189: Greece and Rome, appearance and essence (6k5)
Mount Olympus
It is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the northern shore of the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. The original meaning of "Olympus" comes from "place of light". In Greek mythology, its status is equivalent to the paradise in the Bible, where gods, demigods and their servants live.
The ancient Greeks believed that Mount Olympus was located in the center of Greece, and Greece was at the center of the planet, so Mount Olympus was also the center of the planet.
Therefore, the gods who rule the world and dominate mankind live on this high mountain.
However, what appeared before the eyes of the Avengers was not the present Mount Olympus, but the real mountain of the gods when the Age of Gods still existed.
Perhaps the light will never fall from the sky again, it's just that it can't be seen. The light can never really disappear, and similarly, the gods will not disappear.
"Hercules, I have decided to marry you my child, Hebe, the goddess of youth."
The Avengers knew this was the sacred mountain.
For a moment, he actually felt that he should, he really should, burn in this past world, continuing the glory and brilliance of Hercules.
But even so, he still closed his eyes gently in the sunlight, and couldn't help but recall his anger.
"I am no longer your running dog..."
Red and black magic power silently flowed out of his mouth and nose, infecting Mount Olympus starting from his feet.
That's right, the glory and the glory are long gone, and the only purpose of this life is revenge.
The Queen of Gods who had dragged the hero into misfortune was at the top of the mountain. She took away the hero's happy times and then walked sadly towards the endless sea.
Whether the hero likes it or not, the experiences that follow gradually turn him into another person, and another wave from afar takes the hero to a new sea again.
"Hera!"
He smiled, filled with ecstasy and murderous intent, and roared with such excitement.
At this moment, from the lowest point of Olympus, the Avenger took the red and black "mud" and rushed up like a shining star.
"Cousin, no, I should call you Alcides now. Well, when I used to call you that, my grandfather told me not to be disrespectful."
Not long after he walked out, when Alcides came to his senses again, he saw the thin figure in his memory in front of him.
This made him freeze in his tracks.
Before that, the Avengers used their iron-sharp murderous intent to press against the throat, heart, back, limbs and even every vital part of the body of the blocker. The murderous intent and curse seemed to kill everything.
But when he realized the identity of the visitor, the murderous intent subsided a lot and turned into indescribable puzzlement and confusion.
"Theseus."
One of the Greek heroes, King Theseus of Athens, was a cousin of Hercules. His wife was from the Amazon tribe slaughtered by Hercules, and was also a member of the crew of the Argo.
After Hercules killed his wife and children, he gave up on himself and wanted to commit suicide. At that time, Theseus happened to rush to Hercules' home, persuaded him to let him live, and took him to Athens to take him in.
"Are you here to stop me too?"
Although he didn't understand why he came to Mount Olympus at this moment, for an Avenger, no one could stop him, not even his former friends.
As witnesses of the glory of Hercules, most people would logically condemn Alcides' behavior.
Although men are indeed ruthless in battle, they will even plunder the streets of the enemy country and will use any means to plot against others in order to achieve their goals.
But if these actions are all for the purpose of achieving grand wishes, they are not enough to shake the reputation of a hero. Even if the opponent is a cursed child who will bring disaster to the world, as long as the opponent is a child, the man will never aim an arrow at him.
But Theseus was different. When he learned about Hercules' experience, he cursed the gods for the only time in his life.
"As a hero, you can't just do noble things. You can also do dirty things and have ugly feelings. Then, you abandon your glory and lose everything just to vent your dissatisfaction. Maybe you will be considered a monster, but -"
Theseus shook his head and smiled.
"In my opinion, it's not a monster, but a human being. I have always trusted you in this regard.
So, it doesn’t matter what the proof of sin is, it doesn’t matter what the final fall is—"
In this way, the figure of the King of Athens slowly disappeared in Mount Olympus until it was never seen again.
Only the Avenger's hand was still hanging in the air.
Staring blankly at the direction where the junior left.
He subconsciously reached out, trying to catch him, but couldn't find any trace of him.
Only light wool thread merged into his body from the air.
The glory that Poseidon bestowed on Theseus reappeared from the wool, a conceptual defense, and also an absolute defense that was accompanied by immortality.
After all, Theseus simply lamented his cousin's choice and understood his choice.
In fact, there is no meaning. Since there is no meaning, there is no need to worry about it.
Even so, even so, Theseus said this with a bit of loneliness at the last moment while suppressing the painful emotions that seemed to make him sad:
"Just do what you want to do."
This time, there was no restless mud on the Avenger, nor the violence of the past. Only the quiet and distant sound of the sea tide came from his ears.
So distant.
The Avenger's face was startled, but he coldly withdrew his gaze and stopped looking.
Until footsteps were heard not far away and stopped beside him. They were the crew members of the Argo ship.
"Theseus has been dawdling for too long, but since he has given you Poseidon's blessing, I, as the guardian of the sea, have no choice but to bless you here as well."
"...Although I say this, I really like your current state, Hercules."
"Pollux!"
"Master Hercules has become smaller, but he looks so scary..."
"You scared little Medea, but this is the first time I've seen you like this. Lady Luna would probably be impressed as well."
