Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Rattle, rattle...

The wheels rolled, kicking up clouds of dust. @@novelbin@@

Neither far nor near to describe the distance.

When Laine stood on the cliff of the Acropolis of Athens, to the northwest of Athens, a large city buzzed with human voices.

The city gates were wide open, and a line of carriages passed through. On both sides of the convoy, fully armed soldiers were at the ready.

The collision and friction sounds of armor seams were dull yet rhythmic, and the uniform hoofbeats of the horses also testified to the elite nature of these knights.

On both sides of the city’s central avenue, a multitude of people cast various looks at the scene.

Fear, disgust, admiration, indifference... This was a spectacle they would seldom see in their lifetimes. Each fully armored knight was capable of taking on a hundred men, and the savings of an ordinary person couldn’t even afford one helmet.

Under their protection, no one could charge at the luxurious convoy. Of course, all the onlookers knew that these cavalrymen appearing to guard the carriages were merely for show.

Although their charge was indeed in the carriage, he, in fact, did not need their protection at all.

After all, he was the King of Athens, the strongest mortal known among all nations as of now. Even if not everyone agreed with this, no one had yet managed to break his tangible record of achievements.

Theseus, the King of Athens. Today, he and his future successor had come here to personally partake in the celebration of this city-state.

Not everyone liked him, but on this day, the people of this city felt a certain pride, albeit mixed.

Because his name carried such weight, and the name of his heir was so familiar.

Demophon, named after the ancient prince. The King of Athens had named his heir this, and today he had brought him here, the implications clear. Enjoy new tales from NovelBin.Côm

For this was Eryxis, the Holy City of the Goddess of Agriculture in the mortal realm.

...

"Why, feeling a bit nervous?"

Within the semi-enclosed space, the noise from outside was completely muffled.

Sitting upright in his simple yet formal attire, Theseus held a composed posture.

Looking at his son before him, the middle-aged king spoke in a gentle tone.

Demophon, named after the ancient prince who was killed by the Secret Rite of Eryxis—a name that this great city located to the northwest of Athens could not forget.

It wasn’t about harboring hatred; on the contrary, it was since the death of that prince that the great Goddess of Agriculture had favored the city.

At a time when Athens had not yet been born, this small town near the East Sea was on the fringe of the human world. But from that day forward, it became renowned among nations for its prosperous and intricate agricultural techniques.

The small town grew into a great city, from being unknown to universally recognized. The pains suffered by that mortal king had long been forgotten by the people, who only remembered the accomplishments of the other son of the king, the first Patriarch of the Church of Agriculture, Tripdolimos.

As for Demophon... people remembered him mainly because his death had drawn the goddess’s attention, along with the myriad legends brought about by that mysterious Secret Rite of Eryxis.

Some said that the prince’s death had perfected this powerful rite, and that anyone who could withstand its test could obtain eternal life and a body indestructible even by the gods.

Others said that it was actually a sacrificial ritual to the Goddess of Agriculture, one that no one could succeed in—its sole purpose being to draw the goddess’s attention and to appease her wrath in times of anger so as not to let her wrath fall upon mortals.

There were numerous rumors, but whichever it was, it indeed widely circulated among the common folk. Even just before this journey, Demophon had personally asked Theseus whether the rite truly existed.

To which Theseus had replied, ’Theoretically feasible, but unknown in practice.’

After all, he had never delved deep into this so-called ritual, learning only snippets from ancient texts.

In this situation, Theseus had no choice but to ’believe in the authority of the gods, but not in their power.’

Theoretically, the authority of Lady Hestia and Demeter should be capable of achieving this, but over the years, Theseus had never heard of a successful case.

"...Father, I am not nervous, just a bit worried."

The deep voice drew the king’s attention back, and the young prince also held his posture upright.

In the original history, Demophon was also the successor of Theseus, and was the King of Athens during the Trojan War. However, this time around, he likely wouldn’t have the chance to assemble the Athens Confederacy and implement the Trojan Horse strategy to conquer enemy cities again.

"Actually... Father, I am concerned about domestic affairs. Many people think that your decision was too hasty."

"The unification of the Athenian statelets, the promotion of alchemy, the expansion of trade routes, the dissemination of new agricultural techniques, the research and development of smithing technologies... completing one of these in a hundred years would already secure your place in history. Achieving half of them within your demigod’s long life, thousands of years later, people will still sing praises of your wisdom."

"Descendants will use ’Theseus’ as a synonym for a wise and enlightened monarch, and your established systems will be passed down through the ages... But now, not just the countries in the western continent, but even those within the kingdom who oppose you form a considerable faction."

"Now, you have come to Eryxis."