms are likely closely related to this epic. After all, besides helping Zeus confuse Typhon, Cadmus's most courageous experience was single-handedly killing Ares's poisonous dragon.
But now, Ares himself did not remember sending any monsters to the ground, nor did he remember raising dragons. Therefore, he was also curious about how the gods would achieve this feat of his.
With such doubts, Ares continued his journey. After two days of walking, they indeed encountered an unyoked cow in a solitary pasture. Seeing Ares and his companions, the cow was not afraid. It merely mooed once, then turned and walked forward.
Ares stood still, first feigning gratitude to Apollo, then led his team to follow the cow. They followed the cow across the shallow stream of Cephissus, and then the cow stopped on the bank. It turned its head, looked at Cadmus and his retinue following behind, raised its head and mooed loudly, then contentedly lay down in the soft, deep green grass.
Ares surveyed the surroundings and found that it was indeed an area suitable for establishing a city-state. The surrounding pastures were lush, and it was adjacent to a river, making it suitable for both agriculture and animal husbandry. There was also a dense forest nearby, with fruit trees and springs, so the natural resources were quite abundant.
He feigned a moved expression in front of his servants, then instructed the servants behind him:
"I have come here under the guidance of Zeus and Apollo, destined to be the king of this city-state. You who follow me can also become nobles and prominent families of the city-state in the future."
Upon hearing this, the servants excitedly declared that they would be driven by the prince's command their entire lives, even unto death.
"Good, say no more."
Ares waved his hand and said:
"Let us first perform a sacrifice to Zeus, and then we shall begin preparing to build the city!"