Chapter 165: 20: The King of Humans
Atop Mount Olympus, Zeus listened to Iris, the Goddess of Rainbow’s report, and found it somewhat amusing.
It was meant to be a force to counter the Oceanides, yet Poseidon was thinking about how to convert his allies into his own domains.
That was, unless they had no other choice. Had there been a chance, the first to stab him in the back would have been these children of the original Sea God.
“Yes, Your Majesty. However, later on, I heard that the Sea Emperor sent a dolphin to find Lady Amphitrite, and eventually, the two returned together,” Iris responded.
“They held a wedding banquet, announcing their presence to the vast seas.”
“Heh, the two of them… came together,” Zeus mused.
He chose not to say the word in the middle, feeling that his earlier worries were truly unnecessary.
Three months ago, when Amphitrite arrived at the western part of the world, ‘hiding’ at the foot of Atlas, there were already plenty of deities who began to mock the situation.
Zeus felt some annoyance on Mount Olympus about this. Having enjoyed peace for only a few months, he did not want his temperamental brother to do something irrational, and thus quickly sent Iris to convey the message.
But now, it appeared that even though the future Sea Emperor and Sea Empress were not very clever, Poseidon still understood some truths, which greatly relieved the Divine King.
“There’s nothing more for you to do here.”
With a wave of his hand, Zeus indicated that Iris could leave.
The Divine King, having received the reply, felt somewhat relieved and soon shifted his focus to other matters, such as Eurynome, the Oceanides.
The matter of Metis was too difficult to conceal forever, and as her sister, Eurynome was well-suited to temporarily replace her as the bridge for communication with the Oceanides.
Moreover, her own godhood was insignificant, and it would be difficult for her to bear overly powerful offspring. A less powerful progeny was not only not a threat but also a boon to his expansion of the Divine Court.
In this manner, as time passed day by day, the wounds from the turnover of the era were slowly healed.
Until this day, in a place unnoticed by many deities, an existence that even Laine had nearly forgotten accidentally tapped into a power that was not his to wield.
“Bang—”
After hurling the several meters tall creature onto the ground, Cohen wiped away nonexistent sweat from his brow.
On his body were several charred marks, the damage inflicted by this beast.
It was unique, possessing the means to manipulate light and certain elements, capable of healing itself and harming others. It was a momentary lapse of attention that allowed Cohen to be struck, leaving scars on his body.
Fortunately, the Cohen of today was no longer the Cohen of the past. Over the years, he had gradually mastered some special abilities.
He couldn’t remember how long ago it was, perhaps decades or even centuries, but after personally laying to rest the last of the Golden Humanity, aside from himself, Cohen discovered a warm current within his body.
At first it simply ‘existed’, then later it could travel throughout his body, augmenting his physique and strength. Until this stage, Cohen had not paid much attention to it.
After all, compared to the physique of the primeval Human King, which was naturally close to transcendent, this augmentation was minimal.
However, as time passed, this energy gradually extended beyond the body, imbuing hand-held tools with power, which made many of Cohen’s actions much easier and more convenient.
Years went by, and the energy eventually could leave the body, possessing considerable destructive force. But once it reached this stage, it seemed to hit a plateau and did not evolve for a long time.
But Cohen didn’t care, nor did he have any reason to seek power. The Golden Human King simply continued as always, sweeping The Temple and carving steles, alone in the Temple of Corolla at the foot of Mount Othrys, keeping the incorruptible corpses of the Golden Humanity buried underground for company.
Until that day, when many deities flew around the Mount of the Gods, he saw a god calling himself ‘Zeus’ challenge the Divine King. Then he witnessed the thunder, the surging waves, the continuous illusions of heaven and earth, and the resounding collapse of the Mount of the Gods.
Fortunately, the Mount of the Gods fell northwest, while the old dwelling of Golden Humanity was established in the east, after all, they were originally brought from Delphi in the Eastern Region. The greatest catastrophe was avoided, but the debris and dust from earthquakes and landslides buried everything nearby. The ground split open, and everything sank into the fissures, including Cohen himself, who crawled out from the ruins several days after the godly battle.
At that moment, looking around, nothing familiar remained.
“It’s time to eat.”
After lighting a fire, Cohen cut some meat from the carcass of a beast. Creating fire was another skill he had learned in dreams, though he had seldom used it before.
After all, back then, with the blessings of the gods, the human settlement was surrounded by evergreen fruit trees, but now all that was gone.
Sometimes, looking at the old soil long buried beneath the ground, Cohen would have one or two disrespectful thoughts. He didn’t understand why the gods did this, why they fought each other, and created catastrophes. But in the end, perhaps out of habit, he convinced himself once more.
The deities could not be wrong; it must be that he still didn’t understand them completely.
“I need to get to work… I wonder how much longer I’ll have to dig.”
After finishing the last bite of roast, Cohen extinguished the fire.
Lately, the Golden Human King had been busy excavating the ruins. Although it was bound to be a lengthy project, his life was equally long.
Especially after the end of that godly battle, he felt that under immense stimulation, he had finally broken through that barrier. The energy within him seemed to have undergone some mysterious changes, and though he didn’t know what use it had yet, it was undoubtedly effective in digging.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
As Cohen prepared to leave, circling around the carcass of the beast, his peripheral vision suddenly caught something.
It was a dark golden gel-like substance that shouldn’t have existed, but was now slowly oozing from the chest of the beast.
Cohen had never seen this thing before, but for some reason, his transformed body and energy faintly told him that it was both very good and very dangerous.
After hesitating for a moment, Cohen finally stepped forward, intent on discovering what it actually was.
As for danger, the Golden Humanity didn’t fear death.
Reaching out, Cohen touched the mysterious gel. However, the next moment, before he could react, the unknown substance directly merged into Cohen’s body through the skin.
A sense of intense heat and mixed information acted simultaneously on the Golden Human King’s body and psyche, and a golden flame blazed up on him.
“Ah—”
“Bang—”
Clutching his head with both hands, Cohen collapsed to the ground after uttering just one cry. His furrowed brows indicated he was still conscious, just devoid of control over his body.
In the realm of the mind, he began to collide and contest with the influx of information from an unknown source.