The Villain of Ancient Greece

(Words: 3989)

Half an hour ago, in a deserted, desolate residence within the royal capital of Arcadia.

Accompanied by the shifting of starlight, Hippomenes stepped out from the bronze altar engraved with celestial patterns and Hermes runes.

Glancing back at the blood aura gradually dissipating above the Arcadian mountain range, his eyes couldn’t help but fill with deep dread.

Thousands of prematurely bred artificial life embryos, along with the raw flesh-and-blood materials accumulated from several major battles on the field, were actually about to be consumed completely empty so quickly?

That fellow is truly terrifyingly strong!

It seems I have no choice but to play that chess move ahead of schedule!

Confirming that no one was around, a cold sharpness flashed in Hippomenes’s eyes.

He immediately donned the star-and-moon robe to the side, picked up the double-serpent staff within the magic array, pulled up the hood to conceal his features, and walked out of the courtyard equipped with a barrier.

”Lord Hierophant? You’re back!”

Hearing the commotion, several Hermetic followers who were standing guard outside the door turned their heads to look at the figure radiating a familiar aura, their faces full of pleasant surprise and worship.

Among the several major sects currently active in Greece, the Hermetic sect was one that started relatively late, only formally establishing itself after the Olympian Divine War.

Yet within a few short years, the Hermetic sect had been able to secure a firm foothold and spread rapidly within Arcadia, a place bursting with life and full of competing forces.

The [Hierophant] before them could be said to have played an indispensable role in this achievement.

On one hand, his attainments in alchemy were extraordinary, having completed the two ultimate research projects: the ”Fifth Element” (Philosopher’s Stone) and ”Artificial Life” (Homunculus);

On the other hand, he enjoyed the deep trust of the King of Arcadia, providing a convenient official environment for the development of the sect.

Coupled with his status as a blood descendant of Hermes and his usually gentle, approachable way of handling things, this caused the followers of the Hermetic sect to highly praise and respect this generation’s Lord Hierophant.

However, after a brief moment of excitement, a trace of doubt surfaced on the faces of the several gatekeepers: ”Didn’t you head to the Arcadian mountain range together with our fellow followers to put an end to the Beast Disaster? Why do we only see you alone now?”

Hippomenes spoke with solemn severity: ”An accident occurred during the subjugation. I must immediately enter the palace to meet His Majesty!”

Hearing this, the expressions of the several Hermetic followers instantly hardened.

Having assembled the divine-blooded heroes and mages within the entire territory of Arcadia to go on the subjugation, yet they still failed—didn’t that explain...

”What is there to panic about?

Things haven’t reached an irreversible stage yet.”

Hippomenes spoke calmly, then looked at the crowd, asking in a deep voice.

”The preparations I asked you to make before departing—how are they coming along now?”

The surrounding Hermetic followers seemed to have found their pillar of support.

They straightened their backs one after another, answering in a flurry of voices.

”They have all been fully completed!”

”Everything has been arranged exactly according to your requirements.”

”Furthermore, in order not to fail your trust, we mobilized almost all of our fellow brothers in the sect.”

Hearing the enthusiastic responses from the followers, Hippomenes nodded with satisfaction, though the corners of his lips upturned beneath the hood traced a sliver of icy, mocking sneer.

’A bunch of fools!’

To think they dug out the graves to bury themselves with their own hands, yet still believed it was a path leading to the light.

”You have done very well.” Hippomenes praised them without showing his true emotions; then tapping his double-serpent staff, he took out several pottery bottles from the magic array and generously distributed them to the few people before him, speaking with a smile, ”Drink it up; this is what you deserve.”

Pulling out the corks and looking at the red fluid inside the bottles, the crowd was ecstatic.

The Fifth Element fluid!

Within the field of alchemy of the Hermetic sect, a type of ”invisible, intangible” fantasy substance had been conceptualized very early on.

Distinguishing itself from the four basic elements of ”fire, air, water, and earth,” it was addressed as the ”Fifth Element,” and was closely linked to the soul and the origin of life.

Legends said that once an alchemist drank this red elixir manufactured from the Fifth Element, even if they couldn’t obtain eternal life, they could vastly improve their own achievements in alchemy and extend their lifespan.

