River of Oaths

After passing through the earth, Iapetus arrived in the Underworld Soil.

Strictly speaking, the Underworld Soil was also part of the earth at this time. But perhaps because it was tightly wrapped within the bodies of the Four Ancient Gods of Creation, it gave off a strong feeling of being a world of its own.

No matter where one entered the Underworld Soil, whether from the bottom of the ocean or the center of the earth, anyone would first appear at the edge of the Underworld unless they used a spacetime-level jump like Spirit World Shuttle—a place that would later be guarded by the Three-Headed Dog Cerberus.

Beyond the gate was the River of Pain Acheron, while the borders of Eternal Night Land and the Lightless Zone lay on either side. Whoever wanted to enter the Underworld Soil had only one route to take: crossing the river.

Of course, the Underworld did not yet have a gate, and the River of Pain had not yet been born.

Carefully avoiding the domains of the two Ancient Gods of Creation, God of Speech stepped onto the gray Great Plains. Of the Five Underworld Rivers that would exist in later ages, only one had come into being so far: the Styx River, which conceptually circled the Underworld seven times, but in reality had one end connected to the mortal world and the other extending deep into Tartarus.

Iapetus stopped there. He nodded slightly toward the direction of the Oath River, then waited for a while.

As expected, after some time passed, he received no response. But God of Speech was not angry. He simply continued flying toward the center of the Underworld.

As the goddess who governed Khaos's law of oaths, Styx had come alone to the Underworld Soil after her birth. Even her father, Lord of the Outer Sea Okeanos, rarely saw her, making her one of the few gods who had not attended the "legislation."

Even so, God of Speech still did not dare underestimate her. After Styx took over the authority over oaths delegated by the world, she became one of the few gods in Khaos whose Divine Office could grow in strength on its own.

Witnessing the oaths of gods could bring her an allocation of the world's origin force. Punishing gods who broke their oaths could grant her an even greater boost. This enhancement might have a limit, and its growth was extremely slow, but at least for now, Iapetus's knowledge could not show him where that limit lay.

Feeling somewhat envious, God of Speech sped across the gray plains and flew straight toward the Shadow Moon in the sky.

As a god with Weak Divine Power, Iapetus did not fly very quickly.

But before he left, Cronus and the Four Wind Gods had given him a temporary blessing, allowing him to travel quickly between the Divine Mountain and the Underworld Soil. Thus, on the third day after leaving Mount Othrys, he arrived before the Shadow Moon.

According to Goddess of Justice, the Shadow Moon was the official portal to the residence of Lord of the Spirit World. As long as one called out to him there, he would receive any visiting god.

"Your Highness Ryan, revered Lord of Speech, Iapetus is here."

"By order of the God King, I have come bearing the requests of the gods. I hope you will meet with me."

Facing the Shadow Moon, which seemed close enough to touch yet was actually untouchable, Iapetus spoke respectfully.

Unlike the other Titans, God of Speech was not haughty. He had completely placed himself in the role of a "messenger" and did not intend to say a single unnecessary word.

He wanted to truthfully convey the gods' wishes, then return to the Divine Mountain with an answer. That was all he intended to do. As for using his Divine Office to influence Ryan's decision, that was impossible.

He had come for the benefit of all the gods, not solely for himself. Once he became the God King, he could come back and "serve the gods."

"God of Speech?"

After a brief wait, an unfamiliar female voice came from beside the Shadow Moon.

Iapetus followed the voice and saw a goddess in a black dress silently appear before him.

The goddess before him had a pair of wings on her back. Seven different colors of light shimmered across her silver-white feathers. A faint aura of divine power swirled around her body. She was a god close to the limit of Weak Divine Power. Iapetus's heart tightened, and he knew that, as Lady Justice had reminded him, this was Lyanna, the goddess who governed the Shadow Moon on behalf of Lord of the Spirit World.

Themis had advised Iapetus not to underestimate her. Though she often called herself Ryan's servant, God of Speech felt that Goddess of Justice's warning had been entirely unnecessary.

What a joke. The premise for looking down on someone was having a psychological sense of superiority. But the reality was that without even fighting, Iapetus knew he could not defeat her. Although their divine power was not far apart, the Shadow Moon was not something Speech could compare with.

Thus, in the next moment, he expressed his respect without hesitation.

"Your Highness Lyanna, Goddess of the Shadow Moon that eternally illuminates the Underworld Soil, your beauty is breathtaking."

"I have come here at the gods' request to visit Lord of the Spirit World and ask him about the secrets of creation. I ask that you lead me to him."

Lyanna nodded and accepted the visiting god's salute, but she showed no intention of opening the Spirit World Gate.

Ryan was no longer the God of Prophecy who could predict nothing, as he had been before. Not long after returning to the Spirit World, he had already sensed the pulse of Fate.

Although he never took the initiative to observe his own Fate, as the symbol of Uncertain Fate and the destined observer, Ryan could always receive more or less some revelations from Fate. The more closely something was connected to him, and the lower the level of power involved, the higher the probability and clarity of the revelation.

Without a doubt, the birth of living beings on the earth was extremely important along the destined trajectory, and the "soul" was sufficiently involved in it. Thus, Ryan had naturally foreseen Iapetus's visit.

"As for the reason for your visit, my lord has known about it for some time." Meeting God of Speech's gaze, Lyanna spoke calmly. "Simply creating bodies is not enough to give living beings intelligence. Living beings also need souls to bear their thoughts and memories."

"My lord can give souls to mortal things, but you will have to find a way to create the bodies yourselves."

After she finished speaking, Lyanna quietly waited for his reply. Just as she had said, Ryan had no interest in participating in the preparations for creation. Although he looked forward to life, he was only willing to bestow souls, and at most, personally witness the birth of the Golden Humans.

In any case, the first generation of life had no ability to reproduce and would eventually die. The gods merely wanted to create servants and pets, not species capable of continuing on their own.

Even when it came to creating humans, he was actually thinking more about verifying a hypothesis. After all, the humans of the Golden Age were truly rather different from the "humans" he understood.

Lifespans lasting thousands of years, being born as adults, appearances that never changed even in death, and minds seemingly branded with only devout faith and positive emotions—apart from their similar appearance, Ryan truly could not see how such beings resembled humans.

Even from the perspective of "humanity" alone, the gods of Khaos at this time were far closer to the "humans" Ryan understood than the mortals of the Golden and Silver Ages.