At that instant—when Samael swallowed the pitch-black cube into his belly—the resonance of divine fate surged within him, revealing the object's true nature.
A divine vessel forged to absorb calamity, plague, and the evil desires of life—the so-called Pandora's Box.
In theory, this artifact had indeed been bestowed upon humanity as a gift: to bring them prosperity and purify the world. Yet every vessel has its limits. Once filled beyond capacity, its contents—disaster itself—would inevitably overflow, unleashing upon the earth centuries of accumulated evil and returning all of it to humankind.
Under normal circumstances, humanity was never meant to be free of malice or desire. Those impulses, when slowly released and digested, served as the very fuel that propelled their progress. But to force a century's worth of corruption into the human soul in an instant—even a mind of iron could not withstand such corrosion.
And worse still, those evils came from within. The hardest enemy for any species to overcome is always itself.
Samael realized, with dawning horror, that he had been mistaken from the beginning. Pandora's Box was never meant to be opened from the outside in.
It was designed to open from the inside out.
Within that cube, the consciousness born of all humanity's desires, the calamities of the world, and every festering plague—that was "Pandora."
Pandora was not a person. She was a weapon.
Not a simple creation, but a being born for one purpose—to seduce humanity into its own destruction.
A violent tremor erupted within. The colossal serpent coiled in the sky began to convulse, its vast body swelling and contracting, as though some monstrous power inside were tearing it apart and molding it anew like clay.
Ssshhk! Ssshhk! Ssshhk!
The sound of tearing flesh filled the air as fissures—some deep as canyons, others fine as scars—spread across Samael's body. Shattered scales fell from blood-soaked wounds, revealing mangled flesh and pale bones creaking under unbearable strain.
Through the gaps in his ribcage and sinew, the humans below saw the crimson-black sludge inside the hovering serpent's abdomen, surging violently and changing form with each heave.
Golden, silver, red, and black divine lights clashed and coiled within the torrent. Sigils of thunder, moonlight, flame, and shield blazed in chaotic succession.
Zeus, you bastard...!
Samael's eyes bulged, his roar twisting into agony as he cursed the cunning God King.
The Pandora's Box contained more than human greed and vice. Its first contents had been the gods' own malice toward mankind!
How could he possibly digest something like that?
No wonder the bond between gods and mortals has seemed so peaceful…
No wonder you could break your oath to Prometheus without consequence...
You never lifted your hand against humanity. On the surface, you even commanded the gods to seal their malice within the box and bury it deep underground.
Then you used it—to siphon off the growing greed of humankind, to draw in the world's plagues and misfortunes that came with the birth of this new race.
But excess leads to ruin. Prosperity always breeds chaos.
You wouldn't destroy humanity yourself; you wouldn't give the other gods grounds to accuse you. You would let mankind, bloated with desire, defy the heavens and scorn divine order—until they destroyed themselves.
In truth, Pandora's Box was not the cause of humanity's annihilation. It was merely the spark that began their descent.
In the era following its opening, the ruler of Mycenae—Tantalus, son of Zeus—was permitted to dine beside his father, speaking freely among the gods. But instead of reverence, greed consumed him. He revealed the secrets of the divine realm, stole ambrosia and nectar from Olympus, and shared them with mortal friends.
He hoarded offerings meant for the gods, pilfered sacred animals from Zeus's temples, and committed countless sacrileges.
And then, seeking to test the gods' omniscience, he invited them to a feast—where he slaughtered his own son, Pelops, and served him as the main course.
When exposed, he felt no shame. With brazen arrogance, he claimed it was only a harmless imitation of Prometheus, who once deceived Olympus with ox flesh and bones.
But even that prophet, who defied the tyranny of divine rule, had sacrificed only cattle—and not for greed, but from despair and necessity, for the sake of mankind's future.
Tantalus had butchered his own son and fed him to the gods. Demeter, distracted by grief, even ate a piece...
After that atrocity, the gods' remaining patience for humanity was extinguished.
By unanimous decree of the divine council, they resolved to cleanse the world of these fallen mortals—with the Great Flood.
The downfall of humanity can be traced back to Pandora's Box as the catalyst, but what truly led them to their demise was their unchecked greed, arrogance, and hubris.
In essence, they played themselves to death.
Such accumulated pure malice must not be allowed to spread and flow across the land, for it will inevitably become a source of calamity!
Samael, having grasped this truth, gnashed his teeth in a feral snarl. He opened his abyssal maw, and the seven deadly sins etched upon the Tablet of Destinies within his body ignited one by one, sending ripples of golden-black light pulsing across the heavens.
In an instant, drawn by divine authority, an inverted golden-black vortex engulfed all of Greece. Strands of black mist clinging to every corner and every crazed human were gradually drawn away, gathering in the sky.
Thousands of crimson-black smoke columns rose, converging toward Samael's maw like a thousand rivers flowing into the sea.
The black tide receded!
Humans in settlements like Crete, Mycenae, and the Athenian Academy watched the black sludge beyond the light barrier gradually evaporate and drain away. They embraced each other in excitement, cheering and rejoicing.
The fallen beings, once pinned to the ground in frenzied states, now saw the blood-red hue fade from their eyes as the black mist dissipated. Their faces wore expressions of confusion or lingering dread.
"BOOM!"
Just as the survivors on the earth rejoiced, silver-purple thunder roared from the gathering leaden clouds, striking directly upon the ancient serpent's spine.
Samael's back split open, and he tumbled from the clouds, crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Fate-defier!"
Seated high upon the Olympus temple, the God King snapped his eyes open. Divine light blazed like torches as he glared at the colossal serpent coiled over Mycenae, his steel-like teeth grinding with a sharp, grinding sound.
"Die!"
Zeus, consumed by fury, roared as he leapt from his throne. His Thunderbolt struck the air, unleashing hundreds of silver-white lightning arcs that coiled toward the black serpent coiled upon the earth.
"Aaaaaa!"
At this critical moment, a piercing chant erupted from within the city walls. Emerald-green light rippled outward, forcibly halting the thunder crashing down from the sky.
Yet simultaneously, the goddess's Larva swayed, her small face turning pale—clearly struggling to sustain the effort.
Tina!
Samael!
Seeing the Goddess of Beginning act on instinct, dashing to Samael's side first, Athena and Medusa immediately tensed their bodies, ready to follow suit without hesitation.