Myth: The Spiritual Dominator

Thunder exploded over the Sea of ​​Pontonoris.

Thick clouds gathered, and strong winds raged on the sea. The few passing ships were shattered almost instantly, turning into insignificant dust in the storm.

Along with the huge shaking of the seabed, a sound like a giant's roar echoed in the sea.

"Zeus, what are you waiting for? Aren't you the King of Gods?"

Rumbling--

wow——

Thunder roared and heavy rain poured down.

The Pontonoris Sea, which was originally cloudless due to the gathering of the gods, became turbulent in an instant, just like Zeus' mood.

The next moment, a silver snake streaked across the clouds and struck the sea from the sky.

It seemed to be chasing something, moving all the way down without any hesitation.

Gaia is the earth, the sky is opposite to the earth, the sea is the concave surface of the earth, and the mountains are the convex surfaces of the earth. Therefore, the mountains can support the bottom of the sky and the sea, and together with the continents, they are connected to the netherworld.

Standing on a tall spire outside Athens, when Hermes saw the lightning hitting the seabed through the binoculars, he was basically certain that the King of Gods might have entered the underworld.

He didn't know what was happening there, but after seeing this scene, Hermes could basically guess what was about to happen there.

"Heh - it's true. It's completely different."

"I knew that shepherd Paris would be of no use at all."

With a long breath, the monkey version of Hermes, the 'Reborn', moved his eyes away from one end of the binoculars and stroked the observation tool he had created.

It seems to be in line with the physical structure and curves, and its shape does not appear abrupt, because as the founder and promoter of alchemy in this world, Hermes naturally knows the principle of lenses.

But this thing that looks like a telescope, functions like a telescope, and has a structure like a telescope cannot actually see far - or at least it is not something that works based on optical principles.

It should be called the Beidou satellite navigation system of the mythological era, and this telescope-like thing is the device for sending and receiving signals.

The cores of fallen meteorites were polished into lenses, which were connected to the stars in the sky through mysticism. The starlight then became the eyes and ears of Hermes, allowing him to see the other side of the distant ocean.

This is why the gods always like to release their power and wrap themselves up when they are really talking in secret, because in the mythological world, no one knows how many ways there are to peek from a distance.

"Put it away."

Snapped--

He snapped his fingers casually, and as soon as he finished speaking, an invisible magic servant came forward and took back the device.

The sky was filled with dark clouds, as if distant celestial phenomena had affected Athens. Of course, Hermes knew it was just an illusion.

But these are no longer important, because the result of the Golden Apple Banquet has been settled. Or, in other words, since learning that the priests of the God King came to Athens to request to hold a conference, Hermes has already faced the reality.

You know, long ago, he found the handsome shepherd Paris in advance based on his past "memories" and exerted all kinds of subtle influences on him. But until now, even though something has happened to Thetis' wedding, the mortal is still herding sheep.

No one noticed him, and no one invited him to choose the owner of the golden apple. Perhaps he would still have a chance to become a Trojan prince in the future, but at least for now, he still lived in the pine forest of Mount Ide with his wife.

So Hermes confirmed a fact for the umpteenth time, that is, his memories from the afterlife were of no use. Even though he himself had been an eyewitness of the Golden Apple incident, nothing that happened now corresponded to it.

Fortunately, he is the same. Compared with his past self, he has now found a new direction.

dong dong dong-

"Teacher, are you looking for me?"

"Yes...Solomon, although you just came back from Mycenae, I can't wait any longer. How did you gain from this trip? How are the things I need prepared?"

With a gentle wave of his hand, the door to the top platform of the tower opened. Looking at the apprentice who came in, Hermes was very satisfied.

Wearing a dark hooded robe and wearing the Emerald Ring's iconic alchemical ring, this was a young man with outstanding talent among mortals, and he had been by his side for many years.

Even the best alchemists need assistants, and Solomon has always done a pretty good job in this regard.

"Teacher, I found another forty-nine star cores in the Mycenae palace, but I still need you to review them to see if they meet the requirements... There are now fifty-six qualified star cores, all of which have been stored in the secret vault you requested... We are still collecting star cores from various countries at high prices, and the nobles of Athens have always supported us."

"However, due to your order to speed up the process, we have greatly increased the price of the acquisition, so that the wealth we have spent recently has exceeded our budget by more than one step... At the current speed, if this continues, we will soon run out of funds."

The voice came from under the hood, and the handsome young man with black hair spoke in a deep voice.

Without looking up, continuing to look at the ground in front of his toes, Solomon continued to talk about the current trouble.

"The export of alchemical products has been boycotted... Many churches have forcibly seized products that have flowed into foreign countries, claiming that these products are prohibited. Although the sea routes have been opened by the king, there is no shortage of magical products in the Silvermoon City area. Within the range covered by the maze, they don't even need alchemical products. According to the current financial situation, even if we take into account the credit debt, we can only last for half a year at most."

"...I understand. I'll figure out the money issue. Just continue with the acquisition."

Without paying any attention to the long string of content that followed, Hermes made the decision directly.

In this age where humans and gods coexist and money can buy extraordinary materials, he doesn't care how much he spends. But this time, Solomon, who has always raised no objection to Hermes's request, raised his head for the first time and asked a question that has been in his mind for a long time.

