At sunset, at the eastern foot of the Sacred Domain, more than a dozen trial challengers struggled forward, slowly climbing the stone steps to challenge the first palace, Aries Palace.
It was rather tragic. Ever since Athena established her Divine Realm, the Sacred Domain had become less and less popular by the day.
On one hand, it was a matter of reputation. Russell had risen abruptly, and he was still a newcomer. His fame among mortals was far inferior to Athena's.
In peacetime, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, literature, and craftsmanship. She taught skills essential to livelihood, such as weaving, gardening, pottery, and animal husbandry, as well as arts like painting, sculpture, and music to cultivate the spirit and elevate the mind.
In war, she was the source of faith that justice would prevail, bringing courage and hope to those defending their cities and protecting people from the ravages and harm of war.
Athena had spent years cultivating her image. She had countless admirers across the land and was one of the few gods on Mount Olympus with a good reputation.
By comparison, Russell had risen too recently, so humanity knew very little about him.
He defeated Helios and became the new Sun God; he defeated Ares and became the new God of War...
Other than being very good at fighting, there was nothing else to say about him.
In people's eyes, as long as the sun rose as usual every day and war no longer broke out among mortals, Sun God and God of War Russell was a good god.
Yet while the sun did indeed rise every day, war among mortals had never ceased. Thus, his reputation was truly quite ordinary.
On the other hand, and more importantly, Athena was a goddess, while Russell was a god.