Chapter 99: This Is What A Mother Is
Iapetus said passionately: “God King Cronus is even more eternally undefeated! His unparalleled courage always wins him victory after victory!”
“It is Cronus! It is His Majesty the God King! Under His leadership, Titans have become the most glorious and powerful term in the universe! Harvesting all the honors!”
Iapetus gazed at Prometheus, his deep words filled with determination, and immense pride in the once great victories.
“All Titans（ except Goddess Queen Rhea） have sworn allegiance to the God King, and They cannot strike at the God King!”
“Under the God King’s leadership, we three Primal Titans are invincible, and we cannot possibly fail!”
“Under the God King’s leadership, we will continue to harvest endless honors! He is the God of Harvest!”
“Son of Cronus Zeus will never be able to defeat the God King, just as you, Prometheus, will never be able to defeat me!”
Iapetus took a deep breath and continued: “You should know that in this world, effort does not always guarantee reward; honor is so hard-won!”
“To get a reward, you must give blood, sweat, and loyalty!”
“If a god grants you honor, then you should swear to be loyal to Him unto death!”
“Your betrayal cannot be forgiven!”
His tone grew even heavier, carrying a trace of indescribable complex emotions: “Go, Prometheus!”
“You are my child, but on the battlefield, facing a rebel, I will absolutely show no mercy!”
Upon hearing this, Prometheus was enveloped in grief and despair, and He cried out: “Father God!”
“Go!”
He gave Prometheus no further chance to speak, decisively and determinedly sending Prometheus’s heart plunging to the depths.
Prometheus took a deep breath, gazing at his father and brothers before him, and finally made his final request: “Father God, my dear brothers, no matter which way this war ultimately goes, please, by all means, do not let the children join this terrifying war.”
“Their power is still too weak; joining this war would be meaningless and only increase casualties. Please leave them a way out, keep them away from this battlefield of blood and fire.”
Iapetus did not refuse; a faint, barely perceptible softening finally appeared on his stern face, and he said softly: “Depart, Prometheus.”
Prometheus bowed deeply to Iapetus and turned to leave.
His silhouette appeared especially lonely against the towering majesty of Mount Othrys.
At that moment, Iapetus gave him his final admonition.
“Prometheus, my dear child. Remember, if you choose to pledge allegiance to a god, as long as the other party has not actively harmed you, you should treat Him with the most sincere heart and repay Him with the purest loyalty.”
“Also, take care of your Mother Goddess.”
Prometheus’s figure paused, and he nodded silently.
After Prometheus departed.
Iapetus remained silently quiet for a long, long time.
Finally, he said to Atlas: “Atlas, have Pleione take the children to Oceanus, to find your Mother Goddess.”
Atlas was suddenly startled: “Father God!”
Iapetus ignored him and turned directly to Menoetius, his voice calm: “Menoetius, have Eurylyia take the children back to Pontus first.”
With that, Iapetus returned to the Divine Palace on his own.
He is not only the Weaver of Death, but also the Cyclical Recycler.
Atlas and Menoetius exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment; they still could not understand why Father God had issued such an order.
Deep in their hearts, they firmly believed that God King Cronus would win the ultimate victory!
But since it was Father God’s command, they would all obey.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Coeus and bright Phoebe also quietly sent their two daughters who had never participated in the war—Leto and Asteria—to the small island of the Goddess of Memory Mnemosyne.
They had always been on good terms with Mnemosyne, so entrusting their child to her, they felt at ease.
With the wisdom and authority of Coeus and Phoebe, they had keenly sensed a great ominous portent.
After sincerely praying to Mnemosyne, the exact location of Mnemosyne’s residence reappeared in their memories, which already indicated Mnemosyne’s attitude.
The Goddess of Civilization Memory also advised them to pledge allegiance to Zeus, but they had no other choice and could only smile and refuse, only requesting that Mnemosyne take good care of their children.
Things had come to this point; they themselves had no second path to choose, but they had to leave a fallback for the children.
The gods are all lonely existences; giving birth to new laws or new life is not so easy.
For the children they personally gestated, those incarnations of laws derived from their own origin, the vast majority of gods cherish them extremely.
After all, ones like Cronus who care nothing for their own children are truly rare.
Zeus still did not know that the Titans in the opposing camp were already harboring their own thoughts, secretly planning for the future.
