The Myth of the Greek Heavenly Demon

Chapter 35 – The Tales Of The Gods

King of the gods.
The most powerful main god.
Ruler of Olympus.
Who could defy the fame of the one who defeated the Titan King, Kronos, who ruled over time?
Many tend to forget this due to his characteristic frivolous behavior and shameless infidelity that enrage Hera.
Even if all the gods of Olympus combined their strength, they couldn’t withstand his lightning unless the king of the sea and the ruler of the underworld joined forces.
Zeus, who always sat on his lofty throne with his immense power, guarded all of Greece.
But who would know?
That even the king of gods sometimes loses sleep over nightmares, writhing in the agony of his dreams.
He seemed to think he hid it well.
It was Hera who stayed by his side, soothing him back into a dream when he was sweating cold sweat and expressing pain in the bedroom.

Every time Zeus returned from outside, shamelessly offering flowers and jewels as gifts after his escapades, Hera felt as if her ichor was boiling in reverse.
Nevertheless, he was her only partner and the king who faced the world’s crises with his whole body twice.
Just moments ago, when Zeus, like Hermes, trembled alone, calling out Typhon’s name, Hera would quietly enter his bedroom from her separate room, put him back to sleep, and quietly slip out before the morning sun rose.

“If Zeus finds out about that Dianes’s blood, he will surely tremble with anxiety more than you.”

“What? My father?”

His father trembling with anxiety.
It was unimaginable to Hermes, but Hera gently shook her head to deny his words.

“That’s what it means to be a king. Even if we set aside the fact that his power might be threatened, the possibility that Olympus, which he has built, and the humans and gods living peacefully under it could be destroyed by a catastrophe like Typhon would be the most terrible thing for him.”

Even though having the goddess of the hearth as a companion, his continuous infidelity made Hera angry.
The reason Hera remained as queen, even while enduring Zeus’s disregard for her divine duties, was because his love and responsibility for Olympus and Greece as a king were sincere.

“He is different from my father, the king of the Titans. Always sitting at the top of Olympus. He would be pleased to see countless people living freely.”

Sometimes, when Hera visited him at the peak of Olympus, he would gently hold her in his arms and proudly show her the entire Greek world, as if showing off a treasure box.

Yes, Hera must have been captivated by those eyes and accepted his proposal.
Zeus, who summoned storms and transformed into an injured sparrow to sneak into her bedroom just to hold onto her.
Enraged like fire at his audacity, Hera, despite bowing her head in fury, Zeus passionately explained his vision for a world where gods, humans, spirits, and all creatures freely love, fight, and interact in cycles, unlike the oppressive previous reign of their father Kronos.
To achieve this, Hera, the most benevolent and just, was needed as his partner and mediator, and despite his infidelities, she decided to become his mate.

“Therefore, even if you speak about the lineage of Dianes right now, he won’t commit the atrocity of harming that child.”

But he would be just as anxious.
The pure lineage of the Protogenoi, appearing for the first time since Typhon’s death.
Currently, he was in a human body, but seeing him wield divine power earlier, it was clear that he would awaken to his divine role even faster before his body wore out.
And watching this, Zeus’s anxiety would deepen even further, and nights tormented by Typhon’s nightmares, like Hermes, would grow even longer.
What kind of tragedy lay in wait at the end, even Hera could not dare to predict.

“Daring to directly harm the lineage of the ancient night mother is impossible. Tragedy will likely surround him endlessly.”

Zeus loved a free world, but he was ruthless against threats that might harm that world. Presumably, if Dianes were confirmed as a destabilizing factor, he would use every means to cast him into the abyss.
Hera herself did not wish for the child she favored enough to arrange a match for to fall victim to such tragedy.

“But even so, it’s certain that the child could become a threat in the future. I agree that we need to prepare for it.”

“Then think about it this way. How reassuring would it be if that potentially threatening child stood with Olympus?”

A direction Hermes couldn’t see, being mired in the nightmare of Typhon.
If the powerful bloodline of the Protogenoi loved Greece and this world as they did, it would certainly be a great help in preventing the impending Gigantomachy.

