Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

"And so, as the years went by, the prisoner became the overseer of the garden in the songs of poets. Apart from the gods and itself, no one knew the origin of the matter."

Like a song of poetry, Dionysus narrated the legend of the hundred-headed dragon.

Before him, Heracles frowned slightly. By now, he could roughly guess what the other was about to say.

Excluding the fact that he also needed to obtain the Golden Apple, the God of the West Wind probably never expected him to complete such a task in the first place.

After all, an enemy that could display divine power in the mortal realm, and even more so in the deep sea, was nearly invincible. This wasn't a matter of will or faith.

Perhaps cunning was his only path, and the gods had already laid out this smooth road.

"The hundred-headed dragon Ladon, sounds terrifying and difficult to combat."

With an unchanged expression, the great hero asked.

"So Dionysus, do you have any ideas about this?"

"...Of course."

Nodding slightly, Dionysus said in a deep voice:

"In the entire mortal realm, no one or god can defeat Ladon."

"Other than the Divine King and the Primordial Gods who live with the world, the hundred-headed dragon is an invincible existence."

"Yet to obtain the apple from the heavenly empress's orchard, it is an unavoidable guardian."

"Fortunately, nothing in the world is absolute. There is a deity who, due to a special duty, received special leniency from the law."

Turning to the head of the Star Shuttle, Dionysus gazed at the distant earth below him.

Although this was guided by the will of the Father God, it was not detrimental to Heracles either... The young deity convinced himself.

He didn't want to harm his friend, just as he didn't want to see Amon's death.

"You know... If Ladon is the only demon who can display divine power in the mortal realm, then he is the only sacred being who can wield divine authority."

"At the end of the sky, at the edge of the sea."

"Heracles, killing the five great demons made you a hero, and with your wisdom, you should have guessed by now... Even the children in the mortal realm have heard his myth from their parents."

"Yes, I've indeed heard of him."

With a light nod, the great hero certainly knew him.

The only entity that could display divine power in the mortal realm, the ancient titan deity, the vanguard general of the second generation Divine King, the Sky-holder—Atlas.

"That's right."

"If it's him, no matter how powerful Ladon is, he is not his match."

Gazing through the outer shell of the Star Shuttle, Heracles looked towards the western edge of the earth.

At a sufficiently distant place, everything appeared blurry... Except for that towering giant shadow.

Atlas, son of Iapetus, brother of Prometheus.

He carried the symbol of holding up the sky by one-third, so the laws of the present world never acted upon him, even the furious Sea Emperor Poseidon never violated his dignity.

So, that's how it is.

Someone wanted him to meet the Sky-holder, to obtain something or an answer from him, because he had stood here as a titan for too long, and the Chaos World did not need an ancient god who looked level at Olympus.

"I understand."

After a moment of silence, the great hero slowly said.

"Sky-holder Atlas, the titan who holds the power, I've long been in spiritual communion with him."

"Since this journey cannot avoid his existence, I will go and see him myself."

······

Swish...

Swish swish...

…

In the west of the earth, the endless waves rose and fell.

The Circumterrestrial River was far from here, the Sea God did not want to approach here.

Carrying the heavens on his shoulders, with the sun and moon above.

For thousands of years, like a statue, Atlas stood at the utmost boundary of the sky, always silent.

Following his gaze, the shadow of Olympus disappeared in the shadow of the ancient Mount of the Gods' remains, as if the shadow of the titans always entwined the newly born divine court.

Beside Atlas, a tall bronze pillar connected the sky and earth.

An incomparably bright spiritual light rose from the bottom, while the pure blue sky light pressed down.

The two ultimately converged at the middle of the bronze pillar, exploding into a brilliant light that mortals could not see.

The sky and the ocean, two colossal forces that could gather great symbols collided here, canceling out each other's accumulated frenzy with that small figure at the end.

Suspended above the West Heaven, Triton had long forgotten how much time had passed.

Even when Typhon's chaos temporarily disrupted the chronology of Chaos, causing time among stars, oceans, and lands to no longer be unified, his sentence still hadn't ended.

Day by day… Month by month… Suffering in agony, Triton had long forgotten how far he was from freedom.

He only knew he had gone from wailing to cursing, from cursing to silence, from silence to praying, from praying to despair.

Again and again, year after year, no one had ever paid attention to him.

As if forgotten by heaven and earth, and here was his long coffin.

…

Swish...

Step step.

Stepping on the sea, feeling the water brush against her toes.

Without expression, Pandora, dragging her black dress, walked silently on the Western Sea.

The giant god like the sky and earth, the bronze pillar reaching up high.

By her side, Gaia was nowhere to be seen, only Epimetheus accompanied her.

Step step.

"So... My dearest husband, respectful Afterthinker, child of the titan god—as you can see, is he the target of my journey, Triton, son of the Sea God?"

"Forgive me for being blunt, but I do not sense anything extra from him... Whether disaster or any other unnecessary existence."

Her voice faint, seemingly questioning, yet there was never a trace of emotion.

Pandora stood silently on the sea, like a corpse.

Beside her, Epimetheus only smiled.

Like Pandora, he could do nothing now.

"Yes, it is he, Triton, son of the Sea God."

"Once upon a time, you were the cause of human disasters, and he, the executor of Bronze's destruction."

"As for his father, Sea Emperor Poseidon, the Earth-Shaker God who wields the powers of Tsunami, Storm, and Earthquake, he is the god closest to chaos and natural disasters."

"According to the original plan, Mother Earth wanted you to pose as a mortal fallen into the water due to a storm, thereby gaining the Sea Emperor's favor—but now he is no longer here."

"He has fallen into the abyss and can't even execute his godhood… So, in the world now, the closest to him is Triton, who is enduring endless suffering."

To send his nominal wife to seduce Poseidon, in the Afterthinker's mouth, was as ordinary as a dog barking at humans.

Gazing at the tall bronze pillar, Epimetheus admired the majesty and power of the ancient god.

A thousand years, or ten thousand?

He did not remember, but the bronze pillar did.

It was soaked with the blood of the Sea God's son, entwined between sky and sea, even in the wear of years, it managed to bisect a thread of sky-holding imagery.

To acquire Triton, this bronze pillar was equally an unavoidable step… Silent, Epimetheus looked back to the sky.

Before coming, the earth told him, there would be someone favored by destiny and the will of the Divine King arriving here.

She did not care if the process was difficult, she only wanted the final result, to have Pandora take everything from Triton."

"Ha... What a fine thought."

"Just Mother Earth… I wonder if you've reclaimed the wisdom you lost, dancing gracefully on the edge of the blade, or long been battered and bruised, only preserving your life by the world's whimsy?"

"I may not know, but you… should be clear."

Continuing to smile, Epimetheus