Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

"The city gates had already been breached, the rear ranks held their position, and the front ranks entered the city."

Outside the City of Eryxis, watching the golden shadow that shot up from the ground and the red figure that chased after it, Laine calmly ordered.

Thus, the army outside the city immediately split into two and pressed toward the walls that no longer had the strength to resist.

The last person who could have possibly affected the outcome of the war had left—though staying would have been meaningless.

After all, this was Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, with her power assisted by Divine, who might have had some fighting strength relying on her ability to 'lift bricks and hurl them.'

But when power was limited to the same level, even the deities of the Underworld, never regarded by the Olympian Gods, could probably hang and beat this one of the twelve Principal Gods.

The True Gods with Weak Divine Power, such as Iris the Goddess of the Rainbow, and the gods of the North Wind, East Wind, and Southern Wind, could easily defeat Demeter in the Mortal Realm, which purely justified why she was not esteemed by other deities.

Aphrodite was so unbridled precisely for this reason, because she did not need to worry about the consequences.

"Indeed."

"Your prepared weapons of war indeed have some unique aspects."

The massive stone gates were pulled open, the ground still stained with traces of blood.

Entering the city of Eryxis, Laine came to the side of the fallen behemoth's corpse.

Runes invisible to the naked eye twinkled on the skin, threads of red essence gathering from the surroundings.

The war had already ended, but the 'sacrifice' was still ongoing.

"This is all the work of my teacher, I am just an operator."

"And it seems Eryxis also had internal turmoil, their defeat was inevitable."

Solomon explained calmly, not taking credit.

As expected, the result of this Blood Sacrifice was a success.

Apart from the newly-born consciousness possibly being slightly affected in form by these demons, everything went smoothly.

Yet, watching Laine before him, a flicker of an unusual light passed through the bottom of his eyes.

The sacrificial ritual was not some high-end mystical technique; although Hermes had tried his best to conceal the Alchemy Runes, it was still quite easy to spot.

Solomon did not know the origins of this man who had suddenly appeared in Athens and was profoundly trusted by Andrea, nor whether he had noticed anything.

Perhaps the former King knew something, maybe his teacher too.

At least for Solomon, he remained vigilant while harboring a trace of inquiry.

"Exceptional wisdom is humanity's most precious treasure," a proverb propagated by the Church of Knowledge, and Solomon deeply agreed with it.

"No matter what, you indeed did well."

"The effects of Alchemy... also opened my eyes."

With a slight smile, Laine looked at the city burning before him.

The wails and cries rose and fell, but clearly, neither he nor Solomon cared about these.

"Do you desire anything as a reward for your efforts?"

"This..."

Stunned for a moment, Solomon did not understand the intention of the man before him, but he still instinctively declined:

"I am only here to complete the task arranged by my teacher, and serving Athens is also my duty."

"Yes, well, I understand your loyalty to Athens."

"Then let's put it another way, Solomon, do you face any difficulties?"

The smile remained as Laine continued, "In fact, I have always been interested in Alchemy, but it also faces many limitations."

"Such as thoughts, soul, changing space, distorting reality—these are currently beyond its capabilities."

"It currently serves only as an auxiliary to the Extraordinary System, not the mainstream."

"Even your teacher first became a Wizard before pursuing research in Alchemy."

"The stone from other mountains can carve jade, which shows that problems insoluble in the field of Alchemy might be solvable through other means."

"..."

Falling silent, Solomon became cautious.

But looking at the body of the gigantic beast before him, he thought it over and felt there was no need to keep refusing.

Perhaps the other party had indeed noticed the ongoing ritual and thus spoke to probe; then he might as well accept.

Regardless of what he said, he would not implement it himself.

"In that case, Lord Aiven, I indeed have some doubts."

"All creatures have emotions, and they express their own feelings through joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness."

"Just like this city, where soldiers are fighting each other and flames are destroying swathes of homes."

