Chapter 146: Chapter 1 Questioning (Moon Tickets +4)

The Underworld, the Realm of Lightless.

At this moment, the birth of Samsara had just begun, and the fluctuations of the Origin Ocean were still imperceptible. Or, to put it another way, at this point in time, many similar changes were easily understood as normal phenomena accompanying the transition of epochs.

Unlike Laine, who was busy creating Samsara, Erebus had nothing to do. He had no clue about cleansing the past and nothing else to focus on, so he simply stood on the edge of his domain as usual and gazed out into the outside world.

After all, it wouldn’t be long before his sister would come knocking on his door to ‘demand accountability’.

“You’re waiting for me?”

As expected. In just a short while, traversing the earth, Gaia had already arrived at the ‘entrance’ to the Realm of Lightless. Perhaps in a bad mood, she didn’t bother to greet Erebus but barged right in.

Of course, this was also the reason why Erebus did not refuse her entry. Otherwise, with Gaia’s power, she would not have been able to ‘intrude’.

“It seems I overestimated you, Erebus. I thought you could have ‘retired unscathed’!”

Her voice carried a tinge of anger as Gaia stepped into the dark domain. She could faintly sense something different about this place; now, the laws of the current world seemed to have some repulsion towards its master.

This had never been the case before since her brother rarely left this realm, but now it had manifested. Clearly, the previous collision with the Spirit Realm not only caused Laine to choose to leave early, but Erebus had paid a price as a result too.

But when Gaia thought about her own situation, she felt that the price paid was really insignificant.

“That is only natural, my sister. After all, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, so there were inevitably some oversights.”

He smiled, undisturbed by Gaia’s attitude, as the Lord of Darkness welcomed his sister.

“Enough with the nonsense, Erebus. Whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision or a premeditation, you should know why I am here.”

Gaia’s brow furrowed slightly but she did not expect him to admit anything. She came only intending to learn about the whereabouts of Cronus since the fake ‘Divine King’ had disappeared, and she needed to know where he truly was.

And she believed that whether or not her brother was responsible, he would certainly know something.

“Indeed, my sister, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve come for my youngest nephew.”

Erebus nodded, not denying that he was aware of what Gaia was questioning him about.

However, in his words, it seemed that Gaia and Pontus’ five Sea Gods and six Titans were excluded from being referred to as ‘nephews’ by default.

“Although you won’t believe it, I still want to say that I have nothing to do with his matter.”

“Since you know I won’t believe it, then don’t say it.”

Gaia was indifferent to Erebus’s defense, and she was also aware of why her brother did not recognize her other children.

Among the deities of the current world, only the former Uranus was held in high regard by her brother, and thus the five Sea Gods born to Pontus were naturally ignored by him.

As for the Titans, it goes without saying. Apart from Gaia herself, not many gods treated them as their own kind.

“Whether it’s related or not, all I want to know now is, where exactly is Cronus right now?”

“You wouldn’t have fought each other for no reason. Even if it wasn’t you, you couldn’t possibly be ignorant about it!”

It was somewhat frustrating to have others’ actions attributed to oneself, but considering his sister’s level of wisdom, Erebus didn’t find it difficult to persuade her.

As for Cronus, the Lord of Darkness did indeed have some speculation. A new world had been carved out in the Abyss, and from the feedback of his own power, it seemed that the true World Lord might be someone else. So, after a brief contemplation, Erebus locked onto the only suspect.

“In the Abyss. But he’s probably doing quite well, so well that I’ve thought about trading places with him.”

“What, you’re thinking about going in there to find him? That’s not a good idea.”

Erebus responded calmly to his sister and looked in the direction of Tartarus.

Along with the secrets of the world’s creation, information about the Abyss had also come to light.

Initially, it was filled with indistinguishable Chaos, devoid of any sign of life, but perhaps in a few years, Tartarus would gradually produce matter, instinctively dividing itself in layers like the new world that had stolen its power.

However, the Abyss was fundamentally chaotic, and despite the emergence of different layers, the harshness of their environment could be imagined. Perhaps apart from a few, most were not suitable for the existence of life.

“The Abyss… again, the Abyss!”

Gaia was frustrated thinking about how she had just released the Titans and now Cronus had entered it. No wonder she couldn’t sense his presence; the Abyss was beyond the current world.

This made her angry yet somewhat helpless, as Tartarus was one of the few places she dared not enter carelessly.

The Abyss wouldn’t care about her being a ‘sister’.

“Alright, I understand. I hope you haven’t lied to me.”

“I will continue to pay attention to this matter. It would be best if it really has nothing to do with you, as you’ve said!”

Gaia responded coldly, digesting the outcome. Now that she had her answer, she didn’t plan on staying any longer.

Although she did not know if Erebus was telling the truth, she could not enter Tartarus at the moment.

The conflict with the former ‘Divine King’ had mainly involved the gods as support, with her being the real driving force. The impacts of the destruction were naturally second only to the former Divine King. The cost belonging to ‘Cronus’ had been paid through the reduced Divine Authority, but hers had not been settled yet.

Gaia was already feeling the pressure from the current world, a sense of repulsion far stronger than that felt by Erebus. But perhaps due to the fact that the earth was one of the core foundations of the current world, this repulsion had not actually affected her.

However, past experiences had taught Gaia that while the current world might not be able to solve her, an Ancient God walking within it, it always found other ways to affect her.

