Those time travelers that year

A deity like her, originating from Greek mythology, is most averse to so-called fate and prophecy... those are too deceptive, and no matter how much one struggles, it's useless.

So Ciel suggested that instead of killing him to silence him, they could simply break his legs, especially his third leg, and take the tablets from which Prometheus stole his divine power!

Athena considered it for a moment and then agreed.

A few days later, on some island nation, someone who should have had a future of incredible luck was beaten up because of the pretext that he had offended some dynamic people in society (the Knights of Fran said that this had nothing to do with them because they did not use swords or daggers, but only fists and feet, which was not a fight but a spar).

He looked as if he had been run over by numerous strong men, suffering multiple fractures and irreparable damage to his third leg. His home had also been robbed, and a suspected smuggled foreign antique was stolen. Inspector Megure, who is handling the case, stated that this was a premeditated burglary, and the case is currently under further investigation.

However, for those with cunning schemes, this was a slap in the face. Unfortunately, unable to leave their current location, these individuals were forced to rely on their followers and subordinates in the real world to continue their pursuit.

The people are not a problem; the most important thing is that the stone slab, which poses a great threat to the gods, must be retrieved.

Soon after, the magic world of a certain country, which already lacked talent, suffered a massive loss of Onmyoji, exorcists, samurai, and so on. In particular, a young girl who had just emerged from her training in the deep forests and was qualified to wield divine artifacts was tragically hacked to pieces and turned into a pile of mosaics.

The Knights of Fran stated that this had nothing to do with them; these people were the ones who started the fight without warning, and they were merely acting in self-defense. As for the girl who received the horror movie treatment for using the divine artifact... well, actually! This girl suddenly produced a large amount of white substance, which looked a lot like human pus, only the color was slightly different.

However, this did not prevent a certain built-in program of the Farron Knights from being activated. The entire Farron Knights, numbering two hundred, ignited their embers, prepared their elemental vials, and entered a state of being engulfed in flames.

As a result, the Onmyoji, exorcists, samurai, and others who rushed to intercept them suffered a crushing defeat and were completely wiped out. The girl, who seemed to be controlled by the weapon, turned into a pile of censored material. The final outcome was that the Knights of Fran, in a berserk state, slaughtered nine streets, wiping out half of the country's fighting force and destroying countless families and lineages.

Along the way, there were some troublesome guys who tried to stop the rampaging street dance crew.

But everyone knew perfectly well what kind of stuff that was supposedly worth eight million was. The result was that the unstoppable, rampaging street dance crew slaughtered everything in their path. Especially since, according to the rules of this world, the Knights of Fran were considered steel, and a very strong, organized group at that.

By the time Charles realized that something was wrong and too much time had passed, and forcibly summoned these unstoppable berserk individuals back to Europe, the entire dark world of this country was already in a state of utter desolation.

492. Rome, Italy

Rome, Italy

This once-powerful city has witnessed the changes in this country, from the most prosperous period of ancient Rome, from the beginning of the Roman Empire founded by Caesar, the governor of Gaul, to the later decline of the Roman Empire.

Here once stood a temple belonging to a certain goddess, known as Minerva during Rome's golden age. However, times have changed, and only a few remnants of ancient Rome remain. Her temple, of course, is long since buried in the dust of history, replaced by the glory of the one true God, and beneath that glory, the darkness that buried the once-mighty civilization.

She, Pallas Athena, was no longer the goddess of this city long ago; to this city, she was merely a stranger.

"Coming to this city again, I feel terrible!"

On the balcony of Villa La Cupola Suite at the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Rome, Athena, dressed in her usual down-to-earth style, leaned against the balcony, looking at the view outside, and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

"It is said that human civilization is progressing, but why, I really can't understand, why did the ancient Greek civilization that I created with my own hands, and the ancient Roman Empire that inherited Greek civilization, ultimately suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of some barbarians?"

“That’s because when civilization reaches a certain level, without external enemies, it will engage in endless internal strife and become arrogant and disdainful of everything.” Charles’s voice came through. “And at this time, it is the best opportunity for the barbarians to rise up… A little bit of luck, a little bit of opportunity, then it means the arrival of an era of change.”

"Ancient Greek civilization was indeed powerful, but whether it was Greece or Rome, the so-called civilization was only powerful for the upper and middle classes. As for the lowest class, the concept of a nation and civilization was completely foreign to them."

"Even those in the middle and upper classes have fallen into decadence due to a long period of comfortable life, losing their will to fight. From this perspective, it's not surprising that you lost to that one and only master!"

"Is that so?! But I am truly unwilling to accept this!"

