Those time travelers that year

This time, countless rains of light fell, golden rain descending from the sky and sprinkling down below.

Roar! The black dragon roared, and the vast majority of the light rain was directly submerged in the boundless radiance.

481. A Hopeless Battle (Part 2)

The black dragon, engulfed by a rain of light, roared as it was bombarded by golden arrows, each carrying the fire of the sun. Amidst the flashes and flames, the dragon's entire body was ablaze by the sun's rays, before it plummeted from the sky.

"Huff!" Helios gasped for breath as he watched the black dragon being brought down. The chase had clearly been anything but easy for him; the black dragon's soul-burning breath posed a far greater threat than he'd imagined. "Thank goodness..." However, before Helios could catch his breath, a roar erupted.

To Helios's astonishment, the black dragon, which had been shot down by the barrage of arrows of light, roared and soared back into the sky. Although the dragon appeared to be in poor condition, its body charred black and still burning with golden solar flames, it remained resilient and undeterred. Instead of being defeated, it continued its ferocious attack on Helios, its severely wounded body surging forward.

“Truly tenacious…” With a tug on the reins, the Sun Chariot once again dodged the black dragon’s breath. Helios looked down at the heavily wounded black dragon with a solemn expression. “This kind of vitality is far stronger than that of the divine beasts of the Earth Mother Goddess… It must be said, as expected of Cthulhu, who is Dio che morso, even a summoned creature has terrifying vitality.”

"However, it's the same no matter how many times we come with this one black dragon!"

A black dragon was clearly no threat to Helios, the sun god. In fact, if it weren't for the fear of the dragon's breath that could burn the soul, Helios could have defeated it even more easily.

However, even if the black dragon manages to withstand this attack, it may not be so lucky next time.

A new golden arrow was nocked on Helios's bow, and just as Helios was about to unleash another rain of arrows of light to shoot down the black dragon once more.

Roar! ! ! !

Another roar rang out, and to Helios's astonishment, the clouds above him were smashed open, and another giant dragon swooped down from the clouds.

An ancient dragon, an ancient creature whose entire body was enveloped in swirling frost. The moment this newly appeared ancient dragon appeared, it breathed a chilling, bone-deep cold stream towards Helios.

"Damn it!" Caught off guard, Helios was enveloped by the icy current. Even though he conjured flames and light to protect himself, he could not escape its corrosive influence. Tiny ice flowers had already formed on the golden chariot beneath his feet, and the four horses pulling the sun chariot were slowed down by the cold current.

They slowed down, awaiting the black dragon's rapid approach. It seemed that even though it had been severely wounded by Helios's rain of light arrows, it clearly posed no threat to the black dragon's life or fighting power. The next moment, the dragon's breath, burning with soul-destroying flames, once again hurtled towards Helios.

"Make way!" A dazzling golden flash erupted from the sun's golden crown, forcefully dispelling the cold and frost. Helios hurriedly steered his chariot to avoid the dragon's breath flames. But this time, he wasn't so lucky. Although the sun chariot narrowly avoided the dragon's breath, Helios couldn't avoid being tainted by the dangerous flames.

"Hmph!" Helios grunted, channeling his divine power to forcefully dispel the twilight-colored flames that had stained his body. Then, he pulled hard on the reins, changing the direction of the sun chariot and weaving away to dodge the approaching black dragon's claws and fangs.

"So what if it's a dragon!" The golden bow in Helios's hand transformed back into a sun scepter amidst golden light. Raising the scepter high, Helios roared, "I am the sun god!" The jewels on the scepter emitted a blinding light, and instantly, darkness receded, and endless light rained down from the sky upon the earth. Golden light spread, and the burning sun's fire expanded along with the radiance throughout the sky, making it seem as if a new sun had appeared in the heavens.

Roar! X2

The black dragon and the ancient dragon, scorched by the newborn sun, cried out in pain and hurriedly flapped their wings to escape Helios's attack range.

