"Is this the golden apple?"
"Yes, this is the golden apple."
Heracles did not linger in the Heavenly Empress's garden. Carrying the fruit he had obtained, he used his bronze club to stabilize the tsunami and storms around the holy island, and together with his two companions, set up a large cauldron on the edge of the island.
Various medicinal herbs collected along the way were piled beside him, with the freshly picked golden apple taking the top spot.
Just looking at these so-called 'golden apples,' Prometheus was a little disappointed.
"Alright, perhaps it is also a golden apple."
"But compared to a true golden apple, this is just a fruit that is very useful to mortals."
In the ancient years, before the creation of the Silver Humans, the First Awakener had once followed his father to the Earth Mother's residence, which was then her Delphi Great Plain.
There, he had seen the true golden apple tree and the fruits that even gods coveted.
Compared to them, these so-called golden apples in front of him were merely superficial, and their only use for the gods might be to accelerate the regeneration of their divine bodies after destruction.
Other than that, only the taste was acceptable… Of course, this was a god's perspective.
For humans, these golden apples probably had no difference from the original version, because their greatest effect was to grant mortals a Life approaching eternity.
Approaching, not absolute, because the power of the golden apple would eventually run out, but that day was measured in tens of thousands of years.
Shaking his head slightly, Prometheus no longer paid attention to this imitation.
He simply took out the book of purgatory and found the page that recorded the potion recipe.
"Begin, refine your potion."
"This is not difficult; it is not a traditional magic potion, but a decoction with a unique imagery… It can make your existence between 'Life' and 'death,' avoiding the recognition of certain rules."
"Good."
Nodding slowly, Heracles took the book of purgatory.
It was only by watching this scene that Dionysus, who was beside him, suddenly realized.
What potion, what rule recognition, what was this for?
Weren't they a team assisting Heracles in completing his Twelve Labors? Could it be that after fighting Ladon the dragon, the God of the West Wind had already been here?
"Ahem, what is this for?"
Not understanding, Dionysus pointed to the large cauldron and asked.
"Naturally, it's for brewing a potion called 'Living Hell Decoction'."
Explaining, at this point, the Great Hero also wanted to see what choice his companion would make.
"You just heard its effect: it can reverse the state between Life and death, making the user neither alive nor dead, avoiding the constraints of certain rules."
"Certain rules?"
Not understanding, Dionysus continued to ask.
"For example?"
"For example, the power of the Styx River."
Heracles replied faintly.
"Styx?"
Hearing this, Dionysus was startled, then enlightened.
"So you already knew."
The power of the Styx River—when the Great Hero mentioned this term, his first reaction was the River of Oaths, Styx, followed by the Acheron River that blocked the entrance to the Underworld.
According to the arrangements of Zephyrus and the God King, their next step was indeed to go to the Underworld.
Atlas's attitude was already clear; next was Hades, the King of the Underworld.
Although the Underworld had always been regarded as a remote and desolate place by the gods, this did not mean that Zeus did not value their existence.
On the contrary, the Underworld gathered too many secrets; if he hadn't personally visited the abyss, Tartarus would probably have been a stop on Heracles's journey.
Dionysus did not understand everything about this, but he knew at least some parts.
"So your potion was prepared for the journey to the Underworld? Actually, there's no need for this."
"Charon, the ferryman of the Styx, would never dare to stop you from crossing the river; at most, he'd play some small tricks… Hmm, it's good to be prepared, after all, it's the Underworld."
Nodding, Dionysus expressed understanding.
Beside him, Heracles fell silent upon hearing this, finally shaking his head with an inexplicable expression.
Is that so? So the gods' arranged subsequent trials are also in the Underworld? This truly is a coincidence guided by fate.
Looking up at the bronze club standing near the island, stabilizing the sea, the Great Heroincreasingly felt this subtle power.
Atlas had said that holding up the heavens was not about the magnitude of strength, but more about the presence or absence of qualification.
The entire human world might not be able to find a second person with this qualification, and he just happened to have it.
However, in this world, there is never love without reason, nor hatred without reason.
He was so unique, so what was the price?
Typhon was born great, full of glory, but their ultimate fate was to lose their Life and everything.
If one day in the future, he also stood in the same situation as it, what choice would he make…
"Ender."
His hands kept working, and the Great Hero asked in his heart.
"I heard from Prince Prometheus that the God King once tried to recruit it during the Typhon Disaster?"
"That's right." Ender affirmed.
"You say… what was it thinking at the time?"
"How would I know that."
Shaking his head slightly, the puppet guessed:
"No one knows how the God King truly coerced and enticed, but it was probably about things he cared about."
"For example, everything exists only if you are alive; if you die, there is nothing. As a monster, it would only be a foil in the gods' stories; as a demon, its resistance would become a laughingstock, and the world would only mock its incompetence."
"But these were probably useless to Typhon; I can even guess how it would reply to him."
"Oh?"
"Nothing to be surprised about." Ender said with a smile: "It would probably just tell Zeus, 'I am a monster to begin with… I am a demon to begin with.'"
"…"
"You are right."
After a moment of silence, Heracles spoke calmly. He didn't know the true situation, but the Great Hero was willing to believe the puppet's guess.
Monster and demon were symbols Typhon was born with; its fortune and misfortune stemmed from this.
But the King of Ten Thousand Demons never cared about this… So no matter if fate's gift was good or not, when the day of its price arrived, Heracles chose to accept it with pleasure.
······
On the edge of the holy island, the Great Hero was brewing his potion.
In the center of the holy island, several Sea Nymphs who had woken from their coma were temporarily unable to accept the resistance of humans, yet they feared Heracles's power.
Before today, humans in their Memory never disobeyed the commands of the gods. And from the gods who occasionally visited the holy island, they had heard only of the piety and kindness of the gods' followers.
