"I will answer your question."
"Because I don't care about these false honors... In comparison, I care more about being able to surpass you in your field."
Hercules spoke in a deep voice, looking at the demon in front of him who was nothing like what he expected, and said frankly.
The story of Oedipus did surprise him, but he had seen similar things more than once along the way.
Looking at the world, he can find the noblest people, and the most despicable ones. He can find the most honest people, and he can also find people who are full of lies.
In comparison, when the great hero set foot in this valley that has existed for more than a thousand years, a silent feeling was transmitted to his heart through the unique order of the Sphinx.
This place has accumulated the wisdom and desire, greed and fear of countless heroes in the world for thousands of years.
Countless mortals regard this place as a challenge for the wise and a ladder to fame, but no one has ever truly defeated the master of this field.
Oedipus was the one who came closest, but he still failed.
So Hercules planned to take over his job and send the Sphinx and the Golden Scale back to the side of the Goddess of Law.
By the way, he also wanted to eliminate the delusions of those who admired the Sphinx in the world, so that this place would no longer be a tool for them to fool the world.
"...Is that so?"
"Well, then."
"Young human, according to the rules, as long as you decide to challenge, I have to agree to your request.
" "But I will remind you one last time, if you don't answer any of the three questions, then even if I don't want to kill you, under the guidance of the rules, you will still die."
The expression was a little more formal, but the sphinx still lay on the ground without getting up.
In front of it, the hero nodded again and thanked it for its reminder.
"Okay, in this case, let's start."
He spoke lightly, and with Hercules' affirmation, an invisible force radiated from the Sphinx's body, and then enveloped the entire valley.
The laws here seemed to be distorted, and a very small part of them was rapidly magnified, while the vast majority became almost nothing.
This is the domain of the Sphinx, a powerful force that is comparable to the indestructible body of the giant lion and the immortal body of the Hydra. Even the true gods will be defeated, and the rules and order cannot be changed by divine power.
The stone balance at the mouth of the valley also shook slightly, as if it was affected by the same power and could not help but respond accordingly.
"Mortal, as you wish, the great demon of wisdom, the Sphinx with a lion's body and a human face, will give you three questions, and the bet is our life."
"The first question, mortals look up at the stars, so they know the vastness of the sky; they look down at the earth, so they know the breadth of the earth."
"So young human, please tell me, how many stars are there in the sky? How many stones are there on the earth?"
"Haha, mortal... Although you have killed more than one of my brothers, I don't care about the life and death of those who only know how to kill. So for your courage, I want to remind you-"
"The stars in the sky may be born at any moment, and only the great Mother of Night knows how many embellishments there are on her hem... and the stones on the ground may split at any moment, and only Gaia knows how much dust is on her brown clothes."
"Cherish the opportunity to answer, and don't give answers casually. As long as you answer one, I will consider that you have answered my question, and this is my preferential treatment to you."
"But if you can't answer, then you are just another arrogant person."
"I will not give you another chance... The remaining two questions are the inscriptions you write for yourself."
Each word seemed to turn into a rune, as if an ancient contract was signed.
In front of the Sphinx, Hercules frowned slightly.
Just the first question made the great hero feel pressured.
He was not unprepared for this trip to the valley.
The book in Prometheus's hand, which recorded countless knowledge, was one of his reliances. After all, the rules of the Sphinx never prohibited the test taker from reading books.
However, when the first question was put in front of him, Hercules knew that it was impossible for him to find the answer in the book.
Even if it was really an omniscient book, the answer he saw at this moment might be correct, but the next moment, there might be shattered stars or new stars at the edge of the world.
"...Mr. Sphinx, before I answer your question, don't you think there are loopholes in your question?"
"You said that only the Mother of Night knows the number of stars, and only the Mother of Earth knows the number of stones. Then how should you judge the right or wrong of the answer? This is probably contrary to what you said." "
It's not contrary, because in fact, I don't know what the answer is," the Sphinx showed a cunning smile at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes widened slightly: "But I don't know, it doesn't mean that 'Order' doesn't know."
"I am only responsible for asking questions, but the right or wrong of the answers are not my judgment. Because since I am already a contestant, I can no longer be a judge."
"Just as the priesthood of the gods can influence the natural rules of the world, my supernatural powers can do the same."
"In my domain, as long as it judges that your answer is correct, then you are right even if you are wrong."
"Conversely, if it judges that you are wrong, then even if I think you are right, you are still wrong."
"Living beings may make mistakes, but rules will never be wrong."
"So young human, do you have any questions?"
"Yes."
The hero thought for a moment and asked again, "If even your rules cannot tell right from wrong, how should we judge?"
"If that's the case, then you have won a round. Because beating the rules is also a way to win."
"I see..."
He whispered softly, and his brows slowly relaxed.
A test of wisdom? Perhaps, but it should be more of a test of thinking.
The Sphinx's puzzle does not stipulate a time limit for answering. Theoretically, if the answerer has an endless life, he may be able to count the stars in the sky and finally answer the question at the moment when a new star is not yet born, but this is the lowest-end solution.
On the contrary, if you think in a different way and give an answer that cannot be verified by the rules, then you may be able to answer the difficult question from another angle.
For example, the simplest way is for the hero to pray to the goddess of the night, Nyx, and then lie that he got the answer from the goddess, and finally give a random number. Then whether the answer is true or false, it is actually true.
After all, as the title says, the Lord of Eternal Night knows the answer to the question, so what she said must be true, even if it is false. Whether Hercules got a response from the goddess is also something that cannot be verified by the rules of the Sphinx.
If the judge is a living person, he will naturally not accept such sophistry; but facing a rule, this is likely to be the solution to the problem.
Of course, looking at the Sphinx's half-smile, the hero knew that the other party should have thought of this method, but it still raised this question.
Because both of them knew that if Hercules really answered the question in this way, he would have solved a difficult problem.
But in contrast, another more terrible problem would be thrown at his face.
Using the original god as an excuse to lie... This is Chaos, the god in the world.
Think about those kings and heroes who ended up miserably because of their momentary talk, and you will know that no matter who dares to do this, they are gambling their lives on the generosity of the goddess. For such a person, the Sphinx would not mind letting him win the first round.
"Well, have you thought of the answer?"
The Sphinx said with a smile, as if it was tempting.
"It seems that you already have an idea, right?"
"What a smart human, haha, you are different from your kind... Come on, mortal, tell me your answer."
"Answering one of my questions with your own wisdom is enough to make you famous in history."
"Looking back over the past thousands of years, only a few people have done it."
"Oedipus was like this, and the questions he answered were far less difficult than yours. I just asked him what kind of thing has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening... and he told me that it was 'man'."
"What a simple puzzle, it is far from comparable to you. Come on, give your answer. I will remember your answer for the next ten thousand years."
"Really?"
"Ten thousand years... is really a long time."
Shaking his head slightly, looking at the demon who was still tall even when lying on the ground, Hercules couldn't help but smile.
