[Congratulations on completing the beginner's guide mission—Meet the reincarnation of Athena. The Pegasus Cloth has been issued. Please check for receipt.]
[Please participate in the Galaxian Wars and obtain the Sagittarius...]
Seiya closed the semi-transparent panel that had popped up from the system. This useless system served no purpose beyond the beginner's rewards. His attention was now on the goddess before the spring, Athena.
In Europe, springs were seen as symbols of life and the moon, and also as symbols of the Roman goddess Minerva. There was even a saying, "The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk." This Minerva was the Greek goddess Athena, transmitted to Rome and mixed with a local deity.
In ancient times, people could not explain the phenomenon of hot springs, so they regarded them as "sacred places." Moreover, because the ancient Romans discovered that hot springs had therapeutic effects for many illnesses, they believed even more strongly that this was a gift from the goddess Minerva. As early as 43 BC, after the Roman army invaded and ruled Britain, the Romans built many large bathhouses for saunas and swimming in Bath, a place they identified as a site of miracles for the goddess of springs and wisdom, Sulis Minerva.
The ancient Romans endowed this goddess, Sulis Minerva, with almost omnipotent abilities. In Roman mythology, Minerva also presided over poetry, musical composition, and healing. Lead tablets discovered in the ancient Roman baths there show that she was also a deity to whom people prayed for the punishment of wrongdoing. The curses on those lead tablets were mostly written in Latin, with occasional use of Celtic languages. Many of the curses have been translated into English and are hung beneath the ceiling of the exhibition hall.
Seeing the girl before him, Seiya understood the reason for his resurrection.
"O, warrior of mine. As you can see, this humble one is currently in this youthful form, which is proof that I am incomplete," Athena said, sitting on a green stone before the hot spring, her voice soft and detailed as she explained things to Seiya.
Whether as Athena or Minerva, she had symbolic connections to the trinity. And Athena's awakening from myth was not the work of some dark cultist sorcerers. Through a series of coincidences, her divine status and age were currently in a state of disqualification. And these lost parts had manifested in the form of the divine artifact, the Stone of the Gorgon.
"This humble one saved you from the hands of Heracles. I do not wish for you to walk into this great war of myths again. For now, act as the agent of this goddess's will and go retrieve the lost parts for me."
The Heracles that Athena spoke of was none other than the war god Verethragna.
As the cultural influence of Persia spread to ancient Greece before the common era, Verethragna was given a new Greek name, Artagnes, and was considered the guardian of roads and travelers. His image was that of a man with a club, draped in a lion's skin, which became a major source for the later image of Heracles.
Myths constantly spawn new branches and different appearances as civilizations evolve. It is a fascinating part of digging through history to see familiar mythological figures playing out different stories in unfamiliar lands.
But at this moment, Seiya shook his head. "Please allow me to refuse."
"Why?" Athena did not get angry, but asked softly.
"Retrieving your lost half for you is my duty, without a doubt. But right now, heretical gods who defy myth are waging a great war upon this land. That is something I cannot pretend not to see."
"Even if it costs you your life?" Athena asked.
"If I die there, then it can only be said that such is my fate." Seiya knelt on one knee, gently stroking Athena's soft, silver hair. "Thank you, little Athena. I promise you, as long as this life of mine has not reached its end, I will return to your side."
The still-youthful Athena was not a skilled debater at this moment. At the same time, her wisdom gave her the sharp eyes of an owl, and she could naturally see that her warrior's mind was made up.
It was just that in her view, her warrior had no chance of victory.
His battle against the war god in the seaside town of Aranci had been a stroke of extreme luck. His martial arts skills were indeed able to contend with a god, but the war god at that time had only recovered a small portion of his divine power. The avatars and Authorities he possessed had not played a decisive role against Seiya; in some ways, they had even been countered.
The Strong Wind, the Ram, and the Youth—even the most effective of them, the Warrior, had not displayed its true effect because its opponent did not possess divinity or Authority.
If his opponent had possessed any of his other avatars—the second, the Bull; the fourth, the Camel; or the seventh, the Phoenix—Seiya's only outcome would have been defeat. He would have even been captured whole by the sixth avatar, the Youth.
Although he had grown significantly after experiencing that hellish battle, he still had no chance of victory challenging a war god who had recovered ninety percent of his power.
However, Athena still gestured for Seiya to come forward.
"If you have already decided to walk this perilous path, then this humble one can only give you her blessing. Because I know that no matter how impossible things may seem, there is always a sliver of a miracle."
Though it was a little awkward, Seiya did as Athena's gesture requested and bowed his head before her.
Seeing Seiya finally shorter than her, Athena revealed a satisfied smile, and then placed the olive branch wreath from her own head onto his.
He didn't feel anything. Seiya reached up to touch it, but Athena lightly slapped the back of his hand.
"My heart follows wisdom, seeking knowledge in madness and folly, only to learn that all is but a chasing after the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief, and to increase knowledge is to increase sorrow. Seiya, your blade is my eye. I will help it cleave the darkness before you."
Seiya was amazed to find that the olive wreath on his head dissolved into specks of golden light that swirled around him. Most of it drilled into the Prometheus Grimoire, while a smaller portion seeped into his heart.
He didn't know what Athena had done; he felt no change in his body at all.
But Athena's face was full of exhaustion. Her youthful body, which had appeared to be twelve, now looked to be only that of a young child.
"In the name of Athena, the goddess of victory, bring victory before this humble one."
Seiya kissed the goddess's thumb. It was an oath of power and victory. Then he turned, once again transforming into a light gust of wind, and vanished from the quiet, lonely forest.
—Sardinia, northwest, the Sassari region.
This was the northwesternmost tip of Sardinia, and also the origin point of the aurora and the God War.
The lightning that appeared in the sky was the weapon of the God King. The hurricane that rose from the earth to the heavens was the wings of the war god.
Both were racing across the land at divine speed. The land they passed over was hit as if by a Category 12 hurricane, destroying all buildings in their path.
But at this moment, both of them, in unspoken agreement, stopped their spears and swords.
Because from the other side, from the east, a third party was intervening in this battlefield that belonged only to the gods.
_____
Greetings! ✨ Walnut here with another translation! Saint Seiya united by their strength!
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