Under Athena's coercion and Zeus's command, Hermes finally accepted the task of delivering a letter to Ares, who was suspected of being the rebel leader.
There was nothing he could do; on Olympus, he was truly just a younger brother. If he dared to refuse this command, Athena and Zeus had a thousand ways to make it impossible for Hermes to survive on Olympus. Therefore, despite his immense reluctance, Hermes eventually held his nose, put on his winged sandals, and, while praying to an unknown entity, headed towards the Underworld.
With the Messenger God's speed, in less than half a day, he arrived on the land in front of Hell Gate in the Underworld. After explaining his purpose to the warriors in Ares's war camp, Hermes was quickly called in by Ares's orderly.
Inside Ares's tent, besides his War God brother, Hermes also saw a tall, black-haired young man. He, of course, recognized this young man; it was Heracles, the famous Son of Zeus from the Greek World, who had recently been widely recognized as the strongest hero in the world.
It seemed that, in contrast to Athena's side, Ares's side had also prepared a "hero" to use herbs.
"Haha, Hermes, you're back. You're as fast as ever."
Seeing Hermes led into the tent by his orderly, Ares feigned happiness, walked forward, grabbed Hermes's arm, and led him towards his seat.
"Come, come, tell me, what did Zeus and they say?"
Hermes stopped with a troubled expression, stammered for a long time, and then pulled out a letter from his embrace, handed it to Ares, and quietly replied:
"Read it yourself."
Ares took the papyrus scroll Hermes had brought, unrolled it, and seemingly glanced at it casually, but in reality, he firmly memorized its contents. Then, he pretended to be annoyed, stuffed the papyrus scroll back into Hermes's hand, and scolded:
"Too many words, I'm not reading it! Read it aloud!"
"Ah?"
Hermes was stunned for a moment, looking at Ares with a gaze as if he were looking at an uneducated person.
"What are you staring at?"
Ares raised his voice, released his aura, and urged again:
"I told you to read it!"
"Oh, oh!"
Hermes was startled and quickly unrolled the papyrus, reading it haltingly in a trembling voice.
"By the command of God King Zeus, Ares, Marshal of the Olympus Giant Race Expeditionary Legion, shall immediately lead his army back to Olympus to merge with the Olympus Grand Army and collectively await the instructions of Athena, the supreme commander of Olympus. If he disobeys, he shall be considered a rebel, and by the life of God King Zeus, he and his cronies shall be cast into the deepest Hell..."
"Enough!"
Hermes had another section of text left unread, but Ares had already "angrily" stopped him. Thinking that the rest was just meaningless nonsense meant to disgust Ares, Hermes stopped speaking and looked directly at his brother.
"Damn Athena! Does she even know what she's doing! And Zeus, I didn't think he could be so senile!"
Ares turned around and asked Heracles:
"Tell me, Heracles, isn't Athena trying to seize power? What else is she doing?"
"Indeed." Heracles nodded in agreement: "Goddess of Wisdom Athena, she's always trying to sideline others."
"And this guy even talks about 'cronies' to me?" Ares walked around twice, then suddenly came to Hermes's side, put his arm around his neck, and asked: "Hermes, Athena is both my sister and your sister. Translate for me, what does 'cronies' mean?"
"Does that even need translating?"
Hermes stammered:
"Cronies are cronies."
"Translate it for me." Ares, however, remained persistent, repeating to him: "What does 'cronies' mean?"
"No need to translate!" Hermes said anxiously: "It's literally 'cronies'!"
"I said!" Ares grabbed Hermes's neck with one hand and pointed at the ground with the other, roaring in a deafening voice: "Translate for me, what the hell does 'cronies' mean?!"
"How would I know what the hell 'cronies' means? I'm not the god of words."
Hermes was so scared he was almost crying, but at this moment, Heracles, who had been standing by silently, spoke up: "So-called 'cronies' refers to all people who are closely related to the teacher, including your followers, us disciples, and your teacher, Hecate."
After saying that, he spread his hands to Hermes: "Do you understand?"
Hermes gave Heracles a grateful look, then pointed at him and reported to Ares: "That's what 'cronies' means."
"Translate it." Ares's grip on his neck was still as tight as an iron band: "I'm telling you to translate it!"
"!" Hearing the increasing threat in Ares's tone, Hermes finally had a flash of inspiration and, imitating Heracles, shouted: "So-called 'cronies' means all people who are closely related to you, including your followers, your students, and your teacher, Hecate!"
"Hmm."
It seemed Hermes's answer finally satisfied him. Ares finally released his hand from Hermes's neck, even smoothing it out and helping him catch his breath.
He walked to the table, pulled out a cloth-wrapped stone tablet from his table, then placed it in Hermes's hand and smiled at him:
"Hermes, this is my reply to Zeus and Athena. Please help me deliver it to them. Be quick."
"I'll go right away!"
Hearing Ares's words, Hermes felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He quickly took the stone tablet from Ares and hurriedly left the military camp, fleeing the Underworld as if escaping.
He rushed back to the God Kings Hall on Olympus. At this time, Kratos's investiture ceremony had just ended, and the four main god-level beings on Olympus had not yet left. Hermes arrived there and immediately held up the stone tablet, shouting:
"Zeus! I've brought Ares's reply to you."
"Hmm?" Zeus raised an eyebrow at the sound, commanding: "What's written on it? Read it to me."
"Ah?" Hermes's legs went weak with fright, and he almost knelt on the ground.
"Why are you so scared?" Athena frowned when she saw this: "Zeus and I wouldn't do anything to you. Just read it when you're told."
After hearing Athena's words, Hermes finally relieved the pressure Ares had put on him. He tremblingly opened the linen cloth wrapping the stone tablet and looked at its contents.
"This is a poem."
After reading it, Hermes, at Zeus's nod, read aloud from the stone tablet in a trembling voice:
"Waves stir in the Ocean River, chaotic clouds fly over Olympus. In this murky world, I stand alone, righteous indignation burning, hot blood surging. Gods only know how to boast of their lineage, truly few in this world care for its woes. Kings only know how to boast of their accumulated wealth, how could their hearts ever consider the nation's welfare? I alone see the signs of divine decline, evil gods still dance in the world. The opportunity for reform has now arrived, a storm rises at night to sweep Olympus. The king-honoring and traitor-punishing Ares, Heaven... Heaven-punishing divine thief Athena?"