"Now I'm giving you a chance, aren't I? As long as you have the ability to establish yourself in that world... Goddess of Wisdom, you can completely replicate the Athens you once created in that world. After all, that world, because of those gods, is a blank slate in terms of civilization."

“I hope everything goes well, after all…” With a slight smile, Athena walked lightly to Charles, who was lying on the sofa, seemingly lost in thought. Then, without any hesitation, she sat down on the sofa. “So far, your promises have been nothing but empty words.”

"Tsk, my main body should already be making preparations in this regard..."

“Besides, so what if we fail?” Charles said. “I have plenty of time to waste… Even if it’s ten years, a hundred years, or a thousand years, time will forget everything, including sin and danger.”

"Hey...you know what?" Athena smiled calmly, nestling her small body into Ciel's arms and tilting her head back very close to him. "Your thinking is extremely dangerous! Like a venomous snake in the dark, it lurks when its target is off guard, then injects deadly venom with its sharp fangs..."

"To be honest, I like that about you very, very much, you serpent of the abyss..."

"Yes, yes, thank you so much for the compliment, Goddess!" Charles replied, pushing Athena's head away and tossing her onto the sofa.

Pouting, Athena didn't seem to care. She turned around and lay down on the sofa, propping her head up with her hands. Looking at Charles, she said, "Really, is my charm so unremarkable in your eyes? Although I admit your appearance is comparable to Venus..."

"Forget it!" Xia Er rolled his eyes and said, "Three years minimum, death penalty maximum."

"Although I am currently in the form of a child, I will be extremely charming once I regain my original appearance..."

"There's no need to keep testing me with words. Evil gods like me never go back on their promises once they've made them."

"cut!"

"Sulking all you want!" Charles glanced at Athena, then paused, before covering his face. "...I completely forgot about those guys dancing over there. They were having way too much fun!"

Tilting her head, Athena looked at Ciel with a puzzled expression.

However, Charles didn't explain. He simply waved his hand, and a black mist immediately filled the room. After the mist dissipated, a fully armed knight, engulfed in flames, appeared before Charles. Upon closer inspection, the knight was stained with numerous blood offerings, but it was clearly not his.

The red-eyed Franz Knight appeared, bowed slightly to Charles, and handed him a gray stone tablet. Charles took the tablet and waved his hand; the Franz Knight vanished into the black mist just as he had arrived.

“This is…” Athena was stunned for a moment, then when she saw the stone tablet in Sharl’s hand and felt the familiar power on it, she immediately realized, “The Tablet of Prometheus!”

“Ah! That’s right!” Following the connection, Charles calmly retrieved all the Farron Knights who had been rampaging like gods in another part of this world. He hadn’t noticed for a moment what was going on with these guys? They had actually gone berserk and slaughtered nine streets. While casually responding to Athena’s words, he reached out and handed the Prometheus Tablet to Athena. He was completely oblivious to the complicated look in Athena’s eyes after she took the tablet; instead, he was focused on reading about what had happened to the Farron Knights during this time.

"Holy crap, how did those unlucky guys manage that? How did they trigger the Berserk Mode of the Knights of Fran?!" Charles was browsing information about the Knights of Fran when he saw a scene that was considered R-rated—a young girl in the prime of her youth had been hacked to pieces by these berserk guys, leaving her a jumbled mess of censored images. He was shocked! "What the hell!" Charles immediately cut off access to the information, deciding it was best to ignore it. As for those unlucky guys, Charles declared that it had nothing to do with him. He didn't know any of those 'street dance crews made up of influential figures' who had rampaged through nine streets.

"...The stone slab is here." At this moment, Athena's voice rang out again. "That means..."

"Ah! That guy from the original timeline is really unlucky!" In response, Charles stretched out a finger and tapped Athena's forehead. Soon, the actions of the Knights of Farron were packaged and copied and transmitted to Athena.

"Hahaha..." Then, Athena burst into laughter, completely disregarding her composure. "How dare you bring shame upon me, how dare you scheme against me! Those foolish, lowly trash are truly getting away with this..."

Seeing Athena's cold and venomous words, Charles felt that the misfortunes over there might be more than just a little. How so? Offending a goddess was probably a recipe for utter misfortune for those guys.

493. The Wicked Goddess

"I said...isn't that a bit much?!" Seeing Athena mocking and ridiculing those ravaged by the rampaging Knights of Fran with a vicious attitude, Charles reached out and pressed her head down, pulling the goddess from that crazed, venomous state of cursing. "...That's just the most likely future possibility! Not to mention, they're currently suffering an undeserved calamity!"

