The world-devouring dragon

The young man who killed the lion came to the country at the foot of the mountain. This kingdom was called Thebes.

He came to this kingdom not for anything else, but because the young man had heard a story that interested him very much. The king here disappeared some time ago. In desperation, the king's brother Creon announced that he would select a new king as regent. king.

According to the temporary regent, he entrusted his kingdom and his queen to the hero who had defeated the Sphinx.

The Sphinx is a winged monster with the head of a man and the body of a lion. She has the head of a girl, but she is a cunning and ferocious monster. She was born from the blood of the father of all demons and loves to play with the lives of mortals.

She wandered the outskirts of Thebes, and people feared her.

The young man was not interested in becoming a king, he was only interested in defeating those powerful monsters. So he put on a lion's skin and wanted to see the Sphinx before going home.

Then when he came to the city of Thebes, he found that people were celebrating a ceremony. In the city with lights and colorful decorations everywhere, people reveled in carnival, dancing, playing musical instruments, and were extremely happy.

The young man grabbed a passerby by the shoulder and asked: "With such a grand ceremony, is this here to celebrate the birth of Zeus, the god of heaven? Or is it a sacrifice to Apollo, the god of light?"

"None of these, strangers, we are celebrating the arrival of a wise and powerful new king."

The passerby quickly replied.

From the mouths of passers-by, the young man heard surprising news.

After the old king disappeared, a traveler met the Sphinx. The terrible monster teased the traveler and asked him a riddle:

"What animal has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

The traveler replied:

"This is a human being you are talking about. When a person is born, he crawls on the ground, so he has four legs. When he grows up, he walks on the ground, so he has two legs. When he grows old, he walks on crutches, so he has three legs. ."

The Sphinx was so angry that the riddle was exposed. She flapped her wings and raised strong winds, trying to kill the passerby. The traveler fought the Sphinx with his sword and finally slew the monster.

So the young man who solved the Sphinx's riddle and killed her became the new king of the kingdom.

The young man was very interested in the new king named Oedipus, so he went to the palace to meet the king.

The king respected the stranger very much and received him personally with the queen.

At the banquet, the young man met the king and queen. He was a young and beautiful young man with a faint smile on his face. He was extremely confident, as if everything was under his control.

His queen was the wife of the former king, and she was also an extremely gentle and virtuous beautiful woman. The two got married because of an agreement, but they were a perfect match.

The king's intelligence and the queen's virtuousness both left a deep impression on the young man, and the guests enjoyed themselves.

At the banquet, the young man curiously asked about the story of the Sphinx.

The king burst out laughing. This was obviously something he was extremely proud of. He described his encounter with the Sphinx in detail to the young man, and then told the young man very seriously.

"That monster is extremely smart. Others say she only told one riddle, but they don't know that she told many riddles, each of which is extremely difficult."

In the king's narration, he encountered the monster during his travels. The proud and cunning monster asked him many riddles, each of which made Oedipus extremely difficult.

But in the end, Oedipus was more clever and solved the riddle one by one. In the end, the monster was speechless and started fighting with him out of embarrassment. The danger of that battle was beyond ordinary people's imagination.

Oedipus said it lightly, but he could still feel the horror in it.

Finally, the young man asked the king a question.

"You are already a hero in the eyes of others, so is there anything you can tell me about?"

The young man asked seriously.

On the thorny road of heroes, Oedipus is undoubtedly his predecessor, and the young man is quite curious about what his guidance will be.

The king looked at his expression and realized the seriousness of the young man.

The faint smile on his face disappeared, he thought for a while and said to the young man.

"In my opinion, force is an essential thing for every hero, but wisdom is even more important. It is a beacon that guides the way forward, allowing us to not be confused on the way forward."

"Destiny is treacherous. Gods like to take pleasure in the fate of mortals and set up many difficulties for mortals. No matter how powerful the force is, it will eventually come to an end. Only wisdom can protect us against this treacherous fate."

After the banquet, the young man went to rest in the guest room, while the king looked at the young man's back solemnly.

Next to her, the queen asked doubtfully.

"My dear, do you think highly of this young man?"

The king nodded.

"Yes, my love, you are not a warrior. You don't know what kind of power this man has in his body. In front of him, I even felt like I was seeing the Sphinx again; when he came close to me, I My muscles were tightening unconsciously because I felt a strong sense of danger."

