Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

The long winter ends, and everything starts to grow.

Since the heavy snow faded away, the world has changed. The changes that were originally stopped by the change of seasons seem to be back on track.

There are traces of life outside the ruins that were reduced to ruins by natural disasters and man-made disasters, and traces of mortal activities are spreading eastward and southward again.

Perhaps one day, they will touch the East China Sea and come into contact with those humans who were once of the same origin as them but were brought to the sea, and regard them as foreign visitors.

No matter from which angle, the gap between the world of Chaos today and the later Greece is very large. Not only is there a lack of humanities and legends, but also in geography.

After all, as long as you compare the map, you can find that the Greek peninsula in the later world is a land protrusion extending from northwest to southeast, as the southernmost tip of the Balkan Peninsula directly into the Mediterranean. Constantinople, built between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, is next to it, and the peninsula itself is full of straits and rivers.

This is a place where water is wider than land in mythological records, because many stories in the legend do not happen on this peninsula at all. For example, the Caucasus Mountains in the east, where Prometheus was imprisoned in the original trajectory, is actually the territory of Russia in later generations, and it is separated from Athens by several Greek territories. And at the junction of the European and African continents, on the Strait of Gibraltar, which is famous in later generations, there is a huge stone called the "Pillars of Hercules". This is also the end of the Western world in the eyes of the Greeks, and it is the place where Hercules arrived in the twelve trials.

In this case, if a map is drawn with the above landmarks as the east and west sides, the Greek peninsula is really insignificant in it. It looks too small, no matter who it is compared with. But obviously, the world of Chaos today does not have a vast Mediterranean Sea, nor does it have many straits. The Iberian Peninsula, which should have been across the sea from Greece, has become part of the continent, and the Egyptian land in the south is not part of Chaos, and many places originally in the southeast of Greece have naturally evolved into some large islands.

Of course, since this is a world that has expanded many times, those large islands can actually be called "small continents", which are enough to support tens of millions of people living here, and even establish an independent kingdom.

This is the case with Phoenicia, a country located on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in later generations, facing Cyprus across the sea, and now it has become an island country. The Ionian Sea surrounds it - this is not the name of a game, but a sea area that actually exists west of the Greek peninsula in later generations. But now, it has come to the east of the continent.

No one knows why this human kingdom was born. Because the humans on the earth at least have the skills and knowledge of the previous era, they use them to record the past and develop civilization, but the humans on the sea have not been able to inherit these completely.

Poseidon sneered at those mortal things and allowed these ants-like active lives on the ground to grow wildly. Anyway, as long as they are still on the sea, they have to respect the sea king who controls storms, tsunamis and earthquakes. Therefore, the history of the Phoenician Kingdom was interrupted for a period of time. Although they inherited the extraordinary power passed down by their ancestors and remembered the legends of the gods, that was all.

In short, the Phoenicians today are very different from the humans on the mainland. They live and work in peace and contentment under the rule of King Agenor, making a living by primitive farming and fishing. The legendary god king who can bring rainstorms and thunder and Poseidon who dominates the sea are worshipped as the main gods by them, hoping to protect the country from natural disasters.

Until this day, an unexpected event caused the kingdom to be turbulent. The king's guards were on martial law in the city of Sidon (Tyre), and three princes with extraordinary martial arts were recalled from all over the city.

The king was furious here, and everyone knew why he did this. Because Europa, the only princess of Phoenicia, disappeared not long ago.

And the most important thing is that no matter how you look at it, this disappearance does not seem like a natural event, but some intelligent life behind it has been premeditated.

…

Pah——

The ‘exquisite’ pottery broke into pieces on the ground, and Agenor stood expressionlessly in the palace of his own palace.

In front of him, three heroic young men stood quietly with their heads bowed. They knew why their father was angry, and in fact, they themselves were also anxious.

Not long ago, on a summer afternoon, the sister of the three princes, Princess Europa, who was playing with her friends on the beach, was taken away by a wild bull in full view of everyone.

The princess just rode on its back—this beautiful and docile bull was really pleasing—and then it galloped.

It ran faster than Pegasus, and regarded the sea as stable as land. In just a blink of an eye, the princess' figure disappeared on the western sea, leaving a group of bewildered female companions on the spot, and reported all this to the king of Phoenicia in a panic.

The king was furious because he and Queen Telephassa had three sons but only one daughter. Europa's beauty was unrivaled in the kingdom, and people praised her as a girl kissed by the goddess of beauty, but now, she disappeared inexplicably.

So now, Phoenix, Circe and Cadmus, the three wise and brave princes, returned to the palace together, waiting for their father's order.

"I think you all know what happened."

After a long silence, King Agenor looked at his three children.

"A bull took your sister away, and you all swore to protect her. But now, she is missing."

"This is definitely not an accident."

Phoenix said, looking at his father, but Agenor's expression did not change.

"Of course I know this is not an accident. No bull knows how to attract humans with its appearance, and no bull can run on the sea."

"This must be an indication of something existing - such as a sea monster that can confuse people's minds, or some evil monster. You don't need to remind me of this!"