"Teacher, according to your selection ratio, only extremely rare star cores are within our acquisition range. If we can find a way to identify the difference -"

"You can't do that." Shaking his head slightly, Hermes refused: "Only I can tell the difference."

"...I understand, teacher, I was talking too much."

He bowed to apologize, but Hermes just waved his hand to indicate that it was okay.

Soon, the two discussed some recent affairs and solved the troubles Solomon encountered in his experiments and meditation.

When it was all over, young Solomon took one last look at his world-famous teacher, and then closed the metal door before leaving. Soon, Hermes was the only one left on the top of the tower.

When the door frame banged against him, Hermes stopped being a role model. The former god of travel and theft who had escaped from the virtual world sighed, casually lay on the fence, and scratched his head in annoyance.

"This speed is still too slow. It's really troublesome. It's still a long way from the minimum quantity I want..."

Although strictly speaking, the progress of the collection was not slow, after all, Hermes knew very well that what he collected was not star cores but something more precious, but people are always unsatisfied.

However, the progress cannot be accelerated at present. The large-scale purchases have caused some people who do not know the reason to hold their pockets and have no intention of selling anymore.

In fact, as Solomon said, if he had the ability to identify those star cores that met the requirements, the entire collection process would be faster and more accurate. But Hermes knew very well that he said that he was the only one who could identify the difference between these things and ordinary star cores not because he cherished them, but because this was not a special technology or magic, but a basic ability possessed by gods or former gods.

There is nothing strange about a god being able to recognize another god. This cannot be taught, at least Hermes does not have this ability yet.

"...If it really doesn't work, I'll just have to go back to my old job. If I don't get these things done quickly, I won't feel safe at all."

"Well, Apollo is now the god of the sun, so he should have quite a few... Tsk, I once stole his cattle, but now he's keeping up with the times."

The famous thief god curled his lips and thought of his experience in the virtual world. When he was still an infant, he took the initiative to steal the sacrifices that mortals offered to Apollo. As a result, when he came to the real world, it seemed that his first order would be to make money from Apollo again.

It can only be said that they are really destined to be together. Hermes secretly decided that if he really did this, he would definitely leave a gift for Apollo.

To be honest, apart from the emotional issues that all the gods have, Chaos, Hermes admires him.

"That's it, for safety."

It was just a pretense of encouragement, but Hermes meant it sincerely.

He did all this not for any ambition, at least so far, it was just for safety. After all, ever since that big hand had molded the entire virtual world into a pie, he had always felt a little insecure.

······

The Sea of ​​Pontonoris, where Hermes had just been observing.

boom--

With a loud thunder, the figure of the God King disappeared, leaving only the golden throne hanging empty.

"Poseidon, what are you talking about?"

Looking anxious, Hestia was already somewhat angry.

But facing the scolding from his eldest sister, Poseidon, who had been relatively quiet at the wedding banquet, was even angrier than her.

"Oh, my sister, I followed your advice, ignored Zeus's breach of his promise, and ran to the sea to arrange the wedding. I thought I was restrained enough. But I never knew that my friends had already found other families, and I was the only one who knew nothing!"

"Why, shouldn't I ask Zeus to learn about that strange and powerful god? Or will you not be satisfied until another Typhon disaster takes place on the sea?!"

"I--"

Speechless for a moment, Hestia knew that both of them were right, the problem was only the occasion and the position.

As for Poseidon, he does not have a whole pantheon to help him like Zeus. His only subordinates are the original sea gods who have gathered around him since the turn of the era.

Poseidon had already been wary of Zeus's forced intervention in Thetis' marriage because of the prophecy. He felt that the king of gods had finally set his sights on the rights of the sea, so he remained silent at the previous wedding and allowed the annoyed sea queen Amphitrite to compete for the golden apple.

As it turns out now, he seemed to have thought too simply. Before Zeus had time to do anything, it turned out that the original sea god had secretly contacted other beings.

From the perspective of the Gods, this was not a matter of principle. The Goddess of Life, as the main god, had once been a subordinate of the Lord of Darkness. But for Poseidon, this was undoubtedly intolerable.

So he wanted Zeus to solve the problem, and in front of the gods, Zeus did go. But in Hestia's eyes, the king of gods should never leave at this moment.

And just as she thought, the next moment, Queen Hera sneered. She didn't pay any attention to Poseidon and Zeus at all, but stretched out her hand and grasped the air, and the [Thunder Arrow] appeared directly in her palm.

As the Queen who shared power with the God King, she was one of the only two gods in the world who could summon this artifact. With the artifact in hand, feeling the unparalleled power, Hera threw it forward fiercely.

[Thunder Arrow] broke through the air and pointed directly at Artemis and Keto.

The former's power was far inferior to Hera's, and without the little power that the Lord of the Nine Hells had inhabited him, Keto would also be unable to block the attack.

The decision of the golden apple just now seemed to have become a waste of paper. Hera's actions undoubtedly proved that she would use force to solve the problem. The trajectory of the artifact was reflected in Artemis' eyes. The goddess knew that she was no match for him, but she still gritted her teeth and drew her bow.

Then the next moment, the only shield in the world that could restrain thunder stood between the two of them.