Chapter 229 Apollo, you don’t want to... (3.8k)
"Admetus, go back first, I have something private to discuss here!"
Seeing his friend stop him again in a stern tone, the hospitable and enthusiastic King of Thessaly frowned, then nodded slightly and put on his usual smile.
"Well, you guys chat first. I'll go to the city to prepare some wine and food to entertain the guests."
As he spoke, he casually led the warhorse that was grazing on the grass under the shade of a tree, swiftly climbed on it, then grabbed the reins and galloped towards the distant royal city of Thessaly.
Loen looked at the other person's posture of subconsciously gripping the bronze sword at his waist while riding, and he was immediately at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
This is not preparing food and wine to entertain him, it's clearly running back to call people to chop him up, okay?
But then, he looked at the figure who was rushing back to get help at lightning speed, and a hint of admiration appeared in his eyes.
He dared to stand up for his friend even though he knew it was dangerous. He showed some loyalty, a rare quality in the Greek Age of Gods. No wonder a proud man like Apollo thought so highly of him and was willing to submit to him.
If I remember correctly, it was precisely because of this "anthropomorphic" character that Admetus, King of Thessaly, who participated in the two epic missions of "Argo Expedition" and "Calydonian Hunt" in the future, became one of the very few Greek heroes with a good end. And because of his deep friendship with Hercules, he indirectly saved his own life and that of his beloved wife.
——Apollo, who had just finished his service, was restored to his position as a god. Through the power of the god of prophecy, he foresaw the news that his friend Admetus was about to die. He went to the Temple of Fate and persuaded the three goddesses of fate to extend his life, but the condition was that someone was willing to die for him. His wife Alcestis volunteered to sacrifice herself and die for her husband.
——While preparing for the funeral of his beloved wife, Hercules happened to visit. In order not to neglect his friend, Admetus opened his home and entertained the Hercules with all his heart.
——Hercules knew nothing about this until he saw that all the servants in the palace had sad faces. After asking, he realized that his friend was entertaining him in grief.
——Therefore, in return, Hercules took the initiative to go to the underworld, fight with the god of death Thanatos, and finally brought Queen Alcestis back from the side of death to her husband.
This story became the theme of many ancient Western literary and artistic works. Lorne remembered seeing many prints, reliefs, scripts and paintings related to this content.
At this time, after confirming that his friends had evacuated safely, Apollo on the grass was obviously relieved, and asked the uninvited guest in front of him with a cold face.
"Okay, now that he's gone, what conditions do you need in order for you to let him go?"
Looking at his brother-in-law with a look of disgust and resentment, Loen really wanted to say something at this moment.
——Apollo, you don’t want anything to happen to Admetus, do you?
It can be seen that this God of Light is willing to pay for the safety of his good friend.
Artemis must have noticed this before and understood her brother's character, so she chose to find an excuse for disrespect and use Admetus to control her overly arrogant brother, forcing him to agree to maintain superficial harmony with the Nine Muses and not go to extremes and fight to the death with her lover and the nine muses who had turned against her.
The result was just as the hunting goddess had expected. Even though Apollo was extremely reluctant, he had to accept it and even took the initiative to write a letter to the goddess of memory, the mother of Muses, to make peace.
After roughly sorting out the context of the whole matter, Loen also thought of the reason why Artemis did not tell Apollo the news of the death of the God of Medicine immediately.
Artemis had just scolded her brother Apollo for her little lover, and she still forced Apollo to bow his head as an elder sister.
Even if the goddess of hunting was thinking about the overall situation and her brother, it was an indisputable fact that Apollo lost face and self-esteem, and she still felt a little guilty.
Now her eldest nephew Asclepius, who was entrusted to her, met with an accident during her supervision. Artemis naturally had no face to see Apollo, who was serving his sentence, and she did not dare to use this bad news to irritate her brother, lest there really be an irreparable rift in the relationship between the siblings.
Tsk tsk, this time, not only did I take the blame for Xiaoyueliang at home, but I also had to help her ease the relationship between her siblings. It seems like I'm at a disadvantage.
——So, Lady Artemis, how are you going to compensate me when you come back?
The beautiful scenery flashed through his mind, and Loen immediately put on a serious face with a trace of sadness on his face, and slowly spoke to his brother-in-law in front of him.
"Actually, I came here for no other reason than to inform you of something unfortunate."
"What are you trying to do? Don't think that my sister is here..."
"Asclepius is dead."
"!"
The sudden news shocked Apollo and made him look stunned.
"What did you say?!"
"Your son Asclepius is dead." Loen answered in a deep voice, then sighed and added faintly, "He was killed by Zeus himself while you were serving your sentence..."
Then, Loen told the whole story about how Asclepius developed the elixir of immortality and was killed by the thunderbolt cast by the king of gods Zeus.
"Zeus!!!"
Apollo's cold voice came out from between his teeth word by word, and his handsome face gradually became distorted by the uncontrollable anger.
Then he threw down the whip in his hand and rushed out of the pasture.
“Stop!”
Loen rushed forward, grabbed back the furious Apollo, and blocked his mouth that was about to curse.
"I'm taking the risk to tell you this because I think you are the father of Asclepius and the brother of Artemis, and you have the right to know the answer. I'm not asking you to die just for the sake of a quick fix!"
Due to his stubborn character, Apollo struggled hard and was furious.
“Get out of the way!”
“No!”
Loen held his brother-in-law firmly in place and snorted in warning.
"I don't care whether you live or die, but if you do not repent during your sentence and offend His Majesty the Divine King, what will you do with your mother and sister?"
