Yet just as rumors were running wild, Hercules suddenly appeared again.
This time, he struck again, ambushing the Moon Goddess.
The Moon Goddess did not have Hades's luck, nor was she as powerful as the Underworld King. Though she went on guard the moment she saw Hercules, it did her no good. In the end, she died at his hands.
When the Moon Goddess's body was found, her Divine Power, Divine Soul, Divine Core, and Divinity were all gone, as though they had been deliberately drained away. All that remained of the exalted Moon Goddess was a desiccated corpse. She had died a wretched death.
When Zeus received the news and arrived at the scene, his face turned grim at the sight, cold as frost.
Everyone knew that God King Zeus had been thoroughly enraged. Betrayal followed by repeated provocations had crossed his bottom line. If Hercules did not die, even Zeus's authority would be called into question.
Yet no one noticed that beneath Zeus's expression, still as dark water, a trace of fear lay hidden deep in his eyes.
Yes, the God King was afraid. Looking at the Moon Goddess's shriveled corpse, Zeus caught a faint trace of "Them."
The trace was so faint it was almost imperceptible, but he had detected it. He was certain that the power which had killed the Moon Goddess—and nearly killed Hades before her—came from "Them." Mighty Hercules was merely a puppet or vessel through whom They projected Their power into the Void.
The thought of those mysterious beings made Zeus uneasy.
In truth, Zeus had never wanted a conflict with Them. Even when the Earth Mother Goddess Gaia proposed her plan, he had agreed aloud while still wavering inwardly.
But with Hercules's betrayal, Zeus understood that he had no choice left—unless he