AI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 587: Queen of Heaven's Garden
Silver light rose, piercing the gap between the starry Sky and the human world.
From atop the Star Shuttle, Heracles looked at the remains of Mount Othrys, which remained vast and boundless even when viewed from above, and a strange feeling of melancholy suddenly welled up within him.
Time flows, years wear away.
No matter how glorious or great a civilization or Divinity, all will eventually bow down to the permanence of time.
The Golden Humans were like this, Earth Mother and Sky were like this, and the God King who once dominated Mount Othrys was also like this.
"What about Zeus…?"
"How long will his rule last?"
"And when that day comes, will he accept it calmly, or struggle unwillingly?"
There was no answer, for the future is the most unpredictable.
Withdrawing his gaze, the Great Hero manipulated the Star Shuttle to continue westward.
Thanks to this Alchemy creation from Silvermoon City, if not for it, the group would probably not even have reached Olympia by now.
And his next destination was the garden of Hera, located in the West Sea.
...
"Dionysus, do you know anything about Hera's garden?"
Along the way, Heracles broke the silence, looking at his preoccupied companion.
Before leaving Mount Othrys, as the Great Hero eliminated the Sphinx, the God of the West Wind, responsible for issuing quests, arrived, albeit late.
However, under the gaze of the Caucasus Divine Eagle's Eye, Heracles unexpectedly found that it seemed not to be Zephyrus's true form that had arrived this time.
Not too concerned about it, he just silently watched the other party's performance.
It wasn't until the very last step, when the other party spoke of the next task, that the Great Herotruly felt a little surprised.
Stealing the golden apple from Hera's orchard was exactly the same as his original goal.
Since that was the case, there was no need for him to refuse.
He readily agreed, and both sides were very satisfied.
However, since that day, Dionysus seemed to be somewhat conflicted.
"He probably received some additional task, to be precise, something for you to do."
"However, having traveled together for this long, this young man can no longer use you without batting an eye—or perhaps he never had that ability to begin with."
"In any case, how you choose to resolve it is up to you; I am only responsible for clearing up some of your doubts."
The foreseeing Titan God told him this, so Heracles, as expected, chose to face the problem directly.
Indeed, when he asked about 'Hera's garden,' Dionysus seemed to relax considerably, as if a great weight had finally been lifted from him.
"Hmm… I certainly know… I mean, I've seen it in the ancient texts I've read."
"Heracles, speaking of which, do you know about the golden apple tree?"
"I've heard of it."
Nodding slightly, the Great Hero spoke of what he knew.
"It originated from the 'Seed of All Things' within the life treasure bottle, taking root and sprouting in Earth Mother's hands."
"The supreme symbol of Life nourished the supreme symbol of Plants, eventually bearing a rare treasure that even the Gods seldom see. This is what I know of the golden apple tree."
"However, as far as I know, Hera's tree does not seem to be a true golden apple, but rather a branch that Earth Mother once gifted to the God King's three brothers, which was then replanted and grew into it."
"Typhon's Sons, the hundred-headed dragon Ladon, guards that place. It was subdued by the Gods and eternally guards Hera's garden there."
"That's right."
Nodding in agreement, after much hesitation, Dionysus finally spoke:
"There's just one thing you're wrong about."
"The hundred-headed dragon Ladon, it was never subdued by the Gods."
"Or more precisely, there's nothing in this world that can subdue it. From the very beginning, the story about it was a lie."
"On that day, Typhon fell, and the Gods hunted his descendants across the land. Ladon was originally just an ordinary one among them, but at the moment the King of Ten Thousand Demons died, it, like its brothers, received an inheritance from the source of its bloodline."
"From that moment on, the Gods were no longer its match. It roamed the earth freely, and even all the Gods of Olympus combined could not defeat it—this was not because its strength was truly unrivaled, but because it was too similar to the former King of Ten Thousand Demons."
"If Typhon was the hundred-headed dragon-serpent, then Hydra was its immortal body, and Ladon was its unquenchable rage."