And currently, the only person in the entire Hermetic sect who understood how to refine the Fifth Element was the Hierophant before them.

Although he possessed this valuable wealth of knowledge, he never kept it solely to himself, but generously distributed the refined Fifth Element fluid to the congregation members who contributed to the sect.

For example, this time, the Lord Hierophant had given a batch of the refined Fifth Element fluid to the Hermetic congregation members preparing to head to the Arcadian mountains to subjugate the Beast Disaster ahead of time, allowing them to enhance their strength.

Precisely due to this generous, selfless behavior, he was able to sit firmly in his current position, receiving widespread support from the Hermetic followers.

Looking at the precious Fifth Element fluid inside the bottles, the followers drank it all down in one gulp with excitement under the expectant gaze of the Hierophant.

However, they failed to notice that within that red elixir fluid, something resembling white larval flocculent matter seemed to be floating.

Witnessing all this with his own eyes, Hippomenes sneered in his heart.

Just as he had always emphasized, only life could be exchanged for life.

Similarly, only life could breed life.

Therefore, this elixir of long life refined from the Philosopher’s Stone was, in reality, the culture fluid used to breed the embryos of artificial life.

The reason those Hermetic followers of Arcadia would be manipulated by him, becoming his puppets to intercept the enemies, was precisely because they had consumed these Fifth Element fluids breeding the artificial life embryos before setting out.

How could there be so many free, beautiful meals in the world?

The gifts of the gods were often marked with a price the very instant they were sent out.

After quietly eliminating the potential hidden threats, Hippomenes began his orderly arrangements: ”The situation is urgent. Notify all followers to gather at the royal palace! Simultaneously, summon that crowd from the Cult of Eleusis as well!”

”That crowd from the Cult of Eleusis?” The Hermetic follower to the side revealed a look of confusion.

”That’s right. The situation has deteriorated now; this is precisely the moment when everyone needs to work together to overcome the difficulties together. Deliver my handwritten letter to them; that crowd of Eleusinian followers will come.”

As Hippomenes spoke, he took out a wax-sealed missive from the magic array, handing it to a Hermetic follower responsible for transmitting messages.

The reason he was so certain was because he was not only the [Hierophant] of the Hermetic sect, but also the [Hierophant] of the Cult of Eleusis.

Exactly like this bunch of fools from the Hermetic sect, the moment he produced the Philosopher’s Stone, that crowd of Eleusinian followers could no longer resist the temptation of long life, unanimously electing him as the Hierophant.

It was a pity that he hadn’t been officially installed in his position within the Cult of Eleusis for very long, and had not yet had the chance to personally host an Eleusinian Mystery ritual.

Otherwise, he could have taken advantage of the time when he distributed the kykeon barley porridge to that crowd of fools to pour the pre-prepared [Red Elixir] which bred the artificial life embryos, right into it together.

Hippomenes shook his head, stood up to walk out of the courtyard, and headed straight toward the royal palace.

The moment he entered the door, the guards and maids escorted him into the palace conference hall with practiced familiarity.

And King Iasus of Arcadia, who had been waiting for a long time, had already grown look-weary.

The very instant Hippomenes entered the door, he pounced over impatiently.

”Lord Hierophant, the medicine? Where is my medicine?”

”Your Majesty, please forgive my incompetence...”

Hippomenes lowered his head, his face full of shame.

Seeing this situation, King Iasus looked filled with complete astonishment, his voice instantly rising by a few pitches.

”What did you say?”

”Apologies. I didn’t expect a Typhon temple to actually be buried within the mountains of Arcadia.

With the blessing of that Monster Progenitor, the intensity of the [Beast Disaster] far surpassed everyone’s imagination...”

”I’m asking you where the medicine is?!”

King Iasus cut off Hippomenes’s explanation, grabbing the other party’s lapels as he demanded answers regardless of anything else.

At this time, he could no longer hear any unrelated voices.

Madness was written all over his distorted face, and within his red-shot eyes, grain-sized worms could faintly be seen swimming around.

”I handed the army over to you,

I handed those people over to you, you were supposed to bring the medicine back to me to let me advance into a deity—you promised!”

Plunging into delirium, the King of Arcadia roared with clenched teeth.

Beneath his bulging flesh, it also appeared as if countless earthworms were crawling, jointly thirsting for this metamorphosis.

