Uranus stood in midair, looking down at the long, gaping wound in the earth. Gaia's wails had subsided into deep sobbing.
A satisfied expression appeared on his face. This was a creation he had pruned with his own hands, pressing those who dared covet the authority of the sky back into the prison of their origin.
Only the most thorough warning could make the world remember that everything beneath the sky belonged to him.
The remaining Titans stood frozen at the edge of the divine domain, their faces deathly pale. They wanted to flee, but their legs had no strength.
Cronus stood at the very back of the Titans' ranks, his young face deathly pale. Fear had filled him to overflowing.
The instant Coeus was seized by that giant hand, all reason in his mind was crushed, leaving only a single thought: escape.
He poured out all his divine power, and the Space Divinity within him suddenly blazed. It was one of the innate authorities of his origin, governing space and vitality. Throughout all the enslavement and suppression before this, he had never truly used its full power, but now he had no way back.
Space warped around him, and he vanished from the Sky Divine Domain.
Uranus did not stop him. He merely gave a contemptuous smile. Beneath the sky, Cronus had nowhere to run.
Except the Abyss, where those six ugly giants were waiting. If he went there, he would keep those exiled freaks company forever.
If he went to the Netherworld, that meddlesome primordial goddess of night might take him in. But as the God King and the representative of paternal authority, Uranus could simply demand that she hand him over by force. It would merely alert that ancient being who slept with darkness in the depths of the Netherworld.
Whether the Abyss or the Netherworld, sooner or later he would purge every being that might threaten his authority. His gaze swept toward the Underworld, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Those two Primordial Gods-one day, he would make them cease to be a threat.
His gaze returned to the remaining Titans. Amid their agonized pleas for mercy, the great hand of white substance condensed from the sky's divine power descended again, seizing the fifth, the sixth, the seventh, and stuffing them one by one back into the rift in the earth.
The sky shook, the earth wailed, and the entire world lost its color. Never had the boundary between heaven and earth been so blurred and hideous.
At the foot of Mount Proeon, Nairmis tightened his grip on his pen. He was waiting. The vast power of the God King in the sky was entirely occupied with suppressing the earth and the Titans, with no attention spared for a corner of the ground.
This was the best moment to make his declaration. At this moment, the Wisdom and Inspiration Divine Nature within him had also filled, urging him to speak, urging him to take that step.
The earth's resistance occupied all the God King's attention. As long as Nairmis did not deliver himself to his door, Uranus could spare no hand to deal with a minor god far away at the foot of the mountain. Yet Nairmis still hesitated. What if Uranus spared a sliver of power in his fury?
It was that one unlikely possibility he feared. What if that mad God King decided to deal with him as an external threat first, then slowly finish off the remaining Titans?
Just then, the Time Node Divine Nature stirred slightly. His own future voice appeared in his mind. Make both declarations together.
Nairmis froze. Without even using a sphere of consciousness, his future self could already send messages directly through a time node?
He had no time to dwell on it. He took a deep breath and faced the world. Both divine natures burned within him at once, the light of prophecy standing alongside the flame of wisdom.
"I am Nairmis, lord of emotions, commander of crafts, keeper of records. I have seen chaos first open, seen heaven and earth take shape. I touch the nodes of time, and I see the future growing from every present moment."
"With the pen in my hand, I depict the future. Images that have yet to occur are recorded at this moment, and paths that will unfold through time have already been gathered. I shall be the god of prophecy, governing the future that can be recorded."
The laws thundered.
"I was born in bewilderment and grew through contemplation. Wherever inspiration flashes, the mist disperses and the path ahead emerges. I guide inspiration and kindle sudden understanding, allowing all things to find clarity amid confusion. Thus, I shall be the god of wisdom and inspiration, governing every moment in which inspiration strikes."
The laws thundered again. Two Third-Class Divinities condensed within him at once, and two streams of divine power poured into his body simultaneously, filling him with a surge of warmth.
Nairmis closed his eyes and felt it for a moment. Though these were not offensive divinities, his reserves of divine power now far exceeded those of an ordinary Third-Class God. In terms of foundations, even among those of the same rank, few could rival him.
He looked up at the sky again. The giant hand manifested by the God King was still stuffing the remaining Titans into the rift, entirely unaware of what had happened in a corner of the ground.
He let out a slight breath of relief. Thank goodness. Before he had finished exhaling, the space beside him suddenly began to warp.
Nairmis abruptly drew his gaze back, instinctively taking half a step backward.
A disheveled man tumbled out of the distorted space. He dropped to one knee, his bare upper body covered in bloody marks and bruises. Dark brown curls clung messily to his forehead, and his breathing was heavy and rapid.
He raised his head, revealing a face that bore some resemblance to Uranus's but was younger, his deep amber eyes still shaken with fear.
The aura of a First-Class God washed over Nairmis, vast but chaotic. Clearly, the man had just suffered a severe expenditure of divine power. He took two gasping breaths, raised his eyes, and looked around before finally settling his gaze on Nairmis.
Nairmis recognized him: the god of space and vitality, the future God King, Cronus.
He had actually escaped from Uranus!
Nairmis's heart clenched sharply. A string of thoughts raced through his mind. Why had Cronus come running here?
He could clearly have fled farther, to the borders of the Netherworld and the Abyss. Why had he appeared right in front of him instead?