"Hmph... You're not me, so naturally you wouldn't understand how awful such a given fact is." Athena snorted and said, "If you didn't know, that would be fine, but you just happened to open the source of Xρ?νο? and show me the records of Αν?γκη, so naturally I won't accept this 'prophecy' and 'future' in such a humiliating way!"

"So, isn't that enough to vent your anger?"

“Of course!” Athena’s wicked smile remained on her face as she tossed the stone tablet back to Sharl and slapped away his hand from her head. “…After all, my current submissive form is a divine descent from the Earth Mother Goddess. Cursing the earth and plunging that country into a severe famine would be more than I’d be happy to do it!”

“Just a reminder, Athena…” Charles said, “that country relies on imports for its main food supplies.”

"Then curse all the imported grains to be infected with the plague virus, and all the meat products to rot quickly."

Ciel: "Wasn't this going too far!?"

"This is already too lenient for those who dared to implicate me!" Athena gritted her teeth, a cold killing intent flashing in her eyes. "...For the inhabitants of that country, it was the foolishness of their god that brought about my revenge. Yes, their misfortune is only part of my revenge; the other part is that those who dared to scheme against me will bear the brunt of my wrath!"

"Hmph...killing two birds with one stone! Not only will I ensure those who plotted against me die without a burial place, but I will also completely unleash that monkey they've been holding captive." Athena said with great interest, "...The monkey that descended with the divine power of the dragon-slaying steel is far too weak. In fact, when that monkey was summoned, it probably only descended with the divine power of a demon king! This divine power is even less powerful than that of the Victorious Fighting Buddha!"

"I feel like there's something hidden in your words?!"

“That’s…” Athena glanced at Ciel and then said, “Anyway, your goal is to open that door, and then you just have to wait and see how things develop…”

"Yes!"

“But I’m not willing to become cannon fodder like that… In that case, I need to ensure the fighting strength of my ‘companions’ who descend to that world with me!” Athena said. “…Among those who can descend, who is more combative and has a stronger fighting spirit than this monkey? In particular, what I need is not a stone monkey or a demon monkey, much less the Victorious Fighting Buddha…”

"But it is the true Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who is the most rebellious, has the highest fighting spirit, the strongest fighting power, and is at his peak."

Seeing Athena's expression of 'happily praising me,' Ciel calmly ignored this goddess who seemed to have a childlike figure and age, and whose thinking had also been affected by this.

Of course, Charles understood what she said.

The goddess of wisdom, using the unfortunate monkey trapped in the far east as a guide, did not intend to release the real Sun Wukong, but rather to bring the true Great Sage Equal to Heaven down in his unconventional form.

Sun Wukong, a mythological figure with extremely high popularity in Asia, actually has a distinct mythological history. In the beginning, he was naturally a stone monkey, a monkey born from a stone, a creation of heaven and earth.

The second stage is after the monkey went to learn from the Bodhi Patriarch and returned. In this stage, the monkey is the Demon King. From his intrusion into the Dragon Palace to steal the Ruyi Divine Iron, to his intrusion into the Underworld and crossing out the Book of Life and Death, it is clear that the monkey currently restrained should have been summoned from the second stage—the steel specifically designed to counter dragons and snakes.

Although the Demon King Sun Wukong retained his fiery eyes and indestructible body due to the influence of his name, and even possessed some of the divine qualities of the Victorious Fighting Buddha, it's clear that at this stage, the monkey was only stronger than the stone monkey, and even weaker than the Victorious Fighting Buddha who had attained enlightenment.

The final, fourth stage is the monkey during the journey to the West and its conclusion—the kind of monkey who clearly only goes through the motions, whose fighting spirit has been completely worn away by five hundred years of suppression. This is the Monkey King, also known as the Victorious Fighting Buddha. This monkey, perhaps possessing Buddhist divine status, might have acquired various Buddhist supernatural powers, but lacking the relentless fighting spirit and the will to conquer heaven and earth, he is undoubtedly not as powerful as he was in the third stage.

The third stage, which is the monkey's most glorious period, even if there were any conspiracies or schemes involved, was still the monkey's most illustrious time. The monkey who dared to fight 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals single-handedly, who dared to wreak havoc in the Heavenly Palace, who dared to say no to all the gods and Buddhas—the monkey who was truly the most celebrated and influential, the most memorable monkey.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven—Sun Wukong!

Although this monkey at this stage lacked the various Buddhist supernatural powers and attributes that later came with Buddhist deities, its indomitable fighting spirit and will were the most suitable qualities for it in terms of combat ability.