Looking at that completely distorted countenance that was starting to give rise to a dense surge of killing intent, Hippomenes spoke unhurriedly.

”Your Majesty, although I don’t have the medicine right now, there are enough materials here.

As long as you permit it, I can manufacture new medicine for you at any time.”

Following Hippomenes’s gaze, King Iasus looked toward the thousands of households within the royal capital and instantly understood this Hierophant’s meaning.

However, at this moment, a few strands of struggle couldn’t help but surface within his eyes.

”This...”

”The subjugation has already been declared a failure, and the beast tide is about to roll back soon.

At this critical juncture, you must absolutely not fall. Only if you live can more people be saved, isn’t that right?”

Hippomenes spoke darkly, his low voice exactly like slick serpents drilling into King Iasus’s brain through his ear canals, continuously churning inside.

”This is a necessary sacrifice; Arcadia will keep their dedication in mind...”

”That’s right, this is all for the sake of Arcadia!”

King Iasus nodded, murmuring as he took out a bronze emblem engraved with the moon insignia from the magic array, handing it to Hippomenes.

Every city-state had its own guardian deity, and the deities would grant protection to the nations that believed in them.

Unless they pro-actively abandoned it...

Hippomenes accepted that bronze insignia, making a mocking bow toward King Iasus upon the throne.

Standing up to walk toward the grand hall, he arrived atop the astrolabe tower, the highest terrain of the royal palace.

A crowd of Hermetic followers and Eleusinian followers had already assembled here, standing respectively atop different star maps.

Seeing this situation, Hippomenes stepped across the stairs covered in Hermes runes, ascending the high platform as he raised his hand to crush the bronze insignia in his palm into a mass of fine powder.

The sacred fire inside the Temple of Artemis extinguished with a *puff* sound.

The sky above the royal capital cleared abruptly, as if a certain barrier had been shattered.

Hippomenes revealed a satisfied smile, opened his arms, and chanted that ancient holy word together with the followers gathered here.

”When the stars align in their proper alignment, the circle of principle manifests here. The origin is infinitesimally small, the expansion is infinite.

The celestial bodies are the void. The void is the abyss. Within the abyss resides the god!”

Accompanied by the chanting in unison, countless stars inside the sky were lit up.

The lights interweaving with one another constructed a dense, vast star map, enveloping the entire Arcadian royal capital from top to bottom.

The crowd inside the city subconsciously halted their footsteps, raising their heads to look up one after another.

They discovered with surprise that the stars inside the sky seemed to be rotating continuously.

The interweaving, flowing starlight was exactly like a massive vortex, devouring their thoughts and drawing out their souls.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

A moment later, figures collapsed limply to the ground one after another, and tens of thousands of lights of spirituality aggregated toward the rotating starry sky.

Seeing the people of the entire city collapsing in succession, the followers before the altar instantly looked with astonishment toward the figure in the center of the altar.

’Wasn’t this supposed to be to counter the beast tide? Why is it different from what was agreed upon?’

”Hiero...”

The two Eleusinian followers closest to him just wanted to open their mouths to ask when Hippomenes raised his hand and suddenly made a grasping motion across the empty space.

The bodies of the two individuals exploded instantly, turning into a cloud of blood mist that aggregated into Hippomenes’s body.

And having received this nourishment, Hippomenes split the corners of his mouth, revealing a ferocious smile. Amidst rows of terrified gazes, he raised both hands high, launching the final chanting.

”O my Lord, rise up!”

In an instant, the tens of thousands of lights of spirituality turned into an anomalous blood tide, pouring down from the vortex of stars into Hippomenes’s body.

Under the staining of the bloody color, densely packed bloody light patterns surfaced across Hippomenes’s body, and rows of black scales spread across his skin.

At the same time, the surrounding air also gradually became incomparably viscous.

The vast star map suspended in the sky descended to the ground, its operation appearing to rip apart the surface layer of the earth as a dense death energy, cold as water, fiercely erupted to a height of several yards out from the cracked abyss.

Looking out, red-and-black light fog erupted out from various locations within the city of Arcadia.

Within the line of sight, the viscous, bloody mist drifted open, causing the surrounding air to distort and writhe, the scenery before their eyes changing subsequently because of it.

