The Greece Antagonist

Meanwhile, at War God Mountain, Hestia's residence.

The Goddess of the Hearth, after waking up, looked at her grandniece who appeared at her doorstep and listened to the news she brought, slightly taken aback.

"You said he's back?"

"Yes, he just arrived last night, and today he has to accompany his student named Atalanta to register at the Academy of Athens. He should be up the mountain by this afternoon, or possibly by evening."

Athena nodded with a smile, as if she had just finished a satisfying morning workout, lifting her hand to wipe a layer of fragrant sweat from her forehead.

It must be said, it's becoming increasingly difficult to punch a certain someone.

Not only the verbal tactics, but even the dodging postures and escape skills are so practiced—he must have secretly practiced to avoid getting beaten up.

This is no longer just an ordinary lawless man; a heavy punch is a must!

And it must be a combo technique with coordination!

Athena glanced at her aunt within the house, whose face was changing colors, her bright eyes flickering enigmatically.

"Bang!"

At that moment, Hestia, who reacted, slammed the table, suddenly stood up straight, and glared coldly at the air, grinding her teeth.

"His timing is perfect! Watch how I treat him tonight!"

"You're setting up a feast, right? Count me in, I'm familiar with this one!"

Hearing the noise in the living room, Circe, who had been mingling with Hestia, poked her head down from upstairs, excitedly waving her arms, strongly requesting to join.

"I've researched quite a few new recipes, just right for him to try!"

"Alright, let's do it together!"

With the morale boost from a fellow enthusiast, Hestia gladly agreed. She then picked up her exclusive weapons, the kitchen knife and spatula, and made arrangements with ferocity.

"There's still plenty of ingredients in the kitchen, more than enough for a family dinner tonight. No need to shop for now. There's still some time before nightfall, just enough to make thorough preparations. I'll take care of the dishes and staple food. Circe, you like simmering soup, right? Stew a few pots for him, and remember to do your best!"

"Got it!"

Upon getting permission, the Great Witch, unable to contain her excitement, immediately lit up, nodding continuously and dashing into the kitchen to occupy a stove.

Just as Hestia was about to close the door and prepare a lavish dinner filled with love, Athena, standing at the door, smiled and raised her hand.

"Auntie, why don't you let me try as well."

"You?"

Hestia was momentarily stunned, her face expressing skepticism.

"Haven't you never cooked before?"

Athena pursed her lips, speaking with deep meaning.

"Doesn't that make it even better?"

"Right!"

Hestia slapped her forehead, catching on quickly. She thrust a ladle into her grandniece's hand with a sinister smile on her face.

"Here, you be the main chef tonight!"

Athena gladly accepted the cooking utensils, symbolizing the transfer of kitchen power for tonight, and officially entered that sacred area under the guidance of the Goddess of the Hearth.

A flicker of flame ignited in the stove, as Hestia, who had completely relinquished control, stood aside to give some humanitarian cooking advice to the novice in the kitchen.

"Start with some pastries as the main dish, first step, pour in the flour."

"Mhm!" The usually decisive Goddess of Wisdom didn't wait for Hestia to finish speaking before grabbing half a bag of flour and pouring all of it into the bowl.

Seeing her grandniece getting into the swing, Hestia's eyes showed a hint of approval.

"Very good, next add sugar..."

Before Hestia could finish her sentence, Athena had already taken action, confidently and decisively following the instructions.

Suddenly, a cone-shaped peak emerged from the mixing bowl.

The Goddess of the Hearth, looking at the mountain of sugar that was even higher than the mound of flour, turned her gaze mournfully toward her confident grandniece, and after a long silence, the suppressed words squeezed from her throat,

"...a little... bit..."

"..."
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Athena's confident smile froze as she glanced vacantly at the roof beams and coughed softly.

"After all, it's prepared for him, it should be a bit special."

"Uh, okay, then do it your own way."

The usually reticent Hestia had no choice but to give up on giving real-time guidance and completely ceded the stove to her grandniece to mess around.

She quickly exited the kitchen to add some ingredients to the privately brewed wine in the cellar.

There was no way around it; she was, after all, the Goddess in charge of the hearth and meals, and it was somewhat unbearable to watch someone else spoil food right in front of her.

But soon, Hestia would deeply regret her decision.

~~

"Boom!"

At that moment, Luo En, who was squatting in the forest near the Academy of Athens under the guise of catching up with Medusa, couldn't help but jolt awake and look up following the sound.

Amidst the shaking earth, dense smoke with a burnt smell billowed, and a series of clanging sounds followed, making Luo En vaguely see fragments of pots and pans.

"Is that…"

"Goddess Hestia's house," Little Medusa casually responded, her face showing an expression of indifference as though she had seen it all before. "They're probably developing a new dish?"

A new dish?

Luo En unconsciously swallowed and shrank his neck.

If things went as expected, this new dish was mostly likely prepared for him.

With all this commotion, let's not even talk about eating, just standing nearby was enough to get blown to smithereens.

