Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Tartarus rejected Gaia, even directly turning her away from his door, something that even Laine had not anticipated. In his view, the birth of Typhon was inevitable, involving the fate of a collision between two worlds, so just like the succession of the Divine King, the King of All Monsters was certain to be born, which was an outcome that could not be changed by the current course of time.

However, whether it could be understood or whatever deeper reasons lay behind it, the reality was just as it was. Once Tartarus's core had birthed its own life, it no longer desired new life. When another plane had been established within himself, he instinctively began to reject any powerful being attempting to enter his body.

And Gaia, no matter how weak she became, could not change her nature as a Primordial God.

"Ah—!"

A piercing scream shook the entire Underworld, echoing across the endless grey dust. Countless lower wraiths vanished in an instant, while within the Fields of Truth, the recently calmed Divine Palace of Hades began to shake again, causing Hades himself to change color again and again.

He hadn't had any good days recently; earthquakes shook the land, and even the underground was affected like a fish caught in a pond drained dry. He could only try his best to stabilize the core of the Underworld, and then hope the war above would end quickly.

But unexpectedly, although the war had ended, Gaia had come to the Underworld. This made Hades somewhat apprehensive, for who could fathom Mother Earth's thoughts? What if she had suffered at the hands of Zeus and sought to take revenge on Hades?

These were uncertain matters, but regardless, Hades could only wait for the outcome. Gaia's power, no matter how weakened, was still beyond his reach.

Meanwhile, Mother Earth's shrill voice had also drawn the attention of other deities. Erebus and Laine, who had already returned to the surface, glanced briefly in this direction before turning their gaze away. The former thought it just another impotent rage from Gaia; the latter considered it a prelude to the birth of Typhon.

So a full half-day passed, and when quiet finally returned to the Underworld, when Gaia had calmed down, she remained standing alone at the entrance to the Abyss, without any being having acknowledged her actions.

Lying supine on the ground, Mother Earth's last hope was extinguished. The gods of this world had abandoned her, the Primordial Deities ignored her, even the Abyss, which by nature should have been impossible to resist, had resisted her entrance. At this moment, Gaia did not know what the purpose of her existence was.

The extreme loneliness and despair, and the consequent desire for destruction. She wanted to destroy everything in the world, to make all things feel her pain, but she sadly realized that it was precisely in this matter that she could draw the world's attention.

As long as she truly dared to do so, the Laws of the world would naturally respond to her with the same intensity. She was not a great entity fused into one with the original; this meant her existence itself was not that important.

Even she was gradually coming to the realization that perhaps the best Mother Earth for the world was her, on the verge of collapse, sleeping within the original being.

"Why, why don't you all just die? Why do you have to exist in this world, why is everything against me..."

She started out grinding her teeth, but her voice gradually grew lower. Gaia hoped something would tell her the answer, but there was nothing to respond to her.

'...'

At this moment, she had nowhere to go. Her children born from herself, The Sky, the oceans, and the mountains had all vanished from this world, and all these seemed to hint at something.

Exhausted and lying on the ground, drowsiness surged up wave after wave; as the forcibly sustained spirit relaxed, what greeted Gaia was the world's deeper oppression.

Again in the Underworld, she released her power, scant though it was. For Mother Earth, already in a compromised state, it was adding insult to injury. Her thoughts grew chaotic, and at that moment, Gaia even felt she was hallucinating, with something gesturing to her, calling her to come forward.

"...come!"

"Who!"

Startled awake, Gaia 'opened' her eyes, only to find she was no longer in the Underworld.

A beam of light and shadow hovered in the sky, the dark red earth seeming soaked in blood, and at the center of heaven and earth, chains extended from the void, binding a crimson colossus that was hard to describe—the 'arm' she had just glimpsed was actually one of its branches.

Life... perfection... unity... various vague concepts were understood by Gaia, gazing at the giant tree as if she were gazing at some absolute truth.

"This, where is this... How did I—no!"

"This is still the Underworld... I haven't moved at all."

Her spirit gave a jolt, and Mother Earth's scattered consciousness cleared a bit. She looked carefully around, and this time, Gaia quickly perceived something amiss.

The dark red earth and the majestic, holy giant tree were both illusions, or more precisely, they were reflections of a distant space. The only real and true thing was that segment of the branch.

It was a semi-transparent red branch, with crystal-clear leaves like the most perfect work of art, or rather, its very existence was synonymous with 'perfect life.'

It defined the ultimate form of life; gazing at it, the content previously understood from the Life Vase seemed trivial. And in front of Gaia, this section of branch kept swaying gently, a force, though minute, of unimaginable essence emanating from it, and it was this force that had earlier affected Mother Earth's perception.

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