"From its father, it did not inherit those special abilities; it only inherited Typhon's burning rage against fate and rules."
"Thus, by some unreproducible coincidence, this powerful demon transformed this rage into its unique power, possessing an ability that even the Gods envied and feared—the ability to evade the suppression of the laws of the present world."
"The human world thus became its domain. Even on the land where the suppression of laws was most stringent, it could still exert power comparable to a true God; and far out in the sea, its power was even more formidable."
"As one wanes, the other waxes; strengths and weaknesses reverse."
"As long as it didn't madly step onto Olympus, the Gods would have to make way for it—until that day, when the God King personally intervened."
"No one knows why he would single out Ladon. Perhaps it was due to his dissatisfaction with Typhon's repeated refusals to submit, or perhaps for some other reason."
"In any case, under the power of the King of All Gods, Ladon was finally utterly defeated. It could not resist the God King's might and was ultimately given as a gift to Hera, permanently imprisoned in her orchard."
"This irritable prisoner, an unstoppable madman, indiscriminately killed any living being that dared to trespass on its territory, thereby indirectly safeguarding the area."
"And so, as years passed, the prisoner, through songs and legends, became the guardian of the garden. Apart from the Gods and itself, no one knew the true story."
Like a poem, Dionysus recounted the legend of the hundred-headed dragon.
In front of him, Heracles frowned slightly. Hearing this, he probably guessed what the other party was going to say.
Excluding the fact that he himself also needed to obtain the golden apple, the God of the West Wind probably never expected him to complete such a task.
After all, a great demon capable of displaying divine power in the human world, and even more so in the sea, such an enemy is almost impossible to defeat, and this has nothing to do with will or confidence.
Perhaps cunning was his only path, and the Gods had already prepared this smooth road.
"The hundred-headed dragon Ladon, it sounds terrifying and very difficult to contend with."
His expression unchanged, the Great Hero asked.
"So, Dionysus, do you have any ideas about this?"
"…Of course."
Nodding, Dionysus said in a deep voice:
"In the entire human world, no human or God can defeat Ladon."
"Except for the God King and the Primordial God who were born with the world, the hundred-headed dragon is an invincible existence."
"However, to obtain the apples in Hera's orchard, it is an unavoidable guardian."
"Fortunately, nothing in the world is absolute. There is one God who, due to a special Divinity, received exceptional leniency from the laws."
Turning to the front of the Star Shuttle, Dionysus looked at the distant land below.
Although this was guidance sanctioned by the Father God, it would not harm Heracles… the young God convinced himself.
He did not want to harm his friend, just as he did not want to see Amon's death.
"You know… if Ladon is the only demon that can display divine power in the human world, then he is the only sacred being who can wield Divinity."
"The end of the Sky, the edge of the sea."
"Heracles, the hero who killed the five great demons, wise as you are, you must have already guessed… even children in the human world have heard their parents speak of his myth."
"Yes, I have indeed heard of him."
Nodding faintly, the Great Hero naturally knew him.
The only existence capable of displaying divine power in the human world, that ancient Titan God, the vanguard general of the second-generation God King, the "Sky-Bearer"—Atlas.
"That's right."
"If it's him, no matter how strong Ladon's power is, it will never be his match."
Heracles gazed through the Star Shuttle's exterior towards the western edge of the earth.
At a sufficient distance, everything appeared blurry… except for that colossal figure supporting the Sky.
Atlas, Son of Iapetus, Prometheus's brother.
He bore one-third of the symbol of supporting the Sky, so the laws of the present world never acted upon him, and even the furious Sea Emperor Poseidon never offended his dignity.
So, that's how it is.
Someone wanted him to meet the Sky-Bearer, to obtain something or an answer from him, after all, he had stood there as a Titan for too long, and the Chaos World did not need an old God who stood on equal footing with Olympus.
"I understand."
After a moment of silence, the Great Hero simply said slowly.
"Atlas, the Sky-Bearer, the Titan who wields Power; I have longed to meet him."
"Since this journey is destined to involve his presence, I will go and see him myself."
······
Splash…
Rumble…
...
