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"If that’s what you think it is, the guidance of fate... after all, I can’t defy you, can I?"
She spoke indifferently, without any further reaction, and Pandora gently closed her eyes.
Unlike Epitheus, she had no interest in watching this so-called debate, for with the passing years, the faith that lingered around her yet remained unabsorbed had only increased.
Even without direct contact, but with the accumulation of numbers, the countless pleas, curses, hatred, and fear continually tornted her.
Whenever a calamity or disease struck the Mortal Realm, she was invoked by humans as the embodint of disaster. Even if her received faith for an individual catastrophe didn’t match that dedicated to the governing deity, the total was overwhelming.
In such circumstances, even though the blessings of all gods had never been withdrawn, Pandora still felt pain and weariness from the depths of her spirit.
For a mont, she felt a pang of regret.
Not for opening the Magic Jar, because she had realized that perhaps her very purpose was to open it. Her regret was that, a thousand years prior, during the first great snow that blanketed the world, she had let her na slip unintentionally on her journey.
The woman who had brought calamity had thought that the na ’Pandora’ would attract the attention of the gods and they would find her and Epitheus. She wanted to plead for the gods’ rcy for her sin, to end her aimless wandering on the earth, but the outco had sorely disappointed her.
No god paid her any heed, as if she had really done nothing at all, on the contrary, the God of Hindsight seed to take inspiration and established a so-called church in her na.
Of course, this church, labeled a cult, was equally useless.
"Once a tool has served its purpose, it can be destroyed. If its whereabouts are unknown, then it might as well be considered lost."
"Perhaps the gods have not withdrawn their blessings from , not only because it would be troubleso but more so because they have forgotten ."
"In Olympus, there is scarcely anyone who rembers the existence of ’Pandora’."
Whether in a dream or in reality, Pandora couldn’t rember the last ti she had slept. With her eyes closed, the sounds of the ongoing debate and the occasional applause seed increasingly distant.
She didn’t know how much ti had passed, it could have been a very long while or just a brief mont. At so point, Pandora, mired in a daze, seed to hear a low call from Epitheus, after which silence suddenly fell around her.
Even the disturbance brought by the clamor of faith seed to be cut off, and she hadn’t felt such peace in a long ti.
"Are you Pandora?"
A woman’s voice sounded in front of her, and Pandora opened her eyes.
There stood a woman who appeared to be in her forties, with various patterns embroidered on her brown robe. Her long hair was gathered on top of her head, with a clear and sparkling wooden hairpin passing through the middle. Pandora did not recognize this woman, but she knew that the other party was no ordinary person.
Because Epitheus was silently standing aside, just as the first ti they had t.
"I am."
Nodding, Pandora acknowledged her identity, for she bore the unmistakable mark of the gods’ blessings on her.
"Good, I have been searching for you for a long ti."
It was neither illusion nor accident, just as Iapetus had seen, Gaia had indeed co to Athens, not for this assembly, and not for the God of Speech.
After another up and down glance at Pandora, Gaia smiled satisfactorily.
"Indeed, once a tool has been used, it is often destroyed, but even as a tool, I suppose no one wishes to vanish without a trace."
"... What do you want to do?"
After a mont of silence, Pandora seed resigned as she spoke.
"I don’t know."
Shaking her head slightly, Gaia motioned with her hand, and a sphere flickering with specks of ’starlight’, each internal point of differing sizes, appeared in her hand.
At a glance, Pandora seed to witness the collapse of all things, the end of materiality, and so form of a twisted, despairing cry.
It felt familiar, this unique state... was it sowhat like what Epitheus had described, those Divine Fragnts of the Ancient Sun God scattered across the earth?
In that mont, nurous speculations flashed through Pandora’s mind. Could this be the delayed fate of the Magic Jar? But this did not align with her own prayers.
She had seen many beasts that had rged with Divine Fragnts, but not only did they have to constantly endure the ntal pollution from within the fragnts, they also hadn’t beco deities as a result.
Even after the disaster of Typhon had ended, when the three rounds of ’Man-Made Suns’, each embodying authority, took turns rising into The Sky, Pandora had discussed this matter with Epitheus. He had assured her that even if soone could withstand the ntal shock of those three suns and took hold of their respective authorities, they still wouldn’t be considered True Gods.
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After all, the authority of a True God cannot be stripped away by beings outside of the world, but if those divine fragnts were to be taken by others, the power that originally belonged to you would also be lost.
