#626An arrow and a reflectionAI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 624: One Arrow and Reflection
"Oh?"
A soft exclamation, in an unknown location, the first to discover Heracles was none other than the White Dragon, who roamed between reality and dreams.
Hovering at the edge of the Myriad Spirit Realm, Iserania was not visiting here for the first time.
In the past years, she often came to the bank of the River of Forgetfulness, observing the struggles and falls of billions of souls.
Those with wavering wills and indistinct memories had long since settled at the riverbed with the flow of the river.
Those who could maintain their sanity all the way to the Myriad Spirit Realm often had glorious lives.
Iserania didn't care what they were like in Life, but she would grant them a beautiful dream at the end of their lives and ultimately preserve it deep within the Dream Spirit Realm, making it one of the bricks supporting its expansion.
In this situation, when Heracles appeared here, it immediately caught the White Dragon's attention.
However, after a brief glance up and down, Iserania's crystal-like eyes shifted slightly downwards, fixing on the Great Hero's wrist.
There, a trace left by a ritual glowed brightly.
With just one look, the White Dragon recognized its origin.
It was a reflection of history, a materialization of some miracle.
It was the 'False Undead,' capable of stripping an existence of Death, allowing it to be immortal for a period of time.
Of course, Iserania didn't care about the power itself.
But since this power appeared on Heracles, she seemed to have no need to stop him.
Silently watching him, the White Dragon's tail slapped the surface of the River Styx.
She was a bit bored, but didn't know what to do.
Since her last toy ran away, Iserania hadn't encountered anything interesting in a long time.
Even the great battle outside Mount Olympus didn't give her a chance to intervene.
...
Continuing forward, Heracles was still drifting.
And after the White Dragon, the second to discover him was Eros.
Small wings fluttered behind her, and the maiden carrying lead arrows saw movement at the bottom of the river.
An intruder; logically, she should have expelled or destroyed him.
However, Eros didn't plan to do so, because although her task was to stop those who could disturb the stability of reincarnation, now even reincarnation wasn't here...
"Hmm, so theoretically I can let him in."
Casually finding an excuse, Eros chose to neglect her duties.
Of course, she was mainly curious about what this human was going to do.
On Heracles' body, she sensed the aura of the golden apple, as well as various monstrous scents.
Was such a human preparing to cause a ruckus in the Spirit Realm?
"Tsk, even Iserania didn't bother with him, why should I care?"
"The Mind Dragon probably let him in, so there must be no problem, right?"
She smiled indifferently, but after a moment of thought, Eros pulled out Voros's golden arrow from her waist.
She decided that, with either the lead arrow or the golden arrow, she would at least shoot this fellow once today.
As for how exactly to shoot...
"It just depends on whether he can make me laugh!"
Cheering, Eros flapped her wings lightly, concealing her tracks from the edge of the Myriad Spirit Realm.
Using her Authority as a Spirit Realm God, she mobilized some of the realm's power, secretly following behind the other party.
However, at the same time, along the Great Hero's path of movement, Eros also spied on his origin.
"Hmm?"
"One, two, three... so many evil creatures and Gods!"
Clapping her hand over her mouth in surprise, Eros patted her unremarkable chest, as if she had been frightened.
However, looking at her wide, darting eyes, it was clear she didn't take the matter seriously at all.
...
Continuing to move along the riverbed, Heracles silently passed two checkpoints.
At a certain moment, as the effects of the potion gradually wore off, his dormant will slowly revived.
Slowly opening his eyes, the Great Hero looked out from the riverbed.
He saw the clear river water reflecting the moonlight, with four spirit moons illuminating the Sky above the Myriad Spirit Realm.
Along both sides of the river, buildings of varying styles stood in close succession.
A rich Spiritual aura permeated his body, making him feel incredibly comfortable.
"Is this... have I arrived?"
Quietly stopping his aimless drifting, Heracles clutched the Caucasus Divine Eagle's eye.
Although this demonic relic had not provided substantial power assistance in the Great Hero's past adventures, it had indeed played many roles.
Just like now, with his eyesight, he would normally be unable to see the outside world from the bottom of the River Styx.
But with the help of the Caucasus Divine Eagle's Eye, he saw the end of his journey.
