Chapter 296: Offer A Sacrificial Dance To The God King!
Humans did not keep the gods in heaven waiting too long.
Under Prometheus’s personal guidance, they quickly made all preparations.
The sacrifice ground was orderly and the etiquette clear, with songs of praise and prayers echoing and carried to the clouds by the wind.
Prometheus took a deep breath and flew to the clouds again to report to the God King.
At this moment, the gods’ discussion about the divine genealogy was in full swing.
Seeing Prometheus ascend, Zeus waved his hand, signaling everyone to temporarily stop their discussions.
Prometheus stepped forward and respectfully reported, “Your Majesty, humans have prepared everything. Please, Your Majesty and all the gods, accept the ceremony.”
Zeus smiled and nodded, only saying, “Begin.”
As His voice fell, His form did not move.
He remained seated on the highest divine seat in the clouds, making it clear that He would observe the ceremony from heaven.
Mortal spirits were not worthy of Him deigning to descend in person to the mortal world.
How could a divine seat, shaped by the hands of mortal spirits with mortal means, be worthy of the Supreme God King to occupy?
This symbolic meaning was extremely serious.
Moreover, the farther mortal spirits were from the gods, the more reverent they would be.
The closer they were to the gods, the more likely they were to develop irreverence.
The current distance was the correct symbol of divine authority.
Prometheus hesitated for just a moment before immediately bowing and saying, “Yes.”
In His heart, He felt both pity and sadness that the exquisite divine seat created with great effort for the children would ultimately have no god to occupy it; yet, He was also secretly relieved.
Since all the gods were in the high heavens, perhaps… they would not see some of the “details” on the ground.
However, He, who remained bowed, ultimately did not see the meaningful flash of a smile in the eyes of the supreme God King on high.
What humans would gain and what they would lose.
What would be watered by the seeds secretly growing in their hearts.
It all depended on how their most important mentor led by example.
After Prometheus descended to the mortal realm again, He looked at the humans waiting below, took a deep breath, and transmitted His solemn voice throughout the entire area with His divine power:
“Your Majesty’s divine power is paramount, supremely good and beautiful! Out of compassion for mortal spirits, and to prevent their spirits and bodies from being harmed by gazing upon Your Majesty’s true form, a special bounty is bestowed, and the ceremony will be accepted from the high heavens!”
“Begin! Offer your most devout faith to the supreme, all-good, and all-beautiful eternal Sovereign Master!”
Prometheus could not bear for the divine seat, which His children had poured their hearts into creating, to be ignored, rendering their hard work and expectations in vain, so He gave them a comforting reason.
He skillfully found the most perfect reason for Zeus’s high and distant behavior.
This both soothed the disappointment of humans and, without making a sound, flattered the God King a little.
Thinking of the crucial next step, He still felt a bit guilty.
However, once He set His mind on something, He would never give it up easily.
The over three thousand human representatives, arranged in neat rows, responded with a resounding “Yes!” upon hearing this.
Then, each took their positions, opening the prelude to the first, and most historical and sacred, sacrificial ceremony between humans and gods.
This sacrifice, in terms of scale, would not be the grandest in history; in terms of value, it might not be the most important.
But it would certainly be the most unforgettable sacrifice in the memory of all humans.
The towering ash branches surrounding the divine palace were ignited, sending up the sacred flames bestowed by the gods.
One hundred and sixty-eight of the purest maidens, clad in pure white gauze skirts woven from white clouds and wearing flower crowns, like flowing light, entered in procession and gracefully ascended the twelve-tiered giant altar.
On the first to eleventh tiers, twelve maidens occupied each level, positioned at the four cardinal directions.
And on the highest tier, closest to the gods, thirty-six maidens were positioned.
They stood solemnly, each according to the specific positions and sacred postures taught by Prometheus.
These maidens were the finest among the Second Generation Humans, embodying the most intelligent and beautiful.
They all possessed pure and healthy bodies, without any flaws or blemishes, and their temperaments were pure, good, simple, and lovely.
The dresses they wore were ornaments made by Prometheus, who “illegally” personally collected heavenly white clouds to create them for the maidens.
Humans needed to present beauty to touch the hearts of the gods.
After all, dancing a sacred sacrificial dance while wearing rough animal hides would be quite an eyesore.
To ensure the sacredness and beauty of this sacrifice, preparing some beautiful clothing to cover these lovely maidens, this should not be considered cheating, right?
After all, if it looked too ugly, it would be better not to wear anything.
But if they didn’t wear anything… that would be even more inappropriate!
It must be known that it was not just His Majesty the God King who was accepting the ceremony in heaven!
