Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

But no matter his fate, under such circumstances, Athena, who carried some of her brother’s symbolism, undoubtedly also became special. She possessed certain ’qualifications,’ and thus it was only natural for her to personally complete it all.

As she unfolded the scroll, and pressed her palm onto the title page, divine power surged, and it seemed to Athena that she could hear the ’whooshing’ sound of flowing water.

A dim light released from the Divine Artifact established some sort of connection. With the Goddess of Wisdom as a medium, the world’s concepts began to flow into it, becoming its text and enhancing its power. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

However, for some reason, Athena felt that, although the Divine Artifact appeared to be absorbing [History], those bygone times didn’t really seem to merge into it.

They seemed to be going elsewhere... and what really made it gradually ’complete,’ were actually more subtle things. Hidden between the annals of History, they were the bedrock that constructed this world. Under such assimilation, the artifact itself also began to expand.

Time ticked by, second by second, and as the world deteriorated, the artifact slowly grew as large as a palace, and its swallowing speed became even faster.

The deafening roar of thunder grew denser, but to the ears of the Goddess of Wisdom, there was an increasing loudness without strength.

"Hmm?"

After a while, at a certain moment, Athena’s expression changed slightly. It was as if she noticed something, and with a gesture of her hand, the accompanying Shield of Aegis immediately fell into her palm.

The next instant, accompanied by a roar of fury, a massive bolt of lightning crashed down.

"Athena, what are you doing!"

Boom——

Lightning clashed with the shield. Although Zeus’s power had greatly weakened, he still possessed a strength unmatched by the gods. However, when this force powerful enough to crush any True God struck the small shield, it only caused Athena’s shield-bearing arm to tremble slightly, then it had no further effect.

Beneath the Genesis Artifact, the one shield in the world that could exempt itself from Zeus’s [Thunder]. Like the natural opposition of all things, the massive lightning seemed to have struck into an abyss, raising not even the slightest ripple on its surface.

"Huh——"

Taking a deep breath, Athena knew that Zeus had discovered her actions.

This was always bound to happen. Now that the damaged world had few living beings left. Following a flash of divine light, the goddess’s skirt transformed into golden armor.

As soon as the Divine Artifact began to draw power, Athena could have left. The king of the fantasy world could not destroy such an artifact’s true form, and she had no need to guard it. So, the reason she chose to stay was simply because she did not wish to leave yet.

Holding the spear symbolizing [Victory], the girl who was usually gentle and intelligent now seemed to have changed. Her eyes were sharp and eager to fight, like a war-seasoned Valkyrie. Athena, shielding against the raging thunder, flew to the front of Mount of the Gods.

"Athena, do you know what you are doing?"

Even though his presence was greatly weakened, Zeus’s gaze remained sharp. He was already aware of the inevitable failure, but that did not mean he would wait passively for death.

At the very least, he wanted to hold out until the world was completely destroyed, then do the last thing he could... But what he never expected was to see Athena standing before him.

"Of course, as you can see."

Without hesitation, without dodging, with her spear pointed directly at Zeus, Athena spoke softly as she looked into the Divine King’s eyes:

"As you can see... I am opposing you."

...

In the fantasy world, battles erupted on Mount of the Gods. Though the Divine King had lost much of his power and still held an absolute advantage, he could no longer win easily.

Even with the passage of time, the scales of victory continued to tilt—of course, Athena could not possibly win. But at this time, her taking action against Zeus wasn’t about winning.

The great war before Mount Olympus continued, while those gods who had not yet died were still scattered across the earth.

They had not perished under the mighty hand and the first collision with the world, nor, like the Divine King and Hermes, had they perceived some essence of the world. They believed this was the end of everything, the destruction of all things, so faced with the unavoidable death, the gods naturally displayed all aspects of life.

There were those who despaired and raged, releasing their power, those who knelt to pray, hoping the annihilator might spare them, and naturally, those who cursed loudly and shouted angrily at the sky.

Of course, there were also those who faced it calmly, awaiting the outcome. Just like now, when the world was on the brink of destruction, the ropes on Caucasus Mountains also lost their divine power.

Falling from this execution place that had punished him for thousands of years, what Prometheus saw before him was a world about to be destroyed, and not far off over the sea surface, Poseidon, Lord of the Sea, raving and pointing at the sky.

In the original history, there was no East Sea bathed in sunlight, nor was there an endlessly swirling Eye of the Sea. This forethinking sage, after deceiving the gods, was chained to the continent, on that Caucasus Mountains where his abdomen was cut open, and his liver was ceaselessly pecked by an eagle.

By day it was devoured, by night it regrew, the cycle alternating endlessly. One must say, as immortals, the gods knew very well how to punish one of their own.

For a while, it seemed like he was tired of cursing, or perhaps he finally realized that his actions were meaningless, Poseidon finally stopped.

He looked up at the sky, and the giant hand that grasped the world was like the world itself, regarding all beings as nothing significant, not even acknowledging him for a moment.

A tremendous sense of fear rose from within, the previous cursing at the sky was in fact just a venting of inner panic. At this moment, Poseidon somewhat regretted. Maybe if he had said something nice earlier, the owner of the giant hand might have spared him?

"...Prometheus, what are you looking at!"

Fear, anger, unrest, regret...when all these emotions surged one by one in the face of death, and peaked upon seeing the calm demeanor of the distant forethinker.

Why was Prometheus so composed when he himself was in such a sorry state? Was he not afraid to die?

"Your Majesty Poseidon... I too am afraid of death."

Easily discerning the other’s thoughts, Prometheus shook his head.

In the distant sky, at the very center of the earth, the battle between two deities was clearly visible, and just as visible was the growing shadow of a scroll.

It seemed like it existed yet did not, impervious to all attacks or destruction. Everything just passed through it as if it were merely an illusion.

There was nothing mortal left on the earth; they had already turned to dust in the previous clash between the giant hand and the world.

"Everything must come to an end, sooner or later, even the world. It’s not today, then it will be some other day. It’s just facing such an irresistible end... I chose to accept it."

"Madman!"

"Accept? I don’t accept!"

A cry of rage once again stirred the fear within him. Under the sway of his emotions, Poseidon summoned all his remaining strength and caused the waters of the four seas to surge into the sky.

Give him some response, at least...even a swift death would be better than the torment of waiting for death.

However, under Poseidon’s watch, the giant hand capturing the world remained motionless, simply continuing its slow rhythm, tightening its grip.

Everything remained as before.

...

Time continued to pass, various loves and hatreds played out across the world for the last time, but the shadow of the scroll kept expanding.

It grew larger and larger, overshadowing the land and the tumbling heavens, and eventually became one with the world itself, constrained by the world’s remaining strength.

Then at a certain moment, accompanied by a crisp sound, under both internal and external assault, the world’s final struggle ended. All civilization and the past were frozen at that moment, everything in the world collapsed into illusion, becoming part of the Divine Artifact. And the giant hand enveloping the world closed in turn, clasping the middle of the scroll.

Everything came to a halt.

"Very good."

Nodding with satisfaction, Laine was pleased with the result.

This Divine Artifact still needed time to assimilate the gains from this event, but the outcome was always predetermined. However, as Laine gripped the Annals of Time, his gaze did not linger on it initially.

Because aside from the Artifact, where the fantasy world had once existed, there remained a drop of ’liquid’.

That was the fundamental essence that had once constituted the world...the remnants of the Genesis Divine Power.