Chapter 358: As long as the hoe is used well, there is no corner that cannot be dug down
Hercules traveled at full speed day and night, and the capital of Thessaly soon appeared in his sight.
Looking at the Boots of Hermes on his feet, he couldn't help but thank the teacher who had always secretly protected him since he was a child.
In order not to embarrass the elder, Hercules decisively put on another artifact lent to him by his teacher Perseus - the invisibility cloak, and sneaked into the city of Thessaly while the night was still dark.
With the help of the two artifacts, he easily bypassed the soldiers along the way, entered the palace, and knocked on a tightly closed door.
A beautiful woman in plain clothes and with a haggard face walked out of the house, her brows full of fatigue.
"Who are you?"
The beautiful woman who opened the door was obviously stunned when she saw that the person knocking on the door was not a maid but a burly man with great oppressive power.
"I am Alcides, an old friend of His Majesty Admetus. I heard that he was seriously injured, so I came to visit him. Please go in and report to him."
Hercules in the shadows tightened the hood on his head, used the power of the invisibility cloak to conceal his original breath and appearance, and gave his little-known nickname.
The beautiful woman nodded politely and then returned to the hall to deliver the news.
A moment later, Admetus's weak cough was heard from inside the house.
"It's you, come in."
Hercules followed the sound and walked into the room. He walked to the bed behind the curtain and saw Admetus lying on the bed, looking haggard and lifeless. He was shocked and quickly handed over the magic potion he had brought with him.
"What's wrong with you?"
Admetus drank the potion without hesitation, his face regained a little redness, and he spoke helplessly.
"I'm not a good fighter, so it's inevitable that I'll get hurt. The war has been intense lately, and I can't hold on any longer."
"Why don't you offer a sacrifice to the Father God? His divine power will surely protect your safety."
"I tried, but His Majesty did not respond. Perhaps he has abandoned Thessaly."
“…”
Hercules was silent for a moment, then explained in a dry whisper.
“Father God must have a deep meaning for doing this…”
But soon, his straightforward nature made it impossible for him to deceive himself. He could only swallow the unconvincing excuses and hang his head in guilt.
"I'm sorry, Admetus..."
"What does this have to do with you? I must have done something wrong that angered His Majesty. I will do my best to make up for it."
Admetus waved his hand and gently comforted his old friend before he got up.
Hearing this, Hercules bit his lip.
What could Thessaly have done wrong? At most, she participated in the meeting on Ares Mountain and tried to save herself.
If this could be considered treason and punished, what about these people in Thessaly?
Are you stretching your neck and waiting to die?
Holding his friend's somewhat thin and weak hand, Hercules felt even more ashamed.
"I'm sorry, if I were here..."
Admetus raised his hand to interrupt Hercules and spoke seriously.
"I understand your difficulties, and I don't want to embarrass my friends, so let's not talk about these things."
Then he paused and a hearty smile appeared on his face.
"I'm so glad you can come! Come, have a few drinks with me!"
"But your body..."
Queen Alcestis, standing by, couldn't help but look hesitant.
Admetus waved his hand, comforting his wife.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Bring me this year's newly brewed ambrosia. I will put on a flower crown and drink heartily with my friends who have come from afar. To smooth out my frown and the pain in my body, nothing is better than a full glass of good wine! Haha, praise the god of wine!"
Seeing her husband's firm attitude, the beautiful queen had to take her servants to get wine and food to entertain the guests in the ward.
——He has always been like this, treating his friends with great courtesy.
Soon, the dishes and drinks were ready. After Admetus waved his hand to dismiss his wife and servants, he sat in front of the bed, picked up the wine jar, and invited his good friend Hercules to drink together.
Hercules, feeling guilty, did not want to spoil his friend's fun, so he simply sat down at the table and drank with Admetus.
For a while, there was toasting and drinking in the house, and the two friends were happily drunk amidst laughter and chatter.
After an unknown amount of time, Hercules woke up and sat up from the bed. Looking at the set of dry clothes and sobering medicine on the table, he couldn't help but smile knowingly.
Admetus was still as thoughtful as ever and never neglected his friends, so every time he visited Thessaly, it felt like he was back home.
Unfortunately, he has to go now...
Hercules glanced at the dim sky outside the window, sighed helplessly, got up from the bed, packed his things, and called the servant outside the door.
"Where's Admetus? I want to say goodbye to him."
"Your Majesty has already ordered that if you want to leave, you can leave at any time. But if you want to say goodbye, there is no need."
