Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality - Chapter 171
Chapter 171: Chapter 26 Fear or Gift
For ordinary deities, the world hadn’t changed at all. Yet, the moment Bronze Humanity was born, it silently shook the hearts of many gods.
Whether it was the new gods who had tasted the Golden Apple or old gods like Helios who had been restricted to intermediate divine power for thousands of years, they all noticed the change.
Thus, atop Mount Olympus, in less than a century, seated upon a bronze chariot, Hades returned here once more.
Of course, perhaps ‘short’ wasn’t the right word to describe it, since from his birth to now hadn’t been all that long.
Gazing upon the Divine Palace that had been rebuilt, the God of the Underworld couldn’t help but compare it to his own abode. He easily concluded that the surface was indeed preferable to the underworld.
It wasn’t a matter of the architecture itself, but that Hades could use as many gemstones, as precious materials as possible to construct his temples, yet it would not change the desolate solitude of the place.
He himself didn’t care, but since all the other gods cared, he reluctantly had to start caring as well.
“Hades, you’ve come too?”
“Our dear brother is truly exceptional; he always manages to create something out of the ordinary. Thankfully, he didn’t hide this time. Otherwise, no one would know to what realms he would’ve stealthily traveled.”
Even from afar, the booming voice of Poseidon carried over.
Following the sound, Hades looked towards the south, where the Sea Emperor was flying alone toward Mount Olympus.
This was a good thing, after all, just before, the Lord of the Underworld had worried Poseidon would bring along his Sea God kinsmen. Fortunately, at least when it came to monopolizing, his brother had never disappointed.
“Stop wasting time, Poseidon, our sisters are there too. Don’t keep them waiting too long.”
Concise and to the point, Hades had no intention of saying more. He led the way into the grand hall where matters were discussed, and seeing this, the Sea Emperor promptly followed suit.
Behind them, Helios, who had just finished parking his Sun Chariot, also rushed in. In fact, if it wasn’t for the importance of the Sun’s presence to the mortals, making it impossible to leave him out, the Divine King would have preferred not to invite this Titan deity to join the feast of division.
Mount Olympus housed many temples, for the most part, the abodes of the True Gods. However, near the peak, the Divine King had ordered the construction of a palace where the gods could resolve disputes and discuss matters.
He named this temple Rikte, meaning ‘place of justice and honesty.’
Today, following Zeus’s summons, gods of intermediate divine power or greater gathered; many of them possessed even more formidable divine power. They all knew the purpose of their congregation, for the newly born humanity.
Prometheus was the exception. As the creator of Bronze Humanity, he was permitted to join this meeting and even took a seat close to the front.
Before this, no one understood faith, nor knew where this power originated, or why feeble humans suddenly came to possess such ability.
Prometheus himself didn’t know, but at least he’d had close contact with the Golden Humanity, which was the reason for his seat here.
“Ladies and gentlemen,”
Sitting at the highest place, Zeus spoke with increasing authority. As the last participant entered the great hall, he slowly began.
“The faith of humans can enhance divine power, a fact proven in the Golden Age. Sadly, due to various reasons, the gods of that time didn’t pay much attention to this matter.”
The faith of the Golden Humanity was sparse; Zeus heard about this from Prometheus. But the Divine King felt that aside from their thought patterns having been altered, there might be other reasons.
For instance, his Father God might have secretly done something, absorbing enough power to benefit himself. Unfortunately, the Divine King had no knowledge of this.
“Thankfully, the son of Iapetus, the Forethinker, has created Bronze Humanity. Based on his suggestion, the souls of the new humans are naturally formed, prompting us to pay attention to this secret.”
Looking around at those present, Zeus continued,
“You are all gods of Olympus; our interests are naturally unified. I am willing to share this discovery with you, but when facing other invaders, we should also stand united.”
The Divine King was well aware that among all the powerful divine beings of the world, probably only his sister Hestia was truly willing to fight unconditionally on his side. Apart from her, without the tie of interest, at most they wouldn’t oppose the Divine Court.
In such circumstances, Zeus resolutely chose to share the benefits, as long as he, as the Divine King, could obtain the largest portion.
And swiftly too, firmly too, he wanted to acquire enough faith before his foster father, before the Primordial Gods noticed. The Divine King was now immensely grateful that Mother Earth was already asleep; otherwise, although he wasn’t very familiar with the Power of Faith, as the embodiment of the earth, Gaia would surely have naturally received her share.
“What about the other Titan Principal Gods?”
On the left side of the great hall, Demeter, who had completely freed herself from the influence of the power of time, looked at Zeus and asked:
“For example, your foster parents, are they excluded?”
Zeus didn’t speak because he knew someone would speak for him.
As expected, Poseidon directly responded.
“Demeter, as our sister, I can somewhat understand that you’ve spent a lot of time at sea and may have developed some respect and fondness for those two, but I hope you remember that your brother also has a place in the great ocean.”
Hearing this, Demeter fell silent. She did hold a great deal of respect for the Primordial Sea Goddess, but not enough to have a falling out with her own brother over it.
After a pause, and seeing that no one else present had any objections, Zeus slowly said:
“It seems we have reached a consensus, so it’s decided. We will share the faith, not to be snatched away by other deities.”
“Now, regarding how to make humans offer their faith, do you have any thoughts? The Bronze Humanity is not like the Golden Generation. Even though the faith they bring has grown stronger, they may not necessarily have the same devotion.”
“We need some method to make them take the gods seriously.”
“Fear.”
Without hesitation, Helios was the first to stand up. He was only a step away from great divine power, and faith gave him hope.
“Let humans, like the Golden Humanity, build temples for the gods and provide sacrifices and offerings.”
“If they refuse, then let drought, storms, earthquakes, floods come upon them. When they feel fear, they will naturally pray earnestly for the mercy of the gods.”
“I object.”
Prometheus immediately retorted.
He was pleased to see humans providing faith to the gods. After all, the more important they became, the less likely the gods would want to see them extinct. However, he could not accept Helios’s suggestion.
“Sheer violence cannot win genuine devotion, just as the former Divine King used violence to subjugate you. As the result shows, he did not gain your true loyalty.”
“You—”
Helios felt waves of anger surging within him as Prometheus’s words struck at the heart of the matter. But he was about to speak, he complied under the sharp gaze of Zeus.
“Continue.”
Turning his head, Zeus addressed Prometheus.
With a slight bow, the Forethinker continued to express his views.
“Experience tells us that suffering can only make one submit, while beneficence can inspire respect. Just as children treat their parents, it is not out of fear, but because of affection.”
“Thus, the gods should protect humanity and bestow blessings, so that humans will faithfully believe in the gods, and our faith will flow continuously.”
Nodding, Zeus too had his first encounter with the power of faith. In fact, he felt that both sides had a point.
Power indeed finds it hard to win sincere respect, but thinking of himself, Zeus felt that even if someone was always good to him, he might not necessarily reciprocate in kind.
Not to mention anything else, the infant still developing within him at that time was proof.
“Hestia, my sister, what do you think about this matter?”
Somewhat unexpectedly, Zeus suddenly asked for her opinion, but the goddess of the hearth and protector rose to express her views.
“I think anything forced upon others is unreasonable. If it were me, I would tell humans that those who believe in me could gain protection, receive blessings. The more devout they are, the more I will give in return; those who don’t believe in me, I won’t punish, but will leave to their own devices. However, if they dare to desecrate the divine, to speak ill, then I too will bring disasters upon them.”
“Since the gods have given humans free will, we should abide by it. Otherwise, the faith brought by the Golden Humanity would not have been so weak in the past, and this might be the warning that the world gives to the divine beings.
