Chapter 609: Truth and Heart
Swish—
A hundred miles outside the city of Condernia, near a rolling hill.
Divine light streaked across the Sky, and Ares once again left his chariot behind.
His chest heaved violently, and an intense rage burned within him.
The God of War never expected that he had just heard from Zeus about these Wizards' atrocities of blood-sacrificing cities and abducting the Goddess of Youth, only to be so humiliated by these lowly and despicable unbelievers.
Nightingale's underwear… In reality, although there was no evidence, Ares felt that these Wizards were likely not just mocking him personally.
They probably heard some rumors from who knows where, and then arbitrarily concluded that Aphrodite was a loose Goddess.
And the reason the Wizards sent such a gift was actually to mock him behind his back, to mock his marriage with Aphrodite, and to envy him for being able to possess the most beautiful Goddess in the world!
"Despicable madmen, fallen beings who deserve to go to the abyss, get out here!"
"I know your little tricks! You just want to enrage me, to enrage the great God of War, Ares?!"
"I'm telling you, you succeeded… Come, come out and face me!"
"Soon, it won't be long before I imprison you in my Divine Kingdom, and I will torment you there for ten thousand years!!!"
Flying rapidly, Ares roared furiously.
But just as he passed this hill, the corner of his eye noticed a change in the ground below.
Vaguely, several things that had originally been hidden by some runic array emerged from within.
What were they? Some kind of giant demons, or giants with ancient bloodlines?
Focusing his senses, the God of War did not feel a powerful Life force beneath the earth.
Only the combat intuition brought by his Divinity told him that these were by no means simple enemies.
"Ridiculous… Get out here!"
Boom—
Pulling out a bronze sword from his waist, Ares no longer remembered how many he had replaced recently.
He only remembered Hephaestus warning him that although these were not artifacts meticulously crafted by him, he was not allowed to damage them so casually anymore.
Heh… Is this what I want to damage? You should ask me why I always encounter existences that are beyond normal comprehension.
Fortunately, this time, his enemies were just a group of Wizards playing with spells!
Clang—
The sword edge fell, embedding itself directly into a thick layer of metal.
However, unlike what the God of War expected, the power he wrapped around the sword edge seemed to be greatly weakened by this layer of metal.
Power that could split mountains and shatter stones was forcibly stopped, only breaking a few feet long gap.
Feeling this familiar power, Ares's face became distorted.
"Achilles… Styx River!"
"That's right."
"This is metal baptized by the Styx River… although it's only diluted Styx River."
Buzz—
A silver light flashed, and the white-haired old woman appeared out of thin air in the Sky not far away.
Around the God of War, the earth rumbled slightly, and metal giants over a hundred feet tall slowly crawled out from within.
The originally solid metal turned into liquid, and with just one flow, the damage Ares caused disappeared into nothingness.
Seeing all this, the God of War's expression became even uglier.
Although he could feel that his attacks were not meaningless.
Because although these metal giants also had the power of the Styx River swirling around them, they were clearly incomparable to Achilles, who perfectly contained the essence of the river.
Although they could also achieve a certain degree of 'invulnerability,' Ares's power could still cut through these metals.
Moreover, he could feel that as they consumed his power, the Styx Riverpower on these giants was slowly fading.
Clearly, if he had Divine Power at this moment, these ridiculous things would not last long at all.
Or if he had more than one Legend and Demigod by his side, he could easily use numbers to wear down the breath of the Styx River, but now he was alone.
His originally angry heart cooled slightly, and Ares frowned.
However, seeing this scene, the white-haired old woman just smiled and said:
"Respected Prince Ares, I have long heard about your story with the Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite…"
"So before our armies clashed, I specially sent you a gift. I wonder if you received it?"
"I know, perhaps in front of you, the respected Goddess of Beauty is not so free and casual… But with the gift I sent you, perhaps in the dead of night, you can also entertain yourself with—"
Boom—
Before she could finish speaking, a bronze short spear broke through the air.