In the ethereal, three vast auras, closely linked to the realm, connected heaven and earth.
Yet, faintly, Heracles could sense a certain rigidity.
They were not the main bodies, but temporary manifestations, avatars mechanically performing their Divinity... His gaze shifted again, and the Great Hero looked towards the center of the realm.
According to the records in the book of purgatory, that place was the central axis of the Spirit Realm, home to the world's most powerful artifact, symbolizing the cyclical flow of all things, the Well of Reincarnation, and it was also his ultimate destination for this journey.
However, at a glance, what shocked Heracles was that there was no vast, two-colored well surface like an ocean, no towering, mountain-like well walls as described in legends.
There was only a large pit, as if something had once existed there, but now there was nothing.
Only in front of it, a illusory mirror image hung there.
That was the projection of sprall's mirror; its purpose was to assist the Well of Reincarnation in the reincarnation of billions of souls.
"What... what is going on?"
Doubt arose, but his heart was not flustered.
Because looking at the mirror image suspended in the air, Heraclesknew that he had not come in vain.
In fact, his purpose in coming to the Spirit Realm was not the Well of Reincarnation itself, but to use reincarnation and the divine mirror, which wielded the Authority of Space, to reflect the world and find the soul of his mother, whom he had accidentally killed.
Quietly stepping out of the River Styx, the potion's power had not completely faded.
Concealing his aura, Heracles took a deep breath.
He carefully surveyed his surroundings, moving among the queues of souls.
Looking up at the Sky, the avatars of the three goddesses were enveloped in divine light.
The Great Hero knew very well that if their true bodies had remained here, he would likely not have escaped detection.
But it was as if everything was paving the way for him; after half a day of arduous exploration, Heracles finally stood before the massive, bottomless pit, like an abyss.
The reflection of sprall's mirror shimmered, and the aura of reincarnation was almost one with it.
This reflection of the divine mirror had become semi-independent, a subsidiary of reincarnation, forming a bridge for the communication of power between the two artifacts.
After a moment of silence, bathed in the light of the Spirit Moon, Heracles reached out and touched the silver mirror.
Without any surprise, he touched the true form of this artifact's shadow.
Buzz—
The mirror image hummed, seemingly inquiring about the user's request.
And with a thought, the Great Hero responded to it.
The next moment, the mirror surface blurred slightly, as if something was being searched... And at the same time, as if encountering some trouble, an ancient scroll unfolded within the mirror, and the truth of the past was confirmed there.
The Well of Reincarnation.
The chronicle of ages.
sprall's mirror.
The powers of the three artifacts converged here, finally imprinting the last trace of what Heracles sought onto the mirror surface.
Gazing intently... on the silver mirror, which undulated like water, he saw a majestic kingdom like heaven.
And the scarlet corruption of all spirits rising from beneath the sacred.
...
On Mount Olympus, within the Golden Palace.
After considerable effort, Zeus's avatar outside had finally temporarily resolved the trouble.
His face was solemn, sitting alone on the throne.
Strictly speaking, the King of Gods' mood at this moment was not particularly bad.
A test, a confrontation.
His true body seemed to be sealed, but it was not as serious as imagined.
royal authority was still extending throughout the world, and order was gradually infiltrating the starry Sky and the Underworld.
In fact, if he wanted to forcibly break the seal, it wasn't impossible... but the price would likely be the damage of Asgard, causing him to permanently lose this realm.
In this situation, Zeus did not do so, because he indeed needed a period of settling down.
To heal the injuries from violating the covenant between Gods and humans, to organize and sort out the power of royal authority... and even to analyze a certain rule contained within that distorted eye.
After all, it was related to the King of Gods of another realm, that much was undeniable.
It pointed out the loopholes in Asgard, but also contained rules that partially aligned with the realm.
Overall, Zeus did not feel that he had suffered a loss, especially since he had made a great discovery.
"He still refuses to come out and face me at this point. If there are no surprises, no matter what he's doing, the Lord of the Spirit Realm is probably truly unable to spare a moment."
His expression was calm; since that was the case, Zeus finally let go of his last lingering doubt.
Once the seal on Asgard shattered and his power advanced further, he would personally act and sweep away everything in heaven, earth, and sea.
