Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality Chapter 625

Chapter 625: Chapter 205 The Path

The Wind God left the Temple, and far away at the Acropolis, the conversation between Gaia and Pandora continued.

Perseus, God of Material Destruction, son of Crius and Eurybia, and father of Hecate.

Strictly speaking, the godhood of “Material Destruction” should belong to a lower rank under “Death” in other worlds, but just like the death god Thanatos in the original myth, who was merely a soul messenger because of Chaos's imbalance of life and death, Perseus's actual godhood was closer to 'Destruction' and 'Dissolution,' rather than 'Death' and 'The End.'

However, this also matched his identity as the former God of Meteorology, the son of Crius. The essence of Perseus's authority leaned towards the disaster and destruction aspect of meteorology, which was the collapse of natural material structures. He later shared the domain of 'Natural Calamities' with the Earth-Shaker God and Lord of the Storm, Poseidon.

In terms of lineage, he was the uncle of Zephyrus, one of the Twelve Olympian Gods whom Zeus trusted the most. He was also the son-in-law of Coeus, God of the Lightless Celestial Body, and the grandson of Pontus, the Ancient Sea God.

In terms of power, he was formidable by relying solely on his innate divine position, barely exceeding the Former Sun God Helios, who only managed the sun's operation.

At the start, Perseus seemed to have everything he wanted. Among the Titans Deities, he was one of the few in the second generation with the best innate conditions–until the day Hecate was born.

On that day, much like Poseidon, Perseus, whose godhood also leaned towards natural calamities and destruction, spoke recklessly at the banquet of the second-generation Divine King, expressing his dissatisfaction with his wife, the Goddess of Meteor, Asteria, while mocking Cronus, claiming 'he offended the heavens,' resulting in the birth of such a deity without a godhood.

His anger was not without reason, as his marriage to Asteria was essentially an exchange, a medium through which the Divine King sought to win over the God of the Lightless Celestial Body against the Ancient Sun God. Yet, regardless of the reasons, Perseus paid the price for his outlandish speech.

Coeus, the God of the Lightless Celestial Body, immediately abandoned this disliked son-in-law, and Crius began to despise this son. As for Cronus, who was initially somewhat remorseful, he didn't lose his temper at the time, which was already very restrained.

After single-handedly destroying his network, Perseus, aware of this, didn't mind much. At the time, although his power had not reached its peak, he was already a true god of intermediate divine power. He was unwilling to be inferior to others, and as long as he had power, where could he not go?

Thus, Perseus immediately went to the barren and isolated land beneath, into the Underworld illuminated by the Nether Moon. The laws there fitted well with his godhood, and if he could conquer the gods of the Underworld, once he ascended to greater divine power, considering the mid-second epoch's situation, he could be considered a lord.

However, the ideal was beautiful, but reality was harsh.

Despite being a god not known for settling down, since the start of the second epoch, he disappeared without a trace. Not only did Hecate fail to hear any news of him, but even inquiries with Leto yielded only vague answers, and there was, of course, a reason for this. (See 3-88)

For shortly after arriving in the underworld, Perseus encountered Gaia. Or rather, before Hades was born, the Underworld was originally part of Gaia's power.

“So… He has been imprisoned by you for an epoch?”

Pandora asked softly, gazing at the sphere that glittered with starlight.

It was unimaginable to her that such a powerful deity ended up in this plight.

“No, not quite. Initially, I just wanted him to help me seek the whereabouts of those children in the Abyss… Unfortunately, he eventually proved with facts that a being imprisoned by the Divine King can only be released by the Divine King–at least in the first two epochs, the Abyss was like that.”

“Later on, he seemed dissatisfied with my allowing him to enter Tartarus, so I kept him a little longer, intending to let him reflect on his mistakes before freeing him. But when Zeus was born, and Cronus's power increased daily, my attention turned to the surface, and I forgot about him.”

Gaia spoke lightly. When mentioning 'forgot,' she showed no hint of embarrassment.

In fact, she hadn't done it on purpose. In dealings involving her offspring, Gaia had always been relatively fair. So until Perseus fell out with his father, it was only then that the Mother Earth sought him as labor to explore the Abyss. With Zeus as a replacement, she set him aside even further.

Originally, Gaia planned to release Perseus after Zeus freed the Titans. However, plans did not keep up with changes. From the day Zeus released the Titans, the ten-year Titan War, the epoch change calamity, Gaia's centuries-long slumber; as soon as she woke, she fought against Olympus, only to be defeated face-to-face, leading to the nurturing of Typhon… To Gaia, she hadn't had a moment's rest.

When Typhon was defeated, she finally realized that the current Zeus could no longer be overthrown by sheer violence. Recalling Perseus, whom she had forgotten for so long, and hearing his curses and hatred in captivity, a somewhat darkened Gaia decided to go all out.

At the moment Typhon completely perished, Mother Earth was absent because she was preoccupied with these matters. Using the power remaining on the Outer God from the Nine Realms' destruction, she crushed Perseus's existence, creating a situation similar to that of the Ancient Sun God.

“…So, should I…?”

Should she merge with this authority? But she was acutely aware of how difficult such a fusion could be.

She didn't know that facing the Source Power was something only a truly complete Great Divine Power consciousness could achieve, but Pandora still understood that it wasn't something she could safely accomplish.

