Especially Prophecy, having experienced firsthand the terror of fate, the Lord of the Nine Hells held it in a certain awe and kept his distance.
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On the earth, in the blink of an eye, the sun and the moon had taken their turns several times, and the tides of the eastern part of the continent were rising higher and higher.
Low mountains were submerged, rivers either widened or redirected; torrential rains seemed endless, as if there was no end.
But amid these tumultuous waves, there was a small exception, a simple wooden raft. The tides ceased around it, strange beasts stayed far from its presence, and so it drifted aimlessly upon the flood, carrying the two aboard without a destination.
There was no drinking water on the raft, for the downpour from the sky avoided it, and that from the sea was undrinkable; there was also no food, for the birds of the sky had drowned in exhaustion in the water, and no fish or shrimp survived in these tides that defied the laws of nature.
Fortunately, the two on the raft were not mortals, they were children of gods. Though the divinity within them was near absent, making their strength barely greater than that of mortals, this ultimately spared them from death by hunger and thirst.
So, adrift, several more days passed. It seemed the waters might be receding, and one day, after an accidental collision, the raft came to rest upon an unnamed mountain peak.
Enduring their exhaustion, Deucalion and Pitha climbed onto the only piece of land they had encountered in their drift, but when they reached the summit, they witnessed an incredible scene.
The waters abruptly halted at this mountain peak as if some invisible force had severed them. On one side of the mountain was an expansive plain, untouched by a drop of sea, while on the other, relentless waves continued to pound the mountain's body, causing a tremendous roar.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that on the plains, there were some structures that were clearly not of natural origin.
"...This is the Panasus mountain range, have we really drifted for so long?"
Viewing everything before her, Pitha's face turned somewhat pale.
"What?"
Deucalion knew his uncle Epimetheus well. He was famed among the gods for his foolishness, but now, it seemed he had foreseen this calamity?
It could be an accident... and it would be best if it was. Deucalion comforted himself, not because he couldn't accept a non-foolish Epimetheus, but because he thought of more.
If his uncle had known about the destruction of humanity beforehand, did that mean that the gods had plotted this disaster long ago and that both Bronze Humanity and the creatures of the earth, even he and Pitha, were insignificant sacrifices and pawns?
If this were true, it meant they were still in danger, never far from the threat of death.
"Did he say anything else?"
Collecting himself, Deucalion asked again. At his words, Pitha paused, then seemed to suddenly remember something.
"He also mentioned... Princess Themis is a god of justice, the embodiment of righteousness. If one day we face an insurmountable calamity, we might seek her aid, for among the gods she is the most trustworthy."
"...The most trustworthy?"
His heart sank again. Under her parents' protection, Pitha had never encountered hardship and wasn't sensitive to such things, but Deucalion read between the lines.
Why seek help from the most trustworthy god? Because the others are not trustworthy. Perhaps his guess was right; the real danger for him and Pitha had not yet arrived, and only the witness of the Master of Law could prevent the worst outcome.