"In that case, please listen to my answer, you and your rules."
"Dreams, I think there are as many stars in the sky as dreams, that is, the dreams possessed by all living beings in the world, both above and below the earth."
"They are piled up like mountains, they converge into abysses... together they constitute a part of the spirit world, which people call the [Dream Spirit World]."
"Perhaps in the near future, I will go there in person to find some answers, but at least for now, this is my answer."
"Just as you, as the questioner, do not know the number of stars and stones, as the answerer, I do not need to know the number of dreams."
"Your powerful rules will probably measure the size of the two for me - so Sphinx, is my answer correct?"
"..."
There was a moment of silence in the field, with only the demons and heroes looking at each other.
Indistinctly, an invisible rule crossed the sky and the earth.
Stars are the decorations on the hem of the Night Mother's clothes, but she has never regarded stars as her own.
So under the effect of the rules, the number of stars is naturally clear.
Stones are dust on the brown clothes of the Earth Mother, but Gaia will not see these dusts either.
So under the effect of the rules, the number of stones was naturally clear.
However, when the invisible rules swept across the world, a shadow rooted in the depths of time and space, running through the past and the future, blocked its way.
The demon's power collapsed at this touch, and it could not count the number of dreams.
The next moment, the rules turned around and fell back into the valley.
Looking at Hercules' confident expression, the big demon nodded with difficulty.
"Yes... you are right."
"There are countless stars in the sky, but you counted them, and they are as many as the dreams of living beings."
"Each star represents a life... This is the answer you got, and now, it is the truth of the world."
"You answered the first question correctly, congratulations, young human... Speaking of which, I forgot to ask, what is your name?"
"Hercules."
The great hero spoke calmly, not surprised at his victory.
"Remember my name... For the next ten thousand years, this is the name you need to remember next to the goddess of justice."
·······
The third level of the spirit world, the dream spirit world.
Dreams are like bubbles, with thousands of layers and thousands of streams.
Almost every moment, new dreams are born here, and old dreams are broken here.
Except for a few ancient dream realms and the even rarer "Dream of the Ancient God", the territory of the entire dream world is constantly changing in the process of creation and destruction, and expanding in the process of destruction and creation.
As the manager here, Iselanija likes this very much.
There is no need to do anything extra. She just needs to spread her wings at the right time, let the shadows covering the sky cover the world, so that the entire dream world can be stable when it shrinks to the limit, and will not be empty when it expands to the extreme. Between opening and closing, the power of the world will naturally increase.
And she can lie on the clouds composed of dreams and eat some interesting dreams like eating snacks.
There is no malice, the dragon of the mind does not distinguish between good and evil in the secular world. She just follows her nature and completes her "merit".
To understand the mind is merit, to see the nature is virtue, do what you want to do, and the mysteries from the mind will naturally flow into your heart.
Ryan was a little envious of this.
Because he could see that if he followed this step, when the realm of [Dream] crossed a certain limit, the spiritual dragon that grew with it might not only be promoted, but she would no longer need any "godhood" to limit the power of dreams.
Heaven and earth coexist with it, and all things are the same as it... The purest mind is the biggest shield that can reject all external interference.
Of course, this resistance seems perfect, but it actually has its limits.
Unlike the path that Ryan pursued, which would be completed once, even if he reached the peak of great divine power in the future, he would no longer have to worry about the source power polluting his personality. The resistance of the pure mind has an upper limit, and it is probably only about 22 or 23 at most.
Unless Iselania finally gave up not only the secular sense of good and evil, but also the concept of human nature, then she might completely abandon the influence of the source power - but if that were the case, then she would probably be no different from Tartarus. Rather than
saying it was a success, it was better to say it was eternal sleep.
But in terms of dialogue, she didn't need to aspire to a too lofty realm. Today's [Dream] has not yet formed a real symbol, naturally there is no question of how much it can bear.
Eat and sleep, sleep and play, play and eat, eat and sleep, this is Iselania's daily life, but today is a little different.
The core of the dream world was awakened by a sudden "knock on the door".
Bai opened her crystal clear eyes and looked out... In that corner of the human world, she saw a giant beast with a sphinx body and a human face, the son of the ancient Titan, the gods who believed in deification, and a true god who made her feel a little strange, but she didn't know what was strange.
Well... there was also a goddess next to her.
Looking at the sword on her waist, it was probably the one that was often mentioned in dreams, the god who was in charge of [justice] in the world.
"Hmm..."
"Another god from the human world... and he looks really serious..."
"With her around, I can't do anything... But I still want to catch that guy, what should I do... Hmm, so tangled..."
The voice was childish. In the [Dream Spirit Realm], Iselani rolled in the dreamy and magnificent foam ocean, splashing waves.
Bai's claws were about to reach out, as if she had found some interesting toys, but she hesitated.
The flawless mind reflects everything. The more complicated the thoughts, the more unable to reject the power of dreams and the mind.
But in Iselani's eyes, the goddess with a long sword hanging from her waist is indeed an exception.
Seriousness is only an appearance. The same pure heart is the strongest tool to resist the power of the mind.
There was a rare trace of worry in the sparkling eyes. Looking at the god who felt vaguely strange, Bai wanted to catch him and take a look.
Do what you want and do it when you think of it. If it were someone else, I'm afraid they would just give up because they couldn't find anything wrong and think it was just their own illusion. But for Iselania, there is no such concept as "illusion" in the world.
If Themis hadn't been there, she would have grabbed it long ago without any hesitation.
"Why don't you just grab it?"
"Well... let's not do it. Curiosity kills the cat... but I don't seem to be a cat?"
"Damn it, that's why Ryan refused to leave the mirror to me. If I have it, I can have whatever I want, and no one can stop me!"
If there is an all-pervasive spiritual power combined with the spatial power of the [Mirror of Sprel], then Bai Long may really be able to achieve his wish.
Feeling angry in her heart, Iselania rolled over again above the sea of dreams.
In an instant, countless creatures in the world were awakened by this, but they were confused after waking up.
Fortunately, this is the dream realm. If it were the human world, it would be a natural disaster... However, Bai's temper came and went quickly. In just a blink of an eye, she was no longer angry, and instead blinked her eyes and started to use her brain, which she never used.
As she breathed, the sea of dreams flickered. Endless inspirations emerged in her heart, turning into dream bubbles floating around Bai.
Feeling happy, Iselania immediately spread her wings and soared above the sea of dreams.
"Hehehe... I knew there was no problem that Lord Bai... Her Highness Isela couldn't solve."
"I almost forgot that the sneaky guy still had a lot of divine power left in the dream world."
"With its help, a mere god can be easily controlled!"
With a thought, gray fog suddenly appeared.
It passed through several layers of the spirit world and went to the human world, silently making Dionysus fall asleep while standing.
Above the valley, in a small space shaped by [Change Space] with [Golden Balance] as the cornerstone, the Goddess of Law glanced slightly.