Dark red streams seeped out from the dark fissures cracking open on the ground, gradually aggregating into five endlessly rolling rivers.

Across the red-colored wilderness floating with ghostly blue phosphorus fire, thousands of souls roamed blindly upon the plains covered in blooming daffodils.

Three massive bronze gates bound with chains stood aggressively at the ends of the five great rivers mixed with dark red and turbid yellow.

Distorted, ferocious countenances boiled and roared within the rivers, turning into rows of black branches resembling pythons and serpents that gradually spread onto the massive bronze gates, piercing through the rune chains upon them.

Bang! Bang!

In a flash, rows of tightly bound dark-gold chains burst apart, and the three tightly closed bronze gates opened slowly.

A freezing breath that froze the soul, carrying a foul, turbid yellow mud flow and countless distorted aggrieved souls mixed within it, rushed out from the abyss, surging violently over.

Accompanied by the screech of a dragon, the soil wrrithed.

Stark white skeletons of beasts, birds, and humans—whose biological characteristics could be faintly discerned, awakened from their deep sleep.

Carrying the breath of corruption and death, they searched for and cursed the fresh, living things of the world.

The gates of the Underworld had opened!

If the discarded old gods were not permitted to step onto the surface to enjoy fresh life,

Then they would drag this land into the Underworld, causing it to breed new life amidst corruption!

Gazing at the bloody world before his eyes and feeling the surging life force within his body, Hippomenes took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes once again, they had turned into red-and-black serpentine vertical pupils.

Finally, he was back!

Then next, let this place become the very first cornerstone for this King to ascend the divine throne!

Just as Hippomenes was murmuring, a band of golden light shot into the sky from the southeast of the royal capital, ripping open a corner of the bloody sky and bringing a flash of brightness.

The dozens of figures upon the streets broke their consciousness free from the starlight vortex.

Snapping back to their senses all at once, they looked with astonishment and terror at the completely unrecognizable world before their eyes, as well as the several skeletons running over while sniffing the scent of living men.

Bang!

The dull sound of a door being pushed open jolted the dozens of people who had plunged into bewilderment upon the street awake.

”It’s dangerous outside! Hurry inside!”

A golden-haired girl of peerless beauty, cradling a magic wand, stood before the open gate of a certain small courtyard, waving urgently to the crowd upon the street.

The crowd snapped out of their stupor like waking from a dream, scrambling and crawling as they rushed toward that small courtyard enveloped within golden light.

Seeing this situation atop the astrolabe tower, Hippomenes furrowed his brow deeply.

’Haven’t the elites of Arcadia all been sent to subjugate the Beast Disaster?

How can there still be people capable of maintaining clarity inside the refinement array?*

’The power that interfered with the operation of the refinement array just now seemed to originate from a deity?’

’And that girl...’

The red-and-black serpentine vertical pupils swept across that small courtyard radiating a faint golden light, shrinking violently, as a ferocious smile promptly surfaced upon Hippomenes’s face, which had grown red-black scales.

The bloodline of the God King, a descendant of Zeus!

Good! Very good!

Use her to serve as the very first meal for this King upon waking up!

Hippomenes raised his hand slightly.

Within the star map, several dumbfounded Hermetic followers let out tragic screams as distorted artificial lives burst through their flesh, crawling out from within.

”You lot—bring her back!”

”Roar~!”

Dozens of artificial lives let out low roars as they accepted the command, leaping down from the astrolabe tower, their two open arms turned into a thin layer of wing membranes, carrying them to glide all the way toward that courtyard that had yet to be broken through by the refinement array.

Watching his hunting soldiers deploy, Hippomenes forcefully suppressed the hunger sensation inside his stomach, sitting peacefully atop the altar as he continued to absorb that anomalous red tide dropping from the sky.

The life breath within his body climbed layer by layer, and the red-and-black scales also gradually turned from the illusory into the real, spreading and growing across the surface of his skin.

~~

”Watch out!”

Before the courtyard gate, Helen dragged a little girl who had tripped on the roadside right behind her, raised the magic wand in her hand high, and activated a spell bullet, blowing a leaping skeleton into a heap of scattered debris on the floor.

”Th-Thank... you... you are truly a good person...”

