Those time travelers that year

"You said it yourself!" Charles pointed at the void, and amidst specks of golden light, the phantom of a long, slender sword, its hilt inlaid with six precious beads and marked with the twelve two-hour periods of the day on each side, its sharp blade divided into twelve sections, appeared in the air. "Demon Weapon - Star Constellation Calamity Ability, activate." The phantom of the dark golden sword then disappeared into the void. Following this, illusory dark golden gears appeared in every corner of the temple, intersecting and propelling the power of time.

“This is the origin of Xρνο?, the Serpent of the Abyss, how dare you…” Athena’s pupils contracted as she saw the surrounding phantom gears. “You can influence and manipulate the trajectory of time…”

"I can only touch it slightly," Charles replied nonchalantly. "Now, I have frozen the course of this world's history and opened the Akasha records of this world. Goddess of Wisdom! Don't you yearn to see one of your future possibilities?"

"Hmph!" Athena snorted coldly, then raised her neck to look at the gears above. The dark golden gears were reflected in her eyes, and records from the world began to flow into her vision. Countless bizarre and fantastical images flashed before her, and she began to read fragmented perspectives of future possibilities. "How is this possible!?" Suddenly, the goddess of wisdom, who appeared as a young girl, cried out in disbelief, her face even turning a bright red with anger.

"Impossible, impossible... In my future possibilities, I am to suffer the humiliation of the creation of the Calamity Witch, and, I will, I will..." The young body trembled, and Athena's tone began to carry shame, dissatisfaction, indignation, anger... as well as a naked and cold killing intent towards something.

489. Prophecy

Seeing Athena's expression and the undisguised, naked killing intent, Ciel suddenly became interested. He was curious about what possible future line Athena had just read about. So Ciel also raised his head, reflecting the gears in his pupils.

As the timeline stretched forward, various fragments began to appear before Ciel's eyes. After a brief glance, Ciel laughed sarcastically without any mercy, "Hahahaha, the mighty goddess of victory and wisdom, actually defeated by a human who got lucky and became a Campione, and... hahaha, and she even had her heart captured, practically throwing herself at someone... hahahaha!"

"Shut up! Serpent of the Abyss!" Athena, her face grim, shouted, suppressing her rage. With a flick of her wrist, she drew a crescent scythe from the void and pointed it at Sharl. "This is impossible... I... I will never accept such humiliation, absolutely impossible!"

“Is that so?!” Charles said sarcastically. “This is the destiny and inevitability of Aνγκη obtained from the root of Χρ?νο?.

"That's you! Among the countless possibilities for the future, there is the timeline with the greatest probability."

"Hmph! I will never admit that. Besides, even if it is a prophecy of the future, so what? The future is not unchangeable. It is just a possibility."

"As long as you remain bound by the myths of this world, you cannot escape the destiny and inevitability that has already been written by Av?γκη."

"As long as I kill that rude scoundrel, this future will not come true!" Athena said with a murderous look on her face. "I will not allow such a future to occur!"

"Are you sure?" However, Sharl's question stunned Athena, whose face was still filled with murderous intent. Could Av?γκη's fate and inevitability be changed? No! In Greek mythology, all prophecies are destined to happen, just as in Norse mythology, no matter how the gods of Asgard struggled, Ragnarok was inevitable.

Similarly, all the prophecies in Greek mythology have come true; from mortals to the highest gods, none can escape the fate and inevitability of Av?γκη.

From the moment Uranus's reign ended, the prophecy he made—the curse of a son killing his father and seizing power—immediately bound all the Olympian gods. Cronus killed Uranus, Zeus killed Cronus, and one day in the future, Zeus too would face his own doom, being killed by his own offspring.

In fact, in this respect, a bald gay man in a certain world has already achieved this by killing people.

Regarding the future she saw, Athena could only believe it existed, not deny it.

Just as Ciel said, as long as she is still in this world, Av?γκη's fate and inevitability will definitely find her, no matter how much she struggles, the ending will be the same.

"Huff, huff, huff..." Athena gasped for breath, unable to calm down. Even though she wanted to deny it, both her reason and divine wisdom told her that Av?γκη's fate and destiny were absolutely unchangeable.

"Serpent of the abyss from X?ο?, tell me, what exactly are you planning to do? With your power, even an avatar of yours is enough to rival a god. What is it that requires such meticulous scheming from you?"

"So I'll take that as a yes to cooperating with me!" Charles slightly suppressed his sarcastic smile, but the smile that ignited Athena's anger remained. He pressed a button, and the gears surrounding him began to shift and re-engage. "Now... let's take a look at the preferential terms I'm offering."

