Chapter 264: Eternal Existence and [Book of History]
The virtual world, Olympus.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, shining on the earth and mountains, as if it did not sense another scorching sun rising underground. Zeus and the gods are still on the top of the mountain, enjoying the singing and dancing of the Muses while waiting for the "new god who does not know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth".
The gods do not care about this little time, but not every god is interested in it. Like Athena, she found a reason to leave there early and returned to her palace on the sacred mountain.
Athena still has many doubts about this seemingly true world. It's not that she doesn't want to know more about those strange gods, but reality does not allow her to stay there for long.
Because the goddess of wisdom who merged with another "self" did not inherit the memory of the original body, every word she said might be detected as abnormal by others - or no one might notice it, but in the case of uncertainty about how long this sudden change will last, she naturally chose the most cautious one.
Walking on the steps paved with white jade, Athena quietly admired the new scenery of Olympus. Maybe it was because it was later, or maybe it was because Hephaestus's skills were indeed better than those of the Cyclops. In short, along the endless network of the Gods' Mountains, the temples that rose and fell looked more majestic.
There were even some more distinctive styles, which did not look like those of God, but like the gods were influenced by mortals. For those who had been living here, they did not feel anything, but Athena felt it very clearly.
Gods and humans influence each other, even if they themselves did not realize it... Thinking silently, the goddess continued to move forward.
Her destination was her own library - although she did not know the layout of her palace, Athena believed that she would have such a place.
As expected, she found her own palace by following the induction of divine power. Under the guidance of the maid who was a little puzzled, she easily found her "own" study in the complicated corridor.
…
Tap tap tap…
Tap tap tap…
Squeak——
“Is this the place?”
The azure-colored long skirt concealed the figure of the ‘girl’ god, and a lavender belt was casually tied around her slender waist. Athena stretched out her hand to push open the door and looked at the scenery inside the room.
A huge circular library, with a large ring inside a small ring, and layers of bookshelves inside and outside. This was the first time Athena had seen so many creations that recorded knowledge. Looking at this scene, she couldn’t help but smile.
No matter whether this world is real or fake, there is one thing whose value will not change, that is knowledge. And here is probably the place with the most knowledge in the world. Due to the difference in the priesthood, even the collection of the God King is far from comparable to it—if Zeus is really interested in them.
“Yes, Your Highness, this is your study.”
The nymph fairy who stood by respectfully responded in a low voice.
She was a little puzzled, after all, this was the library in the goddess’ own palace. But the gods' affairs cannot be questioned. No matter why the other party asked her to lead the way, she never raised any objections.
Among the gods of Olympus, Athena is indeed the one with a good personality, but no matter what, the other party is a god.
"Very good."
Nodding, Athena came back to her senses. She tilted her head slightly, looked at the maid who was looking at the ground, and then moved her fingers lightly.
With a "thump" sound, the nymph fell to the ground. And the next moment, she was dragged up by an invisible force and placed on a small bed left by the goddess in the library.
She will probably sleep for a long time until Athena has a thorough grasp of the situation. When she still knows nothing, the goddess does not want to cause any more accidents.
"Huh - now, it's time to see what the difference is between the "history" of this world and what I know."
Exhaling a breath, Athena walked forward. The skirt dragged on the bright ground, and the goddess looked at the books that were stored in different categories bit by bit.
Some of them are related to certain skills, some are biographies praising gods, or history books recording the kingdom. But after searching around, Athena couldn't find any documents recording the entire world history. She was a little surprised for a while, and then she was a little surprised.
She almost forgot that books are written by intelligent beings. Humans need to record history to pass it on to future generations, but gods themselves are immortal. They don't need to record their past in books, because their own memories are history books.
So gods won't record complete history, and mortals don't have the power and lifespan of gods, so they can't write a history book spanning the years.
"So... do I need to summarize it myself?"
Frowning her beautiful eyebrows, and then stretching them out, Athena looked at the books that recorded gods and people. The writers of these things are either believers of gods or themselves, or scholars of the human kingdom, and the content they record must have some subjective judgments.
But as long as she reads enough and understands enough, Athena can piece together the full picture of the real history bit by bit like playing with building blocks, and understand what happened in this world in the past.
This is destined to be not a simple matter, but a huge and complicated project. After all, to find the most true one among the contradictory statements one by one, it requires not only wisdom, but also sufficient time and experience.
Fortunately, Athena was not without help. She had other ways to speed up the process. So the girl-like god took down an ancient scroll from her waist - the artifact that should have brought her into her memory, but now brought her to another world.
This was the only thing the goddess brought in. Apart from that, whether it was the clothes on her body, or the [Spear of Victory] and [Shield of Aquis], they were all things that another "self" already had.
In the past hundreds of years of continuous use, Athena gradually gained a deeper understanding of the power of this volume. It can not only read memories, or in other words, the function of memory is just its insignificant appendage. Its real ability is to retrieve "existence", use "unchanging", and is also the portal to "history".
Memory is a summary and trace of the past, and it is life's cognition of the past, so the exploration of memory is included in the function of this artifact. At this moment, with its power, Athena can easily collect the documents in the entire library, and then restore the most real scene of history from them.
This is much simpler. Artifacts related to [History] can naturally be easily judged as true or false... Standing in the palace, the goddess slowly opened the laces of the scroll.
