"So... what exactly happened?"
"Just as the gods thought, you were swallowed by Zeus, and then I came to be... But now, are you still there?"
Whispering softly, Athena didn't expect an answer, for her godhood told her it was impossible.
There was no other Hydrology deity in the world anymore; she was the sole master of that authority.
"About that... I'm afraid no one can conclude. In fact, I'm also curious about Metis's whereabouts."
"Who!"
In an instant, her normally gentle eyes sharpened, and Athena abruptly turned around. Although her beauty, as "bright-eyed maiden," "protector of the city, among goddesses she shines," is often recorded in mythology, no one could disregard that her strength was just as renowned as her beauty.
Without a sound, the spear of Victory fell into her hands, and Athena scanned the area warily, but nothing met her gaze.
"...There's no need for such precautions, in fact, I have been here even before you came. If we're really talking about it, you are the later arrival."
The gentle voice came again, and the next moment, the void trembled, and a figure cloaked in black emerged. He looked at Athena and also at the manuscript in front of her, issuing a sigh that came from the heart.
After all, even if he told you and it sounded plausible, no one could guarantee that the Divine King hadn't deliberately withheld any key information. So rather than wasting effort there, it was better to search for the answers himself.
For instance, the most crucial clue, all of this must be inextricably linked to the slip of Metis's godhood. Therefore, after only a short search, Laine arrived here, at the place once inhabited by the Oceanides; he saw what they had left behind, and then, unsurprisingly, waited until Athena arrived soon after.
But unlike her complex emotions, Laine only lamented Metis's fate briefly—after all, everyone should be responsible for their own choices. She voluntarily chose Zeus, so it seemed not so strange that she ended up in her current situation.
"Whoever you are... it seems you've come for His Majesty the Divine King."
In the side hall, having seen Laine's emerging figure, Athena's eyes flickered momentarily before she sheathed her weapon.
She didn't maintain unnecessary vigilance because Laine also didn't conceal his aura from her. After sensing a power even more daunting than that of Zeus and Gaia, the Goddess of Wisdom understood the deity's intention almost in a breath.
He came for the currently battling Divine King, for Zeus's abnormal strength—Athena actually didn't know what kind of power the Divine King 'should' possess, but the reactions of the gods in the hall earlier all proved one point: in the past, the Divine King was far from Gaia's match, yet the battle outside was the complete opposite.
Perhaps it was this change that attracted the attention of the deity before her.
As for Metis or herself... this palace had clearly been vacant for hundreds of years, and although he claimed to have met the Oceanide Goddess in her infancy, they probably didn't have a close relationship. As for Athena herself, she didn't know what about her freshly born self could possibly interest others.
"Sort of, the Divine King... In fact, I'm not at all surprised about Zeus becoming stronger. In the destiny set out for him, he was meant to grow stronger, but when his method of gaining strength and Metis's disappearance are put together, then it cannot be ignored."