The eyes under the black cloth seemed to see something... but she did nothing in the end.
It was just a dream.
As an immortal god, this was never a threat.
······
"You have answered the first question correctly."
"Although I didn't use my full strength... but you have proved that you are not a whimsical person."
"In this case, human named Hercules. From now on, you have the qualification to leave my domain alive."
"This is determined by the rules, and even if I am its master, I cannot change it."
"But if you answer the remaining two questions incorrectly, you can only take your life away... and the rest will remain here."
The voice was low and rumbled around.
In the valley, the question and answer between the hero and the demon continued.
However, the sphinx, which was originally lying on the ground, has sat up and is looking at the human in front of it who is very small compared to its size.
As the Sphinx said before, it did not have any powerful means for the first question.
Not only did it allow Hercules to choose an answer from the two questions, but even the loopholes were far greater than expected.
Many people present had guessed that the great hero just disdained to choose that method.
But now, it is going to get serious.
"Young man, the victory or defeat of a quiz is often not about the puzzle itself."
"The real killer is when your answer is wrong."
"The previous one was just the beginning. As the son of the god king of Mount Olympus, you actually have a shortcut."
"Not choosing this easy path does prove your wisdom, but there will be no such good opportunities next time."
"How about it, tell me... young mortal."
"Are you going to return with honor, or continue to answer my questions?"
"Moving forward is not necessarily reckless, and retreating does not mean cowardice."
"Heaven and purgatory may sometimes be close to one."
"And the road to both is now in front of you..."
"No need to say more, I choose to continue."
The great hero spoke calmly and interrupted the Sphinx's temptation.
The Sphinx just shrugged when he saw this, and was not very scared.
"Well, since this is your decision, please listen to the question."
"Human named Hercules, your previous answer is indeed clever."
"Your answer involves the spiritual world, but it does not involve the master of the spiritual world. This is incomparable to other primitive gods."
"After all, you know that dreams exist in the world and that their number is immeasurable. The primitive ancient gods never forbade people to mention the existence of dreams, so you can use it to describe the stars."
"But under the cover of darkness or eternal night, no one knows what is inside. Even if you know, you dare not use it as an analogy."
"This is a manifestation of your wisdom, and I have nothing to refute... But since you mentioned the spiritual world, I also have a story to share with you."
"Silver Moon City-you should have heard of it. In the distant past, there were so-called "angels" who descended there."
"These perfect lives possess power comparable to that of gods, but they have beliefs equivalent to fanatics... Young human, the story I want to tell is about this."
His expression remained unchanged, but the great hero was secretly alert in his heart. Telling a story before asking a question is probably not that simple.
However, the rules of the Sphinx's domain do not prohibit it from telling a story before asking a question. After
all, the story itself may be part of the question. So Hercules just nodded without raising any objections.
"Please tell me, I'm all ears."
"Very good."
With a grin, the Sphinx began to tell the story.
"The story is very simple, and it begins like this."
"It is said that one day, the angel of the 'Lord', the faith of Silvermoon City, came to the world."
"The boundless moonlight illuminated the earth, turning the old man's white hair black and sprouting grass and trees. Broken limbs were regenerated and the sick were healed."
"Under this true miracle, countless mortals knelt on the ground, thanking the gods for their kindness and the angels for their greatness."
"There was even a fanatic who knelt in front of the angel and told him his wish."
"'The incarnation of the great Lord on earth,' he said, 'I have seen your power, which the false gods of Olympus have never given to mankind. I would like to devoutly believe in the almighty ruler to express my gratitude for His supreme benevolence.'"
"'But your highness, please forgive my ignorance - I have seen your power, and therefore understand your might... Therefore, I have the ability to praise you with songs and poems, and the courage to commemorate you with paintings and reliefs.'"
"'But respected angel, the holy one who spreads glory. The great Lord practices His ways in heaven, but I cannot see them with my power; He practices His ways on earth, but I cannot perceive them with my power. As a believer in the Lord, I cannot know the Lord's power. This must be my fault - but this is also beyond my ability, so I want to ask you for advice.'"
"As I said, young human, this devout believer asked the angel about the Lord's power. And under the moonlight, in the dream, the angel still answered his question."
"She told the believer that the Lord behind the seven curtains is the beginning and the end of His kingdom."
"In His realm, He can be 'omniscient' or 'omnipotent'."
After a slight pause, the Sphinx smiled when he said this.
Its fingers moved slightly and placed a stone in front of Hercules.
"This is just a story, and I don't know whether it is true or not. But young human, at the end of the story, an unbeliever who heard about this incident asked a question. "
"He first marveled at the greatness of the Lord, and then praised the kindness of the angels. But in the end, he still doubted the Lord's power. "
"Because 'omniscient, omnipotent' - what a great title. "
"He dared not deny it, nor did he want to deny it. What made him doubt was whether this omniscient and omnipotent Lord... could create a stone that even He Himself could not lift?"
"If it could - then since there is a stone in this world that even the Lord cannot lift, His omnipotence may be tarnished. " "
If it could not - then since there are things in this world that even the Lord cannot create, His omnipotence seems to be no longer absolute."
"After he raised this question, countless people tried to refute him. Some divided the past and the future from the perspective of time, and some divided the subject and the object from the perspective of independence. " "
But no matter how it is divided, it seems that this 'division' itself has brought a stain to the Lord's omnipotence. So to this day, no answer can convince everyone. "
"Such a young human... this is my question. "
"In your opinion, is the 'Lord' worshipped by Silvermoon City all-knowing and almighty?"
"..."
The question was asked, and the Sphinx lay down with a smile.
When this question was asked, the victory or defeat was no longer in the question itself.
It knew, and Hercules knew, that in terms of the answer to the question alone, the Sphinx had already lost before it even started.
Because just like the previous dream, the opponent's 'rules' could not shake the power of the master of the spirit world.
So no matter whether the hero answered 'yes' or 'no', he would win in the end.
However, as the Sphinx had warned before... the victory or defeat of the question and answer often does not lie in the puzzle itself.
The real killing game is that the answer itself is wrong.
For Hercules at this moment, the threat It is never about the answer, but about the area beyond the question and answer.
What story, what believer.
Maybe the first half of the story is true, but the discussion about it in the second half must be fictitious.
No believer would allow this matter to be discussed, and no smart person would question it.
So from beginning to end, Hercules was the first and only person to answer this question.
In this case, there is no predecessor as a comparison, no end to refer to, and it is not like the answer about "dream", which is just a side note, but never really touches on the original god itself.
If he chooses to answer "no", it means denying the authority of the original god. The power of the spirit world is to challenge the faith of the angels in the spirit world. Not to mention going to the spirit world to find the answer to resurrection from the dead, no matter how powerful the hero is, he may not be able to come out of the spirit world alive.
And if he chooses to answer "yes"... it does not mean that nothing will happen.
