Stripped of divine nature

After the scream, the entire world sank into an eerie silence.

Phorcys and Ceto were also looking up at the sky. The god of the sea's anger and the goddess of its dangers exchanged a glance, the solemn expressions on their faces gradually turning into greedy, eager smiles.

No words passed between them in that glance, but each understood the judgment taking shape in the other's mind: something had happened to Nairmis.

The god of emotions, who played the lyre for the God King every day yet always returned safely to the earth, had probably failed to escape this time.

If the God King had truly disposed of Nairmis, then his prophecies, including the painting about Oceanus and Tethys's return, would lose their original credibility.

"Then that prophecy is invalid?"

"How credible could a prophecy from a god punished by the God King still be?" Phorcys licked his lips. "Metis used that parchment to keep us in check. Now that her backer has fallen, let's see what else she has..."

Before he could finish, a voice from the depths of the sea poured directly into the consciousness of all three of them. It was aged and urgent. It was Pontus.

"Return immediately."

Those brief words made them stiffen instantly. Pontus's tone carried a rare sense of urgency.

"What's wrong with Father?" The snakes forming Ceto's hair all drooped.

"I don't know." The greed in Phorcys's eyes had vanished, replaced by wariness and unease.

"Let's go."

The two turned and dived into the deep sea, their figures swiftly disappearing into the water. Waves churned a few times before the surface grew calm again.

Metis did not notice their movements. Her head was still tilted back as she watched the golden patterns of light churning high in the sky. Only one thought kept circling through her mind.

Was it because the God King found out he gave me a prophecy? Because of that painting? Was he being punished in my place?

Nereus stood where he was, watching the direction in which they had disappeared. He turned his head and exchanged a glance with Doris. Then he nodded slightly, turned, and dived beneath the sea as well.

Metis finally lowered her head. Her gaze swept across the empty beach, and a flicker of understanding passed through her eyes.

Pontus must have spoken. Though she was deeply worried about Nairmis, her sisters were more important at that moment, and she had no intention of lingering either.

She turned and took flight, her voice urgent. "Everyone, come with me. Let's leave this island first."

The sea goddesses asked no questions. They rose into the air one after another, gathering around Metis. Metis gave the sky one last look, then took Doris's wrist with a complicated expression, and the two flew away from the island together.

High in the sky, the golden patterns of light were still slowly spreading. The oppressive power descending from above filled every god watching with an indescribable heaviness.

Meanwhile, beneath the earth, Gaia was slowly rising to her feet. Most of her divine power had recovered, and the twelve masses of origin within her belly had temporarily quieted down.

She looked up toward the sky and was just about to step out of the Earth Divine Domain when she felt an invisible force surge from the direction of the River of Fate, weaving into a dense barrier before her.

She stopped short, a sharp glint flashing through her eyes. The aura of fate. This was fate's arrangement.

Gaia frowned and gently clenched her fists, but took no further step forward.

Within the Night Divine Domain, Nyx sat quietly upon her black throne.

Her gaze passed through the barrier of the void and fell upon the three busy figures on the banks of the River of Fate. They were striving to pull the stretch of fate Nairmis had disturbed back onto its predetermined course.

Nyx did not intervene. She merely watched, the interwoven, flickering lines reflected in her eyes, neither anxious nor tense.

She wanted to see how that god beyond fate would change fate this time.

Within the Sky Divine Domain, Uranus walked up to Nairmis and stopped, raising his right hand toward his chest.

Divine power flowed from his fingertips, precisely probing into Nairmis's body and piercing the mass of flame divine nature. Then he pulled outward.

Nairmis felt an invisible hand tear a fissure through his body from within as his flame divine nature was forcibly stripped out.

He tried to resist, but the gulf between a Third-Class God and the God King was like that between an ant and a mountain. His divine power collapsed the instant it made contact.

Agonizing pain exploded in his chest, spreading from his body into the depths of his soul.

He could not hold back a harrowing scream, then lost consciousness from the pain, his body slumping.

Uranus looked at the pulsing mass of flame divine nature in his hand, his golden eyes utterly unmoved.

The laws' punishment descended at that moment. Several tiny cracks appeared on the back of his hand, glimmering faintly as though scorched. They were not particularly deep, lighter than last time, and within what he could endure.

The world explicitly forbade acts against gods acknowledged by the laws; even the God King could not defy this. Likewise, plundering another's godhead would provoke a severe backlash from the laws.

But Uranus had extracted only divine nature, not a complete godhead. The laws' condemnation was within what he could endure. As the sky itself, he had long grown accustomed to the laws' occasional protests.

He raised his hand to inspect the cracks, then flexed his wrist.

Holding the mass of flame divine nature, he turned toward his throne. Then, with a casual toss, he hurled the unconscious Nairmis out of the Sky Divine Domain, sending him plummeting toward the earth.

Yesterday, Nyx had disregarded his prohibition, Erebus had stood silently beside his wife, and Gaia had cast disapproving looks from the shadows. Even those three newborn goddesses of fate had humiliated him.

Before everyone's eyes, he, the mighty God King of the Sky, the foremost of all gods, had been forced by a group of gods to rein in his imposing power.

Of course he would not let it end there. Uranus tightened his grip on the flame divine nature and turned his gaze toward the earth, murderous intent chilling his eyes.

In the low skies near Proeon, Hemera was anxiously watching the heavens.

She happened to look up and see Nairmis falling. She immediately flew up and caught his body precisely in midair, cradling him securely in her arms before slowly descending to the foot of Mount Proeon.

The moment she landed, the surrounding spirits gathered around her.

Acenoe practically threw herself forward. Her fingers touched Nairmis's pale cheek, and as she sensed the faint, disordered flow of his divine power, her eyes instantly reddened.

The other spirits crowded around the outside, every pair of eyes fixed on the blond god lying with his eyes closed in Hemera's arms. Some spirits began to sob softly.

"Quiet," Hemera rebuked them in a low voice.

The Goddess of Day's imposing presence enveloped everyone. As her stern gaze swept over the spirits, they forcibly swallowed their sobs.

She lowered her head and examined him carefully. A moment later, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"His Highness is only severely injured. There is a special healing power within his body, slowly repairing it. Though it is slow, he should recover in a few months."

A few months. To a god, a few months were no more than a nap.

Finally reassured, Hemera carefully laid Nairmis on the grass. She sat beside him rather than leaving immediately.

Acenoe's tense shoulders relaxed, but the spirits still surrounded Nairmis, unwilling to disperse.

"His Highness will wake up, won't he?" Acenoe asked tentatively.

"He will." Hemera looked at her, softening her voice for once. "But he needs time."

Just then, unnoticed by anyone, Nairmis's brow suddenly twitched slightly in his unconscious sleep.

Deep within his consciousness, darkness enveloped him. He could vaguely sense that his body was lying somewhere, surrounded by warm presences and faint sobbing.

Nairmis wanted to open his eyes, but he could not wake. The scenes of the prophecy flashed through his consciousness over and over.

He had to wake up. That catastrophe was still approaching. He could not lie here doing nothing, but his body would not move.

Just as he began to despair, the time node divine nature silently lit up.