Unfortunately, the current era simply does not have room for a drawn-out conflict, and in such a situation, the Divine King naturally had nothing to fear.
Of course, there was another reason he had no fear—after all, only an avatar of his had been sent here, and no matter the outcome, it would not have any serious consequences.
Lightning flickered, and as mountains and rivers were left behind, a towering mountain range gradually emerged in front of Zeus' eyes.
And to the Divine King's surprise, he was very familiar with this place; in fact, he had visited here more than once in the past.
The Delphic Great Plains, the Panasus Mountain Range. Only, unlike past days, the mountain range and its surrounding ten thousand miles now seemed utterly lifeless.
"Ah, is this your way of telling me directly that you took the Golden Apple Tree... Fine, let's see what you intend to do," Zeus thought to himself, landing atop the mountain range. However, looking all around, there was not a soul in sight. The Primordial God who had released the aura enticing him here was nowhere to be found, as if it were nothing but a jest.
"Why lure me here only to play these little tricks?"
With a calm expression, Zeus simply uttered in the face of this situation.
"I just wanted to see what was so special about your divine authority as the Divine King... But now it seems, it's more like an authority that is both 'omnipotent' and 'impotent.'
"Moreover, I thought you would be afraid to meet me."
As the voice rang out, Zeus' heart startled. He spun around swiftly, and under a lifeless tree, Erebus was standing there.
The other should never have left, having merely concealed their presence. If Gaia was here, she would probably have been able to sense the other's presence through the earth, but the Divine King could not do that.
As the Lord of Darkness said, Kingship was intimately related to the heaven-bestowed Divine Authority. He could influence almost any rule, yet fell far short of deities who truly excelled in this domain. It felt like a weakened version of the usual rule of the present world.
"... Moanda."
After a brief silence, with thoughts unknown, just as the dispersed pressure around was about to unravel the Divine King's avatar, Erebus finally withdrew it.
He glanced at Zeus and then called for his subordinate. With a flash of green light, Moanda appeared beside the Lord of Darkness.
"This is...?"
Without further boasting, Zeus timely expressed his curiosity. Upon the unfamiliar deity before him, the Divine King sensed an inexplicable closeness. It seemed he shared some sort of connection with this goddess he had never met, creating a favorable impression so strong it almost made him lower his guard.
Of course, that was just a feeling. In truth, Zeus never let down his vigilance.
"Since you want an explanation... let her be my explanation to you. The ceremony you are conducting also needs an entity like her to join, does it not?"
With a smile curling his lips, Erebus continued:
"As for who she is... Ha, did Gaia not come for her? Having Moanda join your Divine Court and become one of your so-called 'Principal Gods' fits perfectly."
"The Golden Apple Tree?!"
Incredulous, yet Zeus finally understood the source of the strange sensation.
He did have a connection with this god named Moanda. Indeed, she was a natural candidate for Principal God, because, from an esoteric perspective, Moanda could even be considered the 'half-mother' of the Divine King.
The Divine King once used the Golden Apple to represent 'death,' stained the Sacred Stone with his blood, and had it exist for many years under the name 'Zeus.' Thus, in some sense, the Sacred Stone was part of the Divine King. Even though the power it contained had been taken by Apollo, the concept it held was in no way diminished.