"I don't know who he is, but this young man in lion's skin must be one of the strongest warriors on the face of the earth. That's why I wanted to mention him."

Oedipus, the wise traveler in this story, sighs.

"The eyes of the gods are still staring at the earth. I can understand what terrible fate those powerful and boring gods will make human beings encounter for fun... For these fates, our force is meaningless, and we can only use wisdom to deal with them. response."

"His power is already very powerful, but power alone is not enough."

The king's face showed melancholy and anxiety.

This new king has a secret that no one knows.

He was born in the Corinth region, the son of the local king. But one day, because of some things, he accidentally received a prophecy from Apollo, the god of light.

"You will kill your father, marry your mother, and bear cursed offspring."

This prophecy he received from the priest made him feel fear.

He loved his parents deeply and could not imagine that one day he would commit such a dehumanizing crime in the future.

But Apollo is the god of light and prophecy, and his prophecies never fail.

Oedipus's intelligence makes him aware of the horrors of the future. So he left the country where he was born and raised and crossed the land, just to no longer see his parents and escape this abominable fate.

During the journey, this prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother made him sleepless. It was not until he came to Thebes that he felt a little more at ease.

It's far enough here that the prophecy should be avoided.

He thought so in his mind, but in the process of defeating the Sphinx, he was constantly tested by riddles, which allowed him to hone a superhuman intuition.

Prophecy, isn't it just another riddle?

He has solved the most difficult riddle in the world, and he has also solved the riddles from the gods. He should be able to feel at ease, but why... why is there always a sense of uneasiness in his heart?

Beside him, the beautiful and gentle person looked at him blankly. This young and handsome man always looked like this.

In front of others, he is smart and calm, and full of confidence in facing everything, but when no one knows, he will show this melancholy and sad side.

When I first met him, I just thought he was handsome and endearing. Later, after being in contact with him for a long time, I became more and more aware of his charm and cuteness.

She couldn't help but hug her lover.

"My dear, don't worry, I will always be by your side."

Listening to the words in his ears and feeling the warmth behind him, the king's expression gradually calmed down.

Yes, don't worry so much. You have defeated the monster of the riddle and the prophecy. You have already won.

Looking up at the sky, he seemed to see big hands moving the chess pieces on the ground.

He thought silently in his heart.

"Come on, just let it go, I won't lose."

But at the same time, the little snake lying on Hercules' shoulder opened its eyes, its sight penetrated the wall, looked at the young king, and laughed silently.

In his sight, he saw a cloud-like monster. It was a monster with the head of a beautiful girl and the body of a lion and wings.

The monster full of hatred and resentment surrounded the young king. On her face, hatred and wild laughter intertwined, making the moving face hideous and twisted.

"you lose!"

"you lose!"

"Hahahaha, I am the king of riddles, I am the master of riddles, you deceived fool, you lost! You lost!"

"I didn't lose! I didn't lose! It was you who lost..."

The resentful spirit burst into ecstatic laughter, mocking the stupidity of its old enemy.

The invisible resentful spirit was reluctant to go to the underworld for some reason. She would only be satisfied if she saw the despair of this old enemy when he faced the truth.

…

"Sphinx, you have lost."

Holding a broken sword, the handsome young man was bruised and bruised, but he still raised his head arrogantly and confidently, looking at the bloody monster in front of him.

Arrogance and self-confidence are the privileges of the victor. When declaring victory, you must not show an unworthy look.

In front of him, the huge monster was lying weakly on the ground. Her wings were cut off and a big hole was opened in her chest. She was so weak that she no longer had the strength to stand up.

"I...didn't lose..."

The head that looked like a beautiful girl spoke with difficulty.

"I didn't lose, I couldn't lose...how could I lose...it shouldn't be like this...it should be you who loses..."

There was despair in that moving face. She shed tears while refusing to admit her failure.

But even she seemed to feel in her heart that she had lost.

A complete failure.

All the riddles were solved by the other party, and even when he got angry he couldn't beat the other party. No matter how you looked at it, you lost.

However, there must be a flaw somewhere, there must be something that I haven't noticed...

Where exactly is it...

Where exactly is it...

Until the end when she stopped breathing, she still stubbornly kept her eyes wide open, trying to find any possible flaws in the young man's body.

…

"You lost, you lost miserably."

The young man said.

"You lost, you lost miserably."

said the monster.