Sun Eater

Sun Eater

Fifteen hundred years ago, Uranus lost the God King's Throne, and Ryan opened the Spirit World on that very day.

It was also then that the Twin Gods of the Night came in response to the world's Summoning. But in the end, not only did they avoid clashing with Ryan, they each returned a gift after he gave them a Soul Embryo.

Nyx hung a star for Ryan, while Erebus sent him the negative emotions left behind when Uranus lost his throne.

They were the hatred of a father for his son, and a King's murderous intent toward a rebel. Ryan had originally planned to mix them with other materials and refine them into a Divine Artifact specializing in dealing with the Twelve Titans, but later, he came up with some new ideas.

How could something aimed at twelve gods be as powerful as something aimed at a single god?

His left hand lightly touched the Codex of Creation, and invisible order was rewritten accordingly. At that moment, the sun in midair had yet to return to its proper place, and "Order's" punishment of Hyperion was still in effect. Thus, Ryan mobilized his divine power and subtly altered the form of that "punishment."

The Sun God in midair suddenly felt a shadow fall over his heart. He suspiciously scanned his surroundings, left and right, but found nothing.

The next moment, standing within twisted time, Ryan drew upon the source power of the Spirit World and slowly poured it into the constantly shifting black energy in his hand. The newly acquired Chaotic Source Power was also rapidly converted in part and mixed into that mass of negative emotions.

Time slowly passed. The creation before him, formed from the entanglement of source power and emotion, had already begun to take shape. It had inherited its former true form, resembling a mass of indistinct mist. The imprint that had once belonged to Uranus had been washed away, leaving only its hatred toward the Titans.

As expected, having directly come into contact with the source, it could never possess normal reason. But Ryan did not care. It was merely a weapon. It did not need reason; as long as it was useful, that was enough.

After examining it for a while, Ryan finally granted the object in his hand new life in the name of the Lord of Spirituality.

"Eclipse, the indescribable evil spirit of the Spirit World, the shifting mist that devours Light and Heat. In the name of the Creator, I grant you life."

As his voice fell, the black mist before him trembled, then became lively. Although the evil spirit still had no reason, it had developed chaotic instincts. The next moment, the newborn Eclipse seemed to sense the Creator's will. It instantly merged into the surrounding space and charged toward the distant celestial body.

The God King's murderous intent had originally been directed at the Twelve Titans, but during the reshaping, Ryan had concentrated it on the sun represented by Hyperion. Once its scope was narrowed, this power instead became even more targeted and restraining.

Moreover, life created in this way was different from gods. It did not need to grow; its birth was its peak. After being mixed with other powers, this emotion, which Ryan had originally believed could "create a life comparable to a True God," advanced another step and directly became an evil creature approaching Intermediate Divine Power.

Facing the sun, its power was especially formidable.

It seemed like a long time had passed, but within the distorted flow of time, only a few seconds had passed in the outside world. Thus, just after the gods on Mount Othrys saw Hyperion flee in disarray, the sky darkened the next moment.

Hyperion had never seen an evil creature before. In a daze, the black mist had already circled around to stand before him. The newborn evil spirit spread out its illusory body and enveloped the enormous Light Celestial Body. The sun's light was consequently covered, and Khaos fell into darkness for the first time outside of night.

"What is that?!"

"No—that's not right. Stop!!"

After first freezing in shock, the tall and heroic Sun God revealed an expression of fear for the first time. When the evil spirit born from the emotions of the former God King obscured the sun, he suddenly sensed that the power belonging to the sun was truly weakening.

This was not the transfer from before, nor was it a temporary change. Hyperion clearly felt that part of the sun's source was being transformed into an opposing power. That power seemed to hate light by nature and wished to drag the world into eternal night.

At that moment, even his divine power, which had finally stabilized after the birth of the Firstborn, began to teeter on the verge of collapse. If the sun's source power continued to drain away, he feared he would no longer be able to maintain his own strength.

"Get away!"

Boom—! Driven by panic, Hyperion no longer cared whether he would injure himself. He mobilized his divine power and punched the sun. The black mist covering the surface of the great sun scattered under the blow, allowing a little light to shine through. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the black mist covered it again in the blink of an eye.

It could not be said that Hyperion's attack had no effect. However, after merging directly with the source itself and sacrificing its reason, the evil creature had also gained an unimaginable immortality. Even with the vast difference in power, it was difficult to destroy it outright.

"Theia, help me!"

Hearing her husband's somewhat frantic cry, Mother of Light could not sense the change in the sun's source as clearly as the Sun God could, but she still joined the attack without hesitation.

The black mist wrapped around the sun suddenly swelled. That was the "light" drawn forth by the goddess. But in the blink of an eye, the black mist returned to normal. The radiance Theia summoned failed to pierce its body and was instead turned into food by the evil spirit.

Clearly, the Sun God and his wife, encountering an evil creature for the first time, did not know the proper way to deal with it. Simple bombardment with divine power was no more than giving the opponent a massage.

At the same time, as Hyperion went all out, the gods watching also sensed the tremor in his divine power. The second- and third-generation Titans merely felt it faintly, but the first-generation Titans were different. They had already sensed that something was wrong when Ryan brought out that emotion. Now that the Sun God's Divine Office was shaking, their expressions changed completely.

"Tethys, did you feel that just now?"

"I did. I'm not entirely certain, but it gave me the feeling of facing Father God directly."

The Goddess of Primordial Water answered her husband in a low voice and could not help clenching her fists. More than a thousand years had passed, and she had thought she had forgotten the events of the past. But when that familiar aura reached her, she still could not control her emotions.

Titan had once been another name for cowards. To sever themselves from the past, they changed the word to Titans, using it to represent courage and strength. But the facts proved that before Sky Father, they were no different from how they had been thousands of years ago.

"It isn't him. At most, it's merely some power he left behind."

Unlike her siblings, the Light Celestial Body Goddess Phoebe appeared considerably more "dignified." Phoebe had always cared about appearances and longed for the respect and flattery of others. Yet even she failed to notice that her voice was trembling slightly.

The two gods who ruled the seas, her own husband, the God of Celestial Bodies, and even Hyperion, who was frantically attacking the sun overhead—all of them were at least Great Divine Power. Phoebe, however, was different.

If Mother of Light had failed to advance because her divine power accumulated too slowly, then Phoebe was simply restricted by her Divine Office.

Perhaps in the original course of events, Phoebe had once ruled over prophecy and gained revelation through it, crossing that crucial step. But now, she probably would not have that opportunity.

"Some power. If that were all, I wouldn't be too worried. But he actually managed to turn that power into such a special life-form."

"It possesses an innate ability to restrain him. Despite the vast disparity in power, it has left Hyperion completely helpless. What a terrifying creation."

Nearby, the taciturn Lord of the Mountains pointed out the crux of the matter.

"Let's hope this can't be replicated."

Pontus's expression was also somewhat gloomy. Unlike his younger brother, who considered the matter none of his concern, he had personally hidden Uranus's organs beneath the sea.

He did not know whether there was only one instance of power targeting the Twelve Titans, but whether there was any power targeting him was what truly concerned the Ancient Sea God.

A silent, oppressive feeling spread among the gods. This was the first time they had ever heard of a creation capable of shaking the source of a Divine Office.