Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

“…Is that so? Well then, you have done well.”

Although somewhat regretful, Zeus had anticipated this outcome.

Or rather, in his view, the mysterious gift from the Spirit Realm was like Hades’ ‘gift,’ not truly intended for that divine creation, but meant to be released through Pandora’s hands. After all, it is said that among the Primordial Deities, the Lord of the Spirit Realm and Mother Night held abilities related to fate; perhaps they foresaw something.

As long as it did not interfere with his acquisition of faith, Zeus now had no desire to pay attention to these trivial matters. After all, Mother Earth would not sleep forever, and unlike other Primordial Gods, she too needed outside forces to compensate for her deficiencies.

On top of that, the Titan, Gaia, who he had imprisoned, was his potential enemy.

“Since that is the case, Zephyrus, go to the southern seas and inform the Sea Emperor.”

“He seems so eager to inflict punishment upon humans, I now permit it. He may do so in any way he sees fit, and I only want the result. Of course, remind him not to be too hasty, to slightly slow down the timing. Since it is a punishment, humans should be given some time to react.”

“It would be best if they could record all of this… When the humans of the next era are born, let them unearth the demise of their predecessors themselves. Let them know that without the protection of the Divine King, the sea and the Underworld will bring them catastrophe.”

Raising his right hand, a scepter embedded with three gemstones appeared in Zeus’ hand. Today, this Divine Artifact forged by the previous Divine King, though still of questionable power, has acquired some special abilities after being passed down through two reigns.

With a gesture of the scepter, an invisible force coalesced into a token, the symbol of the Divine King’s permission for Poseidon to exercise authority on the land.

Even if he didn’t allow it, Zeus was actually powerless to stop a deity with mighty Divine Power from exercising their authority. However, many things work this way, adding an extra procedure can better display the legitimacy of the Divine Court. And for these minor matters, the deities are willing to give the Divine King face.

“As you command, Your Majesty, your orders shall be executed.”

After receiving the token and bowing, the God of the West Wind left the great hall and hurried away from Mount Olympus.

He had been very busy lately, but thinking about all this being for the coming of the next human era, and that he would soon have his own human followers, filled Zephyrus with motivation.

As a deity presiding over a part of meteorology, he believed he would not lack followers in the future. Perhaps one day, he, a True God with only weak Divine Power, could step by step gaze upon the throne of a mighty Principal God?

Watching the retreating figure of Zephyrus, Zeus sat quietly in the palace for a while. His gaze, passing through the doorway, now saw the changing laws clearly on the land.

Outside Mount Olympus, the great Magic Net that connected the Spirit Realm with the present world covered the heavens and the earth, the elemental forces slowly flowed along the strings of the Magic Net; from beneath the earth, streams of black mist rose, merging with everything in the mortal plane.

The breath of the Mortal Realm was no longer as pleasant, but it paradoxically gained some vitality. Looking at this scene, Zeus vaguely grasped some insight, but ultimately gained nothing.

This is the nature of Primordial Gods; their inherent station allows them to see things that mortals can only dream of, yet their lack of understanding of their own power prevents them from turning any insight into tangible progress.

Because their foundation is hollow, strength gained by instinct and experience may work, but to some extent, it becomes a shackle preventing them from progressing further.

“It seems that henceforth, plagues will accompany great floods… The divine authority over mundane things is still too great. It’s manageable now, but in the next human century, we can’t allow them such unrestrained actions.”

Musing in silence on ‘unrestrained actions,’ Zeus indeed thought this way. Although all this sprung from his open or hidden suggestions, just because the Divine King could act this way did not mean others could as well.

Moreover, Zeus didn’t believe that in the future, the gods would competely comply with a normal way of competing for faith. They might do anything, and as the Divine King, his job was to forestall such behavior.

Conflicts between gods must not carelessly impact humans, at least not so that a conflict between two deities directly targets the other’s followers. Otherwise, it would not only harm the image of the gods, but slaughter would also come too easily, and it would take centuries for humanity to recover, which is the wealth of the gods.

Especially as the King of All Gods, the god who grants humans the right to live, Zeus, like the earth, the sun, is an indispensable part of humans, and he too could gain a little bit of faith from all humans.

While not much, and far less than the faith given by direct worship, it is still something.

“It seems I need to establish a rule afterward, that the gods should not arbitrarily exercise their Divine Authority, for fragile humans cannot withstand such.”

“I wonder when Themis will return.”

Although the Bronze Humanity had not yet perished, Zeus had already considered much. As the Divine King, as the greatest beneficiary of the rules, he should spare no effort to maintain them.

So he needed to establish a law preventing the gods from destroying humans unreasonably, unless they had directly offended a deity. And to do this, he still needed the assistance of his aunt.