Zeus showed a satisfied smile.
"And then? Did you overthrow them?"
Ian pressed on.
"And then?"
Zeus's gaze gradually turned profound.
"Not just overthrow."
A hint of fierceness flashed through Zeus's eyes, "Chronos, that arrogant King of Titans, imprisoned us in the belly of Olympus. His brothers wielded whips by the forge, forcing us to craft weapons that could 'slay gods.' How ironic—they themselves are gods, yet they want to forge weapons that could kill even older gods."
Zeus's voice was filled with disdain.
Ian listened quietly, the sunlight casting a clear shadow at his feet.
"We endured for hundreds of years." Zeus's voice grew more excited, "Until Prometheus—our smartest—discovered the Titans' weakness."
"He discovered the possibilities that Alchemy could bring us."
"So."
"We united, and in the moment the Titans trusted us most, we rebelled against them. They treated us as slaves, yet they gave us the power to destroy them."
"We ended their rule, imprisoned them, and those machines they forced us to forge, those unfinished 'Godslayer Arms'... we transformed them and built our home."
"Then, we did to them what they did to us." Zeus here naturally meant treating Titans as slaves, but in Ian's view, it was likely even more severe.
The Titans all became "energy" storage devices for this group of Ancient Wizards. It actually makes sense, after all, this city was initially built by the Titans.
Their power could certainly drive the operation of Sky City.
Ian was slightly stunned by this new history.
He organized his thoughts a bit.
To be honest, what Zeus said was roughly the Greek myth, the story of how the gods overthrew the Titans, but with the twist that the Titans used Zeus's group of wizards as slaves. Due to granting them too much power, Zeus united with others to overthrow and imprison them.
Afterward, they used the weapons the Titans forced them to forge and leftover materials to build their new home, which was the Sky City that had just fallen.
Of course.
Although the Titans were gone, the legends they left behind lived on, so the fear transferred to them—that is, the Raven that even their Creators feared.
With this arrangement.
Ian understood why these people were extremely afraid of him. No sooner had Ian sorted out the information than Zeus confirmed Ian's guess through his actions.
"Even if they are gone, we still remember that prophecy—the Raven will eventually destroy everything. So, we didn't slack off and kept rigorously studying Alchemy."
"Just to deal with the disaster the Raven would bring."
"Among us, some wield illusionary Magic, some wield fate-controlling Magic... Various Magic combined, and we conduct a simulation every once in a while."
"Yet without exception, we failed, just like this time, no, this time we lost more miserably." Zeus's voice had a hint of discouragement.
"..."
Ian guessed some reasons but didn't guess that the fear of this group was self-built; repeated failures certainly deepened the heavy burdens inside.
"So, you've never seen the Raven, and even those Titans haven't?" Ian thought of the disdain the Titans showed when they saw his Animagus form.
If they were that fearful.
They'd certainly run faster than this group of Black-robed Wizards.
After all.
Long legs mean running fast.
The massive Titans could cover the distance a human would run in a while with one step.
"They're like that."
Zeus revealed a disdainful expression towards the Titans, "The Titan who made the prophecy was exiled by the so-called King of Titans, so the Titans had never seen the Raven."
"A pathetic race, clearly the pioneers who raised the alarm, yet suffered such persecution. This one was exiled by all the Titans collectively, to a place unknown to us, before our uprising."
"They thought that pioneer's prophecy was the root of unrest in their rule."
Zeus's expression grew more sarcastic.
"And then, they lost the truly wise one."
"They didn't even understand what species the Raven was, yet feared the prophecy greatly, the remaining Titans only knew the name 'Raven,' not even realizing it was a bird."
There was a clear slight demeaning of the Raven here.
Zeus did it on purpose.
He used this to observe Ian's expression.
However.
Ian showed no changes in emotion.
The insults were directed at the Raven.
What does it have to do with him, Ian?
"You're right." Ian nodded thoughtfully, "So the Titans both feared the Raven and were completely ignorant of it... indeed, quite foolish."
Zeus stared intently at Ian's expression, as if seeking some flaw. But Ian's face remained calm as water, although Zeus was still warily cautious of Ian.
After all.
The other indeed could transform into a Raven.
Even if there really was some contamination by corpses, that would mean Ian already carried a part of the Raven and could be completely assimilated at any moment.
At that time.
The disaster would surely come once again.
"You say you're not the Raven," Zeus suddenly shifted the topic, "But indeed you brought destruction." He pointed behind Ian, at the ruins still lingering there.
In response.
Ian felt slightly apologetic.
But he had the confidence because he was not the one who struck first.
"Destruction is the end of the old." Ian calmly said, his conscience not aching at all, "After the end, there can be a new beginning."
Ian wasn't about to help this group rebuild Sky City.
Not to mention whether he had the time for it.
The key is he really didn't want to.
Therefore.
Of course, the responsibility needed to be shifted, while insincerely comforting them a bit.
He intended to tell these Ancient Wizards about the concept that the old must be gone for the new to come. However, this concept, so popular in later generations, was clearly not understandable to the Ancient Wizards.
This group of Ancient Wizards didn't seem that easy to fool.
"But our life had just begun, not many years ago." Zeus looked at him, a trace of wariness and anger in his eyes, but ultimately he did not lose his temper, only coldly said, "I've told you everything I know. We don't want further involvement with you. Now, please allow me to take my people and leave."
But Ian shook his head, "No, I'm the one who needs to leave. But before I leave, I wish to ask—did you ever forge a Bronze Gate with that kind of material?"
"I still need to return to my time, see, I wasn't lying, I really come from the future." His main goal was to smoothly return to Hogwarts to study.
The air suddenly froze.
At least it appeared so to Ian.
After all, it was something extremely crucial to him.
"Bronze Gate?"
Zeus frowned.
The surrounding Black-robed Wizards began to whisper among themselves.
"You don't know?" Ian noticed their bewilderment.
"Time's power is most strongly controlled by the Titans." Zeus slowly stated, "But they never truly reached the future, no one can create a gate to the future."
"Hmm?"
Ian's expression carried doubt.
"Really?"
He still found it hard to believe.
"Yes."
Zeus gave him a profound look, ultimately shook his head steadfastly, "We have never forged such a gate, the Titans might have, maybe it exists in the Titans' history."
"Of course, maybe it doesn't exist at all, not a creation of our time, but if you're determined to search, you can certainly go to the Titans' original homeland."
Saying that.
Zeus gave Ian a shell, with directional guidance marked on it.
Ian said no more.
He understood.
This was Zeus trying to send off him, the plague god, swiftly.
Not out of any kindness.
Who knows what's in the Titans' homeland.