But even if He knew, He would not care.
He is not a god of destruction, and His objective is not to destroy everything.
On the contrary, He will have great use for the offspring of many Primal Titans in the future.
The more laws the world has, the better; what Zeus needs is a world that becomes increasingly perfect, until it reaches utmost perfection.
Moreover, His magnanimity is not so narrow; as long as the other side does not overstep, Zeus has no interest in making things difficult for some minor figures.
He was now face-to-face with the Great Mother Goddess Gaia.
This most primordial primal god of the World of Existence, the incarnation of the concept of matter, the Mother Goddess of All Things—even though her authority has been severed to this extent, she remains one of the top great gods.
She is the indispensable foundation of the world, an absolutely invincible supreme existence at any time.
Facing this supreme great god, even Zeus must maintain absolute respect.
In fact, any god must maintain absolute respect for Gaia; she is the source of all life and existence.
This most primordial Great Mother Goddess, like all mothers in the Mortal World, is filled with complex and contradictory traits.
Or rather, all the traits of mothers in the world originate from the primal Mother Goddess Gaia.
She is loving-kindness, yet also has a tyrannical side; she is tenderness, yet also prone to irritation; she is tolerance, yet often petty; she is calm and steady, yet also easily emotional.
She can firmly support the entire world, yet is often weak, hesitant and indecisive when facing choices.
She can sometimes make resolute decisions, yet is always prone to indecisiveness.
She always waits until things have developed to an irredeemable point before gritting her teeth, steeling her determination, and making an even more difficult choice.
She deeply loves all her children, yet cannot coordinate everything well, always wavering back and forth between the children, unable to decide.
As a mother, Gaia is just an utterly ordinary mother.
An imperfect yet sincerely loving mother for each of her children.
And now, Zeus was to use her love for some of her other children against her remaining children.
This was Zeus’s first time facing the Mother Goddess of All Things alone and conversing with her.
During this period, Mother Goddess Gaia had been terribly troubled.
She had been utterly worn out by the great war between Zeus and Cronus that affected the entire universe; every divine battle between the two sides created too much commotion.
Every time war broke out, it was ultimately she who mediated, providing the steps for a truce; otherwise, once the gods started fighting, they simply could not stop.
The destroyed world relied entirely on her to repair, and restoring those collapsed cosmic matter and structures was utterly exhausting, leaving her fatigued.
Though mainly it was mental exhaustion.
She was now so tormented by this war that she could barely control her emotions, becoming especially irritable lately, where even a small matter could make her angry.
And now she did not know how to end it all.
How was such a evenly matched war between immortal deities supposed to conclude in the end?
This was something even she could not imagine.
She wanted to overthrow Cronus’s rule, but she did not want Cronus to meet the same end as Uranus.
With her children fighting among themselves, her heart was filled with grief and sorrow, pained by the fratricide.
Even now, she still could not openly express opposition to Cronus.
This child she once loved the most was the most courageous, optimistic, and strong child.
All these messy things bundled together made the irritated her unwilling to even think about it.
Perhaps, if she thought of nothing, those terrifying things would not happen.
Even as the Mother Goddess of All Things Gaia, she had an ostrich mentality.
Escaping may be shameful, but it is often very useful.
At least, out of sight, out of mind, and her heart felt much more at ease.
Like all mothers, facing children in a chaotic brawl, she could only pretend not to see and let Them make a fuss.
Only when the commotion grew severe would she have to step forward and suppress the situation.
Facing Zeus who came seeking help, she mustered her spirits to receive him.
Looking at this vibrant, sunny, and cheerful child before her, she could not help but think: ‘This child is just like Cronus once was—equally handsome and strong, equally possessing immense courage, equally optimistic and confident, even equally gentle.’
To this day, she still could not understand why Cronus had become so cold and brutal.
The loving-kindness Mother Goddess mustered her spirits and asked: “Son of Cronus, Zeus, what brings you here today?”
Without waiting for Zeus to speak, she preempted: “Let me say first, I have already helped you too much; I will not directly act to help you against Cronus.”
A very gentle and sunny smile bloomed on Zeus’s handsome face, his voice carrying utmost affinity and respect: “Beloved Mother Goddess, how could I make such an excessive, even cruel request of You?”
“How heartless and cruel must a god be to ask a loving-kindness mother to harm her dear child?”