"Heh, that guy kept shouting Hercules, Hercules, but when he saw you like this, he got scared and didn't come until the very end."
"...When did you get here?"
God of Medicine, Asclepius thought for a moment and said seriously:
"Just now, I was summoned by a very familiar power. Perhaps it was a power that was bestowed nearly two thousand years ago. Although all the gods including Zeus could come, I thought it unnecessary to cause too much trouble, so only Hera and everyone from the Argos came."
"......Yeah."
The Avenger subconsciously raised the bow in his hand, showing his determination to take revenge.
I don't know how much it cost for Novia to achieve this point.
But he no longer had time to think about the key points, and blurted out subconsciously:
"I don't want to kill you."
"Hahaha, you are really confident, Hercules, but the human world must be destroyed like this—"
"No, we can't let it be destroyed. Didn't Novia already stop it once?"
"Well, well, that's true, but a mere human dares to call him a saint..."
"You may say that, but you really like it."
"Pollux!"
Asclepius looked at the Gemini brother and sister, and then sighed rarely to the Avenger:
"Your body is no longer attractive. If I were to persuade you to accept more difficult challenges and suffer more unheard-of injuries, and then have me diagnose you, I'm sure you wouldn't agree. In that case, I don't need to diagnose you."
As the God of Medicine passed over the Avenger's body, he continued:
"If I hadn't devoted all of myself to medicine, I would have become like you... Come to think of it, my shadow is also in this Holy Grail War."
"Although not all of them are beautiful, as long as you don't hate Lady Moon and attack the child, then I won't stop you."
Atalanta answered frankly, and it was not difficult to imagine her persistence by looking at her expression.
"Well, well, I still think that the originally tall Hercules was scary but reliable, but he should be reliable now."
The little witch forced herself to remain calm, then cheered.
"It doesn't matter. It's better to say that you are fine the way you are now. I didn't want you, a muscle mass of over 300 kilograms, to get close to me in the first place. Now that you've become smaller, I don't like you getting close to me either."
The treacherous witch smiled indifferently.
Slowly, the sky of Mount Olympus, dyed dark red, appeared before the eyes of the Avengers.
Dusk and evening are what people call the boundary between day and night.
The shadows cast on the road are elongated, bringing a distorted atmosphere, a vague moment that does not belong to day or night, which has the effect of awakening the uneasiness dormant in people's hearts.
In normal times, during this kind of time, many people are pushed by the red light and head towards their home.
And in the silence, the Avenger reached out his hand to the gradually disappearing crew members and gently shook it in the dust.
Then, he put away the red and black turbid dark magic that was spreading.
He lowered his head and looked at the captain who arrived at the last minute.
"Hercules! Isn't this Hercules! Hahaha, even though you look like this now, you still look so sad. But this makes people feel at ease! Well, I have entrusted so many things to you before, now leave them to me, haha, I will definitely be like you, and I will make quick decisions and get it done as soon as possible."
Jason, the captain of the Argo, is a blond man with a proud attitude.
He once said this to the man who had just boarded the ship:
"I see, that's wonderful! I'm so envious! You are indeed a monster as the rumors say! But don't worry, I will treat you well when I use you."
"When you are with me... with me, you are not a monster, but--"
The clouds in the sky completely disappeared, and the moonlight dyed the earth a fantastic silver.
At that moment, the blond man suddenly smiled and held the man's hand as if he wanted to catch a shining star.
"A great hero who protected the future king."
But unlike in the past, the man at this moment did not respond to the captain's outstretched hand.
"...What did I do wrong?"
Although there were many small failures, Jason felt that he had responded appropriately at the time.
The result was the opposite of what he expected. Thinking of the Avenger's seemingly unmoved attitude just now, he couldn't help but hold his head in worry.
However, the Captain's eyes turned to the Avenger whose face was obscured, staring into the darkness, attracted by this side of the hero that he was unaware of.
He suddenly began to be curious. Hercules, the person he relied on the most and trusted the most, was he any different before he came to the Argo?
Is the world in his eyes significantly different from the one he remembers?
"Hercules, actually when I first heard the news, I couldn't understand it no matter how hard I tried..."
Jason was puzzled and uncovered the 'cloth' on the Avenger's face. He looked at the familiar face and muttered to himself,
"But seeing you like this now, I realized that you really have been working very hard."
At this moment, for the two of them, this place was the distant end of the sea.
I miss the touch of the boats, the breeze blowing past my ears, and the presence of many friends jumping around as if they were playing.
Now it is long gone, the distant memories of the past are not taken away, but experienced as existence.
"I want to tell you that although you are forced to accept this hatred, you are still willing to take revenge--"
Jason smiled,
"Hasn't he managed to hold on until now? He has been working hard for himself little by little, but he is definitely Hercules!"
".....Maybe."
The Avenger shook his head and answered very seriously: "Goodbye, my friend."
He turned around and walked towards the Queen of Heaven at the top of the mountain.
He didn't look back, but just kept walking. Although his steps were staggering, his back was straight.
"You're not at all wrong."
“So please don’t hate the world.”
