Discovering the Lie

This had become a fixed routine by now.

At that very moment, after a long period of contemplation, Prometheus spoke. "Perhaps we can take them down one by one."

"What do you mean?" King Kronos asked, his expression intent.

"The reason we're at a stalemate is that both sides are evenly matched. If someone can hold Zeus off, Your Majesty, you could quickly deal with the other gods."

"Then, in the end, we'd all be ganging up on Zeus. We might have a decent chance of winning."

At these words, Kronos's eyes immediately lit up.

Truthfully, there was only one among the rebels whom Kronos considered a real threat: Zeus.

Theron, who had originally worried all the Titans, had not appeared in ten years. The Three Fates had even prophesied that he would not interfere in the battle for the throne, which had allowed the gods to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

They guessed that Theron didn't dare show himself because he had been bluffing all along. If he really were as powerful as everyone suspected, he would have appeared long ago and crushed them all instead of keeping out of sight for so many years.

Kronos even thought that every time he had fought Theron before, he had simply been bluffed. Theron had never actually displayed much in the way of terrifying power.

If he were truly that powerful, the Olympian Gods he supported wouldn't have had to fight them for ten whole years.

Thinking this way, the Titans had already convinced themselves that Theron wouldn't intervene. He had only been bluffing with his prophecies all those years, and fate was not a divine domain suited to combat in the first place.

On top of that, Zeus had emerged in full force. So, in the Titans' eyes, Zeus was now their only enemy.

Zeus was simply too powerful. After ten years of growth, he could already stand against Kronos as an equal.

What a terrifying rate of growth! Kronos was, after all, the King of Gods, recognized by the world and able to draw upon its might.

Over the past ten years, in every battle, Zeus had kept Kronos occupied. Neither could get the better of the other, while the other gods were similarly matched, with neither side gaining much of an advantage.

If Kronos, as King of Gods, weren't being held up, his kingly power would indeed let him defeat everyone else in a short time.

But that raised the question...

"Who's going to hold Zeus off?" Crius asked. "Who has the ability?"

As soon as he asked, everyone fell silent.

Indeed. Zeus was already strong enough to rival Kronos. If any of them could hold Zeus off, they would have won the war long ago.

Some even wondered why the wise God of Foresight would suggest a plan that was impossible to carry out.

But Prometheus only smiled and said, "I've seen the future. This battle will eventually reach its conclusion."

Hearing this, everyone was taken aback. King Kronos's eyes lit up.

"What did you see?" Kronos asked hastily.

"In the next battle, Zeus won't engage you, Your Majesty," Prometheus said. "He'll go off to do something else."

At that, all the gods were taken aback again. Kronos instinctively looked toward the Three Fates and received a confirming answer.

Seeing this, Kronos was instantly overjoyed.

Though he didn't know what Zeus would be doing, as long as Zeus was occupied, Kronos was completely confident he could crush any god other than Zeus!

Even the other Titans looked delighted. They still had no idea what was about to happen to them; they were simply glad that the battle was finally going to end.

They could hardly wait to charge at those Olympians right away. Victory was finally within their grasp!

But Prometheus spoke up in time, cutting off their excitement. "We can't go now. The future I saw is still some time away."

"In other words, if we go now, the outcome I saw won't come to pass."

His words calmed the excited Titan gods. Kronos had always been the cautious one, and he nodded as well. "Then we truly can't go there recklessly."

He seemed to be speaking to the Titans, and perhaps to himself as well. "Then we'll wait a little longer. If you want immortality, you need enough patience."

The Titans all nodded in agreement. They thought to themselves that it was fortunate they had the clever Prometheus to make plans for them, as well as the Three Fates to guide them toward the future.

With those two helping them, there was no way they could lose. Surely!

After a long and patient wait, the day Prometheus had spoken of finally arrived. Kronos led the Titans toward Mount Olympus, charging forward with overwhelming force and without a moment's hesitation.

Just as Prometheus had said, Zeus didn't immediately charge in to hold Kronos off this time. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the Titans behind him.

The Titans still hadn't realized how serious the situation was. They were still wondering what had kept Zeus occupied when they saw him charge toward them.

The Titans: "?"

King Kronos was just as surprised. He didn't understand why Zeus would do this, but he followed the plan they had agreed upon and charged toward the Olympian Gods.

Kronos was still thinking that if he crushed them quickly enough, he could turn back and stop Zeus.

Then he heard Rhea speak. His former queen of the gods, the beloved he had come to hate most, prayed for fate's aid in an utterly sincere voice.

A powerful sense of unease rose in Kronos's heart. He charged at Rhea, trying to interrupt her prayer, but before he could act, she had finished reciting it.

Almost as soon as Rhea's words fell silent, a white figure appeared before Kronos.

"Your Majesty, I'm your opponent."

The figure smiled, revealing a face Kronos hated with all his heart.

Chapter 64: Discovering the Lie

Theron's appearance caught all the gods off guard.

After all, this mysterious God of Fate hadn't shown himself for ten years.

At first, Kronos had been extremely wary of him. Only after hearing the Three Fates say that Theron wouldn't take part in the battle for the throne had he gradually let down his guard.

And now, the man had not only appeared again—he had appeared right in front of him!

Watching Zeus charge at the Titans behind him with Poseidon and the other gods, roaring as he came, Kronos finally realized something was wrong.

