#579 - Complain
"【Golden Balance】..."
Listening quietly to the story of this famous scholar, Hercules was no stranger to this name.
Like the [Sword of Evil Slaying], which is known as the 'Sword of Judgment', the [Golden Balance] is a sacred weapon of the ancient Titan god, Themis, the goddess of law and justice.
On earth, it is also called the 'Scales of Justice' and the 'Scales of Judgment'.
There are even some rumors that this ancient god travels in and out of the afterlife.
Therefore, for a while, many nobles were terrified and even deepened their faith in the gods. After all, no one could be sure what the fate of their soul would be after death.
Either enter the realm of Pluto, or forget the past and start a new life under the baptism of the River of Forgetfulness, or even be placed on both sides of this scale to measure the blessings after death with faith.
The unknown brings awe, and awe brings faith... But then again, what is the connection between this famous artifact and the son of Typhon?
"…That's exactly what I'm going to tell you, Hercules."
"I think you should know that many of the powers of the Son of Typhon have some connection with the gods."
"For example, the connection between the lion skin on your body and Her Highness Hestia's [Protection], or the relationship between the nine-headed serpent Hydra and the goddess of life."
"The same is true of the Sphinx, and the one associated with it is Her Majesty Themis, the goddess of law."
Holding a branch at random, the Centaur painted a primitive mural on the stone wall.
The battle between the gods and Typhon, the blood of the goddess of justice dripping, the sphinx born under the stimulation of the unique blood and the combination of the heritage of the king of all monsters...
When the great hero looked at these murals, it was as if history had come to the present.
And in front of him, Chiron continued to tell this little-known story.
"It's different from other great demons. Perhaps it's because the authority of the Goddess of Law contains a deeper order, or perhaps it's because of the deviation caused by her justice."
"In short, unlike other great demons, the Sphinx is not bloodthirsty."
"It simply wanders the earth all day long, seeking wisdom and knowledge among humans, and takes pleasure in defeating the wisest among mortals."
"This hobby is very strange, but it is not dangerous. So almost no one noticed it at the beginning, and only a few anecdotes from the countryside spread among the countries... However, demons are demons after all. Once their traces are discovered, their hostility towards humans is innate and cannot be changed."
"No one knows whether humans attacked it first or it attacked humans first. Anyway, from that day on, when the first human hero who was proud of his wisdom fell in front of the Sphinx, a war broke out."
"Countless mortals went to fight against the demon for fame and power, and then fell asleep beside the demon. Gradually, the gods also knew of its existence."
"The gods sent down an incarnation to try to kill this powerful demon. But they were shocked to find that although the sphinx did not have an immortal body, it did have a special domain that was almost impossible to crack."
"No matter who you are, if you can't answer her three questions, you are no different from an ordinary person in this field."
"So several gods returned in defeat. None of them were willing to risk being imprisoned in the domain. Only the goddess of justice stood up."
"Unlike other gods, due to the nature of her authority, she can be exempted from the influence of the demon realm as long as she can answer one question correctly. However, the goddess did not participate in this game in the end. She just stopped the fight and made a bet with the Sphinx."
"Why?"
"Is it because Your Highness Themis is not sure that she can answer even one question correctly?"
Hercules asked, his expression slightly changed.
However, the next moment, Chiron gave him a very unexpected reason.
"No, the goddess didn't take action because she found that the [Evil-Slaying Sword] had no reaction to the Sphinx."
"She believes it is innocent, so there is no reason to kill it. But she doesn't want it to continue to cause unrest in the world, even if it actually stems from the church's propaganda and the arrogance of ordinary people."
"After much deliberation, the goddess finally decided to solve the problem in a different way. She used her own artifact to gamble with the demon. If no one could solve the Sphinx's puzzle within the specified time, the artifact would belong to the demon from then on, and the goddess would no longer interfere with its behavior."
"And if someone solves its puzzle, it will serve the goddess from then on. Just like the three-headed dog guarding the gate of Hades, it will become the executor of law and justice."
The story ends here, and the murals on the stone wall also come to an end.
The blindfolded god with a sword at his waist held the scales, while the sphinx's arm was placed on one side of the scales.
Apparently, they finally reached an agreement. The demon was tired of fighting with these humans, so it accepted the conditions of the Goddess of Law and came to the site of Mount Odilus, far away from the other countries.
He pondered for a moment, looking at the continuous murals on the stone wall. Although he had never seen her before, the hero already had a good impression of the goddess of justice.
Forcing victims to sacrifice for the greater good is, in his eyes, just false justice.
It is more in line with Hercules' sense of justice to let others give in voluntarily and then make up the price they paid for it himself.
This is the difference between depriving others of their food to help the weak and using one's own money to buy other people's food to relieve famine.
Unlike Ares, who made almost no contribution to the war, in the eyes of the great hero, the goddess of justice was personally spreading law and justice in the world.
It's a pity that such a god didn't become the main god of Olympus... With a slight sigh, Hercules thanked:
"Thank you for clarifying this, Lord Chiron."
"No problem, this is just to repay you for your help."
"And this is just a story. What I'm going to say next can really help you."
The Centaur smiled and warned solemnly:
"The battle with the Sphinx does not rely on force, but wisdom... In this regard, I don't know if you can beat those in the past."
“But if you fail twice in a row, don’t answer the third question.
