Chapter 582 - 73: Apollo, Prophecy
"This is Delphi..."
Shen Fei and the Moon God walked on the bustling main street, where the hustle and bustle even surpassed that of Ephesus. The key point was that people around were also discussing philosophy.
Whether it was Socrates, or Aristotle and so on.
The atmosphere of knowledge discussion in Delphi was much stronger than in Ephesus.
"Let’s go to the Apollo Temple." Shen Fei naturally couldn’t directly summon Apollo; in fact, Gods officially couldn’t easily descend their power to the Mortal World.
Do you think you’re Zeus?
At most, the most correct way for a god to descend their power to the Mortal World is through a believer’s summon, and often it has to be a priest who can summon a god.
Shen Fei wanting to find Apollo, naturally, could only go to the Apollo Temple.
Fortunately.
The Divine Authority represented by Apollo was very down-to-earth. Although he lost on the side of Troy in the Trojan War at that time, Apollo’s belief wasn’t much suppressed.
In the future, leveraging his Divine Authority of "art" and "prophecy," Apollo even abolished Helios’ "Sun" rank and acquired the "Sun" Divine Authority.
Making his renown in Greece even greater than before the Trojan War.
Many went to worship and pray at his temple in Delphi, and Shen Fei knew the way just by asking around.
After a moment.
A grand, temple-like Apollo Temple appeared in the eyes of Shen Fei and the Moon God.
Apart from the square paved with white marble, a divine path extended upwards, lined with monuments on both sides, on which various city-states’ offerings to Apollo were engraved.
The source of the offerings, the main devotees were all carved on them.
This divine path was filled with people, some kneeling with every step, slowly moving upwards. Seeing this, Shen Fei raised his brow slightly, ’It seems Apollo’s influence in Greece surpasses his imagination, almost comparable to God King Zeus.’
This path stretched upwards, and finally, the Apollo Temple appeared before Shen Fei.
Compared to the Artemis Temple, the Apollo Temple was more exquisite, so much so that it seemed like an artwork not of this world.
Upon stepping into the Delphi Temple, or rather the Apollo Temple.
A priest wearing priestly robes hurried towards them, with symbols representing Apollo’s Divine Authority like the lyre, bow and arrow, laurel, snake, swan, and crow embroidered on the robe.
The priestly robe was draped over a maiden, younger even than the Moon God, exuding a simple, youthful air, with clear, flawless pupils.
"Pithia!"
The Moon God spoke, and Pithia smiled, saying, "Iphigenia, what brings you here?"
Though Pithia hadn’t received any education, as a priest of Apollo, especially one who conveys divine oracles, she could easily recognize the person before her.
This was the ability granted to her by the god.
Not being educated means untainted by worldly pollution, allowing her to convey divine oracles in their pure form to the world.
Otherwise, the divine oracle would only be twisted by those with intentions.
But the Moon God just stepped back a little, indicating that the leader this time was Shen Fei.
Upon seeing Shen Fei, Pithia’s pure eyes widened, resembling an innocent child, "Divine Awakener of Artemis."
A Divine Awakener was different from those priests; priests indeed held a high rank, but in the system of the Divine Spirit, they were merely the spirits’ representatives, responsible for conveying divine oracles.
But a Divine Awakener represented the will of the god in the Mortal World; as long as his actions were not blocked by a god, it indicated that he was the god in the Mortal World.
Every action and word was the majesty of the Divine Spirit.
"Hello." Shen Fei was still courteous to the priest of Apollo, mainly because Apollo himself had a more flourishing belief in the Mortal World.
Moreover, his Divine Authority of "prophecy" could be said to incite disturbances in the Mortal World, and even among the divine spirits, every time the divine oracle descended.
"Follow me."
Pithia led Shen Fei into the temple, explaining as they walked, "In the temple, the god’s statue only occupies the second place; the most prominent place is the sacred pool where the Divine Oracle descends.
This is the god’s compassion and mercy to humanity."
Shen Fei nodded slightly, indicating that Apollo indeed leaned towards mankind, knowing the source of his Divine Authority, which was indeed smart.
Though it might also be because his "Sun" Divine Authority was seized through such methods, fearing Helios might use the same method to reclaim the "Sun" Divine Authority.
Thus consolidating his Divine Authority.
Pithia led Shen Fei to Apollo’s statue, as he was the Divine Awakener, even Pithia couldn’t converse directly with Shen Fei.
Under the god’s gaze, Pithia could also represent Apollo, counted as a conversation between the divine spirits behind them.
When Shen Fei saw Apollo’s statue, the surrounding symbols of Apollo flickered, and the original stone statue suddenly came to life.
Causing Pithia, who was about to speak, to close her mouth, bowing respectfully, "Welcome, my god."
Shen Fei watched as the statue transformed into an extremely handsome man, brimming with masculinity, dressed in Greek-style clothing fashioned from an uncut piece of cloth.
"The Divine Awakener of Artemis? Isn’t my sister presently watching Alexander’s birth?"
Apollo looked at Shen Fei, contrasting Artemis’s gentle calm, with a more passionate and sunny demeanor.
"Honorable Sun God, I have come to inform you that a god seeks to harm my god."
"Harm?"
Apollo frowned slightly, he had been handling other matters lately, and although seizing the "Sun" Divine Authority aligned with the father’s will, it did provoke dissatisfaction amongst the old god factions.
Hence, he hadn’t delved much into mortal affairs, even used the divine oracle scarcely.
So he hadn’t been attending to Artemis’s affairs either, but after all, she was his twin sister, fundamentally a natural ally on Mount Olympus, having been born together.
Often they shared similar ’rank’ and ’Divine Authority’.
If that were the case, they wouldn’t have been born from the same source, just one person.
Shen Fei explained that the Artemis Temple might be burned, and it was very likely the handiwork of Ares and Hephaestus...
"Ares?"
Apollo’s brow furrowed slightly, knowing how troublesome Ares could be, and extremely powerful at that.
If not for the Trojan War where Athena weakened part of Ares’s "war" Divine Authority.
In this war-torn era, Ares’s power might even rival that of God King Zeus.
As for Hephaestus, he only remembered him for having a very beautiful wife, who was also Ares’s lover; of course, Hephaestus’s wife had tried to seduce him too, which is why he remembered.
Apollo’s eyes began to glow faintly gold, activating his "prophecy" Divine Authority.
Only to find the usually clear future now turned into a labyrinth of tangled threads.
Laxsis, with a worried face, looked at this tangled mess of threads, seemingly aware of Apollo’s arrival.
She seemed to want to reveal something, but opened her mouth only to remain silent.
Apollo continued looking back, yet only saw a mist.
Finally only seeing at the end of the mist the Artemis Temple burning in a fiery blaze, and the cry of an infant resounding in the Macedonian Kingdom.
"On the night of the silver bow’s break, the king with double pupils will tear the purple sky."
Apollo withdrew his "prophecy" Divine Authority, his previously radiant face turning into a worried expression, even his "prophecy" couldn’t see the details in here?
Fate?
The word flashed through Apollo’s mind; to constrain his "prophecy" Divine Authority could only be a higher "fate".
But soon.
Apollo’s gaze fell on Shen Fei; he held the "prophecy" Divine Authority, who could see the nearly mist-shrouded future, with a deeper understanding of "prophecy."
Even he couldn’t see any signs of Ares and Hephaestus’s orchestration; how did this man know?
"Stay here for a couple of days, Pithia. Take good care of them!"
Apollo took a deep look at Shen Fei, then transformed back into a statue. Pithia looked at Shen Fei and the Moon God, "Honored guests, please follow us."