Myth: The Spiritual Dominator

"Athens, come to think of it, this is my first time here."

Walking on the central avenue leading from the city gate to the palace, Ryan's pace was not hurried.

As dawn approached, there were more people on the street. The news of last night and the rumors spread by some people had spread, and the Athenians, who did not know the truth, began to gather towards the palace.

As time goes by, this number may increase, and even account for the vast majority of the city's population.

Like it or hate it, every Athenian would pay attention to the life and death of the king.

The whole city gradually became noisy with the voices of discussion rising and falling. In this noise, Ryan arrived in front of the palace.

A solemn axis, arranged columns, a standard vertical structure and patio-like lighting, as well as bronze statues tens of meters high.

As the royal palace of Athens, this is indeed a building full of classical atmosphere.

Of course, although the building is here, it is obviously not open to everyone.

Armored knights guarded the place, and even the bronze statues seemed to be some kind of alchemical creation. During this critical period, every entrant was subject to strict scrutiny.

"But I didn't plan on going in through the front door."

With a calm expression, Ryan had never proactively predicted himself. The "future" he came here to verify today was just a fate he had accidentally glimpsed.

Therefore, in theory Ryan could choose to refuse, but over the years, for any vision related to fate that he saw, he was willing to complete it without paying too much of a price.

There is no other reason, it’s just that as one of the four pillars of the world, fate has always been the most ethereal, least sense of existence, but omnipresent part.

Ryan wanted to change it, but he just wanted to change it like changing the course of a river, making it flow in the direction he wanted, or at least not the direction it was originally destined to flow.

But no matter whether he could succeed or not, he would never step into the river. After all, if you don't know if there is any danger, the best way is to not touch it.

He stretched out his hand and made a slight movement in the air, and Andrea's aura immediately deceived certain mechanisms.

Taking a step forward, Ryan "walked into" the palace.

……

Clang——

The sword fell to the ground. From the initial astonishment to resistance, and then from resistance to giving up, in the central hall of the palace, this "rebellion" was over in a short period of time.

From the beginning to the end, Andrea actually only killed three people. But many times, not killing people will not solve the problem, and killing people alone will not solve the problem either.

Except for the Count who made provocative remarks, the other two were influential figures in Athens.

But faced with the raised butcher knife, they were no different from others and ended their lives cleanly and efficiently.

For a moment, the crowd quieted down again. Those who were preparing to do something when Andrea swung the first sword stopped moving. The scene before them was beyond their expectations.

Have the clergymen now started using swords?

"…Your Highness, what do you mean by this?"

Someone in the crowd spoke up.

"As you can see."

The voice was calm, and Andrea felt that she was very calm at the moment.

"I am killing the tyrant's traitors."

"So, Your Highness, have you finished killing now?"

Someone else spoke up, and looking at the person who spoke, Andrea said calmly, "I don't have the final say on this."

"That depends on whether there are others who think that Athens no longer belongs to her king."

His eyes swept across the entire audience. Whether they were willing or not, everyone temporarily obeyed Andrea, who held the weapon of life and death.

I finally breathed a sigh of relief. The biggest trouble was finally solved.

She knew that many of the people present were not on the same page as her, but she couldn't just keep killing them.

On the one hand, it was her first time killing someone and she couldn't do anything so extreme all of a sudden. On the other hand, they hadn't had time to do anything yet. If they only sought momentary satisfaction, it would not only make others fear the new king's cruelty, but would also cause Athens to fall into chaos in a short period of time.

So I should suppress my objections now and deal with them bit by bit later. Thinking of this, Andrea felt that she had lived up to her father's expectations...

"Your Highness, it looks like they have nothing else to say, so what should we do next?"

"what?"

Looking for the voice, Andrea recognized the person who was speaking.

That was the legion commander who had been promoted by Theseus. If she had not killed the rude earl on the spot, the other party would probably have spoken for her.

But what does the other party mean by 'next'?

"It's about how we deal with today's events, Your Highness."

With anticipation on his face, the legion commander continued:

"The people need an explanation for what happened last night. The notices sent by the western countries need a response. What happened in Eleusis and how Athens should respond... And how is His Majesty now?"

"..."

There was some silence, and Andrea felt that she could no longer maintain her composure.

Today's events have come one after another, including the death of his father, the warnings and magic weapons he left behind, and the first murder to calm the situation. At least these can be accomplished as long as one is mentally prepared.

But what should she do with the rest? Her response to the Western countries must be rejection. Not to mention that her father is dead, even if he is still alive, he will never accept their "judgment".

Andrea would definitely not agree to conditions such as splitting up Athens, but she had to consider all aspects of such matters. She couldn't just respond with a simple "fight if you want".

As for the affairs of Eleusis, her father's death, and the mood of the people, she only knew one direction of these things.

The news of Theseus' death must be made public, but when and how should it be said? The people's emotions also need to be appeased, but how should they be appeased and how should they be made to believe in their own abilities?

These are all problems, and they cannot be solved by simply killing. Unless she has a power that is invincible in heaven and earth, she will have to use appropriate methods to deal with them in the end.

But how should she deal with this? Should she ask these ministers who had just been intimidated by her military power?

Then she felt that this would probably only cause herself more trouble...

“…I—huh?!”

After hesitating for a moment and about to say something, Andrea's eyes suddenly lit up and she took back the words she had prepared.

As the whole night passed, the princess finally smiled for the first time.

"Well, I will take care of it. The first thing I have to deal with is the citizens who were attracted by your movements last night."

