Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 315 Sleeping
Before long, the handsome and amorous prince and the cruel and ruthless hunting queen arrived on the wind. Upon hearing their mother's call, the brother and sister put down everything they were doing.

Looking at his two children, Leto felt both joy and sorrow.

She stepped forward, hugged the two children, kissed their foreheads and cheeks, and then tears streamed down her face.

“My children, my outstanding children, I am proud of you. I am no less than any goddess except Hera. Yet now I am humiliated by an arrogant and ignorant mortal woman.”

“She has overturned my altar, tarnished my reputation, and even claimed that you are inferior to her children. If you do not help me, how can I face the other gods?”

The goddess, increasingly saddened as she spoke, choked up in her voice.

Her birth was naturally extraordinary; she was the child of the ancient Titans and should have enjoyed honor, but she was forced to hide because of Hera's anger.

For so many years, she had kept herself in check, carefully avoiding being noticed by Hera. But a goddess like herself had to stoop so low, and now even a mortal dared to mock her. Years of bitterness and resentment welled up in her heart, making her increasingly depressed.

Apollo gazed down at the mortal world and saw the overturned altar, and immediately understood the cause and effect.

“My mother, there is no need to complain. We will now let that mortal taste the bitterness of punishment.”

Apollo strummed the harp in his hand, his slender fingers gently plucking the strings, producing a crisp sound. As he played, he spoke slowly and deliberately.

The handsome young man's smile faded, his expression turned cold, and the usual sunshine was gone from his eyes. Beside him, however, the queen, who loved hunting and took pleasure in taking lives, laughed—a cruel and terrifying smile.

The two great gods flew through the clouds and arrived above Cadmus City in a short time.

He reached out and nocked an arrow, killing Amphion's eldest son, who was hunting on horseback, with a single shot. The eldest son, Ismenos, clutched his wounded chest and fell to the ground.

Without stopping, the two great gods continued to hurl arrows, some striking the men's necks, others piercing their throats, and still others piercing their eyes, killing them in various ways. They didn't even spare the young children, who were only a few years old, and in an instant, they had slaughtered all the king and queen's sons.

During this time, the mortals panicked and tried to hide, flee, or even fight back with their precious bows and arrows, but to no avail. The cold-blooded archer was unmoved and only found it laughable.

After killing all seven children, the god intended to leave, but Apollo, who was skilled in prophecy, persuaded his sister to stay.

"My sister, please wait a moment."

As he spoke, the deity pointed to the city, indicating that the matter was not yet over, and then gave a cold snort.

The two deities remained hidden in the clouds. Before long, the queen heard the news from outside the city, her face turning deathly pale. She rushed to the city gates with her daughter, and upon seeing the corpses of her seven sons, she immediately understood that this was the goddess's revenge.

"You wicked goddess, you've won! You've already won! You're the victor! Just watch all this with glee, you tyrannical woman!"

The queen glared angrily at the sky, then collapsed to the ground in a daze, weeping uncontrollably. She regretted her slip of the tongue and was furious at the death of her son.

Meanwhile, her seven daughters came to comfort their mother. Surrounded by her daughters, the queen found some solace in seeing so many of them around her.

Immediately, a sense of pride arose in her heart.

Filled with rage and a sense of triumph, she raised her head and looked mockingly at the sky, at the invisible goddess.

"Yes, you won, but so what? Even though you killed my seven sons, I still have more daughters than your children."

A sense of catharsis welled up within her. Even though her sons were dead, she still had these seven beautiful and charming daughters, didn't she? In any case, they were far more than that poor woman's children.

But then, she vaguely heard a voice.

"idiot……"

The mocking male voice was followed by the sharp clang of a bowstring.

One of her daughters, who was standing beside her, fell to the ground. Then, arrow after arrow fell, and several of her daughters collapsed to the ground.

The queen, realizing what was happening, looked terrified. She only had time to shield her youngest daughter with her body and looked up at the sky, pleading.

"Please leave one for me, please leave one for me, for Zeus's sake."

The queen wailed, but the arrow still deftly avoided her body and struck her youngest daughter, whom she was sheltering beneath her.

The Great God didn't kill her, because the Great God wanted her to experience the most painful sorrow.

