Ares huddled to the side, listening to the entire conversation between Athena and Prometheus.
As expected, both of them had various calculations regarding the destruction of humanity in this era. As a modern person, Ares, after hearing this debate, surprisingly agreed with Athena, despite their many disagreements. However, the goals of either of them were probably not good for him, so Ares could only silently apologize to them and prepare to disrupt their plans.
He saw Athena, after speaking with Prometheus, transform into a golden light and fly into the vast expanse of the world, presumably to search for Deucalion and Pyrrha's ark. After watching Athena depart, Prometheus suddenly murmured to himself,
"Come out, God of War, you must have been eavesdropping."
Ares's heart stirred, but he did not reveal himself. Instead, he pretended to be a blade of grass, lying motionless in a rock crevice.
Indeed, after a few seconds, he heard the God of Forethought muttering to himself again:
"Strange, is he not here?"
"Hmph, I knew it. In your current weakened state, you still think you can sense me?"
Ares chuckled inwardly, but then heard Prometheus mumble softly:
"That's fine too. If he's not here, it means Athena has already taken a step ahead in the next era. Ares, when the age of humans arrives, even if you keep a hundred sparks, it will be useless. Just hiding won't allow you to survive... Heh, but this is also good. His existence is always an unstable factor."
"Damn, what does this guy mean?"
Ares looked at the God of Forethought in surprise, pondering inwardly.
"Damn it, I went through all that trouble to help you steal fire, and now you want to mess with me?"
He strained his ears, wanting to hear if the weakened God of Forethought would reveal any more of his plans through his self-talk. However, Prometheus was too weak; he was hanging on the giant rock and soon fell into a state of semi-consciousness. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a sharp shriek came from afar. A giant eagle suddenly flew over again and began cruelly pecking at Prometheus's abdomen right in front of Ares, which made the God of Forethought wake up in pain, letting out screams.
Seeing that eavesdropping was fruitless, Ares slowly slipped down from the rock crevice. He reached the mountainside of the Caucasus Mountains, which was almost submerged by the flood, looked up at the giant rock where Prometheus was, then narrowed his eyes, and quickly began to think.
According to the historical trajectory of the Nasuverse, the God of Forethought Prometheus should have eventually been freed from the giant rock in the Caucasus Mountains by the centaur Chiron, who exchanged his own immortality for Prometheus's freedom. However, considering the unexpected factor of Kratos, Prometheus might very well be "freed" by this person in another way. The probability of these two events happening is currently fifty-fifty.
But this also means that as long as Ares prevents the tragedy that befalls Chiron, Prometheus will undoubtedly become a sacrifice for a certain Spartan Ghost.
"Since you were heartless first, don't blame me for being unjust."
Ares's eyes flickered:
"No matter how brilliant your strategies are, if you're dead, they're all useless."
...
On the other side, Deucalion and his wife had been drifting amidst the storms for nine full days.
Initially, due to the extreme turbulence, Deucalion and Pyrrha couldn't even eat the dried meat they had prepared. They could only cling tightly to the mast of the boat and pray to the gods for the storm to pass quickly, until they lost all strength.
However, later, when a giant wave was about to engulf the entire ark and smash them, a faint light suddenly rose from the water, protecting them from the wave. Not only that, the appearance of this light also made the entire ark stable. Slowly, the two could live normally on the boat, eating, drinking, and sleeping, and also feeding the animals in the cabin.
A few more days passed, and even the lambs they had in the cabin could actively come out onto the deck for a stroll. At the beginning of creation, these animals received gifts from the gods that humans did not, possessing a stronger perception of dangerous things than humans.
Therefore, Deucalion and Pyrrha, seeing this scene, unanimously believed that although the heavy rain and floods between heaven and earth had not yet dissipated, the gods had already forgiven them.
Indeed, by the ninth day, Zeus, King of the Gods, sat on the clouds, observing the vast land swallowed by the flood. Seeing no trace of humans left amidst the surging waves, he felt relieved and nodded with satisfaction. He then summoned his divine messenger, commanded Notus, God of the South Wind, to retreat, and called upon Boreas, God of the North Wind, a subordinate of Hades, to stir up a biting north wind that dispersed the dark clouds in the sky.
The heavy rain stopped. Poseidon, standing on the waves, looked up at his brother seated on the clouds, then put away his trident and retreated into the ocean. With the retreat of the Sea King, the floods on the land gradually receded, revealing the submerged earth.
In the gradually receding floodwaters, Deucalion and Pyrrha's ark drifted with the current and soon docked on the summit of Mount Parnassus. The two disembarked from the ark and quickly built an altar on the ground. They then held a sacrifice using their only remaining meat, offering it to the gods to appease their wrath. Deucalion also prayed to the heavens through this altar, hoping that the gods would restore humanity to its former state.
Just as they finished their prayers, a pleasant female voice suddenly echoed in the hearts of Deucalion and Pyrrha.
"I have heard your prayers," the woman slowly said. "I am Themis, guardian of justice and order. I will tell you the method to restore humanity to its former state. Now, leave my sacred altar, put on veils, loosen your sashes, and then throw the bones of your mother behind you."
Upon hearing the words of the goddess who called herself Themis, Deucalion and Pyrrha exchanged astonished glances. Then, Pyrrha hastily prayed to the altar, "Noble goddess, forgive me. I must disobey your will, for I cannot discard my mother's remains and do not wish to offend her spirit!"
Moreover, even if she wanted to, Pyrrha couldn't do such a thing now. When the flood came, Pandora, the mother of humanity, didn't get on the boat at all. Now, her mother had long since been swept away by the flood to who knows where.
However, Deucalion truly lived up to being Prometheus's son. After careful thought, he suddenly pulled his wife Pyrrha and said to her,
"Pyrrha, don't rush. If I understand correctly, the goddess's command is not asking us to do anything disrespectful. The earth is our benevolent mother, and the stones must be her bones."
"Really?" Pyrrha looked at her husband with some doubt. "Deucalion, I haven't studied, so don't lie to me."
"We are husband and wife, how could I deceive you?"
Deucalion chuckled:
"Given our current situation, it's unlikely the gods would ask us to complete an impossible task. And I remember, there were two baskets of stones on our ark, I don't know who put them there."