Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 352 A Blow in the Dream

A few months later.

"Fate is the most wondrous thing in the world. The children of two enemies can fall in love, while father and son can turn against each other. Anything that is thought to be eternal and unchanging will eventually be destroyed. Even the gods must lament the capriciousness of fate..."

On the street, a street performer plays his instrument and sings those epic stories with all his might.

The towering hero, extremely majestic, listened for a few moments and then curled his lip in disapproval.

"Not as good as Orpheus."

Even after all these years, the great hero still believes that there is no better lyreist in the world than Orpheus.

On the Argo back then, only the music of Orpheus could rouse the bored heroes, who would sing along loudly to pass the long hours at sea.

Where is Orpheus now?

He couldn't help but miss his many companions from back then.

That joyous and exhilarating adventure still stirs the hearts of those who participated many years later. Legend has it that the aging Jason eventually found the wreckage of the Argo, reminiscing about the past, only to be crushed to death by the figurehead blessed by Athena.

Among the many heroes, Jason was among those who aged the fastest. Indulging in enjoyment and life would cause even the most brilliant heroes to grow old like ordinary people.

Many of the other heroes are still alive and powerful, but the passage of time has inevitably left its mark on them.

Compared to his companions, the great hero was still young and strong. His body showed no signs of aging and was even continuing to grow, seemingly without end.

He is already a living legend on earth, a demigod walking among men.

Every day, he created more legendary tales. Every day, he moved towards a world unimaginable to ordinary people.

But... where are my companions?

Raising his palm and feeling the powerful strength hidden in his strong fingers, the great hero suddenly sighed.

Leaving the past behind, the great hero continued on his journey.

Upon returning home, King Eurystheus was horrified by the sight of the strange birds' corpses. He realized that with this mission completed, the great hero had accomplished five of the ten agreed-upon tasks.

The king wanted to keep his throne, so he racked his brains and tried every means to give the demigod even more difficult tasks.

So, under the arrangement of this usurper king, the great hero must kill a pet of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

In the distant city of Crete, the king once said he would offer a treasure to Poseidon, the god of the sea, and he emphasized that the first treasure he would see afterward would belong to the great earthshaker, the god of earthquakes, Poseidon.

However, when a magical white bull came walking on water from the sea, the king was overcome with greed upon seeing this wondrous and beautiful bull. He broke his promise, secretly hid the white bull, and reluctantly sacrificed an ordinary bull to Poseidon.

The king thought Poseidon wouldn't take his promise seriously, but he was wrong.

Poseidon, having just returned from his hard labor among mortals, was filled with rage. Seeing that mortals dared to deceive him, the god of earthquakes drove the great white bull mad, making its hooves shake the earth to destroy this pitiful and insignificant mortal kingdom.

A mad white bull had been wreaking havoc in this mortal kingdom for seven years, causing immense suffering to the people. Just then, a great hero arrived.

The king was overjoyed at the arrival of the great hero and warmly welcomed him. However, at the banquet, the king confided another worry to the great hero.

"What a great hero! Besides the mad bull, there were also two lions that appeared out of nowhere. The two lions were roaming the fields with several cubs, making the farmers afraid to cultivate their land."

The great hero laughed heartily and confidently decided to first eliminate this threat to the king.

When the great hero arrived in the field, he searched for several days but failed to find the lions. So, the great hero decided to use himself as bait.

He removed his equipment, leaned against a tree naked, pretended to be asleep, and deliberately made snoring noises. After a while, the sound of rustling grass and trees could be heard.

"Snoring..."

The great hero pretended not to notice and snored even louder.

The lion, not far away, hesitated before cautiously approaching. Just as the lion was about to get close, the great hero suddenly opened his eyes and pounced.

The mighty lion tried to resist, but how could it possibly defeat this demigod? Under the great hero's immense strength, the lion struggled for a moment, and tears welled up in its eyes.

The great hero had killed many lions, but he had never seen a lion weep like this.

He was very surprised, so he released his arm, and the lion kowtowed repeatedly, pleading like a human.

"Who are you? Why are you crying? Has some evil wizard cursed you, binding you beneath this lion's skin?"

"The great hero asked."

The lion clumsily wrote on the ground with its paws, and the great hero watched carefully as the lion wrote a passage.

“I am Atalanta.”

Atalanta? The huntress who killed the Calydon Boar?

Hercules knew the name; the infamous Calydon Boar had attracted countless heroes to fight it, and even Ancaius, who was comparable to him, had died by the monster's tusks.

The great hero once tried to hunt down that wild boar, but before he could even set off, the boar was killed by a female hunter with exceptional archery skills.

Legend has it that the hunter named Atalanta was personally taught archery by Artemis, the Queen of the Hunts, and even served as the goddess's handmaiden. However, she ultimately angered Cybele, the goddess of nature, and was transformed into a lion, disappearing without a trace.

"You are Atalanta? What are you doing here?"

The great hero was very surprised.

The lion, or rather Atalanta, shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

Then, the great hero met Atalanta's husband and her children, another lion and several cubs.

The male lion was quite composed, showing no excessive surprise at the sight of the great hero, only bowing his head in respect. The other lion cubs, however, were preoccupied with playing and frolicking, unaware of their parents' actions, and even made threatening gestures upon seeing strangers.

People say that Atalanta and her husband, unable to control their passion, committed blasphemy in the temple of the goddess of nature, and were thus transformed into a pair of lions by her.

Two adult lions clumsily scratched words on the ground with their paws, as if conversing with the great hero.

"Great hero from afar, the goddess has turned us into lions for years, and our sins should be atoned for. We beg you, please save us."

