Chapter 206: The Soul of the Minotaur Burns (4.3k)

"So, how do you want me to help you?"

Aphrodite asked impatiently, her face full of eagerness to try.

In public, as the goddess of love, she has the divine power to bless love and protect suitors.

Especially this kind of love that is not tolerated by the secular world and is labeled as "tragic and beautiful" can make Aphrodite empathize and associate it with her experience with Adonis.

Personally, he knew that his lover's soul was suffering in the underworld, waiting for a kind-hearted messenger to take the risk and rescue him.

Aphrodite herself felt a little uneasy if she didn't give enough benefits in this nearly life-threatening journey, fearing that when Loen was really facing a life-and-death crisis, he would not work hard to rescue her beloved Adonis.

Moreover, if the other party can successfully seduce a pure virgin goddess to break her vows and become crazy about love with her help, doesn't this just prove that her love power is even stronger? It can even indirectly strengthen her love power.

Under the earnest gaze of the god of love, a hint of shyness appeared on Loen's handsome face.

"I...I want to formally pursue Lady Hestia, and I hope she will fall in love with me."

Hearing such an innocent answer, Aphrodite was even more satisfied and immediately made a solemn promise.

"Okay! When you come back from Hades, I will have the three Graces personally baptize you in my holy pool!"

The Three Graces refer to three beautiful goddesses in Greek mythology who represent the three qualities of charm, elegance and beauty. They are the daughters of Zeus and the sea nymph Eurynome, singers and dancers of the gods, bringing beauty and joy to the world. They are Aglaia, the goddess of light, Thalia, the goddess of inspiration, and Euphrosyne, the goddess of joy, who embody all the beauty of life in Greek mythology.

In fact, they are also feasts, consumption, the personification of colorful life, the objectification of human desires, and the embodiment of joy in life.

Whether human or god, as long as they pursue the beauty of life, they will inevitably be affected by the power of the three Graces.

More precisely, grace or charm is the externalization of this divine authority, and it can be of different kinds: erotic charm, with the favor of Aphrodite, can arouse sexual attraction; glory is the charm of a warrior; and the charm of a king can arouse respect for the law.

This kind of "charm" that is integrated with the flesh and blood and penetrates into the bone marrow is far more lasting and more stable than the "lust" that comes and goes like the tide.

At the same time, this kind of charm can also benefit others. For example, the great hero Odysseus, after being bathed by the Achaean princess Nausicaa, accepted the "charm" given by Athena, that is, he became have the same appearance as the god, and thereafter he was successful in interacting with the opposite sex.

In the original history, even the great witch Circe fell for it.

This is just a blessing given by Athena in the guise of a mortal princess.

And now, Aphrodite has actually decided to join forces with the three Graces under her command to bless Lorne in the sacred pool in the Paphos Sea after the journey to the underworld is completed.

This is enough to show the sincerity of this God of love.

Loen couldn't help but show gratitude for Aphrodite's kindness.

The blessing that is intended to have an impact on Hestia, the virgin goddess, is obviously not a cheap buff based on low-level carnal desires. Aphrodite will definitely suffer a heavy loss in this wave.

Loen estimated that based on the strength of Hestia's virgin vow, the power of love he had obtained from Aphrodite and the three Graces should be enough to condense an incarnation.

Moreover, when Adonis is resurrected, he can use the excuse of escaping the pursuit of the underworld to persuade Aphrodite and Adonis to hide their identities and live in a world of two people.

By then, wouldn't the three attractive Graces be left unattended? How could I let them suffer any more?

--Perfect!

A certain Cretan clerk who inherited the essence of Minoan civilization had the Minotaur soul burning in his body, and was even impatient to see what would happen after he returned from the underworld.

Aphrodite, who had no idea that she was being tricked, mistook the black-hearted villain in front of her for a fellow infatuated woman, and even began to worry about his safety.

"Although my Adonis is important, you also have to be careful..."

Lorne touched the little bit of conscience he had left, smiled slightly, and comforted softly.

"Don't worry, as long as you don't say anything and I don't say anything, who would want to connect me with Prince Adonis?"

He dared to go to the underworld and take the risk because he apparently had no motivation to do such things.

While sneaking into the underworld, he wanted to do something that would be convenient for him to operate alone.

In this way, he could use the matter of Adonis to muddy the waters, save the life of the future god of medicine, and at the same time make some money from Aphrodite, which was simply killing two birds with one stone.

Now, everything is ready, only the east wind is missing.

~~

A few days later, on an island near Paphos Bay.

