Curse

"Boom--!"

Once again, Iapetus lay on the ground, unable to move.

Although the power rising from the earth had blocked most of the impact for him, his divine power was still far too weak. Relying solely on the Divine Office of Speech, he could not even withstand a casual strike from Uranus.

Divine Power Level 7—this was nothing like the strength a Titan Ancient God should possess. If the gods had not been immortal, he would have been torn to pieces at the very start of the battle.

"Ah--help."

"Bang--!"

Without looking, God of Speech knew that it was his equally weak younger sister, Mnemosyne, God of Language and Writing.

Language was as weak as speech. As for writing, the three maxims on the Divine Decree Stone Tablet were the true source of written language.

They were the only two Weak Divine Power gods on the battlefield. Their sole value was using their immortal divine bodies to take a few extra punches from Father God on behalf of their siblings. As descendants born from Sky Father and Earth Mother, they had been born with Weak Divine Power. But because their Divine Offices were so weak, the two of them had barely changed at all over the past thousand years.

Mnemosyne at least had someone to hate. She had discovered that the culprit behind the loss of her Divine Office of Memory was the mysterious ancient god Ryan. But Iapetus could only accept his current state of weakness.

"Rrrip--!"

Struggling to his feet, God of Speech watched as one of the legs of his former eldest brother, Okeanos, was torn off. This was already the fourth time he had lost a limb. The divine authority of the ocean excelled at replenishing itself endlessly, while the power of the sky was not good at preventing recovery. Thus, every time a limb was torn off, Lord of the Ocean could quickly restore it.

But it meant nothing. It merely made him suffer a few more rounds of pain. Other than Cronus, Okeanos—who had personally thrown Sky Father's organ into the ocean—had attracted the greatest hatred. Even though he was also a Great Divine Power god, he was still utterly helpless.

Clearly, Sky Dominator was telling him through actions that some gods were Great Divine Power because they barely reached that level, while others were Great Divine Power simply because the final step was impossibly difficult to cross.

The earth split open. The land at the edges shattered into fragments and scattered across the ocean, giving rise to islands one after another.

Celestial bodies fell from the sky. The lightless bodies crashed into the earth, bringing with them veins of ore and creating valleys and hills.

The great battle had already lasted seven days and seven nights. Apart from the inexplicable appearance of more luminous celestial bodies in the sky on the first day, the entire world had been continuously destroyed.

But finally, during one collision, Okeanos was astonished to discover that although Father God had sent him flying, he seemed not to have suffered any more serious injuries.

"What?!"

"What!!"

Two cries of surprise rang out at the same time. Lord of the Ocean was astonished that he remained unharmed, while Uranus was enraged by the decline of his own power.

Nearby, Cronus, who had been constantly maneuvering around Father God with the power of space-time, finally smiled. With most of his source force devoured by the Spirit World, he was already struggling even after borrowing power from departed time through Rhea's strength.

The other Titans had suffered only external injuries. He alone had almost nothing left of his source. If he could not obtain the God King's Throne, the remaining source force of space-time would not even be enough to maintain Weak Divine Power.

To prevent his brothers from developing ill intentions, he had not even dared to reveal his weakness. Only his sister Rhea had noticed something amiss. But the two had always been close among the Titans, so the goddess pretended not to know.

Fortunately, Fate was still on his side. Cronus had outlasted his father. He had held on until this final moment.

"Hahahahaha!"

"You can't hold out any longer, can you, my savage Father God!"

Hidden behind space-time, Cronus's laughter spread across the earth. He did not conceal his delight in the slightest. This was the only good news he had received lately.

"Is that so?" Uranus sneered without saying anything more. He looked at this once-youngest son of his, now his Firstborn. He deeply regretted not discovering his ambition sooner, but unfortunately, it was already too late.

"How long-lasting is the power of a god? Even after seven years, I would not be exhausted, let alone seven days."

