As fate unfolded, Zeus obtained the emetic wine from Gaia and resolutely decided to return to Olympus to execute the thrilling plan.
Hades, deep in the Underworld, vaguely sensed the violent trembling of the threads of fate.
He knew that the decisive moment had finally arrived.
Zeus would use the emetic wine to free his imprisoned brothers and sisters and officially declare war on Cronus.
And how should he appear?
Mother Gaia had not revealed his true identity as 'Hades' to Zeus; this in itself was a silent approval and hint—an agreement for him to continue his dual identity, implying that he could intervene in this great change in the most advantageous way according to his own judgment.
"Calculate..." Hades stood atop the highest point of Hades, with the churning Styx and the solemn giants at his feet, and the Queen of Hades wise as the sea beside him.
"Since the Mother Goddess has left this trump card for me, I will make 'Hades' and 'Orphos' two independent yet key characters in this drama."
He quickly made his decision:
'Hades', the lord of the Underworld, would intervene as a 'coincidental' force at the critical moment, saving Zeus from danger, and through this favor and his power, secure a position in the future new pantheon and gain a 'legitimate' identity and prestige to confront Cronus face to face.
Orphos, the god of plants and lava, would continue to hide within the Olympus camp as a 'loyal' ally of Zeus and Koios, providing support and secretly guiding the situation in a direction favorable to the Underworld.
"It is time to bring the name 'Hades' back to life," Hades said to Metis, a long-lost sharpness, belonging to the Son of Vengeance, flickering in his eyes.
He ordered the Hundred-Handed Giants and the Cyclopes to remain on standby in the Underworld, ready to respond to his call.
Subsequently, he changed out of the dark green robes of 'Orphos' and donned the pitch-black divine armor symbolizing the authority of Hades—a gift meticulously crafted for him by the Cyclopes, incorporating the characteristics of the Underworld and the [Forging] divine power bestowed by Hades, containing the laws of death and silence.
He did not lead a large army; he went alone, and with one step, he had already passed through the faint barrier between the Underworld and Olympus, like a true ghost, silently infiltrating the divine domain where a shocking battle was about to begin.
The temple of Olympus had now turned into a battlefield.
Zeus had just tricked Cronus into drinking the wine mixed with the emetic.
The God-King clutched his throat and let out a pained, furious roar, feeling his stomach churn as an irresistible force surged upwards!
The first to be spat out was the stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, which rolled onto the ground with a dull thud.
Immediately after came Poseidon! With hostility radiating from his entire being and the rage of countless years of imprisonment, he roared, a trident of water currents temporarily condensed in his hand!
Subsequently, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia were also spat out one after another, their divine power weak, their minds still hazy, but their eyes burning with hatred for their father-god.
"You brats... You rebels!" Cronus was shocked and enraged; the divine power of spacetime surged violently, attempting to suppress these children who had just escaped!
Zeus swung a preliminarily condensed thunderbolt towards the father-god, but the crude lightning seemed so immature before the immense divine spacetime power of Cronus, instantly distorted and shattered.
Poseidon roared and summoned waves of water, but was torn apart by Cronus and cast into the void.
Hera and the others found it even harder to get close.
The gap in strength was like a natural chasm!
Although Koios and Hyperion stood on the sidelines, in the face of the enraged God-King, their attacks were like scratching an itch through a boot, instead awakening an even stronger killing intent in Cronus.
"Let you all die! Rebellion! Traitors!" Cronus's eyes were bloodshot; he decided Zeus was the mastermind, concentrated most of his divine power, transformed it into a giant palm covering the sky and sun, containing the power to destroy spacetime, and struck fiercely at Zeus!
Zeus felt the approach of death and desperately condensed thunder, but it was like a mantis's arm trying to stop a chariot.
Koios exclaimed and tried to save him, but was repelled by the aftershocks of Cronus's casual divine power.
At this critical moment!
Buzz—!
A completely different aura—cold, deathly, silent, yet carrying supreme majesty, like ice cast into boiling water—suddenly descended!
An absolutely black barrier silently appeared before Zeus, and the giant palm capable of destroying spacetime struck it like a mud cow entering the sea, merely raising ripples and completely disappearing!
"Who?!" Cronus was shocked and furious, roaring sharply.
All the gods' gazes turned.
They saw, emerging from the void, a young god in black divine armor, with black hair and violet eyes, his cold and majestic face slowly revealing his figure.
His entire being radiated the majestic aura of the Underworld, the law of death and the end, completely different from the life force of Olympus, and his power was shockingly at the level of mighty divine power!
Even stronger than most of the Titans present!
"Who is he?"
"What a powerful breath of death..."
"I have never seen this god!"
The gods whispered, full of suspicion.
Zeus, having escaped death, looked at this strange, powerful god who had saved his life, his heart full of gratitude and vigilance.
Koios's eyes widened even more—he did not know this god radiating such a pure aura of the Underworld at all!
Only Hera, Demeter, and Hestia, who had been spat out, felt a vaguely familiar yet extremely strange aura, and their eyes shone with disbelief.
Cronus stared at Hades, sensing the essence of the 'underworld' in the other's divinity and a kind of... aura that aroused strong disgust in him, as if it had escaped from some kind of 'freedom'.
"You... It's you!" Cronus seemed to remember something, disbelief and rage flashing in his eyes. "The one who should have been digested by me... The eldest son! Hades!"
"Hades?!"
"The eldest son of the God-King?"
"Wasn't he... long ago?"
Exclamations rang out one after another! This news was even more shocking than the appearance of this strange god!
The eldest son of the God-King had never been devoured and had grown into such a powerful god?!
Hades's face was calm, as if Cronus's rage and the gods' terror had nothing to do with him. He spoke lightly, his voice not loud but clearly echoing across the entire battlefield:
"Cronus, the atrocity of devouring children must end."
His gaze swept over the astonished Zeus, Poseidon, and his weak sisters, and finally settled back on Cronus.
"I, Hades, lord of the Underworld, have returned today not to acknowledge my father, but to put an end to your reign."