Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality - Chapter 631 - Chapter 631: Chapter 210: Exposure

Chapter 631: Chapter 210: Exposure

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Inside the great hall, two Goddesses of Beauty stood facing each other, the Divine King’s power pouring forth in all directions.

However, for the moment, even though he spoke to halt the proceedings with an imposing aura, Zeus still did not know how to proceed.

The change had been too sudden, and the transfer of the Golden Apple along with Aphrodite’s rash actions happened in an instant. He needed some time to understand the sequence of events.

Clearly, it was supposed to be a planned conspiracy. So how did the Golden Apple suddenly end up in Keto’s hands?

The key lay in that mortal’s choice… Just moments ago, everything had gone smoothly, and then suddenly, everything changed due to a single unexpected decision. Zeus’s peripheral vision swept over where Andrea was, not surprisingly finding her now retreating into a corner.

So, had he fallen into someone else’s trap? Had Athena seen through his thoughts, or was someone else pulling the strings?

If there was another influence at play, how did they know what he planned to do? After all, besides himself, only the Goddess of Discord and the Goddess of Life knew about this. Had one of them betrayed him?

Moreover, the most important question was what the person who orchestrated all of this hoped to achieve by doing so.

Countless doubts arose in his heart, and for a moment, Zeus even began to suspect Hera. In fact, that was precisely what Laine’s plan had aimed to do.

One must understand, Andrea, although a Godhood Practitioner of Athena, still bore traces of power from the Heavenly Empress, which tightly locked her Sacred Power. And where was it that she had initially been abducted? Of course, it was at sea.

With that, the situation became chaotic. Zeus could not determine who was behind it all, as the entire affair had motivations that involved Hera. Her longstanding conflict with Aphrodite was well-known, and it now seemed plausible that after discovering Zeus’s plan, she had secretly allied with the Ancient Sea Gods, which made perfect sense.

However, at this moment, all those theories were overturned because Laine’s original misdirection required Keto to immediately return to Hell after obtaining the Golden Apple. That would alter the trajectory of the whole situation, introducing the possibility of a third party interfering with the scheme, even leaving Hera in the dark, with the Nine Hells appearing to be the biggest beneficiaries.

By that time, internally, Zeus would have to deal with the Heavenly Empress, who had hindered his plans and offered insincere excuses. Whether the Divine King believed her was another matter entirely; externally, he needed to be wary of the Hell faction, which suddenly exhibited traces of significant existence. Although demons had conducted soul plots in the Mortal Realm before, Olympus had always considered them akin to Evil Gods, seeing no particular problem with it.

At one moment, facing pressures both internally and externally was almost certain to cause great trouble for Zeus. While Keto had incited some internal discord within the Divine Court, it was limited to suspicion without escalating into war, merely diverting Zeus’s attention.

Unexpectedly, if Andrea could smoothly escape and vanish as the core witness, then Laine would have achieved his aim. Whatever Zeus intended to do would surely be vastly delayed.

But now, everything was heading in a different direction.

Keto had not left; she continued to openly confront Aphrodite. Clearly, under the instruction of the Lord of the Nine Hells, she had no intention of keeping the conflict at a manageable level but planned to plunge headlong into it and fully ignite the situation.

Asmodeus desired conflict among the gods, war erupting in the Mortal Realm, the weakening of faiths, and the destabilization of sovereignty. He did not wish to maintain the stability of the present world; he simply wanted to muddy the waters, temporarily concealing his power, and create opportunities to join this grand play in the Mortal Realm.

Unfortunately, another unexpected event occurred. Even with the Nine Hells’ forces using Keto’s eyes to view the current world, Asmodeus had not anticipated that among the present gods, someone would unexpectedly recognize facets of his origin merely through a glance, and the cause for this recognition ultimately lay within himself.

“Is it you? This look… No, indeed, it wasn’t a coincidence when you appeared there back then. Keto, what dealings do you have with Purgatory?!”

A low shout escaped from Hestia’s mouth with a phrase unfamiliar to most deities, alarming Zeus.

Almost simultaneously, he remembered what his elder sister had once spoken of.

Purgatory… At the end of the Bronze Age, Hestia once encountered a mysterious presence at the ruins of humanity.

The souls of the Bronze Age vanished without a trace, and at that time, the powerful Goddess of Hearthfire was no match for this presence. And incidentally, was Keto present there too?

“Purgatory, or should I say ‘Hell’…”

His gaze turned colder. Since that encounter, the existence of that mysterious figure had been a thorn in Zeus’s side, reigniting his sense of crisis, and it had compelled him to boldly venture into Asgard, granting him further opportunities.

Yet in his conjecture, the deity Hestia encountered was perhaps an Ancient God at a peak of Divine Power, only of unclear origin; thus, as his own strength increased and news of the entity dwindled, Zeus ultimately set the matter aside.

But now, could there be more to it?

“Keto, let’s set aside your issues with Aphrodite for the moment. Shouldn’t you explain what exactly you did during the demise of Bronze Humanity?”

The situation in the temple shifted once more.

Flames erupted around the Goddess of Hearthfire, and Zeus turned his gaze towards Keto.

It was one thing to have forgotten about it before, but now that he had discovered this, he too wished to uncover the identity and hiding place of the one who had once crossed paths with Hestia.

As the Divine King ruling over the world, he could accept domains not yet under his reign, but he could not accept the existence of unknown places in this world.

‘Whew–this seems rather problematic now.’

Taking a deep breath, Keto had not anticipated such circumstances.

For her identity to be recognized, she could deny it, but the gods were not likely to require any evidence.

