Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

North of Thuringia.

The night became darker, and the clouds covered the moon, making the Beicheng area without magic lamps darker.

It's midsummer, and few people would light a fire at night. After all, this place is close to the North, but not that far north, so it not only inherits the dryness of the north, but also has the heat of summer.

Just one spark could probably burn down a city block. Therefore, after suffering losses in the first few years after the city was founded, the locals stopped doing this kind of thing.

Bang bang bang——

There was a short knock on the door, and with a creaking sound, the warehouse door opened a gap.

brush--

"Who are you!"

The sword edge was placed across the neck of the intruder. The strong man in black had no idea that he was walking on the line between life and death.

He just looked at the strange young man outside with vigilance. No one should be here at this time. If it weren't for the idol in the opponent's hand, he would probably chop it down without hesitation.

"Mrs. Saville asked me to come - phew - I mean, can you let me in first? It may not be safe outside now - it will be even more unsafe if you stab me with a sword."

The voice of the visitor was short and urgent, as if there was a knife behind his back that was ready to cut down at any moment. The big man in black hesitated for a moment, but still let the other person in.

Just like Mrs. Summer's previous judgment, the big man in black also felt that if the church and the paladins were coming, it would be fine to just call in. There was no need to hold the statue and make excuses with them. And if it were not a church force, for what reason would they come to trouble them?

To put it bluntly, their current targets are limited to the royal family and the Church of the Goddess of Wisdom. In addition, even many of the great nobles in Athens turned a deaf ear to their actions.

"Tell me, what happened? Who are you, Mrs. Summer? Why are you and the idol the only ones here?"

Although he already had some ominous premonitions, the strong man in black still asked.

"I don't know," the young man looked a little sad: "My wife noticed something was wrong, but she said she had no time to leave. Others would not let her go, but no one knew about me... She asked me to take her with her The idol came here to tell you to finish the things here quickly and then withdraw from Thuringia. "

"What are you going to do? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"...No need, just leave the statue to me, Lucky, keep an eye on him."

After saying hello to the back, not sure if he believed it or not, the strong man in black immediately took the statue and walked inside.

Another man in black came over immediately, holding a machete in his hand and watching every move of the young man at the door.

"I know, I will keep an eye on him... Boy, if the news you brought is true, then maybe you will have a chance to receive God's gift with us, and you will have great luck."

"But aren't you going to verify my identity again? I mean, is it that simple?"

The young man looked at the strong man in black walking away and asked in surprise.

"No need... As for why, you will understand after you become one of us."

The tall and lanky man in black, known as Lucky, obviously had no intention of explaining. He just stared at the young man who arrived unexpectedly, making sure that there was nothing wrong with him.

According to the original plan, they planned to sacrifice two days later on the Queen's birthday in the mortal calendar - although the eternal gods don't care much about birthdays, believers need to care.

This is why they haven't left yet even though they knew someone was chasing them all the way.

But just two days early... No matter if this person is a real apprentice or a person with other evil intentions. Since he sent back the icon of the god, there would be no problem.

The sacrifice will be held, and after that, even if they all die here, they will definitely gain eternal life in the kingdom of the Queen of Heaven.

What's more, as long as they receive divine grace, they may not die.

…

Deep in the warehouse, there is a temporary ceremony hall.

Lying on the cold stone platform, Andrea could clearly hear her heartbeat.

‘Andrea’ is translated as ‘robust, elegant and beautiful’ in Greek, which is what her father has always expected of her. But ever since that premeditated attack at sea, until she woke up from a coma six days ago, she had already arrived at this warehouse she didn't know where.

The holy power originating from the goddess was tightly sealed in her body by the servant of another god, leaving her unable to even resist the cold.

She knew what she was dealing with, and she knew why it was happening—at least part of it.

'Two more days. ’

Andrea thought to herself, her silky blond hair scattered on the stone platform.