Feeling the faintly locked space, the white-haired old woman casually swiped, breaking through this instinctive spatial anchoring.
It was truly hard to say anything. With the Saint Power of a Demigod at its peak, he couldn't even interfere with spatial jumps on the battlefield.
As Divine Practitioners of the same Demigod level, these Gods of Olympus were even inferior to some Divine Practitioners, which made her laugh out loud.
"Ah—madman, shut your mouth!"
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
Another three bronze short spears, breaking through the air under Ares's faintly spirit-shaking War Cry.
Striding forward, the God of War's eyes were already bloodshot.
"So it was you! But what do you know? I am Aphrodite's only husband! We are legally married!"
"Under the witness of the Mother Goddess, under the certification of the Guardian of Marriage, we became eternal partners, and this cannot be attacked by you!"
"You shameless Wizards, you sacrifice living beings, summon evil creatures, and even plunder Gods, and that's still not enough! Now you even dare to slander me!"
"Ah… Die!"
"Die!!"
"Die—!!!"
Three consecutive shouts, each more furious than the last.
At this moment, a strong sense of crisis surged into the white-haired old woman's heart.
When a God's emotions fluctuate to the extreme, their Authority also instinctively guides their power to change.
Divine Arts that don't attack the spirit?
At this moment, the God of War's voice was a War Cry.
Secret Arts that don't unleash power?
His heart, beating like a drum, was a War Song.
Even the spatial lock, which could originally be easily torn apart, was now faintly strengthened by several points.
While shocked, the white-haired old woman could only sigh that the potential of these ancient True Gods was simply limitless.
"But potential is potential; it's not current strength after all."
"And speaking of which, I wasn't that familiar with the affairs of the Gods; mentioning Aphrodite was only because of her followers… But now it seems, the God of War's reaction is a bit much."
With a strange expression, she decisively pulled away, and while flying away from the army formation, the white-haired old woman tried to deliver the final blow.
"Respected Prince Ares, I just said it casually, why such a big reaction from you?"
"I once heard an idiom from Athens: lies are not fatal, but the truth hurts."
"Could it be that, unintentionally, I actually hit upon your concern…"
Whoosh—
Bang bang bang bang bang—!
A bronze light flashed, and five triggered defenses were instantly shattered.
Taking advantage of the time gained, the old woman tried her best to turn her head, finally dodging the bronze short sword that came through the air.
"Hoo… ho…"
She panted slightly, cold sweat streaming down her back.
The white-haired old woman once again admitted that the potential of these True Gods was indeed limitless.
But it didn't matter; her goal had been achieved.
Looking at Ares, who was almost losing his mind and charging at her like a madman.
The old woman wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, then urgently led the opponent away from the army.
…
At the same time, on the battlements of Condernia City.
His hood was pulled back, his face serene.
Amidst the various gazes of repulsion, respect, suspicion, or disregard from the many guards on the city wall, the Great Wizard's state of mind was very calm.
The sunlight shone on his head, reflecting a few rays of light.
Without any concealment, this composed Wizard, with a completely bald head, casually walked along the city wall.
Of Silvermoon City's twelve Tower Lords, excluding those who were out on business, those engrossed in experiments, and those who refused the Chief's invitation, almost all of the remaining few had come to this city to cooperate with the God-hunting plan.
But now, excluding those controlling the Titans, attracting the God of War, and assisting the white-haired old woman, only he remained here.
His robe trailed on the ground, a smile on his face.
No matter how one looked at him, the bald Wizard's demeanor did not resemble that of a Wizard engrossed in experiments, but rather a well-read, gentle-tempered, kind-hearted, and simple missionary.
And in fact, the bald Wizard asked himself, although he was not a good person in the general sense, he was certainly not evil.
Studying souls, he hadn't really done much of that.
Colluding with devils, he hadn't really done much of that either.
Exploring evil creatures and demons, he still hadn't really done much of that.
