Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

“So you’re saying you were sent to Crete Island by Oceanus, the God of the Ocean, and then raised by a goat?”

“That makes you a foster child of Oceanus, in a way.”

Once Zeus’s identity was recognized, the battle ceased. Overawed by Hecate’s strength, and curious about his own origin, Zeus and the two goddesses made their way to an island.

Although the Moon Goddess seemed reluctant to get involved, she followed along at Hecate’s urging. The two goddesses met by chance over the ocean, and because Selene’s family was at odds with the Divine King, and the Moon Goddess herself was not so assertive, she ended up becoming one of the few deity friends of Hecate.

Unlike Selene, Hecate was not afraid of Zeus’s feud with the Divine King at all.

“A foster son, perhaps, but Oceanus probably didn’t care much for me.”

Sitting on a large rock, the young Zeus made no attempt to hide his feelings. He had just set out, and the second creature he met had given him a beating, which made him deeply doubt his own strength.

Especially since the other party was a no-name, not matching any of the powerful deities Goat Amalthea had told him about.

“Heh, you’re thinking too much.”

“If he didn’t care about you enough, he wouldn’t have risked offending the Divine King to let you grow up at sea. In fact, I suspect that the embodiment of the Circumterrestrial River might even be watching us right now.”

Hecate responded to Zeus’s self-doubt with a scoff. Although she had a different thought after learning his identity, it did not mean she liked the guy.

On the contrary, she looked at the golden-haired Zeus and always felt that he was no good.

“What?”

Zeus hadn’t reacted yet, but Selene was suddenly flustered.

Being in the same place as the son whom the Divine King would never spare was worrying enough, and now there might be someone else watching this place.

“Don’t panic; I’m still here.”

With a slight upturn of her lips, Hecate waved her hand nonchalantly, “My ‘Tome of All Spells’ is no joke. Unless it’s one of the legendary Primordial Gods, no one can observe our actions from a distance.”

“That’s a relief~”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Selene clutched her legs and fell silent on the side.

Hecate’s story with the Divine King, she had heard it from the other before. Abandoned by her parents, expelled from the Deity Race by the Divine King, and then determined to make them pay—these were things Selene could not even dare to imagine.

But to speak the truth, in her heart, the Moon Goddess envied Hecate a bit. Hecate could do what she wanted and was working steadily towards that goal, but Selene couldn’t.

From her birth, she had always been weak and had never changed. Moreover, her past experiences taught her that a god’s power is innate; no matter how hard you try, you cannot alter it in the slightest.

Selene fell silent, but Zeus picked up on something from the earlier conversation. The reason the Moon Goddess did not want to interact with him had to do with the Divine King, and although he didn’t know what he had done, it was obvious she wouldn’t let him off the hook.

“So, Miss Hecate,” he said thoughtfully, “since you’ve called me here, I suppose you have something to say to me.”

“I think, maybe we can talk, like about the matter of my origin.”

With a raise of her beautiful eyebrows, Hecate pulled Selene’s hand, soothing the younger sister’s emotions, while turning to look at Zeus with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

She was very eager to know whether, in certain matters, he differed from his father or not.

“Zeus, right? Before we talk about your origin, I want to ask you,” she said, “if you had a vast island, but the creatures on it refused to heed your commands, governing themselves and treating you as if you were nothing, what would you do?”

After a moment of thought, although Zeus didn’t know why Hecate was asking this, he answered cautiously:

“How does my strength compare to theirs?”

“You are strong, but not the strongest,”

“Then I will first try to enhance my strength, using all kinds of methods I can think of,”

Zeus replied.

“And then?”

“Then, when I am confident enough, I will pick an opponent who is neither very strong nor weak to establish my authority; it would be great if I could get some help.”

She nodded, agreeing with Zeus on this point, her thoughts aligning perfectly with those of the Divine King.

Only the Divine King was even more unfortunate, his helper had abandoned him halfway.

“So after you go to great lengths to defeat this opponent and become even stronger, what will you do?”

“Naturally, I would take back control of the island,” Zeus said as if it were a matter of course. “You said it yourself, this island belongs to me.”

“Right,” Hecate said with a smile. “So, if you manage to subdue the vast majority of lives who disagree with you, but at this time, several weak new beings are born, and they will definitely replace you once they grow up, what would you do then?”

“Replace me?”

Confused, Zeus asked:

“Why would they definitely be able to replace me? Who determines that?”

“Of course,” Hecate nodded. “Let’s just say it’s determined by someone, a being you cannot defy.”

“If that’s the case, I would strike first and not give them the chance to replace me. Of course, it would be even better if I could deal with the being that determines all this.”

Zeus answered thoughtfully.

“It’s a reasonable idea,”

Hecate said with a smile, her tone noncommittal.

“But whether or not you can succeed, I wouldn’t know.”

“After all, a thought is just a thought. When it comes time to implement it, a lot of unexpected things can happen. For example, you wouldn’t know how, but those weak beings might suddenly escape your control.”

“But you’ve said,” Zeus countered, “that I am very strong and they are very weak.”

“Yes, but that does not affect the final outcome.”

“Why not?”

Zeus could not understand this.

“I’d like to know too, so why don’t you tell me why you, who should have been in the stomach of the Divine King, suddenly appeared on the distant ocean,”

She laughed cheerfully, finding the change in Zeus’s expression very amusing.

“It seems you’ve understood my point, Zeus. You are the son of the Divine King and the one he considers a threat, someone who could potentially overthrow his throne. Now tell me, facing such a person with great power, who controls the entire ‘island,’ what do you plan to do?”

“Are you going to surrender and wait for death, facing an eternal prison, or are you going to fight back, try to give yourself a chance?”

“I don’t care what you choose, but since the Divine King once made me very unhappy, if you choose the latter, I can offer you a little help,”