Chapter 153: 8: Drawing Lots (Moon Votes +7)

The following day.

Atop Mount Olympus, the tense atmosphere of the past ten years gave way to a cheerful ambiance that lingered in all directions.

Although the celestial phenomena were still terrifying, under the divine power of the gods, the surroundings of the Mount of the Gods had returned to their former state. Except for the weakened Sun that had temporarily lost its controller and no longer moved, everything seemed the same as usual.

Standing at the entrance of the great hall, Zeus looked at the goddess who had finally arrived and breathed a sigh of relief.

Though he was very confident that she would not refuse, nothing was certain until the dust had settled. After all, there had been little contact between them, and despite not having shown it outright, Zeus always felt that Themis had some opinion of him.

If she had not come, and he could not persuade another ancient Titan god to stand with Olympus, many things could have become very troublesome afterward.

“Welcome to your arrival, the just adjudicator, the respected Princess Themis, my dear aunt. Your presence adds a touch of luster to Mount Olympus.”

With a jubilant smile on his face, Zeus stepped forward. He opened his arms as if he intended to give the Goddess of Justice a warm embrace.

However, Themis slightly shifted to the side, avoiding the closeness of her nephew.

“All right, there’s no need for such courtesy, I did not come because of you, Zeus. I am simply fulfilling the duties bestowed upon me by my godhood, to deliver just judgment to all spirits.”

Her expression was cold. From their last encounter in the Spirit Realm, Zeus hadn’t left her with a good impression. Throughout the years, she had seen that he was also quite close to two goddesses.

One was Eurynome, whom she had met before, Metis’s sister, and the other was a goddess in black rarely seen, seeming to reside upon the stars.

However, compared to the former, the latter, owing to her father’s neutral stance in the Titanomachy, did maintain some distance from Zeus.

“Metis, isn’t she your wife? As the future king of the gods, you must not do anything to make her sad.”

Themis had simply been warning Zeus not to be too promiscuous, but as soon as her words fell, she saw the color of Zeus’s face suddenly stiffen.

“...She has been feeling unwell lately, my lady. Perhaps she was frightened by the power of the Father God before, as her divine power is not that strong, so she did not come to the feast today.”

“Please come this way, my lady. You and my foster mother are the only two ancient Titan gods here today.”

His tone somewhat stiff, Zeus managed a smile and turned to walk toward the palace.

Frowning slightly, Themis hadn’t expected such a severe reaction from Zeus; she had only intended to caution him against absurdity. But after all, it was someone else’s business, and whatever he wished to do had nothing much to do with her.

So Themis said no more and simply shook her head slightly, proceeding towards the palace as well.

With the Goddess of Justice entering the great hall, the deities atop Mount Olympus had mostly arrived.

Earlier, under the escort of a goddess, the God of the Ocean, still semi-conscious, returned to his Divine Palace atop the encircling river, where the environment was more conducive to Oceanus’s healing.

“Firstly, after a decade of tough battles, Olympus has achieved the final victory. And the succession of the Divine King will put a perfect end to this.”

“The former Divine King passed on his authority to us, to his three offspring—this is unquestionable. And after discussions with my brothers yesterday, in the end, for the sake of our bond, we have entrusted the decision to fate.”

This was the narrative he had decided on after much deliberation. There was no need for comparisons, no need for a power struggle, as these would only make him appear on the same level as his two brothers. Only the choice of fate could reflect his victory amidst a joke.

As for whether others would believe it or not, even if no one believed it now, surely someone would in the future.

In this respect, it seems that many rulers—both mythological and from later generations—came to the same conclusion.

“Three lots, symbolizing the Sky, the Ocean, and the Underworld, we used to decide the division of status. Under the witness of fate, in the end, I received the best lot and thus, with their blessings, became the founder of the new Divine Court.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than, as expected, the hall erupted into an uproar, with the gods murmuring among themselves.

Determining kingship by drawing lots sounded like an absurd tale. Some believed it, some did not, but regardless, behind the laughable decision on kingship, it hinted that Zeus and his brothers did not become adversaries because of it, and they could still be regarded as one.

Three powerful deities, along with their gentle yet battle-ready sister, indeed barely qualified to prop up the new Divine Court.

“Silence!”

With a soft command to stop the discussions, Zeus’s expression turned serious. He looked around, making eye contact with each deity in turn.

“This is the final outcome.”

“So if no one has objections to this, then today, I, the King of the Thousand Thunders, son of Cronus, noble descendant of the Heavenly Father and Mother Earth, will become the third-generation Divine King here, ruling over all spirits and things in the world.”

No deity spoke up to object, and the only one who might have caused an upset, the God of the Ocean, was not present. In the silence, Zeus raised his right hand, which held a familiar scepter. Triggered by this Divine Artifact from the former Divine King, an invisible force became apparent.

It was related to all three deities, but when the other two entities relinquished their attraction to it, it floated straight towards Zeus.

Without light flickering or the world celebrating, the new Divine King was born silently. The era had completed its final change, and the rules of the present world shifted slightly. At the same time, an invisible disturbance also swept across the world.

A new shackle was born, but nobody was aware of it yet.

“What’s this?”

The gods were somewhat confused, as they felt nothing else, just as if the disturbance had never existed.

Zeus was different, though; through the newly acquired Divine Authority of the Divine King, he understood everything. This was not anything else but the present world’s delayed retribution for the destruction caused by the deities before.

From now on, when the gods neared the earth, their divine power would tend toward null. When they approached the deep sea, they would retain only a tenth of their strength. When they were close to the Sun and Moon or the Underworld, their power would also be greatly diminished.

In the present world, only atop Mount Olympus would their divine powers be as before.

Because this place was the only one in the war of era transition where, because of a deity’s ‘birth’ rather than ‘damage,’ it remained undisturbed.