Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Not long after, outside the Corycian Cave, Zeus met with Zephyrus, the God of West Wind, who had finally waited for him to emerge.

Zeus didn’t discuss anything superfluous with his loyal servant. The Divine King simply shared the ’True History’ he had compiled, praised his servant’s loyalty, and while arranging how to reward the mortal prince who had made great contributions, he also probed whether Zephyrus had heard anything he shouldn’t have.

The result seemed to have greatly satisfied Zeus. Zephyrus said he had always stood by the door and had noticed nothing amiss. Relieved, Zeus then signaled him to leave the place first.

He hadn’t yet recovered to his peak condition and even if he were fully restored, Zeus didn’t believe he could withstand an assault from Typhon. Even if Typhon consumed the Fruit of One Day, he feared he still wouldn’t be a match. So what he needed to do now was to find a place to hide where no one could find him.

As long as they couldn’t find him, naturally Typhon couldn’t talk about defeating him. Once time passed, everything would become fixed fate. And conveniently, he had a hideout unknown to everyone else.

The only one privy to it was Zephyrus, so quite decisively, Zeus chose to take him along.

...

While the Divine King was still conversing with his servant, at the same time, The Three Fates, who had left earlier, were heading north.

In the northern part of the continent was a mountain range known as Mount Nysa, a place close to the stars, and it was destined to become the future abode of the three goddesses collectively known as the Moirai.

However, not long after leaving the Mount Corycian, the youngest of the Fates stopped. Standing on an unnamed hill, Clotho grasped her eldest sister’s withered arm.

"You lied to him, sister. You didn’t tell the Divine King the whole truth. There’s another way the Fruit of One Day takes effect. Destiny doesn’t have to be achieved by plunder; it can also be about balance and stability—especially when the force obtained through plunder is itself abnormal," Clotho said assertively, watching the fruit in Atropos’ hands.

She and her second sister, Lachesis, had been silent during the eldest’s conversation with Zeus, trusting Atropos’ judgment, but that didn’t mean they had no doubts—particularly about the seeds given to the Divine King. They were very clear about what Atropos had concealed.

Zeus needed to stake everything he owned to give Typhon a chance to defeat him, which was fine, but what he offered shouldn’t be ’destiny and authority inherited by Typhon.’ According to Atropos, if Typhon failed to defeat the Divine King within the set time, then his strength would flow to Zeus—another completely unnecessary consequence.

The true Fruit of One Day should be straightforward: if Zeus failed, then he would lose his throne without it being taken by Typhon; if Typhon failed, then he would lose his strength but wouldn’t transfer it to Zeus. Since Zeus had no authority to make Typhon the Divine King, naturally, he had no right to bet the ’throne of the Divine King’ as a bargaining chip.

He was merely promising an empty check, just like the ’death’ he wagered; even if he were truly defeated, he could not actually pay out such a bet.

Enjoy new adventures at empire

Just as the world would not sit idly by for the death of a deity, the present world would not accept a monster as the Divine King—this led to a problem. As Atropos herself said, no one can manipulate destiny, and those who try to do so will, in turn, be manipulated by it. With her concealment, the Divine King once again made a bet he could not afford. So, what would the price be?

This time, the price would not be paid by Zeus. Unlike ’death,’ the method to ’defeat Typhon’ was an obligation the three sisters owed to the Divine King. They should have been completely transparent with Zeus about this matter. Since Atropos failed to do so, she alone would bear all the consequences that follow.

"Sister, you lied to him... The backlash of fate has already started to take its toll on you. But why did you do it?"

Although they had only left a short while ago, it was nearly visible to the naked eye that Atropos had aged further than when she was first born, even emitting a putrid stench. However, Clotho felt no revulsion, knowing what Atropos, the firstborn of The Three Fates, had shouldered for her two younger sisters.

Lachesis carried a portion of the burden, which made her look slightly older, but that was merely a fraction of it, whereas Clotho was truly free of debt.

"The reason... Clotho, and Lachesis, do you think I’m harming him?"

After coughing, her teeth appeared yellow and somewhat blackened. At this moment, Atropos did not resemble a goddess; she looked more like a mortally ill peasant woman, someone one would instinctively want to keep away from.

"Isn’t it so? Destiny tells us that the power within Typhon doesn’t belong to this world, or even the Chaos World in its origin—though it has become part of it, this is still not good for the Divine King, right?"

Helping her elder sister up, Lachesis also harbored some doubts. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She looked to be in her thirties, the prime age for a woman’s alluring maturity. Her fair complexion contrasted starkly against Atropos’ wrinkled and lined skin, and her voluptuous form only accentuated Atropos’ decay, making it all the more repellent.