As the gears turned, another new timeline appeared before Athena's eyes. It was a new possibility that disrupted all the previous possibilities of the future that Athena had seen.

Another Ciel, or rather, Ciel himself, laughed as a dark sun descended upon a brand new world, blasting a gap in the magnificent crystal wall. At the same time, Ciel, as an avatar, also opened a door outside Athena's current world—a doorway leading to the gap in the crystal wall on the other side.

Thus, the two worlds connected, and their rules began to clash. In the midst of the chaos, Ciel temporarily connected the two worlds. Before the worlds began to collide, he guided some disobedient gods who had escaped from one world to rush into the other.

In addition, Athena also saw that the Sharl, by hunting down disobedient gods, separated incomplete divine offices and then secretly threw these things into the mortal world of that world, thus starting a vigorous movement to confer the gods.

Naturally, the gods of that world would never allow mortals to share their Force, authority, and glory on equal footing with them. The glorious civilizations created by those mortals who were once their equals were secretly buried one by one. Let alone mortals becoming gods. Unfortunately, under the secret guidance of the Charles, one mortal after another successfully became gods, setting the stage for the overthrow of the gods of that world.

The mortal gods, the gods from other worlds, and the local gods who had temporarily taken over the dominant position were completely unable to reconcile their conflicts, so war inevitably broke out.

"Is this what you wanted? Serpent of the Abyss!" Athena said with a grim face, looking at Shire. "...to bring disaster, spread despair, and drive the end of the gods and the Twilight War."

"Then, do you want to choose my side?" Charles said. "Choose the chance to escape this world, choose to break free from the shackles of mythology, choose to break free from your shameful fate?"

“Tsk…” Athena lowered her gaze. “Let, let me think about it.”

"can!"

Time ticked by, and Athena's expression shifted with each thought. Now, she faced two paths: one, to follow her likely predetermined fate; two, to choose Ciel's side, to escape this world and journey to a new one, where she could regain her power. But this would mean being drawn into the very things Ciel was about to do.

But if you don't choose to leave, then your fate will be sealed.

This is not what she wanted, to give her heart to a human who became a Campion by luck... and to do it for him? What a joke! This is worse than humiliating her.

Athena even considered going there right now and killing that human first. But her divine wisdom quickly dismissed the idea.

Av?γκη's script is unchangeable in this world. Even if she manages to kill that human, a second human will take his place. Moreover, considering that human inexplicably possessed Prometheus's tablet, which allowed him to steal divine power, and coincidentally arrived at the right time and place with it, what follows...

"Very well!" A cold, razor-sharp glint flashed in Athena's eyes as she thought this. "Rather than be humiliated by a mortal, I would rather die in battle, even facing a god from another world..."

"I am Athena, the ruler of clouds and lightning, the goddess of fertility, the protector of peaceful labor—and, the goddess of war!"

"I have never feared war!"

"Serpent of the abyss from X?ο?, I promise to stand on your side!"

490. Civilization

“That would be wonderful!” Charles replied with a smile.

“There’s one more thing, the Serpent of the Abyss,” Athena said. “How do you plan to bring us disobedient gods to that world? If we push the two worlds together to open a passage, it’s even more likely that we can directly contact the mortal world here.”

"Of course I know that..."

"So, that's why I wanted to collaborate with you, Athena..."

“That’s right. If this mortal world directly confronts the gods of that world, the only outcome will be a complete victory for them. After all, they have crushed empires with brilliant civilizations more than once,” Charles said. “Therefore, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I have chosen the location for facilitating the fusion of the two worlds and opening a passage… the mythical world!”

"what?!"

"Hehehe... In order to present a great gift to the gods of that world, I plan to establish a connection between this world, the mythical world where you gods exist and are bound, and that world over there."

"Do you know what this is all about?" Athena frowned. "The gods of that world, as far as I know, all occupy their respective divine positions and divine status, and they are absolutely unwilling to share the power they hold."

"If you do this, it will be tantamount to exacerbating the conflict between the gods in the mythological world and the gods of that other world. The gods there will engage in an endless war with the gods of my mythological world in order to enhance their own divinity and faith."

"That's exactly what I wanted..." A malicious smile sent a chill down Athena's spine. Charles didn't say much, simply beginning to explain some things and knowledge about that world to Athena.

At this moment, she understood that igniting war was indeed what Charles intended to do. Between the gods of two worlds, once the powder keg is lit, a fight to the death is inevitable.