With a single strike, Helios forced the two dragons back and breathed a sigh of relief. Facing two excessively powerful divine beasts at once, even he had to be on his guard. Moreover, these two dragons were no ordinary dragons. Whether it was the black dragon's flames capable of burning the soul, or the ancient dragon's icy aura that had nearly frozen even him, the sun god, these were powers capable of threatening gods—powers that even made him tremble.

Of course, most importantly, Helios still hasn't seen the Shard. These two dragons are merely servants the Shard uses to keep him in check.

'Where?'

A sense of unease flickered in Helios's heart, and he quickened the reins, propelling the sun chariot forward. Behind him, two dragons roared, relentlessly pursuing him. However, Helios had no intention of turning back to fight the dragons, for that would be far too taxing on his energy. Even as the sun god, with an inexhaustible supply of divine power, his strength had been somewhat diminished under the cover of night.

The absence of the Shar forced Helios to divert some of his attention to prevent a surprise attack from the abyssal serpent.

Roar! ! !

The two dragons roared, spewing flames and cold currents at Helios, who, riding the sun chariot, dodged them constantly thanks to his superior speed.

Suddenly, as if on a whim, Helios's heart tightened, and he instinctively turned around to look at the two dragons chasing him. Then, he saw a figure that had appeared on the back of the ancient dragon that had appeared later.

The oncoming air currents caused the black cloak to flutter.

However, even the raging air currents couldn't blow the hat off his head...

At this moment, the figure standing on the back of the ancient dragon smiled and gazed at Helios from afar. But at this instant, the heart of this sun god sank to the very bottom.

Because the figure standing on the ancient dragon was holding a long spear in his hand, poised to throw it, and aimed it at him—Helios.

Originating from the divine essence of the All-Seeing One, Helios immediately saw the spear in the man's hand and recognized its origin. It was, according to legend, forged from a branch of the World Tree, the divine spear held by Odin. Legend says that this spear, once thrown, will always hit its target, and any promise made to it cannot be broken.

And now, Gungnir has its sights set on its target.

"Pierce it through—Gungnir!"

A streak of light appeared on Gungnir's body, and then, Ciel grasped Gungnir, stood on the ancient dragon's back, and hurled it toward Helios.

Gungnir, now free, transformed into a shooting star, streaking across the sky and hurtling toward Helios at unimaginable speed.

Facing Gungnir's attack and sensing impending death, Helios swung his scepter in an attempt to block it. Unfortunately, a meteor-like flash arrived in an instant, shattering Helios's scepter and piercing through his body.

The power erupted from Gungnir, blasting the entire Sun Chariot to pieces.

482. The End of Helios

A shooting star streaked across the sky and fell to earth.

A meteor streaked across the sky, leaving a fiery trail as it plummeted downwards, crashing down upon Rhodes Island. Finally, on Elli Beach, Rhodes Island, the meteor slammed into the sand, smashing the abandoned free parasols and deck chairs to pieces.

Even with the sand cushioning the impact, the fall from the sky still created a crater in the sand. At this moment, in the dead of night, no one noticed the change on the beach. Because from the beginning, the island had been shrouded in a dark barrier, and all ordinary people had fallen into a deep sleep. Only the magicians and knights remained awake, but clearly, having experienced the previous massacre by the Knights of Farron, these men no longer dared to come here.

Helios, the sun god who descended against all odds, lay quietly in the sand pit. His chest had been pierced, but no blood flowed out. Instead, the wound began to disintegrate into fragments of golden light.

This wound was created by Gungnir. Even though as a god's body, it can ignore almost all magic and is immune to most physical damage, unfortunately, Helios has no ability to heal the wound created by Gungnir, a divine artifact.

This is the eternal spear that binds vows and destiny.

When Gungnir was hurled, his fate was sealed. Had Helios not been initially entangled with the two dragons, and had he been prepared, he might not have been struck down by Gungnir in one blow. However, Helios, entangled with the two dragons, had to be wary of the yet-to-be-seen Ciel while also expending considerable effort to repel the two dragons.

However, what Te didn't expect was that Shire was on the back of one of the dragons and had locked onto him with Gungnir, killing him instantly.

