greek mythology stuff

Chapter 23 The Forgotten River

Linkos tried again to climb the Caucasus Mountain, but without accident, he failed again.

He remained silent on the spot, his eyes turned from despair to decadence, and then something called madness grew.

For the first time, he hated his own weakness, desperately wanted to gain strength, wanted to do whatever he wanted like a god, and let the earth be painted with the color of Linkos that belonged to him.

"It turns out that being weak is the greatest tragedy."

"All tragic endings are due to lack of strength."

Linkos' tone was indifferent, as if he was just stating a fact.

Looking at the way he came from on the mountainside of the Caucasus Mountain, he seemed to see the past.

Once vigorous, now alone.

The expectations of the elders fell through, and the ridicule of the enemy came true.

Do your best, sacrifice everything you cherish, and get nothing but an empty dream.

He looked far away, and the flames of the altar in his hometown and the statues of the gods in the temples of neighboring countries appeared in his mind, and then the flames disappeared, and the statues were frozen.

"Gods." Linkos muttered to himself from the harsh environment of the Caucasus Mountains, and then dissipated in the strong wind.

Two words, two syllables, this is something Linkos will never forget.

That is the beginning and source of suffering, and it is also... the object of revenge!

If you cannot save your loved ones, destroy your enemies.

He walked down the Caucasus Mountains, on his way home.

Hephaestus looked at Linkos' back.

He didn't leave, just hid, he wanted to see what Linkos wanted to do.

The result is neither good nor bad.

Excellent hearing hears the request from Prometheus on the mountaintop.

"Your Majesty, if you can, help me protect him."

"It's best to let him give up."

Hephaestus told him: "I will protect him."

"But even I can't make him give up."

"I can't change his mind, I can only lock him in a cage."

"Prometheus, it's time for you to let go. Human beings will make their own choices and bear the consequences."

"They don't need you, just like you don't need to rely on your parents."

Promised, Prometheus did not refute.

The body of Hephaestus sank into the earth, passed through an invisible gate of rules, and went to the underworld.

Unlike the place where the underworld is said to be by human mouth, its actual location is not underground, at least, not simply underground.

Just in concept, the underworld is below the earth.

The human world and the underworld can be understood as two worlds, and they are located in different spaces. If the human world is the beautiful side of the world and represents the yang world, then the underworld is its opposite and dark side, so the underworld is also called the underworld.

There is no special way, even if a mortal digs underground for a lifetime, it is impossible to come here, and of course, he would not want to come here.

There is no sun in the underworld, but this does not affect the vision of Hephaestus as a god.

He had forgotten that the last time he was here was hundreds of years ago.

After Hades, the king of the underworld, entered the underworld, it can be said that it is changing with each passing day.

At least, Hephaestus could not see the shadow of the former barrenness.

When he came last time, there was only one river in the underworld, flowing like a winding curve to divide the entire underworld. It was the river Styx that could bind the oath of the gods.

Now, several rivers have been added to the underworld.

The most conspicuous thing is a red river, and what flows in it is not river water, but hot magma.

The slowly flowing magma emits a dull red light, which is the only light source in the underworld.

This long river of flames divides the vast area of ​​the underworld into countless small pieces. These small pieces are all black land, and there are human undead working on them. Judging from their clothing styles, most of them are humans who died in the Silver Age. Wearing animal skins, all men, and a small number of dead people in this world, they are mixed with men and women, wearing clothes woven with silk threads.

From this river of flames, Hephaestus saw the shadow of Hades, the king of the underworld, whose control over the underworld was increasing day by day.

Hephaestus didn't want to provoke him and chose to walk quietly.

He walked forward, and there was a big river on the way. If he wanted to go to the depths of the underworld, he had to cross this river.

The river water was abnormally turbid, but it was not due to the sediment, it seemed to be the nature of the river.

This river is not the river of oath Styx, it has a master, and the whole river is the manifestation of the power of this god.

Through the rules, Hephaestus saw that the bottom of the river was full of human undead, layer by layer, like ten thousand poisonous snakes forced to squeeze into a small box, only to be on the body of their companions. crawl.

These human undead have one thing in common, they all have a strong desire, or desire wealth, or desire power, or desire strength.

However, the river couldn't stop Hephaestus, and he could tell at a glance that the owner of the river was not of the same level as him, but a god of medium divine power.

He walked on the water, but the moment he stepped on it, he felt something was wrong.

There is a problem with the water in this river.

Hephaestus found it interesting.

He transformed a leaf out of thin air and threw it into the river, and the leaf sank immediately like a stone.

"Everything, no matter how light, must sink to the bottom, rule?"

On the other side of the river, a small boat appeared out of nowhere with a boatman on board, but in the blink of an eye, the small boat rowed to Hephaestus.

Hephaestus recognized the men on board.

"Charon?"

"Why did you come to the underworld?"

Charon is the second of the original five gods, the son of Erebus, the god of darkness, and Nix, the goddess of the night, with medium divine power.

It was only when the boat reached the shore that he recognized the hidden Hephaestus. He thought it was the undead crossing the river, but he didn't expect him to be an untouchable god.

He smiled wryly in his heart, but his face was still respectful.

"It turns out that the Vulcan is here, so I thought there would be a happy event today, and it was true."

"Your Majesty, please board the boat."

Hephaestus boarded the boat, and Charon moved the dry bamboo on the boat, and the boat moved forward slowly. He said to Hephaestus:
"Her Majesty Pluto invited me to the underworld, and it happens that I also need the obsession of mortals to perfect my authority."

"Just put a river here, and be a boatman to comfort yourself."

"Your Majesty, why did you come here?"

Hephaestus answered him: "I need to forge an artifact, and I need the water of the river Styx."

Charon plucked the dry bamboo, and the boat turned around: "That must be a powerful artifact."

"Your Majesty, let me give you a ride."

Hephaestus asked curiously, "Your river is connected to Styx?"

Charon answered him: "It is connected. Now there are five rivers in the underworld."

"The Styx, the river of oaths, the river of fire under the crown of Hades, the river of my resentment, the river of sorrow made of the tears of mortals."

"And where the four rivers meet, we call it the Forgotten River."

"In the river of oblivion, under the crown of Hades, I, the tears of mortals, and the power of Styx, the river of oaths, somehow merged together."

"The river has the power of forgetting. Ordinary people will forget all the past after drinking it. Some weak gods will also be affected if they don't have the heart to resist."

"So we singled it out there and gave it a forgotten name."

Hephaestus' fingers rubbed regularly.

A new kind of power?forget...

He told Charon: "Stay at the Forgotten River for a while, and I want to see what the effect of the river water there is."

Charon shook the dead bamboo vigorously, and the boat moved forward quickly. He smiled heartily: "I knew you would like it, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)