Chapter 591: Overturning the River and the Sea
"Roar—"
There was no communication, only confrontation.
Outside Hera's garden, the Hundred-Headed Dragon roared to the Sky.
Black storms rose from the sea, and the shackles that had bound it were released.
Inside the garden, the sweet smiles of the Sea Nymphs and Nymphs instantly turned to terror.
They were attendants tasked by Hera to guard the garden and collect sacred fruits here. Out of respect for the Queen of Heaven, even the gods would treat them with courtesy.
However, at this moment, the Sky was obscured by a huge shadow, and the demon subdued by the God King had escaped its cage.
The gods might care about Hera, but Ladon wouldn't care about gods.
If it had a chance to act, they would surely die!
Boom—!
No one heeded their fear. A bronze club shattered the storm and smashed down on Ladon's dragon head.
In an instant, the dark scales cracked inch by inch, and the hard bones emitted a harsh grating sound.
The demon cried out in pain. Besides Zeus, this was the first being in the human world to truly injure it.
But Heracles's attack only stirred its ferocity. The remaining ninety-nine dragon heads roared at the Sky, and Ladon spewed a Sky-covering black fire from its mouth.
Looking at the 'pendants' on the tiny figure in the Sky, the Great Demon was furious.
"Roar—Human!"
"Did you kill them?"
The fury turned into tangible flames. In Ladon's heart, joy and pain intertwined.
It inherited Typhon's wrath, and it grieved for the death of its kin; but it was also Typhon's Son, and it felt pleasure at the death of its kin.
Because since they were already dead…
"Then if I just devour you, I can become the new King of Demons!"
No, not just the Lord of Demons, but the Hundred-Headed Dragon King!
It would surely awaken all the demons of the Four Seas and eventually kill its way onto the land, along the ridges of Mount Olympus, ultimately slaughtering the entire God Clan!
Whoosh—
Its wings spread. Without the restraint of the God King's power, Ladon soared straight up.
It was a flying dragon, not a guard dog.
Now, the entire Four Seas were its battlefield. Here, it could exert even greater power.
Boom—
Heracles used the lion hide to block the flames and the bronze club to disperse the black clouds.
Looking at the Hundred-Headed Dragon, which was revealing its fierce nature, Heracles's heart was calm at this moment.
Even after only a few brief exchanges, he had already judged that Ladon was not his opponent. With the help of the Sky-Supporting Titan, he already possessed Divinity that surpassed the other party.
"So from now on, you are merely a whetstone for me."
He twirled the club in the air, and the weight of the Sky caused space to slightly collapse.
Taking a step forward, the Great Hero said nothing, only smashing one after another of the Hundred-Headed Dragon's heads.
······
The sun rose and fell, and the moon fell and rose.
Unlike previous battles, this time, although Heracles's struggle with the demon did not shake the land, it was enough to make the sea churn.
Sun rose and moon fell, moon fell and sun rose.
Ladon's combat power was extraordinary to begin with; it was the strongest of Typhon's Sons in terms of hard power, even more so after breaking free from the suppression of the laws.
One head would be pulverized, only to grow back shortly after.
When its neck was smashed, the fallen dragon head would transform into a new giant dragon, continuing to fight the enemy in the Four Seas.
Thus, the ocean vibrated, and ocean currents changed course.
Under the impact of the 'Sky', under the influence of the 'Sea', and under the shaking of the 'Earth', there were hailstorms, hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes.
Whether above or below the sea, disasters occurred every moment.
No one was surprised by this; it seemed to be the expected result of the Sky Pillar shaking the sea.
Only, they had not noticed the power hidden beneath this natural disaster, constantly fueling it.
…
East Sea, in the former Divine Palace of the Primordial Sea God.
The turmoil outside seemed not to affect it; the tides from all directions naturally ceased here.
Because this was the origin of water, the source of the sea.
The concave surface of the Earth was its original form. Even after millions of years, the Chaos World's initial image of 'Sea' still remained here, held in the hands of the most Ancient Sea God, Pontus.
This was eternal Authority, even though he had long fallen into slumber.
Even if Lord of the Ocean could break through here, he would absolutely not be able to take ownership of this place from Pontus.