The Well of Reincarnation was a countdown hanging overhead, but it recorded not only himself, but also all other Gods and humans in the present world...
Lost in thought, at a certain moment, the King of Gods suddenly heard a summons.
"Your Majesty, an envoy from the ocean seeks an audience."
"...What is it?"
Frowning slightly, Zeus asked.
"Your Majesty, it is said, it is said they have come to complain."
Not knowing how to describe it, the Nymph standing by whispered.
"Complain?"
Somewhat baffled, Zeus didn't know what kind of complaint they were bringing.
The four seas were turbulent, laws were chaotic, Poseidon had only left the present world a short while ago, yet they had caused such a huge disturbance, and they still had the nerve to complain?
"...Let him see me."
After a moment of hesitation, Zeus decided to meet the visitor.
However, a moment later, he regretted it.
"...Your Majesty, I come by the command of the Ancient sea god's son, the Old Sea God Nereus."
He bowed respectfully, his face filled with sorrow.
The envoy's eyes held indignation as he angrily denounced the evil deeds of a certain Titan and human to the King of Gods.
"As you can see, the four seas are turbulent, and the laws are in disarray. The rules left by Sea Emperor Poseidon in the world are frequently rioting."
"But this is not because we Sea Gods are unwilling to serve the God Court, but because the Titan God Atlas aided and abetted evil, and that arrogant human Heracles was too rampant!"
"Because of their wanton actions, the pillar originally bestowed by the Ancient God to suppress the waves and support the Sky was taken away, causing the laws of the great sea to constantly fluctuate."
"And that human even fought for several days and nights on the great sea, causing countless sea creatures to turn to ashes, and many Gods who tried to stop him to suffer severe injuries."
"Under the Sky-supporting bronze pillar, the various Sea Gods suppressed by the laws were simply no match... If he hadn't been severely injured, His Highness Nereus would not have sent me to complain to you."
"As the supreme ruler of the heavens, earth, and sea in the present world, please make a just judgment on this matter!"
"..."
Silent, his heart filled with unspoken embarrassment.
Looking at the envoy before him, Zeus had something he didn't know whether to say or not.
It was just a pillar used to assist in supporting the Sky; Atlas was doing fine without it before, so how did it become like this now?
But thinking about it carefully, it seemed to make sense.
After all, with the evolution of time, both the Sky and the Great Sea had become increasingly powerful.
As early as the last epoch, if Uranus could awaken, the Sky would have already been able to condense symbols and achieve the realm of Great Divine Power.
Now, a half-epoch later, although it was still loose, its power had genuinely increased.
In this situation, Atlas's strength was insufficient, leading to changes in the great sea, which seemed normal.
The King of Gods was not a Sea God after all, nor had he supported the Sky.
He wasn't particularly sure what exactly was going on here.
"Ahem... I generally understand the losses suffered by the Sea Gods."
Clearing his throat, Zeus asked:
"Then, I wonder how much damage you specifically suffered..."
"Your Majesty, ninety percent of the Sea God lineage's divine palaces have collapsed, most of the ocean creatures have died, the Nymphspirits are few and far between, and most of the Gods are injured, almost suffering damage to their Divinity!"
As if waiting for this very sentence, the Sea God's envoy said loudly:
"If it is to make sacrifices for Your Majesty, this is our duty."
"But to pay such a price because of an unknown human, we Sea Gods swear to seek justice!"
"..."
His smile stiff, Zeus didn't know what to say.
What a joke, putting aside everything else, did Heracles fight all the Sea Gods? How could he not know?
Most of the ocean creatures died? Do you know how many creatures are in the ocean?
And ninety percent of the divine palaces collapsed... Zeus had no way to verify this.
But he had reason to believe that these were all false reports!
"...Hmm... I will handle it as appropriate."
False or not, the King of Gods ultimately endured it.
After all, ultimately, this was caused by the task he had assigned... He finally managed to send off the Sea God's envoy, but before he could even sit for a while, another voice came from the doorway.
"Your Majesty..."
"What is it?"
"King of the Underworld's envoy has arrived... it seems he also has some complaint."
"..."
Crack—
Crushing the armrest on his right, Zeus took a deep breath.
"Let him in."
"I want to hear... what happened in the Underworld now."
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