In reality, he hadn't done most of the things considered sinful by the world.
He even helped lonely elderly people and funded homeless orphans.
So no matter how others judged him, he himself never believed he had done anything wrong.
Even the few actions that were not recognized by people were merely differences in personal philosophy.
Just like now, holding a great weapon created by another Great Wizard, he was about to bury hundreds of thousands of lives, and their deaths would be extremely cruel.
But the bald Wizard didn't think there was anything wrong with this, because death is death, and how good or bad a death looks doesn't change the outcome.
And dying in battle on the battlefield is no more righteous than being killed by him, or strictly speaking, there is no such thing as righteousness in War itself.
"How tragic…"
Sighing softly, the bald Wizard felt a little emotional.
"Countless humans, for some illusory things, fight and struggle on the earth."
"Whether for Gods, for profit, or for something else."
"You abandon your bodies and flesh, letting Life stain this human world red."
"But in the end, what is the meaning of all this?"
"At least for an individual, they are meaningless."
He lightly expressed his opinions, until at a certain moment, the bald Wizard found that the area around him had cleared.
An old man holding a scepter walked towards him with a chuckle, pointing the scepter at him.
"Of course there is meaning."
"Because when people believe in Gods, they are not just believing in the Gods themselves, but also pursuing a spiritual home and a place for their beliefs."
"Throughout history, people will always believe in something, whether that object is nature, personified Gods, lofty morals, or materialized nations and ideologies."
"Only with shared beliefs can humanity gather, and eventually these beliefs are passed down, becoming culture and tradition, accompanying races forever."
He said with a smile, and in his words, the old man did not seem to have the extreme fanaticism of other believers, nor did he shy away from objectively discussing the issue of Gods.
But listening to him expound his philosophy, the bald Wizard knew that throughout Silvermoon City, few people had stronger beliefs than him.
What people considered piety was actually blind obedience; their beliefs would change with changes in environment and cognition. But the old man was different.
He deeply understood the essence of belief, knowing that it had nothing lofty or insurmountable, yet he still chose to believe.
Slowly shaking his head, the bald Wizard knew he couldn't persuade such a person.
So he just smiled, then reiterated his thoughts.
"Perhaps, but that's your opinion."
"For me, there is nothing more noble in this world than the concept of 'I'."
"My flesh and blood are the most important things in this world; my spirit is the most independent thing in this world."
"Any independent living being, even if it was initially created by Gods, once it becomes independent, it has infinite possibilities. This is the miracle of Life, something no one can deny."
"So in my eyes, nothing is more important than 'I' in this world. No matter if it's belief, profit, or some so-called family, nation, or world."
Different paths, no common ground.
Just as the bald Wizard knew he couldn't persuade the old man, the old man also didn't think he could persuade him.
Fortunately, the other party had never done anything excessive; no matter what the other party thought, that was his freedom.
So, at this crucial moment when no other Wizards were present, the old man straightened his expression and asked very seriously:
"What about 'God-hunting'?"
"Is this also for your 'I,' for your own existence?"
"Sort of, but I actually didn't plan to do anything to that God."
Slowly shaking his head, the bald Wizard said sincerely:
"I just want to teach him my research results. I want to prove that although the power of the 'Mind' also originates from the soul like the spirit, their essences are fundamentally different, even diametrically opposed."
"Although my research is already very complete, I have never dared to try it myself, because the Mind is so powerful, yet so fragile."
"I don't want to leave incurable wounds on my Mind… But Gods are different."
"Whether they are the angels you speak of, or the Gods of Olympus, you know, they are all immortal."
"This is my goal; as for what others want to do, that has nothing to do with me."
It sounded a bit like shirking responsibility, but the old man believed the bald Wizard's words.
Because the other party was practically an anomaly among Wizards; although he also practiced Meditation, he believed more that the Mind could change matter, and that self-existence was the foundation of all things.
In a sense, the old man even felt that this somewhat aligned with the church's views, only it was still a bit heterodox.