"What is this?"
Upon seeing the "steps" he had painstakingly built taken over by a suddenly growing tree, the short-tempered Enceladus roared in anger.
"This is Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture's divine authority!"
Porphyrion, the "Surging One," reacted and shouted:
"Quickly, cut down this tree! She must be using all her strength to maintain this tree. We cannot let this Goddess destroy the steps!"
At his command, the remaining ten Giants surrounded the tree, taking out various swords, spears, and axes, and pressing toward the enormous tree.
Sensing danger, the giant tree also extended its roots from underground, attempting to entangle the ten Giants. However, Demeter was not a God specialized in combat, and the strength of these ten surrounding Giants was not inferior to hers.
Thus, the roots extended by the giant tree were quickly severed by these Giants. They successfully approached the giant tree controlled by Demeter. At this moment, Demeter also panicked. With her power, it was impossible to make plants of such a scale grow from the earth without expending all her strength. Therefore, the Goddess of Agriculture was actually inside this tree, and she dared to do so only after Athena's arrangement.
If these Giants truly cut down this tree, the Goddess of Agriculture would be defenselessly trapped within the encirclement of ten strong and vigorous Snake-Footed Giants. At that time, to strike at Zeus, the King of Gods' mentality, it was feared that an Olympus Goddess's miserable fate would truly unfold here.
Fortunately, just as Demeter's giant tree was about to be cut down by the Giants, Athena, who had been hidden on the mountain commanding the entire situation, finally made her move. She threw down her aegis, from which a golden barrier was released, temporarily separating the Snake-Footed Giants. At this moment, another group of strange warriors, different from the Gods, also rushed out from the Golden Gate of Olympus.
First to charge out were a group of Minotaur warriors with bull heads, bulging muscles, and wielding giant axes. These Minotaurs, known as "Minotauros" in Greece, were covered in strange runes painted with the blood of some creature, which made them resistant to blades and spears, and their strength increased exponentially.
Although their height and build were far inferior to the Snake-Footed Giants, they were much taller than the demigods and mortal auxiliary troops left on Olympus. As soon as these Minotaurs appeared, they immediately took over the battlefield outside the mountain with the ordinary Giants. With red eyes, they charged into the enemy formation, and working together, they even directly blocked the mountain-sized Snake-Footed Giants.
Following closely behind these Minotaur warriors were a group of Chimera with lion bodies, goat heads, and snake tails, as well as a group of Cyclops warriors, even taller than the Minotaur warriors, wielding iron rods. The height and strength of these Cyclops were naturally inferior to the three Cyclops who were brothers of the Titans and followed Hephaestus, but they were not to be underestimated. They followed closely, the Chimera grew wings and flew in the sky, spewing fire and poisonous mist at the Snake-Footed Giants, while the Cyclops helped the Minotaur warriors stabilize their formation, forming a solid defensive line.
Finally, pouring out from the Golden Gate was a group of Medusa, monsters with the upper bodies of women, lower bodies of snake tails, heads full of snake hair, and sharp claws, as well as a colossal beast whose size was in no way inferior to the Snake-Footed Giants.
This beast had nine huge snake heads and a body like a giant dog; it was the legendary poisonous monster Hydra, which even the Gods feared.
These monsters were all summoned by Athena, the Goddess, from an unknown place. They formed an army of monsters, landing on the Giants' "steps" and engaging in battle with the ten Giants.
The Medusa worked together, releasing powerful petrification rays at the Snake-Footed Giants, turning those hit directly into lifeless stone sculptures, which were then shattered by the Minotaur warriors and Cyclops. The huge Hydra also wreaked havoc on the battlefield, indiscriminately releasing poisonous mist onto the battlefield. When the Giants cut off its heads, as long as the main head remained, it could quickly grow new ones, and after being wounded, the blood spilled by this Hydra onto the battlefield was also a terrible poison.
The Giants' immortality and regenerative abilities were extremely powerful; even the Hydra's potent venom could not directly kill them. However, for such Giants, the Hydra's venom was even more terrifying than the Medusa's petrification rays, because the most frightening aspect of the Hydra's venom was not its lethality, but the agonizing pain it inflicted if it failed to directly kill the creature.
When these Giants were contaminated with the Hydra's venom, they would not die due to their immortality, but they would suffer continuous torment from the Hydra's venom. Many Giants thus directly lost their combat ability. They fell to the ground, rolling constantly, scratching their bodies until they were covered in wounds, but these wounds would then heal, and the intense pain would still remain within their bodies, continuously tormenting them.
After the appearance of this monster army, the situation where the Snake-Footed Giants had the upper hand instantly changed. The scales of victory began to sway back and forth. The Gods could not truly defeat the Giants, but the Giants could not launch a decisive attack and completely invade Olympus.
Finally, while the Giants were delayed by the monsters, Demeter took the opportunity to ripen the giant tree she had planted. The tree's roots spread and extended, completely crushing the "steps" built by the Giants, and the Goddess of Agriculture's domain also took the opportunity to spread across the entire battlefield.
The Giants' strength came from the earth, and the growth of vegetation required nutrients from the earth. Using this concept, in the areas covered by vegetation, Demeter began to wantonly absorb the Snake-Footed Giants' vitality and transfer it to her own warriors. Although the Olympus Gods still could not effectively kill these immortal Giants, they now had enough power to delay the Giants until they were exhausted, and then seal them away.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, Alcyoneus, the "Strongman," who had been entangled with Zeus, also voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield.
He looked at the battlefield with a solemn expression, then shouted to his subordinate:
"Porphyrion, it's time to attack. Take them and retreat from here first!"