The voice gradually rose, and Agenor was still young and strong. Invisible pressure rose from him. He was not only a king, but also a powerful warrior who could fight sea monsters.

Looking at the three sons who made him proud, an idea arose in the king's heart. He was once proud of the excellence of his offspring, but later he was troubled by it. Because they were three instead of one, he had to choose one to inherit his throne.

Europa had been taken away for a day, and the king no longer thought he could bring her back intact. But perhaps with this as an excuse, he could choose an excellent new king for Phoenicia... So standing in the center of the palace, Agenor said word by word:

"You should go find your sister, the one you once swore to protect. Neither the ocean nor the earth should be an excuse for you to retreat."

"Bring Europa back, all of you. Ten years later, whether you find her or not, you must come back here. Does anyone want to refuse my order?"

"No, father."

Kneeling on one knee, Cadmus said solemnly, and his two brothers also spoke one after another.

No one complained about this, they all recognized that this was their responsibility as brothers.

"Very good, then get ready to set off. I have asked someone to prepare supplies for you to cross the sea. With your military force, it should be enough for a safe journey."

Nodding slightly, Agenor waved his hand. The Phoenician Kingdom had more than one city. He had wanted to measure their ability by the level of governance before, so he sent all three sons out. But it turned out that they all did a good job, so he had to change his mind.

But it was precisely because of this that he had arranged for people to prepare supplies on the way back for the three princes... The king turned around and stopped looking at his three sons. After the princes looked at each other, they left the palace one by one.

Soon, he was the only one left in the palace. The king stood quietly for a while, then slowly sat back on his throne.

Agenor's eyes stayed on a sculpture on the wooden table. It was a gift from Europa to his father, depicting his heroic figure killing sea monsters when he was young.

"... Although I asked them to find it, you should not be able to come back."

After a moment of silence, the king seemed to be talking to himself.

"Bull?"

"..."

"Oh, gods..."

...

In the depths of the distant ocean, on the island of Crete, the golden-haired gods were enjoying the sea view with satisfaction.

He didn't know what happened in the Phoenician palace. In fact, he didn't pay attention to the name of the human country at all. But if he heard Agenor's sigh, he would probably only laugh at the short-sightedness of mortals.

All the gods knew that there might be many gods who liked to turn into animals, but he was the only one who used this method to let women down their guard. This was what Hera did back then. The king of gods turned into a wounded cuckoo to win sympathy. And now, his behavior is similar.

When there is a choice, Zeus does not like to enjoy these beauties in a simple and rough way. Especially when he finally ended his long sleep and couldn't wait to have some fun.

Turning into a bull, taking the kind and beautiful human princess to a strange island, using some tricks to attract monsters, and then appearing kindly in another identity to save the beauty. Zeus didn't think that his rough performance could deceive the human princess for too long, but it would only take one or two days. He has now got what he wanted, and even has time to come here to see the sea.

As for whether the clever princess would find something wrong after a few days... The God King said that it was fun to be a hero and save the beauty, but it was even more fun to see the princess angry, desperate and helpless after she found out that he was the culprit. This can effectively relieve the boredom caused by sleeping for too long and cheer up the great King of the Gods.

As for whether the human princess and her family are willing to make this sacrifice, it has nothing to do with Zeus. Just like a butcher will not kill animals without their consent, the gods do not need their consent to do anything to people.

"Zephyros, it seems that Hera is still staying well in her palace?"

The sea breeze blew and lifted the hem of the God King's clothes. Everything was so natural, but Zeus still keenly noticed the unusualness of this airflow.

However, Zeus was not surprised, because it was he who made the West Wind God look favorably on the Queen of Heaven - that's why he did not hunt for beauties on the mainland this time.

"Yes, just as you have foresight, Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven does not like to spy on the sea."

Bowed slightly, the God of West Wind appeared from the side.

"Very good, it seems that this trick can at least work a few times."

Nodding with satisfaction, Zeus did not expect that he could keep it a secret from Hera, but it would be better if this kind of trouble could be avoided as much as possible.

Thinking of this, the God King tilted his head slightly. He looked at Zephyros beside him. While he was sleeping, this loyal minister had married his daughter Euphrosine. So now, they are also a family.

"You have become much stronger over the years."

Zeus said lightly, and Zephyros was as respectful as ever.

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty."

"Hehe... It's a pity that the first person to break through the powerful divine power by the power of faith was Helios, not you, and the sun is indeed a little difficult to control..."

Shaking his head, the God King didn't say anything more. Helios's foundation is indeed not comparable to that of a small god of the west wind. Even today, Zephyros's innate priesthood can only maintain the power of weak divine power.

He did have the idea of ​​replacing Helios, but it was too late now, especially when Apollo was not only not interested in it, but also said that he was not capable enough.

"The power of the God's Court is still increasing too slowly. Now that I have recovered from my injuries, I should speed up my pace."

Stretching lazily without any image, the God King felt that he should do something to make up for the time wasted in sleeping. But after thinking about it, he suddenly changed his mind.

"Well, let's speed up tomorrow."

"One or two days is nothing. At least, wait until I lose interest in this princess."

As if he had convinced himself, Zeus turned around and walked towards the center of the island again.