"I will handle this matter with my...friends. All you need to do is maintain order at the scene. And finally, I don't want to hear any more 'rumors' spreading from nowhere."

"Now, I am going to speak to the citizens of Athens."

Andrea quietly put the blood-stained sword back into the scabbard and looked at the familiar figure who had appeared in the palace at some point.

Unexpectedly, he arrived so quickly. She thought he was still exploring some distant place.

But this is the best, just like that debate, even though she was standing alone on the stage, Andrea felt that she was no longer nervous.

……

The night has passed and the sun is rising.

Unlike previous days, today countless people gathered in front of the royal palace in Athens.

A large amount of noise filled the square, and even when Andrea stood on the stage, the noise showed no signs of stopping.

After all, every Athenian knew the king, but not everyone knew their princess. Even those who knew her only remembered her beauty and her title as a priestess, but didn't know what she was doing here.

Fortunately, this is a mythical world. Even without a loudspeaker, Andrea's voice can easily spread throughout the city.

Even though he was in a high tower outside the city, Hermes could hear the sound.

"You nobles of Athens, you servants of the gods, and all you citizens who now live in Athens:

"Yesterday, the lands of the Panathenaic states were attacked by foreign enemies again since the last king ascended the throne. Our enemies deceived the wise king with conspiracy, ambushed our lands, and launched a rebellion with shameless means."

"They secretly controlled the son of the previous king, enslaved his soul, and made him commit fratricide. In that tragic war, hundreds of brave knights died and tens of thousands of civilians were affected. Corpses were scattered throughout the city of Eleusis, and some were even left without bones."

"Today, the bells of Athens are ringing for this, and all of Athens is weeping for this."

"This is how Eleusis and the Western countries expressed their hatred and dissatisfaction with Athens. We helped them expand their cities and gain wealth, but they repaid us with hatred, spilling blood and fire on our land, and even sacrificing their own people."

"As of last night, the shameless Western countries even issued a criminal notice, trying to wash away their evil deeds; because their gods are not as good as our gods, and their countries are not as good as our countries, so they want to destroy, plunder and divide everything we have."

"This is intolerable and cannot be accepted by any rational and conscientious Athenian. If words can no longer solve the problem, then Athens should solve it in the Athenian way and implement our justice in this world."

"No matter how many resources and lives are consumed, no matter how tortuous the road ahead is, this is the inevitable path. Although killing will bring death, although the goddess has given us a wreath symbolizing peace. But the victorious lord is also watching us, and Athens has never feared the coming of war."

"For a thousand years, or even two thousand years, since the time before the new calendar was recorded and Athens was born, the Western nations have flourished on the most fertile land. But they enslaved their own people, and conspiracy and killing spread among them."

"The gods they believed in had left behind absurd and bloody myths time and again, which brought them pain and also brought about their inherent greed and madness."

"What the Athenians accomplished in 200 years was something they could not do in 2,000 years. The ships sailing on the sea, carrying goods to various countries, were loaded with the fruits of the Athenians' hard work and wisdom, which was what they wanted but could not get. So today, they created such a tragedy, trying to force us to give up everything we have."

"Think of the countries that banish their children to military camps, letting them grow up in battle and forget about shame; think of the countries that regard breast cutting as a ritual and engrave cruelty in their blood."

"This is no longer a simple conflict. It is destined to be a conflict between Athens as a civilization and barbarism, and a manifestation of the wisdom of the goddess. This is a comprehensive war, a war to defend our achievements."

"We must not only wipe out the rebellion in Eleusis, but we must also defeat any country that interferes in this matter. Whoever dares to set foot on the land of Athens with hostility is our enemy!"

"Relying on our faith and God, civilization will defeat barbarism, and wisdom will triumph over brutality."

"God-bless-Athens!"

"We will inherit the legacy of our ancestors and make Athens stand at the top of the world!"

"..."

The next moment, a roar like the sound of a tsunami echoed inside and outside Athens.

There is no doubt that an incident that was originally enough to shake people's hearts turned into a grand oath-taking ceremony.

If the God of Speech was standing here, he would definitely feel very happy... Inside the high tower, Hermes listened to the noise in the distance and tapped the table lightly.

Hermes had met Andrea before, and even after Theseus returned seriously injured, he was ready to clean up the mess for the next king of Athens.

After all, his friend never thought that he would die, so he didn't make many preparations in advance.

"But there are always natural rulers in this world."

"That is to say, there are still gods in this world..."

With some sigh, Hermes looked at his students.

"Solomon, get ready."

"Take what I gave you and the Athenian army to put down the rebellion."

"is teacher."

With a respectful look, Solomon bowed slightly.

"Well, let's go."

Nodding, Hermes still believed in his student's ability.

Watching his figure disappear before his eyes, the Great Alchemist approached the window.

The experiences in the virtual world were still vivid in his mind. When the Banquet of the Golden Apple appeared, he thought that another Trojan War was about to break out.

But later events told him that Troy probably would not exist, and if it did, it would only be the 'Athenian War' instigated by the 'Anti-Athenian Alliance'.

But then again, things have come to this point, what on earth is my cheap sister thinking?

"...wisdom...knowledge...words...magic..."

"I can't figure it out."

Shaking his head, Hermes gave up these unnecessary speculations.

Just as he never saw Zeus clearly, so did Athena. Instead of thinking about others, think about yourself.

For him, completing the experiment he had prepared for a long time was more important than anything else.