Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

In just a few flashes, unnoticed by any being, Hermes reached the end of the heavens, the place where the world collided with a giant hand.

Terrifying fluctuations emanated from there, threatening to tear apart his consciousness, and at this crucial moment, Hermes forced himself to be spirited, expending his last bit of strength to use his authority.

Thus, a crack opened before him, and through it came familiar yet strange energies. Hermes’s plan had succeeded, but at the same time, an immense sense of fear arose in the heart of the young deity.

Intuition told him that perhaps by passing through the crack, he really could reach where he wanted to go, but this very act was, in fact, not permitted by the world.

The real-world Hermes had not yet been born, but would be born eventually. So, if he went there, preempting the existence of the other... he would definitely have to pay a price.

No one knew what that price would be; it could be the stripping of godhood, it could be a curse, or it could even be the loss of the immortal essence of a deity.

After all, he was not an immortal to begin with, and things from a false world would not be effective in reality. So, if the present world was not willing to re-grant Hermes with the essence of immortality, then it was very possible that he would no longer be eternal.

"Ha, as if I have a choice... Whether another ’me’ can be born in the real world in the future, what does it have to do with me."

With a sneer, pausing only briefly, the stream of light surged forward once more. Not until he had completely entered the crack did Hermes finally breathe a sigh of relief. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Regardless of what he had to pay, at least he had escaped... However, he also felt that his consciousness was blurring.

The one who had burned everything was almost eternally asleep, and the godhood from the false world obviously couldn’t provide him with real divine power. As for the laws of the present world, they didn’t seem to be reacting too directly to him yet.

It looks like I’m going to sleep for a very long time, until the world passes its sentence... Letting his consciousness drift, amidst his reflections, Hermes took one last glance at that fantasy world.

Like a bubble about to burst, it was dazzling and shining, yet could only struggle helplessly before that inexplicable giant hand.

"Hmm? What’s that?"

Suddenly, something caught Hermes’s attention. It was on the finger of the giant hand, where a ring, verdant and radiant, was worn.

Tiny runes, like specks of dust, were etched onto it, as if interpreting some ultimate truths of the world, and watching this scene, although he didn’t know what it was, Hermes deeply etched it into his heart.

For something to be worn by such a terrifying being, it must also be one of the top treasures in the world. Moreover, in his current peculiar state, Hermes vaguely felt that it represented a kind of mystical knowledge highly compatible with him.

"When I wake up—if I can indeed wake up—I must study it."

Quietly deciding, leaving a bit of hopeful expectation for the future, as Hermes’s last bit of strength dissipated, like plunging into boundless darkness, his memory completely went silent.

All returned to calm, and this escapee from the fantasy world thus entered a long slumber, waiting for the day of future awakening.

······

Boom——

Crack——!

Outside Mount Olympus, streaks of silver serpents fell from the mountain’s peak, causing a great rumbling sound. The Divine King’s unmatched strength was unmistakable, a realm still beyond the reach of the other gods, yet it was almost visible to the naked eye that the power contained within the thunder was no longer as strong as it had been at the outset.

With the Divine Artifact scroll in hand, Athena in her white dress strolled midway up the Mount of the Gods. In a scene like the end of the world, the Goddess seemed no different from usual. Her eyes were still bright, only now there was no audience.

When the giant hand pressed down from the sky, Athena knew that the time had come. She gradually felt her connection with reality being restored, and at the same time, the power not her own within this body was also being withdrawn.

However, she did not feel regretful; after all, false things might serve as reference, but should never be relied upon.

Boom——

Another bolt of lightning exploded midair, opening up dark spatial rifts. This was a sign of the instability of space and time.

The fundamental rules of the world were losing their support; everything was becoming fragile and brittle... and watching this scene, after weighing the situation, Athena finally placed her hand on the Divine Artifact.

The reason Laine hadn’t personally taken this step was not only because he was still wearing down the last resistance of this world, but the most important point was that he couldn’t do it.

To this fantasy world, he was but an Outsider; to this memory, he was an observer; and even to the Destined course of Chaos, he was a disrupter. So he might be able to destroy this world, but he could never use it, only Athena was different.

The Goddess of Wisdom was an extremely important being in the destined light; it was still fundamentally manifested from her memories here. Everything in the fantasy world was naturally drawn to her, and most crucially, she bore a ’dead’ fate upon her.

Yes, if Erebus could see it, Laine could see it as well. Pallas Athena, the child of Metis who ’surpassed her father’, the ’arrogant king of gods and men’, once had the chance to end Zeus’s reign and become the fourth Sovereign of the Gods, but now, he no longer had the chance to be born.