The storm continued to rage with ever heavier rain. Contrary to people's hopes, the booming thunder only got louder. Scared in their homes, those who believe themselves forsaken by the gods began praying to those same gods.

Those braver households began praying desperately for even older powers, the Titans who preceded the Olympians. Though defunct, parts of the world still held shrines to the old pantheon. Those same customs only swapped names when the Olympians took charge.

Da Hai largely ignored the growing storm. What had initially been started by him, albeit accidentally, had long since been co-opted by the world itself.

With everyone here being partially spiritual from birth, their collective unease reflected on the brewing storm. The prophecy being issued didn't help matters either.

In the Three Realms, it was known that the karmic luck of emperors could affect the likelihood of good harvests, talented individuals being born, and staving off natural disasters. It was kind of the same deal.

Da Hai wondered if perhaps the sisters of Fate would normally suppress these effects given its control freak nature. Its absent state maybe played a role in this.

"Interesting utensils," Da Hai commented at a bowl of olives being served to him. Drinking by himself made the sea god hungry.

"Yeah, imported from the south. Further down the sea back when times were good. It was during the time of my great great. Well I lost count.

"My ancestor you could say. I forgot the name of that place though. Been so long without contact. Egg something?"

Da Hai hummed an odd tune. He tasted the olive, finding it rich with flavour. It was filled with rich spiritual energy native to the Hellenistic Chaos World. Not comparable to Immortal peaches, but not your ordinary fruits either.

If he were to describe this land in comparison to other Chaos Worlds. It'll be higher floor, set in stone.

Suddenly, following the bellows of thunder. The wooden door of the establishment was flung open. A young silver haired man strolled in, his face obscured by the darkness outside.

"Wel…"

"Wanax must be fucked in the head if this is the best place in town," the young man spouted as soon as he scanned the place.

He plopped himself on a seat not far away from Da Hai without the owner welcoming him in nor offering a seat.

With no further warnings, he sprawled his upper body onto the table and groaned. "Give me your strongest in your best glass," he demanded straight away. "Make it worth living."

The owner frowned, but did so anyway. He muttered a soft, "rude," below his breath. The young man released a quiet laugh, having heard him.

Da Hai tapped his fingers on his side of the table, silently watching the youth. The owner returned with a deep frown.

Da Hai had drunk much of what he had in storage. Not only was he embarrassed at his product not knocking Da Hai off his feat like he promised, but the innate god clearly wanted more as well.

His head resting on one side, the silver haired youth opened an eye at the drink. "Ah," he said with some recognition.

"Fine weather huh?" Da Hai suddenly said. "Crete usually like this?"

The owner made an odd face. One look from Da Hai shushed him however.

"How should I know? I'm not local," the silver haired youth said while downing his glass. He sighed after feeling the sting down his gullet. His sky blue pupils glanced down at the empty cup.

"Who'd ever want to visit this misbegotten place."

"Didn't know that," Da Hai said. "I'm not local either. Travelled here from far away. It's been a, well not a great journey."

"What better time is there to travel?" The silver haired man scoffed. "Might get struck by lightning, or drown in a flood. May even trip into mud and get stomped to death by your own horse."

He laughed at his own morbid joke that only served to unsettle the owner. He knew there was something queer about him, just as it was with Da Hai. As a mortal man, he just did as he was told and made himself as small as humanly possible.

"Da Hai," Da Hai said to him. "My name in case you were wandering."

"Da Hai? Never heard that dialect. Certainly from far away then."

"Far east actually. I passed by Ephesus before crossing the sea. I heard Delphi was a great gathering place for wisdom given its status as an old place. Are you familiar with it?" Da Hai inquired calmly.

"Familiar with it?" The silver haired man laughed wildly. It took a solid few minutes before he could compose himself. All the while he signaled the owner for another round of drinks.

"Cursed place," he said. "The gasses there are nauseas. Decrepit city it is. The people there are…I cannot say."

The suddenness of his silence made the owner squirm even more when he returned. One didn't just insult a sacred place of the supreme authority.

"You don't want to go to mainland," the silver haired youth said. Sitting upright, his shoulders sagged in that tired way. A deprecating smile now rested on his face as he drank the final glass.

"Is it not beautiful. I've been hearing wonderful stories thus far. Enormous wealthy city states, grand sporting events. And the festivals are to die for, or so I've heard," Da Hai said.

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"And the knowledge in those old cities. Owner here's been telling me of the rich culture and great thinkers. Philosophers who identified the stars, perceive hidden truths, and are enlightened to the secrets of existence.

"I can call myself a knowledge seeker. I've been looking for something important. Might as well start at the centre of it all right?"

The silver haired youth was silent, listening to Da Hai speak. His fingers caressed each other out of reflex. "Cursed stars. Cursed universe. Cursed existence. What does it matter to you?