"You want to go to Hades?"

Thetis looked at Lorne, who came to ask for help again after many days, and her face was filled with dismay.

The first time was when he offended Ares, the god of war:

The second time was when he offended the goddess of discord, Eris, and the three goddesses of vengeance:

The third time he actually asked her for the way to the underworld...

Judging from the furtive behavior, they are probably not going to celebrate the birthday of Hades, the god of the underworld, right?

Why is it that every time this guy comes to see her, nothing good happens?

"have no idea!"

Thetis gnashed her itchy silver teeth, snorted coldly and turned her head away.

Loen hurriedly stepped forward with a wry smile and made a promise with a solemn look on his face.

"I'll just owe you another favor, is that ok?"

He knew that the Sea of Oceanus was connected to the underworld, but he was not sure about the specific path.

Perhaps my teacher, Circe, knows.

But given the relationship between Hecate and the stupid bird, Lorn did not dare to reveal his whereabouts to Circe in order to avoid alerting the enemy.

So, after thinking about it, he decided to ask Thetis for directions.

This sea nymph was known for her erudition and wisdom, and she was most familiar with him near the island of Cyprus.

Seeing that Thetis still had a cold face and remained unmoved, Loen extended another finger.

"Two, two favors!"

Thetis glanced at the enemy who had come to her door and asked with a frown.

"Do we have to go to the underworld?"

"Well, I must go!"

"Is it related to Hecate, the goddess of the underworld?"

"almost……"

Luo En nodded, also feeling somewhat helpless.

It is true to say that everything started with Hecate coming up to investigate the imbalance between life and death, which in turn triggered a series of events.

Finally, after some careful consideration, Thetis sighed.

"Okay, I'll take you there..."

~~

Two days later, in the primordial ocean, the former underwater site of the Atlantis continent.

Three burly giants with a hundred heads and a hundred arms stood on the desolate ruins, like three giant pillars that stabilize the sea.

The remaining Atlanteans were stripped of their human form and transformed into half-human, half-fish creatures, imprisoned in the kingdom of the dead.

What's more, due to Zeus' curse, some Atlanteans were deprived of their intellect and could not even maintain their half-human, half-fish posture. They could only become irrational humanoid sea beasts, fighting and devouring each other in the dark and lightless trenches.

“Puff, puff, puff!”

Waves of sounds of flesh being torn came from the deep rifts on the seabed. Turbid blood floated up, attracting a large number of deformed monsters to come and fight and grab food.

Briareus, the leader of the hundred-armed giants, glanced at it boredly and lost interest in a moment.

Just some Fallen fighting in the trench, as usual.

Then, he turned the gaze of several heads back to the underwater ruins of the Kingdom of Atlantis and continued to monitor the remaining Atlanteans.

At the same time, the two inconspicuous "sea beasts" sensed that the cold gazes falling on them disappeared, and they breathed a sigh of relief, carefully moving to the deepest part of the dark crack on the seabed.

As the crack reached the end, the "sea beast" on the left transformed into the appearance of Thetis.

"arrive!"

The Ocean Goddess pointed to the dark red light pattern at the bottom of the crack and reminded in a deep voice.

"So this is the entrance to the underworld from the sea..."

Loen, who was disguised as another sea beast, regained his human form. He reached out and touched the dark red light curtain and the mountain bronze door inside that seemed to be real. He couldn't help but marvel at the enormous divine power contained therein.

According to Hesiod's description in "Theogony", the hell of the underworld - Tartarus is surrounded by a triple veil of darkness (black curtain) and three bronze walls. The bronze door was made by Poseidon. The Titans who were defeated in the Titan battle were imprisoned here and guarded by a hundred-armed giant.

If you want to enter the underworld from the human world, this is a rather hidden passage.

Because of her close relationship with Neptune and Poseidon, Thetis was one of the few people who knew the truth.

Moreover, even if something went wrong, it seemed that it could be blamed on the good brother-in-law, or on some remnants of Atlantis who had been deprived of their rationality in the trench.

The two evil men who had the same idea looked at each other, nodded secretly, and then stepped forward to touch the secret words on the copper block.

After a moment, three huge walls cast from mountain copper began to flicker with light patterns, and the bricks automatically retreated and contracted like living things, opening up a narrow passage.

Then, a dark blue vortex spread down along the crack, and Lorne and Thetis, who were wrapped in it, jumped out at the right time and landed at the dark intersection of the rocky road.

It was dark all around, with only the faint blue phosphorescent lights floating around bringing some light.

