章 26: Winter God
"Help!!"
"Ah! Run… No!!"
"Is it the wrath of the gods!?"
Under the protection of the gods and the efforts of humanity, the city-state, which had finally begun to take shape, was now suffering heavy casualties under the ravaging heavenly fire. People rushed to the temple to pray to the gods, hoping to receive their protection and survive this disastrous calamity.
"Lord Wulthos, many burning meteors have fallen outside, and many houses are on fire. Water cannot extinguish the flames, and the rivers are nearly dried up!" Adunis, dressed in a pure white tunic and now promoted to the position of the city lord's secretary, hurriedly reported, sweat streaming down his handsome face that showed no signs of aging.
The weather was unbearably hot, and the temperature was still rising. If this continued, the residents of the city-state would soon perish from the heat!
"… Adunis, gather all the residents and lead them to the Temple of the Goddess of Life to pray for her protection!"
After years of leadership, Wulthos now exuded an imposing presence, with an indescribable aura surrounding him. His gray-blue eyes reflected the profound wisdom bestowed by time. He had changed a lot, but the one thing that remained unchanged was his devout faith in the Goddess of Life. He firmly believed that this time, the goddess would guide them through this calamity!
"Yes!" Adunis received the order and rushed off to give instructions.
Upon receiving the command, the residents hurriedly ran toward the Temple of the Goddess of Life. At that moment, people couldn't help but admire Wulthos's wise judgment in constructing such a magnificent temple; otherwise, so many residents would not have had a place to gather.
Wulthos stood at the forefront of the crowd, gazing at the beautiful and sacred statue of the Goddess of Life within the temple. After so many years, the oak branch in the goddess's hand remained lush and vibrant, radiating soft holy light.
'Great Goddess, your devoted follower Wulthos prays here. Your people are suffering…' Wulthos closed his eyes and silently prayed.
Seeing the city lord praying, the residents behind him quickly knelt down, sincerely asking for the goddess's protection.
At that moment, Hebe was driving the divine chariot through the sky when she suddenly sensed something. The voices of countless believers' prayers reached her ears; they were seeking refuge.
…
Forget it, Hebe recalled the promise she had made to Prometheus.
She summoned her divine power, and in an instant, the statue of the Goddess of Life in the temple radiated dazzling light. A layer of shimmering barrier spread out, forming a pale golden protective shield that enveloped the temple, shielding the people inside from the heavenly fire's assault.
"It's the goddess! The goddess has granted us protection!"
"Praise the great goddess!"
The protected people wept and embraced each other, singing praises of the goddess's grace. Finally, amidst this merciless disaster, they had a sanctuary.
However, the protective shield only alleviated their immediate crisis; the key issue now was how to resolve the source of the heavenly fire.
"Princess Hebe."
Apollo, driving the divine chariot, caught up and frowned at the devastation wrought by the heavenly fire on the ground.
"Prince Apollo, do you know where Phaethon and the Sun Chariot fell? If the Sun Chariot remains on the ground, the temperature will continue to rise, and if this goes on, even the seas will evaporate." Hebe searched the mountains and rivers on the ground with her eyes.
"…" Apollo's eyes flashed with golden light. Relying on the omniscient eye of the God of Light, he quickly located the Sun Chariot's position. "It's at the Elidanus River."
"Your Highness is the destined Sun God; the Sun Chariot should be driven back to the Divine Mountain by you. Seize this opportunity," Hebe said with deep meaning in her eyes.
"I understand." Being intelligent individuals, Apollo said no more and drove the divine chariot toward the Elidanus River.
Hebe summoned the power of her ice and snow divinity, waving her hands as the force of frost formed glistening snowflakes in the air, falling to the ground.
Hexagonal snowflakes danced down, gradually increasing in number, and the area covered by ice and snow expanded.
Hebe continuously channeled her divine power, controlling the cold frost to blanket the earth. As the frost spread, the high temperatures caused by the Sun Chariot began to slowly decline.
"Not enough; it's too slow."
Sweat dripped from Hebe's temples as she exerted both her spirit and divine power, constantly absorbing the world's essence and transforming it into the power of frost. Wherever the chariot passed, snowflakes swirled, and the heavenly fire melted away.
"The Three Goddesses of Seasons govern spring, summer, and autumn, and through their divine duties, they can instantly cover the earth with flowers, greenery, and autumn harvests. Yet there is no winter goddess…" As Hebe spread the frost and snow, watching the earth being blanketed in white, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her mind.
