Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

Hua La La——

In the city of Eleusis, in a civilian house not far from the temple.

The tall young man stood up and paced a few steps, then sat back in his seat.

The small room was temporarily transformed into a prison cell, and the chains on his hands made bursts of noise as he walked.

The young man could notice that his every move was watched by the soldiers around him.

Their eyes were alert and fearful.

It was as if the person in front of him was not a young man, but a flood beast.

"... I should be more careful, otherwise I wouldn't have caused such trouble."

Hercules sighed secretly and regretted it a little.

But he actually understood that he was not good at hiding his whereabouts.

And compared to being caught, what confused him more was the purpose of his trip.

Where is the goddess of agriculture? She said that she was unwilling to give up her holy land on earth and chose to stay in Eleusis?

And the "arrogant and arrogant Athenians", Hercules thought he would see them attacking the temple of the gods.

However, perhaps because the goddess of agriculture herself had given up on this place, the Athenian army not only did not do anything to these temples, but also participated in the firefighting project.

The magic fire with the breath of the abyss is difficult to extinguish, but in front of these Athenians, it was easily solved.

So for a moment, Hercules, who had just suffered a major blow in his life not long ago, was a little confused.

According to the guidance he received, he committed an unforgivable crime.

Therefore, he needed to show his extraordinary ability and wisdom to the gods, and preventing the Athenians from attacking the temple of the goddess of agriculture was one of his tasks.

Whether it was by words or force, as long as he could make the Athenian army let go of the temple and not try to imprison the goddess of agriculture, he would be considered to have successfully completed the task.

But now, it seems that he has succeeded without doing anything.

After all, from beginning to end, the Athenians did not seem to be interested in the temple without gods.

"Actually, this result looks pretty good... But since the goddess of agriculture is not here at all, have I really completed the task?"

"After all, I haven't even seen the goddess so far, let alone help her."

Hua La La --

He stood up again and walked two steps depressed, and the chains made a sound.

In order to further confirm the whereabouts of the goddess of agriculture, Hercules was discovered by patrolling soldiers.

They seemed to think that he was a dangerous person, so they imprisoned him on the spot.

Hercules did not resist this, because compared to this task that was completely different from the description of the gods, he didn't care much about being imprisoned.

In the end, whether it was these shackles or these soldiers, Hercules didn't feel any threat.

As long as he wanted, he could leave here at any time.

But what really made him choose to stay was that he heard that there were powerful alchemists in the upper echelons of this army.

Wizards may not be alchemists, but at least alchemists in this era must be wizards.

The impression of wizards in the western countries of the continent is that they are evil but wise, knowledgeable and keen to explore the unknown.

For Hercules at this time, he just wanted to communicate with a knowledgeable being, so he simply let himself be imprisoned.

"Huh--Is it coming?"

Exhaling a breath, when time passed, Hercules keenly noticed that someone was approaching here outside the temporary prison.

Sure enough, the senior leaders of this army noticed him, which is why he did not hide the purpose of his mission.

Hercules is not a reckless man, on the contrary, he is actually very smart.

In the original myth, he is such a person.

The twelve trials are not always completed by force, so since the gods did not ask him to keep his trials secret, it is not wrong to attract the attention of the Athenians.

"Bang--"

The door was opened and someone pushed the door in.

The officer who seemed to have some status looked at Hercules and then waved his hand.

"Are you Hercules?"

"I am."

Nodding in response, Hercules also looked at the officer who seemed to have a stronger aura but was still fragile.

"Since it's you, then come with us. Someone wants to see you."

"Saving the goddess... you made it up."

The officer was a little disdainful, but he tried not to show it.

He ordered someone to open the shackles on Hercules, and then motioned him to follow him.

As for whether the other party could resist after the chains were opened...what a joke.

It's impossible. Even those world-famous heroes can't come and go freely in the army during the national war.

Well, absolutely impossible.

Feeling that there was nothing wrong with his judgment, after confirming that the person was not wrong, the officer turned around and led the way.

······

Trample--

Trample--

In the empty temple, footsteps came from far away.

Ryan stood not far from the statue that collapsed due to the previous battle, admiring the exquisite murals on the dome of the temple.

It must be said that the existence of supernatural power has made the art of this era progress a lot.

Especially this kind of relief-style architecture, which is more than one point better than its contemporaries in terms of craftsmanship.

The entire mural is exquisite and solemn, depicting the history of the Agricultural Church.

Those who played a decisive role in the development of the church are here, and this is also the last trace they left in the world.

tread--

The footsteps stopped not far behind him. Turning his attention away from the mural, Ryan turned slightly.

In front of him, a tall young man with a strong build and sharp eyes appeared.

Just like the sculptures of ancient Greek gods in later generations, they show a masculine beauty.

"Hercules the criminal?"

Asking knowingly, or confirming again.

However, the young man didn't feel anything wrong. After all, he was currently unknown in the world.

"I am, but I'm not a criminal."

"Since I came to this city, I have not violated any laws of Athens. Or do you mean that according to your rules, any foreigner in Eleusis at this time is a criminal?"

It seems that some keywords were triggered. Obviously, Hercules today is very sensitive to the word 'criminal'.

He could not deny his crime of parricide, although even he himself did not know why he would do such a thing.

But beyond that, he will never admit any sin that is not his.

"Yeah?"

"So you think that if you didn't make a mistake, you're not a criminal and you shouldn't be punished?"

