All the Norse gods had already noticed that Thor was calmer and more focused than before. He used to be a homicidal monster, killing everything and everyone to the point that no god wanted to fight alongside the God of Thunder.
But now, Thor had transformed into a true warrior god. Cold, brutal, yet precise and deadly. The number of gods killed by Mjolnir exceeded dozens in a single day, boosting the army's morale.
No one knew what had changed in Thor, but no one asked; Thor's change was good for the Norse, how could they ask such a thing? As long as Thor continued to kill, he could do anything.
*CRASH!*
With a blow from Mjolnir, Athena's shield simply shattered into millions of pieces. The goddess was forced to retreat a few kilometers before fully stabilizing. The arm, which had broken from the impact of the hammer, regenerated in seconds.
When it came to regeneration, no pantheon was stronger than the Greeks, perhaps that's why the gods of other pantheons didn't seek to start a war with the Greeks.
The Lord Gods were already so difficult to kill; the Primordial Gods were impossible to die, as they are essentially sentient aspects of the universe itself and have absolute and total control over it, therefore, they cannot be truly killed.
Athena did not retreat and attacked with her spear; the golden spear advanced like an intercontinental missile. And with the power of thousands of missiles, it directly hit the Mjolnir hammer.
*BOOMMMMMM!!!*
A fireball rose to the sky with the impact of both divine weapons. Athena narrowed her eyes as her hair violently fluttered with the fierce winds of the explosion.
Suddenly, a long sword appeared behind Thor. The sword aimed directly at the God of Thunder's blind spot, heading towards the back of his neck with the intention of decapitating the god in an instant.
But how could Thor be easily killed? The Norse god might have looked fat and was, but he was terribly fast. He transformed into a lightning bolt and disappeared from his location in an instant.
The sword, which had previously aimed for Thor's neck, struck the ground, creating a gigantic crater several kilometers wide.
Ares, who had appeared behind Thor, couldn't help but click his tongue in frustration. "This damn fat man is fast." He said, arriving beside the goddess of war. His red eyes, like the flames of war, gleamed with morbid pleasure.
Everything before him made him feel at home. This was the purest form of violence and death, that which gave rise to human civilization since forever – War.
Ares simply loved this smell, and even though he couldn't kill Thor, he felt happy, for he was at peace with war and accepted everything it entailed, including the failure of a strategic plan.
"He is the god of lightning, of course he is fast." Athena spoke in a calm tone, her brown eyes staring at the mighty god of thunder with a solemn gaze. Even three Lord Gods could not stop Thor's advance, much less the advance of Borr, a quasi-god king.
"Where is Hermes?" Athena asked, her question was answered in a few seconds, as the Messenger God and God of Thieves himself appeared beside her. His speed was so fast that even Athena and Ares had difficulty keeping up.
"Sorry for the delay, our king is furious." Hermes apologized with a tone full of sincerity. He was truly late, which was extremely rare, as he was the most punctual god of all.
"What happened?" Seeing that Thor had no intention of attacking and retreated to the Norse camp, Athena asked with a confused tone. She couldn't imagine what could make her father furious at this moment.
"His personal vault was stolen; the thieves didn't even leave the lamps. It is presumed if they had an artifact that could hold more things, they would even take the marble from the vault." Hermes looked at Ares for a moment and replied with a curious tone.
"Do we know who stole it?" Athena couldn't help but be curious; if she weren't on the battlefield, she would have loved to try to unravel the mystery and find the audacious thief who dared to invade the personal palace of the King of the Greek Gods.
"Logically, the biggest suspects were Ares and Aphrodite, as they were found having sex in the king's room, but the perpetrators of the robbery left a letter containing a specific symbol. There was also a name written on the letter: Golden Order." Hermes replied without any hesitation; he was also full of curiosity about this organization of thieves.
As the patron of thieves, he still wanted to bless these audacious thieves. Of course, all in the shadows. His father could never know about this blessing or he would be in big trouble.
Athena was not surprised by the rampant lust of Ares and Aphrodite, but she was surprised by the audacity of the thieves to even leave their name, showing that they had courage and even the foolishness to identify themselves.
Ares' face darkened in an instant; he couldn't believe he almost took the blame for something he hadn't even thought about in his life… well, he thought about stealing from his father when he was young… well, he had to admit he tried to steal from his father a few times…
"Golden Order, the Golden Rule, the maxim of reciprocity according to which one should treat others as one would like to be treated by them." Athena murmured, with a strange look. This organization was truly peculiar; just the name indicated that they were only doing what Greece had always done.
"Summarizing many things, but the King is furious; the entire city of New York is covered in clouds." Hermes replied with a sigh. He had to admit, the robbery came at the right time, as Zeus was distracted and busy with war matters.
When Ares and Athena were about to speak, a tall, burly man appeared. He was a god with an ugly appearance.
"Brother." Athena and Hermes greeted the god with a friendly look, but Ares simply raised his middle finger and pointed at the god who had just arrived.
Ignoring Ares, the god looked at Athena and Hermes and with a rare expression of greeting, simply nodded his head, which did not surprise either god.
This was the Hephaestus they knew.
The Blacksmith God was a huge, deformed man, with shoulders at different heights (so he always seemed to be leaning), a huge, protruding, and misshapen head, a leg attached to a creaking steel brace, thick eyebrows, and a wild, smoking, disheveled brown beard that occasionally shot out fire.
He was the only god who presented such extreme physical injuries, even though he was essentially made of divine energy.
"Let's retreat; we have already lost seventy kilometers of ground." Athena spoke in a calm tone, observing the army of lesser gods attacking each other. The war had been going on for almost two years, but they only retreated; they never managed to advance.
On one hand, Tyr, Thor, and Borr were terribly powerful, and on the other hand, the effectiveness of the Greek gods was less than a child holding an AK-47.
In comparison, the lesser Norse gods and the Einherjar were experienced and deadly warriors. There was no comparison between the two armies; this deeply frustrated the goddess of war and strategy.
Fortunately, after being forged for almost two years in the fires of war, the lesser Greek gods finally showed signs of being true warriors. They were no longer the useless ones who only thought of parties and orgies; those gods had died long ago.
Ares showed an expression of displeasure, but seeing Hermes and Hephaestus agreeing with Athena, he merely snorted coldly and disappeared with his Spartan war helmet.
Athena remained cold observing this; she hated Ares' condescending and casual attitude. They were at war, but the god of war himself treated war like a stroll in a flower garden.
Although this was due to Ares knowing that the Greek Pantheon would not be destroyed even if they lost the war, this was still absolutely intolerable for Athena, who always treated all wars with solemnity.
"Let him go, sister." Hephaestus said with a cold tone and full of disdain for Ares' childish behavior. "He has always been a spoiled brat; it's better for him to disappear than to hinder the next plans."
Athena nodded her head, agreeing with Hephaestus' words. The next plans were too essential to be hindered by Ares' childishness. They had to recover all lost Greek territory!
On the ground, dozens of kilometers away, a small blue rat smiled maliciously and quickly disappeared. The plans had to advance as soon as possible. This was a rare stage for him, Loki, to perform!
--------
Read the advanced chapters on my Patreon!
/GOTSW
Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: Son of Zeus