Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

That was Eurynome, as one of the original protagonists of today’s banquet, the Mother Goddess of the Graces, Zeus had granted her the honor to sit in the seat second only to Hera. However, at the moment, this Oceanid was looking at the water screen with an astonished expression.

“Sorry… I’m truly surprised. I never expected to see a person from the Golden Age on the walls of Bronze Humanity’s city!”

“Then again, it might just be a similarity in appearance…”

Her complexion was one of disbelief, but Eurynome soon found an explanation. As Metis’s sister, Eurynome had witnessed the birth of the first generation of humans at Delphi alongside her. She might not remember others, but the very first human was an exception.

“I must be mistaken, perhaps Prometheus intentionally made them resemble that way, I remember their family was quite close to Golden Humanity back in the day. That person looks a bit like the first Golden Human created by the gods—though he should be dead by now.”

“Golden Human…ity?”

Murmuring the name, Zeus felt something was amiss but couldn’t figure out what exactly.

He was about to remind Poseidon to tell his son not to cause too much trouble, to just flood the Mortal Realm with a deluge and avoid this special human, but in the end, Zeus held back his words.

After all, as Poseidon had just mentioned, such an act would come at a great cost, and all this couldn’t be justified only because the Divine King felt uneasy.

Fortunately, it was his son, not himself, who was responsible for the deed. Thus, Zeus relaxed and continued to watch the images before him.

······

Outside Aurora City, everything continued.

“I permit you to witness the destruction of your kind, and when the final moment comes, embrace the inevitable death.”

Raising the Divine Artifact, Triton made a judgment like the Principal Gods and did not forget to add a ‘special effect’ for himself.

Under the command of the Trident, water was levitated and formed a massive human image behind him. From a distance, it seemed as if the Deity of the Sea Titans had revealed his true form in the Mortal Realm, ominously overlooking the city on the plain.

Triton was quite pleased with this; the sight was indeed imposing. However, as the seconds and minutes passed, he did not see the Humans on the distant walls kneeling to beg for mercy.

Were they petrified with terror? Frowning, Triton stamped his foot, and was swiftly carried toward Aurora City on the backs of eight Sea Serpents.

As he drew nearer, the giant formed of sea water followed, and soon, Triton’s gaze was no longer obstructed by the city walls, and he could see the scene within the city.

It was much more normal this time; he saw some people running around in confusion, others kneeling to beg, and still others hiding in some temples—but Triton didn’t sense any divine power within those temples, so he didn’t spare them a second glance.

However, compared to the rest, the mortals still on the city walls remained conspicuously unchanged. Narrowing his eyes, Triton observed more carefully to prevent any unexpected occurrences.

Indeed, they were a group of mortals, seemingly stronger than the others but only by so much. As for the leader of the group, he appeared to be infused with a familiar divine aura of the Sun, but that proved nothing.

Life tainted by such power was common on the Earth; it seemed to be a cursed power. Poseidon once mentioned in his leisure that even the Divine King had a few such extremely powerful materials at hand, yet no one could use them. There had been a Deity who tried to forcefully harness it, but the attempt led to quite the farce in the Divine Court.

Only because that individual was a Deity did he manage to hastily abort this amalgamation. If it had been a mortal, or even a Demigod, Poseidon believed he would have gone mad by now.

“Who are you people, and why do you not kneel before a god!”

As thoughts flashed by, Triton, sitting on a throne formed from sea water, leaned forward slightly.

Behind him, the ‘giant’ also bent its form, and for a moment, it was as if The Sky itself was bearing down, an intangible pressure advancing forward.

Some on the city walls finally seemed to feel fear, retreating a few steps and bowing their heads, as if they dared not meet the gaze of a god any longer. Triton was pleased with this reaction, but soon his attention returned to the leader of the humans.

He seemed to be completely unaffected. Their eyes met briefly, but facing that sharp gaze, Triton instinctively avoided it, but then he glared back angrily.

Now, he was a god, how could he be intimidated by a mortal.

“Are you here to destroy mankind?”

Before he could speak, across a great distance, Triton heard the human ask.

“Of course, wasn’t I clear enough?”

“The ruler of the sea shall bring about the destruction of humanity; this is the end you deserve.”

Without hesitation, Triton thought this human must have been influenced by that substance, causing him to lose his sense of fear. But immediately after, he heard what the human said.

“Humans may have deceived the gods, and it is only right that you dispense punishment… But just because of a God of Hindsight and his wife, whom humans have never cared about since their creation, Hades brings disaster, and the God of the Ocean brings floods—is this what you call divine justice?”

“…?”

“Ha, yes, this is divine justice.”

Initially taken aback, Triton hadn’t expected this human to discuss ‘justice’ with him—is this a matter that should concern both gods and the mortal realm?

With a cold laugh, Triton was becoming impatient. He suddenly realized that under the watch of the other gods, there was no need for him to talk at length with a mortal.

So he communicated with the Divine Artifact, and ten million tons of sea water surged in response.

“Divine justice means that when we bid you pray, you ought to pray; when we bid you kneel, you ought to kneel. We gods created you, so you should obey our words, and certainly, we can destroy you, and we need no reason.”

“Just like now.”

With a downward sweep of his hand, the sea giant forming behind Triton pressed down as well. This wasn’t any powerful creation, just a simple flow of water, but what might be an overblown joke to deities was an unbearable burden for the walls of mortals.

Triton was curious whether, once the walls upon which this mortal stood collapsed and he struggled for survival in the sea, he would still be able to question him so calmly.

“Just like now, mortals, you are but ants. Your destruction—what is it to you!”

As he spoke the last phrase, Triton couldn’t help but feel surprised by the sudden burst of eloquence. If not for faith, mortals really were beings so inconsequential that gods would not bother to glance at them as they were crushed, he felt his summary was spot on.

Then the next moment, with a loud bang, the giant of sea water exploded. A bronze spear wrapped in golden light flashed by, and Triton dodged instinctively, but he still couldn’t avoid it.

“Ah—”

First startled, then came the intense pain in his shoulder. Amidst his cry of pain, almost as an instinctual reaction, Triton held his trident in front of him.

“Clang—”

“Crack—”

The sound of metal colliding and breaking rang out as Triton, clutching his shoulder, watched in horror as a bronze sword broke in two and fell.

When a mortal object collided with a Divine Artifact, it naturally broke into two pieces, but the numbness in Triton’s right hand told him that had he not been vigilant, that sword may well have pierced his chest.

In that moment, as fear of a narrow escape from death welled up within him, he gripped his trident as though it were the assurance of his life. The Divine Artifact seemed to sense the danger its master faced and enveloped him in a blue halo.

Through the halo, Triton realized what had just happened. The spear and short sword previously in the human’s hands were now gone, and currently, he was taking another sword from someone beside him.

“—Who are you, which deity’s descendant are you, do you realize what you’re doing?”

Speaking deliberately, Triton thought he was being very restrained, but the response that followed finally made him lose his reason.

Because the human simply raised his sword, with a fierce golden flame surging around him.

Son of the Sea Emperor, Triton, who had been so proud before, was now engaging in conversation after feeling pain, why?

“Golden Humanity never fears death.”

“Let’s see if gods fear death.”

Thus, in the next moment, under the incredulous gaze of the humans in the city, and in the presence of sky, earth, sea, and not just one interested deity, Cohen swung his sword again.

The swordplay was unremarkable, but the essence contained within shone even brighter than before.