Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

Thunder exploded on the sea of ​​Punto Norris.

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

Accompanied by the huge earthquake on the seabed, there was a sound like the roar of a giant that echoed on the sea.

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

Rumble——

Wow——

Thunder boomed and rain poured down.

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

The next moment, a silver snake streaked through the clouds and hit the sea from the sky.

It seemed to be chasing something, 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 bulges of the earth. Therefore, the mountain peaks can support the bottom of the sky and the sea, and connect the underworld with the continent.

Standing on a tall spire outside Athens, when he saw the lightning hitting the seabed through binoculars, Hermes was basically certain that the God King had probably entered the underworld.

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

"Ha--it's true, it's not the same at all."

"I knew that Paris the shepherd would have no effect at all."

Taking a long breath, the monkey version of 'Reborn' Hermes moved his eyes away from one end of the binoculars and rubbed the observation tool he made.

It seems to be in line with the physical structure and curves, and its shape is not obtrusive, 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, works like a telescope, and is structured like a telescope can’t actually see far—or, at least, it’s not something that relies on optical principles to work.

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

The cores dropped from the meteorites were polished into lenses, and under the influence of mysticism, they were connected with the stars in the sky. Then the starlight turned into the eyes and ears of Hermes, allowing him to see the far end of the sea.

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

"Put it away."

Snapped--

After snapping his fingers, an invisible magic servant immediately stepped forward to take back the device.

Dark clouds were rolling in the sky, as if distant celestial phenomena had affected Athens. Of course, Hermes knew this was just an illusion.

But these are no longer important, because the result of the Golden Apple Banquet has been settled. In other words, Hermes has already recognized the reality since he learned that the priests of the God King came to Athens to request a conference.

You know, a long time ago, he found the handsome shepherd Paris in advance based on his past 'memory', and exerted various subtle influences. But until now, even though things have changed at Thetis' wedding, the mortal is still herding sheep.

No one paid attention to him, and no one invited him to choose the owner of the golden apple. Maybe he will still have the opportunity to become a Trojan prince in the future, but at least for now, he is still living in the pine forest of Mount Ide with his wife.

So Hermes didn't know how many times he confirmed the fact that his memories from later generations were of little use. Even though he himself had been a witness to the Golden Apple Incident, nothing that happened now could compare with it. corresponding to it.

It's probably the same for him. Compared to the person he was before, he has now found a new direction.

Dong dong dong——

"Teacher, are you looking for me?"

"Yes...Solomon, although you have just returned from Mycenae, I can't wait. How was the harvest of this trip? How are you preparing the things I want?"

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

Wearing a dark hooded robe, he wears the iconic alchemy ring of the Emerald Ring. This is a young man with outstanding talents among mortals, who has been by his side since many years ago.

No matter how good an alchemist is, he still needs assistants, and at this point, Solomon has always done a pretty good job.

"Teacher, in the palace of Mycenae, I found forty-nine more star cores, but you still need to see them to know whether they meet the requirements... There are now fifty-six of those qualified star cores, and they are all stored Entered 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, because of your order to speed up action, we have greatly increased the price of acquisitions, so that the wealth we have spent recently has exceeded the budget by more than a cent... At the current rate, 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 raising his head and 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 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 Silver Moon City area. Within the range covered by the maze, they don't even need alchemical products at all. According to the current financial situation, even if the credit debt is taken into account, we can only last for half a year at most."

"...I know, I will find a way to deal with the money, just continue to purchase."

Hermes made a decision without paying attention to the long string of content behind.

In this era where people and gods coexist and money can buy extraordinary materials, he doesn't care how much he spends. But this time, Solomon, who has never raised any objections to Hermes's requests, raised his head for the first time and asked a question that has been in his mind for a long time.

"Teacher, in fact, according to your selection ratio, only extremely rare star cores are within our acquisition range. If we have a way to identify the difference between them-"

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

"...I understand, teacher, I said too much."

Bending down to apologize, but Hermes just waved his hand, indicating that it was okay.

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

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

And when the slight knock on the door frame sounded, Hermes no longer maintained the appearance of a teacher. The former god of travel and theft who escaped from the virtual world sighed slightly, casually lying on the fence, scratching his head in distress.

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

Strictly speaking, the progress of the collection is not slow. After all, Hermes knows very well that what he collects is not star cores, but something more precious, but people are always unsatisfied.

However, the progress can no longer be accelerated. The large-scale purchases have made some people who don't know why cover their pockets and don't plan to sell them again.

In fact, as Solomon said, if he has the ability to identify those star cores that meet the requirements, the whole collection process will only be faster and more accurate. But Hermes knows very well that he said that only he can recognize the difference between these things and ordinary star cores not because he cherishes them, but because this is not a special technology or magic, but a basic ability possessed by gods or former gods.

It's nothing strange that a god can recognize another god. This can't be taught, at least Hermes doesn't have this ability now.

"...If it 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 a lot of money... Tsk, I once stole his cows, but now I'm 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 in his infancy, he took the initiative to steal the sacrifices offered to Apollo by mortals. As a result, when he came to the real world, his first order seemed to be on 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, except for the emotional problems that Chaos and other gods have, Hermes still admires him.

"That's it, for safety."

He pretended to cheer him up, but Hermes' words were quite sincere.

He did all this not for any ambition, at least so far, it was just for safety. After all, ever since he was crushed into a pie by that big hand along with the entire illusory world, he has always lacked a sense of security.

······

The Sea of ​​Pontonoris, where Hermes was just observing.

Boom——

With a thunderous explosion, the figure of the God King disappeared, leaving only the golden throne hanging in the air.

"Poseidon, what are you talking about?"

Looking anxious, Hestia was already a little angry.

But facing the reprimand of his elder sister, Poseidon, who was a little quiet at the wedding banquet before, was even more angry than her.

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

"Why, shouldn't I let Zeus learn about that strange and powerful god? Or will you be satisfied only when another disaster of Typhon is staged 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.

For Poseidon, he did not have a whole pantheon to help him like Zeus did. His only subordinates were the original sea gods who had surrounded him since the turn of the era.

Zeus's forced intervention in Thetis's marriage because of the prophecy had made Poseidon wary. He felt that this was the king of gods finally aiming at the rights of the sea, so he remained silent at the previous wedding and allowed the bored sea queen Amphitrite to participate in the fight for the golden apple.

As a result, it seems that he still thought too simply. Before Zeus had time to do anything, it turned out that the original sea god family had secretly contacted other existences.

From the perspective of the God Court, this is not a matter of principle. As the main god, the goddess of life was once the subordinate of the Lord of Darkness. But for Poseidon, this is undoubtedly intolerable.

So he asked Zeus to solve this 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 attention to Poseidon and Zeus at all, but stretched out her hand and grasped the void, and [Thunder Arrow] appeared directly in her palm.

As a queen who shared power with the king of gods, she was the only two gods in the world who could summon this artifact. And 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 of the Lord of the Nine Hells, Keto could not block this attack.

The decision of the golden apple just now seemed to have become a waste paper. Hera's actions undoubtedly proved that she wanted to solve the problem with force. The trajectory of the artifact was reflected in Artemis' eyes. The goddess knew that she was not an opponent, but she still gritted her teeth and drew her bow.

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