“…”
Hearing the words "sister" and "mother", the furious Apollo finally regained his sanity. The blood color faded from his eyes, and his body gradually stopped struggling.
However, his face had long lost its former high spirits, like a nobleman who had fallen from the clouds and turned into a homeless man with nothing on the streets, bullied by everyone. He squatted on the ground in despair, muttering miserably.
"It's me. I'm the one who implicated him..."
Lorne bent down and sat down beside him, patted Apollo's shoulder sympathetically, and said nothing.
However, his heart was filled with joy.
That’s right, that’s right, think about it in this direction!
Zeus is just trying to put a damper on you, using the death of Asclepius to warn you.
After all, this happened just as you were about to be released from prison.
Just as a black-hearted brother-in-law continued to add fuel to the fire for his brother-in-law, a breeze blew around, and the grass and trees beside him made a rustling sound.
Tsk, you can't sit still after just playing for a while, and you still say you don't care...
When Loen heard the pre-arranged frequency, he complained in his heart for a while, then changed his expression to a tactful one.
"In fact, you don't have to be too sad about Asclepius's matter, and don't think of revenge against His Majesty the God King..."
"What do you mean!"
Apollo was furious when he heard this, and the slight relief he had just felt towards the man in front of him disappeared instantly.
"It's my son who died, not your son. Are you trying to persuade me to be magnanimous?"
"Shut up!"
However, Loen, who was always gentle and humble in the eyes of outsiders, snorted coldly at this moment, interrupting the impotent rage of the God of Light in front of him.
"Your son is still alive..."
Apollo's breathing stagnated when he heard the inaudible whisper in his ear. The madness on his face suddenly receded like the tide, and his hands tightly grasped the arm of the person in front of him.
"You didn't lie to me?"
"Is this for everyone to know?"
Following that unpleasant question, Apollo quickly let go and could only stare at Ron, not daring to make any inappropriate moves, like a tamed large dog.
Seeing the sensible reaction of the God of Light, Loen nodded with satisfaction. He then looked around vigilantly and deployed a defensive barrier. After creating a dangerous and tense atmosphere, he took out the Holy Grail from the magic circle and shook it gently in front of Apollo.
The sweet wine automatically filled the cup, appearing like a purple mirror before Apollo's eyes.
And in the depths of the beautiful ripples, Apollo suddenly saw a familiar shadow, curled up and sleeping quietly.
"Asclepius!"
It seemed like a resonance between bloodlines. The answer was shouted out from the mouth of the God of Light at the first sight of that figure.
Faced with the surprise of regaining what he had lost, Apollo was so excited that he couldn't control himself.
"Yes, this is the soul of Asclepius. I managed to save him from Zeus's [Thunder]."
Lorne nodded and added half-seriously.
"Although he was lucky enough to survive, his soul was severely damaged. He needs to be properly nourished and repaired in my artifact. Maybe he will recover in the future."
"It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive..."
Apollo murmured, and heaved a sigh of relief, the dejection on his face gradually fading.
As long as he lives he will have the chance to make amends.
Everything else doesn’t matter.
Seeing Apollo's complexion gradually improving, Loen's eyes flashed and he reminded him in a deep voice.
"He has died at the hands of His Majesty the Divine King. If anyone finds out that he is still alive, you should know the consequences..."
"clear!"
Apollo was startled when he heard this and nodded repeatedly.
But at the same time, some doubts arose in his mind and he needed the other party to answer them.
"About Asclepius, how could you ..."
"Your sister..."
Lorne glanced at Apollo with a meaningful look.
"Ever since you killed the god Pan and caused a disaster, and were banished to Thessaly by the God King, Artemis has been worried that you would suffer a great loss because of your stubborn temper!
Therefore, she specifically entrusted me and the nine muses to come and visit you, so that you would not bring any disaster upon yourself. Unexpectedly, you not only did not appreciate it, but also continued to do as you pleased, taking out your anger for being punished by Zeus and attacked by the giants of the Gegantes on others, causing the nine muses to leave in anger, unwilling to serve as your subordinate gods any longer;
Therefore, Artemis, as your sister, had to step in to clean up the mess for you. She first negotiated with the goddess of memory through me, stabilized the nine muses, and minimized the impact of this matter. Then she rushed to Thessaly.
——She knows your temper. Even if you know you are wrong, you will not give in easily. Therefore, she does not hesitate to pretend to be a villain and use the death of the King of Thessaly to force you to agree, so as to temper your sharpness and character, so as to prevent you from making a bigger mistake during your downfall.
In the end, despite all your calculations, you still have no intention of repenting, and the trouble you caused has implicated Asclepius..."
Having said that, Loen changed the subject and spoke with a hint of relief.
"Fortunately, Artemis was thoughtful and worried that your temper would lead to a big mistake sooner or later, so she asked me to take care of Asclepius while you were serving your sentence. Otherwise, you would really have to burn incense and build a grave for your precious son today."
After listening to the retelling of Loen, a bystander, Apollo's handsome face gradually turned red with shame, and he even began to feel ashamed.
In order to help and educate her younger brother, sister Artemi really put a lot of effort into it.
As a result, I ended up making things difficult for her time and time again.
He even had a grudge against her because of what happened to his good friend Admetus.
I'm such a bastard!
Seeing that arrogant brother-in-law slapped him twice in the face with a look of remorse, Loen realized that the good guy card he gave to Artemis was unshakable. The tiny rift between the siblings was completely bridged, and their relationship was even better than before.
(End of this chapter)
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