In the Sacred Garden, three nymphs, cloaked in the rosy light of dawn, walked barefoot across the island, routinely checking the growth of flowers, fruits, and trees, occasionally summoning rain to water so withering plants.
However, their work didn't last long before a familiar sense of fatigue surged into their hearts.
Nominally they were goddesses guarding the Sacred Garden, but in reality, they toiled like gardeners.
This mundane and repetitive life, day after day, even the most fervent passion would gradually be worn away with the passage of ti.
Just as the Hesperides sisters had made their rounds in the garden and were about to head back, a thick, ethereal fragrance wafted over from beyond the island.
"What's that sll?"
The youngest sister sniffed, her face full of curiosity.
"It's wine, the finest ambrosial honey wine!"
"Hmm, last ti during the Grand Offering, when I went to Olympus, Hebei gave a pot, and I tried it too, it was a fantastic flavor!"
The two elder sisters chirped in response, clearly having a deep mory of this superb beverage.
Listening to her sisters' descriptions, the youngest sister felt the scent from beyond the island growing even stronger, unintentionally swallowing.
"Shall we go out and take a look?"
"This, isn't that a bit inappropriate..."
"We're just looking, observing the nearby situation is also part of our duty to guard the Sacred Garden. Besides, Ladon is there, what could possibly go wrong?"
"Hmm, that's true."
Eventually, persuaded by the youngest sister, the three sisters reached a consensus and cautiously stepped out of the Sacred Garden, searching for the source of the haunting fragrance.
Soon, a wine pot partially buried in the sand caught their attention.
Dark red wine oozed from a crack in the body of the bottle and seeped into the fine sand.
What a waste!
Seeing the scene before them, the nymphs felt heartbroken and hurriedly rushed forward to dig out the wine pot.
Gently shaking it, the sound of the liquid sloshing inside imdiately excited them.
It was still more than half full.
It seed that this must have been sothing a deity had accidentally dropped into the sea, which was then washed ashore by the tide.
Just as the three nymphs were contemplating whether to share and taste the ambrosial honey wine, a chilling gust of wind struck from behind, hitting their necks almost simultaneously.
Red light, and the sll of blood...
With these last impressions, the three nymphs blacked out and collapsed together on the ground.
After effortlessly taking down his targets, Luo En skillfully cast several suppression spells, ensuring that they wouldn't wake up anyti soon, before finally ceasing his actions with a satisfied look, marveling at the three prostrate bodies of the nymphs.
Seems like you can catch fish even with a straight hook, they must be nearly driven mad by this garden-watching job.
So it goes to show, living under soone's roof is a hopeless endeavor.
Luo En shook his head and cast a spell to hide the three nymphs. Then the Mark of the Dead on the back of his hand lit up; the aura of the living dissipated, and his figure faded and vanished.
The divine seal of Hades not only allowed him to move unimpeded in the Netherworld but also seed to possess hidden properties.
Having completed the preparations, Luo En stealthily made his way, carefully sneaking into the Sacred Garden.
After a surge of blinding light patterns, the view before him suddenly cleared. The area was abundant with flowers and greenery, shaded nurseries, and andering sparkling water creating rainbows that rose from the mists, the dense aether almost condensing into colorful fog, stunningly beautiful.
As the symbol of the entire Sacred Garden, the Golden Apple Tree was easy to find, planted at the peak of the island's central mountain.
The thick trunk soared into the clouds, its lush foliage nearly obscuring half the sky, and beneath the leaves, glimpses of brilliant gold shone through—undoubtedly the legendary Golden Apples.
However, lying under the tree was a divine beast enveloped in silver scales, hundred ters long, its heads numbering over a hundred, half of them drooping in slumber, while the others held aloft, their deep vertical pupils overseeing the entire Sacred Garden.
Was this Ladon? How beautiful.
Describing a dragonkin as "beautiful" was a rare assessnt.
But it must be said, Ladon bore so differences from the ferocious divine monsters he had seen before.
Her silvery dragon scales glimred with magnificent light, her slender form exuded elegance; with half her heads deep in sleep and the others raised, scattered with petals and leaves, she conveyed a serene and quiet deanor, Luo En even sensed sothing "sacred" about her.
Despite being the most complete inheritor of Typhon's divine power, her personality displayed such a stark contrast.
It really supported the saying, "Dragons beget nine offspring, each one different."
Just as Luo En was quietly pondering, several gazes suddenly focused on him. Fifty heads, previously napping on the grass, awoke instantly, their necks rotating in unison, eyeing the location of the intruder.
At the sa ti, the boiling aether in front of Ladon wove a dense Magic Circle Diagram, with countless condensed forms of magic power like Wind Blades, Fireballs, Rock Spears, and Water Arrows crazily assembling and erging.
Unlike the physically formidable Demon Ancestor Typhon, this hundred-headed dragon seed to specialize in magic and curses, more adept at long-range attacks.
Had he been discovered?
A chill ran through Luo En's heart, he imdiately revealed himself, and pulled out a scale from the Mother of Serpents, raising it high.
"Echidna sent !"
Sensing a familiar presence above, Ladon's main head furrowed slightly.
"My mother is still alive?"
A crisp yet pleasant voice erged from the dragon's main head, her golden eyes solemnly gazing at the mysterious intruder in the Sacred Garden.
"She died, but I used a special thod and brought her back to life."
Luo En started explaining, detailing his close relationship with the Gorgon Sisters and how he had encountered and assisted the Mother of Serpents in the Arima Dungeon.
After listening carefully, the magic circles in front of Ladon were successively disard, and the surrounding condensed magic power was also dispersed. Her originally imnse body gradually shrank, transforming into a tall, winged woman with silver hair and golden eyes who stepped forward voluntarily.
