Chapter 780: 283: Behind the Seven Veils (12 Days Ahead)

Chapter 780: Chapter 283: Behind the Seven Veils (12 Days Ahead)

“Is your heart ruthless enough?”

“What do you mean?”

Unconsciously looking up, he met Laine’s gaze.

This time, no one spoke, but invisible messages still emerged in Heracles’s mind.

The fresco on the dome seemed to have a double image, with a vortex spiraling into existence another opposing stream.

In it, Heracles saw life, slaughter, and the flesh; he also saw deceit, lies, and civilization.

...

Above the nine layers of interface, a king with red pupils and wings perched; in the endless void, the Ancient Serpent around the Central Court hissed.

In the axis of the nine layers of interface, Heracles seemed to see a colossal tree growing snakelike.

Order and covenant were its branches, and blood and body transformed into the sources of its strength.

At that moment, an intuition told Heracles that he could also achieve his goal here, with laws to follow and traces to pursue.

This interface hidden in Tartarus did not refuse any mortal’s desires, as long as they could pay an equivalent price.

“Here… it’s also harvesting faith and souls?”

“There’s nothing strange about that, after all, All Gods harvest with bloodlines and kingdoms; Demons harvest with desires and contracts—essentially, what’s the difference?”

Laine spread his hands and retorted casually,

“In fact, with the latter, you can refuse, but with the former, as long as you live, you cannot refuse.”

“Like now, the All Gods won’t respond to you, but the demons can, so will you refuse?”

“…”

A longer silence than the previous two times followed, and Heracles did not know how to deny it.

Should he refuse?

Of course, he could refuse.

But compared to the first two methods, the third one was so simple.

Killing, sacrificing, accumulating enough ‘price.’

Not only souls, in fact, the essence of real-world flesh is similarly meaningful to Purgatory; after all, the Abyss is different from the Spirit Realm—it is chaotic, but matter exists there too.

All he needed was to kill, with Heracles’s strength, he could completely become an honored guest of All Countries, conducting massacres openly and honorably.

Killing the soldiers of enemy nations, exchanging their lives for status and fame, using their blood and souls after death to satisfy his own wishes, what could be wrong with that?

Don’t the All Gods do the same, collecting everything from mortals before and after death, under the guise of protection…

“No!”

Startled suddenly, Heracles stepped back.

His previous thoughts seemed to turn into actual voices echoing in his ears; he watched Laine intently before him.

Was it his doing, or was his own mind unsettled?

Heracles did not know, but what he did know was that, indeed, he had been tempted.

Now he could refuse, but he did not know whether he could still refuse in the future.

“So, the third method—you still want to give that up?”

“…”

Hesitant to speak, Heracles wasn’t a strictly ‘righteous’ person.

If it were just killing a few people, perhaps he really would have agreed.

But to achieve what he wanted, he feared gambling would cause mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Resurrection wasn’t difficult, the difficulty was in living without dying.

For a mortal to achieve true ‘Undying’ was exceedingly difficult.

After all, there were too many things in this world that could take a life of Longevity, even Heracles himself could not ignore the attacks of Divine Power.

“If I agree now, perhaps nothing would happen for now.”

“But once I’ve slaughtered countless lives, would I really still want to pay this price just to resurrect one person?”

Step—

He took a step forward, a golden light emerging in Heracles’s eyes.

Three questions, three considerations, his Divinity at this moment was like a brief and illusory flame ignited.

It consumed flesh, bones, spirit, even itself.

Something seemed to have been burnt away, yet it seemed like nothing had.

But for some reason, Heracles felt much more at ease.

“Heh.”

“Pursuing supreme power.”

“Devouring the wisdom of the wise.”

“A heart cold and ruthless.”

“With the will of Zeus flowing in your veins, you were influenced once, so why not a second time?”

Laine smiled faintly, even without witnessing, he was certain that the person Heracles wanted to resurrect had ties with Zeus.

Because the only ones who could influence him were Hera, who had once nurtured him, and Zeus, who gave him Divine Blood.

And a true Demigod must always discard these intrinsic influences.

“Ah, the hero from Thebes, it seems you are not satisfied with any of the three methods.”

“You’re a picky young man, but no matter, as I’ve said, there’s little in this world I don’t know.”

With a slight struggle, but Laine eventually did not let Heracles down.

He lifted his hand one last time, gently touching the dome of The Temple.

The ephemeral images of Tartarus and Purgatory also disappeared, as if everything in this world ceased to exist.

However, feeling the ‘flame’ gradually extinguishing within, Heracles seemed to see something else.

“That is…”

All tangible things were gone, yet the intangible gave birth to existence.

Vaguely, in the emptiness of the dome, Heracles felt as if he saw another world.

It corresponded remotely with the material realm but contained all possibilities of the universe.

“What is this?”

Heracles asked.

Standing beside, Laine answered with a smile.

“It is naturally the last solution you wanted.”

“Since you don’t want the first three, the only path left is for you.”

“You’ll head to the real Spirit Realm.”

“Not smuggling, not carrying anyone’s mission, just for what you truly desire.”

“You will travel west, find the correct entrance beneath Mount Othrys that once supported heaven and earth, and then start a grand adventure.”

“Adventure?”

“Yes.”

His smile still in place, Laine spread his arms as if embracing the world.

“Old legends say that at the beginning of all things, Spirituality and Matter were born at the start of everything.”

