The Greece Antagonist

At nightfall, War God Mountain.

After a day's hard work, the refugees from Crete Island sat in an open area, waiting for the two princesses to distribute their dinner.

Because too many Minosians had flooded into Athens at once, even though the King of Athens had prepared places for them to stay in advance, they were rudimentary shelters that only provided protection from the wind and rain, with many necessities still missing and needing to be gradually added.

Therefore, for a short while, this group of wanderers would have to eat communal meals.

To this, one princess was composed and the other loved to cause a stir, yet they had no objections.

Hestia, who rarely had the opportunity to exercise her expertise, agreed with both hands raised.

Although she was a deity, she regarded these commoners, with whom she had lived in close contact for so long, as her neighbors and friends.

While King Minos and that group of respectable warriors were resolved to die, the fact that she could not extend them a helping hand at a crucial moment was true as well.

Hence, Hestia always held a sense of guilt about this.

Now that she had a chance to make some reparations, she naturally was overjoyed and enthusiastically threw herself into preparing meals every day.

The evening meal was still abundant with delicious stewed meat and filling bread, and the two princesses were responsible for serving the meals.

As steaming food was passed into their hands, the princesses also served each one a cup of sweet wine as a source of comfort after supper.

In the beginning, seeing the royal bloodlines that had once been so exalted, bending and kneeling to serve them, the Minosians gathered together felt somewhat flattered and even some of the old folks with outdated notions absolutely refused to accept it.

But as time went on and the people realized that the two princesses were not putting on a show, they gradually relaxed, and the colors of their classes faded away, their bonds of blood drew them together.

——"Wine is our blood; we will sacrifice for you."

——"Our blood is thicker than water; we are connected by blood!"

To drink this cup of wine was to meet in dreams with those ancestral spirits who faced death and with their own departed loved ones.

So even the commoners, who were unashamed of their bloodline and unashamed of the land, could also boldly raise their cup, embracing this crimson gift.

"Sister Fedra, I dreamed about father."

"Me too, but I dreamed about Sister Sefira from the temple."

"And Uncle Florence, he smiled at me in the dream!"

A few children, unaware of the complexities of sorrow, gathered around the fourth princess Fedra, chatting noisily, their little faces brimming with pride.

A group of adults, in the midst of eating, heard these words and names, chewed their food, and showed a smile akin to a grin, with hardly an atmosphere of sadness around them.

Greeks fear death, attributing both sleep and death to the domain of Hades.

However, they felt differently.

Just as the scribe had said, life is labor and a test, providing only brief rest, and at the end of the journey, death is the eternal slumber.

After people die, the goddess of night ushers them into the Netherworld.

There, a black river rages, carrying the pain of the living world.

Behind the river is a vast expanse of gray plains, known as the Elysian Fields, from where two paths diverge, one leading to the abode of happiness—Elysium and the other to the abode of pain—Tartarus Hell. The departed souls receive the judgment of justice before the Court of Judgment in the Elysian Fields.

King Minos, whom they revered, would make a fair judgment based on their deeds and crimes in life.

Those guilty will receive various degrees of punishment in Tartarus according to their sins, while the innocent will lead a carefree and quietly happy, blissful life in the beautiful and peaceful Elysium.

Therefore, compared to life, death was not to be feared; life was a difficult journey that needed to be endured.

"Sister Fedra, I want to see Dad soon, can I...?"

The boldest child made a startling query, looking up expectantly at Princess Fedra, the high priestess of the God of Wine.

"No! Absolutely not!"

Princess Fedra firmly shook her head, dismissing the child's dangerous idea. She placed her hands on those tender shoulders and earnestly advised.

"Meaningless suicide is a disgraceful act spurned by the God of Wine, for it means you're trampling on life and rejecting the trials of living. Those who do it deserve only to dwell in Tartarus Hell!"

"And if you want to reunite with your father in the Elysian fields, you must live your life well, wait until you've completed life's journey, and then you can stand before your relatives with a proud chest, telling the judges and your loved ones that you have not betrayed the divine teachings and have not wasted your time! Do you understand?"

The easy-to-understand teachings flowed from the young girl's mouth. The child listened intently, word by word, and gradually had an epiphany. The look of despair in his eyes was replaced by determination, and he nodded vigorously to his priestess sister, assuring her.

"Yes! I will surely take good care of Mom and my sister and not let Dad and the Deities down!"

Seeing the child's enlightenment, Princess Fedra couldn't help but nod in satisfaction, and she patted the child's head, filled with a sense of achievement.

Like the Minosians who often dreamed recently, she, too, had dreams.

In those dreams, apart from her beloved father, there was also that dim and mysterious, tall and handsome God of Wine.

In her dreams, he often taught her some strange principles and stories, which she would then convey to her fellow Cretans.

Fedra, with a try-it-and-see attitude, did as instructed and found that, after hearing these words, her companions' somber spirits markedly improved. They began to emerge from their grief and confusion, and with greater courage and passion, they strove to live their lives well.

The little one who harbored thoughts of death just now had reignited the hope for life; he was the best example.

"Mmm, the God of Wine, he must be a very good and handsome man!"

Looking at her fellow countrymen drinking the fine wine, dozing off in a slight daze with happy smiles on their faces, the fourth princess felt quite proud and couldn't help but mutter softly.

Meanwhile, the scribe upstairs, peering through the window, heard that childlike murmur and couldn't help but shake his head, smiling wryly.

Whether in the memories of his original form as the Orphic Sect or in the nowadays reformed Dionysian Sect, their core tenets shared one common feature.

That was to advise people to indulge in life, not foolhardiness, to always heed the rules, and to love their own lives.

You can choose to be a hero who accomplishes great deeds, or a traveller who conquers mountains and seas, or maybe rise with the sun and rest with its set, finding warmth in blood relations amid a plain life...

No matter the choice, as long as you live your life well and express your true self, there is no distinction between high and low, noble and humble, and you will be worthy of the teachings of the Deities.

These are the beliefs that Luo En, utilizing the brief intervals of entering dreams, imparted to his Dionysian high priestess, who then spread them to more people of Minos.

The results were clearly visible. This comfort to their souls allowed the recently bereaved Minosians to quickly overcome their sorrow and throw themselves into new construction and the passing on of civilization.

At the same time, it provided Luo En with a vast amount of power of faith, the frequently mentioned God of Wine.

In a dimly lit room, a pale hand opened, and a rich flow of golden light gathered in its palm, almost material.

Seeing this pleasing harvest, Luo En nodded slightly, contentedly fidgeting with the serpent-etched twelve-sided die in his hand.

It must be said that, to make the believers accept "the divine teachings" so wholeheartedly, it was largely thanks to the efficiency of that Witchcraft Goddess in the Netherworld.

Indeed, in just a couple of days, King Minos and the group of warriors who died in battle began to take up their posts, forming the Netherworld's Court of Judgment, and through entering dreams, conveyed their messages to the survivors of Crete.

With this support, the tripartite concepts of "Hell", "Purgatory", and "Heaven" that Luo En constructed also swiftly took root in people's hearts.

The surviving ones were more convinced than ever that everything was thanks to the "God of Wine," and they earnestly followed this benevolent deity's guidance, shedding their mental burdens and loving their lives even more.

Naturally, this group of 'tame lambs' also provided the 'Deities' with a vast and pure power of faith in the process.

Luo En, looking down at the earth connected to the Netherworld, and then looking up at Mount Olympus concealed among the stars, curled his lips into a mocking smile.

Fear and darkness are not the only ways to make life revere and follow;

Warmth and light can just as willingly make moths flutter into the flame to offer themselves!

So, it's time to update the version of faith, old folks!