The servant lowered his head and answered in a vague and low voice, as if his throat was blocked by something.
"He, he is very busy now, I am afraid he has no time to entertain you..."
Hercules was slightly stunned when he heard this. His eyes swept across the black color in the servant's collar and the sadness on his face, and his expression changed slightly.
In Greece, black is the color of the underworld and a symbol of death and mourning.
Although Thessaly had just experienced a great war with many casualties, there was probably only one person who could make the servants and guards in the palace mourn.
"Where's Admetus? What happened to him?!"
Faced with Hercules' questioning, the servant bit his lip and remained silent.
"explain!"
Hercules' eyes were red, and he roared anxiously, even raising his fist subconsciously.
"Okay, don't make it difficult for him."
The Queen of Thessaly, dressed in a black veil, came from behind the corner of the corridor, suppressing the sadness on her face and spoke softly.
"While you were resting, my husband had been buried. His grave is on a barren hill outside the city."
"Admetus...is dead?"
Even though Hercules had a premonition, he still found it hard to believe after hearing the bad news.
"How did he die?"
"His divinity had burned too many times, and the vitality in his body withered. After entertaining you that night, he was called by God's grace and went to the underworld."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"He probably doesn't want you to worry, or blame yourself..."
The queen answered quietly, then looked at the distraught strong man and sighed.
"My husband was buried on a barren hill outside the city. If you want to pay your respects, I can take you there."
"take me!"
Hercules suddenly raised his head and dragged the queen out of the city of Thessaly.
Until he arrived at the barren mountain and saw the freshly built grave with his own eyes, the last glimmer of hope in his heart finally disappeared, and he sat dejectedly in front of the grave.
"Thessaly is not a place for you to stay for long. It's time to go back..."
Just as the queen remembered her husband's last words and wanted to persuade Hercules to leave, the figure in front of the tomb suddenly jumped up and knocked down the tombstone with one punch.
"what you do?!"
The queen was shocked and angry, and was about to stop him, but she saw that Hercules had already dug up the grave with his bare hands, opened the coffin, and held his friend's still warm hand tightly, and spoke resolutely.
"Save him!"
As he spoke, light patterns on Hercules' body vibrated rhythmically, and he punched the ground hard. A dark vortex spread out, and a three-headed vicious dog poked its head out of it, growling. Before it could react, Hercules pulled it out by the scruff of the neck.
Upon seeing the other's appearance, the three heads of the hellhound Cerberus trembled together and let out a low whimper.
Why is it this evil star again? Last time, he dragged me out for no reason and beat me up, and he left a mark on my body afterwards.
"Cerberus, let me into Hades!"
At this moment, Hercules tightened his five fingers, exerted pressure, and threatened coldly, showing no fear at all of the notorious three-headed dog of hell.
——【Twelve Glories】, using twelve extremely difficult tests as trials to promote personal growth and establish immortal achievements.
This was the [revelation] given to him by his father Zeus and the three goddesses of fate, and in the process of traveling around Greece over the years, he has completed nine of them.
Bringing Cerberus, the three-headed dog of hell, to the human world is one of them.
Although this guard dog of the underworld is very strong and fierce, it seems that he is even stronger.
If he lets this [Hound of Hades] lead the way, maybe he can find the unjudged soul of his good friend Admetus in the [Garden of Truth] and resurrect him.
Just as Hercules made up his mind and prepared to put his plan into action, Cerberus, who was pressed to the ground by him, suddenly sniffed, and his three heads arched together and made cheerful calls. Three pairs of sparkling dog eyes stared straight at somewhere.
A figure in black clothes and black robes walked out of the twilight, and a mocking sneer came from the face under the hood that was like a ball of thick fog.
"You think you can defy the laws of life and death?"
"I'm going to try it!"
Hercules raised his head and spoke seriously, then let go of the three-headed hellhound in his arms, pulled out the nameless axe and sword inch by inch from the magic circle, and rushed towards the dark figure decisively.
Thanatos, the god of death? Let's fight!
"when!"
The teeth-grinding sound of metal exploded in the air, and the powerful axe and sword were easily clamped by two white fingers.
Hercules felt the incomparable resistance between the axe and the sword, his eyelids twitched, and the divine power in his body gushed out like a spring, turning into a dazzling red and black flame, covering the axe and sword, and forming nine powerful slashes forward.
“BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!”
Amid a deafening explosion, nine bottomless gullies appeared on the ground. The surrounding trees and rocks were sucked into them and turned into dust. Even the space seemed to be cut in half by the dazzling red light.