I heard this date from the conversations of people around me, and they didn't mean to avoid her. In fact, the priests of these other gods didn't do anything to her, and they didn't dare to do anything to her, because her identity was so important.

Unfortunately, the important reason for her is not her past identity, but the identity she will have - as a living sacrifice to God.

'In the etiquette established by Olympus, human sacrifice is obviously not allowed. Only the primitive natural spirits in the north and believers in the lower world have done this kind of thing. Now in order to target Athens, the sect of the Queen of Heaven did not hesitate to violate the gods. King's ban? ’

It was incomprehensible, but Andrea couldn't even form words. She could only stay on the cold stone platform and look at the dome of this remote warehouse.

Tap tap tap...

The quiet environment was broken, footsteps sounded from afar, and then Andrea heard the conversations of people around her.

They encountered a problem, it seemed that they were discovered, and they were going to perform the ceremony in advance... But thinking about it carefully, it was almost time for them to be discovered.

The team that attacked her was divided into eight and fled in different directions. No one expected that such a weak team would be responsible for escorting her.

It was inconspicuous, which certainly would not attract the attention of the kingdom, but it also meant that they might not even be able to deal with the normal clearing team. Their only way to survive was to obtain the blessing of the gods after completing the sacrifice.

Then pray that you will not be caught up by the angry king of Athens, otherwise no blessing will work.

'I still hope he can calm down. '

The thought flashed through her mind, and Andrea, who was tied and unable to move, was a little sad.

Her father should still be looking for her... Her death is bound to intensify the conflict. If her father did irrational things in anger - he would definitely do so, then no one knows what will happen.

Perhaps Athens, which has just prospered for less than a hundred years, will usher in war, but they are not sure of defeating their opponents now.

"Little princess, what are you thinking about?"

The voice came from far away, and soon, Andrea saw the leader of this team, an old man who looked to be in his seventies.

He looked down at her, and Andrea, who was speechless, chose to stare back with wide eyes.

"Hehe, you inherited your father's courage, little princess, even if you are only twelve years old-but unfortunately, you don't have his strength."

With a dry smile, the old man in the sacrificial robe placed a statue beside Andrea, or in the middle of the stone platform.

"The great mother of resurrection will be pleased by this. If the king of Athens chooses to send troops to the west, it will be even better."

"Okay, let's start the ceremony-although midnight is not the time preferred by the gods, we can't care so much now. May the gods protect us."

"Yes." ×n

The sound of scattered footsteps sounded in the warehouse. The framework of the ceremony had been arranged here a long time ago. Now it is just necessary to take out those extraordinary materials with a shorter effective time.

The fragrance of lilies and pomegranates floated in the air, which was the aroma of essential oils extracted from these two plants. The Queen of Heaven liked these two plants the most, and they symbolized "nurturing" and "having many children" respectively.

The faint candlelight was lit, and the believers below the stage were dressed neatly. For a moment, this warehouse used for living sacrifices seemed to become holy, as if there were songs spreading in the air.

Then the next moment, Andrea saw the statue next to her light up slightly, and the sound of the people's sacrifices below rang out at the same time.

Their expressions were serious and solemn, and their voices were uniform, but for some reason, Andrea felt as if she had hallucinations.

It seemed that more than one voice was speaking, and there was something wrong with the prayers she heard.

"...Equal power... Lord"

"..."

"Here... sacrifice..."

"..."

The voice went from silent recitation to high-pitched, lying on the high platform, a sense of withdrawal surged from the body.

This is a sign of the soul leaving the body, and it is also the process of the sacrificial ceremony... However, at this moment, Andrea felt as if she heard two sources of sound, one from below, and one from the statue next to her.

The content of the former is like a poem, which is actually reporting to the gods about their own achievements and the objects to be sacrificed. And the content of the latter... Hearing it, Andrea closed her eyes.

It was like a chorus, a hymn praising destruction.

"..."

"The common leader of billions of demons."

"The source of the fall of the heavens."