After all, even the Lord of the Spirit World himself is probably very curious about how this "yes" was obtained.
Moreover, unlike the previous question, as the questioner, the Sphinx does not know the number of stars and earth and stones, so Hercules can also answer without knowing the number of dreams.
But the Sphinx's description of the second question is very detailed, so the hero must also give a process.
Although the logic of the process is not It is important, after all, 'yes' or 'no' is the answer itself, and 'rules' cannot verify right or wrong.
But if Hercules really gave a ridiculous logic to prove the 'omniscience and omnipotence' of the Lord of the Spirit World... then the result can refer to the former. What
the original god himself cares about may be random, but what the angels care about may be almost inevitable.
A dilemma, a paradoxical story, it is very likely that there is no answer at all... No matter how it is solved, it seems that there is a star of death shining ahead.
The only solution seems to be to surrender. With one win and one loss, the great hero can still give up the third question and leave the valley safely.
"...but it also said, 'Heaven and Purgatory are sometimes as close as one.'"
"Perhaps its rules do not allow such a problem of all killing, but must leave a passage."
"So I can't limit myself to this problem, but I have to think beyond its limitations... The paradox may have no solution, but I can try to prove that the paradox itself cannot exist..."
Not knowing whether his idea was right, the hero could only think so.
Is this the Sphinx's puzzle... At this moment, Hercules had to admit it. Compared with the Sphinx, he would rather face the giant lion and the Hydra.
In the nameless valley, the great hero and the Sphinx stood opposite each other.
The second question had been asked. As long as he gave a random answer, he would win the game.
However, Hercules could not be so careless. He had to find the flaws in the other party's words.
As for forcing an explanation... just like what the Sphinx said in the question.
Whether it is dividing the past and the future from the perspective of time, or dividing the subject and the object from the perspective of independence, it only seems to be interpretable, but there is no such convincing answer.
This may be inevitable. After all, humans themselves cannot understand what is omniscience and omnipotence. How can you give a reasonable explanation for something that you can't understand yourself?
There was a moment of silence in the field, only the sound of the wind was still blowing.
At this moment, the great hero was even considering solving the problem in another way.
Yes, another way to solve the problem, not thinking about the problem from another angle... In fact, Hercules is not a reckless man.
He dared to start this question and answer about wisdom without any defense, naturally because he was well prepared.
With his own strength alone, whether it was the indestructible lion skin or the poisonous fangs, perhaps they could not stop the domain of the Sphinx Order.
But there was something he obtained shortly after the trial began, which could help him offset the erasure of the rules.
That was the power that Ander gave it... the power he got from the ruins of the ancient human city in the Bronze Age.
On that day, the flood went from east to west, covering the world for seven days and nights. It
was like the hand of destruction sweeping across the earth, bringing disaster to mortals. But on the same day, there was a group of people who had their "death" erased and regarded the flood as nothing.
During this period of history, Ander reproduced the miracle of the past and turned it into a talisman.
He called it [false immortality], and the great hero had confirmed it before coming. Since the sphinx in the valley at this moment is not Typhon, the ancestor of all monsters, then although its rules are powerful, it may not be able to break through the protection of this "immortality".
"Should we directly solve this monster under the suppression of the rules?" But strictly speaking, it didn't do anything damnable. '
'Even today, I came here on my own...'
Hercules hesitated in silence.
But in front of him, the Sphinx obviously didn't realize this.
"Why, you still don't answer?"
"Give up... Humans can't understand things beyond their own cognition, and the same goes for gods."
"True omniscience and omnipotence are a false proposition... This is something that even a wise man like me can't answer."
Laughing, the Sphinx shook his head slightly.
It didn't think that this human could give a reasonable explanation, and this question and answer session was over.
However, in front of it, the great hero frowned slightly.
He felt as if he had noticed something, but it was not so clear.
"Sphinx... Did you just tell me that omniscience and omnipotence are a false proposition?"
"Isn't it?"
The sphinx asked casually, moving the stones on the ground.
"...Maybe, this is indeed a false proposition."
Nodding slowly, Hercules raised his head slightly.
Compared to the tall demon, the stature of humans is still too short.
"But whether it is a false proposition or not is not important, Sphinx, I already have the answer."
"But before that, I want to talk about my doubts about your question."
"This is your right," Sphinx said lightly: "You can start at any time."
"Well.
"In this case... then son of Typhon, please listen to me."
The heart that used the talisman was temporarily suppressed, and looking at the sphinx, the great hero asked his own question.
"When I heard you tell this story before, I felt that something was wrong. But it was not until just now that I understood the root of its wrongness. "
"Just like the question and answer between you and me, under the cover of your order and rules, our status is equal; just like the scales that the goddess of justice uses to measure all things, at both ends of it, what is placed must be equal. "
"Require the answerer to be blind, and then ask them to distinguish colors, this is an unfair question and answer, and order will not allow it; sand and gold, put on both ends of the scale, force them to balance, this is an unjust act. "
"Then in the final analysis, the same is true for the unbelievers in your story. "
"Human cognition has its limitations... even the gods are the same. They call what is within their cognition logic, and discard what is beyond their cognition as outside of logic. "
So if you ask someone to draw a circle, it is logical, and both humans and gods think it can be done; if you ask someone to draw a square, it is also logical, and neither humans nor gods will question its authenticity. " "
But if you ask someone to draw a 'square circle', from the stars in the sky to the bottomless abyss, no one thinks it can be successful, and no god thinks it can exist, because it is beyond their cognition and violates the logic in their eyes. "
"But does the square circle really not exist? I can't answer it. "
"But I know that insects with a lifespan of only one morning will not believe in the night, and creatures with a lifespan of only one spring cannot understand autumn and winter. This is the limitation of life wisdom, and it is also something that is naturally difficult to break. "
The voice was calm. In the process of answering the question, the great hero felt that the barrier in his heart seemed to be broken.
The secrets between heaven and earth are endless. Is there anything in this world that is 'absolute'?
If there is, it is probably the fact that 'there is no absolute'.
"The unbeliever uses his own logic to understand God. The God he understands is the God within his logic, not the real God. The question he raised was a question beyond his logic, not a question that was truly unattainable. "
Whether God is truly omniscient and omnipotent is unknown; whether a truly omniscient and omnipotent being can create a stone that He cannot lift is also unknown. But the unbeliever tries to make the God within his logic do things beyond his logic, which is truly impossible to accomplish, and his question is unreasonable."
"If he wants to ask a question, he can only do this: use his own logic to understand God, and then use things that his own logic can understand to ask God whether he can do it, so as to verify God's omniscience; or he admits that God is beyond his own logic, and only in this way can he use questions beyond his logic to verify God's omnipotence."
"The inside and the outside are equal, and the two are the same. This is a valuable question... As for his previous question, it is meaningless in itself."
The statement ends here. Strictly speaking, these explanations have nothing to do with the answer itself.