Now she was left with two choices. First, she could directly return to Hell using Asmodeus’s power, declaring the Lord of the Nine Hells’s mission a failure, thereby completing another monarch’s task. The second option was to remain, for Olympus did not exactly prohibit gods from liaising with other deities, and during the Bronze Age’s demise, the Divine Court had yet to ban deities from harvesting mortal souls.

However, in doing so, she would be unable to challenge the relationship among the gods with the Golden Apple any longer, which equaled a failed mission. So, upon scanning the present gods swiftly, Keto’s gaze became fierce.

If it were merely up to her, she would have to choose one of two options. However, now, she did not intend to choose either.

With the Golden Apple, the past things were no longer as significant. Looking at Artemis, adorned with the New Moon Crown in the distance, Keto took out an item.

“Your Majesty, Divine King, regardless of what occurred during the Bronze Age, I fear I did not violate the rules of the time, did I? I recall that it was only after the disaster of Typhon that you assisted the gods in establishing the Divine Kingdom, at which point the souls of humans were forbidden from being contested.”

“Oh? Or perhaps your Heavenly Empress is displeased with me obtaining the Golden Apple and wants you to come forth to deal with this trouble of mine?”

She retorted sharply, and Hera abruptly stood.

She was already upset, deeply dissatisfied with Keto obtaining the Golden Apple, and now the other dared provoke her?

“Keto, do I need Zeus to stand up for me? If you dare leave this temple with the Golden Apple, I will make you pay in the end!”

“Oh really, but I don’t believe you.”

With a cold snort, Keto lightly tossed the item in her hand in Artemis’s direction.

“Dear Master of the Wilderness, do you believe in her?”

“Certainly not!”

After a moment of hesitation, Artemis’s eyes sparkled.

She had come today specifically to be entertained; why not make it more exciting, especially when the item Keto offered happened to align with her godhood, “Wilderness.”

With benefits that conform to one’s thoughts, why not accept?

“Artemis, you are audacious!”

Laughing furiously, Hera felt as if everyone dared act recklessly before her, but the New Moon Goddess was unconcerned.

She indeed disliked Zeus and Leto, but that did not mean she favored Hera. On the contrary, the Heavenly Empress was someone she found vexing.

In an instant, Keto’s predicament seemed temporarily obscured by the Golden Apple, yet most deities were indifferent to the existence of Hell.

Throughout this world, deities and forces outside of Divine Court control were not uncommon, so the sudden appearance of one more was not particularly strange.

However, the Divine King cared, and in this world, only power could determine whose voice dominated. Hence, in the next moment, Zeus’s aura surged dramatically, enveloping the sea.

“Enough, you are noble deities. This is not the place for your quarrels–Keto, I am not here to accuse you of any crime, but as King of All Gods, I hope you can enlighten me. Where did that deity whom Hestia encountered come from?”

Staring into Keto’s eyes, feeling a faint familiarity, Zeus spoke slowly and deliberately.

“Above and below, where lies the place unknown to me as the Divine King?”

…

Beyond the shores of Puntolus, in a deserted sea.

Erebus had been waiting here for a while after departing from the encircling Rivers of the World.

While Zeus lingered there, he did not rush to the site, simply observing the flux of auras, quietly calculating whether Zeus’s plan had been executed smoothly.

Using the Golden Apple to incite conflict seemed a clever ploy; however, Erebus believed, the more intricate a scheme appeared, the greater the likelihood of failure.

Predictably, at a certain moment, as Zeus’s power erupted, things indeed went awry.

Because in that temple, another power, albeit weak, of the same caliber, also unfolded.

It made brief contact with the Divine King’s power but left a tangible impact. Drawing from experience, Erebus immediately discerned its origin.

Hell, much like when the Goddess of Life formerly lingered within the Divine Court as a subordinate of the Lord of Darkness, the Lord of the Nine Hells undoubtedly signaled Keto’s identity with this move.

“Hmm… Zeus probably doesn’t yet realize, that this is actually his father, Cronus… Ha, this might persuade Pontus. Preferring to slumber rather than partake in worldly affairs, without external impetus, I indeed find him difficult to influence.”

Calculating silently, Erebus found this twist aptly fitting. With Hell now participating in this game, he would endeavor to draw the Abyss into the fold.

Tartarus lacked awareness, yet the Lord of Darkness understood this condition. Being a primordial god with a lower degree of personification than Gaia, Erebus had experienced lengthy periods of unification with his true form, existing almost ‘in accordance with the way’ of nature.

This reflects the degree of personification and is one reason he wished to establish an interface. But that was another matter for a later time. If afforded sufficient time, Erebus might be able to enlist indigenous Abyssal creatures’ assistance to stimulate the Abyssal will, causing it to temporarily manifest a powerful force.

Of course, the fate of those native Abyssal beings afterwards was unimaginable–no one could predict the actions of chaotic Tartarus.

Yet Erebus cared not for that prospect; his only concern lay in whether a fitting entity existed within the Abyss capable of fulfilling this task.

“Hopefully there is… If another Abyssal will can be added, the pressure on the present world’s laws will significantly heighten.”

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“Tsk, unknowingly, the number of mighty entities in my plan for the Epoch’s end is nearly reaching double digits, an unprecedented spectacle… Whether in those future days, the present framework will withstand this, and if the earth might fracture as a result, remains to be seen.”

Though still distant, Erebus began to anticipate those days eagerly.

How the present world fared mattered little to him, so long as the world itself was not destroyed.

Compared to the world itself, such minor injuries were insignificant.

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