"Isn't it?"

Hercules asked back, but Ryan just smiled and pointed to the mural on the dome of the temple.

“Have you ever heard of the history of the founding of the Agrarian Church?”

"certainly."

Although the history of the establishment of each church is not remembered, the story about the agricultural church is widely circulated because of the famous Eleusinian Mystery.

Hercules naturally knew this too. This is a story that proves the greatness of gods and the foolishness of mortals.

"In that case, Hercules, a warrior who considers himself innocent, I am here to ask you -"

"Now that you know this story, you know the dead prince, the goddess who brought the snow, and the fate of each of them."

"So in your opinion, what is their crime?"

Smiling in response, Ryan spoke in an unhurried tone.

"The queen who lost her child, the prince who died, the goddess who was raped by the king of gods and gave birth to children, they may have done wrong things, but they were all before the disaster. But after they actually committed the crime, they were not punished. "

"So why are punishments and crimes established?"

"Because these are indeed unjust acts, but the king is the one who sets the order."

Hercules frowned, but there were explanations for such problems in this era.

Although not everyone agrees with this explanation, it is certainly a theory.

"They can dictate whether a thing is sinful or not, and then he and everyone else will comply."

"The King of Gods did not stipulate that it is a crime to rape gods, and the King did not stipulate that it was a crime for gods to kill mortals. So their subsequent actions are naturally not sinful..."

"So in your opinion, if something is not considered sinful by the law, even if it goes against the world's morals, folk customs, or the concepts in your heart, does it not require punishment?"

Interrupting, Ryan actually didn't know why this version of Hercules completed the trial.

In the original trajectory, he committed the crime of murder under the temptation of Hera, but now he should not have any children.

But God’s methods are nothing more than that, so although it’s not clear, there probably won’t be much difference.

"Yes."

Nodding in recognition, Hercules agreed: "Since the rules do not stipulate it, then——"

The voice suddenly paused. At this moment, the young man suddenly realized a problem, because he himself seemed to be the same.

He did commit the crime of parricide. However, the laws of the classical era often varied from country to country and from case to case.

And although people will make up rules to make up for something wrong after it happens, they rarely draw inferences.

Therefore, after Tantalus, mortals only listed "killing one's son" as a major sin, but did not stipulate other similar behaviors.

Of course, there may be some factors in this that the God-Kings of the past dynasties were persecuted as sons, and then the sons killed their fathers.

In short, from a legal perspective, Hercules is actually innocent.

But this does not mean that he can convince himself, because at the same time, people in this era do not attach as much importance to the law as they imagined.

Just like in the Han Dynasty in later generations, common people killed people to avenge their fathers, but officials and common people praised them and did not consider them sinful.

The more classical the era, the higher morality is above the law.

So even though he did not break the law, Hercules admitted his mistake from the bottom of his heart.

"...Okay, you are right. I admit that not only legally binding mistakes are mistakes, but what do you want to express when you tell me this?"

Looking at Ryan in front of him, the young man's expression finally became serious.

In the young man's heart, he has always been proud.

Although he rarely showed it, he knew he was different from others from an early age, when Hercules became aware of his unique powers.

Just like he stayed in this city occupied by the army without fear, and then faced the commander of the army with an equal attitude. This was actually a kind of subconscious arrogance.

It was only now that he really looked at this unknown Athenian.

"I just want to say that in fact, in your heart, you recognize your own morality more than other people's rules, right?"

"But the education you received since childhood tells you otherwise, so you feel constrained by it."

Nodding in his mind and looking at the reaction of the young man in front of him, Ryan was sure that he had guessed correctly.

But after all, he was still not sure what the 'crime' the other party had committed this time was, so he just touched upon it briefly and did not continue to delve deeper into it, but changed the topic.

"Okay, whether you are a 'criminal' or not, young man, I can feel the extraordinary potential in your body."

"You are a very capable person, and your previous so-called mission, 'rescuing the trapped agricultural goddess', no longer exists at all."

"Then what are you going to do next? Continue to complete the so-called 'mission'?"

"...Yes, but before that, I want to ask you a question. After all, I have heard about the wisdom of the Athenians."

After a moment of silence, Hercules put aside his argument about the 'criminal'.

And he remembered the reason why he chose to stay in Eleusis, and also thought of the god who appeared in front of him in his pain and despair.

In fact, Hercules felt that the timing of the appearance of the God of the West Wind was a bit coincidental, but he was sure that the other party could not affect his sanity, even if it was a powerful god.

So he agreed to the other party's request for a trial, but Hercules didn't show that much trust in Fengshen's promise.

However, mortals have their limitations. Even if he has innate power, he still cannot close the gap in knowledge with the ancient gods.

So he had to place his hopes in Athens, a kingdom famous for its wisdom and knowledge.

"Question? Of course."

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Ryan smiled and said, "There are few things in this world that I don't know about."

"No matter heaven or earth, past or future."

"Of course, there's always a price to pay for seeking knowledge. So what do you want to know, and what are you willing to pay for it?"

"I came here to find the secret of 'resurrection from the dead' and the way for mortals to avoid death."

With his eyes bright, Hercules said solemnly: "If you can solve my doubts and help me find a way to complete all this, then please ask the sun, moon and endless stars in the sky to witness for me."

"Heracles will definitely repay your favor and defeat your enemies for you, as long as this does not violate the morality in my heart."