"Only those who answer at least one question correctly can leave the realm. If you get it wrong three times, you will be killed by the rules... So if it comes to that, remember to pray to the goddess of justice."
"After all, the Goddess's artifact is there. Maybe, just maybe... it can allow you to escape."
······
brush--
Just when Olympia was in chaos, Hercules took the opportunity to rescue the Centaur.
Above the sky near the sacred mountain, a bronze light streaked across the sky.
The light flickered, alternating between light and dark, as if reflecting the mood of its owner at the moment.
And surrounded by the flowing light, the god of war Ares was covering the wound on his waist and flying quickly towards Olympus.
When he came, he drove a chariot and a Pegasus, but when he left, he was left alone.
He didn't even have time to take his mount and weapons with him. This was undoubtedly a humiliating defeat.
But this time, Ares did not say anything harsh, instead his face looked a little miserable.
Unlike before, this time, he no longer had any excuses to make for himself.
Failure is failure. He was defeated head-on by a mortal in the part he was most proud of.
Among all the gods in Mount Olympus, there is more than one who is more powerful than him, but even his father's perfect daughter Athena cannot surpass him as the god of war in terms of divine body.
He had used this to console himself whenever he encountered setbacks, but now, Hercules' fist had thoroughly taught him what reality was.
Victory is victory, defeat is defeat, there are no excuses.
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At this moment, the God of War in this world seemed to overlap with him in his original trajectory at a certain point in time.
Faced with the pain brought by mortals, as the God of War, he did not learn from his mistakes or lose his temper. He finally chose another path when this unprecedented thing happened, something that almost no other male god has done.
That is to return to the sacred mountain... and then complain to Zeus!
Yes, sue.
Although he could sue his parents if he lost a fight, this kind of thing shouldn't happen to a god of war.
Unfortunately, both the later mythological epics that recorded the original fate and Ares in this world made this choice.
The saying "It is easy to change the country but difficult to change one's nature" is probably true.
Even though fate has changed, the God of War still made the same choice.
…
Bang--
Before long, the sacred mountain was in sight.
Ares fell from the air, feeling the divine power reactivating in his body. He covered the wound on his waist, but was slow to heal it.
Ares walked forward, avoiding the nymphs and gods on the road, and came straight to the gate of the Golden Palace.
It will be here soon that Zeus will announce the new god of the sea to replace Poseidon and respond to his disappearance.
Ares didn't know where Zeus was now, but the King of Gods would always have an incarnation of his divine power inside the Golden Palace most of the time.
Bang--
“Father God!”
Pushing the door open forcefully, Ares's eyes swept across the Golden Palace.
As expected, he found Zeus on the golden throne in the temple.
Sensing the other party's powerful yet not insurmountable aura, this was probably the incarnation of the God King.
I just don't know why, this incarnation seems to be a little bit wrong at the moment. He seems to be a little tense at the moment, not relaxed at all like before.
He didn't know why, but Ares didn't think much about it.
What else in the world today could make the great Zeus nervous? He couldn't be fighting another great god outside the human world, could he?
So taking a step forward, Ares shouted again.
His voice was unusually bleak, and he did not forget to let go of his right hand that was covering the wound, showing the place where he was bleeding.
"Father God, look!" (Note 1-beginning)
"This is the pain I suffered in the human world, the pain caused to me by the shameless offspring of a god left in the human world! Don't you feel angry when you witness these brutal acts?"
"In order to help mortals, the gods are always fighting endlessly... and as the main god of war, I have tasted the greatest pain."
"So I came here to argue with you - there is an evil god under your rule, a cursed criminal, who only thinks about committing evil and leaving such descendants in the world!"
"My great father, all the other gods, every god on Mount Olympus, are respectful to you.
"We are all willing to obey your orders, but there are some people who are unwilling to obey your orders and let their descendants worship the gods!"
"Only he, the human who was instigated to attack me - this ignorant hero on earth, dared to charge at the immortal god with rage!"
"Before, he created murderous karma among his own kind; now, he is rushing towards me, Ares, the ruler of war!"
"Fortunately, I was good at running, so I was able to escape from his hands. Otherwise, I would have to endure the pain and lie in the pile of stiff corpses for a long time, or suffer from the attack of bronze spears and live a frivolous life!" (Note 1-end)
He shouted loudly, without even the dignity of a god. Ares scolded Hercules, not even sparing the source of his bloodline.
With such a strong body... He must be the son of a Titan, and eventually gained power comparable to that of a Titan through some kind of mutation.
Ares was filled with malice and wished that Zeus would take action immediately, bring the mortal and his sinful father to the sacred mountain, and sentence him to the same crime as Prometheus.
Just wait... The King of Gods will definitely deal with you... Immersed in his fantasy, Ares did not notice the gradually condensing aura around the incarnation of Zeus on the throne.
He just showed his wounds and continued to denounce the source of all this.
······
Note 1
The following is less than 200 words.
This accusation was modified from a translation of a myth, so it's normal if you find the style a bit strange, because it was intentional, and it was just modified to be more in line with the context. Originally, it was scolding a human hero who injured him and Athena who secretly helped him, but here it was changed to Hercules and his father who he didn't know. Some vulgar words were also changed, so it looks more or less like the original.
As for why I used a translation instead of writing it myself, it was mainly because of the previous debate about Achilles. In order to show that I didn't mean to black him, but because Ares is just like that, I just took out his original dialogue this time. If you think he is stupid - yes, I think so too.
