With the fragment of the [Water Cycle] divinity obtained from Oceanus, and the heavy truth about how the world 'digests' gods, Catia (Hades) began her journey back to the Underworld.
Her mood was completely different from when she had arrived.
The fragment of divinity, symbolizing 'cycle', emitted a faint blue light in her palm, but at this moment, it felt as hot as a branding iron.
She chose a relatively remote path, walking through the gray zone where the Underworld meets the earth, her thoughts lost in the desperate eyes of Oceanus and the terrifying implications of the disappearance of Pontus's divine lineage.
Just as she was about to enter the eternal mist at the entrance to the Underworld, an unexpected, yet not entirely surprising, figure stopped before her.
It was Poseidon.
This new Sea King was supposed to be cheerful and unruly.
Oceanus had retired, and Pontus's divine system was suspected of being 'absorbed'; theoretically, the entire oceanic world should be controlled solely by him, with no more constraints from ancient forces.
However, the Poseidon who appeared before Catia's eyes at this moment was not at all as she had imagined.
He was not riding a raging tsunami or a mighty sea beast, but stood alone on a barren coastal reef, letting the salty sea breeze ruffle his slightly disheveled long, dark blue hair.
His majestic body was still full of power, but a certain bright 'arrogance' that had sustained him seemed to have faded.
An almost decadent aura surrounded him.
His eyes were no longer as sharp as an eagle's, but held an indescribable weariness and... emptiness.
As if he had obtained the boundless ocean he had dreamed of, but in the limitless depths of blue, he had seen something that made him tremble and even lose interest.
When his gaze fell upon Catia, those empty eyes suddenly focused and exploded with intense, almost dazzling surprise.
"You..."
Poseidon's voice was not like the roar of a tsunami he was accustomed to, but carried a slight hoarseness and hesitation.
He looked Catia over from head to toe, as if confirming a phantom that should not exist.
"A new god?" Poseidon whispered to himself, frowning, his expression a mix of confusion and deep unease.
"At a time like this... How is this possible..."
Immediately, his gaze sharply caught the faint but pure aura of the Underworld around Catia—the silence of souls, the cold of the abyss, and the unique cold gleam of the underworld.
The moment he sensed this breath, all expressions on Poseidon's face—surprise, confusion, unease—quickly receded like a tide, and were once again covered by a thick, almost numb silence.
He asked no more questions.
There was none of the usual sense of rivalry or contempt for anything related to the Underworld.
He didn't even look at Catia a second time.
As if, after confirming her connection to the Underworld, all questions had a 'reasonable' explanation, making him unwilling to delve deeper.
Poseidon said not a word and suddenly turned around.
He didn't even use the Sea King's divine power to create waves, but simply took heavy steps, walking step by step into the surging waves, his figure quickly sinking into the dark blue seawater and disappearing.
Only the waves, still crashing against the reef, and the silence in the air, which had not completely dissipated, remained.
Catia (Hades) stood quietly, her silver eyes watching the sea where Poseidon had disappeared, her heart rising and falling.
Poseidon's reaction was extremely unusual.
He should have been demonstrative, boastful, and wary of, or eager to conquer, any new existence that might affect the power structure.
But he didn't.
His surprise at the birth of a 'new god' was far beyond normal, as if it violated some established rule.
"Even Poseidon..." Catia (Hades) whispered in her heart.
Oceanus's desperate numbness, Poseidon's decadent silence...
All these clues are like broken lenses, reflecting the same dying and mortally ill world from different angles.
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On the peak of Mount Olympus, in a hidden side corridor, far from the hustle and bustle of the gods.
There were no attendants, no banquets, only dense air. Outside the window, the thunderclouds symbolizing Zeus's authority rolled silently, but strangely suppressed the thunder, as if even the thunder itself held its breath.
Poseidon sat there, a figure quite different from his usual wild and unrestrained image.
He did not touch the golden goblet of divine wine before him, but simply unconsciously tapped his knuckles on the cold marble tabletop, producing a dull clicking sound.
In his dark blue eyes, there was no tsunami, only a deathly stillness, as if he had seen through some absolute void.
Zeus sat opposite, his golden royal robe still shining, but between his brows flickered an undeniable anxiety and... a trace of unease he tried to hide.
He was used to controlling everything with his thunderous power and charming smile, but at this moment, faced with Poseidon's unusual silence, his usual methods seemed to have lost their effectiveness.
A long silence almost engulfed the space.
In the end, it was Poseidon who first broke the suffocating silence, his voice hoarse, as if worn by sand:
"I saw a new god."
Zeus's tapping on the throne's armrest stopped. His golden pupils sharply constricted, but quickly returned to normal, and he replied in a deliberately restrained tone: "Oh? New nymphs or spirits are always born on the earth, so why the fuss?"
"No," Poseidon raised his eyes, his empty gaze piercing through Zeus.
"Not a nymph, not a spirit. A true new god, with a complete divinity. In this... era when even moss struggles to sprout anew."
Zeus's face fell; he clearly understood what Poseidon was talking about. "So what? Perhaps it's a descendant of an ancient being awakening at this moment."
"She has the aura of the Underworld," Poseidon spoke word by word, staring intently into Zeus's eyes, not missing the slightest change in his expression.
Zeus suddenly stood up, and the thunder around his body rolled uncontrollably, reflecting the side corridor with light and darkness. "Poseidon! What exactly are you trying to say? Accuse me of conspiring with Hades? Or are you questioning what the Underworld has done?"
"I said nothing, brother." Poseidon's tone was still level, but carried a cold, penetrating force.
"I am merely stating a fact. A fact that makes me, and all the gods who still have a trace of perception, feel eerie."
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes looking through the deep blue sea, as if he wanted to see the secrets of Zeus's soul.
"And you intrigue me even more, Zeus. My God-King, my brother."
"While you are eager to consolidate power and fight for authority and profit with fools like Koios, while you ignore the anomaly of the world's silence..."
Poseidon's voice lowered, like the whisper of a deep-sea giant on the edge of the abyss, carrying an icy question:
"What did you take from the depths of the earth, from the sleeping Mother Earth Gaia?"
Boom——!
The long-suppressed thunder finally exploded in the clouds outside, and the dazzling electric light instantly pierced through the window lattice, reflecting Zeus's suddenly iron-blue face, tinged with ugliness.
He stared at Poseidon, his chest heaving violently, and the thunderball condensed in his palm crackled dangerously, as if he was about to strike at his brother, who had revealed his secret, in the next moment.
Poseidon was not afraid, still looking at him with an almost numb, yet all-seeing gaze.
The tense silence returned, more dangerous and unavoidable than before.
After a long time, the thunder around Zeus gradually subsided, but the gloom on his face did not dissipate. He did not confess, nor did he deny, but said in an extremely cold, warning tone:
"Poseidon, tend to your oceans. Some things, known too well, are harmful to you or your seas."
He turned his back to Poseidon and looked out the window at the raging thunderclouds, symbolizing his unstable state of mind.
"Do your job. Other matters are not for you to question."
Poseidon looked at Zeus's defensive back, refusing to communicate, and the last faint glimmer of hope in his eyes died out.
He slowly stood up, said not another word, was as silent as when he had come, and step by step walked out of the side corridor blocked by thunder.