But both the Sphinx and Hercules knew that his words were not meant to answer the question.
Just as the Sphinx said before, the victory or defeat of the problem lies only outside the problem. When things outside the problem are solved, the problem itself is no longer important.
So facing the Sphinx's gaze, the hero slowly gave the final answer.
"My answer to your question is 'yes'."
"Because since the question itself is meaningless, my answer no longer needs to consider the reasons for right or wrong."
"And since the reasons are no longer important... then my answer is only based on my respect for the gods themselves."
Buzz...
When the word 'yes' came out, the familiar law fluctuations appeared again.
The rules themselves don't care about the problems inside or outside the question, they only care about answering the question. At almost the same time, knowing that he could not verify the omniscient rule, he judged that Hercules won another game, and he won the second victory.
"I won, Lord Sphinx."
"Let's start the third game directly..."
The domain shook slightly, and the turmoil caused by two consecutive failures made it no longer stable.
But the hero obviously didn't care about this, he just waited for the next question.
Silently, except for the former Oedipus, the human in front of him was the first person to solve two problems in a row... Just looking at Hercules' eyes, the Sphinx suddenly said:
"No need for a third game, young human, I admit defeat."
"Huh?"
His expression changed slightly. Hearing this, the hero's first reaction was not joy, but vigilance.
No need for a third game... He didn't think the big demon in front of him was someone who was willing to die.
The former Oedipus committed suicide here after answering two questions. Perhaps there is blood left by the other party under the valley.
"Relax, human. I'm serious."
"Actually, this is also to save my own life."
Shrugging, the Sphinx ignored Hercules' vigilance.
"You have to know, as I said before."
"If you don't answer any of the questions correctly, you will definitely die. After all, you didn't sacrifice yourself on the scale in front of the valley, so even if I don't want to kill you, the rules will immediately wipe you out... But young human, you should have guessed that it is also true in reverse."
"If I fail all three questions, even if you don't want to kill me, I will definitely die."
"I don't want to die, and I don't want to gamble my eternal life against you, betting that you can't answer the third question. So I'll just give up and give you everything the winner has."
"There's nothing wrong with this. Accept my defeat, and you win. Everything that has accumulated in this realm for thousands of years belongs to you."
"Similarly, I can also swear to you, to the Styx, and to all the gods in heaven and on earth that I didn't lie to you."
"When you accept my defeat, although you can't take my life, you can take everything else, and you don't have to face the risk of failure."
"This is a very cost-effective deal. After all, you don't have a reason to kill me, right?"
"After you win, the goddess of law will also win the bet with me, and I will spread justice with her from now on... Hero of the world, do you accept my proposal?"
Accept?
It sounds like nothing is unacceptable.
As the Sphinx said, Hercules asked himself that he had no grudges with the other party, and he did not have the intention to kill it.
Although the first two questions were very tricky, it was because he came to the door in person.
In a sense, answering the Sphinx's questions was equivalent to taking its life with a knife.
Facing a person who came to take your life, no matter how cruel you are, it is not too much.
"So... do you want to accept it?"
There is no need to face such annoying questions, just nod to win.
And the other party's oath is true, at least the artifact of the goddess of law is hanging above the head of the Sphinx. If it breaks its promise, it will definitely not be easy.
However, in the expectant eyes of the Sphinx, the hero just pondered for a moment and slowly shook his head.
He rejected the proposal and insisted on answering the last difficult question.
"Come on, Sphinx."
"I never fear a challenge, whether it is physical or spiritual."
"What doesn't defeat me will only make me stronger... Come on, tell me, what is your third question?"
"..."
"I..."
Sphinx opened his mouth to speak, looking at Hercules's determined eyes, and wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.
Because at this moment, the third buzzing sounded in the ears of the great hero.
According to the rules, Sphinx's surrender was successful, and Hercules also won the third question.
"?"
He was slightly stunned and didn't react at first.
But in just a moment, the great hero reacted to the secret.
The Sphinx was right, it didn't deceive him.
As long as it threw in the towel, Hercules would naturally win.
Everything in this area will belong to him, but it didn't mention one thing.
The premise of surrendering is that the problem has begun and the great hero has decided to challenge the third question.
Anyone who wins in front of the Sphinx can terminate the challenge at any time and leave with his victory, and Hercules is no exception.
For each of the previous questions, the Sphinx repeatedly confirmed whether he wanted to answer the question, except for the last one.
Because as long as the hero agreed to its "surrender" and gave up the challenge, the third question itself would not exist, and the so-called victory or defeat would naturally be meaningless.
"So you are going to die?"
Hercules asked with some regret.
The Sphinx did not lie, and its oaths were also true, so it should not be able to stop the killing of the rules.
Even at this moment, with the final victory, the hero has begun to sense the power of this field, and this power is converging towards the Sphinx.
If it were another great demon, Hercules was not sure whether it would die, but the Sphinx was different.
The field is the vast majority of its power... When this part tries to erase it, it has no ability to resist.
"...Death... Who knows?"
"I've already told you the truth."
"Since you insist on answering the third question, just treat it as an extra puzzle game... As for my power, it belongs to you now." He
spoke lightly. Facing this sudden death, the Sphinx shrugged again and lay back on the ground. On
its body, dots of golden light emanated.
The sons of Typhon are all over the world, some of them are demons, and some are evil creatures.
The former are as powerful as giants. They are not gods and have no authority, but they have unique powers that are no less powerful than these.
Those whose powers are so strong that even gods cannot crack them are the famous big demons.
In contrast, those ancient evil creatures wandering in the world also have different abilities, but they often do not have that kind of absoluteness.
Or to be more precise, those ancient evil creatures are not some "mechanical monsters". The only powerful ability they share may be the powerful immortality that comes from the source of power.
The Sphinx is a demon, so it only has the power of demons, but not the powerful vitality of evil creatures; it is not a god, so it cannot absorb the faith that has gathered on it for thousands of years.
Inch by inch, golden light emerges from its body, and the lives and souls of the heroes who died in the past are transferred here.
However, Hercules did not choose to accept those dead souls, but let them disperse with the wind.
A warm feeling emerged in his body... But like the Sphinx, he could not use the accumulated power of faith.
They lingered around Hercules, just like Pandora once did... And after losing all vitality, the body of the Sphinx began to change.
From the tail to the soles of the feet, from the waist to the head.
After a while, a huge stone statue replaced the previous demon.
It was like the magic of nature, born naturally, without any trace of human intervention.
From this moment on, another son of Typhon died at the hands of Hercules... But it was different from the previous one. Defeating such an opponent did not make the hero happy.
"Dang--"
A crisp sound of metal and stone colliding, looking down, I saw an ancient and exquisite scale falling on the ground in front of Hercules.
There was no need to explore, his intuition told him that this was the legendary artifact [Golden Balance], on both sides of it, anything can be measured.
Tangible, intangible; physical, conceptual.