Instinctively, she took half a step back, yet the cold touch from behind reminded her that this was the venue for the debate conference.

She couldn't retreat, nor could she flee from Gaia… Pandora looked towards Epimetheus, naturally receiving no response. She then turned her gaze to the jar in her embrace, and as it had every time before, it appeared as an utterly ordinary jar, showing no reaction.

“Yes, just as you imagined, but take it step by step–you will succeed.”

Nodding to confirm Pandora's guess, Gaia ignored her plea for help.

When she created the Silver Generation, she had seen this descendant of Iapetus, and he lacked the courage to do anything, just as he had no courage to save his two imprisoned brothers.

As for that magic jar…

“Relax, it's said to be a gift from destiny; it's the reason I chose you.”

“If there's any power in this world that commands the respect of the Primordial Gods, then true destiny is one of them. I don't know if it can truly help, but for something that is impossible under normal circumstances, there's nothing to do but rely on destiny.”

“But it's a gift for humans.” Gripping the jar that once brought her brief glory but more often pain, Pandora tried to persuade Gaia. “It won't work for your request!”

“No, it will. This is what Laine owes me!”

Her voice suddenly heightened, and her face distorted for a moment, but the next instant, like a change of faces, Gaia returned to normal.

“It will.” She said softly, smiling like a woman in her forties. “The tales say it's 'Hope,' don't they?”

“Perhaps when its master faces doom, it will activate and pull you out of the abyss of despair?”

Chilled to the bone, Pandora realized she could no longer refuse.

She didn't know what she had done wrong and why everyone in the world deceived and used her.

The gods created her, and she woke on Mount Olympus in the halls of gods, thinking herself a favored child of the divine. But later, she learned her reason for being was as a tool, one excuse among many to justify the Bronze Age's demise.

Epimetheus married her, the Graces flattered her, and she lived happily in the Mortal Realm for a while. But later, she realized again that the Afterthinker never loved her. He perceived this god-made human woman as a pawn for achieving his aims.

Later, the fourth generation of humans, who attained life from her offspring, spurned and cursed her, leaving Pandora to place all her hopes in the jar she held. Yet, 'hope' was like a light in the darkness, ever visible but never graspable.

Until today, 'hope' not only failed to assist her but led her into another abyss.

Reflecting on her past life, Pandora suddenly realized she seemed never to have been loved.

Maybe at her creation, was there something from Hestia? After all, only she granted Pandora a guardian, not those seemingly useful but calamity-breeding endowments.

No, that was probably just mercy too.

“Is this what you call 'Hope'?”

Raising the jar in her hand, Pandora smiled brightly.

“I find it to be a curse.”

“No one would curse you, nor are you worthy of being cursed by the Lord of the Spirit Realm.”

Gaia spoke nonchalantly, unconcerned with Pandora's thoughts.

“Now, commence your first step–whether by mere coincidence, the fragmented divine fragments seem to have a strict limitation in size. Apart from the core authority, their sizes have been allocated into nine kinds.”

“5, 3, 1, with qualitative changes at each odd number, and since you're the god-created first-generation human, skip the first five directly to the sixth. With me here, no one will disturb you.”

“… Then let's go.”

Nodding, knowing there was no other choice, Pandora reached out and touched the crystalline sphere.

Fear no longer held her.

'If this be a curse, then I am calamity.'

'What calamity fears destruction?'

Her palm touched the authority left by Perseus, and an instinct arose within Pandora.

Her wish might not have been warped; she indeed would become a true god wielding authority, incapable of being usurped; her future power would not truly derive from Perseus's remnants.

She seemed to glimpse another path, a course destiny pointed out to her.

Yet it remained blurry because true destiny is fair. What it takes from you, it gives back; what it intends to give, it first demands a price.

And perhaps all she endured in the past… were insignificant leftovers of that price.

“Hmm?”

Feeling a slight disturbance in his heart, Laine, seated in the audience, sensed his spirit being touched momentarily.

Something good seemed to have happened, but it might also bring about some negative consequences. As he tried to explore this sensation, he garnered no results.

“What's wrong?”

Multitasking, engaging in 'pointing out the landscape, battling tongues of the masses' on stage while being wary of Gaia's presence, Iapetus still had room to notice this fellow beside him.

The origins of this person remained a mystery, and the God of Speech would not trust him carelessly.

“Nothing much, perhaps… a revelation from destiny? After all, I'm a prophet.”

Shaking his head, Laine dismissed lightly.

“… This debate is almost over. Afterward, we part ways.”

Staring at Laine for a while, Iapetus remarked indifferently.

“As you wish, but my personal suggestion is that you should linger a bit longer.”

Smiling, Laine pointed towards the sky. Iapetus, following his gesture, showed a brief moment of confusion before awareness struck.

'Zephyrus? So, it was him. His level of surveillance remained so basic… just his luck was quite exceptional.'

Shaking his head, Iapetus recalled his past venture to Delphi right under the other's nose, while Laine smiled without comment.

Over the years, as his understanding of destiny deepened, he grasped somewhat the situation of Zephyrus.

Fate is always fair, what it gives, it takes; what it takes, it gives in return.

Laine was not the master of destiny; he was the God of Spirituality, not the God of Destiny. Even he could not defy this iron rule.

So the curse Zephyrus endured, seen from another perspective, might just indeed be a unique form of luck.

Chapter end

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