"If you really want knowledge, consult an oracle. If you're destined for it, you'll for sure encounter it. It's impossible to stave off your fate."

"Where I'm from, most people believe cause and effect explains the certainty of things happening. A for sure event down the road with no root cause, how would that work?" Da Hai muttered the last part.

"I know a lot of people who didn't believe it. They all ended up meeting it. And yet, what's so bad about it? Rejecting it always results in a bad end. Living by it is…" the silver haired youth couldn't finish his sentence. He gave Da Hai a glare from the corner of his eye.

"There's a calm to it." Da Hai completed his sentence.

"My mother always said. Good boys should listen." The silver haired youth eased up. Da Hai found it funny, hence he laughed as well.

"Those were…good times," the silver haired youth said unsteadily. "Yeah, good times I think."

"Another," he demanded of the owner.

"I'm sorry sir, but I do not have any more," the owner revealed.

The expensive glass broke in the silver haired youth's grip. "What?" He said with dripping anger. A short trickle of electricity channeled throughout his hand.

Da Hai raised a brow upon hearing a sudden blaring of thunder. He sat up in case the owner would be harmed.

"Apologies sir, it takes quite a long time to brew. My storage has all been used up." The owner nervously glanced in Da Hai's direction.

"Can't fault him for being late," Da Hai said snappily. "Want some olives? First time I'm trying some and they've got a nice taste to it. Call it a treat."

The young man eased. He appeared to be thinking, perhaps recalling old memories. "No. I've got no right…time for pleasure."

He sighed, slumping down again. He couldn't lie and say he disliked the small exchange. Yet it'll only delay the inevitable.

"You are too easy going."

"Is that the impression I give?"

…

In the open ocean, a silver arrow shot towards a great sea serpent. Traces of the moon's shadow trailed behind the bolt, its piercing ability having been enhanced by one of the strongest domains.

The sea serpent was quick however, it dodged the attack while seamlessly transitioning to a longer.

Pulling at the reins of her chariot Selene, Artemis ran the vehicle across the stormy sky. Her face calm, her mind fully locked in on her target.

From her right, a blazing arrow shot down. It exploded on the head of the serpent, knocking it down to the ocean depths.

"You should've called sis. You know I'm good at hunting snakes." Apollo chastised the sister he knew wasn't at a hundred percent.

"Hmph." Artemis coldly responded. But she didn't refute his aid. "This thieving monster is arrogant. Didn't even bother hiding its presence. Honestly, I'm shocked uncle hadn't already taken action."

The sea serpent did not hiss, unleashing a roar uncharacteristic of its species. It lunged at Apollo baring its fangs.

"In memory of Hyacinthus." A musical number played to Apollo's voice, manifesting as a wind that blew the sea serpent off course.

"To think it was a drakon in the end. My favourite." The low murderous announcement from their older brother followed the descent of the war god's chariot.

His fiery helmet masked a smile. "You two can retreat. This one's mine."

The ruckus of a clash between deities had been felt across the heavens. Artemis may've been the first, but others always followed. Heroes would come later, but only if they had the means of traversal.

Ares went ahead and struck the eye of the monster with his spear. The force of the war domain drilled into the sea snake with all the bloodshed of a war torn battlefield. Crimson blood fell in all directions.

"What a brute. We should be strategizing," the haughty voice of Athena came next. Alongside her, Hermes also arrived holding his signature staff. Unlike the rest, the messenger god didn't seem pleased at the prospects of fighting a sea snake.

"Monster! Return what you have stolen and be spared the pain of torture," Athena demanded of the writing serpent. She didn't see the ocean part for a huge tail that smashed into her chariot.

Being sent flying, the goddess narrowly forced her chariot to stabilise and fly up. "The nerve, unintelligent animal. You think I'm afraid of a sea creature?"

Her down spear ran alongside the serpent, scraping across its scales.

In the next exchange, she pulled her chariot before the full weight of the serpents jaw enveloped her.

"A being without a drop of ichor cannot beat the victor over Poseidon," Athena boasted to the aquatic monster. "Attack it while it's down brute. And you two, do not just stand there."

Before her command was even given, Ares, Artemis, and Apollo were already on the move. The latter two did not need communication to move in sync, the former did so out of his own volition.

The sea serpent's head was cut to bits by Ares' spear while its body was bombarded by arrows.

"Move out of the way less you want to be caught brother," Apollo told Ares. "Phoebeus' Catastrophe!"

An arrow fired from Apollo's bow transformed into a blazing pillar of fire. His chariot, Helios, pumped its own sunlight into the god. Their combined might evaporated large portions of the ocean.

This was the gap between gods and mortals. The latter may break boulders, lift trees, and swim across oceans. The former could bend nature to their whims.