Moreover, as soon as it landed on the ground, the deathly aura that was like a thick black fog seemed to sense the breath of life and transformed into black snakes that quickly entangled and corroded the group of living intruders.

Buzz!

However, a clear and solemn sound emanated from Loen, and the golden halo behind him pointed to the sixth grid at the same time. A cluster of golden flames rose up and illuminated the surroundings.

The snakes and pythons formed by the dead air around them suddenly disappeared and disintegrated like ice and snow encountering the scorching sun.

At the intersection, Loen looked down at the holy fire in his palm, raised his hand and placed his palm lightly on his chest, a look of relief appeared in his eyes.

Fortunately, Hestia's holy fire dispelled the deathly aura around him.

Otherwise, if he entered the underworld as a living person, he would inevitably be affected.

“Ahem…”

At this moment, hearing a suppressed cough behind him, Loen came back to his senses and quickly cast a blessing spell from the Aiyu Island lineage on Thetis, who was not very adaptable to the underworld environment.

Of course, in terms of effect, this level of protection can only ensure that Thetis can move normally, and it is definitely not as good as the high-standard divine protection on Loen that can be driven at will to eliminate large areas of death.

Looking at the primitive and barren landscape in front of him and the chaotic masses constantly wriggling around him, Loen frowned secretly.

Tartarus, which came from the chaos and nothingness when the Greek world was born, is the [abyss] and the essence of hell and the underworld.

Therefore, it is the home of gods and human souls, and also a prison for imprisoning extremely evil beings. It is connected to the ocean and the earth through the Styx.

In addition, it is said that this is also an important place where the Titans and other enemies of Zeus are imprisoned. If we delay too long, there will inevitably be more trouble.

In order to avoid complications, it is better to do it as soon as possible.

Lorne then held Thetis's somewhat cold hand, activated the holy fire in his body, and introduced the warmth and light from the human world into the body of this ocean nymph. He then confirmed the direction with the help of the faint light of the phosphorescent fire, and quickly led this teammate through this dangerous area.

Tartarus's defense circle is divided into two parts, the outer part is a physical fortress with three copper walls, and the inner part has a triple dark curtain that confuses perception, suppresses power, and is filled with deathly energy as an invisible barrier.

For others, the darkness behind the bronze wall is even more difficult to deal with.

However, the holy fire in Loen's hand once again pointed him in the direction.

In the darkness, the two men moved forward in a zigzag manner. Although the road was connected in all directions, it was bumpy and difficult to walk on. From time to time, they would step on dead bones, which brought out creepy crisp echoes in the dead silence.

On both sides, there are either slippery and cold cliffs or deep valleys leading to the abyss, which are full of dangers.

But with the guidance of the holy fire, as well as everyone's strong physical strength and perception, after about a day and a night of exploration, they finally walked out of the dead silent area shrouded by the triple darkness.

The shrill roar of the River Styx came from the river not far away, and the wailing of the souls in the water also sounded quite beautiful at this moment.

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief, their tense nerves relaxed a little, and then they looked around for a relatively flat wilderness to take a short rest.

Then, Lorne and Thetis outlined a spell to exorcise evil spirits, set up camp, and settled down for a short time.

Standing on the blue-gray stone, Thetis, who was on guard, looked at the lifeless gray world around him, and thought of the tragic situation after Atlantis angered the gods, and couldn't help feeling a little melancholy.

Seeing that Thetis was infected by the depressing atmosphere, Loen stretched his muscles, clapped his hands, took out a pot of wine from the magic circle and handed it to her.

"Would you like something to drink to warm you up?"

"good……"

Since he was already on the pirate ship, Thetis did not hesitate too much. He decisively took the wine jug, took a sip of the wine, felt a little refreshed, and then spoke up to give a reminder.

"We better hurry, this place doesn't give me a good feeling."

Loen nodded, and in order to speed up the journey, he simply picked up Thetis by the waist, activated the speed of the [goat], turned into a residual image, broke through the gray fog, and galloped in the desolate and silent wilderness.

Soon, a rugged and steep peak stood out in the gray fog, towering into the clouds.

On the rugged mountain path, a tiny figure wearing rune shackles, as small as an ant, was pushing a huge dark rock towards the top of the mountain.

However, just as the boulder was about to reach the top, the heavy object, due to the influence of some rules, rolled uncontrollably to the foot of the mountain, with a thunderous roar all the way, as if mocking the prisoner who overestimated his own abilities.

Could it be him?

Lorne narrowed his eyes and approached cautiously while holding Thetis.

(End of this chapter)