The two lions revealed longing in their eyes.

But even the great hero didn't know how to handle this situation.

He excels at conquering city-states, defeating armies, and slaying monsters. But lifting curses is not his forte.

After thinking for a moment, he tried to offer a sacrifice to his father, presenting a roasted calf to his father in heaven, and asking his father if he could help the two poor people.

After the smoke traveled with the wind all the way to the distant sky, the God-King did not accept the sacrifice from his child.

This is not something he should be involved in; those who blaspheme against the gods should naturally be punished. As the son of the gods, the great hero should be accomplishing his own great deeds, not pleading for these two sinners.

The God-King refused, so the great hero turned to his adoptive mother for help. In the underworld, the Serpent Goddess already knew the reason for all this, but remained silent, refusing her adopted son's plea. She was unwilling to intervene, for it would bring disaster upon her son.

So the great hero turned to his friend Athena for help.

The goddess did not appear amidst the blue smoke.

Just as the great hero was feeling disappointed, the wisp of smoke manifested the form of something else: a gigantic serpent. This illusion was fleeting, almost making one doubt that it was an illusion, but the great hero was certain that it was not.

"Athena, are you telling me to seek guidance from the Father of the Serpent?"

The great hero seemed to be deep in thought.

Then he instructed the two lions, "I'm going to take a nap. Whether you can be saved depends on this last chance."

After saying this, the great hero fell into a deep dream.

A chaotic and frenzied dream, with a dazzling array of colors such as black, red, yellow, purple, and white flashing in disorder, makes the body feel as if it is falling endlessly downwards, instilling inexplicable fear and causing the heart to pound wildly.

Just as he was struggling in this painful state, the great hero suddenly heard a voice.

"I never expected you would dare to ask me for help?"

A deep voice, like muffled thunder, resounded, and in an instant, the entire chaotic dreamscape was illuminated by a beam of white light.

The dream fades, revealing its true nature.

A gloomy and terrifying world, a world in an endless fall.

Mortals are no different from dust in this world, while the magnificent and enormous vertical serpent eyes hang high like the sun and moon, overlooking the entire world.

The great hero's body fell through the air, yet remained under the watchful gaze of those cold eyes.

"Why wouldn't I dare, my godfather?"

The great hero laughed, gazing up at the enormous sun, trying his best not to show any weakness.

He was arrogant and conceited, as if there was nothing in the world he couldn't do.

This was true then, it is true now, and it will be true in the future.

"You want to beg me? You weak little bundle of flesh, do you deserve it?"

The great serpent's disdainful voice rang out, a voice that shook the entire world.

"Of course I deserve it, because I will defeat you."

"The great hero shouted."

The giant snake's sneer grew louder and louder.

"Arrogant ant, you think you can challenge me just because you defeated a few cowardly gods? I'll show you just how big the gap is between us."

The snake's vertical pupils widened, and an invisible force instantly pressed down on the great hero, twisting his limbs.

The great hero's proud and powerful body was as powerless as an infant before this force. His fingers and joints were forcibly bent into bizarre angles, and the great hero seemed unable to resist.

"You weak ant, what can you do after I break your arms and legs?"

The giant snake's wanton laughter rang out.

The pain he hadn't felt in so long came over him, and the great hero almost cried out in agony, but he gritted his teeth and refused to give in.

His fingers trembled slightly, and before he knew it, a spear had appeared in his hand.

The great hero is a demigod, a mortal with divine power; creating things from nothing is not his ability. But this is not reality; it's still a dream, isn't it?

In dreams, anything is possible.

It felt as if there was a flame in my chest, the intense heat spreading throughout my body, as if it wanted to burn me completely, to destroy my mortal self, and to reveal my transcendent self.

It's hot, so hot.

The great hero sensed the flames about to burst forth, so he gripped his spear tightly, roared, and hurled it.

"what!!!"

In an instant, the spear transformed into a beam of light and shot out.

That is something faster than light, for it is a power that exists only in dreams and is nowhere to be found in reality.

The snake's pupils narrowed slightly, as it tried to dodge.

"call!"

Amidst the faint sounds, the dazzling brilliance left only a long afterglow before gradually fading away like fireworks.

Did it hit?

Missed?
The great hero didn't know.

The sound was briefly calm before a deep, angry voice rang out.

"You ignorant little brat!"

Beneath him, the seemingly bottomless abyss opened, and only then did the great hero realize that it was the gaping maw of the great serpent.

The next moment, the great hero was swallowed up by the gaping maw of the abyss.

Awakening from a nightmare, the great hero was covered in sweat and had a splitting headache, as if he had truly experienced a painful ordeal.

Beside him, the lion cubs continued their roaring and playing. The two lions remained anxiously waiting for him. Looking out, the sky outside the cave was already dark.

It feels like I slept for a long time.

At this moment, the great hero felt a pain in his palm. He opened his hand and saw a shallow, strange mark in his palm.

An epiphany occurred.

The moment this hand touches someone, all curses and spells vanish. This is the reward the serpent father has given him.

So... I actually hit it?
Thinking of this, the great hero suddenly burst into laughter, mocking the snake father's rage.

In the endless abyss beneath the underworld, the magnificent and enormous serpent still slumbers. The slumber of the god who devours the world triggers howling winds that churn the entire underworld.

But on the forehead of that enormous serpent, a mark appeared on one of its scales—a faint, almost invisible mark.

Although it was a success in a dream, it is undeniable that at that moment, the great hero did indeed use his courage as a weapon to strike that seemingly invincible force.