Being a Prophet in Greece: Part 26

The barrier formed from supreme divine power, enough to stop the King of Gods, seemed not to exist before him. He simply walked out with casual ease, not even sparing Kronos a glance as he smiled at Zeus and said:

"My guest, why waste time outside? Come inside and speak with me."

The scene was so shocking that Zeus was equally stunned, but he quickly composed himself and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Thus, under the astonished gazes of countless gods, he swiftly followed that white figure into The Void and vanished from sight.

Only then did Kronos react. He immediately tried to give chase, only to be firmly sealed outside by the barrier.

How laughable. The barrier he had personally set up had stopped no one but himself. At that moment, the King of Gods' mind went blank.

A chill ran through his entire body, as though he had fallen into an icy abyss.

Massive Debt

Theron's sudden appearance caught every god off guard.

He had not appeared for several centuries. Everyone had even accepted the fact that he had been permanently imprisoned by the King of Gods, and many had sighed over it.

Those great gods had all gone to inspect the barrier the King of Gods had set up in his fury. They knew better than anyone how much divine power it contained.

And now, even the King of Gods himself had been stopped by it.

Kronos' expression could no longer be described as merely ugly. His eyes were split wide with fury, practically spitting fire, yet he was utterly helpless before the barrier he had personally created.

After taking several deep breaths, Kronos forcibly suppressed his anger and turned to leave.

He knew that the eyes of countless Titan gods were watching this place. Remaining any longer would only make him lose even more face.

He could delay no longer. He needed to contact the gods immediately. As long as those rebels were not dealt with, he would never know peace.

A sense of urgency lingered in Kronos' heart, along with a trace of fear that he dared not examine too closely.

But those were not matters Theron and Zeus cared about.

Zeus had long known that the man before him was mysterious and powerful. If he had summoned him to The Void, he must have had some arrangement in mind.

Yet even though Zeus had already suspected as much, witnessing Theron emerge from a barrier that even the King of Gods could not cross still filled him with incomparable shock.

In a sense, had Lord Theron's strength already surpassed that of Kronos, the King of Gods?

In the eyes of the gods, the King of Gods represented invincibility. He wielded the mighty power of creation and was the strongest being in the world.

Yet Theron appeared to possess only powerful divine power, seemingly even weaker than Zeus himself now, but he could accomplish what even the King of Gods could not. How could Zeus not be astonished?

With such thoughts in mind, he displayed an unprecedented humility. Even before Gaia, the Mother Goddess of Earth, he had never been so polite.

Theron did not care in the slightest, nor did Zeus' behavior make him believe that Zeus was truly some harmless, simple young man.

In fact, he had deliberately allowed Zeus to witness all of this.

The gods' senses had not been wrong. Theron currently possessed only powerful divine power. He had not surpassed the Titan gods, nor had he surpassed Zeus, who had been born powerful.

Though no one seemed willing to believe it now, it was the truth.

His ability to freely pass through the barrier laid down by the King of Gods came solely from borrowing the world's power.

After several centuries of experimentation, he had become increasingly proficient at borrowing power. However, perhaps because he was not the King of Gods, the power he could currently borrow remained extremely limited.

At the very least, if he fought Kronos, he definitely would not be able to defeat him.

Even against the Titan gods or the Zeus before him, Theron would still be inferior in a real fight. At most, he could bully the Third Generation Gods born later.

But at present, whether the Titan gods, Zeus, or even Kronos, none of them probably wished to fight him.

Because they were all convinced that Theron's true strength was far beyond what he showed on the surface.

So long as he did not take the initiative to pick fights, no one foolish enough would come looking for trouble with him.

"Lord Theron, thank you for your assistance." Zeus was ultimately the first to speak, breaking the somewhat quiet atmosphere. "I previously asked Lord Prometheus to convey this to you: if you were willing to meet me, I would agree to one condition of yours."

"Adding the protection you gave me in my childhood, I now owe you three conditions. Is there anything you would like to instruct me to do?"

Zeus was extremely courteous, even taking the initiative to mention the three conditions he had once resisted so strongly.

That was because he had increasingly come to understand Theron's influence. With his sharp instincts, he knew very well what today's scene represented.

He was even immensely glad that the commotion he had caused was great enough to draw the attention of all the gods, allowing them to clearly see him enter The Void with Theron while Kronos, the King of Gods, was blocked outside.

In the eyes of the gods, this undoubtedly sent a message: Theron, whose strength was suspected to exceed even the King of Gods, favored him—perhaps even supported him.

The benefits this brought Zeus were far greater than could be measured.

At this moment, Zeus had fully realized Theron's importance and resolved to spare no effort in winning him over. No matter what, he had to make Theron support him.

For that, he was willing to pay any price.

Theron did not know what Zeus was thinking, but he could sense his resolve. He smiled and said unhurriedly, "There is no rush regarding those three conditions."

"I have not yet decided what I want you to do for me. Once I have, I will naturally come find you."

Zeus hurriedly nodded, then said, "Lord Theron, you have seen it yourself. Kronos, the King of Gods, is insatiably greedy. Under his rule, the world is steeped in chaos. The gods fight constantly, and oppression and suffering are everywhere. I wish to end all of this."

"Would you be willing to offer your help? If so, how should I repay you?"

Now they were negotiating terms.

Zeus was not so naive. Prometheus' earlier implication had been very clear: gaining Theron's help without offering something in return was impossible.

