'Zeus' finally released all suppression over the churning divine powers within him. He let loose the entirety of the absorbed essences—Olympians, river gods, mountain deities, nymphs—all of it, mingled with his own majestic divine thunder, erupting like a volcano long held in check!
His very form seemed to swell, multi-hued divine lights coursing beneath his skin. Behind him, the distorted, wailing phantoms of devoured gods flickered faintly.
His strength, speed, defense, and even his ability to momentarily warp rules skyrocketed instantly to a level that plunged all the besiegers into despair.
He was like a tiger gone berserk, rampaging through a pack of primordial gods and Titans.
Each swing of the Wrath of Earth was no longer a precise hunt for 'return to the source', but a pure, overwhelming release of power.
Combined with the authorities of the devoured 'Ares', 'Athena', 'Poseidon', 'Apollo', and others, his attacks became erratic yet supremely powerful.
'Pontus' yelped in pain, his colossal body carved with new wounds.
The cosmic light of 'Aether' was torn apart by brute force.
The daytime realm of 'Hemera' dimmed.
The sky-compulsion of 'Uranus' was violently thrown back.
The time-scythe of 'Kronos' was wrenched from his grasp, his mouth smashed, golden ichor spilling forth.
Defeat was certain.
Amidst the chaotic melee, Hades dodged and 'fought back' vigorously. His bident clashed with the Wrath of Earth; he 'grunted' and was thrown back, even 'spilling' a trace of divine blood from the corner of his mouth, performing his role flawlessly.
Yet, beneath his lowered gaze, in the shadows cast by the smoke of battle and the flare of divine power, a supremely well-concealed smile tugged silently at the corners of his lips.
To pave the way for 'Zeus's' seemingly unstoppable 'apotheosis', he had already played his trump cards.
At the very beginning of Zeus's rampage, the 'Chain of Binding' had silently sealed off Nyx and Erebus, creating an absolutely closed field at their most vulnerable moment, severing all connection between inside and out.
The two primordial gods were not 'absent' or 'indifferent'—they were simply 'unable to know' of the tragedy unfolding beyond their sealed realms.
At this moment, among the five Protogenoi:
Gaia was weak, her consciousness scattered, powerless in the face of this catastrophe.
Eros had long been fragmented into countless parts in the early days of the Age of Gods, his power scattered across all things, not forming a unified whole.
Nyx and Erebus were blocked by Hades, cut off from the outside world.
And Tartarus, the embodiment of the abyss, was himself a symbol of madness and disorder, forever lost in chaotic frenzy. Unless the world itself completely fell into the abyss, he would never intervene in any logical manner.
'Zeus' was, at this moment, truly 'invincible' within this world.
And this was the 'stage' that Hades had meticulously calculated and presented to him.
While 'Zeus' was busy slaughtering the outer world and growing arrogant, deep within his own divine body, within the space of wisdom's origin he had devoured along with 'Metis', another silent but equally brutal war was reaching its conclusion.
This space resembled a magnificent, labyrinthine library.
At this moment, the library trembled violently, light streams disrupted, fragments collapsing as if undergoing a cataclysmic storm of thought.
Metis's form was slightly ethereal but stable. She stood in a relatively calm area, holding a three-dimensional geometric model that was constantly reconstructing and calculating. Countless information streams shot out from the model like chains, penetrating deep into the surrounding, quaking spatial structure.
Not far from her stood the other 'Metis'—the goddess of wisdom from this world, the one devoured by 'Zeus'. Her form was more solid, but her expression was one of utter confusion.
Her hair was disheveled, her eyes filled with paranoia, madness, and unwillingness. The halo of wisdom around her flickered unsteadily, entangled in countless information chains.
She tried to resist; each shockwave of thought made the entire origin space tremble violently. But she could never break through the logical shackles that seemed fragile but were, in fact, intricately woven, predicting her every reaction.
"Three hours..." The 'Metis' of this world rasped, her voice full of frustration.
"It took you three hours... to completely suppress my home-field advantage... Impossible! I am wisdom perfected!"
"Perfected?" Metis shook her head slightly, her eyes calm with a hint of pity.
"No, you are merely a poor worm, blinded by 'love' and imprisoned by 'possessiveness'. The vast majority of your wisdom is used to calculate how to monopolize 'Zeus' forever, how to eliminate all potential threats, even your own daughter 'Athena', how to make him inseparable from you... Such wisdom, no matter how vast, is like a rusted gear—seemingly complex, but ultimately fragile."