"Really..." With a slight sigh, Helios lay weakly in the sand pit, looking up at the starry sky that had been rebuilt after he was shot down. He smiled bitterly and said, "To muster the will to fight a battle that I was bound to lose, I was so incredibly foolish, wasn't I!? Serpent of the dark and despairing abyss?"

Black smoke billowed and appeared beside Helios. Shire, dressed in black clothes, a black cloak, and a black hat, stepped out of the black mist, holding in his hand the Gungnir that had previously knocked Helios down.

“Why bother? Knowing he’s no match for me…” Looking at Helios, whose chest was mostly destroyed, Charles casually put Gungnir back. “…Why fight this kind of completely meaningless battle?”

"Hahaha, I have already seen the goddess of wisdom and victory appear not far away. I thought that since we are all family after all, she would give me a victorious protection." Helios laughed. "But I didn't expect that, indeed, a woman's heart is like the sea... cough cough, whether it is Clytie or the goddess of wisdom."

"You can complain about these things when you return to mythology!"

"Can't you let me say a little more?" Helios said. "Anyway, I'm already in a terrible state..."

"Hurry up and leave! I'll take your divinity and divine power, as well as the concept of divinity you left behind, without any hesitation."

“These young people nowadays! Sigh!” Helios sighed and replied helplessly, “Well then, take it! You know, this disobedience is about to end, and that witch will come looking for you again… However, that witch won’t be able to snatch food from you.”

"By the way! Please apologize to my descendant for me. To be honest, I, as an elder, have truly failed miserably, unable to even protect my descendants."

"Okay, goodbye, don't bother seeing me out!"

"Then, could you please do me one more favor? Please erase that little girl's memory..."

"Enough with the nonsense, goodbye!"

"...Heh, goodbye!"

With his eyes slowly closing, Helios's body crumbled, cracks appeared, and then he shattered completely, turning into countless points of light that scattered away.

With a reach forward grab, the shattered points of light from Helios were drawn together in mid-air, converging into the palm of Charles's hand. Finally, they formed a rhombus-shaped golden crystal—a divine essence containing the concepts of Helios's divinity, power, and divine office.

Helios is the sun god, inheriting the sun godship from the Titan Hyperion, and also inheriting some of the divinity of his mother, the ancient goddess of light, Theia. He is also an all-seeing being, so his level is quite high. If he were placed in the D&D universe, he would definitely have the potential to have powerful divine strength.

However, this being was indeed severely suppressed in mythology, resulting in a high level of divine essence but a much lower quantity. Moreover, this was merely the residual power of Helios, gathered by the Shar, barely enough to make one a demigod at best.

Of course, that's enough.

"Poor wretch... To be a god like you is a complete failure!" Shaking his head, Charles put away his divine essence and then turned to leave the beach. As for the sandpit and the damaged public property, the members of the Greek magic society on the island would naturally be responsible for cleaning up the mess.

Whether they like it or not...

As the black mist surged, Charles vanished from the beach and appeared in the shop where Helios had been.

Some of Helios's divine power still lingered here, but Charles didn't care for such insignificant power. Instead, he walked to the wooden table and picked up the wooden carving that Helios had previously carved.

The wood carving depicts a woman who, upon closer inspection, bears some resemblance to the little girl named Kotoe from before. Or rather, this wooden woman is much more mature in appearance, representing what the little girl Kotoe would look like as an adult.

"The Persian princess Koto'e, and that little mortal girl Koto'e from before..." Sharl unleashed his 'spiritual vision,' far surpassing Liliana's, directly reversing the flow to peer into the timeline of this world. Even though the timeline of this world was difficult to observe, it couldn't stop Sharl. Not to mention, his target was just an ordinary little girl.

"What?"

Are all the gods in Greek mythology perverted lolicon?

"A mere mortal who looks like someone and has the same name, a coincidence of fate, is actually able to attract the descent of a sun god—Helios. Should I say you're pathetic or a perverted lolicon?"

