Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

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"...A premonition or something else?"

"What does that vague term signify?"

Although on the surface, Zeus, like the other gods, always seemed ’awake’, in reality, his true form was still slumbering in Asgard, and what had been walking around recently was merely his avatar.

And the reason the Divine King had lately been intentionally avoiding Hera wasn’t for pleasure; after all, an avatar lacked such capabilities. It was precisely to prevent others from discovering the whereabouts of his true form that he avoided prolonged contact with anyone.

In this state, his slumbering true form suddenly fell into a dream, as though the scenes that played out in his sleep were real.

The heavens-rending giant hand, Athena, for some unknown reason, clashing with him, and ultimately, the whole world turning into a scroll held in someone’s hand—everything appeared so real in the dream that upon waking, Zeus couldn’t immediately distinguish reality from the vision and instinctively summoned his own power.

Mount Olympus was fine, but by this moment, Asgard was probably in complete disarray.

"A prophetic dream or something else?"

"And why would Athena attack me... What could be the reason?"

With furrowed brows, Zeus was puzzled. He questioned himself, if this was a sign from the throne of the Divine King about the future, why would Athena become his enemy?

If it had anything to do with Metis, then that seemed highly unlikely. No matter what, the two successive Goddesses of Wisdom hadn’t even seen each other, the only link between them being their bloodline—but he was also, after all, the source of the other half of that lineage.

In the absence of a compelling reason based on their blood ties, it seemed he hadn’t done anything worthy of her hatred... With this thought, the Divine King couldn’t help but speculate.

Perhaps the Athena in his dream was influenced by something external. For as the dream came to an end, a piece of the past, a memory, also rose to the surface and entered Zeus’s mind.

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It was on the day of the ascension ceremony, he had vaguely seen another self. Powerful, invincible, surrounded by gods, the center of the world. This self was the embodiment of perfection Zeus had always imagined. He seemed to be saying something, and Zeus wasn’t able to hear him at the time. But after hundreds of years, it had become crystal clear.

"Beware... the Outsider is the Lord!"

The voice was urgent, carrying a mix of panic and despair. For a moment, all the emotion in that tone seemed to have transferred to Zeus’s heart.

Would even a self so powerful feel fear? Suddenly, the confidence that had surged from his increased power was slightly subdued once again. And the issue with Athena became something he could accept.

It was difficult to understand why Athena would be his enemy, but the destruction of the world was even more incomprehensible. Thus, the reason leading to the former could likely be the latent influence of the latter.

"However... what does ’the Lord of **’ refer to, and what does ’Outsider’ mean?"

"The Lord of Darkness? The Lord of Hell? The Lord of the Spirit Realm? It seems that apart from Hell, the other two are Ancient Gods born at the dawn of creation, and that Hell, it seems, is also related to the Abyss."

The existence of Hell was but a fleeting thought, and Zeus didn’t have much impression of it. It seemed that they had some demand for the souls of mortals, but didn’t appear to be the kind of existence that aimed for the destruction of the world.

His thoughts reached an impasse, as there seemed to be no such existence within what he knew. As for the possibility of the dream itself being false...

Shaking his head slightly, although it was just a dream, Zeus felt it was out of the ordinary.

Why would a deity suddenly have such a vivid and somber dream? Perhaps, this was a warning from the laws of the current world. But with this thought, Zeus felt somewhat relieved.

Since the world itself had detected all this and even issued a warning, it proved that it wasn’t beyond remedy. Just as when he faced Odin’s legacy before, fate was always on his side.

Therefore, not long after, when the gods entered the Divine Palace, Zeus’s expression was as calm as usual. He didn’t wait for them to speak up. Sitting on the throne, the Divine King took the lead and said: n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Esteemed deities, causing such commotion in the middle of the night was certainly unexpected, but it didn’t happen without reason."

"For just now, I received a prophecy."

...

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Mortal Realm, the city of Eryxis.

The events transpiring on Mount of the Gods had not affected the mortal city; in fact, compared to the past, it had become considerably more prosperous.

In a time when most people were suffering from hunger and cold, there was a nation that not only had sustained no damage but also enjoyed repeated bountiful harvests, which, no doubt, was a significant allure to the surrounding nations.

Before long, the reputation of Eryxis began to spread, and the remote human world country gradually became known, followed by the existence of the Goddess of Agriculture.

The mortals were unaware that their disasters were brought forth by Demeter herself; even if the minority that guessed it dared not to publicly defame the reputation of a deity. Thus, temples dedicated to the agriculture god were built in greater numbers, and a large influx of mortals came to pray to the goddess for a fruitful harvest.

However, that day, with a flicker of the void, the silhouettes of two not-so-old individuals appeared on a small hill outside the city.

They overlooked the human city, observing the night market that still bustled with bright lights, even at night. Here, the primordial forms of trade had begun to sprout, and humans from other city-states came in droves, hoping to exchange food and, perhaps, to catch a glimpse of the True God that had descended to the mortal world.

Of course, Demeter had no time to meet with them. Since she had revealed her true self, only Tripdolimos was able to behold the goddess in her true form.

If nothing unexpected happened, this state of affairs would continue until Demeter left... However, clearly, in the eyes of the Desire twins, an incident was about to occur soon.

"Do you think this city will still exist in a little while?"

Sitting on a huge rock, Eros swung his legs casually while chatting.

After confirming that Poseidon hadn’t arrived at the wrong place, they had traveled here through the Spirit Realm before him. While waiting for the Sea Emperor, they couldn’t help but feel a bit bored.

"It should survive, I guess. They might fight, but they probably won’t use their Divine Power."

"After all, Demeter should be well aware that if both were to use their Divine Power, she would still be no match for Poseidon. Given that, she probably won’t put up a futile resistance—after all, it’s not the first time."

Volos ventured an indifferent guess, but he wasn’t just speaking nonsensically.

Before coming here, he had already familiarized himself with the past of the Goddess of Agriculture. When she had given birth to Persephone for Zeus, she hadn’t put up much of a struggle, and it was likely to be no different this time.

"Tch, speaking of which, don’t we seem a bit like the evil villains right now—"

Nodding in agreement, Eros acknowledged the other’s statement.

However, reflecting on what they had done along the way, Eros couldn’t help but reveal a smile.

"At most, we’re like half a villain. There’s nothing wrong with being a villain."

"But then again, it’s not like we brought about the winter, nor were we ’fishing’ in the royal palace of humans... huh, strange expression."

Volos pursed his lips, still musing over this odd terminology.

Fortunately, the language of the Spirit Realm expresses both sound and meaning, so even though he didn’t know the origin of the word, he was still able to understand its meaning.

"Anyway, that’s the situation. The human queen may be foolish, but the Goddess of Agriculture isn’t much smarter."

Clapping his hands together, movement was already discernible on the horizon as a blue light approached. Volos ceased his idle chat and said indifferently:

"Alright, we’ll be the villains, then. Poseidon really does fly at a snail’s pace."

"Just wait a little longer, the arrows of mortals... shouldn’t last too long."