Hearing this, the Titans could not help but panic. They did not doubt Uranus's words, because that was simply how divine power worked. Even though they had suffered blow after blow, they could still continue fighting for several months or more. As Sky Father's power far surpassed theirs and he had maintained an overwhelming advantage, seven years was not an exaggerated claim.

But could they hold on for seven years? At that moment, the majesty of Sky Father seemed to regain the upper hand in their hearts. Yet their act of betrayal meant they dared not beg their father for mercy.

After all, given Uranus's temperament, there was no way he would forgive the Titans who had committed such an act of rebellion.

But at that moment, Cronus spoke, and there was even a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Under normal circumstances, that would indeed be as you say, my Father God."

God of Space-Time wore a mocking smile. After seven days, he had finally realized what the transforming force his father was resisting actually was.

Once again, he could not help thanking Fate. Gods were immortal, and he did not dare seal the father who symbolized the sky inside the Abyss. But as long as this transforming force existed, Uranus would soon fall into eternal sleep.

Unless, in order to survive, a being as arrogant as he was became willing to change even his sex.

But that was impossible. Cronus knew very well that his father would rather die than accept such humiliation.

"You are the first 'Father.'" Cronus's smile grew increasingly unrestrained. "That is why you are different from the other gods."

"When the symbol of your male divinity disappears, you will have no way to recreate it with divine power. Because it is not merely your organ—it represents all your Masculine Power. Once it is gone, there will no longer be any Masculine Power in your body. Isn't that right, my dear Father God? Or should I call you 'my dear Mother God'? Hahahahaha."

Amid his laughter, Uranus's expression turned ugly for the first time. The other Titans also seemed to understand something, and they began looking at their father strangely.

"Shut up! You rebellious—"

"You are the rebel!"

Cronus interrupted his father's scolding with a cold laugh.

He raised his Scythe and looked at his father. He had once been so powerful, yet now all that remained was an attack of words. Cronus felt a little sentimental, but then he sensed the emptiness within his body and stopped hesitating.

"You betrayed Mother God. You betrayed the will of Khaos. Your atrocities should have been punished long ago."

"I, Cronus, King of Space-Time, pass judgment in the name of the future God King. The God of the Sky is guilty and shall receive the punishment of eternal sleep. Sentence: forever."

The next moment, distance seemed not to exist before him. Although he and Sky Father were separated by a thousand miles, his blade pierced Uranus's abdomen in the very next instant. Lord of the Sky had tried to block it, but this time, his previously invincible divine power failed to break through the slowing force of time. Before all the gods, he was pierced by the Scythe, and divine blood spilled across the earth.

"I won, Father," Cronus whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"You won? Heh heh. Perhaps you did."

Feeling the increasingly violent changes within his body, Uranus knew that unless he was truly willing to let the world twist his sex, he could only resist the transformation through sleep.

But at the final moment, the proud Lord of the Sky still refused to bow his head. He looked at his child with a cold gaze. His voice was equally soft, yet every living creature beneath the sky heard it clearly.

"Cronus, my child, I hope you remember this. You can win once, but you cannot win forever."

"Wherever everything begins, it will end there as well. Yes, that is what Prophecy says. That is what will happen to me, and it will happen to you too."

Watching Cronus's expression suddenly turn shocked and furious, Sky Father let out one last triumphant laugh.

"I curse you," he said. "You will be overthrown by your children just as I was."

"The top of the sky is my destination. The Abyss, however, is your future. Cronus, I will be waiting for you, my chil...d."

Clang--

The Scythe fell to the ground, but no one cared. Before them, the personified form of Uranus disappeared.

He transformed into an invisible current of air and followed the original body from which he had been born, rising all the way to an unfathomably high place.

The sky began to separate from the earth. The two, which had once often met, would never meet again. From then on, the distance between heaven and earth became immeasurable, its height difficult even for the gods to fathom.

The story of the master of the sky, Khaos's first God King, ended today.

"I will become the new king."

Expressionless, Cronus picked up the fallen Scythe and looked toward his brothers.

"Who approves, and who opposes?"