“That’s too optimistic!”

“Have you forgotten what kind of goddess I was before I succeeded in my current divine role?”

Contrary to his usual demeanor, Hermes stood firmly against her, and Hera gently smiled as she began to speak.
At her words, Hermes, who was about to passionately argue, closed his mouth and slowly recalled Hera’s past.
Queen of the gods, guardian of the home, goddess with beautiful eyes.
But before she was Hera?

“Ah…!”

Hermes brushed his forehead, his eyes widening in realization.
Why was his usually sharp mind so dull today?!

In the early days of the new era, after defeating the mighty Kronos and winning the Titanomachy.
Hera, the third daughter of Kronos and a natural-born magician, was a great mother goddess and priestess who served the Protogenoi, being a disciple of Gaia and mastering the secret arts of earth and the underworld.
However, as the new divine era began, the Protogenoi gradually withdrew from the present world, and Hera naturally stepped down from her role as a priestess.
Accepting Zeus’s proposal, the goddess of the earth handed over her duties to Demeter, and the ancient secrets and mysteries to Hecate, and instead took on the role of the queen of the gods and the protector of the household, which was the foundation of the whole world.
Therefore, she was closer to the descendants of the Protogenoi than any other gods of Olympus, and among them, she had a direct connection with Nyx, the primordial mother of the night, learning various ancient mysteries from her, making her almost like an apprentice of Nyx.

“Perhaps no one knows the old night mother as well as I do.”

With a bitter smile, Hera thought of her old teacher. In Hera’s mind, Nyx could be summarized as an unpredictable trickster.

“Usually, she just quietly observes from the deep abyss, but occasionally, she chills even Kronos with her extraordinary pranks. However, unlike Gaia, she doesn’t hate us and won’t send disasters like Typhon.”

“You know well about the descendants of Nyx, right?”

At Hera’s added kind question, Hermes also slowly nodded.

The three Fates, Moirai, who served as Zeus’s advisors.
Hypnos, the god of sleep, who taught his magic to Hera, tormented by Zeus’s nightmares.
Eris, the mischievous goddess of strife and discord, who incited competition and conflict in everything.
Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, who commanded fear and reverence across Greece with her stern judgment and vengeance.
Thanatos, the primordial god of death, and Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, were also descendants of Nyx.
Was that all?
Before their birth, the Titan gods, Hyperion and Eos, had passed down their divine duties, and Hemera, the now-vanished goddess of the day, whose name eventually became Hera, was also a daughter of Nyx.

“All of them… possess immense power, yet rather than coveting the throne of Olympus, they enjoy their divine duties themselves.”

Especially in the case of Thanatos, he was a god who occasionally encountered Hermes, the messenger of the gods.
For some reason, the old death god with red wings and black hair would silently hand over candies or snacks whenever he met Hermes.
In response, Hermes would humorously express his gratitude, and Thanatos would silently smile and then quietly disappear—a mysterious god indeed.

“They must all resemble Nyx’s temperament.”

One might say they had transcended even as gods.
The descendants of Nyx, more than Zeus, enjoyed watching the way the world operated.

“Only Lady Nyx knows the full story, but for now, understand that the kid named Dianes is also a child beloved by Lady Nyx. So, put your worries aside.”

Saying so, Hera smiled as she looked down at Dianes and Atalanta, who had just finished a passionate kiss.

“Above all, how many children these days love the world and humanity so much?”

Seeing Hera smile at humans for the first time in a while, Hermes asked cautiously.

“By any chance… did you foresee this and assign a guardian to that child? Knowing that this girl, Atalanta, is the daughter of Lady Artemis?”

“Well? It’s still uncertain. Not all lovers come under my protection. And besides, Artemis is…”

At Zeus’s plea, Hera mustered all her patience and granted permission for the bastard child, subject to Olympus’s divine throne.
And she dares to harm a couple blessed by her?

Just the thought made the queen of the gods smile in amusement.

“If Artemis tries to harm those children, let me know. If she crosses the line, I will personally break the spokes of her crescent moon.”