She grasped this insight, and the voice of the divine echoed throughout the world.
"In the name of Hebe, I call upon the omnipresent laws. I am willing to sacrifice my ice and snow divinity to exchange for a season covered in ice and snow, where all things slumber and the earth rests and recuperates. I shall name it 'Winter.'"
The stunningly beautiful goddess's eyes flashed with determination, and the pain of separating from her divinity made her break into a sweat.
The ice-blue light of her ice and snow divinity separated from her body. Hebe squeezed it tightly, shattering the ice and snow divinity, transforming it into the primal source of ice and snow to return to the world.
The world's essence began to tremble, and vast clouds gathered in the sky. Snow fell, and the area covered expanded at an incredible speed, causing the temperature from the heavenly fire to plummet instantly.
The three goddesses of seasons in the Sun Temple felt a tightening in their hearts as they sensed a force stripping away a portion of their authority from within their divine essences.
The goddesses were filled with anger and shock, wanting to stop it but powerless to resist, for it was the supreme laws of the world that were stripping away their authority.
Hebe watched as the snow consumed the heavenly fire ravaging the land, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She slumped in the chariot, feeling weak as her divine power had drastically diminished after losing her ice and snow divinity.
Suddenly, the world's laws trembled, and a brand new divine essence, pure white and radiating endless cold, appeared before Hebe. It merged seamlessly into her body, filling the void in her divine power.
Blessed by the world's essence, Hebe's divine power surged forward.
First-tier mid-tier deity…
First-tier peak deity…
'Goddess of Winter'
A crown forged from ice and snow appeared atop Hebe's head. By using her ice and snow divinity as a sacrifice to bring about winter, she not only saved countless lives but also filled the gap in the world's laws. The merit from this act propelled her to the peak of first-tier divinity, and the world's laws directly condensed a primal artifact for her—the Crown of the Winter Goddess.
She became the first deity in the world to govern winter, the queen of cold, representing the end and beginning of the four seasons.
On Mount Olympus, the crash of the Sun Chariot led to the rampant heavenly fire on earth. Zeus, enraged by the thunder, struck down Phaethon with a bolt of lightning.
Afterward, Zeus and Hera hurriedly summoned the gods for an emergency meeting to rescue the humans on earth. After all, this batch of new humanity had only recently been born, and their faith was just beginning to take shape. The gods had already experienced the benefits of faith and naturally did not wish to see humanity extinguished.
When they saw Hebe manifesting a divine power barrier from the statue in the temple, the gods followed suit, using their divine power to project it onto their temples on earth to provide protection for the new humans.
"Hermes, what is the situation on earth?" Zeus asked, sitting on the throne of the king of gods, inquiring about the new messenger Hermes.
"Great King of the Gods, the situation on earth has improved. Prince Apollo has already retrieved the Sun Chariot that fell into the Elidanus River, and he has tamed the divine steeds that pulled the chariot. The heavenly fire is no longer rampaging," Hermes reported to Zeus, holding his caduceus.
"Ah!"
Upon hearing this news, the gods collectively sighed in relief. With the source of the heavenly fire resolved, the situation on earth could be alleviated, and they could take a break, as maintaining the divine power barrier around the temple was quite exhausting.
"There's one more thing…" A strange and envious expression appeared on Hermes's youthful face, and it was obvious who he was envious of. "The Goddess of Life, Hebe, is on earth…"
"Great Father God, you must take our side!"
Before Hermes could finish his sentence, the three goddesses of seasons—Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene—burst into the temple, their beautiful faces tear-streaked, pleading with Zeus to take their side.
"Hmm? Eunomia, what are you doing here?" Zeus looked at the three daughters he had with his second wife, the goddess of justice, Themis, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.
Although these three daughters shared his bloodline, they had long accompanied the Sun God Helios and had secretly harbored feelings for him, often refusing or ignoring his covert commands.
Zeus did not consider these descendants, who turned their elbows outward, to be part of his faction.
"Great Father God, that cursed Phaethon has committed a heinous crime, and as a result, Prince Helios has suffered backlash and is now unconscious in the temple. Our seasonal divine essences, for unknown reasons, have been inexplicably drained by an unknown force, causing our divine positions to decline. Please, Father God, you must help us capture the culprit and uphold justice!"
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