Laz set Persephone back down, no longer holding her against the wall and walked back to where he was before, as thought nothing had happened.

"What the fuck was that?" Athena asked, her head spinning. First she had been manhandled by a woman who she didn’t think was good enough to care for her horse and now the weakest one in the room, as far as she was concerned, had just dominated that same woman to the point where she wouldn’t even speak back. Even worse was the faces that everyone else in the room was making, showing a kind of longing as though they were sorry they weren’t the ones to get threatened.

"You’ve been busy since I’ve been gone," Hera said, a bit of confusion in her voice.

"Circumstances changed and a few things that I’m sure you don’t know about came to light. Besides, this wasn’t exactly my idea, just a bit of a happy coincidence that seemed to... keep happening?" Laz said, shrugging while looking over to Aphrodite who seemed at a loss.

’How is he speaking to her so casually? Mother is never this... reserved?"

Hera sighed, wanting to know more but also knowing there wasn’t time for it.

"I need your help," Hera said, undoing the robes draped around her and dropping her top down, revealing the streak across her chest that seemed to be constantly burning and corroding. Since it was clear that Laz had something with her daughters, she no longer thought to hide things, instead wanting things to be a clear as possible. As such, one could see the slash across her upper chest, but also the slash along her stomach that was also dripping with the same vile substance that seemed to constantly burn.

On top of all that, her breasts were fully exposed as well, something that took all the girls aback at the same time as they had never seen their mother be anything but the prim and proper matriarch of the family.

"MOTHER!!! YOUR!!!" Athena seemed to be the first one to find her voice and point out her apparent nudity that was clearly on display.

"Oh shut up. You. Come here," Hera said, pointing to Laz.

Laz walked over, his eyes on the wound that was both above and below the magnificent melons of this milf.

Laz used his Heaven’s Gaze to study it closely, watching as her internal energy battled the corrosive poison of the would in a constant battle. Unfortunately for her, she was losing the battle as her energy drain couldn’t keep up with the shadow poison.

After a minute or so of silence, Hera spoke up,

"What do you think?" Hera asked, managing to keep the fear out of her voice. Even when the top doctors had visited her on the field, they could only shake their heads, unable to offer anything. As for her husband, he had already given up on her once he had been told of the wounds. He had seen the Nameless God’s work in the past and knew that even those much stronger than them had been culled by this shadow poison. While this wasn’t as strong as the actual gods poison, it wasn’t anything either of them could fix. His only mercy to his wife was allowing her to return to the palace to spend her last days in whatever comfort she could find.

Little did he know that there might have been a cure right under his very nose.

"I think it’s fortunate that the attack didn’t damage these epic masterpieces you carry around if I’m being honest," Laz said, without really thinking much about where they were since his focus was on the wound. His focus was so intense that he didn’t even realize when there was a collective gasp from those who were still in the room while Athena was attempting to get free as to kill him for his insolence.

*It’s possible. But it will drain a lot of your energy if you do it,* Kat’s silent voice spoke right into his mind, not even bothering to do otherwise. She had been awake as his silent guardian for many of the days and nights he had spent in bed with these women, making sure none of them tried to betray him after getting what they wanted from him. While he had the thanks of Artemis, Persephone, Aphrodite, Eris and the others, there was no telling whether he could actually trust them or not. Therefore Kat was his trump card in this endeavor, the guardian protecting him when he was too tired to stay awake in the strange beds he found himself in. And she kept her voice unless he spoke first for fear that someone else might discover her.

*I doubt I have much of a choice though,* Laz thought back, thinking about the circumstances.

*No... You really don’t,* came Kat’s reply with a slight giggle.

"Your words could get you killed," Hera said, a slight blush on her face.

"Not before I cure you though. But be warned, this won’t be simple. I’m not a doctor but I do have an understanding of the body and it’s energy flow. Trying to remove this poison will enrage it, making it speed up the process even at the expense of itself, so the only way to get rid of it is to make it burn itself out so to speak. In the end, it will be a winner take all victory as either it consumes you, or you outlive it’s wrath. Going slow is beneficial for it, but making it go fast is beneficial for us. You will need a near constant supply of life energy as well and you know what that means...." Laz said, finally taking his eyes off of her wound and looking directly into the eyes of the Empress.

