God King and Earth Mother

God King and Earth Mother

Five hundred years passed in a flash beneath the blazing sun after the banquet on the Divine Mountain came to an end.

Unlike the silence on the earth, the aftermath of Ryan's clash with the Sun God was still unfolding in the starry sky.

After returning to the starry sky, Hyperion fulfilled the oath he had sworn to the Styx River. He handed the sun over to his Firstborn, Helios, who had been born nearly a thousand years ago yet still remained at the level of Weak Divine Power.

Thus, after hanging motionless in the sky for thousands of years, the sun began moving along its orbit for the first time. Yet contrary to what many gods had expected, its movement was not as smooth as they had imagined.

Perhaps it was because his divine power was too weak, or perhaps because the other Sun God refused to cooperate. Under Hyperion's cold gaze, and without his father's assistance, Helios was simply unable to operate the sun with ease.

His power was so feeble that even moving the sun a short distance left him utterly exhausted. For that reason, he asked the God King for help, but Cronus had no solution either.

Hyperion had not broken his promise. He did not interfere with Helios. He merely merged into the sun and became one with it.

This caused the celestial body to become "heavier." If Helios had possessed Intermediate Divine Power or greater, he could still have controlled the sun with ease. But because of his father's suppression over the years, his strength was practically the weakest among the True Gods.

The God King was deeply disappointed. He had made many plans, such as secretly supporting Helios so that he could continue ruling over the sun after five hundred years. He knew Helios would certainly agree. But he had never imagined that Helios would be unable to fulfill his Divine Office.

As a result, Cronus's plan to win without a fight fell apart. He had no choice but to prepare himself to interfere in the starry sky through more direct means.

But what happened next disappointed Cronus once again. A little over two hundred years after the sun changed hands, endless light illuminated the earth, and the Mother of Light finally entered the realm of Great Divine Power. Seeing this, Cronus could only lament that the times were against him before temporarily giving up on the idea.

Under these circumstances, when the five-hundred-year deadline passed, Hyperion brutally imprisoned his Firstborn on the surface of the sun and took control of it once more. This time, he had learned his lesson. Although sunrise and sunset were not his authority, he still took the initiative to move the celestial body and complete the task. With his divine power, making the sun travel each day was somewhat troublesome, but hardly difficult.

However, this caused the conflict between the father and son Sun Gods to become completely public.

In such an environment, one day five hundred years later, all the gods gathered at the East Sea Coast, at the nameless hermitage of the Earth Mother.

Here, they would create the first batch of life on the earth.

······"You still haven't given up?"

Beside a stream near the East Sea, the Earth Mother held the emerald-green Life Treasure Bottle in her hands.

The gods were waiting in the distance. Only a few of the Titan Gods had come here to visit the Earth Mother.

Many years had passed since the God King had changed. As the world's origin force grew, the earth expanded along with it, and the Earth Mother had benefited greatly.

Although she had not fully recovered from the injuries she had once suffered, she no longer looked old and feeble. At a glance, she now appeared to be a plump woman in her fifties or sixties.

Cronus and Themis had already come once before, and the Earth Mother had thought they had given up. She had not expected them to return with more than half of Khaos's True Gods.

"Mother Goddess, our previous attempt to create life failed because we lacked souls. But now, the Lord of the Spirit World has agreed to lend us his aid."

Facing the Earth Mother's questioning, Cronus spoke in a low voice.

If possible, he actually did not want to explain. Of all the gods present, he was probably the only one who had guessed the truth behind the Earth Mother's fury a thousand years ago.

Perhaps the original Life Treasure Bottle could create complete life, such as plants. Although they lacked a concrete consciousness, they were not entirely without one. It was simply hazy and indistinct.

But now, thinking of his own Space-Time Origin, Cronus was already prepared for the Earth Mother to become angry.

"Ryan?!"

As expected, Gaia's expression changed abruptly upon hearing that familiar name. The surrounding earth trembled in response to the Earth Mother's fury, but then, as if she had thought of something, she restrained herself once more.

"Since you already have his help, why have you come to find me?"

Although she did not erupt, the Earth Mother's expression visibly grew colder.

"With souls, you can use divine power to create life. Why come borrow the Life Treasure Bottle as well?"

Facing the Earth Mother's reproach, Cronus's expression did not change. He was actually somewhat surprised. He had thought that Gaia would react more violently upon hearing Ryan's name.

But that had nothing to do with him. As a Primordial God, even though she was the most miserable of them all, the Earth Mother could often learn information unknown to ordinary people. Perhaps she had learned something from the Mother of Night, which was why she had never gone looking for trouble with Ryan.

Thinking of this, Cronus could not help praising his own cleverness once again.

How could a fool like Hyperion possibly compare with him?

"Mother Goddess, the gods do not merely intend to create a small amount of life. We plan to spread living creatures across the earth. Without an authority related to life, that will be very difficult to accomplish."

"Moreover, we intend to imitate the gods and create a special species."

Gaia raised her head slightly. Although her anger had not faded, Cronus's words still piqued her interest.

A species created in the image of the gods was indeed rather intriguing.

"If you are willing, we can begin creating life in the surrounding area." Seeing that the Earth Mother had been drawn in, Cronus continued, "You can come and observe our progress in your spare time. After all, when it comes to creating life, you have far more experience than we do."

After pondering for a while, the Earth Mother was ultimately persuaded by Cronus.

It was not only because of that special species, but also because this was the shared idea of so many gods. After experiencing the Age of Uranus, Gaia had already vaguely realized the importance of power and authority.

The earth was not adept at fighting. Rather than displaying force, it was better to demonstrate her status through other means.

"Take it. After all, you are the God King now, aren't you?"

Taking out the Life Treasure Bottle, the Earth Mother still jabbed at Cronus. The God King did not take offense. Instead, he accepted this high-grade Divine Artifact from the domain of life.

He knew that because he had not released the Cyclops and the Hundred-Armed Giant, the Earth Mother had always held a grudge against him. Even so, Cronus still had no intention of releasing them.

In fact, Cronus had done so deliberately from the very beginning. He knew that his refusal would not provoke too much hostility from the Earth Mother, but it would be enough to make this only Primordial God still walking the mortal world leave the Divine Mountain, thereby expressing her displeasure.

But Gaia's departure was precisely what Cronus wanted. If all his brothers left while the Earth Mother remained, and he lacked sufficient strength, then he truly would not know whom Mount Othrys should belong to.

If he could not even completely control the place where he lived, then being God King would be truly laughable.

Now, as time passed, Cronus had firmly secured his throne, but he still did not want Gaia to return to live on the Divine Mountain.

Rhea, as his God Queen, had always advanced and retreated alongside him. After her previous covert assistance to Hyperion failed, the God of Meteorology had also chosen to side completely with Cronus. The current Mount Othrys did not need a Primordial God who refused to obey the God King's commands.

"And the world's urging."

"Strengthening one's authority can delay it, but as the God King of Khaos, giving birth to gods is ultimately a responsibility I cannot avoid."

Cronus's gaze was somewhat cold. He did not know what the Earth Mother would think of his plans in the future, but he did not want to know.

Whoever threatened his position as God King was his enemy.

His children were no exception, nor were his brothers. The Earth Mother would be no exception either.

Recently, I've been considering whether I should change the book's title. My editor asked me about it before, too, and told me to come up with a proper title of four or five characters. What do you think would be a good one?