In that world, the strength of the concept of divinity, the number of followers a deity has, and the divine domains a deity can encompass all determine the strength of their divine power and their divine rank. A deity with great divine power may not necessarily possess multiple divine domains or be involved in multiple domains, but a deity who possesses multiple divine domains and is involved in multiple domains is almost always a deity with great divine power.

For the gods in Earth's mythological world, holding multiple divine positions and dealing with various fields is commonplace. But it's different for the gods there! If any of them wants to expand their territory, it will harm the interests of other gods, which will inevitably trigger a life-or-death divine war. As a result, with everyone hesitant to act, the situation is basically deadlocked, and everyone is resorting to underhanded tactics.

For countless years, these gods have simply spent their time in constant infighting and endless internal strife. Looking back at their infighting—

—The Nine Hells have risen, and the demons, under the guise of a bloody war, are growing stronger every day. The Lords of Hell, the Demon Grand Dukes, the Eight Demon Generals, and the Lords of the Nine Hells are all secretly plotting various schemes and schemes. Basically, these demons have never suffered any real losses. On the contrary, the gods who control most of the world's primal force are falling one after another in their internal strife, their power constantly weakening.

If it weren't for the even more powerful demons on the other side, who were simply too stupid and a liability, clinging to the devils and constantly plotting unrealistic dreams, only to abandon them in the blink of an eye and plunge back into a chaotic, silly, and idiotic bloodbath mode, those demons would have already set their sights on the gods.

Even so, in that world, the power representing the evil faction was still greater than that of the gods. It was only because none of the evil faction submitted to the others that the gods were given the opportunity to continue fighting amongst themselves.

Besides, the gods of that world were foolish enough to repeatedly sever the progress of civilization. Time and again, they sent astonishingly powerful civilizations to their deaths. Frankly, Athena couldn't understand how these otherworldly beings thought.

Although she was unwilling to be bound by mythology, she did greatly promote the progress of civilization within the mythology!

In Greek mythology, she taught people how to tame cattle and horses, and how to build carts and ships; she bestowed upon humankind the plow and harrow, the spindle and the loom, and is therefore considered the protector of women's labor, especially weaving techniques. She has another name, Ergane, meaning "woman of the workshop." She is also the patron of science and the goddess of wisdom; she granted humankind laws and maintained social order.

In terms of attitude towards civilization, at least Athena supports the development of civilization. She is not one of those self-righteous green terrorists who think the whole world should be filled with stupid criminals who can be killed at will.

Without the development of civilization, how can the population expand? And without a large population base, how can civilization develop rapidly? Without labor, how can various crafts be promoted? Without a population advantage, how can enough soldiers and armies be trained? Without enough craftsmen, how can more weapons and armor be forged? How can siege engines be manufactured? How can ships capable of long-distance voyages be created?

“Those… no, those gods from that world, sitting high in their temples, holding their thrones high…” Athena said in disbelief, “Are they idiots?!” Especially knowing that in that world, a melee of a few hundred people in a mortal kingdom could be classified as a major war, and a battle of a few thousand people could be recorded in history, Athena was even more speechless.

"A battle involving a few hundred people is considered a war? Are you kidding me?"

"In Athens or Rome during the golden age of the gods, this would be at most the size of a legion. In the Eastern world, among those even more arrogant Eastern deities, it would at most be a village brawl."

"A few thousand people and you call that a great war recorded in history? Hah... What a joke! The Trojan War involved 10 people, thousands of warships, multiple troop transports, support from several allied nations, and even the open intervention of gods. Those idiotic brawls of a few thousand people, devoid of any command art, relying entirely on which side's warriors were stronger, or which side had more and more powerful priests and spellcasters—is that what you call war?" Athena said. "If I remember correctly, 10 people is nothing in the East! In their land, whenever a mortal nation is powerful, it easily has armies numbering in the tens of thousands, even second-line legions are composed of tens of thousands. If you include their mythological era, the war in which the gods directly engaged in battle... what exactly is war in that world?!"

“This is probably because of the God of War in that world!” Charles explained sincerely, “…The God of War, Tempas, teaches that he favors those who show honor in battle and despises those who use despicable means in battle.”

"In essence, it's about charging in with a sword and shield, killing until you die, right?!" Athena sneered. "Another Ares... no, Ares was much smarter than him. At least Ares's subordinates and people, those Spartan barbarians, had some brains. They knew how to form ranks, cooperate, and use every possible means, including the cruel act of killing prisoners on the battlefield to instill fear in the enemy, to win. They even treated artisans and skilled slaves well, in order to forge better weapons."