"I’m aware. There were stories, back in the day. This Nameless god was a villain that has killed far more gods than you can imagine. The only ones who kept him in check were the Asura when they ruled the cosmos. As for how his servant dragon came to be here around the same time an Asura showed up... I’m quite curious as to the answer behind that question...?" Hera said with a grin that wasn’t quite a grin.

Laz was taken aback and then laughed, knowing that this woman had put a lot of thought into these things recently.

"I shall tell you what I know, but it isn’t nearly as good of a story as you are imagining. Either way, there is much to talk about after this," Laz agreed, causing the Empress’ grin to become far more gentle, knowing that he wouldn’t be hiding anything from her.

"And what about my daughters? Shall I have them stand guard?" Hera asked, looking at those gathered still in shocked silence at the type of intimacy that their mother was showing this young man.

"We will need them. I can feed you the life force and try to contain the shadow poison, but they will need to supply you with energy from their bodies since as your direct daughters, they have a compatible energy to you. The problem is that one will need to be kept under strict watch since I’m sure if she is freed, she will cause trouble for us and this process shouldn’t be interrupted," Laz said with a sigh, pointing to the kneeling Athena.

"Also. I believe the reason your daughters have gathered is because they need to tell you something," Laz added on, pointing to Aphrodite.

"Ah. My young daughter of love. To think that all of this was your doing..." Hera said with a smile. She had always enjoyed the innocence of Aphrodite and her takes on love, despite it being completely misguided. Still, it was better for her to be unaware than to get her husbands attention. As the Empress, she knew that her husband would not trust a new god rising in his family and had been thankful that none had ever come close. At least not until now.

"Mother. We... It’s kind of hard to say...." Aphrodite stammered a bit, unsure how to continue. Laz walked up behind her and put a hand on her lower back, as though supporting her through this.

"Thank you. We discovered something that we didn’t know if you are aware of. You know that over the course of the last several thousands of years, none of us, your children, have been able to ascend to god hood, right?"

"Yes. It is my greatest regret, but as your father says and I agree with, the energy in the realm is far lacking to support more gods. While we have been keeping you all safe, we also know that it has been like a prison for you as well," Hera said with a sigh for she has considered this problem at length as well.

"Well... we feel like that isn’t exactly true. You see... some of father’s children have been able to ascend to god hood... but they are then killed soon afterwards... and its usually the ones he fosters outside that are condemned to this fate..." Aphrodite said, before explaining everything that she, Artemis and Laz discovered along with the incidents they investigated while Laz was spending his time making goddesses.

"Some of our older brothers and sisters were also at the cusp of breaking through and usually that meant that father would see to their ascension personally. But none of them ever succeeded. Or if they did, in an effort to flex their power, the supposedly went to challenge the gods from other countries and yet were killed every time? After looking over the cases over these long years, not a single one ever succeeded in living more than a few days after their ascension. And something else though..." Aphrodite then explained the secrets that Persephone had told her, things she learned being the wife of the Emperor’s brother and the types of rituals that are performed away from prying eyes.

After everything was said, Athena was the first one to try to cry out that this was all ridiculous, but she stopped herself even before Eris was about to shove a gag in her mouth.

She had heard of all of the incidents and knew that it was possible to ascend to godhood, but now that it was laid out before her, even she understood that it seemed like none of them lived long after doing so.

Hera was quiet after hearing this news and no one dared to interrupt her thoughts.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH..." She finally said, slamming her fist down on the Ashwood table next to her bed, turning it into dust.

"How could I have been so blind..." Hera raged at herself before Laz spoke up.

"It’s probably much worse than that..." Laz said, stepping forward to share a thought he had but only shared with select few.

"How could it be worse?" Hera said, looking up with slight moisture in her eyes.

"He’s been slow and hidden with his actions over these many long years as he still feared you, but what will his actions be now that you are hurt and the Empire is in danger of being overrun by this creature from the north?" Laz said, keeping the hints to a bare minimum so that she could come to her own conclusion.

Hera turned as white as a ghost.

"He wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice everyone in the palace if it meant he could ascend beyond god hood... every last one of us...."