"The mother tree of flesh and blood that devours all the worlds."

"I ask for your listening, for your attention, and for you to open the door to the kingdom."

...

At the door of the warehouse.

Perhaps it was the faint sound of the sacrifice coming from inside, and the tall and thin man in black who had been vigilant all the time also relaxed a little.

Once the ceremony begins, it is almost impossible to interrupt, it is nothing more than the difference between good or very good results.

"Speaking of which, this fellow."

Looking a little curious, Ryan looked at the direction inside.

"I have never been involved in this kind of thing before, and I don't know what the general response process is - but if you use the ritual of worshiping the righteous gods to worship the evil gods, will there be any bad results?"

"Your question is very dangerous... Forget it, it's not that no one has done this before, you'd better take it as a warning. If you host the sacrificial ceremony yourself in the future, don't make any problems in the arrangement."

There has been no problem so far, and the man in black also believes the identity of this unexpected visitor. He thought about it and warned seriously:

"If the object of the sacrifice is the righteous god, but you use the wrong ritual, the situation depends on the mood of the gods - but if you are worshiping the statue of the evil god, there will basically be no other consequences."

"Since the ritual is incorrect, generally speaking, it will not attract the power of the object of the sacrifice - but it is only in terms of power, not spirit. You should be very clear that in the process of sacrifice, the spirit of the believers is highly unified with the ritual, and only in this way can they communicate with the gods."

"I understand, thank you for reminding me."

Nodding politely, Ryan felt that he had learned some new era knowledge.

He actually wanted to carve the name of the Midgard Serpent into the statue, but considering Hera's authority and style, he changed it to another one.

Of course, this kind of operation is impossible for ordinary people, even Ryan can only play this trick on this temporary little statue.

"But then again, how come I didn't know that Theseus, who was raised by Poseidon's followers, had a daughter? In later myths, the four children of this Athenian king and his three wives seemed to be princes, right?"

"And from the documents I've read before... he doesn't seem to have a good relationship with Poseidon."

I always feel that there may be something wrong here, but Ryan didn't dwell on it too much.

The little princess who was almost used as a living sacrifice is in there, just ask her later. Moreover, Theseus is different from the heroes recorded in other myths. Although he also has the common problem of heroes, he suddenly wants to do something big, such as kidnapping a foreign princess, or even going deep into the underworld to kidnap Persephone, but he himself is still very capable of internal politics.

In the original trajectory, he abolished the town councils in various places and unified them into the city-state council of Athens, ceding some rights to the nobles, thereby improving the status of citizens... and in this changed history, it is probably to strengthen the control of Athens over the subordinate cities, balance the contradictions between the nobles of the blood of the gods and the citizen class, and be more or less a wise ruler.

In comparison, Hercules may be able to beat him in combat, but his brain is not enough, at least in terms of politics.

While thinking, the prayers in the depths of the warehouse stopped abruptly, and then a sound like the howling of a beast came from inside.

The tall and thin man in black was startled suddenly. He didn't know what happened inside, but this was definitely not the flow that a priest should have...

Whoosh-

A dagger shot at the man in black from the direction of Ryan like an arrow. He recognized at a glance that this was the effect of the second-ring general divine art [Archery].

Most low-ring divine arts have no direct lethality, and the effect of [Archery] is no different from firing a long arrow.

He could have dodged it by just turning sideways, but the man in black immediately saw a finger pointing at him.

Hell-type three-ring universal divine art, [Fear]!

In an instant, fear emerged from the bottom of his heart, and the tall and thin man in black turned around and ran subconsciously, and then the next moment, the dagger pierced his chest from behind.

"When rookies peck at each other, it is important to strike first."

He took two steps forward and pulled out the dagger.

Ryan wiped the blood with the other party's clothes, and then walked into the warehouse.

Next, it was to kill this group of mentally traumatized lunatics, get some materials, and a princess of Athens who was captured as a sacrifice for some reason.