The girl’s mother pounced forward to hug her daughter excitedly, continuously expressing her gratitude toward Helen in an incoherent manner.

”Don’t say so much, hurry into the house!”

Helen quickly spoke up to urge her.

Looking at the dozens of skeletons upon the street attracted over by this commotion, her forehead sweated continuously, and the hand holding the magic wand was also shivering slightly.

Because the danger level of the Beast Disaster surpassed anticipation, her brothers stubbornly refused to bring her to the Arcadian mountain range.

Therefore before departing, they required her to stay inside the safer city, and in order to ensure her safety, they had additionally set up a protection curse for this small courtyard.

Although Helen was a bit unwilling, she stayed obediently inside the courtyard, waiting for the triumphant return of her brothers and that Lord.

But because this process was excessively tedious, she fell asleep unknowingly.

And by the time she woke up from her sleep, she discovered that the entire royal capital had become completely unrecognizable, the so-called safe zone suddenly teeming with dangers.

Had it not been for the protection curse outside, she might have been stripped of her spirituality by the bizarre magical array above along with those people lying on the ground outside, right?

Left with a lingering dread, Helen looked toward that thin layer of golden brilliance at the absolute outermost perimeter before the gate, wrinkling her beautiful brows slightly.

’Strange. The aura of this magical array doesn’t look like my brothers’, but rather...’

”Help! Help me!”

Just as Helen plunged into thought, a few terrified cries for help came from the street.

A mother cradling an infant was stumbling and fleeing for her life.

And behind them, dozens of stark white skeletons were pursuing relentlessly.

Seeing this situation, Helen bit her silver teeth, shouting out loud.

”Hurry, come over to this side!”

Hearing this celestial voice, the mother far off revealed a look of pleasant surprise and immediately accelerated her footsteps, rushing toward that shelter radiating golden brilliance.

However, making a mistake in her haste, the excessively excited mother accidentally stepped into a deep pit on the ground.

Stumbling and falling to the floor with a lurch, the baby inside the swaddling clothes also wailed and cried out loud due to the pain.

Instantly, the dense sound of grinding bones echoed from all around, making Helen’s scalp go numb.

Perhaps abandoning them was the best choice; however, looking at that infant inside the swaddling clothes, Helen bit her silver teeth.

Cradling her magic wand, she rushed out of the main gate, blocking right behind that mother and child as she chanted a ritual spell of banishment with a high-speed divine tongue.

A burst of pure white brilliance flashed past.

A crowd of screeching aggrieved souls and resurrected corpses blew apart with a thunderous roar, turning consecutively into scattering stars of light dust that drifted away with the wind.

Helen didn’t expect that the ritual spell she had failed to master for a long time would actually be comprehended at the critical moment.

She wiped a handful of fragrant sweat from her forehead, quickly pulling up the mother and child on the ground, preparing to retreat toward the shelter behind her.

However, accompanied by dozens of sharp sounds of drawing through the air, monsters appearing as if constructed from white wax dropped from the sky one after another.

Brandishing their two arms, which had turned into sharp swords and long spears, they thrust straight toward her.

Helen raised her magic wand subconsciously, propping up a magical barrier.

However, the next moment.

”Crack!”

The sword-shaped arms carried a crisp sound of shattering, piercing through the magical barrier without the slightest effort as they thrust toward her and the mother and child behind her.

’It’s over!’

Helen’s mind went completely blank, her heart filled with panic.

Boom!

Right at the critical juncture, a bolt of starlight dropped down, the earth shaking and the mountains swaying as smoke and dust filled the air and spiraled into the sky.

And the blazing white starlight that let out its full venting almost became the only color reflected within her eyes.

”You are dust, and to dust you shall return...”

The decree fell.

Accompanied by that pity akin to an elder and the sigh of a wise man, gentle, blazing white light patterns rippled outward with that arrived figure serving as the core.

Puff, puff, puff, puff!

In an instant, wherever the light patterns passed, dozens of artificial lives blew apart with a thunderous roar.

At the same time, the turbid mud undercurrent upon the ground was subsequently washed completely clean because of it, and the ripped open surface of the earth was stitched back together anew.

Everything returned to how it was before—serene, comfortable, and peaceful.

(End of this Chapter)

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