He said these things merely to probe Theron's "bottom line," so that he could know what to expect.

"There is nothing I want." Theron gave him an indifferent glance and repeated, "Nor am I interested in your conflict."

Zeus' mouth twitched. He understood that Theron wanted to see his sincerity, so he gritted his teeth and took the initiative. "If I become the new King of Gods, I swear that I will never act against you. You will forever be my honored guest, unless you take the initiative to harm me."

Zeus knew very well why Theron and Kronos were not on good terms. It was because Kronos feared the existence of Theron, the God of Fate.

As the King of Gods, he would not allow the existence of anyone who made him feel fear. Thus, he had tried every possible means to deal with Theron and wanted to imprison him.

This was understandable. No King of Gods could accept a more powerful being standing beside his throne. It was a provocation against the authority of the King of Gods and a challenge to the throne itself.

Theron must have found that tiresome as well. He had clearly done nothing, yet because he was too powerful, he had become a target of the King of Gods.

But there was no helping it. It was unavoidable.

With this promise, Zeus was telling Theron that he would not make the same mistake as Kronos.

Oaths held power. Since Zeus had said this, no matter how powerful Theron became in the future, Zeus would be unable to do anything harmful to him.

This was a weighty promise, far more valuable than those three reasonable conditions. In a sense, future Theron would become even more exceptional than the King of Gods.

Yet Theron merely smiled upon hearing this and said nothing.

Zeus understood at once that it was still not enough.

The still-young Zeus gritted his teeth, prepared to bleed heavily today.

The King of Gods on Credit

In truth, Theron did not care much about who became the King of Gods.

He only wanted to drive the world's development forward and make himself stronger. He was still too weak now. There were too many things he could not do and could not attempt.

If Kronos had remained as he was before receiving the world's recognition—diligently developing the world and allowing the gods' Golden Age to continue a little longer—Theron would not have thought of opposing him.

But Kronos was unwilling to let him go.

After obtaining the complete mighty power of the King of Gods, the first person Kronos wanted to deal with was Theron, even though Theron had done nothing and had even blocked a curse for him.

If Kronos had chosen not to learn the curse's specific contents back then, perhaps things would not have come to this today.

But unfortunately, there were no ifs in this world.

Theron's thoughts were simple. You want to deal with me, so I'll strike first. You are difficult to deal with because you are the King of Gods, so I'll simply replace you with someone else.

That was why he had chosen to support Zeus. Of course, there was also the matter of following the course of fate.

The only issue was that compared to the previous two Kings of Gods, Zeus had far more schemes and far more ideas. Once he fully matured, his strength would also vastly surpass that of the previous two Kings of Gods.

This was undoubtedly an enormous threat. If Zeus too began to fear Theron in the future and sought to act against him, he would be far more difficult to handle than Kronos was now.

So Theron could only make more preparations.

While bringing Kronos down, he also had to obtain more benefits before Zeus ascended the throne, leaving himself safeguards for the future.

Of course, those safeguards would only be temporary. To truly be free of restraint, he would need sufficient strength of his own.

Once Zeus took the throne, humanity was born, and the world underwent several more great upheavals, Theron's divine power would grow to a terrifying level.

Combined with his ability to borrow the world's power, he might then be able to contend with the King of Gods.

Still too weak... Once Zeus becomes the King of Gods, my divine power should be about equal to the Twelve Titans. Once humanity is born, I'll surpass the Twelve Titans.

By then, combined with the world's power I can borrow, I should be strong enough to rival the King of Gods. Only then will I truly be safe.

Theron thought this inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged, as though he did not care at all about the benefits Zeus had promised.

Zeus gritted his teeth and continued, "Lord Theron, I know that you are deeply responsible for this world. If I become the King of Gods, I will also worry that I might not govern this world well."

"Therefore, I ask that you supervise me. If there is anything I do poorly, then so long as you point it out, I will reconsider it carefully, even if I have already made my decision."

This was the greatest concession Zeus could make. Moreover, all of it was exchanged for future benefits, essentially spending the authority of the King of Gods in advance.

Three reasonable conditions, a promise never to act against Theron unless Theron acted against him first, and this "right of supervision" that could influence decisions already made by the King of Gods.

Theron also knew when to stop. If he pressed too hard, even if Zeus accepted now, it would likely backfire in the future.

He did not want Zeus' first thought upon becoming the King of Gods to be how to deal with him.

So he revealed a gentle smile and said sincerely, "Lord Zeus, you are too courteous."

"Your character is truly admirable. As for your battle with the King of Gods... rest assured, fate stands on your side."

Only then did Zeus finally relax, a sincere smile appearing on his face. "Then I thank you, Lord Theron."

The two discussed several more details. Once he learned that Kronos had left, Zeus finally departed The Void under Theron's escort.

He returned once more to the unremarkable star beyond the world, where Rhea and the other five gods were waiting for him.

Because they had remained outside the world, they did not know what had happened. Only when they saw Zeus return safely did the gods finally breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly step forward to ask about the situation.

Hope and worry filled Rhea's eyes as she looked at Zeus and softly asked, "How did it go?"

Zeus smiled and nodded. With Theron's support, his confidence had greatly increased.

He told Rhea everything that had happened. Upon hearing it, Rhea also revealed a rare smile.

"Wonderful," she said. "With Lord Theron's support, we will have a far greater chance of victory!"