Chapter 244: Paladin and Rejection

The power beyond the gods was still spreading between heaven and earth, bringing a certain invisible sense of oppression, and outside Mount Olympus, under the eyes of the God King, the gods were silent.

But that was all. Although they chose to stand aside and watch because they misjudged the situation in the previous fight, now facing the victorious God King, the gods were not really panicked.

After all, the choices they made were no different, and they did not take any further actions. So unless the God King planned to rule the world alone, he would not really do anything to them.

What's more, the Earth Mother was only defeated, not dead, and the fleeting darkness three days ago... But this is just speculation. Maybe the increase in power will change Zeus's character, so the gods are just waiting quietly at this moment, waiting for the God King's next move.

Of course, there are still some exceptions among the gods, such as the God of Destruction Kerr. As Hades' subordinate, he was only here to witness Zeus' banquet of enthroning the twelve gods on behalf of Hades, so even though he made the same choice as the gods, he still stood aside very naturally.

There was also the goddess of justice who had just returned to the sacred mountain not long ago. She also did not stand with any gods, but just stayed in the air alone, watching everything calmly.

The goddess seemed to be thinking about something, and occasionally looked back in the direction of Mount Olympus. She stroked the hilt of the sword at her waist, with some hesitation and relief in her eyes.

Since she got this sword symbolizing [justice], she seemed to have never really used it once, and this sword that exterminated sin has been covered in dust.

When did this start? The goddess didn't quite remember. Or it has always been like this since the first era.

This is the world of gods, the world of immortals. After staying here for a long time, it seems that even she herself has forgotten what "justice" is. On the contrary, not long ago in the human tribe, Themis saw something.

Perhaps many times, unless there is a "perfect" monarch, "justice" and "law" are not actually interlinked. Sometimes they intersect, but there are also conflicts.

"Your Highness Themis, it's been a long time since we last met."

Without paying attention to the gods at the first time, the God King looked at his nominal elder. He smiled, but the question was also very direct.

"I wonder if you have any different opinions on what I just did?"

"As you can see, everything that happened today is not what I want to see, but this is not something I can decide. If possible, I hope you can make a conclusion on it in the name of the judge, and let more lives know the beginning and end and right and wrong of the matter."

The meaning of the God King is very clear. As the first battle since he showed his power, it should naturally be perfect and reasonable, but Gaia's curse before leaving made him look like a villain, so in this matter, Zeus hopes that Themis can recognize it.

And this is not a fraud. After all, in Zeus's view, although he did do a lot of things that are hard to say, at least in the case of Gaia, he really did nothing wrong. Even until now, when the God King had some speculations about this, he once again confirmed that he was the innocent party.

After all, Zeus himself knew very well whether he had seen the golden apple tree.

"Regarding today's battle, if you are seeking my opinion, then Zeus, I have no opinion on the matter of the Earth Mother."

"She failed to provide evidence to prove what you did, and her behavior did bring harm to the order of the world, so it is reasonable for the world to respond to this."

Without letting her personal opinion of Zeus affect her judgment, Themis gave her answer lightly.

This is actually the common feeling of the gods. They don't quite understand Gaia's hysteria. Before the Earth Mother woke up, many of them also foresaw this scene today. After all, the conflict between her and the God King was almost inevitable, but in the eyes of the gods, this was at most just a debate about the fate of the weather god Crius.

Perhaps if they cannot reach an agreement in the end, Gaia will indeed resort to force, but it is more likely that Zeus will take another step back and surrender to the original god. There should be no other direction of development.

However, when the incident really happened, the power of the God King certainly surprised the gods, but Gaia's behavior also puzzled the gods.

Crazy, paranoid, and unable to understand, and even unwilling to listen to explanations, the other party directly determined that Zeus stole her sacred tree and the accompanying artifact-of course, they did doubt whether Zeus really stole the golden apple tree, but the fruit tree was easy to understand, and what about the [Life Aquarius]?

