Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Bones piled high, a faint glimmer of fire.

In the vast underground space, an unbelievable name was uttered in a low voice.

Gazing at everything before him, Zephyrus never imagined that beneath Silver Moon City he would encounter him.

Astraeus... the Ancestor of the Stars, a Titan Deity of the olden times.

He was the son of the Meteorology Titan Crius, the grandson of the Ancient Sea God Pontus, and the forefather of all current Star Gods.

At the onset of the Second Epoch, he and the Goddess of Dawn together birthed the myriad stars and the four Wind Gods.

Hence, during the Second Epoch, the Star Gods were divided, each following the Divine King and the Sun.

As for the change in Divine Kingship, the God of Meteorology was imprisoned in Tartarus, while the Sea Power Eurybia returned to the coastal waters, placed under the watchful 'contemplation' of her elder brother Nereus.

Deprived of his two greatest sources of support and failing to defect to Zeus's side early on, Astraeus found himself in an awkward position.

Olympus had no place for him, especially since Zephyrus, although he had earned Zeus's trust through the offering of the Wheat-Gold Scepter, was never particularly close to him.

To call them father and son was more akin to being colleagues under the same command.

Whereas among the stars, although the Ancient Sun God was no longer present, the status of the Mother of Light remained unshakable as ever.

One thing leading to another, combined with his rather ordinary strength, Astraeus was forced to distance himself from the human world.

There were many Titan Deities like him, mostly those with mediocre power who had not joined Olympus in time.

From this perspective, the luck and choices Zephyrus had made were quite fortuitous already.

Compared to his contemporaries, most gods of his era had already faded from the world's center.

Hum—

"Hmm?"

What seemed like a long while was actually just a moment.

As thoughts of Astraeus flickered through his mind, the steady hum resounded again, and Zephyrus immediately locked onto the source of the sound.

In the center of this underground space, surrounded by endless bones, stood a towering altar.

Its structure was similar to the sacrificial platforms mortal humans used to worship deities, yet upon closer inspection, there were a few differences.

Not only because on the altar was not a godly statue, but a deity himself, but also due to the intricate ducts and a network of faint silver running through the body.

From the altar, from the void, extending from Astraeus himself, the intricate network diverged, ultimately binding the being on the altar.

The continuous rumble was not caused by anything else but the collision between the God of the Stars and what bound him.

"Are you... calling to me?"

Stepping forward, Zephyrus noticed that the Astraeus upon the altar seemed to still have a conscious mind.

He appeared to sense Zephyrus's arrival and was trying to draw his attention.

Without hesitation, the God of West Wind leapt forward.

Although relationship was average, as a member of the deities, Zephyrus could not just stand by and watch someone be imprisoned by humans here.

This was a taboo amongst the gods, and something every deity would invariably do.

Like the last mortal who did this, Sisyphus, even today, he is still endlessly pushing a boulder.

Swoosh—

Leaving the corridor, beneath his feet was a pit buried with countless bones, the invisible airflow lifting the Wind God forward.

However, just as he began, Zephyrus's complexion slightly changed.

For some unknown reason, as soon as he arrived above the pile of bones, a nameless force began to act on him, trying to extract his blood and spirit.

The deeper he went, the more intense the extraction became.

At the same time, almost visible to the naked eye, the grid near the central altar became brighter, and the God of West Wind in midair was caught in a dilemma.

He did not know if he could continue forward, whether he could still resist this power without relying on his Divine Power.

And this sensation... was so foreign yet familiar.

Zephyrus was certain he had seen it before, more than once, but couldn't recall it at the moment.

Hovering in midair, his expression was extremely serious.

"...huh..."

"...don't come closer..."

"What?"

Suddenly lifting his head, with the help of the air surrounding him, Zephyrus actually heard Astraeus's voice.

And the next moment, the God of the Stars realized this as well.

Within the faint silver grid, the deity's eyes, as thin as skeleton's, flashed with a glimmer of hope.

"...you can hear...?"

"...leave quickly... this is a 'Blood Sacrifice'..."

"...you can't save me... just by yourself..."

"...leave... get out of here... tell everything here to All Gods..."

"...otherwise, my present... will be your... tomorrow!"

The voice was so faint it was almost nonexistent, but Zephyrus heard the towering hatred within.

The other party wanted him to leave, which was understandable, as he himself was likely the only hope Astraeus had seen in hundreds of years.

If even Zephyrus fell here, that would perhaps be the true despair for Astraeus.

However, even though he realized this, the God of West Wind did not want to just walk away.

Blood Sacrifice, yes.

After the reminder from the God of the Stars, Zephyrus finally remembered what this familiar sensation was.

Mortals made sacrificial offerings of blood to the gods, and he just now had played the role of a 'Sacrifice'.

Not just him, who happened to stumble here, but perhaps the millions of bones in this underground void all came from this.

That mortal who had gotten his mark by some misfortune had become an unfortunate 'Sacrifice', turning into the blood food for the Blood Sacrifice to the God of the Stars.

But why?

Using living beings as sacrifices was expressly forbidden by Zeus, and even the brutal Ares only dared to circumvent it by using the excuse of 'gladiatorial combat'.

