Chapter 105
Crazy: I want to advise you to change for the better, to do better, and not be so bad.
Iris: Zeus's wife did not send you here to exercise restraint. Hera wants to stain him with new blood, to kill his children, to harden your heart mercilessly, to drive this man mad, to confuse him to kill his own children, to drive him to rage, to provoke him, to make him raise the sails of slaughter.
After he personally slaughtered those beautiful children and sent them on their way to Charon, he realized how angry Hera was with him and that I opposed him; if he wasn't punished, the gods would be worthless and mortals would think themselves superior.
Although his madness ultimately failed to persuade either of them, Alcides found that Francesca, as Ate Humanoid, was someone he could somewhat trust... moreover, she shared his hatred of the world.
Moreover, from the Avenger' perspective, he was simply doing what he was supposed to do.
Since the malice of the Olympus gods had taken everything from him—
Loved one and children.
Even if the Soul Materialization, time would not flow backward.
That is the realm of other True Magic, far beyond the third.
Alcides then embarked on his Revenge.
"This is but a trivial matter compared to the great matter of Revenge the tyrants of Olympus, even if it were my life to Sacrifice."
Then, Alcides, emanating Red and Black Od, turned toward the Holy Grail and uttered words of resentment toward the Gods of Greece.
"After all, they didn't even offer souls as sacrifices... they used the lives of their own people as firewood in their stoves out of mere Jealousy."
The moment the hand reached out and touched the Holy Grail, an unknown thunderous roar born from Holy Grail disrupted the boundary between reality and fantasy.
Then, everything that appeared before the Avenger suddenly seemed so distant.
Just like the slight intoxication that comes after drinking alcohol, a faint sense of disorientation and absent-mindedness makes everything before my eyes feel light and unfamiliar, like a bubble, revealing a kind of illusory beauty.
Illusion?
No, I am rational and clear-headed, my self-awareness is unshaken, there is no mental abnormality, and reality is not distorted in any way.
It wasn't a terrifying illusion, just a purely natural change.
Only the surging, almost hallucinatory sound of the tide grew ever closer.
A stirring from the depths of the soul calls for the Avenger.
That is--
Mount Olympus, summoned specifically by Novia to appear before the Avenger Alcides.
189: Greece and Rome, Surface and Substance (6k5)
Olympus
It is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Selmay in the Aegean Sea. The name "Olympus" originally means "the place of light." In Greek mythology, it holds a position equivalent to Heaven in the Bible, where gods, demigods, and their servants reside.
The ancient Greece believed that Mount Olympus was located in the center of Greece, and since Greece was located at the center of the Planet, Mount Olympus was also the center of the Planet.
Therefore, the gods who rule the world and dominate mankind reside on this high mountain.
However, what appeared before the Avenger was not the Present World Mount Olympus, but the very Mount of the Gods from the time when the Age of Gods still existed.
Perhaps the light will never fall from the sky again; that's just that it won't be visible. Light can't truly disappear, and similarly, the gods won't disappear either.
"Heracles, I have decided to give you my child, Hebe, the Goddess of youth."
The Avenger knew this was Mount Sacred.
For a fleeting moment, he felt that he should, truly, burn brightly in this world of the past, continuing the glory and brilliance of 'Heracles'.
Even so, he still gently closed his eyes in the sunlight, unable to help but recall his Wrath.
"I am no longer your lackey..."
A silent stream of Red and Black Od emanated from his mouth and nose, beginning to permeate Mount Olympus from his feet.
That's right, glory and brilliance are long gone; my only purpose now is Revenge.
The goddess who once dragged heroes into misfortune resided at the top of the mountain. She took away the heroes' happy era and then Sorrow headed towards the boundless sea.
Whether the hero liked it or not, his subsequent experiences gradually transformed him into a different person, and another wave from afar carried him to a new sea.
Hera!
He smiled, his expression brimming with ecstasy and murderous intent, roaring with such excitement.
At this very moment, from the lowest point of Olympus, the Avenger, wielding what appeared to be red and black 'mud,' charged upwards like a shining star.
"Cousin, no, I should call you Alcides now. Hmm, when I used to be called that, Grandpa would tell me I shouldn't be so disrespectful."
Not long after walking away, when Alcides regained his senses, he saw the gaunt figure from his memory standing before him.
This left him frozen in place.
Before that, the Avenger pressed their sharp, iron-like killing intent against the throats, hearts, backs, Limbs, and every vital part of the bodies of those who stood in their way; the killing intent and curses seemed intent on annihilating everything.
However, upon realizing the identity of the newcomer, their murderous intent subsided considerably, transforming into inexplicable confusion and bewilderment.
Theseus.
Theseus, one of the Greece heroes and King of Athens, was a cousin of Heracles. His wife was a member of the Amazon who were massacred by Heracles, and was also a crew member of the Argo.
After Heracles killed his wife and children, he became despondent and contemplated suicide. It was at this time that Theseus arrived at Heracles' house, persuaded him to live, and took him to Athens to stay with him.
"Are you here to stop me too?"
Although he didn't understand why he was on Mount Olympus, for the Avenger, no one could stop him, not even his former friends.
As most people who witnessed Heracles' glory, they would logically condemn some of Alcides' actions.
Although men are indeed ruthless in battle, even plundering in the streets of enemy countries, they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals by assassinating others.
But if these actions are all for the purpose of achieving grand ambitions, they are not enough to shake the name of a hero. Even if the opponent is a cursed child who will bring calamity to the world, as long as he is a child, a man will never point an arrow at him.
