Chapter 27: Another Zeus
Ethan stared at the system screen. Nothing. No reward panel. No points. Not even a notification of success beyond the bare confirmation that the mission timer had ended.
"My reward... why is my 100x reward not coming?" he muttered.
He had finished the mission in seventy-four hours. The window had been clear. Complete the objective before the deadline or lose the system and watch the rebellion die with it.
He had done the work. The base was mapped, the weak points marked, the team positions locked. The mission log showed green. Yet the damn reward stayed locked.
He kicked the desk hard enough to rattle the monitor. "Is this system broken? Do something. Say something!"
Ting.
A single line appeared.
[You have succeeded in the mission, but Hermes is withholding the reward.]
Ethan read it twice. "Huh? He can do that?"
[Yes. Yes, he can.]
He dropped into the chair and rubbed his face. He sat there, looking up, for a few minutes.
"The gods... the gods hate me. Every single one of them. Why hand me a system and missions if the rewards can just be held back whenever someone upstairs feels like it? Huh? WHY?!"
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Zeus’s symbol spun slowly under the rotating fan blades.
He closed his eyes, drew a long breath, then opened them again.
"Haaaa... no time to get upset now."
He had survived worse. Unfair missions, missing information, last-second changes. This was just another entry on the list.
He told himself that until the anger settled enough to work.
He clicked the map open and set the transparency to zero. The base layout filled the screen. Every corridor, every checkpoint, every camera arc.
"This alley is blocked. So no. Another escape route, not possible. Damn, everywhere there’s just too many soldiers."
He traced the routes with his finger. The net was tight. Not even a single operative could slip through without hitting a patrol.
Midnight was close. The meeting would start soon. He needed the final positions locked and the go signal ready.
Ting.
A voice message from Marcus.
"Shut up!" Marcus’s voice blasted through the speakers, loud enough to make Ethan jump.
"More push-ups. More. More! Wait, it’s already recording. Damn. Hey, just messaging you. I got the defense mage, and he is... ahhhh—"
A scream cut in. Not Marcus, but the mage.
"Yeah. He’s under my management. So don’t worry. Marcus, over and out."
The message ended.
Ethan stared at the blank screen for a second, then snorted. He was grinding through maps and escape routes while Marcus was busy breaking a captured mage.
Actually, the scream helped. Some of the tightness in his shoulders loosened.
"Man, should I have chosen the healer mage instead, to relieve my own stress?" he asked the empty room. "Nah. Need to focus on the boring work. My real prize is still waiting..."
***
Meanwhile...
Far above the mortal world, beyond the sky, Zeus sat on his throne. His eyes glowed white. His beard hung long. The light of distant stars washed over him. He had heard every word his son spoke.
"That damn brat..."
His voice rolled out like distant thunder.
"HERMES!"
The call cracked through Olympus. The halls shook. Pillars trembled, and the lesser gods paused mid-step.
Hermes appeared before the throne in the next breath, leaning against nothing, arms folded.
"You called, oh King of Kings, God of... Gods? What does little old Hermes have the honor of hearing today?"
Zeus’s eyes locked on him. "Do you know?"
Hermes tilted his head. "Huh... know what?"
Thunder cracked overhead, the sound rolling through the entire mountain.
"Do not play games with me, boy."
Hermes’s smile thinned. A flash of real anger crossed his face. "I would not play too much either, not when you handed your lightning bolt to a mortal."
Zeus glanced left and right, hoping no one had heard those words.
But at the far corner, Hephaestus stood at the edge of the hall, hammer in hand. The forge god turned and walked away without a word.
Hermes stepped closer. He no longer called Zeus father. Only king.
"Why, my king?" Hermes asked. "Why bet everything on that mortal instead of me? Your true son. Your true heir."
Zeus stayed silent for a long moment as the stars behind him kept turning.
Finally, he spoke. "Give the points back to Ethan."
Hermes’s voice dropped. "Hmmmm... do not say his name so freely. If the others hear, Olympus will tear itself apart. Your dear Ethan will be dead before he understands what hit him."
Zeus already knew. He knew exactly why Hermes was doing this. Hermes had watched Hera and Ares plot against him, and he had watched them take the prized sandals.
But Zeus had said nothing about it. He had given power and protection to Ethan.
But Hermes, he had let him handle the fallout alone. So he knew Hermes would keep interfering with every mission until he got an answer that mattered.
"Hermes."
Hermes stepped in close. Slightly hopeful.
Zeus looked at him without blinking. "Son... the world does not need another Hermes.
The world needs another me. Another Zeus. And that is Ethan."
Hermes went still. The usual smirk was gone. Not even a bit of it left; his usually glowing eyes dimmed.
Zeus continued, voice steady. "You move fast. You trick. You deliver messages. That has value.
But the storm that ends wars and raises new orders is not built on speed alone.
Ethan carries the blood and the will. The system is a tool, and the multiplier is the edge. So I will tell you again: you will not hold the reward."
Hermes’s jaw tightened. "You chose him over every other child you have... over me."
"I chose the one who can carry the weight when the old order breaks, Hermes," Zeus said. "You will release the points. Now."
Hermes held the stare for three full seconds. Then he straightened and gave a shallow bow that somehow still managed to look insolent.
"As the king commands."
He vanished.
***
Back in the room, Ethan was still working the map when the system chimed again.
[Hermes has released the withheld reward.]
[Mission Complete.]
[Base Reward: 500 Experience Points.]
[100x Multiplier Applied.]
[Final Reward: 50,000 EXP Points.]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
.
.
.
[Additional Reward Unlocked: Store unlocked.]
"Oh... OOHHHH!"
Ethan sat up straight. The number glowed on the screen. Fifty thousand. He exhaled through his nose.
"About damn time. And a store, huh... interesting."
He opened the shop panel and started scanning options, his eyes widening as he saw everything.
Lightning reinforcement for the team’s weapons.
A short-range teleport token for emergency extraction.
A temporary barrier that could hold against mid-tier mages for thirty seconds. All of it expensive, but all of it necessary for the next phase.
Marcus’s earlier message still sat in the log. Ethan typed a short reply.
[Got it. Keep the mage breathing. We may need him later. Meeting starts in forty. Be ready.]
He sent it and returned to the map. The final routes were now locked in.
He leaned back once more and looked at the ceiling. Zeus’s symbol still spun under the fan.
"You better not pull this again, Hermes," he said quietly. "I don’t care who you are..."
Ethan closed the map, saved the plan file, and stood and checked the time. Thirty-eight minutes until the meeting. He needed to be in position, fully geared, and already thinking three steps past the first breach, because failure was not an option.
He grabbed the jacket from the chair, pulled it on, and headed for the door. He checked his system again, just in case, and thank the gods, the points were still in the account.
***
Above him, far beyond the reach of mortal eyes, Olympus settled back into its usual quiet. Hermes stood alone on a balcony overlooking the mortal world, arms folded, expression unreadable.
"Another Zeus," he muttered. "We’ll see how long that lasts.",