She tapped a finger, and several more information streams detached from the geometric model, reinforcing the barriers. "I am different. My wisdom has weathered the baptism of reincarnation, witnessed the end and rebirth of worlds, planned with my husband to dismantle fate, calculated against primordial ancient gods, and integrated the laws of another world... My 'battlefield' is countless times wider than yours. Dealing with you is difficult, yes, but not impossible."
Difficult, indeed.
For three full hours of intense mental confrontation—counter-prediction, prediction, logical traps, hedging information streams—even with the advantage of experience and broader patterns, Metis had expended significant energy.
The paranoid, twisted version of herself before her possessed a terrifying obsession with 'Zeus', and that obsession had become both the source of her power and the factor that made her thinking extreme and, in some aspects, difficult to predict.
Looking at her, Metis even felt a flicker of nostalgia.
It was like seeing a version of her own past self, the one she might have become if not for her and 'Hades's' rescue and integration.
Though it had been a struggle, the goal was achieved.
It was enough to keep this one distracted, leaving the 'Zeus' outside to walk step by step into the trap.
Just as Metis prepared to further solidify her suppression, she suddenly sensed something, receiving a signal from the outer world through Hades's Underworld authority.
The next step was to begin.
She decisively released most of her suppressing force. Her form rapidly became ethereal, preparing to leave this space of wisdom's origin.
"You... you're leaving?" The suppressed 'Metis' was momentarily stunned. She felt the shackles loosen but did not immediately resist; she was, instead, a little bewildered.
The long confrontation of thought had exhausted her, and the other's sudden retreat was puzzling.
"My mission is complete." Metis's figure was now almost completely transparent, leaving only a final whisper echoing in the light stream.
The words faded, and her consciousness vanished entirely.
---
On the edge of the slaughter-filled battlefield in the outer world, a figure appeared like a ghost.
Hermes had dismantled his still-dazzling hat. A cynical smile played on his lips, but his eyes were sharp as a falcon's, precisely fixed on the seemingly invincible King of Gods at the center of the fray.
He made no detours, used no tricks of speed or cunning.
With a nonchalance that bordered on suicidal, he transformed into a streak of light and charged directly at 'Zeus', who was busy smashing 'Kronos' back and forth!
"Eh?" 'Zeus' sensed this insignificant yet oddly 'eye-catching' attack. He didn't even bother using the Wrath of Earth. He simply waved a hand behind him carelessly, and a shockwave laced with a multitude of divine powers erupted towards Hermes.
At the speed Hermes normally displayed, he should have easily dodged.
But this time, he seemed stunned, making no attempt to evade, even deliberately adjusting his trajectory to meet it.
The shockwave struck him full force.
Hermes's figure froze abruptly in mid-air. The hat emitting its brilliant light exploded into fragments. He cried out.
His entire form was sent flying backward like a kite with a snapped string. The divine light on his body dimmed rapidly, his life force quickly ebbing away. Finally, with a 'smack', he crashed into a charred mountain boulder in the distance, lying motionless, as if he had 'fallen'.
The entire process was incredibly fast, leaving even the other besieging gods momentarily stunned.
'Zeus' didn't even glance at the 'corpse', simply assuming it was another fool who had overestimated their own strength.
Yet, in the moment of Hermes's 'fall', a divine power imbued with the characteristics of 'obtuseness', 'delay', and 'hindsight'—like an invisible smoke—quietly mingled with the storm of divine power swirling around 'Zeus'.
And imperceptibly, like water seeping into sand, it merged with his divine body.
This power was too faint and unobtrusive, compared to the vast ocean of divinity 'Zeus' was currently devouring, it was like a single drop.
Its 'hindsight' characteristics were almost completely overwhelmed by the surging, dominant power and the extremely excited mental state of 'Zeus'.
---
In the distance, beside the 'corpse of Hermes', space subtly warped.
The real Hermes revealed himself, unharmed. He brushed some non-existent dust from his chest and let out a relieved, heavy sigh: "Phew... That was terrifying. The clone was nearly obliterated by that mix of forces, but luckily, I was well-hidden."
He glanced at 'Zeus', still slaughtering the quartet at the battle's center, then shot a look towards Hades, the corner of his mouth twitching. Then his figure vanished again, silently disappearing at the edge of the battlefield.
His task, too, was complete.