Chapter 140: Chapter 109 Apology
Unlike Gaia, Erebus was very clear on how to target his opponent as much as possible while avoiding destruction to the world.
What use was there in fighting him, when piercing through that layer of ‘skin’ he was clothed in could truly threaten him?
At that time, one side would be Earth’s incarnation, targeted but at least one of their own, and the other side would be the uncontrollable, destructive Outsider. It was glaringly obvious where the present world’s instinct would stand.
Thus, Darkness surged from the fissures of the Earth. At first, it was a mere trickle, but in the span of a breath, it became immeasurable. Twisting and flowing, it reached out towards the towering figure standing upon the Earth, as if to envelop the great deity within.
As long as he could make contact, Erebus could use his authority to unveil the ‘secrets’ hidden beneath and expose them before the present world and the gods.
However, Laine couldn’t possibly be unprepared for this, for as the sovereign of Spirituality, his thoughts were synchronized with his incarnation. Thus, the very next moment, an ephemeral barrier likewise emerged, staunchly blocking the path of the Darkness.
There was no sound, no vision, and even beings below Great Divine Power had yet to notice as the two domains collided in silence.
The present world shook, waves stirred in the Source Sea, and slight tremors occurred in both colliding domains, yet nothing was aware of this. Everything happened without sound nor notice, yet it gestated surging waves of terror.
“What a nuisance.”
In a low murmur within his heart, at this moment, Laine finally felt the pressure, the oppressiveness of a true Primordial God.
There was no probing; the first strike was made with full force. The Dark Overlord’s goal was not to dispose of him, Laine could sense that. The adversary was targeting the nearly nonexistent Divine King’s power that now surrounded him.
So, if he didn’t wish to be unmasked, his options were to counter with equal force or to choose an end.
The former he was doing, but sensing the nearly instant, tiny cracks that surrounded him, Laine knew he was still somewhat behind Erebus.
“Let’s end it here; it’s almost done anyway.”
Looking towards Zeus in the distance, his ‘beloved son’, and then at his nearly exhausted Divine King’s power, Laine finally decided to retreat.
At present, he seemed at ease, one hand suppressing the Earth, the other capturing the Great Sun, even briefly contending against an aggressively approaching Primordial God, but only he knew the tremendous pressure he faced.
The first two were manageable. With his current powerful divine status, although lacking in strength, his essence was far superior to Gaia by an indeterminate degree. A fraction of Divine Power was more than enough to surpass her by tenfold, hence his advantage over Mother Earth was as expected, but Erebus was different.
This Primordial God was in prime condition, his essence intact, even fully rallying his body’s power in total commitment. Laine’s ability to contend with him actually relied on the Spirit Realm itself for balance.
But he was not yet the Great Divine Power, and such actions, manipulating forces of a complete world from beyond its borders, placed severe oppression on his Divine Body.
As personified incarnations, Gaia and Erebus would endure likewise, but their stronger divine force naturally meant they were less affected. V/\IssịT n0(v)eL/b(i)(n).co/m for the b/est novel reading experi/en/ce
This oppression’s harm wasn’t a problem in the short term, but the longer it lasted, the more serious it became, and his Divine Body would collapse ever more rapidly. Eventually, it could even lead to an uncontrollable avalanche.
Though for Laine, the collapse of his Divine Body wasn’t fatal, recovery would be difficult in the immediate future, and this would inevitably affect the final arrangements of this era.
Just moments ago, the God of the Ocean, Oceanus, had passed out amidst painful screams, a sound that still lingered in their ears. In the previous era, Uranus would have considered it a pleasant accompaniment, but to the current gods, it sounded like a death knell.
Deities do not die, but they can be tormented, so no matter the condition of ‘Cronus’ now, they would not be the first to act.
After all, no god would be deceived by the same existence three times in one day.
And perhaps because the Divine Body was carrying the power of the Spirit Realm, although the Divine Power surrounding ‘Cronus’ was now almost imperceptible, and his divine body was gradually deteriorating, an intangible oppression was growing even more intense.
In the eyes of the gods, the current ‘Divine King’ felt to them eerily similar to the will of the present world.
Combined with his now ethereal form, an unfounded conjecture appeared in the minds of a few deities.
Could it be that, in seeking to become the Great Divine Power, an accident occurred and now he is about to ‘merge with the world’?
If interpreted this way, then the previous inconsistencies seemed to have an explanation. The power of the Divine King was indeed waning, but his combat strength became more fearsome, although it is likely he did not succeed. Otherwise, the first post-creation Great Divine Power in the Chaos World would not be so quiet.
This also seemed to fit with fate. If pure power couldn’t defeat him, then let him defeat himself.
“Your Majesty—”
In the eerily tense scene, Zeus’s eyes were shifting, and the other deities each had their own thoughts. But as ‘Cronus’ was about to speak, suddenly, a blue-haired, graceful goddess fell to her knees beside Zeus.
The ‘Divine King’ recognized her. It was Eurybia, daughter of the ancient Sea God Pontus and wife of the God of Meteorology, Crius, symbolizing one aspect of the power of the sea.
As the wife of the God of Meteorology, Eurybia should have stood by the Divine King, but clearly, facing the overwhelming situation before and the fates of legend, this goddess chose easily.
She betrayed the Divine King, stood on the side of Olympus, and then regretted her decision fervently upon witnessing ‘Cronus’s ‘hidden’ true power.
“Your Majesty, I plead for your forgiveness for my earlier foolish actions. It was Zeus’s wife, the cunning Metis, who deceived me!”
“I am willing to accept your punishment, but I beseech you to forgive my previous sin, for the sake of my husband’s honor,”
Eurybia’s voice was somewhat sharp, her appearance a bit disheveled, but inside, many deities actually wanted to take her place.
If possible, they, too, would want to kneel before the Divine King and beg for mercy, but unlike Eurybia, who had some relation to ‘Cronus,’ they couldn’t even find a reason to justify themselves.
But there were also some gods whose expressions remained unchanged on the surface, yet their thoughts were inscrutable.
If things were indeed as they suspected, then perhaps this time, Eurybia had acted prematurely again.
Once the Divine King is replaced, due to her actions today, even in the future Divine Court, the lineage of the ancient Sea God would inevitably face exclusion.
But that did not concern them, and no one would speak out, not even Eurybia’s brother and Pontus’s eldest son, Thalassa, the personification of sea’s gentleness, Nereus.
Conjecture, after all, is just conjecture. Before the laws of the present world shifted with the change of the Divine King, he dared not act precipitately. After all, the dreadful state of the God of the Ocean was not too long ago.