Earth Mother's Visit

Five hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye since Sky Father's last fit of rage.

Just as Ryan had expected, a hundred years after the Cyclopes were imprisoned in the Abyss, the God King flew into another rage with the birth of the three Hundred-Armed Giants.

They had fifty heads and a hundred arms, and were born with immense strength. They were named Briareos, Cottus, and Gyges. Although they held no Divine Office, the Hundred-Armed Giants still possessed an immortal essence. Their innate strength was so great that, when they joined forces, they could even defeat a Titan who had reached Intermediate Divine Power.

But no matter what abilities they possessed or how many times Earth Mother pleaded on their behalf, the great King of the Gods still could not tolerate their existence.

This time, only fifty years had passed before Ryan, who had just reached Weak Divine Power, was awakened once more. Through the moon's perspective, the traces of the three Hundred-Armed Giants' descent into the Abyss could be seen clearly.

After casting six children into the Abyss in succession, such brutality made the Twelve Titans tremble. Although they did not particularly like their deformed younger brothers, they could not help feeling the grief of watching the same fate befall them.

The drama on the Divine Mountain was entertaining, but it had little to do with Ryan. Now that he had reached Divine Power Level 7, he sat quietly on a rock, waiting for a visitor.

The Divine Office of Prophecy was somewhat useful. Although he had never truly used it to successfully make a prophecy, it still gave him hints from Fate regarding certain matters.

For example, today. Ryan's expression shifted slightly as he looked at the goddess in the green dress who had appeared before him.

Earth Mother wore a strip of black gauze over her head. Her expression was solemn, with a hint of sorrow.

"It has been many years, respected Earth Mother," Ryan said. He could more or less guess the other party's purpose.

"I was going to ask how you were, but seeing your complexion, I decided to spare you that offense."

Unlike the young and vigorous goddess from a thousand years ago, Gaia looked much older today. At a glance, she appeared to be a middle-aged woman in her thirties or forties.

Her once-smooth skin had grown dull, and fine wrinkles had appeared at the corners of her eyes. Pain showed in her clear, gentle gaze. Even though there was a vast gap between their Divine Powers, Ryan could still sense that emptiness and decay.

The Earth Mother, who had once possessed the richest origin, had now fallen to the bottom among the Primordial Gods. She could not even maintain the status of Great Divine Power.

This had never happened before. Although the Primordial Gods of the past had lost power through personification, their statuses had remained intact. Gaia's current state showed just how badly the origin of the earth had been ravaged.

"May I ask what brings you here, Earth Mother?"

It had seemed like he had been studying her for a long time, but in truth, it had only been an instant. Although he had long since guessed Gaia's intentions, Ryan still asked the question.

"Respected Seer, as you said before, I have reached the end of my patience."

Ignoring Ryan's feigned ignorance, Gaia spoke bluntly.

"Two thousand years. It began well enough. Although he was strict with the children, he ultimately did nothing excessive."

"He demanded too much from me, but I cannot blame him for that. As Sky Father and the symbol of masculinity, that was the influence his Divine Office had on him. I accepted and understood it, and did not resent him for it."

"But later, things changed." Earth Mother turned her head toward the earth, as if looking at the children imprisoned in Tartarus. "When the Cyclopes were born, everything changed."

"He began to grow mad and tyrannical. He became irritable and lost all reason. He even believed that children without any Divine Office could threaten his position. He abused the authority of the God King and imprisoned them in the Abyss."

"And now, he has turned his attention to my children who were born divine."

Gaia withdrew her gaze from the earth and looked straight at Ryan.

Although Earth Mother was never known for her martial strength, that gaze still placed considerable pressure on Ryan. He knew that although none of this had been something he had actively sought, Gaia was at least somewhat dissatisfied with him, the Seer.

Yet because they feared Fate, or perhaps because they yearned for a solution, both Uranus and Gaia had always observed the rules when dealing with him.

But Ryan knew that the other party followed the rules because they wanted to, not because they had to.

"So the God King has sensed a threat?" Ryan said with a smile as he met Earth Mother's gaze.

"Yes. His growing children have made him uneasy. Hyperion, Cronus, Okeanos, and Tethys have already become Great Divine Power. Although they still fall short of their father, they are strong enough to cause him trouble."

"As for my other children, apart from the pitiful Iapetus and Mnemosyne, who were born with only discourse, writing, and language and are too weak, all their brothers and sisters have become gods of Intermediate Divine Power."

As she spoke, Gaia's expression grew sorrowful. She should have been happy to see her children possess such great power, but Uranus's increasingly dangerous gaze told her that if she did nothing, they might well follow in the giants' footsteps.

"I understand." Ryan nodded. "You want me to solve this problem and make them set aside their differences. Is that right?"

"If it can be done, that would be ideal," Earth Mother said.

"But that is impossible." Ryan shook his head and spoke calmly. "Respected Earth Mother, I am only the God of Prophecy, not the God of Fate. The moment the God King ordered me to make a prophecy, his own fate was wrapped within it."

"A prophecy that has enveloped the God King's fate—even Lady Ananke, who is Fate incarnate, would probably be powerless against it."

Earth Mother was left speechless. Even before today, throughout the past two thousand years, she had visited her sister more than once—the Mother of Night, who spent her days enjoying the silence with Erebus, Lord of Darkness.

But as Ryan had said, the power of prophecy and curses was closely linked to its originator. When the God King personally demanded to learn his own fate, that fate was no longer something anyone could stop.

Perhaps the world itself could, but the world had no will of its own. That was why the God King, who had also visited Lady of the Night, believed so firmly in prophecy. He knew it could not be changed.

"Then what about another method?"

After hesitating for a long while, a struggle appeared in Earth Mother's eyes, but she still spoke.

"If I want to resolve this problem once and for all, what do you think I should do?"

At those words, Ryan's heart gave a faint jolt.

It was neither nervousness nor surprise. Rather, as Earth Mother made her choice, the power of history began to gather within him.

By fully witnessing an era and possessing an authority related to time, one could naturally acquire the Divine Office of History. This power should have belonged to the future Rhea, but now it had extended both hands toward a god who had been born earlier.

Ryan accepted it gladly.