Chapter 170 Knowledge is power, books increase critical hits
On Mount Helicon, an ancient temple stands on the peak, quietly suspended, like a pure Rubik's Cube storing memories in the hands of a giant.
Here we are, the Temple of Memory!
On the gravel path connecting to it at the foot of the mountain, Lorne and a team of ten people including the Nine Muses looked up at the wonders at the end of the road and nodded to each other.
Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory, language, and writing in the Greek world.
She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, one of the twelve Titans. She once combined with Zeus to give birth to nine Muses and is also honored as the "Mother of Muses".
Mount Helicon is the holy place of the goddess of memory.
Having taken the initiative to break with their main god Apollo, the Muses thought over and over again and decided to come to the Temple of their mother Mnemosyne to pray for help and support.
But in their memory, this mother had an extremely indifferent personality. She seldom cared about the disputes between the gods, and even often ignored them, her daughters.
Coupled with the constraints of the Styx Oath on the Titans, the nine Muses did not know how their mother goddess would react.
Fortunately, they are not alone, nor are they helpless.
The goddesses looked at Lord Bacchus, who had always been by their side, giving them encouragement and support, and they felt at ease.
Then, everyone calmed down, stepped over the last step, and officially opened the door of the Temple of Memory.
And the moment his hands touched the door, the space around him rippled like water waves, bringing with it a strange sense of disharmony, as if his five senses and memories were quietly stripped away and stuffed back into a lighter and more sensitive body.
When Loen came to his senses, he was already in the temple, and the internal structure came into view.
Looking around, the geometric forms, clean colors and pure space create a quiet and solemn atmosphere. The beauty is so pure.
The space around him kept changing like a twisting Rubik's Cube, but with every step he took, the surrounding area stabilized.
In different areas, there are neatly arranged bookshelves, and all kinds of books are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Lorne suddenly had the illusion that he was in a world-class library and felt instantly at home.
"Mother Goddess, we are here to see you!"
Erato, the Muse who is in charge of love poems, showed her lively and cheerful personality as soon as she landed. She held Lorne beside her with one hand, and curled the other hand into a half trumpet shape in front of her lips, shouting loudly.
Before the other Muses could stop it, the cheerful voice instantly echoed in the silent temple of memory.
The next moment, tens of thousands of bookshelves around seemed to be awakened, and noisy vibration sounds were heard one after another.
Several books fell from the bookshelf and floated in the air. The pages of the books flipped rustlingly, and flickering light patterns and jumping characters were faintly visible in them.
In an instant, the Muses' faces changed, as if some bad memories were awakened.
Seeing the scene in front of him, Loen vaguely remembered a universal rule in the library in his previous life.
——No loud noise is allowed in the library.
"run!"
At the same time, realizing that something was wrong, Erato grabbed Lorne beside him with one hand, held his head with the other hand, and rushed into the temple.
Almost at the moment when the muse of love poetry responded, the surrounding bookshelves trembled.
Then, books on astronomy, geography, poetry, miscellaneous talks, magic, etc. fell from the bookshelf, gradually filling the passage in front and the dome above everyone, like soldiers gathering at the command, launching an attack on the invaders who disturbed the peace of the temple.
“Pah pah pah pah!”
“Ouch~~”
Along with bulky history books and several thick geographical atlases, which hit the heads of several Muses behind him heavily, causing a series of cries, Loen immediately understood how standard and rapid the stress response and avoidance actions of the goddess of love poetry beside him were.
Obviously, "love" that dares to break through the constraints of rules has suffered a lot from the beatings of "reality".
Without giving it much thought, he quickly imitated Erato's actions, retracted his neck, protected his head with one hand, and quickly rushed into the temple.
The Muses who lagged behind, under the critical blow of "knowledge", fled with their heads in their hands, glaring at their sister who caused the trouble and ran the fastest, cursing in their hearts.
Fortunately, the corridor is hundreds of meters long, so the distance is not too far.
