Chapter 135 - 105 Bathing in the East Sea
But even so, the ancient God of Sun still understood the meaning behind Cronus’s words.
“Impossible, how could you still possess such power?!”
“You clearly no longer have the ability to seal my power, so how could you have the strength to oppose the sun itself?!!”
One moment he was full of pride, the next he had fallen into the abyss. Hyperion had not expected that his anticipated glorious return would go bankrupt before it even started.
To seize the sun single-handedly was an event last known to occur ten thousand years ago, but it defied all logic.
The seal was intended only for him personally, yet now Cronus was opposing the entire sun. If he still had such strength to spare, why would he release Hyperion’s seal?
Struggling fiercely, the God of Sun tried to prove the other was merely bluffing, but although the great orb expanded and contracted with its master’s resistance, it seemed absurdly comical within the colossal hand formed from the void.
It wasn’t without effect; powers of this level, even the current Divine King could not ignore. But having an effect and being able to escape were clearly not the same thing.
“Stop wasting your efforts, I warned you, Hyperion, but you obviously did not take heed.”
With a light laugh, the power of space and time circled around him, Cronus looked towards the sun and also the figure within it.
Unsurprisingly, this should be the last time he communicated with the other party.
“But no matter. Firstly to give hope and then to shatter it by hand is indeed the best way to teach you reverence.”
“Especially you, my child—”
As though he had thought of something, the Divine King slightly lowered his head.
That face as vast as the heavens looked down, parting the thunderclouds in layers, and casting upon Zeus’s face of despair.
The thunderbolts, enhanced by his divine artifact, resembled mere adornments for the Divine King, with silver serpents dancing and writhing, causing mere ripples on the titan’s body, yet to no avail.
“Zeus, my rebellious child, as your father, today I will teach you another lesson.”
Cronus sneered as he glanced over at Oceanus, the God of the Ocean. He paid no more attention to the still shouting God of Sun, but raised the hand holding the great orb high, then smashed it down towards the East.
“Endurance, at times, is necessary.”
“Otherwise, your uncles’ today will be your tomorrow.”
To hold the sun and the moon, to compress a thousand mountains, playing with the universe. Before this god reaching from earth to sky, half of the continent was within arm’s reach.
An era had passed, and after the age of Uranus, the sun was once again in contact with his old friend.
And so on this day, the great orb bathed in the East Sea.
In the North of the continent, within a secluded valley.
Far from the battlefield of the deities, far from the strife of the world, the God of Speech, Iapetus, resided here in solitude.
Originally, after the creation of mankind, his whole family had come here together.
However, later on, his eldest son and second son, Prometheus and Epimetheus, chose Olympus together.
The Forethinker claimed that they had offended the Divine King by creating humans, and due to his brother Atlas’s situation, it was inevitable they would face hostility from Olympus. Therefore, he took Epimetheus with him to serve the new king foretold by fate.
As for his wife, the Goddess of Renown Clymene, she could never endure the loneliness here, rarely returning throughout the year. She thought her husband was unaware, but Iapetus knew very well that she had met the newly appointed God of Sun, Helios, at the abode of the hot springs goddess.
However, the God of Speech chose to let things take their own course. In fact, in terms of strength, they were quite evenly matched. Since he couldn’t stop her, he might as well stay in this valley alone, enjoying tranquility.
It was only today that he had witnessed in a short span the fall of Mount of the Gods, the westward descent of the Sky, as well as the giant god who seemed to split heaven and earth, plucking the Sun and pressing it towards the East Sea.
Everything was so shocking, yet there was something familiar about it all.
After all, he had witnessed similar scenes more than once. Some were in the last epoch, the most recent being that illusory vision.
Even though it was but a fleeting moment, Iapetus’s memory of it remained fresh.
“Is this the future I had seen before? I never expected it to unfold so quickly,” he murmured.
“Compared to that scene, however, this still seems to lack something.”
Muttering to himself, the God of Speech still vividly remembered that scene, even after many years.
Silver Serpents frenzied in the Sky, where darkness intertwined with illusions, and a towering figure enveloped in the power of time and space grasped a blazing orb of light, fiercely pressing it towards the East. It was a scene Iapetus caught a glimpse of the first time he entered the Spirit Realm.
Now, except for the dark and illusory images, everything else had come to pass. The Silver Serpent came from the ‘firstborn’ of the Divine King, the orb of light was supreme in the starry sky, and that towering figure, was the Divine King who reigned supreme over all.
At least, it looked like the Divine King.
“This world is still too dangerous. A misstep, and one becomes a pawn in the struggle between the great beings.”
“My previous decision was wise indeed. It’s better to let them resolve such matters of power and influence on their own.”
Shaking his head, Iapetus couldn’t help but think of his wife. She had gone to the East Sea again, but now that place was probably not so ‘safe,’ and he wondered how she, ever so keen on fame, felt now.
After all, the young God of Sun probably wasn’t feeling very comfortable, given that a collision of symbols of godhood would inevitably affect the deities themselves. Be it Helios or Hyperion, or even Oceanus, the God of the Ocean, they were likely experiencing a pain that penetrated the soul.
He had lived through the last epoch, and when Uranus cast the Sun into the great ocean, the God of Speech was right there. The Heavenly Father had only tested the waters back then, but the reactions of the two Titans were etched in his memory.
“And the Primordial Gods… truly formidable.”
“Who knows how things will turn out. Will the gods be tolerated if they continue to unleash their powers with such abandon in this world?”
Feeling somewhat apprehensive, and piecing together his own experiences with some rumors, Iapetus had also guessed what the darkness and the illusion were.
Three beings, each having touched the Great Divine Power and clashing in this world, would have consequences beyond the God of Speech’s imagination.
He didn’t know which of them was the director behind all this or who would be the final victor, but regardless of the outcome, the next epoch was likely to be much different from the present.
“But that has nothing to do with me.”
He was once just a messenger, and now, even more a mere observer. Iapetus knew of no other ability, not even deeming himself as wise as his children, he knew but one thing – never to meddle in affairs beyond his capacity.
And so, the God of Speech watched as an audience, witnessing the end of the second epoch.