Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

The silver light rises, piercing through the crevice between the starry sky and the mortal realm.

From the Star Shuttle, looking at the boundless ruins of Mount Othrys, even when gazed upon from the sky, Heracles felt an inexplicable sense of emotion.

The passage of time, the mottled years.

No matter how glorious and great the civilization and sanctity, all must bow before the eternal time.

Golden Humanity is like this, Mother Earth and Heavenly Father are like this, and so is the Divine King who once ruled Mount Othrys.

"Then what about Zeus..."

"How long will his reign last?"

"And on that day, will he accept it calmly, or struggle unwillingly?"

No answer, for the future is the hardest to predict.

Withdrawing his gaze, the Great Hero continued to steer the Star Shuttle westward.

Thanks to this alchemy construct from Silver Moon City, without it, the group would probably not have even reached Olympia by now.

His next target was the garden of Heavenly Empress Hera, located above the Western Sea.

...

"Dionysus, what do you know about the Heavenly Empress's garden?"

On the road, seeing his partner burdened with worries, Heracles broke the silence.

Before leaving Mount Othrys, after the Great Hero defeated the Sphinx, the God of West Wind arrived belatedly, though tasked with issuing the mission.

Yet, under the gaze of the Caucasus Divine Eagle's Pupil, Heracles unexpectedly discovered that the person who arrived didn't seem to be the true Zephyrus.

Not caring too much about it, he silently watched the performance.

Until the last step, when the other spoke of the next mission, the Great Hero felt somewhat surprised.

Steal the golden apples from the Heavenly Empress's orchard — it was almost identical to his original goal.

Since that was the case, he had no reason to refuse.

He agreed immediately, and both sides were very satisfied.

But from that day on, Dionysus seemed a bit torn.

"He probably received some additional task, to be precise, something for you to do."

"However, during this journey, this young man could no longer use you without batting an eye—or maybe he never had that ability."

"In any case, it's up to you how to resolve it, I'm just here to clear some doubts for you."

The prescient Titan told him this, and unsurprisingly, Heracles chose to confront the problem directly.

Indeed, when asked about the 'Heavenly Empress's garden,' Dionysus seemed visibly relieved.

"Well... of course, I know... I mean, I read about it in ancient texts."

"Heracles, speaking of which, do you know about the Golden Apple Tree?"

"I've heard of it."

Nodding slightly, the Great Hero shared his knowledge.

"It originates from the Seed of Everything in the Life Vase, taking root and sprouting in the hands of Mother Earth."

"Symbolizing Life's utmost creation of the supreme Plant, it ultimately produces the peerless treasure even the gods rarely see — this is the Golden Apple Tree as I know it."

"But as far as I know, the one belonging to the Heavenly Empress doesn't produce true golden apples; it was a branch gifted by Mother Earth to the three brothers, who then cultivated it."

"Typhon's offspring, the hundred-headed dragon Ladon guards there. Subdued by the gods, it eternally protects Hera's garden."

"Correct."

Nodding in acknowledgment, after much hesitation, Dionysus finally spoke:

"Just one thing you got wrong."

"The hundred-headed dragon Ladon was never subdued by the gods."

"To be more precise, there's nothing in this world that can subdue it. From the very beginning, its story was a lie."

"On that day, when Typhon fell, deities hunted its descendants on Earth. Ladon was just one of the most ordinary among them, but at the moment of the Demon Ancestor's death, it and its brothers received the legacy from the source of their bloodline."

"From that moment, the gods were no longer its match, and it roamed free upon the Earth; not even all the deities on Olympus together could defeat it— not because it was invincible, but because it resembled the King of All Monsters too much."

"If Typhon was the hundred-headed dragon serpent, the Hydra was its undying body, and Ladon was its unyielding wrath."

"From its father, it inherited none of those special abilities, only Typhon's burning rebellion against fate and rules."

"In an unrepeatable coincidence, this formidable demon transformed that wrath into its abnormal power, gaining an ability the gods both envied and feared — the avoidance of suppression by worldly Law."

"The mortal realm thus became its dominion, capable of displaying True God-like power even under the strictest suppression by the Laws of the Earth; yet far at sea, its strength grew even stronger."

"With the shift in strength and weakness, positions were reversed."

"As long as it didn't recklessly tread upon Olympus, the gods had no choice but to give way before it — if, on that day, the King of All Gods himself intervened."

"No one knows why he singled out Ladon, perhaps due to dissatisfaction from repeatedly being rejected by Typhon, or maybe for other reasons."

"In any case, under the power of the King of All Gods, Ladon was finally utterly defeated. It couldn't resist the Divine King's might and was ultimately imprisoned in Hera's orchard as a gift to the Empress."

"This irate prisoner, an unstoppable lunatic, indiscriminately kills any creature daring to enter its territory, thereby indirectly safeguarding the place's security."