Chapter 97: Chapter 74 The Exchange of Life and Death

Translator: 549690339

Outside, the true names of the new gods had already spread throughout the world, but within the great hall, a tense operation was still underway.

Queen of Gods Rhea clutched her newly born child to her chest and anxiously looked towards the maid who had been waiting for a long time.

“Hurry, quickly, bring it to me!”

Pale-faced but with an air of urgency, the Queen received the rock from the hands of the Goddesses of the White Oak.

She had once thought of giving birth outside of the Mount of the Gods, but Cronus clearly hadn’t given her that opportunity. Fortunately, given that it was within her own domain, the Divine King courteously waited outside the great hall.

But as soon as the Divine Child was born, Rhea knew he would enter immediately.

“Your Highness.”

The Goddesses of the White Oak brought out the stone that had been prepared in advance, and Rhea snatched it from her. She used Divine Power to alter the rock’s shape, making it resemble the infant in her arms.

But this alone was not enough. Rhea needed to imbue it with ‘life’ and the scent of the new deity. So she closed her eyes and cruelly cut open the chest of the infant in her hands.

The newborn deity wailed loudly, causing the thunder outside to grow even more frenzied, but Rhea didn’t have the luxury of feeling heartache. She hurriedly dripped the blood from the infant’s chest onto the Golden Apple, then covered him with a grey cloth.

“Take him away,” she said, “to the ocean, to the domain of my eldest brother, Oceanus.”

“Apart from the wavering Mother Goddess, he is the only one in the world willing to confront the Divine King now. Tell him, Cronus’s pursuit of Divine Authority will not end here. If he still wishes to keep control of the ocean, if he wants to seize more power from the new king, this is his best opportunity.”

Watching the Goddesses of the White Oak nod in agreement, Rhea finally looked at the infant in her hands. She felt reluctant, but still handed him over to her maid.

She hadn’t done this when Poseidon was born because his Godhood was associated with the ocean. [Storms][Tsunamis] would make the God of the Ocean reject him, [Earthquakes] would make the Mountain God and Mother Earth despise him, but Zeus was different.

His Godhood was powerful and only conflicted with the role of the God of Meteorology, Crius, the helper of the Divine King. Even if just as a backup, the oceanic god-line would surely accept him.

“Go quickly!”

“As you command, Your Highness.”

Bowing slightly, the Goddesses of the White Oak took the infant and hurriedly left.

As Rhea watched her leave, she did not stop what she was doing. The Divine King had entered the palace, his unmistakable footsteps approaching.

“Destiny is on my side, I will succeed.”

Mumbling to herself, Rhea fused the Golden Apple with the stone in front of her. The divine fruit merged into it, becoming the heart of the rock baby, emitting a strong, rhythmic beating.

The rock, unfazed by the burning of the Sun and cleansed by the power of the Queen of Gods day and night, had already developed divine power. With the Divine Blood of Zeus’ Golden Apple fused into it, it seemed to come to life, emanating an aura that belonged to a deity.

“Tread tread—”

The footsteps of the Divine King were getting closer, and without further thought, Rhea wrapped the prepared swaddling clothes around the rock, covering it with cloth. She held this ‘infant’ in her arms, then closed her eyes, waiting for fate’s verdict.

“Tread”

The footsteps stopped in front of her bed.

Cronus looked at his wife before him. She held the infant in her arms, turning her back on him as if guarding against an enemy.

The Divine King felt a pang of sadness and regret. As his Queen of Gods, Rhea ultimately could not understand him. She had no idea that every time Cronus saw his own offspring, the final curse of the Heavenly Father echoed in his ears.

“He is waiting for me, watching from the sky. At the highest place, he awaits my fall to the very bottom.”

Memories flickered through his mind. The Divine King shook his head gently, as if trying to throw these thoughts from his head. If possible, he too did not wish to do this, but fate was so merciless.

Should he conquer destiny, the Divine King swore, the Law of the present world would be his next target for revenge.

No one can manipulate the destiny of a king, not even the world itself.

“What was Meliae here for?”

Standing in front of the bed, the Divine King inquired.

On Mount of the Gods, he could naturally sense the presence of the Goddesses of the White Oak. He was curious about what she had done as she had hurriedly left just before.

However, Rhea, lying on her side, remained silent in the face of the Divine King’s question.

“All right, since you don’t want to talk, let her be then.”

Shaking his head, Cronus knew that Rhea was not inclined to pay him any attention at the moment. But as long as their child was still here, he didn’t care what petty schemes they were playing behind his back. If she could incite one of his brothers to rebel against him, that would just give him an excuse to take action.

The Queen of Gods remained silent, but Cronus was not about to wait any longer. He snatched the swaddled infant from Rhea’s arms and swallowed it in one gulp.

“Boom!”

A thunderous sound of thunder rolled through heaven and earth. The Divine King felt something stir in the void, as if signifying something.

“Huh, perhaps this child is indeed the one destined by fate, for destiny to respond in such a way.”

He scoffed coldly, whether it was true or not, the Divine King no longer cared. He took one last look at his wife and then quietly left the room.

He needed to give her some time to calm down, as he still took care of Rhea’s feelings on issues other than those related to their progeny.

Stepping out of the great hall, he watched the figure of the Goddesses of the White Oak transforming into divine light and receding into the distance. Cronus did nothing, for the robust vitality in his belly seemed to prove the vigor and robustness of the new deities, though it could also possibly be the inherent vitality that came with the scepter of thunder. But that was not important. After all, she was now swallowed by him, never to rise again.

Walking slowly forward, the God of Meteorology was still waiting at the side. His complexion was not good; birthing two True Gods associated with his godhood in succession inevitably affected his divine authority.

Fortunately, both new deities expanded the authority over meteorology rather than seizing the existing parts. What he truly lost was only a little bit related to the “Storm.”

“Crius, when do you think I should make a move against my uncle who rules over the mountains?”

Standing shoulder to shoulder with his brother, the Divine King asked softly. However, the God of Meteorology did not respond, knowing that Cronus wasn’t really asking him.

Indeed, after a short while, the Divine King answered his own question.

“Let it be a thousand years, no, fifteen hundred years.”

“Although my divine authority tells me that I will not have any new Divine Children born in the short term, I still have to wait.”

“By the way, I’d like to see what kind of punishment fate will give me for opposing It so brazenly.”

Making decisions as if no one else mattered, Cronus looked up at the sky.

The dark clouds had not yet dispersed, with lightning weaving through them. The Anomaly of the Law that appeared due to the birth of a deity was slowly receding, but it still needed a little more time.

But Cronus could not wait any longer. If he wanted to see the sun, then the sun had to show itself to him.

Gripping the scepter of Divine Authority, the Divine King raised it high towards the sky. Supreme Divine Power connected heaven and earth, tearing through the yet unquieted Law.

In that moment, with Mount of the Gods as the epicenter, the entire world felt an extraordinary power erupt from the heart of the earth, the sun was frightened off its course, and All Spirits lay prostrated on the ground, worshipping the ruler of heaven and earth.

The dark clouds scattered, and bathed in sunlight, the Divine King surveyed his surroundings.

Unlike before, this time, no deity’s gaze dared to pry into Mount of the Gods.