Theseus, however, was different. When he learned of Heracles's fate, it was the only time in his life that he uttered a curse at the gods.
"As heroes, they can't only do noble things; they can also have sordid acts and ugly emotions. Then, they abandon glory, lose everything, just to vent their own discontent. Perhaps people will think they are Monster, but—"
Theseus shook his head, then smiled.
"In my opinion, that's not a Monster, but a person, and I've always trusted you in that regard."
So, whatever the proof of Evil or whatever, whatever the ultimate depravity or whatever—"
And so, the figure of the King of Athens slowly disappeared into Mount Olympus, until he was never seen again.
Only the Avenger's hand remained suspended in mid-air.
He stared blankly in the direction the younger person had left.
He instinctively reached out, wanting to grab him, but couldn't find him anywhere.
Only the lightest yarn seeped into his body from the air.
The glory that Poseidon bestowed upon Theseus reappeared from the yarn, a conceptual defense, and also an absolute defense accompanied by immortality.
Ultimately, Theseus was simply lamenting his cousin's choice, and also understanding it.
It's actually meaningless, and since it's meaningless, there's no need to be bothered by it.
Even so, even so, at the very last moment, Theseus, suppressing the painful emotions that seemed to evoke his own Sorrow, spoke with a touch of loneliness:
Go do what you want to do.
This time, the Avenger were free of the restless mud and the violence of the past; only the Serenity and distant sound of the ocean waves reached their ears.
So distant.
The Avenger's face froze for a moment, but he coldly withdrew his gaze and refused to look again.
He heard footsteps nearby, which stopped beside him; they were the crew members from the Argo.
"Theseus has been dragging his feet for too long, but since he has already bestowed Poseidon's blessing upon you, then as the Protection of the seas, I must also bestow my blessing upon you."
"... Although that's what I say, I really like Heracles the way you are right now."
"Pollux!"
"Lord Heracles has shrunk, but he looks terrifying..."
"You've frightened little Medea, but I've never seen you like this before. Even the Moon Goddess would be quite surprised."
"Ha, that guy kept calling out 'Heracles, Heracles,' but when he saw you like this, he was too scared to come until the very end."
When did you arrive?
The god of medicine, Asclepius, thought for a moment and said seriously:
"Just now, I was summoned by a very familiar power, perhaps a power bestowed almost two thousand years ago. Although all the gods, including Zeus, could descend, I thought it unnecessary to cause too much trouble, so only Hera and the Argo came."
"... Yeah."
The Avenger instinctively raised his bow, demonstrating his unwavering determination to Revenge.
Novia must have paid a tremendous price to achieve this.
But he no longer had time to ponder the key points, and blurted out unconsciously:
"I don't want to kill you."
"Hahaha, you're quite confident, Heracles, but the world of mankind should continue to perish like this—"
"No, we can't let it be destroyed. Didn't Novia already stop it once?"
"Hmm, hmm, that's true, but how dare a mere human call him Saint..."
"You may say that, but you actually like it a lot, don't you?"
"Pollux!"
Asclepius looked at his Gemini brother and sister, then sighed, a rare occurrence for the Avenger:
"Your Flesh is no longer alluring. If I were to persuade you to take on even more difficult challenges and suffer more unheard-of injuries, and then have me diagnose you, I doubt you would agree now. In that case, I won't bother diagnosing you."
As the healer passed over the Avenger's body, he continued:
"If I hadn't dedicated myself entirely to medicine, I would have ended up like you... Come to think of it, my shadow is also present in this Holy Grail War."
"Though not everything is beautiful, as long as you don't hate the Moon Goddess and her actions against the child, I won't stop you."
Atalanta answered frankly, and it wasn't hard to imagine her persistence just by looking at her expression.
"Well, I still think that although the originally towering Heracles was frightening, he was very reliable, and he should still be reliable now."
The little Witch forced herself to calm down, then cheered excitedly.
"It doesn't matter. In fact, you're fine the way you are now. I never wanted you, with your 300-plus kilogram muscle mass, near me in the first place. Now that you've shrunk down, I still don't like you being near me."
The betraying Witch revealed a nonchalant smile.
Slowly, the sky above Mount Olympus, tinged with dark red, appeared before the Avenger's eyes.
Twilight, evening—that's how people refer to the boundary between day and night.
The elongated shadows cast on the road create a distorted atmosphere, a hazy moment that doesn't belong to day or night, perhaps having the effect of awakening the unease dormant in people's hearts.
At normal times, during this period, many people are propelled by the red light, heading towards their way home.
In the silence, the Avenger reached out to the gradually dissipating crew members and gently shook their hands amidst the dust.
Then, he withdrew the murky, dark Od of red and black that he had spread.
He looked down at the Captain, who had arrived only at the last minute.
"Heracles! Isn't that Heracles! Hahaha, even though you've changed into this form, you still look so worried, but that's actually reassuring! Alright, I've entrusted you with so many things before, now leave them to me, hahaha, I'll definitely be just like you, quick and decisive."
Jason, the blond man characterized by his arrogant attitude, Captain of the Argo.
He once said this to the man who had just boarded the ship:
"I see, how wonderful! I'm so envious! You truly are the Monster the rumors say you are! But don't worry, I'll treat you well while I'm using you."
"When you're with me... you won't be Monster anymore, but rather—"
The clouds in the sky completely disappeared, and the moonlight dyed the earth a dreamlike silver.
At that moment, the blond man suddenly laughed, and grasped the man's hand as if trying to catch a shining star.
"A great hero who protected the Future king."