Stepping forward to pick up the scale, Hercules didn't know why it appeared here.
This was the bet between the goddess of justice and the Sphinx, and since the demon was dead, shouldn't it return to the goddess' hands?
Even if it didn't go back, why did it come to him.
"Maybe this is a reward, a tool lent to you."
Prometheus, who had remained silent in the previous question and answer, stepped forward to explain.
"Perseus was the same. More than one god had lent him a divine tool."
"Your contributions far exceeded his, so it's not surprising that you can get the same treatment."
"Is that so... Then I understand."
Nodding slowly, the hero put away the scale.
He didn't know what he wanted it for, but it was a powerful artifact after all.
After putting the things away, Hercules looked around the valley.
There was nothing else that needed his attention here, and next, he should move forward...
"So Dionysus, is there anything else you want to do here?"
The hero asked, and waited for a while.
But to his surprise, the other party didn't respond to him.
Turning his head, he saw the handsome young man leaning against a big tree, closing his eyes and thinking in the shade.
He took a few steps forward and was about to say something. However, he found that Dionysus was in a strange state until he got close to him.
"Is he... asleep?"
There was a flash of confusion in his eyes. Was the duel between him and the Sphinx so long and so boring?
He couldn't understand it for a while, but the great hero still planned to wake him up.
It's time to set off. Besides, even if you want to sleep, there's no need to sleep here...
Shaking his head slightly, Hercules stretched out his hand and shook Dionysus's shoulders.
······
"Hey, wake up!"
"Wake up... Can't you move a little?"
"Poke... poke... I poke, poke, poke..."
...
[Dream Spirit Realm], the dream of the ancient gods.
The sky is bright, and the earth is dark.
Twelve stone pillars support the sky and the earth, and the stretched chains maintain their connection with the sky and the earth.
Rather than pillars, they look more like huge tombstones. They stand on the ground that looks like a desolate graveyard, against the backdrop of the sky that looks like a holy country.
In the middle of the earth, in a huge pit with no visible bottom, the white dragon folded up its wide dragon wings, and stared curiously at the young god lying in the pit.
The sharp fingertips poked the god who seemed to have lost consciousness, but even though blood was oozing out, the other party still had no reaction.
Poke--
Puff...
Seeing another "small fountain" on the body in front of her, Iselania's crystal eyes showed some unhappy emotions.
In her perception, the guy in front of her was clearly awake, but for some reason he kept pretending not to be awake.
After all, in the entire dream spirit world, there are only awake creatures and sleeping creatures, there is no third possibility.
Even if the outsiders enter this place in their real bodies, once they faint or even fall into a deep sleep here, they will only materialize their dreams under the ubiquitous rules of [Dream], and even emerge from the body surface, turning into a brand new dream bubble, and finally wrapping themselves up.
So since there is no trace of dreams around Dionysus, he was easily dragged into this rare dream of the ancient god that can carry the power of the white dragon, so his awakeness is needless to say.
"So... is this what mortals call 'playing dead'?"
"If he is really dead, I can still revive him, this is my territory!"
"But I remember that the human named 'No' told me that no one in the world can wake up a person who is pretending to sleep... So by analogy, I can't revive a person who is pretending to be dead forever."
Looking at the 'corpse' on the ground with a serious expression, Iselania suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
She felt that she had found a loophole, and it was very feasible.
"Hmm..."
"You can't wake up someone who's pretending to be asleep... That means only someone who's asleep can be woken up."
"So if I want to wake up someone who's pretending to be asleep, the best way is to make him really fall asleep first, and then wake him up."
"It's hard to wake up someone who's pretending to be asleep, but it's easy to make someone who's awake fall asleep - by analogy, it's hard to revive someone who's pretending to be dead, but it's easy to beat someone to death."
"If you want to wake up someone who's pretending to be dead, the best way is to beat him to death first, and then revive him, so he can't pretend anymore!"
"Sure enough, I, Iselania, am the smartest dragon in the world!"
The excitement in her eyes almost overflowed - this was not a metaphor, but a description.
In the dream world, emotions themselves can also become entities.
And looking at the god lying in a pool of blood in front of him, the white dragon decided to act immediately. But just as she was about to do something... she sat down dejectedly again. Damn it... How should you kill someone? It seems like she has never done such a thing before.
This is not a joke, because although Bai is not a dragon who has never killed, she has never killed any living being with the purpose of "killing".
If someone dies because of her, it is just a collateral consequence caused by Bai Long.
After all, in its eyes, the concepts of life and death are vague. Dreams will record all traces of the dead, and as long as she wants, any life is the same as eternal life.
"Well... Got it!"
"I don't know, then learn it."
"Anyway, those rare dreams of gods say so. He is the most brutal god in the world."
Nodding vigorously, Bai Long looked up at the sky in the pit in the center of the earth.
The dream of the ancient gods is vast and boundless, and compared to the twelve stone pillars standing in the world, Iselania's figure is so small that it is almost invisible.
The extremely heavy and dilapidated aura vibrates between heaven and earth, arousing infinite pressure... But Bai turned a blind eye to it.
Because in the dream, she is the real master.
"Ahhh!"
A soft cry shattered the boundless clouds.
The nine layers of clouds broke one by one, and began to rotate under the influence of some invisible force, eventually forming a vortex that connected the sky and the earth.
The center of the vortex was right in front of the white dragon, and in Iselania's eyes, a figure as tall as the sky was carrying the starry sky on his back, overlooking the creatures on the earth.
No... There are no living creatures on the land of the Ancient God's Dream.
There is only the earth itself, and the twelve pillars that are like tombstones.
In the distant past, the Supreme God King smashed the God Mountain and cast his rebellious sons into sculptures, suppressing them forever beside their mother.
He should be awake, because the second dream realm was not born in the Ancient God's Dream; he is not awake either, because his slumber comes from the backlash of the incomplete symbol and the balance of the great power.
Today's [Dream Spirit Realm] cannot carry his complete dream, so he appears here, but he has never really woken up.
Looking up at the sky, this scene was enough to make any living being on Chaos feel horrified from the bottom of their bones.
However, in Bai's eyes, it was just a tool that could "kill" for her.
"Well... it really looks scary."
"It's you, come on, beat this guy to death!"
The voice jumped, and the white dragon grabbed the "corpse" on the ground and prepared to fly high into the sky.
But at this moment, the "corpse" seemed to have finally discovered something wrong and opened its eyes in a hurry.
Damn, this white dragon is really looking for trouble.
And him, is this the Sky God King recorded in the ancient history of this world?
Even if it is just his dream, there are still some symbolic images and the power of the original God King... Such an existence is actually an out-and-out loser... No, I can't touch him, at least not now.
The corners of his mouth twitched, looking at the Supreme in the sky of the Ancient God's Dream, "Dionysus" was very helpless.
There was no other way. If he directly touched something related to the status of the God King, he would be locked by Chaos and forced to become one of the local spirits with status in advance.