As the queen was lost in grief, she received one last piece of devastating news: her husband, upon hearing of the tragedy that befell their son and daughter, had committed suicide in despair.

Thus, this woman, who once possessed all the happiness in the world, lost her husband, son, and daughter. She was all alone.

Afterwards, it is said that the woman jumped into the sea and committed suicide.

……

This matter soon reached Zeus's ears.

Logically speaking, this was ultimately just an ordinary grudge, not worth Zeus's attention, but the father of gods and men was unusually deep in thought.

Before long, the King of Gods began to intentionally or unintentionally restrain the gods, preventing them from descending to the mortal realm at will. "Hmph, do you know why Zeus suddenly restricted the gods from descending to the mortal realm?"

The serpent slumbered deep within the underworld, but the snake woman would occasionally come to tell it about the outside world. When Zeus's actions were mentioned, the serpent would merely sneer and dismiss them with disdain.

Although the snake woman had some guesses, she still obediently shook her head.

Since the Father God rarely had time to spare, she naturally had to flatter him.

The giant snake didn't care about the snake woman's feelings.

"Zeus doesn't care about the life or death of a few mortals on earth, even if they are his descendants, but the arrogance and indulgence of Tantalus and Niobe say something."

The giant serpent's vertical pupils were slightly open, cold and ruthless, and it slowly breathed in the winds of the underworld through its nostrils.

The aura of the underworld is cold and gloomy; mortals who come into contact with it will fall ill. The great serpent, however, only felt drowsy. The thought that it would have to endure this aura for another ten thousand years made it impatient.

"He originally intended for the gods to directly govern the world, but Tantalus and Niobe both proved that mortals who have been in contact with the gods for too long will lose their awe of the gods and instead want to test the boundaries of the gods."

"Tantalus killed his own son and served as a meal to the gods in order to test whether the gods were truly omniscient. Niobe, on the other hand, dared to mock the goddess because of her exalted status. In the past, even the gods would send blessings and gifts to her wedding, and her treasures included many of the gods' tools. She wore the clothes of the gods and used the tools of the gods."

"Those gods didn't care about this, but they didn't realize that for mortals, since their clothing, food, and daily life were no different from the gods', and their interactions were with the gods and fairies of heaven and earth, then what difference was there between them and the gods? Or rather..."

"What difference is there between God and oneself?"

Her slightly open pupils looked down at the small figure in front of her, and the small figure was also reflected in her pupils.

“Mona, this is human nature. Zeus recognized this human nature, so he gave up on letting the gods directly manage the earth and restricted the gods from frequently descending to the mortal realm, because the gods were not suitable to manage the earth.”

The snake woman thought for a moment, then asked.

"Since Zeus no longer allows the gods to directly manage the earth, then who will manage it? This king of the gods would never give up control over the earth."

The giant snake did not answer, but instead let out a cold snort and slowly fell asleep.

The lion king knew perfectly well what the dozing lion was thinking, but it simply watched coldly from the sidelines.

Realizing that the giant serpent had fallen asleep again, the snake woman was not surprised. She simply retreated silently, waiting for the day when the giant serpent would awaken again.

While the giant snake was asleep, it also dreamed of some things.

"..."

In the fragmented images, a figure can be vaguely seen, its gaze filled with pity, like a mother looking at her child, its lips moving slightly as if it were saying something.

A prophetic dream? Or what kind of dream was it?

The giant serpent didn't care. Its dreams allowed it to see the past, future, and present, but such things were never something it cared about.

"Typhon..."

"...You're back..."

The figure seemed to be saying something, her gaze gentle.

In contrast, the giant snake simply yawned and decided to ignore the images.

"..."

After saying something, the figure seemed to realize that the audience was not interested, but did not care. Instead, it seemed to be smiling.

"..."

After that, the figure seemed to say a lot more, but the giant snake completely ignored it.

After that, the dream shattered, and the giant serpent fell into a deep sleep.

……

Above the underworld, the Earth God, who had slept for many years, slowly returned to slumber after a brief awakening.

She has lived for too long and is tired of everything. She should have gone into complete hibernation like the other primordial gods, but she was only briefly awakened after being touched.

The god of the earth looked towards the underworld, said something, and then fell asleep again.

...It's good that you're back...

(End of this chapter)