All the while, Pandora was certain that what she had once prayed to beco was indeed a True God, one with unstrippable authority, eternally undying within this world—could it be that this was a destiny the Magic Jar could not manifest, leading her to settle for less?
Or perhaps, this actually suggested sothing, such as the key role these divine fragnts might play in becoming a true deity…
For a mont, a thousand thoughts whirled in Pandora’s heart, yet Gaia clearly perceived none of them.
It was entirely normal for mortals to be shocked and dumbfounded by such a sight; after all, they were not very knowledgeable to begin with.
"I do not know if you understand what this thing is, nor if you are aware of the kind of power required to create such a result, but it does not matter, I can tell you—it is Perseus, the God of Material Destruction, a True God who is arrogantly disrespectful towards his own parents and elders, and shows no rcy to his own children!"
"But all that is in the past, now he is what you see before you."
Gaia’s narration was impassive, and Pandora listened quietly, while at that mont, Epitheus didn’t even know what to say.
It was the first ti he had let Pandora follow ’destiny,’ and then she had imdiately run into the long-lost Mother Earth… Whatever Pandora could think of, he naturally could too, and it seed that this eting did indeed play a role in fulfilling a ’wish,’ but it was definitely not the kind of effect he desired.
’Huff—At least I’ve drawn two lessons.’
’Making a wish to the Magic Jar is indeed effective, it’s just that it probably only works for the wish itself, for the people around, such as , it probably does not take into account at all.’
’Furthermore, water always flows where the resistance is least, and perhaps destiny, after confirming its destination, will also only flow along the most direct trajectory, as for whether this aligns with the initial intention of the wisher, that remains unknown.’
The na of Perseus, the God of Material Destruction, was known to Epitheus, but how Pandora’s wish was to be realized through him, the God of Hindsight could not determine.
He too had once fantasized about the power of a shattered sun, and thus had researched those divine fragnts; he was roughly aware of their pros and cons… Intuition told Epitheus that whether Pandora could beco a True God or not, he was unsure, but even if she did, it would likely not be what she anticipated.
······
In the palace of the Primordial Sea God within the Pontus Euxinus,
The arrival of Gaia or the presence of Iapetus, these ’unexpected’ participants in the convention had not drawn the attention of the gods observing the phantom.
Only Zeus, acting as the caster, seed to sense so slight traces of the God of Speech, but he said nothing, acting as if he did not exist.
However, the lack of reaction from Zeus didn’t an the other gods watching the event felt the sa. As Andrea’s increasingly sharp speeches were conveyed through the phantom in front of all gods, so deities were growing impatient.
"Your Majesty, I was unaware until now that such blasphemous beings existed among the mortals, and she is capable of standing at a grand event in Athens, spreading her ideology to even more mortals."
With a sowhat excited expression, Ares stepped forward, looking towards Zeus who sat upon the Golden Throne.
"I think such a person has no right to keep living on earth; she should receive eternal punishnt like Tantalus. Please permit to go to the mortal realm myself and bestow upon her the fate she deserves!"
Even without explicit words, the gods could tell that Ares was so eager to try, simply because it was Athens.
As he spoke, he even glances towards where Athena was, yet regrettably, she did not even spare him a glance.
"Ares, this is rely a debate, and the positions held in a debate do not represent the speaker’s own views. If you were to act on it, it would only tarnish the reputation of the gods."
Speaking softly, it was Hestia who addressed Zeus.
The opinion of Ares was not important; what mattered was what the Divine King thought. And based on past experience, Zeus, while not likely to directly express his view, would certainly hint at sothing.
The Goddess of Hearthfire did not know if her plea would make a difference, but she spoke up nonetheless. To her surprise, this ti, Zeus did not seem angry at all. Stay updated via Freewebnovel
"That’s right, Ares, it’s only a human debate. Since I have already promised not to punish them for their speeches, I will certainly keep my word."
Zeus spoke calmly, his mood seemingly oddly positive.
"Moreover, if she wins the final victory, she will co here to beco the judge who decides the fate of the Golden Apple—Zephyrus, it’s getting late, why don’t you set off in advance?"
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
Zephyrus too was unclear about what Zeus was planning, but the God of the West Wind never pondered over things he couldn’t understand.
He simply stood up, bowed, and then transford into a gust of wind, disappearing from sight.
’
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