Aphrodite's Choice

Chapter 54 – The Most Beautiful

“Did you lose your brain after that hit? What’s wrong with you? Before I talk to my father, should I tell my mother so she can punish you until you learn your lesson?”

Even at a distance, Zeus still felt pity for Hephaestus, because he still considered him a blood relation. Hera, however, was much more relentless.

Not long ago, Hephaestus had been ignoring Ares, who had been making fun of his limp, and then Ares had tripped and fell, getting Hephaestus in big trouble. That was his first time being hit by his mother. He had never been hit before, but upon seeing Ares injured and crying, and Hephaestus standing there just fine, Hera had simply lost her mind.

The bodily pain he’d felt wasn’t the problem. His heart felt like it had been torn into pieces, it had been so painful. Recalling the memory of that day, Hephaestus frowned deeply.

“Put me down, I said!”

Giving a piercing glare at Ares, who was now struggling and scratching the back of his hand, Hephaestus clenched his teeth and let him go. Even if he stayed any longer, he felt sure he would never hear an apology, and it was obvious that he would only continue to be embarrassed by his younger brother who never treated him like an older brother. So, he let go of his collar, and was about to go on his way.

“Aagh!”

But somehow or another, Ares screamed as his body rolled across the floor. Hephaestus was perplexed. Had he swung his arm too hard? Either way, he had to help Ares up, so he reached out his hand. However, Ares slapped his hand away, and stood up on his own. Filled with rage, he yelled at the top of his voice.

“You, you… bastard!”

He was so angry, he had lost his mind, and his eyes were filled with dancing red flames. It was like seeing Hera when she had gotten so angry.

“Ares, you need to calm down.”

“I’ll kill you!”

Sensing the danger, Hephaestus tried to stop Ares, but he was too late. Ares glared at Hephaestus, then summoned his power as a god.

It was forbidden for immature gods who were not yet officially named in the genealogy of Olympus to expend their divine energy. This was because even though they were born with it, they could not completely control this power until they were fully grown.

Ares was not unaware of these rules. But he was breaking the law that his parents had so strictly emphasized to him, with only the desire to crush Hephaestus.

“Master, give us your orders.”

Summoned by the god of war, the spirits of destruction, slaughter, and looting appeared between Ares and Hephaestus. With a brutal shine in his eyes, Ares pointed at Hephaestus.

“Capture that thing. Then go to the border and throw him down.”

“Ares!”

Hephaestus was shocked. The ‘border’ he was referring to was the area where Olympus came into closest contact with the human world. It was a place where powerful supernatural forces flowed freely, so humans could not even dare to approach it, and even the inhabitants of Olympus with low status or weak strength did not approach that area.

Before crossing the dimension, he could be caught in the flow and completely extinguished.  Even if they were the direct descendants of Olympian gods, it was still dangerous for those who were not yet fully grown.

Ares, who had been warned by his mother, was well aware of this fact. Despite knowing this, he was commanding them to throw Hephaestus down there. He was sincerely hoping for him to disappear completely.

“Let go! Let go of me!”

“Ah, so noisy. Cover his mouth and hold tightly to him as you go.”

The spirits, which had neither emotions nor any free will, faithfully fulfilled Ares’ command. Hephaestus struggled to try to escape from the spirits, but his physical strength was not enough. He couldn’t escape. He was dragged all the way to the border.

The overwhelming power of the supernatural vortex was incredible. If he became caught in it, it seemed he would get sucked in and never be able to step foot upon Olympus again.

His face drained white with fear, Hephaestus twisted his body with all his strength and looked behind him, making eye contact with Ares, who was watching from a distance with his hands on his waist. He cried desperately.

“Ares!”

He tried to tell him to stop now, that this was far worse than any joke or prank and that something horrible was really about to happen. However, Ares’ face twisted into a smile, as if enjoying the horror that he saw on Hephaestus’ face.

“What are you waiting for? Throw him down.”

His cruel order was immediately fulfilled. Hephaestus’ body, thrown by the spirits, hovered in the air for a second, then in the next moment it started to fall at a terrifying speed.

“No!”

Only his desperate screams were left floating behind him, but soon after, even that was shattered by the flow of the border’s energy. Hephaestus lost consciousness as he fell. It was because he was not simply falling from a high place to a low place, but crossing the dimension from the world of gods to the world of humans, which was extremely taxing on both the body and the mind.

He didn’t know how much time passed, or where exactly he fell. Of course, he also had no idea that because of his energy, there had been a huge fire on the island, and a volcano appeared that had not been there before. When he barely opened his eyes, the only thing he knew was that he definitely was not at Olympus anymore.

“Um, hello?”

And the moment he saw the entity that appeared before his eyes, Hephaestus felt certain that he had actually died. He must have died and was now in the underworld. Otherwise, there was no way he would be seeing a hallucination such as this.

The entity that appeared before his eyes was just that—unbelievable, so unbelievably beautiful.

There were many lovely women on Olympus. The high-ranking goddesses such as his mother Hera, his aunt Demeter, and Hestia were naturally included, and even among the lower-level gods and nymphs in their service, there were many who were famous for their beauty.

He had once heard someone mockingly say that everything on Olympus was beautiful except for Hephaestus, but he himself actually agreed that this was mostly true. His eyes were more distinguishing than any other, and even in those eyes, Olympus was definitely a paradise full of beauty.

But the girl in front of him was more beautiful than anyone Hephaestus had ever seen. He was convinced that no matter who could stand next to her, they would simply appear dim and grey next to this girl.