Hercules was a being who had never known the true meaning of fear. Generally, he was the one being feared by the rest, hell, even most of the Olympian gods had a hard time battling against him and yet he was about to be defeated by a mortal. That too in a one-sided battle.

His loss was even more painful because he knew Arnold was not even using his full strength against him. He was fighting against the all-mighty Hercules with a handicap and yet, he was going to win. Nothing was more embarrassing than that thought.

Zeus and Loki had carefully planned and done everything to give Hercules an unfair advantage over the mortal. They had thrown everything they possibly could to aid him, without raising other's suspicions. But even after all their planning and plotting, they were met with a miserable loss.

However, they weren't the only ones who had lost something. Hermes wasn't very happy with the results either. Since he had known all about Zeus' plan, he had placed everything he had, all of the planets he had cultivated over the years, all of his services, everything against Arnold. And now that the mortal's victory was assured, there was no limit to his rage.

He wasn't alone either. Almost all of the Olympians had placed their bets on Arnold's defeat, and now they were cursing themselves for doing so. Arnold had not only outsmarted Hercules, he had outsmarted almost the entire Greek Pantheon.

Apollo, however, was one of the happiest gods alive. He was one of the few who had put their trust into the mortal and placed everything he had on his victory. And Arnold did not disappoint him. For a second even he thought Arnold was done for when he saw Hercules using Zeus' lightning bolt. But it turned out that the mortal had a skin as thick as Gaia herself. Either way, it was all thanks to Arnold, that Apollo was now officially the next in line for the Olympian throne as he had the most number of galaxies, planets and stars under his control.

'I am indebted to you, mortal.' Apollo thought with a smile as big as the sun itself, 'One of these days, I'll make sure to repay your kindness.'

No one in Olympus or even in Asgard thought Arnold would be able to survive against the all-mighty Hercules. After all, Hercules was strong enough to give an unpowered Thor a run for his money, and yet Shiva's vassal almost made Hercules defeat seem too easy.

Now they were busy questioning themselves, why were they worried about Hercules so much? Had they overestimated him? No. The latter question was wrong. The Asgardians would never in a million years underestimate an opponent, especially after they got their a*ses handed to them during Ragnarok. This could only mean one thing. Arnold was now stronger than most if not all of the demigods.

When Arnold had first defeated Tiamut, everyone thought it was just a crazy stroke of luck. But now that he was going to do the same to Hercules, they realised what Arnold was truly capable of. He was no mere mortal anymore as no mortal can defeat two demigods and live to tell the tale.

However, Zeus was seething with rage. He had used every underhanded trick he could think of in order to give Hercules an unfair advantage over Shiva's vassal. And yet his barbaric moron of a son failed to do the one thing he had asked from him in over a million years. Arnold's victory was a slap to his face and he would not forget about it anytime soon.

Zeus immediately left the garden where all of the gods had gathered to watch the epic battle between Hercules and the mortal. Judging by Zeus' demeanour, Hera knew something was wrong with her husband. He had not even bet anything on that battle, as usual, thus there was no reason for him to be angry about something.

'Maybe it's because his basta*d son lost the battle.' Hera shrugged her shoulders and continued enjoying the Mortal's victory.

The queen of Olympus was a beautiful, mature woman with luminescent blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes that were enough to charm any mortal man in the universe. She wasn't the goddess of marriage, women and fertility for nothing. But she was also something else.

Hera was Arnold's secret admirer. The way he always faced any challenge head-on even after knowing he was outclassed and outmatched had... piqued her interest in the mortal. Arnold reminded him of Zeus in his youth, when he was still her man whom all of the gods feared and respected at the same time. However, all those feelings went to drain when Zeus got to have his affairs without facing any proper consequences.

She has had the feeling to do something like that once before and wanted to give Zeus 'a taste of his own medicine'. Thus, she tried to have a baby on her own, but her child was born ugly. She was not impressed, to say the least. Especially since most of Zeus' basta*d children had inherited one thing or the other from their father, but her affair child didn't. So, like the heartless bit*h she was, she threw the child from the top of Olympus.

This was how Hephaestus was born. But with Arnold, she felt like with a handsome man like Arnold as the father, birthing an 'ugly' child was out of the question. However, she couldn't act on these feelings. Not when the mortal had too many eyes on him.

"Hermes, tell your lackeys to go and retrieve those corpses. Hercules might have been defeated by a mortal. But he's still a part of this pantheon... as much as I dread it." Hera ordered Maia's son who was still throwing a fit because of all the planets and galaxies he lost, "And cool yourself off. Those moronic expressions of yours are ruining the beauty of the garden."

Hermes got up to leave. But before he could even take a step, Athena stopped them all. There was something weird going on in the mortal realm.

"What is he doing now?" Athena asked the other gods before they could on their separate ways as they thought the battle had been pretty much over by now.

"Oh ho," Hera smiled when she saw what Arnold was planning to do, "Looks like defeating Hercules wasn't enough for our little guy."

***

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