What Athena needed was a monkey with divine status during this period.

"Are you sure?!" Xia Er wasn't optimistic about Athena's plan at all, simply because Sun Wukong in his Great Sage Equaling Heaven era was the kind of guy who wouldn't reason with you. He figured if they met, Athena would just face that monkey's blow to the face. "While I don't mean to discourage you, if it really is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong, knowing you're using him, he'll definitely be the first to attack and kill you! By the way, in this era, his fame in Asia is quite high. You could say that, in terms of actual fame, the only true master in Asia is nowhere near as high as the Great Sage Equaling Heaven."

"Especially—the faith and blessing of over a billion people, the stories and spirit of resistance passed down for hundreds of years, even if this monkey goes to that world, it can immediately ascend to a powerful god-like status. No, it might even have an explosive level and combat power before the power brought by the faith and blessing of over a billion people and the stories passed down for hundreds of years is exhausted."

"His powerful divine strength might not even be enough to defeat the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!"

“And this is exactly what I have been hoping for!” Standing up from the sofa, Athena spread her arms excitedly and said in a high-spirited tone, “Let that indomitable hero, that brave warrior who resisted tyranny, once again regain his lost fighting spirit and return to his most glorious moment.”

"That Monkey King, who can fight against heaven and earth, is the sharpest blade I desire, a blade sharp enough to pierce the heart of the gods in the Pantheon of that world!"

"Hehehehe..."

494. A girl who has almost no presence.

Liliana walked uneasily through the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Rome. Of course, part of her unease stemmed from the fact that it was one of the world's most expensive hotels. Accommodation costs were measured in tens of thousands of US dollars. The Villa La Cupola Suite, in particular, cost a staggering $31000 per night.

Although she is a high-ranking knight of the Bronze Black Cross, it doesn't mean her allowance and salary are sufficient for her to spend money here. In fact, the Bronze Black Cross isn't exactly well-funded, given the large number of people it has to support; it certainly doesn't have the resources for a core member like her to casually spend tens of thousands of dollars on frivolous activities.

This is a place for genuine nouveau riche and big spenders to spend their money.

If she could, she wouldn't want to come here at all. After all, the dazzling wealth and ostentatious displays of rich people here were blinding her. Even in Italy, in terms of status and position, she was considered to be near the top, but that didn't mean she could afford to burn through US dollars every day just for accommodation.

He swallowed hard, though outwardly maintaining a serious and expressionless demeanor, with a military knife at his waist, making him look more like a cosplayer. However, there were clearly no anime conventions in Rome, Italy at the moment, and this wasn't a place where just any cat or dog could wander in…

But speaking of which, is it trendy lately to dress up your secretary in this dashing female knight style and then XXXXXXXXXX (censored)?

Although the people around her were whispering in hushed tones, especially the wealthy Saudi tourists who were muttering in their native dialects, Liliana, as a member of the magic world, was fluent in multiple languages. In ordinary society, she would undoubtedly be a language master, so how could she not understand the wealthy tourists' conversation?

In short, even though she maintained a serious and earnest expression on the surface, she had already overturned the coffee table in her heart. If she hadn't been holding back, she would have already drawn her military knife and started wreaking havoc, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Don't let her appearance as a sixteen-year-old girl fool you. In reality, with her status as a Grand Knight, not to mention the bodyguards of these wealthy tycoons, even the fully armed Navy SEALs and Delta Force combined would be doomed.

'I endured it...'

Killing these tycoons is no big deal; there are plenty of them in this world anyway. But when Liliana thought of the one currently in Villa La Cupola Suite, she wasn't willing to turn all of Rome into ruins just to save face.

Especially that Husky Tony—no, I mean, the Sword King Tony—who, not long ago, had fought the Black Prince and been electrocuted into a dead dog, was being dragged away by his own butler in a ten-thousand-ton cargo ship to be locked in a small, dark room (on an isolated island). In all of Italy, no one could rival him.

At this time, regarding the artifact from the Age of Gods that was specifically entrusted to the [Bronze Black Cross] for safekeeping, no one in Italy, including the Greenwich Sages (a bunch of nobodies), dared to voice any objection. Even this treasure, known as the [Gorgon Stone], had recently begun to riot for some unknown reason, and even the combined efforts of several high-ranking magicians and witches could not completely quell it…

Clearly, the entire Bronze Black Cross—no, the entire Italian magic society—knows what's going on. One wrong move could very well bring them annihilation.

At this point, if someone wanted to take over, for the already overwhelmed Bronze Cross and even the entire Roman Empire, it would be like a living Jesus!