Luckily, he was clever enough, after delivering the item to Atalanta, to avoid walking right into the trap. Instead, he teamed up with Medusa to stake out the perimeter of the Academy of Athens, waiting for evening when Chiron and the previous teacher would stop by.

"Speaking of which, the commotion from today's dish seems quite extraordinary..."

Medusa mumbled softly to herself, her eyes filled with suspicion as she watched the smoke continuously billow from the mansion.

~~

"My kitchen!"

At that moment, Hestia had just returned from the cellar, and upon seeing the vanished roof, her vision darkened instantly. She hastily dropped the two jars of wine she had been carrying and rushed into the kitchen, wailing.

And through the thick smoke, her previously clean and tidy holy place was completely changed, scattered everywhere with big and small pits left by the explosion.

Just as Hestia was overwhelmed with sorrow and anger, a hand suddenly stretched out from the rubble and fiercely grabbed her ankle.

"Save, save me..."

A creature, completely charred and dragging a pair of leaking wings, cried pitifully with tears in its eyes.

"Circe? Who, who has done this to you?!"

Under Hestia's agitated questioning, Circe shakily lifted her hand and pointed towards the core area of the explosion.

And as the lingering smoke cleared, a figure clad in blue-green battle armor, holding the Aegis Shield in one hand and propping her chin with the other, the Goddess of Wisdom gazed at the deep pit on the ground, her eyebrows furrowed in thought, murmuring to herself.

"This shouldn't be happening. My ratio and transformation formula were almost correct, so where did it go wrong?"

Seeing this scene, Hestia instantly realized the situation and couldn't help but feel a tingling in her scalp, timidly raising her hand in suggestion.

"Ath, Athena, it's just a meal, how about you take a break, and I take over?"

"How could that be! Whenever I decide to do something, I must do it well!"

Athena resolutely shook her head, her eyes twinkling with self-confidence and pride.

"Moreover, I've faced much tougher situations. It's just simple cooking, nothing I can't handle!"

While speaking, the Goddess of the Hearth traced lines of Hermes Script in the air with her fingers, rapidly filling the holes and restoring the scattered and shattered utensils and cookware to their original state.

In just a moment, the kitchen that had been disfigured was restored to its former appearance.

With the area successfully rebuilt, Athena nodded in satisfaction and then waved to Hestia at the door to instruct her.

"Auntie, you guys go rest outside for now. I'll take care of tonight's meal for the guests," she said.

Hestia originally wanted to speak up, but seeing Athena already flipping through the cookbook at the stove, reigniting the fire and preparing to begin her new cooking research, she unconsciously shrank her neck, pulling the half-dead Circe and quickly escaping the kitchen.

As the two of them fled, they looked back at the kitchen that was flickering with bizarre glows of red, blue, cyan, and purple, occasionally emitting lightning, smoke, and sparks, their hearts secretly trembling with fear.

They had only meant to teach him a light lesson, but now, why did it feel like they had unleashed something even more dangerous?

~~

In the evening, as the Centaur Sage Chiron just stepped out of the Academy of Athens, a figure suddenly emerged from the bushes and caught him in the act.

"Teacher Chiron, are you finished with work? Let's go, let's go eat!"

Luo En, who had been scouting the area, eagerly grabbed Chiron's arms and started walking towards the path leading to Hestia's mansion.

The urgent drive made Chiron a bit puzzled and hesitant.

"Isn't a home visit supposed to include Atalanta? She hasn't come out yet, should we wait a bit more?"

"Medusa apparently made plans with her to go somewhere else tonight, let's go ahead, no need to wait," Luo En casually explained, then continued to pull Chiron along, pretending to be serious as he advised.

"The dishes on the mountain are all ready, it would be a waste to let them cool down."

With the conversation having reached this point, the gentle-natured Chiron couldn't be too reserved and simply followed Luo En's lead, heading towards the abode of the Goddess of the Hearth.

Seeing that he had finally bamboozled the Centaur into boarding his 'pirate ship', Luo En quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had originally planned to bring Atalanta along to introduce his disciple to the goddesses and foster some good feelings.

However, during his wait, the explosions from the mountain house went off one after another, each more intense than the last, causing Luo En's heart to pound with alarm.

This atmosphere was far from the mild discipline he had anticipated, it was more akin to a perilous journey through flaming mountains and narrow escapes from death.

For safety's sake, it was best to let Little Medusa take Atalanta away early.

Adult matters, children should stay out of it.

Right, Teacher Chiron?

Luo En muttered quietly to himself, warmly hooking his arm around the neck of the nearby Centaur Sage and carefully stepping over the cracked steps, gently pushing open the door of Hestia's mansion.

"I'm back!"

"Good! Good that you're back!"

"Quick, quick, come in!"

Two excited voices came from inside the house as Hestia and Circe leaped out from a corner, their faces beaming with radiant smiles, eager to usher Luo En into the house without any intention of interrogating him.