As the companion artifact of the Earth Mother, it will sleep with the owner's sleep, and will also refuse to be used by people other than the owner. There is really no benefit in stealing such an artifact except being despised by the gods.

"It's great to hear your fair judgment on this. In fact, I still don't understand it. Maybe Mother Earth has been sleeping too long."

Nodding with satisfaction, Zeus couldn't help but smile when he saw the answer he wanted.

Another thing was solved... He smiled at Themis.

He used to be troubled by his aunt, but now it seems that she is still easy to talk to. So the king of gods turned around. This matter was solved, and then the unfinished ceremony would continue.

He was about to say something, but behind him, Themis's voice came again.

"Zeus, what happened to Mother Earth is indeed what you said, but what happened today is more than that. Should you say something about Metis and Athena?"

With a calm expression, behind the God King, the goddess of justice spoke slowly.

"...Your Highness Themis, this is my personal matter."

Frowning slightly, Zeus had to face his aunt again when faced with the goddess' question. But he had already prepared for this matter.

"In the regulations of the Divine Court, it seems that there is no relevant money involved. Apart from fulfilling the priestly duties and basic requirements, what the gods do is a personal matter. As for Athena, the daughter of Metis and I... I will do the same Give her the compensation she deserves. There is no need to say more about this matter."

Zeus never mentioned the right or wrong of Metis' matter, but only mentioned the laws of the Divine Court. Yes, he had requested this when he asked Themis to perfect the divine laws. The Divine Court only needed laws involving the responsibilities, rights and obligations of the gods, rather than trying to restrict all the words and deeds of the gods.

On the one hand, it is impossible for Zeus himself to accept a law that even he himself is a 'criminal'; on the other hand, all gods instinctively hate this kind of rules.

They prefer to make a temporary ruling on the outcome of an event after it occurs, rather than making a ruling in advance. Therefore, regarding the 'opinions of the gods', the king of gods naturally abides by them when discussing laws and regulations with the goddess.

According to him, the law only has meaning if it is recognized by everyone. If you impose a rule that no one likes, it is just violence and power. As the goddess of 'just', she should not do this, and Themis was indeed convinced at the time.

Only now did she gradually understand the problem.

"The laws of the Divine Court...yes, the laws that were enacted according to your request are indeed like this."

Not surprisingly, Themis nodded. Turning around and looking at the gods around him, a feeling came over him.

While walking in the human world, she felt a similar touch. But now, this touch has been confirmed.

"Perhaps my previous choice was indeed wrong. Tens of thousands of years have passed... and I have never truly understood my vocation."

"Huh? What are you talking about? What's wrong?"

Zeus narrowed his eyes with some bad premonition. He is not afraid of a confrontation in strength now. The goddess in front of him is no longer his opponent, but his intuition tells him that what Themis wants to do has nothing to do with strength.

"The mistake I mentioned... was of course choosing to stay in the Divine Court."

Breathing a long sigh of relief, at this moment, Themis completely understood why she had always felt awkward.

In the past, except for the time when she was legislating for the present world, she seemed to have never fulfilled her duties in a true sense. The goddess has obviously made efforts for this, but the results are always unsatisfactory. She is like a spectator who upholds the name of 'justice', but if she really wants to say that she has done something, she has done nothing.

In the past, Themis never understood why, but now, she somewhat understood.

In the world of Khaos, the meaning of the existence of the law itself is to maintain the order established by a higher being, and this higher being is sometimes the order of the world, and sometimes it is the God-King. Therefore, the Goddess of Law did not refuse Zeus's invitation, because in her opinion, the Divine Court was indeed a suitable place for her to perform her duties, and she accepted the status of 'Judge'. Unfortunately, she forgot one thing.

If she was just a simple goddess of law, it would make no difference to her whether the God King or the world. However, in addition to the law, she also rules over fairness and justice.

