Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Mount Olympus, Golden Palace.
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The great hall was still filled with song and dance, while Hera sat expressionless on the side.

Ares, pushing aside Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, who was pouring nectar, stood beside the Divine King, chattering nonstop. He was complaining to Zeus about Athena, describing how intolerably oppressive she was.

"...Father, Athena has gone too far. Do you know how mortals are now judging me?"

With an unpleasant expression, Ares knew that his experiences were no secret. On the contrary, he had long become a laughingstock among the gods.

The cause of the matter was quite simple, stemming from an old affair years ago. Theseus, the then King of Athens in his youth, had his most famous adventure, which was winning the heart of Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen.

At that time, Theseus was so handsome and wise, he wasn't captivated by the Queen's charm but rather made Hippolyta fall for him. Of course, he ultimately did not marry her but later took the daughter of the King of Crete as his queen.

Hippolyta, enraged, personally led the Amazons across the sea to attack Athens. However, it was clear that they suffered a great defeat before this Eastern city, which also led to widespread questioning of the War God's power among mortals.

As the Amazon Queen favored by both the War God and the Goddess of Beauty, she had not only failed to display her exceptional charm to make the King of Athens her subordinate, but was instead attracted by him. And when Hippolyta resorted to war, she still faced defeat, which had a considerable and profound impact.

Among mortals, there had long been debates about whether the substance brought by wisdom or the appearance brought by looks was more important, supported respectively by the followers of Athena and Aphrodite. This episode of love and hatred between Hippolyta and Theseus undoubtedly added strong evidence to the former.

Of course, considering that appearance is innate and wisdom can be learned later, these two aspects, although contradictory, had never turned into an either-or zero-sum game. However, war was different.

Athena and Ares, the two deities most worshiped during the outbreak of mortal wars. But when the War God was defeated in the domains of mortals by Athens, his followers' faith was naturally shaken.

"...Perhaps you should limit her somewhat, Father. As far as I know, Athens has never shunned witchcraft and even traded with those heretics."

Grinding his teeth, Ares spoke as Aphrodite had advised him beforehand.

In this regard, Zeus and his dear sister had erupted in argument more than once, though nothing had ever come of these disputes. Still, voicing this issue was sure to significantly provoke the Divine King's displeasure.

Having spoken, Ares thought Zeus would say something. In accordance with what Aphrodite had told him, even if the Divine King didn't want to deal with the matter, he would still feel increased discontent towards Athena... However, after waiting and waiting, even when many deities subtly turned their gazes towards the head of the table, he heard nothing.

By Ares' nature, just coming to complain was already embarrassing enough, let alone being observed by others.

Cruel emotions surged up in his heart, and under the influence of his godhood, Ares' eyes reddened briefly...

"What are you thinking?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Zeus looked up only to see Ares watching him with red eyes. Frowning slightly, the Divine King asked somewhat displeased.

"Father God, I..."

"Alright, we'll talk about your issue later, I have some things to handle."

Zeus waved his hand slightly, not wanting to speak more with this son whom he didn't particularly like. Recalling the fleeting familiar sensation that had just jolted him awake, Zeus rose from his seat.

The banquet of the gods never required constant attendance, and deities leaving or joining midway was not uncommon. Thus, Zeus's departure did not attract attention, leaving Ares behind to be interrupted just as he was about to speak.

"...Damn it, it's the same again, you never really cared about me. Huh—I am the War God, but why haven't you granted me invincible strength!"

Taking a deep breath, this wasn't the first time Ares had faced this situation.

With his role as the War God, combat was one of the few things he could engage in, yet there were still many who could defeat him... Suppressing the violent emotions in his heart, the War God looked towards Hera beside him.

If it hadn't been for Aphrodite's reminder, he wouldn't have noticed that the Mother Goddess had somehow been injured a while ago. Perhaps he should go and express his concern.

After all, Hera stood by his side in many ways.

'Aphrodite really is a good wife.'

He quietly sighed to himself, realizing he had never really observed carefully. Ares felt that, at least in this aspect, fate still favored him.

There had been rumors among the gods before, claiming that Aphrodite was seen with other male deities... But how could that be? He was clearly her favorite.

'Hmph.'

Just like that presumptuous cripple, Ares had never really considered him worthy of attention.

...

On the slopes of Mount Olympus, a precarious cliff.

The disturbances from the World Power were becoming more distinct, like digging a hole in a river embankment. At first, it was just a small leakage, but as time passed, the flow became increasingly vast.

However, the gods on the mountain were oblivious to these fluctuations, nor could they detect disturbances of that magnitude. Perhaps only those who had reached the pinnacle of True Godhood were slightly aware, but even they could not be as clear as the Primordial Gods.

However, the Divine King was an exception, even a special case. In this regard, Zeus's sense was much clearer than Erebus's.

As the chosen Divine King of this era, he had actually noticed the abnormal fluctuations in the World Power for nearly a thousand years. At first, he did not know the reason behind it, but because it coincided with the aftermath of Typhon, Zeus attributed it to the influence of the Mother Tree.