It only took a few seconds for Erato to pull Loen and rush to the corner at the end.
The cheerful young goddess leaned against the white arch, patted her chest, and was thankful that she was not hit.
"Phew, it's safe, we..."
"Get down!"
However, just as she was about to turn the corner, an arm from her left side suddenly pushed her down with a deep roar.
"boom!"
At the same time, a huge blue-gray claw landed at her original position, smashing a terrifying deep pit in the white marble wall.
As the dust fell, Erato, the Muse of Love Poetry, subconsciously looked up and saw two ferocious heads with horns, yellow-brown snake-like vertical pupils, and bodies covered with hard scales.
——Ares’ poisonous dragon!
Erato was shocked and his face turned pale.
"roar!"
At this moment, a violent growl was heard, and two ferocious heads opened their huge mouths full of sharp teeth. Poisonous fire with a smell of sulfur was already brewing in the monster's throat.
However, before the poisonous dragons could launch an attack, a swinging punch wrapped in golden divinity swept through their jaws at lightning speed, piercing through two ferocious heads in a row.
Weird, is the dragon seed so fragile? This feels wrong?
When Luo En was confused, he looked up and found that the poisonous dragon whose head he had smashed had turned into words and disappeared.
And then, the neatly arranged bookshelves in the passage ahead trembled, rays of light peeled off from the books, and one legendary monster after another turned from virtual to real.
The three-headed monster king Chimera, the hellhound Cerberus, the lion-faced beast Sphinx...
Loen glanced at these hideous monsters, and his gaze finally fell on the [Mythology and Epic] category on the bookshelf, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
If my guess is correct, these gods and monsters should be phantoms created by the power of memory, responsible for guarding the temple and blocking foreign intruders.
Loen glanced at the Muses in the rear passage whose heads were covered with bruises from being beaten by books, then looked at the Titans blocking his way, each of whom had god-level memory, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
The teacher was never wrong - knowledge is power!
At this time, the remaining Muses also broke free from the beating of the books and joined Lorne and Erato who had gone ahead.
They looked at the upgraded guards at the corner and could not help but look at each other in confusion.
It’s strange, how come these lethal memories were activated?
Soon, they thought of a possibility and their faces turned gloomy.
Could it be that the Mother Goddess doesn't want to see us?
Noticing the depressed mood displayed by the Muses at the same time, Lorne coughed dryly and gave a faint reminder.
"Uh, is it possible that this is the reason for the changes in your aura and divinity?"
“…”
The Muses suddenly slapped their foreheads and suddenly realized.
I almost forgot that they had just fired the main god Apollo, and his divinity and godhood had changed. This would obviously cause the memory temple's defense formula to misunderstand them.
Realizing that it might be a false alarm, the Muses' mood gradually improved.
But then, new problems emerged before them.
If the official route doesn’t work, what should we do next?
After thinking for a moment, the Muses all looked at one of the sisters.
Suddenly, Erato, who was standing aside, felt as if a thorn in his back, and subconsciously shrank into the corner.
However, the Muses, who had just been beaten up by books, unceremoniously pulled this sister out, put her in the front, and were even considerate enough to add amplification notes, waiting for her full output.
There's nothing we can do about it, since she's the one who's responsible for the solo and love poems, and she has the loudest voice.
A moment later, a high-pitched wail mixed with a slight tremor erupted in the white corridor, echoing throughout the entire Temple of Memory.
"Mother Goddess, please open the door!"
After a strange silence, the entire Memory Temple began to tremble violently like an old man with Parkinson's disease.
The shaking books fell from the bookshelf and rushed towards these intruders who had no sense of public morality.
At the critical moment, the surrounding space was twisted and transformed like a Rubik's Cube. Before Loen and the other ten people could react, they felt a blur before their eyes and were pulled into an empty and quiet study.
Behind a table with a crystal ball, an hourglass, an astrolabe and other furnishings, a goddess who was flipping through the books on the table, holding her chin in deep thought, slowly raised her head.
(End of this chapter)
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