After Thebes was completed, Ares rallied his servants, instructing them to lead teams to gather nearby villagers to become citizens of Thebes city-state.
As for the five Dragon-Tooth Warriors, Ares also granted them noble status, but without any actual power. After all, Ares knew perfectly well whether these five warriors, born from Athena's dragon teeth, were loyal to Cadmus, the King of Thebes, or to Athena.
Under the influence of the divine miracle Ares caused and his heroic deed of slaying the poisonous dragon, the villagers and wanderers near Thebes quickly gathered around it. Ares granted them citizen status and, as he had promised, made his followers into prominent families of Thebes. With the help of these people, everything in Thebes quickly became orderly.
The moment she handed Thebes over to Ares, Athena quietly left. When order was first established in Thebes and Ares's avatar became king, the Goddess of Wisdom returned to the city, bestowed some praise upon him, and then said:
"As a king, you cannot be without a queen. You previously helped Zeus defeat Typhon, so the gods have decided to bestow a goddess upon you as your wife. Which goddess do you prefer?"
Seeing Ares's gaze on herself, Athena added, "Of course, you cannot choose virgin goddesses or goddesses who already have husbands."
Ares had anticipated this situation, so he put on a troubled expression, lowered his head to think for a moment, and then solemnly said to Athena:
"Great Athena, I have actually long decided to follow the footsteps of my master, Ares, and become a pure warrior. Therefore, I do not desire a queen or anything of the sort."
Athena frowned slightly: "Emulating Ares brings no benefit to a king. Ares is immortal, but you have a limited lifespan. When you die, who will inherit Thebes if you have no heir?"
"At that time, I will perform a sacrifice, ask for the gods' opinions, and follow the divine will to choose my own child."
Ares said with a solemn expression:
"Since this Thebes is a city granted to me by the gods, it should rightfully be inherited by a child of the gods after my death."
"Is that so?"
Athena's eyes flickered, appearing somewhat doubtful, but there was no precedent for fanatical believers imitating their chief god, and for the gods not marrying. For example, Artemis had many priestesses who served her and never married. Moreover, even the Goddess of Wisdom, without any intelligence, would not have guessed that a mortal hero was actually an avatar of Ares.
Ultimately, she didn't truly care much about the Cadmus matter. Even if Cadmus didn't worship her and marginalized the Dragon-Tooth Warriors who helped him build the city to the fringes of Thebes' nobility, Athena would not suffer a loss.
For her own city, she had her own considerations, and as for Cadmus, to put it plainly, she was just there to make an appearance and leave a good impression on the Heroes.
So she replied:
"Then I will take your reply back to Olympus and let Zeus decide on your choice."
Seeing the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, turn and leave, Ares subtly exhaled. He knew that given Zeus's temperament, he would certainly agree to his request.
There were no ugly goddesses on Olympus; each and every one was a beautiful woman. These goddesses were also chips for Zeus to win over hearts, or objects of his amusement.
His intention to bestow a goddess upon Cadmus as a wife, aside from gratitude for Cadmus helping him retrieve his sinews from Typhon, was more of a formality. As the God-King, he had to represent the gods and reward Cadmus, a mortal who had upheld their rule; otherwise, the gods' dominion over mortals might be difficult to maintain in the future.
But if Cadmus himself voluntarily rejected the gods' goodwill, then Zeus could not be blamed for being stingy. On the contrary, Zeus would gain a reputation for generosity among humans without even having to give a goddess, which was practically a free ride.
However, the moment Athena turned to leave, something unexpected happened.
Ares first saw the Goddess of Wisdom suddenly stop in place, but after he questioned and called out to Athena, he found that Athena did not respond.
After careful observation, he realized that at some unknown point, he had entered a state similar to time stopping. Not only Athena, but everything in Thebes was frozen in that instant.
"What's going on?"
Just as Ares was surprised, wondering if he had awakened some terrifying superpower, he suddenly saw a woman, draped in a white headscarf and wearing a white gauze dress, slowly walk in from outside the palace doors.
"Who are you?"
Seeing this uninvited woman, who exuded an inexplicable aura, Ares felt a surge of vigilance and asked.
The woman slightly raised her head, revealing her beautiful face beneath the white headscarf, and her golden eyes.
"Cadmus, or rather, Ares."
She parted her crimson lips and spoke in an ethereal voice:
"I am Kroto, the Goddess who spins the thread of fate."
"The Fates?"
Zeus and his second wife, Themis, had three daughters who governed all things in the world. They were collectively known as the Moirai, determining the destiny of all things in the world. This power transcended the authority of the gods; even Zeus could not defy it.
But Ares observed her carefully, a grave expression appearing in his eyes: "No, that's not right. You are not Zeus's daughter. Who exactly are you?"
"I am one of Gaia's representatives in the world," Kroto said softly. "You can also understand it as you are conversing with Gaia through me."
"Planetary Inhibitor?" Ares took a slight step back and continued to ask, "Why have you graced me, a mere Ares, with your presence?"
"I am here to warn you, Ares," Kroto said to him. "Since you have intervened in the destiny of the Greek Hero, Cadmus, King of Thebes, you must obey your fate: marry Harmonia and bear two daughters, Semele and Ino."
At this point, Ares understood the purpose of this representative of the Inhibitory Force coming here.
According to mythological lineage, Semele, the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, was to be one of Zeus's many future lovers, and she was also the mother of Dionysus.
This chief god, unlike Ares and Aphrodite's less significant children, would be one of the future chief gods of Olympus. In fact, if the Romans hadn't destroyed the Greeks and renamed the Olympus Gods, bringing them into the Roman Pantheon, Dionysus might well have legitimately inherited the throne from Zeus as the fourth generation God-King.
"But what are you doing here now?" Ares retorted, "Ares has already sworn an oath not to unite with the Goddess of Beauty, Harmonia hasn't even been born, and Semele is out of the question."
"I am here, naturally, because this matter can still be remedied," Kroto said, looking down at Ares. "Gaia doesn't care who Harmonia is. As long as Cadmus's daughter, Semele, can bear Dionysus with Zeus, the trajectory of fate can return to its proper course. Do you understand what I mean?"