“Hmm… what you’re saying makes sense. In my impression, Tempas, the God of War who stands at the pinnacle of power in that world, considers killing prisoners who have no ability to resist to be a shameful act.” Charles spread his hands and said, “It’s similar to medieval warfare… basically relying on individual strength. After all, that’s how Tempas, the God of War, views war.”

491. Those who speak righteously and indignantly often bring misfortune upon themselves.

"Especially because the underlying rules governing that world are ultimately different from those of this world, as the largest shareholder of the Force of War in that world, the attitude of the God of War Tempas towards war will greatly influence the development of war in that world." Sharl continued, "That's why, in that world, whenever something major happens, it's basically resolved by a small team of adventurers—including but not limited to the resurrection of an evil god, demon invasions, devilish conspiracies, storming the demon's lair to rescue the goddess, and so on!"

Athena: "Anyway, it's just mortals who die!"

“That’s right, it failed, and only mortals died; the gods remain high above.” Charles nodded. “But I must say, this way of handling problems is very good—for example, those ambitious people who want to rule the world and create a powerful imperial civilization have to swallow the bitter pill and wait bitterly for their almost hopeless fantasies!”

“Suppressing the development of civilization, restricting the spread and application of knowledge, and leaving civilization to struggle on the border between order and barbarism in order to harvest faith…” Athena nodded, her tone full of sarcasm and ridicule. “This reminds me of that guy from the Unique God Cult, who did the same thing back then.”

"middle Ages?!"

“Yes! At that time, I was still tightly bound by mythology, but I still uttered the greatest mockery and disdain for him,” Athena said. “Even though he ultimately won a great victory… so what? By destroying civilization, pushing society back into barbarism, and ruling over ignorant beliefs in a dark age, he may have held the throne at the highest peak, but he was also completely sealed off by mythology—never having the chance to break free, never!”

"Compared to him, his 'divine messengers' were able to break free of their constraints by virtue of their 'fallenness,' especially that former vice-ruler of Heaven, the fallen Dawn. I remember she was laughing wildly in Hell back then..."

"Wait, you mean Pride is her?"

"Yeah!? What's wrong?"

“No…it’s nothing!” Ciel shook his head and muttered, “Although I knew this place was similar to the underlying rules of Type-Moon, I didn’t expect it to actually be ‘similar’!”

"..." Athena looked at Ciel, who seemed to be lost in thought, with a frown, and continued, "So, Serpent of the Abyss, are you really sure about the location in the mythological world to open that door to that other world?!"

"Of course!"

"Do you know what this means? You will be simultaneously antagonized by gods from two different worlds..."

“But before you can fight me!” Charles shrugged and smiled. “These gods will start fighting each other to the death for all sorts of reasons…”

"And I believe that gods who descend directly into the mythological world are far more powerful than those who do not obey, aren't they?!"

“That’s right!” Athena agreed. “Mythology has bound us ancient gods, and it has also created and continues to bind countless new gods. If I do not descend as a god who does not obey, then I will never have my own ‘independent’ will. But when I do have my own ‘independent’ will, my power is also severely weakened.”

“That’s fine!” Charles said. “In my opinion, it would be best if, during the docking, the gods who descend directly from Earth’s mythology could kill, no, just severely injure the opposing gods. Ideally, those powerful gods should be injured.”

"In that case, the outcome is already decided!"

……

While the disobedient gods are seen by Sharl as mobile gift packs, recurring bosses, they are undeniably weaker compared to truly powerful deities. However, if these disobedient gods were to be depicted as having their original forms bound in mythology, the situation might be reversed.

If it were truly the original form from mythology, even if a powerful group of gods from that realm came, they would still be doomed. However, it's unknown how many gods from that mythological world would emerge once the gate to the mythological world truly opens.

However, since Athena had agreed to cooperate, Shar's journey to Athens could now come to an end. Of course, before leaving, Athena did ask Shar to do her a favor—to deal with those who intended to scheme against her, a woman of disloyalty, and to thwart their plans.

For example, killing the guy who has the tablet that Prometheus stole.

Ciel stated that he was not a murderer and should not destroy a young person's future, righteously rejecting Athena's proposal. Of course, as an evil god, Ciel understood Athena's concerns. She was caught in the predetermined timeline, powerless to stop it. However, altering Athena's fate and inevitability was not so easy.