“Everything in the material world stems from this, and the Master of Spirituality then lifted the seven veils, looking down upon the world from the summit in the Spirit Realm.

“And if you follow the right path, passing through the veils that the Gods have draped among mortals, and finally reach the peak of Mount of the Gods…”

“Then whatever your wish may be, it will inevitably be fulfilled.”

“…Master of Spirituality?”

Muttering the name to himself, Heracles thought this to be difficult, yet not impossible.

He didn’t know how to sway an Ancient God born at the dawn of creation, but if it was just a matter of meeting, then he felt he could manage it.

Moreover, compared to stealing from someone else’s home, he preferred to meet the master directly and talk to him.

So, gazing at the hallucinatory dome, Heracles earnestly said, “Thank you for your wisdom.”

“If I really can fulfill my wish, I will certainly keep my promise.”

“No rush.”

With a gentle shake of his head, Laine turned around, his back to the young hero.

Before him was the broken statue of Demeter, ironically placed within the temple that once belonged to her.

“Passing through the seven layers of Spirit Realm is no simple feat.”

“Your strength might be sufficient, but your experience, insights, wisdom, and skills are still far from enough.”

“You need to temper yourself, but mere trials aren’t enough for perfection.”

“You also need a mentor, someone who can truly help you fill in the gaps.”

“Where can such a person be found then, in the stars, the sea, or among the mountains and the Underworld?”

“Just east of Athens, near the center of the sea.”

Laine slowly paced, his voice taking on a teasing tone.

“This person meets my requirements, and he will definitely help you.”

“You won’t doubt him because you know he won’t harm you.”

“As for his name, you’ve guessed it already, right?”

“…Yes, you’re right.

“I guessed it already.”

There could be no other, atop the East Sea, who fits these criteria.

The creator of the Bronze Humanity, the stealer of Heavenly Fire, the prescient Titan God.

The very Prometheus who remains imprisoned within the Sea Eye as a warning to the world.

······

Sss—

Within the shadowy emptiness, the Great Serpent was slithering.

The Abyss’s temporality is boundless, yet nothing is absolute before the Great Serpent.

In just a few movements, the Serpent of the Central Court arrived at the place nearest to Hell and the Underworld, then darted forward.

The temporal barrier was pierced, and its massive body appeared in the outside world.

But it was only for a moment; as power spilled forth, the Great Serpent returned behind the barrier before several gazes swept across.

For the time being, it must not leave the Abyss… fortunately, this was not much of an issue for it.

One is all, and all is one.

The will of the Great Serpent existed in every fraction of its power, and the bit that left was no different.

Transformed into a pitch-black small serpent, the diminutive incarnation swam through the Netherworld.

It swam past fire rivers, past the banks of Acheron River.

It proceeded to the Mortal Realm, to the East Sea, to the site of that enormous whirlpool.

At the end of the second era, another collision between the sun and the sea created this chasm.

It resembled the legendary Ruins of later times, where all waters sloped yet had no bottom.

Yet, being truly within it, mortal beings couldn’t grasp its vastness.

This miles-spanning whirlpool was so immense that mortals could only think they’d come to an increasingly turbulent part of the ocean.

Positioned above the whirlpool, the pitch-black small serpent looked down.

However, perhaps because it was a wound caused by the sun, no external light or heat could approach this place.

Even knowing that the creator of Bronze Humanity was locked here, the small serpent couldn’t see any related imagery.

“Sss—”

“Troublesome. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just make him my follower?”

“Let him kill and kill in the Mortal Realm. What if he follows those later rumors and practices ‘Proving Dao by Killing’? ”

The forked tongue flickered in the air, malignance nearly spilling from the serpent’s eyes.

Though inherently the same individual, the Great Serpent didn’t necessarily share perspectives with its other aspects.

Besides a cohesive self-awareness, the Serpent of the Central Court often had many unique ideas.

For instance, it once considered creating a Heracles to subdue the Deities.

Since he was destined by fate to Ascend to Godhood, he wouldn’t be punished by the laws of the present world.

So, imposing himself further through subjugation was quite plausible.

After all, he was Zeus’ son, and God was tightly knit with Law.

Subduing a Deity might also be seen as subduing the corresponding law.

If Heracles eventually subdued everyone, wouldn’t he be using a ‘tyrannical’ approach to gain ‘the right to rule’?

Perhaps, after the collapse of the Divine King’s throne, Heracles could inherit Zeus’ legacy and become the ‘God of Sovereign.’

“Though indeed risky, it’s worth a try… It’s a pity, really.”

The snaky head subtly tilted, displaying a human-like expression of regret.

It was unclear whether the sorrow was for Heracles not taking this ‘correct path’ or for missing out on the shedding of blood.

In any case, the Serpent of the Central Court lingered awhile but eventually continued to swim downward.

Laine told Heracles that he could release Prometheus here.

But merely telling would be meaningless because Prometheus was bound by the Divine King’s authority.

Thus, breaking that chain… was naturally not so simple.

PS: Something came up yesterday, so I added a bit to the title of the previous chapter this morning and stated I’d post in the evening. However, as it turns out, that wasn’t very direct, and many people didn’t notice, so I’ll post stand-alone chapters next time.

Also, although it’s indeed quite late ‘this evening,’ I did update, right, emmm. It’s mainly so late because I was coding the second chapter, since I still have things to do today, so I’m posting now.