Not far from the Oracle of Delphi, a yellow serpent twisted and transformed, returning to its original form as a handsome deity.
Regardless of their behavior, the children of Chaos, in terms of appearance alone, were indeed handsome men and beautiful women, each with their own sense of beauty.
Like the God of Sun Hyperion, he exuded a masculine beauty, much like his godhood. The God of the Ocean Oceanus represented a rugged beauty, his muscles strong yet not off-putting. They were all tall, but not awkwardly so.
And then there was the Divine King Cronus, who gave off an aura of majestic solemnity, and the God of Strength Atlas need not even be mentioned, for he looked like the valiant heroes of myths and legends.
Or more precisely, the heroes resembled him.
As for the God of Speech Iapetus, and his eldest son Prometheus, they both seemed delicate. However, the aura of the deities reminded everyone who saw them that they were by no means powerless.
He walked slowly forward until he could vaguely see a hut naturally formed by plants, where the God of Speech stopped. Indistinctly, Iapetus could feel a life force behind the hut.
It wasn't Mother Earth, for on the ground, common people could hardly distinguish between Gaia and the earth itself. So, unsurprisingly, it would be the world's first plant, the legendary Golden Apple Tree, possessing part of the power of Life and symbolizing Plant life itself.
"Iapetus, come to pay you respects, Mother Goddess."
Hand over chest, the God of Speech respectfully greeted her.
"...Pay respects, but I'm not at all 'at peace,' my child."
Soon after, with the sound of creaking, a woman in a green dress stepped out from the hut.
Catching a glimpse of Mother Earth, the God of Speech could clearly see that Gaia hadn't changed much since the creation of humans, with fine lines barely visible at the corners of her eyes. It was apparent that with Demeter's birth, the power she had regained over thousands of years had once again scattered.
Yet even so, Iapetus still felt the overwhelming pressure.
The status of Great Divine Power, even what little was left, represented a fundamental difference.
"Mother Goddess, the godhood of new gods is determined by the laws of the current world, and if there was a choice, the Divine King would not wish for such a daughter."
This wasn't speaking in defense of the Divine King; it was simply the truth.
After all, given the choice, he would prefer all of his children to be weak deities with meager divine power.
"I know, but I don't care about that anymore. Cronus isn't willing to release his brothers from the Abyss, so I see he doesn't really consider me at all," Gaia said with a snort, looking at her weakest Divine Child.
"I have a task for you, Iapetus, my child. Do you see the humans outside?"
After a thought, the God of Speech didn't know what Mother Earth wanted him to do, but he still replied:
"I see them, Mother Goddess. They gather near the Oracle, praying day and night to their creator, but they are also approaching the end of their lives. Perhaps in five hundred years, perhaps a thousand, their bodies will return to your embrace, while their souls will move on to the domain of the Lord of the Spirit Realm..."
As he spoke, Iapetus's voice slowed down; he probably knew what Gaia was asking him to do.
As expected, Mother Earth spoke up next.
"Yes, as you see, the life of humans is coming to an end, this is the death determined by fate."
"Once they vanish, these plains will become empty again. The Divine King does not wish to live with his mother, and my second son Pontus, who rules the nearby seas, also hides in the ocean depths under the oppression of his nephew, leaving me here alone."
Gaia stepped forward and looked at her child.
"You should understand what I mean, I need you to go to the Spirit Realm on my behalf and fetch the water from the Well of Origins. Tell Laine that as long as he agrees to my terms, our previous grievances will be wiped clean."
Iapetus didn't know what grudges Mother Earth held against the Lord of the Spirit Realm, but he knew that the Divine King had expressly forbidden the birth of Silver Humanity. If he chose to go, then he would never be accepted by the Divine King again.
"Use your godhood of speech, Iapetus, I believe you can do it. As for Cronus, you need not worry about him."
Seemingly discerning the God of Speech's concerns, Gaia promised him, "I swear by the name of the Primordial Gods, as long as you handle the matters related to creation, henceforth the earth shall protect you."
"As long as you are on earth, no one shall force you into doing what you do not wish to do, not even I myself."
"Moreover, consider it carefully, the Divine King's daughter has already been born, and destiny has begun to turn. You have seen your father's strength, do you really think Cronus can defeat destiny?"
No matter how much had been said before, it couldn't compare to the last sentence. The reason Iapetus had come to see Mother Earth was because deep down, he also felt that the Divine King might not be reliable.
Burdened with prophecies and curses himself, how could he make others believe in him?
"...I will do my best, Mother Goddess, but I cannot guarantee the outcome."
With a slight bow, under Gaia's satisfied gaze, Iapetus still gave the answer the other party wanted.
"Good, you will succeed, after all, the birth of Silver Humanity is what he has prophesied."
"Oh, right," as if recalling something, Gaia added a last piece of advice.
"Creating life is quite complicated, and I think aside from humans, the rest of the living beings could be left to your handiwork."
Though she hadn't gotten involved herself, the strange life forms previously fashioned by the gods had left a deep impression on Gaia.
On one hand, she did not want the new life forms to be like that, for it would remind her of the Titans confined to the Abyss by the Heavenly Father for their ugliness. But on the other hand, she did not want to spend her time and effort remodeling them.
In such a situation, having someone else take on the task was an ideal thought.
"Moreover, this repetitive creation is too troublesome, grant those lives unlike the gods the right to reproduce on their own."
He found himself bearing yet another burden, but when one is deeply in debt, they stop worrying about it, and the God of Speech resolutely agreed.
He had participated in the creation of life once before, and although it had indeed been troublesome, with that experience, he had some confidence.
As for 'reproduction,' that wasn't really difficult. What truly decided whether life forms could reproduce on their own was not simply creating females, but bestowing upon them the power related to reproduction.
However, on this matter, the God of Speech was not worried about being rejected.
After all, the increasing number of spiritual lives would inevitably hasten the Lord of the Spirit Realm's accumulation of divine power, and once life could expand its scale autonomously, it would quickly spread across the earth. Iapetus thought that no one would oppose someone else undertaking work for them.
So after accepting the task, he then asked Mother Earth for a branch of the Golden Apple Tree as a gift, and then he directly flew through the pathway Gaia had opened to the Underworld below the earth.
To other deities, only an extremely few cracks on the earth could connect to the gates of the Underworld. But in Mother Earth's hands, every part of the earth could link to the Underworld.
So, once more, Iapetus missed the chance to encounter the God of West Wind circling the great plains, and instead arrived directly in front of the familiar Styx River.