In theory, there was nothing wrong with becoming a local god. The mother tree of the outer god flesh and blood next door was also like this. He also planned to do so in the future.
It was just that even if they joined, they would be divided into people, timing, status, and strength.
There were things to consider, such as whether they were valuable or not, how much value they had, and what the other party's current situation was. When
others... joined, they brought complete power and essence; when he joined, his power had already been someone else's spoils of war, and he himself was just a broken existence with empty status.
In this way, there was no need to think about what kind of treatment he could get... But to be honest, his existence would not be discovered by people of her level. Even if there was a sense of incoordination, at best it would be a little bit of a sense of disharmony.
In this case, why did she keep holding on to him?
I don't know, but judging by myself, and thinking about the other party's amazing wisdom just now, Dionysus felt that the white dragon definitely had some bad taste in it.
No one would really say what's in their heart and act innocent as a blank sheet of paper, right? Even if there is, it's probably painted white.
"Ahem...wait, I'm awake...where is this?"
With a cough, 'Dionysus' woke up from Bai's dragon claws.
He didn't seem to know what just happened, and his eyes were full of confusion at the moment.
"Hey, you finally stopped pretending to be dead?"
Bai looked down with some surprise and regret.
On her dragon claws, 'Dionysus' was still bleeding.
"Well...what a pity, I was going to verify my plan...but forget it, I don't blame you."
"Hello, I'm Bai, you can also call me Ysera. This is my domain - an uninhabited ancient god's dream. This is one of the few dreams that can accommodate me, so I often come here."
"Now it's your turn. Who are you? Did I know you before?"
"...Me?"
The young god smiled bitterly and shook his head, then introduced himself:
"As for me, you can call me Dionysus-"
"Lie!"
Poke-
another hole, fortunately this is a dream.
In a dream, as long as you feel that you are still alive, you will not die even if you are seriously injured.
So 'Dionysus' just twitched his mouth slightly, without any other reaction.
"Ahem... Mr. Dragon, as Dionysus, my friends all call me that, and I don't have any other name. You say I'm lying... How can you say that?"
"I don't know, is my intuition not good enough?"
Iselania asked confidently.
"..."
Silently, lying in the dragon's claws, 'Dionysus' didn't know what he had done wrong. Could it be that he was targeted by the fate of this world?
In front of him was the witch Medea of Silver Moon City, and behind him was the white dragon Ysera of the spirit world. But the former at least talked about reason, while the latter was purely about feelings.
Phew... The only good news is that the master of the spirit world doesn't seem to be here. He should still be busy cleaning up the mess.
Like Chaos' will, although the other party has the ability to discover, it is not so easy to really see into one's own existence.
That supreme characteristic is enough to isolate everything... Even this white dragon only felt that Dionysus was wrong, but never found any trace of him.
Otherwise, 'Dionysus' would have given up this key position long ago and directly chosen another path of 'naturalization' of Chaos.
Endless darkness, indescribable scene.
It was as if floating between existence and non-existence, unable to distinguish between inside and outside.
In the dream, Dionysus felt as if he had done a lot of things and said a lot of words.
In the illusory light and shadow, he saw the sky falling and the earth shaking. The statue turned into a human body, replacing the glory of the old master.
The starlight descended and rose from his own body.
A transaction, a replacement.
One fell to the ground because of this, and the other rose to the top of the mountain because of this.
The eternal lost eternity, and light rose in the darkness. As if the chaotic thinking was illuminated by the light, Dionysus finally found himself.
Is this a dream, an endless earthly dream...
"...Wake up..."
"Wake up..."
"Wake up!"
"Huh——"
In the nameless valley, he was awakened by the call.
Dionysus woke up suddenly, but was pierced by the dazzling light and could not open his eyes.
In front of him, Hercules was looking at him with some worry.
Obviously, the great hero did not expect that his companion would suddenly fall into such a deep sleep that he almost never woke up.
"Wait, stop shouting, I'm awake... Hercules, did I suddenly fall asleep?"
He covered his forehead with his right hand and stopped the big hand that was shaking his body with his left hand.
Dionysus felt that his head seemed a little dizzy, as if he was not sleeping peacefully, but was beaten in his dream.
Ah... By the way, there is also Amon, he seems to have dreamed of him.
In the dream, he asked himself if he still remembered the oath he had promised him, and Dionysus naturally said that he had not forgotten.
Although he is an immortal god, he has recognized this friend. He will live in the world of Chaos forever with his share.
"...Dionysus, I don't know what happened to you either."
"When I answered the three questions of the Sphinx, you were already unconscious here."
The great hero breathed a sigh of relief and saw his companion finally wake up. He reached out to help him pull him up from the ground.
"What's wrong? Did you get attacked just now?"
"Such a deep sleep doesn't seem to happen naturally."
"Maybe... but it's over now."
Shaking his head slightly, Dionysus tried to release the heaviness in his mind, but the result was in vain.
An inexplicable feeling of weakness came from the bottom of his heart. As a god without a priesthood, although he was immortal, he was not immortal in the sense of ordinary people.
Once his own traces were erased, he would fall into a deeper sleep than the star gods, and he would not even have the chance to wake up.
After all, the star gods still have the tough star core as an anchor point. Generally speaking, no god would have to grind this thing into ashes, but he didn't have such luck.
Therefore, Dionysus had always cherished every bit of his power, even though Zeus had given him a lot of faith.
But today, he felt that his power seemed to be consumed for no reason.
"It may be the power of the rules of the Sphinx... It may have conflicted with the power of the Father God."
"Whether it is [Royalty] or [Law], they are the same as the rules of the Sphinx. In fact, they are all differentiated from [Order], one of the highest and core parts of the world."
"They either combine with each other, one obeys the other, and then makes the other powerful, or they will conflict with each other and it will be difficult to coexist."
"The ancient Titan left the temple because of this, and the power of the Sphinx may have affected me because of this... I learn a lesson from my mistakes. Next time, I won't be so careless."
Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and Dionysus rested for a while.
Finally, he indicated that he was fine and could continue on his way.
Of course, he couldn't say directly about Zeus' power.
So Dionysus also chose to decline Prometheus's proposal to check his physical condition.
"...Okay, since you are fine, let's go to the real ruins of Mount Odilus now."
Nodding, Hercules did not refuse.
After receiving the legacy of the Sphinx, he felt a strange swelling all over his body.
He wanted to find something to fight with, or to light a fire.
Although according to the records in the [Book of Purgatory], the road leading to the fourth layer of the spiritual world under Mount Odilus is a "dead end", he still wanted to take a look.
After all, he still remembered the words of the Athenian wise man and his intuition in the Eye of the Sea. (See 3-347)
No matter what he did, no matter whether he just wanted to go to the fourth layer of the spiritual world to fulfill the oath he made to himself... It seemed that one day, he would have to walk this "correct" road.
