"Who do you think you are, mortal, daring to offend the King of Gods?"
'Zeus' casually gripped the rough hilt of the Wrath of Earth, an unprecedented tremor running through his divinity.
"And what is this?"
The raging resentment, death, and the profound essence of 'return' within the blade surged into his perception like a torrent.
Countless dying wails echoed in his ears, but 'Zeus' paid them no mind. His kingly will, like the hardest diamond, easily crushed these sounds and pierced straight to the core.
He saw it.
The true power of the Wrath of Earth was not merely to 'kill' gods.
Death was never the end for gods.
Their essence could slumber, suffer in Tartarus, or even slowly regenerate after being sundered, like Kronos.
But this blade was different—its power pointed directly to the 'source' of the gods, causing the existence it slew, its very being and divine origin, to be irreversibly 'returned' to the place from which they were originally conceived: Gaia, the Earth Goddess.
A forced 'return to the root', dissolving individual gods back into the primordial divine material that constituted the world.
"I see... I SEE!" 'Zeus' looked up to the sky and roared with laughter, thunder rolling within his mirth, shaking all of Olympus and rattling the golden tiles of the temples.
"The Last, the First! This is not creation, not destruction—it is 'Return'! To unite all divinity into one, to return all gods to the source, and then rebuild everything from this single 'One'! Alaya Noah, you have truly given me a great gift!"
The vague hint he had received from Alaya Noah about becoming the 'One God' now became exceptionally clear under the 'revelation' of the Wrath of Earth.
To become the 'Last God' did not mean to live in solitude after slaying all other gods, but to become the sole vessel that 'finally contains all divinity'.
When all gods return to their source, he would become the primordial 'One'—the sole cornerstone and creator of a new era!
How simple! How magnificent!
The method he had studied and deduced time and again, yet never found, was now presented to him so dramatically.
And why had Alaya Noah done this?
'Zeus' paid it no mind at all.
A trap? A conspiracy? So what?
In the face of absolute power and supreme authority, any calculation was a joke.
As long as he held this blade and began this sacred ritual of return to the source, all variables would be incorporated into his own process of becoming the 'One'.
Alaya Noah wanted to use him to cleanse the gods? Yes, but the fruits of that cleansing would be his alone!
---
Below, Jason, pinned to the scorched black mountainside by golden lightning through his chest, struggled to lift his head.
Pain tore at his nerves, but deeper inside, a certain oppression was loosening—the vast, cold will of Alaya Noah, like an ebbing tide, was being withdrawn from his shattered consciousness.
He had regained most of his 'self', but he was also acutely aware of what he had just done and what was about to happen.
He looked at the ecstatic 'Zeus', at the giant blade the King of Gods held, which was emitting an increasingly sinister dark crimson light. A smile, mingled with bitterness and a strange sense of relief, tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"My mission... is complete." He whispered, blood seeping from his lips.
Alaya had used him, and he had used the 'faith' and power given by Alaya to reach this point. As for whether what came after would be a new dawn or an abyss... it no longer mattered.
He closed his eyes wearily, awaiting death or worse.
'Zeus' did not even glance at Jason again.
When an ant's task is done, it ceases to be useful.
Using the fundamental law previously inscribed by 'Gaia' within the thunder, 'Zeus' easily redirected the object of the 'return' to himself.
He raised the Wrath of Earth, pointed its tip towards the sky, and slowly floated up, looking down at the sacred Mount Olympus beneath his feet.
"Now, let us begin." He whispered, not loudly, yet it sounded like the death knell for the entire world.
"Beginning with those closest to me... this sacred journey to the source."
---
His first target was his own palace.
'Hera' stood on the palace terrace, anxiously gazing towards Corinth.
When the aura of 'Zeus', mixed with some horrifically oppressive presence, suddenly descended upon her with undisguised killing intent, she turned in terror.
"Zeus?" She looked at her husband, who held a dark crimson blade, his eyes gleaming with a strange, fanatical golden light. Alarm bells clanged in her heart.
"What... what are you going to do? What is that weapon?"
"Farewell, my dear sister, my wife." 'Zeus' was unusually calm, even with a touch of nostalgia.
"Thank you for being by my side all these years, though it has been full of complaints, schemes, and jealousy. But soon, all that unpleasantness will vanish. You will return to your purest origin, become a part of me, and be with me forever."
"Have you gone mad?!" The instinct of 'Hera's' marital power awakened. Golden light attempted to build a barrier, to draw a line of sanctity.
But the Wrath of Earth merely pulsed faintly, and the golden light, symbolizing oaths and boundaries, shattered like fragile glass.
'Hera' grunted, her divine power recoiling, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
"No, I have never been so clear-headed as I am now." 'Zeus' moved before her so quickly that 'Hera' had no time to react.
He reached out his left hand and gently caressed her beautiful cheek, now twisted with fear.
"Do not be afraid. Soon. When this is over, I will create a more perfect you, Hera—one who will not complain, who will love only me."
Before the words faded, the Wrath of Earth silently pierced 'Hera's' chest.
The dark crimson blade seemed to merge with 'Hera's' divine body. Her beautiful face instantly froze—the shock, the anger, the reluctance, and even a flicker of confusion from the warmth of the previous night, all frozen in her eyes.
Immediately after, her body began to disintegrate from the point of penetration, silently, like a sandcastle, dissolving into countless golden specks of light, shimmering with a faint divine glow.
These specks of light did not drift away. They were drawn by an invisible force, like homing birds, and were absorbed into 'Zeus's' body.
'Zeus' closed his eyes and let out a satisfied sigh.
He felt the pure divine origin merge with him, intertwining and fusing with his original kingly authority, bringing a subtle sense of fulfillment and evolution.
It was like a painting being filled with a missing colour.
"The first." 'Zeus' opened his eyes and looked towards the temple of the goddess of order, 'Themis'.
The slaughter had officially begun.