In the west of the earth, endless waves rose and fell.
The River of the World was far from here, and the sea god's son was unwilling to approach.
Shouldering the Sky, with the sun and moon above his head.
For thousands of years, like a statue, Atlas stood at the very edge of the firmament, always silent.
Following his gaze, the shadow of Olympus was hidden in the shadows of the ancient divine mountain's ruins, just as the Titan's shadow always Entanglement the new God Court.
Beside Atlas, a tall bronze pillar reached from heaven to earth.
An incomparably deep blue spiritual light ascended from below, while a pure azure heavenly light pressed down.
The two finally met in the middle of the bronze pillar, erupting in a dazzling light invisible to mortals.
Sky and Sea, two colossal forces capable of condensing great symbols, collided here. Using that tiny figure as their endpoint, they mutually canceled out the accumulated frenzy of each.
Suspended above the western Sky, Triton had long lost track of how much time had passed.
Even though the brief frenzy during Typhon's rebellion disrupted the time sequence of Chaos, causing time between the starry Sky, ocean, and land to no longer be unified, his sentence still had not ended.
Day after day… month after month… tormented in pain, Triton had long forgotten how far he was from freedom.
He only knew that he went from wailing to cursing, from cursing to silence, from silence to pleading, and then from pleading to despair.
Time and again, year after year, no one ever paid him any mind.
It was as if he had been forgotten by all things in heaven and earth, and here, was his long coffin.
...
Splash…
Step, step.
Stepping on the sea surface, feeling the seawater wash over her toes.
Expressionless, Pandora dragged her black skirt, walking silently on the West Sea.
The colossal God was like heaven and earth, the bronze pillar so tall its top could not be seen.
Beside her, Gaia had gone somewhere unknown, only Epimetheus accompanied her.
Step, step.
"So… my dearest husband, respected Foreseer, child of the Titan God—as you can see, is he my target for this journey, Triton, the sea god's son?"
"With all due respect, I feel nothing superfluous about him… neither disaster nor any other superfluous existence."
Her voice was faint, seemingly questioning, but in reality, there was no emotional fluctuation to be heard from beginning to end.
Pandora stood quietly on the great sea, like a corpse.
Beside her, Epimetheus merely smiled.
Like Pandora, he could do nothing now.
"That's right, it's him, Triton, the sea god's son."
"Once upon a time, you were the catalyst for human disaster, and he, was the executor of bronze destruction."
"As for his father, Sea Emperor Poseidon, the Earth-shaking God who controls Tsunamis, Storms, and Earthquakes, he is the sacred being closest to natural disaster in Chaos."
"According to the original sequence, Earth Mother intended for you to pose as a mortal who fell into the water due to a shipwreck, and thus gain the Sea Emperor's favor—but he is no longer here."
"He has fallen into the abyss, unable to even perform his Divinity… so now, the closest to him in the world is only the endlessly suffering Triton."
Having his nominal wife seduce Poseidon was as commonplace in the Foreseer's mouth as having a dog bark at humans.
Looking up at the tall bronze pillar, Epimetheus felt the awe and power of the ancient God.
A thousand years, or ten thousand years?
He didn't remember, but the bronze pillar did.
It was soaked with the sea god's son's blood, intertwined between the Sky and the Sea, and even through the grind of time, it managed to divide a sliver of the imagery of supporting the Sky.
However, to obtain Triton, this bronze pillar was also an unavoidable step… Silently, Epimetheuslooked back at the Sky.
Before coming, Earth Mother told him that a person blessed by fate and the will of the God King would come here.
She didn't care if the process was difficult; she only wanted the final outcome: for Pandora to take everything from Triton.
"Heh… what a good idea."
"But Earth Mother… I wonder if you've truly regained the Wisdom you lost, dancing gracefully on a knife's edge, or if you're already battered and bruised, merely relying on the world's favor to preserve your Life?"
"I may not know, but you yourself… should be clear."
Still smiling, Epimetheus looked at Pandora.
"Come," he said with a smile, "begin to build… this stage that belongs to you."