HPDBC Chapter 768: 275: Encroachment
Chapter 768: 275: Encroachment
Chapter 768: Chapter 275: Encroachment
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Standing on Mount Nysa at the uttermost north of the continent, one could overlook the entire northern region.
Ever since the chaos of the Typhon ended, the Three Fates, collectively known as the “Moirai” by the gods, migrated here.
The maiden Clotho spun the Thread of Fate with her spindle, each strand representing a lifetime.
The matron Lachesis measured the length of life with her staff marked with scales, determining the short or long of the thread.
The crone Atropos used the scissors of fate to cut the thread spun by Clotho, leading life to its ultimate demise.
...
This was the responsibility of the Three Fates, as well as the power and authority bestowed upon them by the world.
With these powers, they could skillfully manipulate the threads of fate, allowing everything to return to its natural order.
After all, although the gods stood high above, once they came into contact with mortal things, they were bound to be influenced by them.
Even if the Goddesses of Fate could not directly alter the destiny of deities, they never hesitated to use such unconventional means.
However, after all these years of existence, countless cycles had passed in the mortal realm, yet the cracks in destiny seemed to increase, rather than diminish.
An intangible pressure weighed upon Mount Nysa, growing increasingly “heavy,” but there was nothing the Goddesses of Fate could do to solve it.
For the Moirai had always faced three severe challenges.
As long as these couldn’t be resolved, destiny could not return to its proper course.
The first was that a significant portion of the inherent order had already been destroyed before the birth of the Goddesses of Fate.
This was an ancient debt, extending to the dawn of creation, including the fall of the Primordial Deities and the premature replacement of the Divine King, issues they couldn’t resolve.
Thankfully, these old wounds were not fatal, at least not for the time being.
The second problem came from the cycle of Samsara in the Spirit Realm.
The Three Fates tried to arrange the destinies of All Spirits, but the mortal beings, upon birth, inherently possessed varying degrees of wisdom, beyond the control of the Goddesses.
Thus, what was once an easy task became a thousandfold more difficult, leaving the Moirai perpetually busy.
As for the third problem... that was even more severe, for it was a problem of the gods, happening potentially at every moment.
The destinies of the deities lay outside the realm woven by the Three Fates, yet this did not hinder their observation.
As long as they did not speak of what they saw, this observation was nearly without cost.
Therefore, Clotho could see the rises and falls of the gods’ destinies, Lachesis could see their triumphs and failures in differing lengths.
As for Atropos, she could attempt to intervene at the most difficult times.
The once famed “Fruit of One Day,” in a sense, came from this origin.
Yet these methods were ultimately auxiliary, powerless in the face of more direct influences.
For instance, occasional occurrences of pollution were such instances.
“Crack——”
“One thousand seven hundred and eighty-two threads of fate.”
“In one day!”
With an expressionless motion, her scissors closed, accompanied by a series of ‘popping’ sounds imperceptible to mortals, as the threads of fate broke one by one before Atropos.
This was her duty, what she was meant to do.@@@@
However, as Atropos closed her scissors, the strange stench emanating from her grew slightly stronger.
Yellowed teeth, tattered robes, dry hair—if a mortal from the subcontinent saw her, they might mistakenly think it was the harbinger of the “Five Decays of Heaven and Man.”
Though the world of Chaos knew not of the so-called “five decays,” when the body of a deity showed such signs, it still signified some manner of disaster.
Nevertheless, as if accustomed to it, Atropos casually wiped the pale-red sweat from her forehead, ignoring it all.
Being the one who cuts fate, if she didn’t wish for fate itself to bear further burden, she had to endure it.
“After all, I will not die, Lachesis.”
“Nor will you; the destiny of the present world is with us.”
She spoke softly, as Atropos tried to stand, but stumbled the next moment.
Fortunately, her arm, reduced to skin and bone, was quickly supported by someone else, a whiff of alluring fragrance came from beside her, it was Lachesis, the sister holding her arm.
······
Hermes was unaware that by omitting the Goddesses of Fate while introducing the gods, he caused a misjudgment in a being who had never heard of a deity capable of wielding ‘fate,’ leading to some unexpected consequences.
For in the world of Hemenu, they had never heard of a Fate God, assuming that was the world’s power itself, not something controlled by a deity.
All in all, a small error was about to attract uninvited guests.
The strings of fate were so secret that unless the Goddesses of Fate wished it, few entities could ever trace their presence.
For a moment, Athens indeed seemed to become the world’s center, drawing the attention of the heavens and the earth.
Whether intending to partake in Olympus’s inner strife, the gods cast their gazes here.
They were all awaiting an outcome, to see if there was any chance for this conflict to cease.
After all, to outsiders, they didn’t know the resolve of either side.
This was merely a mortal’s death, unlikely to evolve into a never-ending conflict among the gods.
However, while they believed it to be so, at the same moment in the City of Eryxis, within the temple at the city’s center.
The Goddess of Agriculture, who had personally participated in this from the periphery, bore no such thoughts, as the beginning of this war transpired on her domain.
“Aphrodite, this isn’t what you told us!”
Her chest heaving, Demeter’s complexion was unsightly.
She still recalled how the Goddess of Beauty came to conspiracy with her after the Feast of the Golden Apple.
Persuading with reasoning, coupled with threats and inducements.
Promising her the territory of Athens, she spoke of how many gods were involved in this.
Then described how perfect and thorough their plan was.
But what was the result? Athens had officially declared war on Eryxis, claiming they were “bewitched by evil gods,” and murdered the king.
Even though they hadn’t openly accused the Agricultural Church, how was this different from speaking plainly?
In a holy city of a deity, accusing “evil gods,” the newly appointed queen was openly declaring future intentions to expel the Agricultural Church, showing no mercy even to her clerics.
Despite this, Demeter was helpless, for she lacked the means to resist.
“You said there would be no problems, you promised me!”
“Athens’s elite is already approaching, tell me, how are you going to resolve this mess?!”
“Why are you anxious? It’s just a small mistake.”
Sharing a bad mood, Aphrodite rudely interrupted.
If there was one more frustrated by this long-planned assassination than Demeter, who just provided the venue and was to be hit hardest, it was Aphrodite.
As for the reason... facing Aphrodite’s interruption, this time, Demeter merely let out a cold laugh.
She couldn’t win a fight, nor did she have as many paramours, but at least some things wouldn’t happen to her.
“A small mistake, indeed—”
“The Goddess of Love and Beauty sent her believer to seduce the king of a city ruled by the Goddess of Wisdom, even lending out her divine tool, and what was the outcome?”
“Aphrodite, you and Ares are indeed a match made in heaven.”
“A group attacked one, ending with your own guise destroyed.”
“Your believer went to seduce others, only to ultimately betray you without any qualms.”
“I’m indeed curious about what other ridiculous things you are capable of—could it be next time, Ares and you will both be chased by mortals?”
Offhand mockery, though Demeter didn’t believe it would actually happen, for when the war of the mortal realm commenced, and the “Order of Kingship” fully influenced humanity, Ares, as the “God of War,” would be immensely empowered.
[The divine power] of “War,” no matter how diminished, was amply sufficient to oversee a field of mortal conflict.
Under divine favor, he might leap to become one of Olympus’s foremost deities.
Even the equally warlike Apollo might only surpass him in archery.
However, saying so did not prevent Demeter from using it as a means to ridicule.
As the frontlines of Athens loomed closer, and the holy city was on the verge of falling, she risked becoming a laughing stock among mortals.
Observing the current situation... without divine intervention and relying solely on the Agricultural Church, Eryxis’s ability to hold the city seemed hopeless.
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