Chapter 2: Book of Creation, Origin of Chaos
The Abyss fell silent for a long moment. Gaia, the Earth God, asked in a puzzled tone, "Brother?"
Thinking of Gaia's future actions, Tartarus responded, "Dear sister, I'm truly sorry. I want to experience the world and the beauty of the earth more authentically. I don't want to deify myself for the time being."
"I am the Abyss. What you see now is the truest me, and what you feel is also the truest me. Isn't that better?"
As Tartarus finished speaking, a fragment of irregular shape appeared from the nearly invisible sphere of light within the Abyss, invisible to all senses.
A memory suddenly appeared in his mind: "The world's first fraud was born. Obtain the fragment of the godhead of the God of Fraud."
"It must be the will of the Chaos World. A world's first, obtaining a fragment of the godhead. Interesting."
Tartarus didn't panic when the Chaos World exposed his lies. Instead, a hint of joy lingered within his calm.
He had discovered a way to obtain new fragments of the godhead.
At this moment, Gaia, the goddess of the earth, was unaware of Tartarus's lies. Envy crossed her beautiful, youthful face.
"Yes, if I could, I too would like to return to the primordial earth, to perceive the abyss, to perceive the world. But I was already deified when I was born."
"Chaos told me that my deification would change the world in the future. I don't understand, but I believe in Chaos, because he gave birth to us."
"The future!" Tartarus exclaimed. "There will be a sky above the earth."
"Sky, what is it?" Gaia, the goddess of the earth, wondered.
"I don't know, my sister. The abyss is chaotic. Occasionally, thoughts suddenly flash through my mind, and I can't control them," Tartarus replied mysteriously.
"Yes, I can sense the chaos of the Abyss," said Gaia, the Earth God. "My dear brother, I am leaving."
"There are still many sources of chaos within the Earth, disturbing its balance. I must return to it and use my divine power at its strongest to suppress these sources of chaos. If you miss me, you can call me. Goodbye, my brother."
"Goodbye, my sister," Tartarus replied.
The holy light faded, and Gaia, the Earth God, vanished.
There was no longer a trace of light between the Abyss and the Earth.
Tartarus continued to diligently sense the Abyss.
From the outside, the Abyss now resembled the Earth, a vast, thick, and earth-rock-like area of equal size.
However, the Earth was primarily composed of black and ochre, alternating between black and yellow, with the ochre predominating and the inky black less.
The Abyss, on the other hand, is completely black, without a trace of other colors, pure black.
Perhaps without deification, it has never entered the Earth. Or perhaps Gaia, the Earth Goddess, controls the Earth and actively isolates it from outside observation.
Tartarus is the Abyss. Currently, he can only vaguely sense that the Earth is stable and full of vitality.
He can vaguely sense a significant amount of Chaos Source within the Earth, but it is suppressed, and his exact proportion cannot be determined.
Based on the theory of origin, the fundamental forces that constitute the Abyss and the Earth may be diametrically opposed.
"In Greek mythology, Zeus and others liked to seal other gods in Tartarus. The Chaos Source here may interfere with the gods' use of their divine power, preventing them from easily escaping and reaching the surface."
As the Abyss's true form, he can sense and see everything within it clearly.
At this moment, Tartarus was observing his own godhood. Within the nearly invisible sphere of light, the pure black crystal-like "God of the Abyss - Godhead" floated naturally.
Next to it, the "Fragments of the Godhead of the God of Deception - Godhead," as tiny as grains of rice and scraps of paper, also floated naturally.
As Tartarus thought, the black crystal sphere's godhead transformed into a square, a diamond, a sword, and any other form he desired.
He could sense that the godhead was the core of the god's life. If the godhead was indestructible, the god would be immortal. 1
"The Godhead isn't fixed in form; it can be transformed at will. Although I haven't compared it to other Godheads, I feel that my Godhead, the God of the Abyss, possesses immense divine power. After all, I'm one of the five primordial gods." 9
Tartarus pondered, "However, in the ancient Greek mythology I knew in my previous life, Tartarus, despite being a terrifying place, wasn't deified."
"Is it because the abyss's inherent essence is too powerful? Or is it because too many chaotic essences haven't yet coalesced, preventing its deification? Or is Chaos deliberately hindering Tartarus's deification?" 4
"That's not right. Originally, in Greek mythology, Tartarus and Gaia united and gave birth to an incredibly powerful child, so Tartarus should have been deified." 8
"But as a deity, even without deification, it's possible to have intercourse..."
He considered many reasons, but Tartarus wasn't sure what the reason was.
As for how to deify it, he still couldn't come up with a method.
His knowledge of ancient Greek mythology was limited to a variety of Greek stories.
When he truly arrived in this world and became the Abyss, he didn't receive much memory from Chaos.
He was still very unfamiliar with this world, and there was still much for him to explore.
Just as Tartarus pondered, unable to find the reason,
A black-covered book suddenly appeared from the light ball.
Sometimes the book shone with brilliant starlight, sometimes radiating a brilliant glow of nine colors: red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, purple, black, and white. Sometimes it shone with a mysterious hue similar to the boundless chaos surrounding the Abyss and the earth beyond.
"Is this... the Book of Creation?"
Tartarus briefly saw four mysterious characters he didn't recognize appear on the book.
Then the characters quickly transformed into Chinese characters he recognized—
[Book of Creation]
"Golden Finger! But what's the use of this Book of Creation? Can it deify me?" Tartarus wondered. At this moment, the book flipped.
On the first page, new words appeared:
[God of the Abyss of Hell]
[God of the Abyss of Hell - Godhead (Incomplete - 99%)]
[Method to achieve completeness: Devour the power of the origin of chaos, become the God of Chaos, and successfully deify.]
Tartarus pondered this and flipped the page again.
On the second page, new words appeared:
[God of Fraud]
[God of Fraud - Godhead (Incomplete - 1%)]
[Method to achieve completeness: Successfully defraud multiple times.]
After that, the Book of Creation stopped turning pages.
"The two pages show two different godheads. I currently possess no other godheads or fragments, so there are no new pages."
"No wonder I can't achieve deification. It turns out my godhead is incomplete, 99% or so. The first page already indicated that by absorbing the power of the Chaos Origin, I can achieve deification. I have the method."
Tartarus pondered rapidly.
Chaos seemingly enveloped the abyss and the earth, but in reality, it completely isolated him and Gaia.
Tartarus could only see the mysterious Chaos Origin beyond, unable to sense any trace of it, let alone break through the isolation and absorb the Chaos Origin within.
The only breakthrough was the earth.
Tartarus had previously sensed that the Earth still contained Chaos Origin.
Given the immense expanse of the Earth, the amount of Chaos Origin must be considerable.
He had tried before, but his attempt to sense the Earth's interior was impossible.
Tartarus couldn't forcibly remove the source of chaos from the earth.
So...
"Calling upon my sister, Gaia, the goddess of the earth!"