Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

"As for dedicating oneself to the cause of the Saint Knight, there is certainly no need for that."

Striding ahead, crossing the scale-engraved stone, Dionysus unconsciously glanced back at this unique curiosity.

Equivalent exchange... It's true that measuring equivalence is the power of the Golden Scales, but what then mediates such an exchange?

Perhaps nothing, if it can only exchange for divine power.

But if it were possible to exchange for other things... Dionysus really wanted to try it out, to see if by pledging some of his divine qualities, he could exchange them for something interesting.

…

A touch of reflection; it was unexpected that someone would use divine power to exchange for a mortal. Although the two are indeed equivalent in a certain sense, Dionysus was certain that this equivalence wasn't in the material and energetic sense.

However, shaking his head, Dionysus ultimately rejected the proposal.

As one who is essentially immortal, there was no need for him to sell himself to other gods.

"I'd rather not, with you leading the way, at least I'm somewhat assured of answering one question correctly."

"As for dedicating oneself to the cause of the Saint Knight, there is certainly no need for that."

Striding ahead, crossing the scale-engraved stone, Dionysus unconsciously glanced back at this unique curiosity.

Equivalent exchange... It's true that measuring equivalence is the power of the Golden Scales, but what then mediates such an exchange?

Perhaps nothing, if it can only exchange for divine power.

But if it were possible to exchange for other things... Dionysus really wanted to try it out, to see if by pledging some of his divine qualities, he could exchange them for something interesting.

…

Leaving Olympia, the party continued westward.

With the Star Shuttle's rapid pace, traversing a fifth of the continent didn't take too much time.

On a scorching sunny afternoon, the ancient Sky Pillar Foundation was already in sight.

The aura of ancientness and ruin hit them full on, making Ande feel quite oppressed.

Clearly, even after almost ten thousand years, some unvanquishing rules still lingered here.

"Is this Mount Othrys? It's a bit different from what I had imagined."

"It's less a collapsed Mount of the Gods and more an endless high wall."

Gazing into the distance, that intangible pressure was palpable.

In Heracles' eyes, there was no Mount of the Gods in the distance, only a 'high wall' with an unknown height, unknown distance, and even more uncertain length.

According to records, this is the fallen mass of Mount of the Gods. From a human perspective, however, it's simply impossible to discern its 'mountainous' shape.

"Call it what you will, mountain or wall, it has already fallen."

"As the only peak that still belonged to the Earth rather than the ancient Mountain God Ourea, the collapse of Mount Othrys was perhaps inevitable."

"The only regret is that the traces of a human tribe at the base of this mountain have also perished with the fall of Mount of the Gods... That tribe was what you admire as the Golden Civilization."

"The Golden Age, huh... Wonder if they were really as righteous and perfect as the records say."

Slightly reflective, the Great Hero had his doubts.

At this, Dionysus remained silent, while Prometheus just smiled.

"Of course they were."

"It's not about whether what they had was righteous and perfect, but rather a perfect justice."

Perfect justice... nothing in this world is perfect.

If anything is, it probably only exists in books or in the dreams of living beings.

...

It is often said that "watching the mountain to run the horse to death"; though Chaos did not have this saying, similar proverbs were not uncommon.

Since catching sight of the 'high walls' shrouded in mist, Heracles had trekked forward for quite some time on foot.

Perhaps due to the fact that Great Divine Power had once unreservedly clashed here, the speed of the Star Shuttle was no longer swift near the broken Heavenly Pillars.

It wasn't until this evening that Heracles finally felt that mysterious Order different from other places.

This was a small valley, though the 'mountains' here looked more like natural barriers formed by the rubble fallen from the collapse of the Sky Pillar.

At the mouth of the valley, a huge stone-carved balance scale stood, blocking the only way in and out of the valley.

"Hmm? What is this for?"

With a slight arch of his brow, seeing this piqued the curiosity of Dionysus.

On this stone scale, he vaguely sensed a unique force of rule, but it was not transformed from a Divine Artifact.

Its existence seemed to be to filter the number of entrants... Looking at this statue that Chiron had mentioned before, the Great Hero explained:

"This is the 'Equal Value Balance,' an oddity shaped by the power of the Divine Artifact Golden Scales and another divine object of unknown origin."

"As for its purpose, just like its name, it's a tool for equivalent exchange."

"Place something you own on one end of the balance to offer to the Goddess, and the Goddess will grant you a crystal forged from equivalent Divine Power."

"So... Does this count as the 'admission ticket' collected by Her Highness Themis?" Dionysus continued to ask.

"No, this is not a ticket."

"On the contrary, it is the last lifeline for those who come here to challenge the Demon."

Gently shaking his head, the Great Hero took a step forward.

He passed directly over the scales, with no intent of making an exchange here. As for whether Dionysus wanted to exchange, that was his own decision to make.

"For thousands of years, countless have come here to challenge the Sphinx. Some for status, some for Fame, some for Strength... But not one has succeeded."

"And the fate of the failures is to be assimilated by the Sphinx's Domain, becoming Dead Souls fallen under its Order."

"Betting one's Life is the cruelest of challenges. Yet losing one's life in a fair contest is something even the Goddess of Justice would not prevent."

"However, perhaps out of her own sense of Justice, Her Highness Themis still provided a chance for the challengers, which is to offer 'themselves' to the Goddess before entering the valley, in exchange for an equal amount of Divine Power under the fairness of the scales."

"When everything about the challenger belongs to the Goddess, even if they fail, they cannot lose their life a second time... To make up for the loss to the Sphinx, Divine Power imbued with Order will also become more savory food for the Demon."

"As for those challengers who escape death, they will dedicate the rest of their lives to the Goddess' teachings, fulfilling their mission upon the Earth... So Dionysus, it's up to you to decide if you want to leave something here."

"This... truly a generous Deity."

Feeling rather moved, it was unexpected to find that someone would exchange Divine Power for a mortal. Even though both parties are indeed equivalent in a certain sense, Dionysus was sure that this equivalence was definitely not the same in terms of material and energy.

But shaking his head, Dionysus ultimately refused the offer.

As a de facto Immortal, he had no need to sell himself to other Gods.

"I'll pass. With you leading the way, at least I have some confidence in getting at least one question right."

"As for dedicating myself to the cause of the Saint Knight, that's unnecessary."

Striding forward, he stepped past the scales, and instinctively, Dionysus took one last look back at this unique oddity.

Equivalent exchange... It is indeed the power of the Golden Scales to measure equivalence, but what then is this exchange based on?

Perhaps nothing, if it can only exchange for Divine Power.

But if it could make other exchanges... then Dionysus really wanted to try, to see if he pledges some of his divine traits, whether he could exchange them for something interesting.

...