I Am Zeus

Chapter 328: Zeus Learns of the Attack

The camp had been waiting for an explosion.

Not the kind that cracked the sky. The kind that came from a god who had been pushed too far. Word of the attack spread through the tents like fire through dry grass. Angels lowered their heads. Gods gripped their weapons. Even the healers moved faster, as if speed might outrun whatever came next.

They had seen Zeus angry before. Had watched him tear through Heaven’s host. Had felt the chaos roll off him in waves that made reality itself hesitate.

They expected thunder.

They expected lightning.

They expected the storm.

But Zeus wasn’t in the camp when Hermes arrived.

He was at the edge again—the place where Heaven crumbled into void, where the mortal world spun below like a wounded animal. He had been sitting there for hours, maybe days, watching the storms gather and the lights drift and the crowds swell at the pyramids.

Athena found him first.

She didn’t speak. Just stood behind him, waiting. The silence stretched until it felt like something solid, something that could be touched.

"The western sector was attacked," she said finally.

Zeus didn’t turn.

"I know."

"Hermes is here. He has details."

Zeus stood. Turned. Walked past her without a word.

Athena followed.

---

Hermes stood in the center of the camp, surrounded by gods who had stopped what they were doing to listen. His wings were still half-spread from the flight, his breath still short. He had delivered the news once already. He was about to deliver it again.

Then Zeus walked into the circle.

The gods parted. Not in fear—in expectation. They stepped back, giving him room, giving him space, giving him the center they had been waiting for someone to fill.

Zeus stopped in front of Hermes.

"How many?"

His voice was quiet. Not the quiet of calm. The quiet of control.

Hermes met his gaze.

"Dozens of souls. Maybe hundreds. We’re still counting."

"The guards?"

"Dead. All of them."

"The healers?"

"Three. One of the runners."

Zeus nodded slowly. His face didn’t change. His hands didn’t shake. The chaos around his wrist pulsed once—slow, deliberate—then stilled.

"Find them," he said.

Hermes blinked.

"Find who?"

"The souls. The ones that were lost. They’re out there, somewhere between the realms. Find them. Bring them back."

The gods stared.

Hermes shifted his weight.

"Zeus, they’re scattered. The fracture cut the stream in a dozen places. The souls could be anywhere."

"Then search everywhere."

"That could take—"

"I don’t care how long it takes."

The words landed like stones. Hermes closed his mouth. Nodded.

"What about Azrael?" someone asked.

Zeus turned. Ares stood at the edge of the circle, arms crossed, jaw tight.

"What about him?"

"You’re not going to hunt him down? Not going to make him pay?"

Zeus met his gaze.

"Not yet."

Ares stared.

"That’s it?"

"That’s it."

"You’re just going to let him—"

"I’m going to bring back the souls he scattered. Then I’m going to find out who carved those words into that angel’s chest. Then I’m going to decide what to do about Azrael."

Ares’s hand rested on his sword hilt.

"And if he attacks again while you’re deciding?"

Zeus didn’t look away.

"Then we’ll be ready."

The silence stretched. The gods watched. Ares’s jaw tightened, loosened, tightened again. He didn’t draw his sword. Didn’t storm off. Didn’t argue.

He just stood there, staring at Zeus like he was seeing him for the first time.

---

The crowd dispersed slowly.

Gods drifted back to their tents, their anchors, their endless work. Athena returned to the map table—the new one, the one she had rebuilt from memory. Hermes gathered a team of runners to search for the lost souls. Ares walked to the edge of the camp and stood with his back to everyone, staring at the cracked sky.

Zeus remained in the center.

Hera approached him.

"That was unexpected," she said.

"What was?"

"Your reaction. They expected rage. Thunder. The storm."

Zeus looked at her.

"I know."

"They’re confused."

"Good."

Hera studied him.

"You’re different."

Zeus didn’t answer.

"Not weaker," she continued. "Just... slower. You think before you act now."

"I always thought before I acted."

"No. You always acted. Thinking was what happened after."

Zeus almost smiled. Almost.

"Maybe I’m learning."

Hera’s expression softened, just a fraction.

"Maybe you are."

---

The camp settled into an uneasy quiet.

Not peace. Just the absence of noise. The healers worked. The guards patrolled. The runners searched for souls that might never be found.

Zeus sat at the edge of the map table, watching Athena trace silver lines that kept shifting, kept changing, kept refusing to hold.

The chaos around his wrist pulsed faster.

Not much. Just enough.

He felt it. The hunger. The restlessness. The part of him that wanted to stop thinking, stop waiting, stop holding back.

He clenched his fist.

The chaos stopped.

Not faded. Not retreated. Just... stopped. Went still. Waited.

Zeus looked at his hand.

The marks were still there—the ones from the Tribunal, the ones from the chaos, the ones from everything he had done to survive. They didn’t glow. Didn’t pulse. They just... were.

He unclenched his fist.

The chaos stayed still.

For now.

---

Athena looked up from the map.

"You should rest."

Zeus shook his head.

"So should you."

"I’m not the one who—"

"We’re both exhausted. We’re both still standing. That’s enough for now."

Athena studied him.

"Did you mean it? What you said about finding the souls?"

Zeus met her gaze.

"Every word."

"The runners might not find them all."

"Then we’ll send more runners."

"And if they’re already gone? If the void took them?"

Zeus was silent for a moment.

"Then we’ll mourn them."

Athena’s hands stopped moving.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

She stared at him.

"You’ve changed."

Zeus looked at the cracked sky.

"I had to."

The silver lines on the map flickered once—thin, pale, endless—and the fractures spread a little wider.

But Zeus didn’t look away.

He didn’t clench his fist.

He just watched.

And waited.

The storm could come later.