Only today, when those fluctuations began to surge at an unnatural pace, even faintly causing a chain reaction, did the Divine King finally realize something was amiss.

It was not due to any internal factors, but external... Zeus was pondering this matter just now. However, recognizing it was one thing, there was little the Divine King could actually do. Sovereignty might enable greater strength in one's own dominion, but it also meant deeper weakness in lands not his own.

Therefore, even knowing about the existence of an Alien Realm, Zeus could merely enrich his knowledge.

'But it seems someone does not think so…'

His heart stirred slightly, standing on the cliff, Zeus looked towards a shadow not far away.

If it were a thousand years ago, he might not have noticed the other, but now he could.

"Lord Erebus, it has indeed been a long time, you look the same as ever— the last gift you gave me, I still vividly remember."

"Just a small reminder, but seeing your surprise and disarray when facing Typhon, you didn't heed my warning,"

A voice came from the shadow, as Erebus stepped out.

He surveyed the majestic Mount of the Gods, glanced over deities whose aura was either bright or hidden, then fixed his gaze deep into the temporal space.

"Is that the 'Divine Kingdom' you created, modeled after the Spirit Realm?"

"Yes— but Lord Erebus, Typhon is already in the past, its failure is known to all. As for the Asgard, if you are interested, you could join me to have a look,"

"Let's say that for later, I am here on serious business,"

Erebus waved his hand slightly. He was not interested in such a Divine Kingdom, especially the Olympus version.

Mortals do not understand, but he saw very clearly that this so-called Divine Kingdom, where gods and mortals coexist, was somewhat of a scam.

It wasn't entirely false, the souls of the devout believers who died did indeed get collected there, they could even communicate with their ancestral souls by making substantial contributions to the corresponding church. However, in other aspects, the gods' descriptions of this place were somewhat misleading.

For instance, one could not live forever here; how long a soul could stay depended largely on their descendants' status in the Mortal Realm. The souls of common people generally wouldn't stay long before returning to Samsara, while only the ancestors of the strong and the aristocrats could reside here indefinitely.

In this case, the eternal residence in the Divine Kingdom after death is indeed no falsehood, and the Spirit Realm had made no response to this, for over ninety-nine percent of souls would still return to Samsara—only delayed a bit. And those mortals who witnessed the return of the deceased's souls in the form of Holy Spirits naturally had unwavering faith in the church's doctrine.

"But that's only because you have no other choice, in fact, if possible, you wouldn't want to take such a troublesome approach,"

"Especially since followers of the Spirit Realm blatantly claim the Olympus are false gods, and your implied attacks on their human kingdoms have repeatedly failed. You clearly know there are mortals there denigrating and mocking you, but as the Divine King, you could do nothing,"

"Despite your continual oppression, there are still mortals who thus doubt your might, even your progeny question the power of the deity, even daring to kill their own son in arrogance to test the deities,"

"…"

Somewhat silent, Zeus knew who Erebus was talking about.

Tantalus, his blood descendant in the Mortal Realm, whom he initially so loved that he allowed him to dine with the gods and freely travel between Olympus and the Mortal Realm.

But gradually, perhaps due to his arrogance, or truly under the influence of heretics, Tantalus began to challenge the authority of the gods. He leaked the secrets discussed among deities at feasts to mortals, stole the divine nectar and food from Mount Olympus, and shared them with his mortal friends.

He even stole sacrifices that mortals offered to Zeus—until this point, the Divine King still tolerated his actions, for as his progeny not being born a deity, taking pleasure in mortal freedoms wasn't so bad.

Until the day when Tantalus invited the gods to his home as guests, to utterly deny divine authority, he killed his own son, also Zeus's grandchild; he cooked Pelops, roasting and boiling him, and served him to the gods as a dish.

The gods, of course, realized this and since it was the Divine King's family matter, nobody pointed it out first, they just avoided the dish out of respect, only the absent-minded Goddess of Agriculture unintentionally ate a piece—specifically her great-nephew's shoulder bone.

Zeus was enraged and for this, he meted out eternal punishment to Tantalus. But this test itself had always been a thorn in the Divine King's heart.

"So what are you trying to say? As the Divine King, I will not violate the iron laws of this era. Even if you want to act in this World, I must stop you, this is the responsibility bestowed upon me by the world, not swayed by my personal preferences,"

His expression flickered slightly, Zeus didn't know why the Lord of Darkness was bringing these matters up.

He had thought the other came due to the fluctuations in World Power, wanting to make use of him, the Divine King, but now it seemed he was targeting the Spirit Realm?

"I know, I'm just asking—if given a chance, one that could eliminate those mortals who scorn you, one that could bolster your authority, enhance your strength, would you take it?"

Ignoring Zeus's words, Erebus asked again.

"...What are you trying to do?"

"It's what you want to do,"

Nodding slightly, Erebus spoke slowly.

"You want to be the ruler of this World as its Divine King... And I can help you, that is my purpose here."

"As for how everything starts... Since it arises from the Mortal Realm, it naturally starts in the Mortal Realm."