Clearly, she believed his story, and had transford into a form more suitable for communication used commonly by the Titans.
But the problem was, influenced by the habits of divine monsters, she was wearing nothing at all.
Luo En glanced a few tis before decisively turning his head away, throwing a loose piece of clothing towards her, gesturing for her to cover up the excessively bountiful "headlights" and her slender lower body.
For her first ti using the common Titan form to communicate with a stranger, Ladon didn't think too much about it and loosely draped the clothing over her body, casually asking.
"Speak, what brings you to ?"
Imdiately, feeling that her tone was a bit harsh, the dragon lady spoke again to add.
"You saved my mother, so if there is anything I can help you with, I will do my best."
Hearing the phrase "do my best," a glint flickered in Luo En's eyes.
Her failure to complete her sentence proved that this elder sister among Typhon's offspring was not as easily fooled as her siblings, who mostly were able to maintain only their beast forms.
Luo En thought for a mont, then explained his purpose in a grave voice.
"Saving soone earlier drained too much of my life force, so I wanted to take a few golden apples to replenish it."
"Golden apples? And a few of them?"
Upon hearing this, Ladon snorted coldly.
"I'm just the guardian of the Sacred Garden, not the owner; you really think I can make decisions?"
"I'm not asking you to complicate things, just turn a blind eye."
"Even if I turned a hundred eyes blind, it won't work, Hera can check anyti, and she would find out!"
"As long as the investigation doesn't trace back to us, then it should be fine..."
Luo En spoke with a smile, then paused and added aningfully.
"I've heard that the Goddess of Discord, Eris, the queen's daughter, has been lingering near the Sacred Garden in the sea area recently, seemingly very interested in the golden apples..."
"How do you know that?"
Ladon looked at Luo En, noticeably surprised.
"She has caused trouble here a few tis already."
"..."
Luo En, who was rely insinuating and slinging mud, could not help but pause his smile.
A fluke? Was this really happening?
But he soon thought of the reason.
In the future event with the golden apple, Eris had been able to produce a golden apple and inscribe it with "To the fairest goddess" before throwing it into the center of a wedding venue, serving as a bait for conflict. It proved she had stocks of golden apples, most likely acquired by dubious ans.
Goodness, the first ti he found soone it wasn't necessary to discredit them first—they were already implicated.
Whether it was the motive, the situation, or the criminal history, it perfectly fit the profile of a suspect. To not use it to pin the cri on would be an absolute waste!
Realizing he had picked an excellent scapegoat, Luo En felt no more worries and straightforwardly laid out his plan to Ladon.
After hearing the explanation, the guardian of the Sacred Garden's eyes gradually brightened, clearly convinced.
Seeing this, Luo En seized the mont to press further.
"After I leave, you report that ten golden apples have been stolen, by a thief emanating red light and a bloody scent..."
"Wrong!" Ladon shook his head, correcting seriously, "Twenty apples!"
"..." Seeing a glint flickering in that dragon lady's eyes, Luo En couldn't help but comnt, "You eat so much, aren't you afraid Hera might find out and co after you?"
"Even if I can't eat them, can't I collect them? They are shiny, and they look and sll good." Ladon gave her partner a withering look and after hesitating for a mont, added in a serious tone, "Keep them for for now, put them with my mother."
"Fine..."
Luo En agreed weakly, inwardly scoffing.
Indeed, even the most elegant and beautiful dragon shouldn't be overestimated in terms of moral character.
The greed and hoarding instincts of this species were well-known.
That a deal could be split equally was all thanks to him having saved the Mother of Serpents.
Otherwise, given this dragon matriarch's nature, she would probably demand seventy percent before settling.
No sooner had they reached an agreent, than Ladon transford into her massive dragon form, plucked the largest and best twenty golden apples from the tree, and divided them into two portions to give to her partner.
"You keep these safe for , and if any are missing, you'll replace them—that's settled!"
Upon hearing the veiled threat in the dragon lady's words, Luo En secured the stolen goods, while reminding without any good humor.
"Hold on; let's finish the remaining tasks first."
"What tasks?"
"Don't you think the Sacred Garden is too clean? Does it look like it's just been robbed?"
At this remark, Ladon imdiately got the point; circles of Magic Arrays lit up in front of her, unleashing a barrage of Wind Blades, Fireballs, Rock Spears, Water Arrows, and other dense concentrations of magic power, directed at Luo En.
"Hey, warn before you attack!"
Luo En cursed as he imdiately activated "Goat's" Extre Speed to dodge Ladon's furious onslaught, heading for the borders of the Sacred Garden.
On the way, he didn't forget to opportunistically take along several precious Magic Potions.
Since leaving them there would only lead to them being destroyed by the dragon lady's attacks, it was better to take them back to War God Mountain to benefit more lives.
With the enthusiastic performance of the two accomplices, the Sacred Garden was a ss with dust and chaos everywhere.
Finding the timing right, Luo En decisively burst through the glowing gateway, woke up the three unconscious nymphs, and sprinted toward the Primordial Ocean.
Minutes later, following the traces of a red and black blood cloud, he found the Goddess of Discord, who was agitating the Sea Beasts to battle, and stealthily tossed sothing toward her before swiftly fleeing the scene.
"Pop~"
A dull thud ca from above as Eris, who was using the blood to strengthen her Divine Power of Discord, opened her eyes in surprise and looked down at the object in her arms.
Strange, why would an apple fall from the sky?
Moreover, a golden apple from the Sacred Garden?
Never mind, what I see is mine! Let's taste it first!
Eagerly licking her lips, Eris picked up the golden apple in her arms, ready to relish this heaven-sent delicacy.
However, blinding rays of light burst through the surrounding blood clouds, and the three nymphs guarding the Sacred Garden glared angrily at the shaless thief about to bite into the golden apple.
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