"Phew."
Above the clouds, Athena watched the suspicion recede from Heracles' eyes below and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She glanced to the side and said with a hint of gratitude, "Thank you, Apollo. You were a great help."
The object of her gratitude, however, looked as if he was questioning his life, covering his face and muttering, "I never thought my prophetic divine office would one day be used to predict how many moles a man's butt has…"
"A good outcome is all that matters," Zeus casually consoled his son, then refocused his attention below. There, Heracles, who had personally confirmed that "Polyphemus" was indeed the cyclops himself, was trying to prove his innocence, earnestly trying to convince Athena's avatar, who had transformed into "Polyphemus," that he was not some perverted gay man coveting his body.
It must be said, the Goddess of Wisdom was still the Goddess of Wisdom. Although Heracles here had learned from the master Ares, his own personality was inherently taciturn. After personally killing his wife and children, he became even more introverted, so his rhetorical skills were not quite sufficient. In just a few words, Heracles was led into this trap by "Polyphemus," and to prove his innocence, he had no choice but to obediently go to the spring to fetch water.
By this point, Heracles actually understood in his heart that he had been tricked by the gods. However, Heracles, also knew his limits very well. He knew that he had lost in terms of strategy to the god manipulating everything from behind the scenes, but strategy was not his greatest trump card. His trump card was his invincible martial prowess.
Therefore, he was mentally prepared to play along and see what kind of trick these gods intended to play on him at the spring.
With his formidable strength, Heracles was actually fearless of any schemes.
Even if he was truly ensnared and delayed here, Heracles clearly remembered that Jason's destination was Colchis Island. At worst, he would simply find a way to get there himself later.
Thus, Heracles openly approached the clear spring. At this moment, Athena's avatar also transformed into a swimming fish and entered another "small world" deep within the spring water. Here lived a group of spirits born from the spring, a group of Nymphs, beautiful and young, with a deep desire for a passionate love affair with a hero.
Upon arriving here, Athena reverted to her original form, then gathered these water Nymphs, pointed at Heracles who appeared above the spring, and said to them, "Look, Nymphs, that is the most powerful hero in the world today. Come, see if he meets your expectations?"
Upon hearing this, the water Nymphs looked up at Heracles. Whether a man in the Greek World was handsome or not depended on two standards: one was whether he was effeminate. Of course, under this standard, men were generally evaluated as "handsome," and those who would develop affection for such men were mostly perverted male gods led by Zeus, Apollo, and Poseidon, who liked beautiful boys.
However, Greek women's aesthetic for men, before considering facial beauty, was actually more focused on muscularity. For example, Orion, who captured Artemis's heart, was a standard strong man.
At this moment, Heracles was undoubtedly the most robust and handsome man in the Greek World. Furthermore, before his face was distorted by berserking, Heracles, who inherited genes from Zeus and his birth mother, actually had the potential for cross-dressing and being a pretty boy. A man who was both strong and handsome undoubtedly perfectly matched these water Nymphs' fantasies of their dream lover. Thus, these water Nymphs cried out one after another:
"He's so handsome! I can! I'm ready!"
"Thank you, Goddess, for sending us such a wonderful man!"
"It's nothing, nothing, just a small favor."
Athena smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Go on, go on. While he's bending down to fetch water, pull him into the water and entertain him well."
"Good idea." A group of simple water Nymphs did not believe that a "kind" great god like Athena would harm them. After Athena finished speaking, they followed Athena's instructions, left this independent space located deep within the spring, and swam towards Heracles.
Athena's avatar also quietly left here and returned to the shore, monitoring the progress of the operation from the side.
Heracles came to the edge of the spring and, as usual, observed the water. He found the spring water crystal clear to the bottom, with no dangerous creatures like crocodiles, water snakes, or Hydras. So, he bent down and began to fetch water.
As soon as his arms, holding the water pot, were immersed in the spring, four pure white, jade-like arms suddenly reached out from the spring and grabbed his arms.
Heracles was slightly startled. Then he saw a large group of beautiful, alluring, naked water Nymphs emerge from the spring. They all looked at Heracles with loving, infatuated, charming smiles, and one of them softly said to him, "Handsome great hero, come down and play with us."
Heracles felt his arms sink slightly. These water Nymphs looked delicate, but because they were mysterious creatures born of nature, they should actually belong to the realm of phantasms, and their strength was naturally much greater than that of ordinary humans.
However, Heracles exerted a slight force at his waist and stabilized his body. Then, he replied to the water Nymphs, "No, I have things to do and am in a hurry."
After speaking, Heracles straightened his body. The water Nymphs frantically grabbed their companions. Several water Nymphs gathered together and pulled hard, wanting to forcibly drag Heracles into the world on the other side of the spring, but they were instead pulled out of the water together by Heracles' movement.
A large group of water Nymphs shrieked, but they were utterly unable to resist Heracles' brute strength. Just as it seemed this plan was about to fail, even Zeus, above the clouds, couldn't help but pick up his thunderbolt, ready to strike his overly powerful son if necessary. But at that moment, a clear figure silently appeared behind Heracles, and with a forceful shove of her divine shield against Heracles' back.
With a loud bang, as golden divine power burst forth, Heracles' massive body directly flew up, uncontrollably soaring towards the spring. There was nothing he could do; Athena was, after all, the strongest god among the fourth-generation main gods, aside from a certain War God who always kept his cards hidden. Even Heracles would have difficulty determining victory against Athena.
Athena's sneak attack directly caused Heracles, along with several water Nymphs who coveted his body, to fall into the spring and plunge into the space on the other side beneath the spring.