No matter who it was, as long as they were connected to a god, even if a mortal was not their follower, they would surely prostrate themselves in worship; this was an inherent nature of humans.
It wasn't until recently, when that fellow named Heracles brazenly broke in, that they panicked and realized that humans dared to harm them, just like demons.
This completely went against their past worldview, making it utterly unbelievable.
Fortunately, at this moment, a Nymph raised a question, because Ladon the dragon was already dead.
"He must not be human, because humans cannot defeat Ladon."
With conviction, the Nymph further exemplified: "The gods themselves could not defeat this Typhon's Sons; only the great God King could imprison it."
"That fellow is definitely not human; he is an ancient god who is dissatisfied with the God Court, and he came here to provoke the Heavenly Empress."
"What we should do now is not anything else, but rush to Olympus to complain to the God King that a human has overturned the Heavenly Empress's garden and taken all the fruits here."
"With the God King taking action, no matter who he is, he will surely not be able to get away with it."
As soon as she spoke, the Nymph's words immediately won the approval of those present.
The seven Sea Nymphs and Nymphs then chose a representative to go to Olympus to accuse Heracles of his crimes.
As for the rest, they would stay here and continue to complete the work Hera had given them.
"Hmm… but speaking of which."
"That ancient god disguised as a human doesn't seem to know that there are never just fruits on the trees in Her Majesty's orchard."
"Besides those not yet picked, what we have collected is the main part, and it is the stock Her Majesty uses when hosting banquets for the gods."
Hesitating for a moment, before departing, the chosen Sea Nymph suddenly said.
"It's a pity, we sisters have guarded the golden apple tree for so many years, yet we have never tasted a golden apple."
"What do you say… isn't that a shame?"
"…"
As soon as she spoke, the Sea Nymph regretted it.
She was still too rash; how could she blurt out what was on her mind like that? Although they had envied it in their casual chats, the situation was different now…
However, just as she was about to make amends, she unexpectedly found that the others had all fallen silent.
The bare golden apple tree swayed in the wind. Biting her lip slightly, there was no turning back once the arrow was shot, the Sea Nymph gathered her courage and couldn't help but tentatively ask:
"How many golden apples did this mysterious ancient god, who dared to defy the God Court, take away?"
"I don't remember clearly how many fruits were on the tree before; does anyone remember?"
There were one hundred and seven fruits on the tree; she remembered it clearly.
But the scene was silent for a short while longer, then a Nymph whispered:
"I don't remember clearly either, maybe just over a hundred."
"Hmm, of course… I might also be mistaken, perhaps even more."
"After all, that god was too powerful; we couldn't even stop him with all of us combined."
"…"
No one refuted, and no one agreed.
At this moment, the Sea Nymphs and Nymphs looked at each other.
If the legendary Goddess of Justice, Themis, were still on Olympus, they would never dare to act recklessly.
Before that deity, their lies would be like jokes, and every bit of their wickedness would be laid bare under the Evil-Slaying Sword.
However, the Goddess of Law had long since left Olympus, and who would listen to the excuses of an ancient god who had once raided the golden apple tree?
"…This is not our fault; blame this ancient god for being truly evil."
"He disguised himself as a human, injured us, and stole two-thirds… half… stole all the golden apples from the holy island! But there was nothing we could do, after all, his strength was too great, even Ladon was killed by him."
"In front of him, with our strength, we were powerless to stop him."
"Sigh… It's just a pity that we failed Her Majesty's trust. At Her Majesty's banquet next year, I'm afraid there will be no more golden apples… What do you say, should we all go and apologize to Her Majesty?"
"…Good."
"…You are right…"
"…Right…"
Looking at each other again, the few seemed to have reached some kind of consensus.
Soon, an ocean current, manipulated by the Sea Nymphs, transformed into a ship, carrying the seven towards the mainland.
golden apples might not be of much use to true gods, but they were not true gods.
Especially for Nymphs born from plants, golden apples were nothing less than a second Life to them.
It was fine when there was no opportunity before, but now that there was an opportunity… who wouldn't want such a treasure that gathered the essence of heaven and earth?
...
The next day.
On the outskirts of Olympia, where a battle had recently taken place.
Ares stood solemnly, fully armed.
The bronze chariot had been repaired, and the four Heavenly Horses had miraculously survived.
The God of War held his spear and shield, reviewing the hastily organized army before him.
When standing still, the ranks were orderly, but once they moved, the formation would probably scatter… However, good morale compensated for this; every one of them was a fervent believer in the gods.
Given the limited time, this was the best result Ares could achieve.
Centered around Olympia, hundreds of thousands of fully armed soldiers were conscripted by him, and millions of cannon fodder and farmers joined the expedition.
Even without doing anything, when he personally, as a god, took on the role of commander of this army, an incredibly powerful force was bestowed upon the God of War.
This was the first time he had done this, and the effect truly exceeded Ares's expectations.
In the past, due to his divine status, the God of War had almost never commanded an army of more than a hundred thousand as a 'commander'; he was more often a general, a warrior fighting on the battlefield.
But what he hadn't expected was that when he finally did so, he suddenly discovered a detail he hadn't noticed before—when he was within the vast military formation, as the true commander of the army, the power from 'royal authority order' seemed to connect with him.
For a moment, the suppression of the present world's Law seemed to loosen a bit, weakened by the order personally established by the God King.
Feeling all this, Ares was practically in tears. So, even though Father God was so strict with me, he still cared about me in his heart.
Even before everything began, he had left a 'backdoor' for him!
Unaware that this was just a coincidence, the God of War was filled with gratitude at this moment.
Come on, Father God, you just watch from Mount Olympus.
This time, I will use the blood of my enemies to vindicate my title as the God of War!