- Starting from the bottom of the pillar of heaven in the present world, along the ridge of Mount Sinai, all the way to its end.
There, all doubts can be answered, and all difficulties no longer exist.
Maybe that day, he doesn't need to use logic, but can verify the Sphinx's question himself.
Is the so-called 'omniscience and omnipotence' true?
······
Heading westward, Hercules has walked hundreds or thousands of miles since leaving the nameless valley.
Compared with when he came, he has one more artifact of the Goddess of Law.
He doesn't know if he has won the bet with the Sphinx since he caused its death?
"It's a bit strange... Ender, have you ever thought about a question." Speak silently in your heart, with the help of Ander's ingenious spiritual thread, the hero can talk to it directly in his heart.
"The rules of the Sphinx's domain stipulate that no matter who it is, once he starts asking questions to the Sphinx, if he fails to answer any of the questions, he will lose everything."
"On the contrary, if he answers all three questions, the Sphinx will lose everything in return, and the answerer will gain fame - that's right, isn't it?"
"Yes," Ander replied. He already knew what Hercules was going to ask: "You mean, such a clear rule, as the goddess of justice, Themis, who is in charge of [fairness] and [law], she must be able to see it."
"So her bet with the Sphinx was meaningless from the beginning, because even if the other party lost, a dead person could not fulfill the bet."
"The reason why the rules of the Sphinx are so powerful is that even if the gods enter its domain and voluntarily start asking questions, they cannot escape the sanctions of the rules after failure. This is because this power hurts both the enemy and itself, and it is actually impossible for even the Sphinx itself to restrain it..."
"So in this case, the goddess shouldn't do such a stupid thing, right?"
"...That's about right."
The great hero agreed with this and was indeed a little confused.
Before dying, the Sphinx told it that its life and death was also a mystery, and the answer had long been in front of Hercules.
But perhaps the first three questions consumed too much of the hero's energy, and he could not figure out the reason for a while.
"Well... I'm not sure if what I said is right, I can only give you a guess."
The puppet changed his position in the pocket of his clothes and said with a smile: "You should also know that the Goddess of Law is not only the god of [Justice], but also the god of [Fairness]."
"So when she does things, she should not simply favor one side."
"However, from the time she restricted the Sphinx to stay in the valley, and even set up the 'equivalence balance' at the entrance of the valley, exchanging divine power for the life of the test taker, although each of these was a fair move she obtained the consent of the Sphinx and paid for at her own expense, if you look closely, it is more or less biased towards humans."
"But you have to know, Hercules, the goddess of law Themis has never been a human. She is an ancient Titan, the daughter of Father Sky and Mother Earth, and the legislator who eradicates cancer in the world."
"In her eyes, demons, humans, even giants, sea monsters, and even ants under her feet, there is actually no difference between them. They are just ordinary creatures."
"In the whole world, probably only evil creatures with chaotic natures can make her feel disgusted... Apart from that, what is so special about humans?"
"So think carefully, and you will find that in fact, the Sphinx is treated the same as humans."
"It is confined in the valley, which looks like a cage... But if you look at it over a long period of time, if it still runs rampant in the human world, the gods may not be able to do anything to it, but one day, when Oedipus, who was calculated by the gods and followed the destiny, comes before it, can it really be as 'lucky' as it is now to escape and finally wait for your arrival?"
"It lost its freedom, but in exchange for hundreds of years of life... And if you look at the stone balance in front of the valley from this perspective, there may be another result."
"You mean..." Hercules' mind moved slightly, and he felt as if he understood something: "The reason why the goddess leaves a glimmer of hope for the humans who come here to answer questions is not because she has special pity for these answerers who come for wealth, status, and fame, but ultimately for their own greed."
"But it is because she has already shown mercy to their opponents, so she gave them equal opportunities?"
"The goddess first made a bet with the Sphinx using the artifact, and then this valley came into being... just as freedom was first mortgaged to the goddess, the divine crystals in return can protect them from being wiped out by the rules."
"The answerer pledged his freedom to her in exchange for the divine power to save his life. The price is that after failure, he will fight for the cause of [justice] for the rest of his life... The Sphinx put his freedom on the gambling table in exchange for the artifact [Golden Balance]. The price is that after failure, he will serve the goddess forever..."
"So the reason why I was able to pick up this artifact as a bet is not because the goddess values it, but because of her [fairness]."
"Just as the divine crystals used by those unsuccessful answerers to exchange for their lives eventually became food for the Sphinx, the artifact [Golden Balance] is also the trophy I deserve."
Hercules was shaken in his heart. At this moment, the ancient god's distant and long gaze shocked Hercules, but the absolute fairness in her actions was the same.
Her existence seemed to be the interpretation of this priesthood, the proof of the word [fairness]... Looking down at the [Golden Scales] on his waist, the great hero knew that this artifact would not belong to him forever.
The crystal of divine power was permanently paid to the Sphinx because those who failed to answer the questions finally left in one piece.
But even if the Sphinx escaped in some way, everything it once had was completed by Hercules.
Even the great hero could not guarantee what form this escaped life would take.
"Stone statue... or undead?"
Looking back, at this moment, Hercules had to admit that perhaps some gods' actions seemed so ridiculous and so disrespectful.
But in the world of Chaos, those ancient gods who were truly unchanging and lasted for more than one era were not as shallow as ordinary people imagined. Sure
enough, weakness and ignorance were not obstacles to survival, only arrogance was. Time passed quickly, and Hercules had circled around Mount Odile several times. Collapsed ruins, dried-up rivers; burned-out trees, and tenaciously growing plants. In this ruins of ten thousand years ago, the great hero saw what seemed to be the remains of the Golden Age, and saw a few inscriptions written in some hieroglyphics. With the help of the [Book of Purgatory], several people followed the notes on the stone tablet and found an independent building that was said to be very close to the former golden human gathering area. However, with the passage of time, especially the catastrophe during the war with Typhon at the end of the second season, the earth's crust moved and the plates overlapped. Although Hercules found the building, he still could not find the remains of the main city of the Golden Age. He raised the stone tablet that had guided them all the way to the sun, and the great hero looked at the reliefs on it again. In the sky, the clouds seemed to have been burned by fire. On the top of the tall pillar of heaven, there were several abstract figures as tall as the sky overlooking the world. Some of them were indifferent, some were majestic, some were noble, and some were full of disgust. The humans on earth were worshipping and praising the greatness of the gods...and in between, a scarlet meteor was falling from the sky to the earth.
"This record..."
"When fire falls from the sky, there will be a disaster..."
Hercules read the words on the stone tablet in a difficult and awkward tone.
"It seems to record a warning from the gods to humans at that time... But what's the use of this?"
Shaking his head slightly, the great hero looked around, feeling a little helpless.
He has found this place, the base of this ancient sacred mountain left in the world.
But the problem is that the so-called "correct" path to the spiritual world does not seem to be open to him.