He exhaled, and although the pressure from the Primordial Gods remained strong, Mother Earth, the one with whom he had a direct conflict, happened to be the weakest among them. His heart relaxed slightly as he watched the illusory scenery around him slowly dissipate, and Zeus locked onto the interface attached to Mount Olympus.
He was very curious about what was in this strange world—perhaps the treasure trove of that Otherworldly Divine King was among them. Since he still had time, he might as well probe into it.
Moreover, an interface... Zeus had many ideas about it.
...
No one knew what disaster had occurred at Olympus; the collision between worlds was silent yet vast and unpredictable.
Even Laine, far away in the Spirit Realm, only glanced strangely toward The East of the continent at the beginning.
Just now, he suddenly discovered that the authority he had left behind had inexplicably shifted locations. Although with the gestation of the new deities, he had willingly transferred the authority of Wisdom to a new deity, he had deliberately retained a part of it.
The Wisdom that remained in Zeus's mind could often produce special effects in many situations. But at this moment, for some reason, those remaining authorities suddenly lost their master and attached themselves to another deity nearby.
Not just the authority granted by Laine, even the Hydrology inherent in Metis herself was not an exception. Sensing all this, Laine tried to trace through the connection between the authorities to find out what happened, but there, he only felt two familiar forces that severed everything.
Their existence caused a rift in the dimensions of time and fate, blocking all possible probes and shrouding the events behind layers of mist.
"What's wrong, has something happened at Olympus?"
Handing back the Codex of Creation to Laine, Themis sharply noticed Laine's distracted divine mind, and the direction he was looking was precisely where Olympus was.
Thinking about the recent acts of her nephew, the goddess couldn't help but suspect he had done something again.
"Nothing much, just a minor incident. Zeus... may have obtained something special."
His eyes narrowed minimally, Laine accepted the codex. Although the world concealed everything, there were only so many possible outcomes.
Appearing at Olympus and related to the residual world power of the Nine Realms, there could be no other possibility. Zeus probably got hold of something left behind by the Nine Realms; considering that Asgard was what fell there, the source of the accident was likely Odin.
This seasoned Divine King was not like the previous two of Chaos; he had weathered many storms, presided over several wars of the gods—against the Titans, against the Vanir, and against the Land of the Dead—and had always remained steadily seated on his throne. Mimir's so-called understanding of him might only be a part of it.
Since the matter with Mephisto last time, Themis had gradually realized that if she wanted to prevent similar incidents and ensure that human trials were conducted fairly, she needed to establish a standard for them.
But just like Laine said, it's impossible for her to supervise every mortal trial by herself, especially in the foreseeable future when humans with the ability to reproduce would be spread across the Earth. Even as a deity, Themis wouldn't be able to spend all her time on these matters.
"So, do you have any suggestions?"
Raising an eyebrow, Themis inquired. She knew that since Laine had brought up this matter, he must have some special idea.
"Sort of. It's also thanks to an angel under my command who gave me this idea. Perhaps you could establish a clergy to guard the fairness of trial on your behalf."
"Those mortals who resonate with your ideals, respect your actions, and are willing to offer their faith to you can be ordained with your holy emblem. They will judge the various affairs in the Mortal Realm in your name, and only truly significant events would warrant your direct gaze. And if they betray their faith, you will have a fitting reason to punish their betrayal."
With a slight smile, Laine unveiled the plan he had long considered. Across from him, the Goddess of Law nodded, but then shook her head.
"But I have nothing to give them, and even if they are my followers, I shouldn't let them serve me without compensation."
"No, you do."
Meeting Themis's gaze, Laine slowly said:
"For those who devoutly follow your path, I can take charge and present their souls to you. You can promise them that, after their death, they can enjoy various blessings in your realm and obtain a life far longer than they had before."
"But I don't have such a place... It seems you are already prepared, aren't you?"
With an inscrutable expression, Themis had already realized that Laine definitely had other plans for this matter.
However, she wasn't opposed to it, because ever since she first enacted laws thousands of years ago, while Laine did indeed gain something, she too benefited from each exchange.
"It's not about being prepared, but you just need to expend some divine power to build it. That's all."
With a subtle smile, Laine confirmed this.
"As for me, I have no other requests, except for one thing: the location of its establishment is naturally for me to decide."