So now, she needed to briefly return to her original form for a while, as it was her only way of resisting the world. Anyway, the dispute of the Divine King had ended, and what was left was merely a matter between the brothers of Zeus. What occurred between them did not concern Gaia.

“Then I won’t see you off, but speaking of which, have you noticed that Laine has been unusually quiet during this era’s transition?”

Seemingly detecting Gaia’s intention to leave, Erebus suddenly said:

“He doesn’t seem like the type to sit still. If he hasn’t done anything, that means his attention has been drawn to something else.”

Her expression flickered. Although she had told herself not to believe any accusations Laine and Erebus made about each other before her arrival, Gaia was still influenced.

Her own brother seemed right, no matter how one looked at it, Laine did not appear to be the domestic type.

“You must understand, Gaia, as Primordial Gods, we may differ, but it’s difficult to possess powers you’re unaware of, but he’s different.”

“He predates us and is more mysterious. He opened realms and could even arbitrarily grant Deity status. So, something like silently replacing the Divine King, who do you suspect more?”

Persuading Gaia proved just as unchallenging as The Dark Overlord had anticipated, but his goal was naturally not only to clear himself of suspicion but to find himself a useful enforcer.

He resolved to find a way to cleanse his past and meanwhile, slow down Laine’s rising strength, which were the only two things he wanted to do at the moment. For the former, he could only rely on himself; for the latter, he needed to recruit allies.

Gaia was the first, but surely not the last.

“…I will consider it.”

She responded coldly, yet her heart was already swayed. Perhaps it was that she had never trusted that Ancient God who had a history of grievances with her more than her own brother.

“However, don’t assume I will take your side, I won’t involve myself in your affairs—hm?”

“Hm?”

In unison, the two Primordial Gods detected something unusual at the same moment. Just as they had been discussing Laine’s quietness in this era, a strange fluctuation emanating from the Spirit Realm immediately captured their attention.

The essence of life and death were present within, yet they had been elevated to something higher. Gaia even noticed her Life Vase trembling faintly.

It seemed to know that its other half would never return.

“It seems reality doesn’t quite match your words, my brother. He’s occupied with other matters, though not of a pleasing nature, but as for you, I’m unaware of what exactly you’ve been up to.”

Holding the Life Vase, Gaia took a deep breath. Although she had not expected to retrieve the other half of her Divine Artifact, the complete loss of hope still irked her.

“Indeed, I shouldn’t believe a word said by people like you!”

With a pun intended, Gaia huffed coldly again and then swept away in a flutter of her sleeves.

Now that she had discovered Cronus’s whereabouts, it didn’t matter who had done the rest.

She needed a good ‘sleep,’ and once she awoke, it wouldn’t be too late to deal with these matters.

“…How unfortunate.”

Shaking his head slightly, watching Gaia turn into a golden light and vanish, Erebus felt somewhat vexed.

Standing at the edge of his domain, the Lord of Darkness watched his sister depart, as her form merged into the earth and her essence gradually became one with her original form. Perhaps for the next few centuries, Gaia would not reappear in the world but would maintain her original state.

In the face of the sudden change, he, too, felt a bit helpless. After all, the Lord of Darkness had not foreseen that events would coincide so neatly.

“However, having said that, I’ve always held you in high esteem, yet it seems it is still not enough.”

“This feeling, ‘Eternal Recurrence,’ I suppose Cronus has been reborn under the influence of this force? Unfortunate, being a Great Divine Power, its effect on me is very limited.”

“Life, death… Perhaps, I too should let go of my arrogance and, like you, engage more with those fragile deities.”

Murmuring to himself, Erebus could sense that a complete ‘Great Symbol’ was slowly taking shape.

It was the first of its kind since Chaos had created the world. If the Heavenly Father hadn’t fallen into slumber, then even in the second era, The Sky could have had the chance to reach this step. If numerous deities had not divided the seas, all the Ocean and Water combined in one god could have done the same. The Life Vase, if it hadn’t been divided, could have possibly achieved this step as well, but reality does not entertain ‘if’s.

A complete ‘Great Symbol,’ when applied to a god, implies a potential for ascension into greatness—the remaining half-step being to maintain one’s personality instead of stepping forward without will, like the current Primordial Gods.

If used on a Divine Artifact, it marks the birth of a Genesis Artifact.

Hearing of the Spirit Realm suddenly opening to the outside, Erebus was somewhat puzzled; his brief collision with the Spirit Realm had given him some understanding of its substance. Its scale was vast due to a multitude of various Origins, but to consider it truly great, besides the unification of all Spirituality itself, there was only the transformed Oracle Stone Tablet.

With the birth of this Genesis Artifact symbolizing ‘Eternal Recurrence,’ the cycle forces of the Spirit Realm were bound to strengthen immeasurably. Any who dared enter without abiding by its Law would be mercilessly suppressed.

He did not know how strong the Spirit Realm’s suppression would be against him, but he had no intention of testing it.

“How terrifying, you advance too quickly.”

Frowning deeply, in the end, the Dark Overlord remembered an ally who might be somewhat useful.

“Zeus, the future new Divine King.”

“If you can do as well as your father, then I shall begrudgingly ‘make friends’ with you.”

Looking towards Mount Olympus, even though Erebus wasn’t sure of the value in the other party, he planned to make contact.

Of course, this was provided that the other could prove to be a Divine King who was as decisive as he claimed.