"What a pathetic site. A mere drakon actually managed to steal a piece of Pontus' body. Uncle must be going senile to let that happen." Athen's jab towards Poseidon wasn't uncommon. She held her victory over him highly.

As for the goddess herself? She's long believed she deduced the full extent of the prophecy. It was too large for any demigod hero to be sent after it in the first place. But ultimately, she didn't believe it could triumph against the skills of an Olympian god.

"Gah!" Suddenly, Athena was shoved out of the way by Hermes. All the while, Ares blocked the sea serpent's head ram.

The war god's helm burned and his muscles bulged. With great effort, the strength of countless soldiers drawn from his domain, pushed the serpent down for a clean strike.

"Yah!" Ares bashed it across the lower jaw. Artemis and Apollo both drew their bows.

From the sky, a bolt of lightning struck through the sea serpent's mouth. It split clean in two, spilling its innards all over the open ocean.

"Well done my son." Hera descended with a raised palm. "I would've appreciated it, if you had sent word back to Olympus first however."

"Mother/your highness," the younger gods said.

The sea serpent, with its body destroyed, sunk back into the sea. Its body melting into salty water alongside a mysterious energy. A quest accomplished.

But then, the ocean erupted in a guttural scream. The Olympians were flung back as the sea serpent returned in a far larger form. Its formerly soulless eyes narrowed into a cruel haughty look.

Ares, Apollo, and Artemis were instantly on the move. Hera was an older and more powerful goddess. But she was also not a skilled fighter. Much of her strength comes from the key to their father's domain that he left behind, which she directs into magical bolts of lighting.

"This'll be hard fought," Ares admitted. "I do not know where in the pits of Tartarus this Drakon crawled out of. But it definitely deserves the fame the oracle of Delphi gave it. My war domain is not enough to overpower it."

"It's like the ocean itself herds its call. This is no mere beast. My domain senses traces of the sky in it, and the upper air as well," Artemis added. "Its physiology is unlike any beast I've hunted."

"It doesn't matter, we'll kill it like we did the Gigantes. Hermes, use your speed to aid Ares. Artemis and I will attack from the back," Apollo said in a commanding tone.

Heedless of danger, the Olympian gods charged into battle. They were unaware that what they considered to be the true threat was in actuality, merely a decoy made from residual energies.

…

'True Immortals followed by a Profound? No her presence touches on an uncrowned Heavenly Immortal. Though only just, so perhaps a transcendent Profound Immortal.'

Da Hai was resting his cheek on his knuckle. The Olympian gods had not impressed him. In fact, despite commanding Dao's that were the natural laws of this land, their power were not up to par if one took into account what level of a Chaos World this was.

It was not logical. Power levels of any Chaos World followed an exponential curve from weak to strong. But this was just a vertical straight line.

"You're not going to help them? You're one of the local gods aren't you?" Da Hai probed.

"Hm?" The silver haired youth perked up. "They'll be fine. They're immortal."

He however, stood up and manifested an electrifying aura. He neither hesitated, nor showcased any sign of superiority. There was only an exhausted air around him.

"You've done a great sin and harmed this world monster. Would you prefer the easy way? Or the hard way?" The silver haired youth asked

The owner backed away from the two in fear to hide in his kitchen. Too scared to even utter a word.

Da Hai stood up to face the silver haired youth after finishing the last of his olives. The youth was very patient in his wait. Da Hai could tell that he was absolutely confident. As if he'd already known the final conclusion.

"Shame. I enjoyed our talk," Da Hai said. Once past his initial rudeness, Da Hai found him to be amicable.

"Sure," the silver haired youth replied. He began tightening his fist that emanated electricity.

"Wait." Da Hai gestured for the exit. "I don't like fighting in populated areas. Lower beings are innocent and should not be caught up in our conflict."

The youth was startled, as if lost on how to proceed. After a small break, he sighed in relent. "Suit yourself."

He walked up to the door, about to push it open. "After you," he politely said. Then he added another line, nonchalantly as if he were mentioning an unimportant detail.

"Zeus by the way."

"Well met."

The two walked out onto the raining street. Neither side moved as they took opposing stances.

"Is there anywhere more isolated? Somewhere without dense populations? You're more familiar with the land than me."

"I think maybe a thousand paces to the west is an empt…" he didn't get to finish as a palm grabbed hold of his face and dragged him into the sky.

"Acceptable," Da Hai said. The silver haired youth made unintelligible sounds through the sea god's palm. His muscular hands struggling against Da Hai's grip.

Wordlessly, from a great distance in the sky, Da Hai released Zeus. In the next moment, before the latter even moved an inch from the force of Da Hai's flight. Da Hai struck down on him with enough force, estimated from what he gleamed from the other gods.

He attacked with physical strength Greta enough to shatter a Golden Immortal. Enough to pulverise ordinary Chaos Worlds.

BOOM!!!

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