So this was the source of her discomfort. The laws of the world were indeed fair - at most, they would only weaken all threatening things equally. So Themis felt the resonance of the priesthood and the joy from the heart when she legislated. But in comparison, the God-Kings are different. They have never been righteous. Even the previous God-Kings have committed acts of swallowing their children.

This is the most essential conflict. The object served by the law itself does not meet the requirements of "fairness" and "justice", so the results it brings will not be good in any case, but this is also a problem that is difficult to solve. Unless she finds an existence that is completely consistent with Themis's ideals, it is possible for her to have all her priestly duties carried out at the same time. But this is almost impossible because everyone’s understanding of fairness and justice is different.

So at this moment, Themis finally made a decision.

If it can't be done together, do it separately. But no matter how she accomplished it, the Divine Court was not the place she should stay. Staying here, the goddess cannot bring her any meaning other than sitting back and watching more 'injustice' and 'unrighteousness'. Perhaps the human world is far more suitable for her than here.

As Ryan said, she should really inspire some people who conform to her ideals and are willing to follow her will. In the past period of time, she had also been observing these new humans.

There are bad and good among them. There are those who disgust the goddess, and there are those who please her. She will select those who meet the requirements, and then divide her power into two parts. One part is guided by the [Golden Scale] to help them judge right and wrong for everything in the world. The other part is based on the [Sword of Judgment], and uses pure good and evil to judge life and death.

This artifact with the authority of [Justice] can sense the sins committed by living beings. With just a little application based on the power of authority, Themis can give this power to her believers, allowing them to have the ability to [detect evil] and a stronger power over the guilty. The goddess even plans to visit the "celestial tribe" who are her neighbors after she establishes her kingdom in the spiritual world. As a gathering of positive energy, they will definitely be willing to contribute.

At that time, those selected humans will be called [holy warriors].

"Wait, do you mean, you want to leave the court of God?"

I don't know what the goddess is thinking, but when her voice fell, Zeus couldn't help but change his face slightly. He had thought about spending more time to persuade the other party, just like every time before, but what the God King did not expect was that Themis actually made such a decision.

He wanted to say something else, but this time, the goddess did not want to listen.

"You want a law that meets your requirements, Zeus, I will give it to you. And with your current power, no matter what you do, I seem to be unable to stop you."

"This is the Protoss... Maybe the world of the gods is really not suitable for me. Here, power is more useful than rules."

Speaking lightly, Themis took a last look at Olympus. On this somewhat dilapidated mountain, her temple has been destroyed, and in the future, it will not have to be rebuilt.

Turning around, the goddess took out a black cloth, and the time after an era was once again covered in front of her eyes. Then for the first time in her life, she drew the golden sword at her waist. (See 1-17/2-7)

The golden sword trembled slightly, as if responding to the power of its master. It seemed to instinctively realize that it finally had the value of existence.

"From now on, it will replace my eyes and 'see' the world for me. If the gods agree with your reasoning, they don't need my help. But if we meet in the human world..."

"It won't show mercy to you!"

The goddess gradually disappeared as she turned into light. On Mount Olympus, the Goddess stretched out his hand, but in the end did nothing.

He remembered the fleeting darkness not long ago, and another force...

"...Heh, the original gods...It won't be long. Gaia is the first, but not the last."

Whispering silently, he set another goal for himself in his heart. However, before he finished speaking, Zeus's expression changed slightly.

"...God King, come to see me."

Silently, the voice came into his ears, and he could not detect the source at all. But sensing a breath that suddenly rose in the distance, Zeus still recognized the person who came.

"The accident is over, everyone, go back to the mountain first."

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and the God King said to the gods without making a sound.

He went to the devastated Olympus first, and on the other side, an incarnation quietly traveled away.

······

Underground, the underworld.

Things on the earth have ended, but under the earth, today's things are still continuing. Something that will once again affect the world is about to happen, but just like every time in the past, it has a little accident.

Standing in front of the gate of Tartarus, Gaia found it unbelievable that only the instinctive abyss rejected him.