Because while these Ancient Gods born in the First Era were not born with the world like the Primordial God, some of them were still different from later gods.
Just as the sun and Hyperion are forever inextricably linked, as long as the sun exists, no matter how the Mother Tree erodes or how Divinity is divided, its concept will always have an unbreakable connection with its original owner.
If Gaia, no matter how many mistakes she committed, would never be stripped of the last trace of her Great status by the laws of the present world, then they, no matter how the world changed, would never lose their status as True Gods.
This was the difference between them and later gods, and also the grace that existed only at the beginning of creation… Of course, it was also for this reason that the symbol in the ocean could not be born without the existence of Pontus.
Oceanus had long felt that the volume of the ocean was already sufficient to give birth to greatness, and recently, it had been growing at an astonishing speed.
And as the ruler of over seventy percent of the ocean, theoretically, he could already try to advance further.
But because it lacked the very first image of the ocean, the symbol of the ocean and water could never be completed.
He knew this, and Nereus knew it too.
Pushing open the grand door and stepping out of the palace, Pontus's eldest son, the gentle and polite Nereus, carefully closed the portal behind him.
Standing before the palace, looking at the distant, violently fluctuating sea and the endlessly churning currents, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.
For a moment, this Sea God, who always appeared as an elder, seemed kind and benevolent, like an old man next door or a respectable teacher.
"Haha, a God War, eh…"
He smiled and shook his head. Regardless of whether the combatants were gods or not, their power was no less than that of true gods, so Nereus naturally wouldn't quibble over a name.
He could feel that the power of both Ladon and Heracles at this moment was enough to make him, a True God, retreat.
However, his appearance here at this moment was naturally not due to the strength of the two.
Instead, Nereus knew very well that even the battle of two Great Divine Power could not shake the East Sea from the West Sea; this already exceeded what a True God could achieve.
The current Chaos was not like before. Apart from Great Divine Power, no one could influence one end of the world from the other by sheer force alone, unless Authority was involved… and Authority related to the Sea God.
So, the question was, could the 'Sea' symbol on a Sky Pillar do it?
Others couldn't be sure, and even Zeus could only suspect.
Because there was a 'mountain of separation' between the Authority of gods, and the God King also dared not make arbitrary judgments in the domain of the ocean, but Nereus dared to say it couldn't be done.
Stirring up the storms in the West Sea was its limit. How could it possibly affect the East of the land?
Yet now it had done so, even subtly influencing the waters around the Ancient Sea God's palace.
This ability was simply not something a Sky Pillar that had punished the sea god's son could achieve; it would be difficult even for Poseidon himself… However, Nereus knew that there was one situation in which a god's Authority could unleash destructive power even greater than what the god himself could achieve, without the god even being present.
"That is to imprison him in the abyss, severing the connection between his Authority and the present world, while at the same time, there is no one with similar abilities to replace him in carrying out this responsibility."
"If this situation continues for hundreds or thousands of years, then the laws corresponding to his Authority could riot."
"It's just that Poseidon only disappeared recently, so these laws shouldn't be having this problem now."
"Therefore, the only explanation is that someone used something closely related to Poseidonhimself, in some way, to forcibly 'stimulate' the rules that had lost their master."
Muttering softly, Nereus didn't know who had done this.
However, he knew that the medium for all of this was most likely that unlucky Triton. And the reason the black hand chose to do this at this time was to avoid the gaze of the gods.
With the great battle between that human and Ladon, everyone would assume that this surge of oceanic natural disasters was a normal phenomenon, and even if they had suspicions, there would be no way to prove it.
However, the person who took this step still didn't understand the Sea God well enough, so Nereus saw some clues in it.
And if he wanted to, he could completely use his gentle Authority of the Sea to calm the rioting laws, thereby nipping the opponent's scheme in the bud.
But…
"But you don't have to do that."
The seawater vibrated, and ocean currents surged.
Stepping into the turbulent undercurrents, the ancient Titan, Lord of the Ocean, had, at some unknown point, left the River of the World and appeared in his true form in his old rival's domain.
