Chapter 1470 - The Temple of Apollo (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Apollo, the only god who retained his original name after being transferred from the Greek to the Roman religious system. Many people in later generations only knew that Apollo was the sun god in ancient Greek mythology, but in the Greek legends, Apollo was the god or arts. It was not until the fifth century BC that Apollo was accorded the title “god of sun and light”. After the Romans included Apollo into their religious system, they did not give him a new name like they did to other Greek gods. And in the evolution of mythology, Apollo was recognized as the god of music, healing, prophecy, the sun and light, and so on. In the Roman mythological system, Apollo’s multiple roles reflected the level of imagination of people from that period.

It also mirrored the collapse of the divine realm.

The reason was straightforward. When the Thunder Colossi—Zeus’ family—on Mount Olympus was still powerful, they directly ruled the creatures on Earth. Their existence was real and unquestionable. The mortals on the ground knew the gods they served and what kind of power their gods possessed. But as the army of the demon hunters brought down the protective barrier of Olympus, Zeus and all his family members were caught up in the war. They no longer had time for earthly things. For hundreds of years, the connection with the divine realm had been intermittent, and the priests on Earth had to find ways to maintain the status and influence of the gods they worshipped. So aside from feigning some stories about the deities, there was nothing else the priests could do.

So people’s understanding of their gods was blurred and shrouded in a mysterious veil as they accorded the gods with more and more roles as well as titles.

When there were no religious activities and celebrations, temples were relatively deserted. At the moment, the Romans had yet to enter the period where people would be immersed in worldly pleasure and indulgence. They still needed to spend a great deal of time working. Those who came into the temples on regular days were mainly nobility or people seeking help during a personal crisis. Today, the temple was mostly deserted. Hao Ren and his entourage stepped into the temple and saw the empty hall. The statue and altar of the sun god, Apollo, stood majestically as a few monks cleaned the altar.

Hessiana glanced at the statue of Apollo and twitched her mouth. “His eyes are too big.”

Hasse also took a look and said, “This is the one I killed.”

Hao Ren was speechless.

The monks had noticed the group of uninvited guests in the holy temple talking and pointing at the statue disrespectfully. An old man wearing a purple-edged white robes came up to them. He glanced at Hasse cautiously as if his years of serving the god had enabled him to sense the demon-hunter air of Hasse. “Are you here to seek guidance from the Great Apollo?”

Hao Ren glanced at the old man and said, “Who is the high priest here?”

The old man stood upright. He was as proud as any priests in this era. “I am the high priest.”

Hao Ren nodded. “Well, we have to talk to Apollo. Please contact him for us.”

The old man was startled. He does not sound like one who comes to seek guidance or is a worshipper, the old man said to himself. He had been here for most of his life as a priest and yet no one had ever come up with such a request. “Do not be rude! Do you know that this is a sacred place?”

Hessiana stepped forward. “Of course we know, that is why we come to look for Apollo. Otherwise, where else can we find Apollo?”

The old priest blinked and thought that they were barbarians who had no clues of the rules of the civilized world. He patiently explained, “If you mean to listen to the revelation of God, then you should first—”

Lily had run out of patience. She stepped forward and grabbed the collar of the old priest while a pair of pointed wolf ears popped up on her head. “Old man, can you not understand? We want to talk to Apollo. Look at my ears, do you still not figure out who we are?”

The old priest was scared stiff looking at Lily’s wolf ears. And then he saw Hessiana had summoned a blood-red energy ball and finally came to his senses. “You… you guys are deities?”

At this time, the Mythological era had not yet over, and the demon hunters were already right up on Mount Olympus, but the otherworldlings were a common sight in the human world. To ordinary humans, these otherworldlings were gods.

Hao Ren had all this while been dealing directly with the gods, this weird social and religious phenomenon appeared a bit ridiculous in his eyes. But during this era, this understanding was common sense, even part of human life.

Lily nodded with satisfaction. “Very good. We need to see Apollo, but Olympus is closed. We know you have a sacred object by which you could contact Olympus.”

Hasse chimed in and said coldly, “It is your honor.”

Cold sweat trickled down the old priest’s forehead on the shoulders. He then suddenly shouted at the junior priests and monks. “Fast! Close the temple gate!”

The massive entrance shut. If this happened during the day, it would arouse speculation among the people. But Hao Ren and his team could not care less about what the people thought. The old priest brought them further inside the temple. There, another statue and altar of Apollo stood, but there was no worship place for the general believers. It was a place used only by the priests of the temple.