"Pain, anger, hatred spread among people, bringing forth all kinds of loves and hates."

Adjusting his expression, Solomon sincerely asked:

"In your view, sir, are emotions innate or acquired?"

"If they are innate, then what kind of emotions do newly born souls possess, and are these emotions truly the most authentic emotions of humans?"

"If it is acquired... for life, are emotions a help or a shackle?"

Half the question was asked casually, the other half influenced by the surroundings.

This doubt arose in Solomon when he sensed that consciousness, gradually infected by bloodlust, becoming violent and bloodthirsty.

One of the goals of alchemy is 'purity', but what really constitutes purity?

If a strand of a mortal soul is assimilated by a True God and becomes part of him, has that soul been sublimated or polluted?

"Emotions... are probably acquired. As to whether they are helpful, I can't be certain."

"Without experimentation, there is no basis for conclusion, but I do know of a special witchcraft that can collect emotions dissipated from life."

Solomon's question carried undertones of philosophical debates about human nature and divinity that would come later.

At the moment, Laine was unable to provide a definitive answer.

But that wasn't his intention; he wanted to see if this uniquely named individual was merely coincidental or truly special.

He knew the name 'Solomon' was essential in many legends of later ages.

If, in this unruptured present, fate held any sway, then the other party must have something special about them.

"I hope it will be of help to you; you needn't decline; it's just a lesser-known witchcraft after all."

Handing over a book, Laine then strode forward.

"The matters of this city I leave for you to resolve."

"I will leave a few soldiers here; the rest will depart in two days to meet the challenges from all countries in the west of Athens."

······

Woosh—

Thud—

A pale golden halo traced across the sky, soon landing on an unnamed hill.

Demeter looked somewhat disheveled but quickly regained her poise.

She had been unable to shake off the demon chasing her during her journey.

Quite the opposite, under the demon's wings, she was chased a great distance.

Fortunately, demons seemed naturally rejected by the order of the Mortal Realm, and she was ultimately expelled from this timeline.

Despite not knowing where the demon was now, Demeter finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huuuh—"

"Demophon..."

Her expression fluctuating, the prince of Athens, who carried betrayal, reminded the Goddess of Agriculture of her foster son of the same name.

He was meant to achieve immortality through fire, yet due to mortal folly, he could not escape his fateful death.

Had there been no misfortune, perhaps he, extraordinary by birth, could have risen as a renowned demigod hero.

Sadly, reality harbors no 'ifs'.

The old Demophon had died, killed by her own hand.

The queen's expression of despair and agony was still vivid in her mind, but Demeter harbored no regrets.

Mortals are ignorant; nothing surprising about that.

The only regret was that Eryxis was now lost from her hands.

"There will be better futures, just a city with memories I'd rather forget..."

"Perhaps this is for the best, from now on, I will have better."

Comforting herself, Demeter took out a slender stick of incense.

It was crafted using a method left to her by two gods with weak but strangely authoritative divine power.
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Myrrh, Orris, and Styrax in four parts and two parts respectively.

A part of cedar and ginger, with half parts of cardamom, cinnamon, juniper berries, Iris Flower, and Balsam trees, plus seven properly dried raisins, a few drops of grape wine, honey, and lotus fragrance.

Depending on Chronology and ritual, they were handled differently, the herbs crushed, left in a sealed container for two weeks to mix with essential oils, wine, grapes, then again left silent.

After a month of waiting, the final incense was thus made.

"Your promise to me, the power to twist the spirit and will of gods."

"The emotional power of mortals only allows gods to briefly wallow."

"But hatred and pain originating from a god can truly bind another god."

"Even if it's not forever..."

She reached out and lit the incense in front of her.

The sky had already darkened; it was already afternoon when Athens reached Eryxis.

In the faint light, Demeter wore no look of hatred, instead, there was a hint of anticipation.

"Don't disappoint me, come see me soon."

"This time, I will completely rid myself of the past shame."