The laces fell to the ground, and the artifact began to glow slightly. However, Athena was not in a hurry to use it. She just stared at this natural creation for a while, and then at a certain moment she spoke softly:
"It's been a long time since I last saw you. I didn't expect to see you again here... It's a bit rude to say that I didn't have time to ask you last time. I don't know what your name should be?"
The transformation of the world comes from the reading of memories, and all of this is controlled by this artifact. If this may still be an accident, then the phantom seen before proves that everything must be related to that mysterious existence.
Compared to understanding the history of this world, Athena actually wants to know how to leave here. And the most important thing is to communicate with the person who caused all this.
And the other party did give a hint before... Thinking of this, Athena's expression became more certain.
"..."
"Buzz-"
After the voice fell, there was no reaction at first. But after a while, the scroll that symbolized the goddess holding her hand suddenly trembled slightly.
Athena let go of her hand, and then the scroll slowly opened in front of her. On its originally blank cover, a trace of ink appeared.
"This is an accident. Before today, I didn't expect your memory to become like this."
"But I will end it all. As for my name..."
There was a pause, as if the existence behind was thinking about how to call himself. After a moment, the ink trace continued, and a line of small words appeared on it.
"Compared to many creatures in this world, I am indeed born different. So if you need a name..."
"Then call me 'Yahweh'."
The handwriting appeared and disappeared, as if nothing had happened. But when the owner of the handwriting personally acknowledged this 'name', in addition to the goddess, it was also remembered in the 'heart' of the world.
The name of the Lord of the Spirit World itself has some unknowable characteristics, but the effect of this nickname is weakened. This is true for both the gods and the world.
Note: Yahweh is a Hebrew transliteration.
…
In the library, everything is the same.
The candlelight flickered slightly, shining on Athena's fair cheeks. The light of light and darkness seemed to reflect her mood, which was also somewhat elusive.
"There is forever..."
Athena didn't know what to say for a moment as she silently passed through this name in her heart.
Using a transliteration similar to an adjective as her own name is not a very unique practice. On the contrary, it is a name that is very in line with the characteristics of the current era.
Just like Athena's nickname Tritogneia, it means "Zeus's third child after Apollo and Artemis." Of course, in this changed world, the order of their birth has also changed, so it is only in this illusory world that Athena heard someone call her like this for the first time.
In addition, another name that Zeus often used to disguise himself in front of mortal princesses and queens in later generations, Cronides, is also a direct expression of "Son of Cronus".
So it has to be said that the king of gods used such a pseudonym openly and his identity was never discovered. It is not known whether Zeus secretly exerted influence or the queens and princesses of Chaos World were not so smart.
In short, this is a very reasonable nickname, which is widely circulated among the gods. However, having said that, in fact, the words used as "descriptions" cannot be used casually.
The names of the gods are given by the world. They often have some special powers and a strong connection with the gods. If the nicknames you choose after birth want to have the same deep connection with yourself, they must be "real" enough.
In this case, the goddess of beauty cannot even call herself "the most beautiful person in the world" because this concept is bound to her priesthood and the name "Aphrodite". If we exclude the influence of the priesthood, whether she is the "most beautiful" is still a matter for discussion.
In addition to being "real", this nickname often also contains a little meaning of revealing the noble status of the name owner. Just like whether Zeus and Athena are willing or not, the biggest source of their identity is the authority granted by the world, which is the status of their fathers as gods.
Therefore, from the former point of view, since this mysterious existence dares to use such a self-proclaimed name, it means that he is really as he said, "self-existent" and "eternal". The world has given the gods authority and power, but he is born with it; the world can deprive the gods of their divine power, but his eternity is always there. Athena doesn't know if the original god is like this, but even if it is, with the example of Gaia, it is definitely not everyone who has such ability.
And from the latter point of view, such an existence beyond the gods naturally does not need to use others to prove his nobility, because he himself is the source of everything.
"Excuse me, sir."
With a faint smile, Athena bowed slightly without any expression.
She was a little shocked in her heart, but more cautious. No one would show kindness to a stranger without reason. If there is, there must be some purpose.
"No problem."
"Things born with can't prove anything. Let's talk about you."
The ink marks appeared and disappeared, much faster than before. Athena's heart moved slightly. Perhaps the owner behind the handwriting was not idle. He was doing something, and now he finally had some free time.
"This is a false world, but it contains a relatively 'real' destiny. But now, all of this has been swept into the pile of old papers and will never be realized again."
"So, about the way to leave here...what do you want me to do?"
The goddess with bright eyes asked easily, still smiling.
"It's not difficult to leave here. What's important is what's here... I was thinking about this question before, and your current actions have reminded me."
"This world is 'fake' but its original trajectory is 'true', which means that its existence is a true 'history' that should have been realized and recognized by Chaos himself, just as its trajectory is still recognized by Chaos as a 'destined fate'."
The handwriting paused again, and then appeared one by one. But this time, the strokes of the ink seemed to carry a hint of inexplicable meaning.
"I will destroy this world, Athena, in the near future."
"The sacred mountain will collapse, and the world will return to nothingness... And what you need to do is to use this artifact as a medium, and use this 'non-existent' history to achieve the birth of the [Book of Years]."
