"Hm... I wonder if that kid will really be able to do what I asked."
High atop Mount Olympus, amid countless matters requiring her attention, Zeus paused in her work.
At the moment, her sister Hera was watching her like a hawk. She couldn't afford to split off another avatar to help Eros.
And besides, having just overthrown Cronus, the new god-king had a mountain of affairs left to manage in this unstable world.
So, with no better choice, Zeus had delegated the matter to someone she thought appropriate.
Apollo.
After all, Eros and Apollo technically counted as allies now, both of them shared a common enemy: Hera.
Even though Apollo's mother was the noble Titaness Leto, Hera had still relentlessly persecuted her.
When Leto went into labor, Hera forbade the Earth itself from offering her a place to give birth, forcing her to wander in agony.
Only with the aid of other gods was she finally able to deliver Artemis and Apollo.
Maybe in the distant future, those scars would fade, and Apollo might even reconcile with Hera.
But not now.
Apollo still bore that grudge and that was exactly why Zeus chose her.
She was firmly in the anti-Hera faction. There was no chance she'd betray Zeus and secretly side with her sister.
And besides, in terms of charm, Apollo ranked just under Zeus herself. That had to count for something.
As for why not Artemis?
That wild child was a loose cannon. Zeus didn't want the whole thing blown up, so she sent the more… balanced sibling.
All of which, in Zeus's mind, was a perfect arrangement.
But from Eros's perspective? It was an absolute nightmare.
"…Still, it's odd," Zeus murmured. "Why did he suddenly distance himself after learning who I was? Was it my hair color?"
She ran her fingers through her silver locks, lightning crackling faintly between the strands.
Eros's reaction last night, after she revealed her true identity, still puzzled her.
Shouldn't he have been in awe? Maybe even a little fearful?
But rinsing his mouth?
She was the destined King of the Gods, admired and pursued by deities far and wide.
How could a mortal, a mere mortal! have the gall to turn up his nose at her?
Utterly incomprehensible.
Still, her displeasure was short-lived.
She was Zeus the Eternal Emperor, after all. Why would she let something so trivial get to her?
Once she was done pacifying Hera, she'd just sneak off and sleep with Eros. Simple.
It would be her first time with a mortal. She was curious, how would it compare to divine lovers?
…Wait.
Did she forget something?
Zeus's expression turned serious.
NMD! Apollo, you treacherous girl! You'd better not be getting any weird ideas!
Meanwhile, on the mortal island below.
After breakfast, Eros was walking alongside Apollo, heading toward the other side of the island where the humans lived.
According to Apollo, escaping the end of the Silver Age wasn't actually that hard.
He just had to leave the Earth and enter another divine realm before the gods wiped this era clean.
But for a mortal, that was easier said than done, and Eros was still just that: a mortal.
Olympus was off-limits. Stepping foot there was like placing himself directly under Hera's wrath.
If he couldn't go up… then maybe he could go down.
The Underworld.
Technically doable. But winning a "resurrection trial"? Yeah, that was the hard part.
To survive the full trial, one had to:
Cross the Fields of Truth
Avoid judgment by the Judges of the Dead
Navigate the five rivers of the Underworld
Reach the Gates of Hell and defeat Cerberus
Pass through the Queen's Garden
Endure the eternal darkness
Arrive at the Land of Sunset, and only then could they return to life.
That level of danger? Only titans like Heracles or certain bald-headed monsters from other worlds could pull that off.
Fortunately, the Underworld was still in chaos right now, and Apollo claimed many of those checkpoints had yet to be set up.
The downside?
That same chaos meant the Underworld was currently teeming with unruly spirits, beasts, and rogue gods.
Hydra hadn't been assigned to guard Tartarus yet, and Hades hadn't tamed his future beloved hellhound.
Nyx, goddess of the night, was still competing with Hades for dominion over the realm, and her subordinate gods were nothing short of terrifying.
With Eros's current squishy stats, he might get one-shot by a stray shockwave just walking through.
"That's why Father sent me," Apollo said confidently, eyes bright. "I'll escort you into the Underworld and bring you back safely."
After all, she was the god of purification and protection. Keeping Eros safe from start to finish? Shouldn't be a problem.
Hearing her speak with such certainty gave Eros a false sense of security.
Just a little.
But only a little.
Because in his experience, 9 out of 10 people who swore "don't worry, I got this" about going to the Underworld ended up with a bad ending.
"When are the gods planning to destroy this age?" Eros asked.
"Hm... probably with the next new moon," Apollo replied casually. "That's when they'll move forward and start the new age."
The next new moon…
Eros did a quick mental calculation. He had a little more than half a month left.
So, there was time. No need to rush into the Underworld just yet.
Better to treat it as a backup plan.
Apollo didn't push him either. She simply followed quietly behind him.
"Eros," she asked curiously, "what exactly are you planning to do?"
She watched his back with fascination. There was something about this mortal that intrigued her deeply.
Where did his wisdom come from?
Despite being just a human, he seemed to know so many things that didn't belong to this era. It was almost divine.
A prophet, maybe? But somehow… it didn't feel like that.
"I just want to try something interesting," Eros replied. "To test a few ideas of mine."
As a proper all-achievement-chasing player, even if he saw a stray dog on the side of the road, he had to try kicking it first.
And then reload the save and try patting its head instead.
The Silver Age was ending. If he didn't start moving now, some achievements might become permanently missable.
Of course, Apollo had no idea what he was really thinking. She just followed along, eager to see what he would do.
After crossing the entire island, they finally reached their destination:
A wide, open plain bordered by woods and hills.
It was already mid-morning, yet not a single human was in sight.
"…Lazy mutts," Eros muttered under his breath, twitching slightly.
Work? Hunting? Gathering?
Those concepts didn't exist for the Silver Age humans.
They woke, they ate, they fooled around, then they slept. That was their entire cycle.
Thanks to the era's abundant resources, they never needed to put in any real effort. Survival was easy.
But that also meant they'd never tasted anything truly good in life.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!