Chapter 116: Chapter 93: Troops Approach
Another three months of confrontation.
One on one, no one was his match. But when they joined forces, he started to feel overwhelmed. Besides, the real pressure on him was never just about sheer strength.
When Cronus returned to Mount Othrys and looked at the empty great hall, his body was still strong, but his spirit was utterly fatigued.
Brothers, wife, offspring—they all stood against him. From the day he seized the throne, there hadn’t been anyone truly by his side.
He once believed Rhea would be, but reality had woken him. However, the Divine King did nothing to his Queen of Gods; he simply let her stay alone in the sleeping chambers behind Mount of the Gods, no longer meeting with her.
Somewhat bewildered, for the sake of the Divine King’s throne, he lost so much, but in the end, it seemed the power of the throne was still slipping away from him.
“Will I win?”
Muttering quietly to himself, Cronus couldn’t get an answer. But actually, he had answered that question for himself thousands of years ago.
If he truly believed he could succeed, he wouldn’t have so urgently conquered the cosmos, nor would he have swallowed his own progeny. The more he did, the more it proved the panic in his heart.
In the end, all he did was telling him, you are just wasting your efforts.
Whether it was the Divine King’s power or his own Godhood, how could one possibly fight against Him with the power granted in this world? The previous struggles had been nothing but self-deception.
“Your Majesty, did you call me?”
A powerful call awoke Cronus from his reverie. He turned his head; it was the second-generation Titan deity he valued most, Atlas, the God of Strength.
His father had retired under the protection of Mother Earth, his older brother had defected to the Olympian Gods, but he, Atlas, still remained by his side.
“Atlas,” rallying his spirit, the Divine King behaved as usual: “You have indeed worked hard, those hundred-handed monsters have been troublesome for you, haven’t they?”
“Easily handled, Your Majesty, they are no match for me.”
The God of Strength bowed slightly. Although the actual fight was tough, he was never one to shy away from hardship.
“After all, they are numerous and strong; you’ve done well to hold them off.”
A word of praise, and the confident demeanor of the deity before him couldn’t help but remind Cronus of himself long ago.
The less one has experienced, the more fearless one remains, it seems.
“Atlas,” after a moment of consideration, the Divine King hesitantly asked, “Have you ever thought about the outcome of this war?”
“Of course, Your Majesty will be victorious. The Titan Deity Clan is the true ruler of this world, not those rebels’ so-called ‘Olympus.’
Without any hesitation, the reply from the God of Strength was as full of confidence as ever.
“Is that so… Well then, Atlas, but remember.”
“Sometimes, a temporary retreat may also be an option.”
The God of Strength was somewhat puzzled; he didn’t know why the Divine King would say such words, but in the end, he still expressed his obedience.
“I will, Your Majesty, you are always so prescient.”
With a slight chuckle, Cronus didn’t know what all Atlas had been thinking. In fact, he had always considered his own wisdom to be quite average.
But that didn’t matter anymore. Among the few deities on his side, Rhea had released her children. Even though she remained here, she would still be respected by the Olympian Gods after the war, and he didn’t need to worry about her fate.
Although the God of Meteorology and his family stood by him, they couldn’t really be counted as loyal. If it wasn’t for their inability to coexist with Zeus, they would have probably left long ago and watched his defeat indifferently.
As for the Sun God Helios, who still ostensibly obeyed him while continually scheming, Cronus was aware of his secret visits to Olympus and his clandestine dealings with the daughter of the God of the Ocean, the boiling-water goddess Perse.
But before the war had even started, the Divine King had already prepared a ‘gift’ for him. If he remained the Divine King after the war, Cronus would use it as a pretext to strip him of his right to drive the Sun Chariot. If his throne was fated to change hands, then without the power to maintain it, the seal on the Sun wouldn’t last long.
Let the young Sun God secretly gloat for a while; in the end, he will realize just how insignificant he is in this world.
With a sneer, Cronus’s thoughts circled back. Apart from these deities with their various agendas, Atlas was the only one on Mount Othrys deserving of any consideration. He was the ideal Titan in his mind, loyal, honorable, powerful, and confident. Sadly, as the Divine King, he was likely to disappoint him.
“It’s not necessary to be so pessimistic.”
“After all, I haven’t yet taken the time to hear what his reasons are for persuading me.”
Cronus thought of his father with a calm expression.
Even until the very last moment, he never bowed to fate. Even when hung in the sky, he still looked like a king.
“‘If there is no choice left, you wouldn’t mind taking a gamble’… Hmm, so what is the stake you’ve prepared for me?”
“If it’s to make me your subject, then don’t bother bringing it out. I am the Divine King who reigns over everything. If all I obtain by casting everything aside is a life of servitude akin to a servant, I would rather slumber in the Abyss, keeping company with my father who resides in the highest heaven. Maybe then, I could greet him in my sleep, ha ha ha ha…”
Suddenly laughing, although the previous confrontation had just ended, Cronus suddenly felt the urge to engage again.
Rising to his full height, since he desired it, he acted on it. Cronus released his qi, spanning half the earth, colliding remotely towards Mount Olympus with the destructive thunder and lightning.
“Once more!”
Watching the opposing deity forced into battle, Cronus rose to his full height and flew into the heavens.
The earth could hardly sustain the clash of so many powerful True Gods; it was near the stars that they found their actual battlefield.
Time passed, year after year, until in the tenth year, the decline of the Divine King could no longer be contained.
As his eldest daughter Hestia began to escape the influence of the time god’s power, with the strength of the Golden Apple, she quickly became an indispensable member of the battlefield.
Mother Earth’s divine fruit, accumulated over tens of thousands of years, was depleted in an instant, crafting four deities who rapidly reached their peak. With Hestia’s Guardianship, Cronus could no longer suppress his children and brothers.
And so, on this day, the Olympian Gods surrounded Mount of the Gods. On this day, they would achieve their final victory.