Wasn't this the very plan Prometheus had described?

Find someone to hold off the strongest member of the opposing side, while your own strongest fighter crushes the other gods, tilting the balance of victory in your favor.

They hadn't found anyone to hold Zeus off, but Zeus had found someone to hold Kronos off.

Prometheus hadn't lied, either. He had indeed seen a glimpse of the future. Zeus really hadn't come to tie him down; he had gone to do something else—but of his own choice, not because he'd been forced to!

Kronos's expression turned darker than ever. He realized that the situation had become dire, and that everything was because of the man standing before him.

Theron still wore the same unchanging outfit he had worn for ages. Neither his face nor the smile at the corner of his mouth had changed in the slightest. Kronos stared at him with undisguised hatred.

But Theron acted as if he hadn't noticed Kronos's murderous glare. Smiling, he greeted him:

"Your Majesty, it's been a while."

Kronos narrowed his eyes, intensely wary, and gripped his sickle tightly.

All these years, he had never learned Theron's true strength. Given his cautious and suspicious nature, he didn't dare let his guard down for even a moment.

Kronos made no move, and Theron, of course, did the same. As the two faced off, the battle on the other side had already begun in earnest.

Zeus charged at the Titan gods with an unstoppable force. The gods, who had already witnessed Zeus's power, were horrified and hurriedly summoned the power of their domains to defend themselves.

But Zeus was simply too powerful. He was already able to fight back and forth with Kronos, who wielded the might of the King of Gods. Against these ancient Titan gods, he now had a completely overwhelming advantage.

And, at some point, a divine staff had appeared in his hand. Thunder crackled across it, and its terrifying power caught the gods completely off guard. They couldn't even withstand a single strike.

And Zeus wasn't alone. The other gods were helping him, too.

Poseidon let out a furious roar. The earth split apart, and endless seawater, under his command, surged toward the gods with a deafening rush.

The spectacle was so immense that only then did the gods notice the trident in Poseidon's hand. Whenever he wielded it, the sea would churn as if it were roaring along with him.

That wasn't all. In the endless darkness, an invisible figure silently circled around behind the Titan gods. When he attacked, they didn't even know what had happened.

When Zeus had gone with Poseidon and Hades to rescue the Cyclopes, they had obtained three divine weapons.

They were the Thunder Staff, which could command lightning; the Sea God's Trident, which could control the ocean; and the Invisibility Helmet, which could conceal its wearer.

With these three divine weapons, Poseidon and Hades, who were already strong, had instantly gained the power to fight the ancient Titan gods head-on. And Zeus... had even become unafraid of Kronos's kingly power!

King Kronos quickly noticed how ferociously the three gods were fighting.

His gaze fell on the Thunder Scepter in Zeus's hand and the Trident in Poseidon's. Sensing the familiar energy emanating from the weapons, the King of Gods' expression became indescribable.

He felt the same aura from those two weapons as from the sickle in his hand.

That meant the weapons came from the same source as his sickle. They were all world-shattering divine artifacts, and only those three could forge such weapons in the world today.

"The Cyclopes..."

Kronos quickly understood what had happened. He practically ground out those words through clenched teeth.

Kronos knew the Cyclopes' abilities better than anyone. After all, without the sickle in his hand, he would never have been able to defeat Uranus, the powerful first King of Gods.

And now, history was repeating itself. The three giants had once again forged invincible divine weapons. This time, however, the king who would be defeated was Kronos.

It seemed that, after all the twists and turns, nothing had changed. Only the roles had been reversed.

"No! I'll never be defeated like Uranus! Fate is on my side!"

Kronos let out an enraged, despairing growl. But before he could think of a response, Zeus gave a mighty shout. Surging thunder struck the ground, and enormous fissures suddenly split the earth.

From the bottomless abyss, three figures several times larger than mountains were climbing out. They had hideous faces, a hundred arms apiece, and fifty heads each. The moment they saw daylight again, they let out deafening roars.

They were... the Hecatoncheires!

"Zeus! How dare you release those giants?!" Kronos was so furious that he could no longer keep his composure.

The other Titan gods felt the terrifying threat as well.

After all, Uranus had imprisoned the three Hecatoncheires because they were too powerful—even stronger than the Twelve Titans!

When Kronos had become King of Gods, Gaia had asked him to release the giants, but he had refused because they were too powerful and might threaten his position as king.

So he had never imagined that Zeus would be bold enough to release such terrifying monsters!

"Stop him!" Kronos roared, his composure finally gone. "We can't let him release the Hecatoncheires!"

The other Titans realized how serious things were, too. They knew perfectly well that if the Hecatoncheires were freed, they would have no chance left at all.

For a moment, all the Titans went all out. They briefly broke free of the Olympian Gods' efforts to hold them back and rushed toward Zeus like madmen, trying to stop him from releasing the giants.

Even Kronos had no time to bother with Theron. He summoned the world-creating might of the King of Gods and furiously attacked Zeus.

One law after another surged together, converging into a vast and terrifying force that swept toward Zeus.

It was the combined full-force attack of six ancient Titan gods and a King of Gods. Under that terrifying power, the earth cracked at a visible rate, while lava and seawater surged from the fissures and swirled together into a boiling vortex.

The attack was so terrifying that its shockwaves alone left the entire world crumbling apart!