"Should we pity your fate in the myth, where you suffer the loss of children and lovers, only to be utterly ruined? Or is it that you, so desperate, descended from the myth to Rhodes Island just for some solace, just to see this girl... even if it's only for a year or two, you'd be content!"

"Really... if you have such thoughts, why not give it your all in the mythology world? That would be much better than compromising to the point of ruin and death!"

With a slight exertion of force, the wooden carving turned to ashes in Ciel's hand, utterly shattering. Then, Ciel turned and vanished into the black mist. At the same time, on the other side of Rhodes City, a little girl named Kotohe awoke from her deep sleep, tears streaming down her face for some unknown reason, yet she couldn't remember anything.

Something had vanished from her memory. And she was neither able to discover nor perceive it.

483. Divide the Godhead

The arrival of Helios, who defied the laws of Rhodes Island, eventually came to the attention of other magical societies in Europe. After all, when the Charr and Helios went to war, they fought all the way into the sky, and the flashes and roars in the sky were no longer something that the Greek magical societies could conceal.

In fact, members of the Council of Sages of Greenwich generally believed that the arrival of the disobedient sun god Helios was not long ago; otherwise, given the sun god's divine status, there would have long been a situation of fire and drought ravaging the land. The fact that Greece suffered little damage suggests that the sun god was likely sent back to mythology shortly after his arrival.

As for who sent him back, the information was insufficient, and the battleground was mostly in the sky, with a large area shrouded in darkness during the fighting. From a distance, all that could be seen was the interplay of light and darkness. Therefore, it was impossible to determine.

However, as long as someone sends this person back into mythology without causing widespread disaster, that's enough. The Greenwich Sages Council isn't a gossip organization, and they don't want to pry into things and inadvertently offend someone capable of wiping them out.

In contrast, the Greek magic world suffered a massive financial blow...

Heaven knows why, when they were hiding so well, someone would come knocking on their door. And after the war broke out, the Sun God was defeated and banished. Most importantly, they wouldn't have lost any men originally, but the garrison on Rhodes Island, blinded by the prospect of increased power, arrogantly tried to negotiate with an invincible, terrifying being. They didn't even get to see the being's face before being massacred by ordinary servants across three streets.

That's a knightly order capable of participating in mythical battles and crushing giants and heroic warriors. Using them to crush these mere knights and magicians is simply a waste of their talents.

Not to mention, that night, they forcefully wiped out more than ten great knights, as well as many times that number of knights and magicians, nearly wiping out 40% of the power of all the magic societies in Greece. This was the wealth accumulated over a year and a half after the descent of the sun god, with the help of that god's power.

The only saving grace was that some members were not on the island, so the losses weren't too severe. However, the Greek Magic Society had fallen significantly from its previous position of overwhelming power over other European countries. Although its overall strength had improved compared to a year and a half ago, it still caused the leader of the Greek Magic Society considerable distress.

However, all he did was cough up blood. As for revenge, he didn't even dare to think about it. He could only swallow his anger and pretend that nothing had happened.

……

Ciel was completely unaware of the tragedy that befell the Greek magic society. After erasing the little girl's memories, Ciel did not destroy the shop or its contents. He decided to leave them to the little girl as capital; after all, having received the blessing of Helios, the little girl already possessed the qualities to become a witch.

Not to mention, the divine blessing left on her, while insignificant to Ciel, could easily obliterate a great knight if it were to erupt. Even though the Greek Magic Society was deeply hurt by Ciel's defeat of Helios, they wouldn't hold a grudge. Instead, they would seek an opportunity to recruit the little girl and nurture her.

What happened after that had nothing to do with Ciel.

He has now chosen to leave Rhodes Island and return to the temporary demiplane town.

After killing the descending Helios, Sharl confirmed one thing: in this world, it was indeed possible to obtain divine power and fragmented divine concepts by slaying those disobedient gods. Previously, Sharl had some concerns; after all, he was fundamentally different from those legendary mages. He could completely absorb the divine power and concepts left behind by these disobedient gods, but clearly, those legendary mages, being essentially mortals, could not do so.