Faintly, with his appearance, in a more distant and grander domain, this upheaval affecting the entire Four Seas grew even more intense.
Even many of the palaces built by Sea Gods on the seabed were swaying precariously in these waves.
"Hehe… Your Highness Oceanus, it's truly been a long time."
"It's just that what you said isn't good. As a future main god of the Olympus Divine Court, how can I turn a blind eye to this natural disaster?"
"For the stability of the God Court and the peace of the Four Seas, I will definitely step in to help."
Nereus spoke with a smile, turning his head to look.
But seeing Lord of the Ocean's unresponsive expression, Nereus shook his head helplessly.
"You are truly boring."
"I will do my utmost to try and suppress that human who colluded with the Sky-Supporting Titan, stole the Sea-Suppressing Sky Pillar, and attacked the Queen of Heaven's garden, bringing disaster to the Four Seas. But his power is too great, I can do nothing at all."
"He seems to be favored by destiny, invincible. He only needs to stir his bronze club in the sea once, and the Sea Clan will be dizzy, and we Sea Gods will tremble in fear."
"And it's not over yet, because the harm he caused is not limited to this."
"The West Sea lost its Sky Pillar, and the ocean lost its Sea Emperor. With the superposition of the two, the sea will become treacherous and unpredictable, and the laws abnormal, for a considerable period in the future. This is reasonable."
"If the God King has an opinion on this, he can investigate it himself—oh, by the way, remember to keep your daughter in check."
"Although Eurynome is only the goddess of seaweed pastures, it's hard to guarantee she won't notice the changes in the ocean… Your Highness Oceanus, you can solve this problem, right?"
His smile unchanged, the old Sea God's face remained benevolent.
Only, silently, the turmoil of the Four Seas grew more intense.
For the first time in Chaos, the Primordial Sea God, Lord of the Ocean, and the Sea Emperorappointed by the God King—the laws they represented—simultaneously attempted to stir the sea, causing its turmoil and unrest.
For a time, in the cycle of ocean and water, the symbol that had not yet condensed into form seemed to tremble slightly, rejoicing at the unification of all Sea Gods' wills.
And across from Nereus, Oceanus looked at him deeply, then nodded and said:
"Of course, she won't mess things up."
"Very good."
Smiling and nodding, the old Sea God's smile was as usual.
"Since that's the case, let's begin."
"Poseidon is gone, and the disorder of the ocean laws now has a suitable reason."
"For a period in the future, due to the losses suffered by the ocean, I also have reason to stay away from Mount Olympus and remain in the ocean."
"In mortal terms, all accounting errors now have a solution, and all problems stem from his actions; they have nothing to do with us."
"Soon, I even plan to send someone to Mount Olympus to lament to the God King about how much impact this human's actions have caused to the sea, thereby lowering his guard against us…"
"Hehe, when everything is over, if that human is still alive, I will definitely have all the followers of the Ocean God System include him in their sacrifices—in human terms, let's call him the 'Scapegoat Hero' or the 'Balance-Setting Hero'… Your Highness Oceanus, what do you think of this title, hahahahaha…"
He made another joke, but Lord of the Ocean remained silent, making the old Sea God somewhat bored.
However, this was just a small matter, and Nereus only wanted to use humor to cover his inner tension.
There was no other way. To shape the great symbol belonging to the ocean, the three largest sources of the 'Ocean and Water' domain—Tethys representing the primordial water, pure water; Oceanus representing ocean currents and rivers; and Pontus representing the ocean's initial image—had to be integrated.
However, the first two had been together for tens of thousands of years, so it was naturally easy.
But the hostility between the latter and the former two was too ancient, so much so that once the fusion began, there would be a 'breaking-in period' that would cause the ocean laws to become chaotic.
Normally, such a conflict and fusion of laws would inevitably lead to drastic changes in the sea, drawing the attention of all gods, which was also why they had hesitated to act.
Until now, by cooperating with the demons of hell, Nereus had gotten rid of Poseidon; before he could do anything further, someone else stirred up the tides of the Four Seas.
If Heaven gives, but one does not take, one will suffer for it.
Since such a good opportunity was at hand, neither Nereus nor Lord of the Ocean would ever let it slip away.