Hades returned to the Underworld, a cold ripple appearing deep within his heart.
He clearly felt that even without exerting his full strength, the spacetime divine power possessed by his father, who sat on the throne of the God-King, had already touched the legendary realm—great divine power.
This was a force close to the origins of the world, far exceeding the reach of ordinary mighty divine power.
Cronus did not rely solely on devouring his children to maintain his authority—his own control over power and the accumulation of years had made him an extremely terrifying being.
This realization made Hades even more determined to hide behind the scenes.
A frontal confrontation would be like striking a stone with an egg; he needed to use the spear and shield delivered by fate, and currently, these spears and shields were Zeus and Poseidon.
In the vast lava workshop temporarily opened at the foothills of Olympus and summoned by Koios's divine power, Orphos, the 'god of plants and lava', began his 'generous' gifts.
The fire reflected his calm face, while also concealing the dark light of the Underworld flowing deep within his eyes.
"Zeus, Poseidon," Orphos's voice still sounded clear amidst the roar of forging, "Cronus's spacetime divine power is extraordinary. Ordinary weapons will struggle to pose a real threat. I will do my utmost to create artifacts for you that can carry your primordial power and shatter the barriers of time and space."
Zeus's eyes burned with the flames of vengeance and ambition, and the thunderous power within his body seemed to sense the vessel about to be born, humming with excitement.
Poseidon gripped his improvised water-current trident, his eyes full of desire for greater power.
The forging began.
Hades (Orphos) first created the thunderbolt destined for Zeus's glory.
He summoned the fiercest lava fire from the depths of the earth, gathered the most primordial essence of thunder and lightning that erupted when the sky was torn by Cronus's divine power, and even fused it with a glimmer of 'the certainty of fate' from the edge of the goddess Nyx's temple.
Under the astonished gaze of countless Titans and newborn gods, a thunderbolt gradually took shape, filled with infinite destruction and life force, its power ionizing the surrounding air.
However, no one knew that while creating the core rune of the thunderbolt, Hades enveloped it with the power of [Secrecy] and quietly embedded a thread of silence, extremely pure and originating from his [Hades] essence.
This brand was not meant for destruction, but as a dormant spore, perfectly blending with the thunder's power without a trace under normal circumstances.
But when Hades needed it, a specific thought fluctuation based on the laws of Hades could instantly activate this mark, causing a brief 'freezing' of the thunderbolt's divine power core—short-lived, but enough to interrupt a deadly strike from Zeus at a critical moment, or... seize control for an instant.
Next came the reforging of the trident for Poseidon.
Hades took resonance stones formed by the transformation of cold iron and the earth's crust in the ocean depths, and invoked the strange energy at the intersection of the Styx river's water and the source of life to quench it.
The new Trident possessed the terrifying power to command all waters, causing tsunamis and earthquakes, its body as blue as the deep sea.
Similarly, while forming the central hub where the blade meets the shaft, symbolizing 'control', Hades used the supreme techniques of Forging and Secrecy to implant a trace of erosion from the powers of Decay, skillfully disguised within it.
This sigil also slept, coexisting harmoniously with Poseidon's water divine power.
Upon awakening by Hades's will, it would not damage the trident, but could instantly disrupt Poseidon's absolute control over it, causing the trident's power flow to deviate slightly and possibly be temporarily directed by Hades's will—after all, the Styx river was also a kind of 'water', and [Decay] could influence the stability of matter.
Throughout the forging process, Hades displayed great 'sincerity' and 'utmost effort', even 'not hesitating' to consume his own divine power to enhance the quality of the weapons.
When the dazzling thunderbolt and the trident flowing with immense water power were handed to Zeus and Poseidon respectively, the two gods clearly felt the perfect match between the artifacts and their origins, as well as their majestic power.
"Thank you, Orphos!" Zeus clenched the thunderbolt, feeling the power that seemed to tear the sky, and said sincerely.
"This power... is enough to overthrow Cronus's throne!" Poseidon swung the trident, summoning surrounding water vapor, his eyes full of confidence.
Koios also watched all this with satisfaction; Orphos's value was once again demonstrated.
Hades (Orphos) only humbly bowed slightly, a gentle and slightly tired smile on his face: "May they help you end the tyranny and establish a new order."
Yet deep within his downcast eyes reigned an icy calm.
Hades felt no guilt for tampering with his brothers' weapons. After all, how could a weapon he made not bear his mark?
He had personally forged the sharpest weapons for his future opponents, while simultaneously binding them with the most secret reins.
In the shadow unnoticed by anyone, the corner of Hades's mouth formed an almost invisible, cold arc.
'Orphos' temporarily withdrew behind the scenes due to excessive consumption of divine power and 'recovered' in the temple arranged for him by Koios.
In reality, his consciousness had already sunk into the eternal dark kingdom that belonged to him through the connection in the darkness.
In the palace of Hades, Hades sat high on an obsidian throne, radiating the cold and majestic aura of Hades, completely different from 'Orphos'.
Beneath the throne, the Hundred-Handed Giants stood solemnly like mountains, their three hundred hands lowered, yet containing enough power to shake the earth; the Cyclopes stood to the side, their single giant eyes shining with sparks of wisdom and creativity.
"The time approaches," Hades's voice echoed through the empty corridor, like the whisper of the abyss itself.
"The beacons of Olympus are lit, and the spindle of fate spins at an accelerated speed. We, the people of the Underworld, must also be fully prepared."
He looked at the leader of the Cyclopes, Brontes: "I command you to forge chariots and armor for me using the 'Silent Cold Iron' and 'Stone of Lament' from the deepest part of the Underworld. They must be able to carry the divine power of the Underworld, move between the boundary of life and death, and fear no distortion of time and space."
"We obey the king's command!" the giants replied in unison, their voices shaking the waters of the Styx.
The vast and silent war machine of the Underworld began to operate quietly, accumulating enough power to shake the world.