——【Shooting and killing hundreds of heads】, a fighting skill that he was proud of.
While helping a city-state on the road to resist a beast invasion, he went deep into the enemy camp alone, killed countless monsters, and finally killed a group of Hydra leaders, thus forging this fierce close combat strategy.
However, in the thick smoke and dust, the black figure that was hit first simply took a step back and remained unharmed.
step?
Hercules' pupils shrank, and he immediately swung the nameless axe in his hand and launched an attack.
The pitch-black red and black edges were as fast as lightning and as dense as heavy rain. Sometimes they opened and closed, sometimes they were tricky and fierce. The fighting style kept switching like flowing water, making it impossible to guard against.
[Shooting a Hundred Heads] is not a fixed trick, but a kind of understanding and a school of thought.
In his hands, the sword, shield, spear, and bow are all weapons, and every move he makes is a move.
But no matter how the waves of red and black light washed over it, the black figure opposite it was like a reef by the sea, as steady as Mount Tai.
Move your feet, raise your hands;
Raise your arms and push your elbows;
Turn sideways, raise your knees...
This simple action also manifested a thousand changes on the [God of Death] opposite him, who repeatedly turned decay into magic and blocked Hercules' attacks time and time again.
That is also an extraordinary understanding and a powerful fighting instinct.
The perfect combination of mind, body and skills shows the infinite martial arts.
"when!"
After another fight, Hercules, who was shaken away, saw that he had unknowingly retreated to the tomb of his good friend Admetus, and his face became extremely solemn.
This guy is very strong!
It can be said that he is the strongest opponent he has encountered since he went out to gain experience!
Is the god of death in the underworld so tricky?
"Is that all you can do?" The shadow on the other side sneered and murmured jokingly, "It seems I need to give you some motivation."
As he spoke, he slowly spread out his palms, and a golden-red human-shaped aura appeared in his palms.
Hercules' face changed drastically when he saw the familiar shape and outline.
"Admetus!"
"Want it? Come get it!"
The black shadow shook the human-shaped spiritual light in his palm, then clenched it with a playful smile.
"Give me!"
Hercules' eyes turned red, and he roared as he turned the nameless axe in his hand into a longbow, which he then pulled into the shape of a full moon. Dozens of bronze arrows engraved with intricate spells shot out.
The black shadow raised his hand slightly, picked up a dead branch on the ground, and used his divine power to block all the flying arrows.
However, the next moment, those bronze arrows that missed the target seemed to have life. They turned into giant bronze birds, hissing, steadied their bodies, and rushed towards the target again.
[The Stymphalid Birds] were once the pet birds raised by the god of war Ares. They have metal beaks and bronze feathers and can shoot their sharp feathers at humans like arrows. Because of their cruel and violent character, they once caused trouble to others.
When Hercules passed by Lake Stymphalis, he accepted the people's request and killed these bronze birds. After that, through sacrifice, his father Zeus cast their bodies into arrows and gave them to him.
“Ouch!”
Just as the bronze birds were attacking the black shadow, the three-headed hellhound nearby jumped high and shot down several of them in succession. Then it opened its mouth and spit out dozens of inflammatory bombs, melting the bronze birds hovering in the air into pools of copper liquid.
This stupid dog!
Seeing that Cerberus, whom he summoned, turned against him and rushed towards him with ill intentions, Hercules' face turned black and he immediately gritted his teeth and threw out another trump card.
"The glory of the past, protect me - 'Diomedes' ogre horse'!"
Along with deep chanting, four ogre horses stolen from the Thracian Diomedes jumped out from the red and black light behind Hercules, grinning with their big mouths full of sharp teeth, and cooperated with the [Stylopharynx] in the sky to intercept the three-headed hellhound Cerberus.
At the same time, swaying starlight descended from the sky, summoning Hercules in the Leo Cloth. He stepped on the Boots of Hermes given by his teacher Perseus, activated the bracelet of power obtained after sacrificing the Erymanthos Boar, rushed to the front of the shadow like lightning, and delivered his strongest attack.
“Boom!”
In the violent air waves, the black outer robe that could not bear the weight was torn apart, and the pieces of cloth turned into butterflies and flew around.
Hercules looked at the silver-haired and purple-eyed man in front of him, a face that seemed familiar. After a moment of trance, he spoke in surprise.
"You? The teacher from Athens?"
"Well, I'd better introduce myself formally."
The figure in the moonlight clapped his hands, and a very contagious smile appeared on his handsome face.
"You can call me-Lorne..."
(End of this chapter)
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