Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

They passed through mountains and rivers, crossed fields and walls, and in an instant scattered to every corner of the world. This was an act allowed by the Divine King, and from then on, perhaps the gods of the Underworld would no longer receive genuine worship from humans, but their existence itself would become an insignificant yet inescapable part of human civilization.

From now on, strife, hatred, calamity, lust, and deceit would run rampant in the Mortal Realm, not a distortion of thought, but a subtle and pervasive influence.

And compared to these intangible disasters, plagues and catastrophes would immediately unfold.

“Consider it a punishment, you betrayed your creator, Prometheus might forgive you, but that does not mean I will.”

Watching all this happen, Epimetheus no longer hesitated, this was the moment he had been waiting for. He landed on the ground, quietly passing through the garden, and opened the wooden door of the room. In front of him, Pandora, with her back to him, watched in disbelief what was unfolding before her.

Black smoke continued to pour out of the jar, announcing its existence to the world. Pandora never imagined this was the so-called ‘gift’.

All the disasters were released by her, as she valiantly tried to put the lid back on the jar, but it was all in vain.

Finally, Pandora, exhausted, sat down on the ground. She watched the various disasters fly out of the jar one by one until, in the end, she saw a glimmer of light.

That was the reflection of a star, which, as everything else left, seemed to sense the change in the environment and prepared to leave the jar to merge into the fate of all humans.

But at that moment, a hand picked up the lid, and the jar that Pandora could not close with all her strength was thus closed.

“You—!”

Pandora turned around abruptly, speechless at the sight of her husband, who had appeared behind her without her noticing. She first wanted to justify her action but then realized something was amiss.

Why was Epimetheus here, how long had he been here, why had he watched everything happen, and, why did he close the last gift back into the jar?

“Shh—don’t be surprised.”

Putting his forefinger to his lips, the Afterthinker signaled his wife to keep her voice down.

“I am also a god, though not a particularly mighty one, but it’s not strange for me to have such power.”

“But, but why didn’t you close it sooner… I just wanted to see what was inside, I didn’t intend to release those things…..”

When she saw the black mist, Pandora already knew what it was. Indeed, the jar could absorb disasters and calamities because it was itself an object designed to confine them.

And now, she had personally released them.

“I know, these are just some disasters. They didn’t exist because of what you did, though future generations will probably record it that way, but in reality, you just gave some people a real excuse to bring them down to the Mortal Realm, making their actions seem a bit more reasonable.”

Epimetheus casually remarked as he glanced at the brand new jar.

“And what about that last one?” Pandora, slowly regaining her composure, looked at her husband, who appeared indifferent, and angrily questioned, “Why did you leave it inside?”

“Who said that, it clearly left as well.”

“Moreover—”

Epimetheus reached out to take the jar, but in the end, he refrained.

“—Pandora, you don’t really consider yourself a member of mankind, do you?”

At that moment, he recalled the words of the Goddess of the Nether Moon, this was a gift from the lord of the Spirit Realm to mankind. If a deity tried to take it, they would certainly pay a price.

Luckily, Epimetheus had no intention of ‘taking’ it. Since it was a gift from the Goddess of the Nether Moon to Pandora, he decided to let her keep it.

“Come, pick it up, we must leave now.”

Smiling, Epimetheus commanded, “Pandora, you have yet to answer—”

“I want you to pick it up.”

As Pandora finally felt the increasingly icy gaze of her husband, she realized that he was not only a well-known fool among the gods but also a true deity. She hesitated, protected as she was by the blessing of the goddess, but in the end, she embraced the jar.

“Very good, Pandora, we are family. Do not regard outsiders as more important than us, like my brothers do.”

“Be it humans or the Divine King, neither are trustworthy. Their fates serve as a clear warning.”

With a satisfied nod, the Afterthinker glanced outside once more. The observer had departed, and they could now ‘escape the crime’.

After all, Zeus wouldn’t pursue the matter, as long as the unknown deity reported everything to him, informing him that all the gifts within the jar had been released. Then Zeus would act as if they didn’t exist, rather than chasing them all over the world.

“Now, the key to breaking destiny is in my hands.”

“Heh, I thought there would be some kind of turmoil, but I didn’t expect everything to go so smoothly… It seems even destiny is on my side, wishing for me to change it.”

With Pandora in tow, Epimetheus pushed open the door.

Their daughter Pitha had not yet returned, but the Afterthinker did not care much for her. If not for needing someone to carry the jar, he wouldn’t even want to take Pandora with him.

Just leave like this, for once he figured out the true purpose of the items hidden within the jar, everything would get better.

Today was perfect.

······

The Sky remained dim, a quiet night like this seemed to hide all secrets, deep and peaceful.

Elsewhere, at the doorway where Epimetheus was preparing to leave, the God of West Wind, who had also witnessed the ‘entire process,’ had long since transformed into an intangible current of air, flying high in the sky.

Without waiting any longer, upon seeing everything within the jar released, he immediately departed. As dawn approached, Zephyrus finally returned to Olympus.

Heading straight for the palace of Zeus, he had thought that Zeus would still be resting, but to his surprise, Zeus had been waiting for a long time.

“Your Majesty, I’ve come to report back to you.”

With a respectful bow, Zephyrus began speaking to the Divine King seated high above:

“As you foresaw, Pandora indeed opened Hades’s gift on her own, unleashing calamities upon the Mortal Realm. Truly, your foresight is unparalleled.”

“I am aware. What else?”

Zeus had known about the calamities the moment the jar was opened. After all, as the Divine King, he would not fail to notice such events.

But what he truly cared about was clearly not the work of his brother.

“The gift from the Goddess of the Nether Moon… It has also been released.”

Zephyrus hesitated, then said with certainty, although he felt a bit confused. Nonetheless, the God of West Wind faintly recalled seeing a flash of light.

It must have been released; there was no mistake, in this regard, Zephyrus trusted his judgment. The fact that he was slightly distracted was rather normal.

Perhaps it was just the fatigue from focusing too long, as even a god can feel tired.