Yet all before him proved that beneath the 'civilized' foundations of Silver Moon City, there had been such a large and ongoing living sacrifice.

The pile of bones in the pit clearly showed varying ages of death, and their subject of Blood Sacrifice was, in fact, an imprisoned god.

"Madmen... a Blood Sacrifice to a deity, could these humans not be afraid that he may resist at all costs?"

"No, looking at his condition, if there was a chance, no matter the cost, he probably would have already made a desperate attempt."

Taking a deep breath, Zephyrus vaguely guessed something, but subconsciously he didn't want to believe it.

How could a noble deity fall to such a fate at the hands of humans...

Retreating back to the elevated platform, with the entrance corridor behind him.

With Astraeus's warning in place, the God of West Wind did not intend to delve any deeper, but this did not mean that he would just leave.

He ultimately needed an outcome for the events that transpired here.

"…Astraeus, I will find someone to rescue you."

"But before that, you must tell me, what exactly have you been through."

"Who trapped you here, what did they do, and what are their goals?"

"And most importantly…"

"Besides humans, are there any deities involved in this matter?"

His expression grave, the God of West Wind was even more tense in his heart.

He wanted to know the answers to the previous questions, but they weren't that important.

Only the last one was key.

As a deity, he did not believe that other gods would support humans in doing such a thing, but there were always exceptions.

What if, just what if… And what if that very exception was the deity worshipped by Silver Moon City?

After all, this underground space was conveniently located right here, beneath the desecrated temple.

In such a situation, Zephyrus could not help but feel on edge.

Fortunately, at the next moment, when Astraeus's voice resounded, the God of West Wind breathed a sigh of relief at the bottom of his heart.

"…I know… what you're thinking…"

"…There are no… deities involved here…"

"…Not even the Goddess of the Magic Net…"

"Good."

Somewhat relieved, the greatest threat was non-existent, making things much easier to deal with.

However, if no deities are involved, then how exactly had these mortals managed to imprison Astraeus?

Curious, Zephyrus posed the question.

"…Heh…"

"…Zephyrus… you underestimate their despicability…"

"…On your way here… Did you see the oil lamps?"

"…"

"…You've guessed it… right…? Hehehehehahahah cough cough cough…"

Watching the suddenly silent God of West Wind, Astraeus in the center of the altar revealed a crazed smile on his skeleton-like face.

It looked like crying and laughing, but without a single tear.

After a while, the God of the Stars slowly revealed the truth.

"…Yes… cough cough cough… Just as you've guessed."

"…Those are oil lamps… but they are 'divine oil lamps'!"

"…As a primordial deity… my godhood brings me divine power all the time…"

"…And as long as I have sufficient divine power… these humans cannot contain me…"

"…"

Standing at the entrance of the corridor, Zephyrus was momentarily lost for words.

He indeed had guessed it, before Astraeus had even spoken.

But his subconscious actually did not want to believe that a True God would truly face such a calamity.

True Gods are undying; this is the iron law of Chaos.

And their divine power is directly derived from the corresponding laws themselves, never to run dry.

In such a situation, the so-called 'eternal slumber', though terrifying for Chaos's gods, is exceedingly difficult to achieve.

Even a territorial god, no matter how weak, as long as the mountains and rivers corresponding to their divine authority exist, they will not fall into slumber.

Since the dawn of creation to the present, the long slumbers of True Gods were either from backlash from the laws themselves or their own choice.

So in such a case, even if mortals accidentally captured a deity, how would they ensure that it would not rise up in rebellion after restoration?

"…Exhaustion… That's all they can do…"

"…At the beginning… I expended all my strength during the chaos of Typhon… these humans found me… and then secretly brought me back…"

"…At first, they just thought I was a God of Stars… until later… they realized who I was…"

"So they feared me! No, they feared the gods!"

Buzz—

The sound abruptly intensified, triggering a reaction from the pale silver grid, firmly locking Astraeus down.

Pain intermixed with the previously fierce expression on the face of the God of the Stars, before being forced to calm down.

After a long time, seemingly driven a bit mad by the prolonged agony, the deity again raised his head, staring directly at where Zephyrus was.

"…Heh… Heh…"

"…Zephyrus… they fear me… yet they desire me… they don't want to let go of me… yet they are afraid of my power…"

"So this is the only way."

"By bringing my body to the brink of death… extracting blood… bones… fat… organs one by one…"

"…These are the materials they study… they also serve as tools to limit my recovery of divine power…"

"…Now… do you understand?"

There was no response, nor was one needed.

Zephyrus certainly understood, and he was now clear-headed.

In the short time he stayed in Silver Moon City, he almost thought it wasn't too bad.

Even though he couldn't compare with Mount of the Gods in status, what he experienced here was something he had never seen on Olympus.

All of this had caused the God of West Wind to develop some fondness for the city.

"But the fact proves that humans, are just humans."

"The more ignorant they are, the more devout they become."

"The more wise they are, the more sacrilegious they become."

"The Divine King warned All Gods, this is the nature of humans, but only now do I truly realize it…"

"Wizards, should not exist…"

From the human perspective, how they view their kin engaging in human sacrifices in the shadows, Zephyrus was not clear.

But from the standpoint of a deity, all of this before his eyes was unequivocally a sin.