Although the Second Generation Humans were considerably inferior to the First Generation Humans in terms of physique, they were still worlds apart from ordinary mortal spirits.
Their bodies were pure and ethereal, their forms light and supple, their skin as delicate as porcelain, and their complexions as fair as snow.
Even more rare were their eyes.
They were pairs of eyes that were transparent, pure, and devoid of any impurities, untouched by the secular world.
Within them, there was only innocence and radiance, only the most sincere adoration and awe for the gods.
And the pride and determination they felt from undertaking their sacred mission.
Such eyes would likely be difficult to find in just one or two more generations.
Accompanying these one hundred and sixty-eight holy maidens were one hundred and sixty-eight warriors, selected from the First Generation Humans as the most valiant and powerful.
They were bare-chested, revealing their weather-beaten, robust muscles, clad in animal hides around their waists, holding heavy cowhide shields in one hand and sharp obsidian battle axes in the other.
They stood in specific positions around the altar, with the most reverent, resilient, and spirited postures.
“Dong—! Dong—! Dong—!”
Accompanied by a deep and resonant drumbeat, the sacrificial dance dedicated to the God King officially began.
These giant drums were created by the Muses, imitating the majestic thunderous charm of the Father God.
They bestowed the method of their creation upon humanity, using this sacred sound to shake the hearts of mortal spirits.
And Prometheus, based on this sacred drumbeat, created this solemn sacrificial music for humanity.
For the sacrificial dance offered to the Lord of Thunder, nothing could be a more fitting accompaniment than these majestic drumbeats, which resembled the heartbeat of the God King.
Around the altar, the brave and strong warriors performed a fierce war dance.
They stomped the earth, swung their stone axes, and let out “heng” and “ha” roars, which merged into a primal and powerful war chant.
On the altar, the pure and lovely maidens performed a gentle dance of reverence.
They extended their flowing sleeves, their bodies swaying, and from their red lips, they softly sang sacred odes to the gods.
Iron blood and tender feelings, violence and gentleness, masculinity and femininity…
These two completely different yet perfectly blended dances were, at this moment, jointly offered to His Majesty the Supreme God King.
This was the warriors, through their actions, swearing to the gods that the military power in their hands existed to protect more beautiful things; they would use their strength to defend the purity and order of humanity!
Through this, they proved that they would forever steadfastly uphold His Majesty the God King’s most beautiful and excellent Holy Justice Order!
As the grand dance commenced, on the east and west sides of the altar, sixty innocent, lovely, intelligent, and agile children each entered in orderly fashion.
The oldest of these children was no more than ten years old.
On each side, they stood in six neat rows and, according to the tune of the song called God King’s Hymn, taught to them by Prometheus, they sang in unison with voices that were still immature but incredibly earnest.
Though their melodies were not mature, their sincerity was as pure as a clear spring.
In the high heavens, even the Supreme God King Zeus, upon witnessing this ceremony that included the “middle-aged, young, and infant” generations of humanity offering themselves to Him with utter reverence and utmost effort, could not help but wear a smile of satisfaction on His majestic face.
These lovely children, innocent and pure, clever and intelligent, would endear themselves to anyone who saw them.
And the innocence and radiance of the maidens truly moved the gods; the valor and progress of the warriors also earned the gods’ admiration.
Prometheus, although He always liked to play little tricks, did indeed possess abilities and did put His heart into His work.
Although… He did indeed use His little tricks a bit too much.
Seeing all this, Zeus secretly decided in His heart: ‘Never mind, given that this “performance” is quite spectacular, I can be a little lenient with Prometheus’s next little move.’
It wasn’t just Zeus who felt joy while watching this sacrificial ceremony.
Many of the gods in heaven watched with great interest and found it very pleasing.
At first, some deities looked down upon mortal affairs with indifference.
But as the drumbeats and songs echoed in the clouds, and they saw the warriors’ passion, the maidens’ innocence, and the children’s singing, the faces of many gods softened involuntarily.
Although humanity’s actions were still somewhat clumsy, their sincerity was enough to compensate for everything, genuinely touching some gods’ long-dormant emotions.
The gods’ perception of humanity grew increasingly favorable.
This newly born intelligent race could indeed make the eternal and monotonous lives of the gods more lively and cheerful.
Among the current Olympus Gods, although the vast majority of gods had their own flaws and their own different hobbies.
However, on the whole, the vast majority were still gods of lawful justice.
There were truly no gods who loved destruction and slaughter, or who were tyrannical and arrogant at present.
Therefore, when they looked at such obedient and devout humans, they naturally felt a sense of favor.
Especially since humanity’s form was extremely similar to the divine bodies of the gods in their normal state.
This external similarity made them seem more approachable from the outset.
