Just like on the journey here, the earth and mountains flashed beneath his feet. In just half a day, Laine had crossed a third of the continent.
By the cave where he had set out, Laine received three stone tablets from Gaia's hands.
"These are the items agreed upon."
Mother Earth handed the tablets, which symbolized destiny, to Laine as proof of the wager they made when they first met.
At that time, Heavenly Father and Mother Earth purely had not seen such a weak god, and thus, they took it upon themselves to find Laine.
They inquired about Laine's godhood, and upon receiving "Prophecy" as the answer, Uranus remained indifferent, and Gaia also believed that with such feeble divine power, he probably couldn't prophesy anything at all.
So, in that moment, Laine was struck with inspiration and declared the birth of the twelve Titans on the spot, establishing a wager with Gaia.
If he could prophesy about the Primordial Gods with such weak power, then these three stone tablets, born with the world itself, should rightly belong to him.
The outcome was clear, and so Laine accepted his wager.
"Your prophecy was correct," Mother Earth once again admitted her mistake, "The Oracle rightfully belongs to you."
"Your honesty is the true virtue."
With a slight bow, Laine took the tablets.
It must be said that the gods of this era were nothing like those of later times. If it were Gaia from the era of Zeus, she wouldn't have handed over the Divine Artifact so easily.
The two conversed a little longer before bidding each other farewell.
As she was about to leave, Gaia hesitated but still asked:
"Prince Laine, as the Mother Goddess, as the Queen of Gods, I really shouldn't be asking this question."
"But I still want to know, is the war between child and father truly inevitable?"
Gaia was somewhat saddened, she didn't even know which side she should stand on.
"You have to ask yourself that."
Laine did not directly answer her question, but he made a promise at the end.
"If one day, you can bear no more and decide to make your final decision, you can come find me again."
"At that time, I will try to think of a way for you, as a way to honor your virtue of keeping promises."
"I will, thank you once again."
The gentle thanks from Mother Earth, even though she did not know who she would 'bear no more,' whether it be her child or her husband.
Perhaps it was her child, perhaps her husband, about this she planned to ask her sisters.
Although as one of the three faces of the Lady of the Night, the Destined Ananke never interfered with destiny, completely unlike her principal aspect Nyx who personified, she still hoped to gain some hints.
Lost in thought, Mother Earth hurried off, returning towards Mount of the Gods.
She needed to think seriously about where to go from here.
······
Laine closed his eyes slightly, immersing himself in the world within.
After Mother Earth had left, he returned to the cave he had carved out.
Things had largely concluded, and what was left was to wait; now, he needed to organize the path ahead.
In a body constituted of divine flesh and blood, the powers of Chronology, Spirituality, Prophecy, and Moon coexisted, yet were distinctly separate.
But apart from the Origin of Spirituality, which he fully controlled, the rest were merely godhoods bestowed by Chaos.
Even Spirituality would not have been wholly his had he not arrived early enough, older even than the five great Primordial Gods.
His otherworldly soul would only be devoured by worlds that have already formed the Law of "Spirituality," granting him a godhood of Spirituality equal to that of other gods, and then lose his power after the true God of Spirit arises, with the best outcome being merely to become a Sub-God.
This is the difference between a native son and an outsider, which is why if there is an opportunity to consume Chaos's power through "Spirituality," Laine would show no mercy.
"Sooner or later I'll feed all of you to 'Spirituality.'"
Glancing at the other three major godhoods, Laine silently schemed in his heart.
Without surprises, the Origin of Spirituality would have devoured them before the birth of the relevant deities. What is eaten into his stomach, nobody would think of taking back.
Aside from Spirituality, among the remaining three godhoods, Moon appeared to be the weakest.
If graded, it could barely support a divine power of the weakest godhood level 1.
As time goes on, the power of the Moon would be strengthened, but the amount of increase would still be limited.
After all, it is merely a shell, with concepts related to time encompassed by Chronology, and not an actual celestial body. If not for its opposition to the Sun, it would not even count as a godhood.
"Before the true Moon is born, I need to find it a new home."
"The Moon of Spirituality and the actual Moon do not necessarily have to be the same entity."
Mulling over silently, Laine cast another glance at the illusory image of the moon in the sky.
When the time comes, it would also lose its function, and upon becoming a part of Spirituality, once free from the control of Chaos World, Laine actually had some other ideas.
With the Moon's arrangements complete, it was time to tackle Prophecy.
In the original trajectory, there were not a few gods in Chaos with the power of Prophecy. But apart from Prophecy that seemed more like a curse, only Prometheus and Apollo could be considered half a God of Prophecy.
The rest of the deities, whether Themis or Phoebe, only had the ability for propehcy because they possessed the Oracle.
Now that the Oracle Stone Tablet was in Laine's hands, these individuals probably wouldn't get the chance. So for the time being, he did not need to worry about the world splitting the godhood of Prophecy due to the descent of new gods.
"This godhood can exist for a while longer, and even though it is one of the godhoods to be integrated, it can still be strengthened. Yet without Prophecy to cover it up, it might inevitably expose my identity as the God of Spirit."
"However, it still depends on the situation then. If Uranus is deposed just as I anticipate, I may not even have to worry about it."
"Only Spirituality, this Origin godhood that exists within me, is my true reliance in this world."
Having made arrangements for the Prophecy godhood, which was roughly at divinity level 5, Laine then shifted his attention to Chronology.
In the future, he would probably issue several major prophecies, just continue using this godhood as a front for now.
"Divinity level 9, and it's even on the rise."
"If I can perfect the seasons and create 'calendars,' I wouldn't be surprised if Chronology's godhood reached level 15."
"However, let's forget about the seasons; calendars can be integrated into Spirituality, as they don't have a physical form, but seasons are part of material changes."
"If they can't merge into one, then even if I create them in advance, once the actual Goddesses of Seasons are born, they will simply switch allegiance."
It has to be said, compared to Spirituality, which is only at divinity level 6, Chronology is now Laine's strongest godhood.
But no matter how strong this godhood is, its ultimate fate will not change, and Laine would not even touch aspects that involve reality.
Otherwise, no matter how well things develop now, once the Olympian Twelve take their places, the symbols of the twelve months would simply be reassigned.
Once the Three Goddesses of Seasons are born, the power of the godhood would be halved.
It's ridiculous in Chaos World: Pontus, Hyperion, even Mother Earth Gaia, they were all originally powerful Ancient Gods, yet their godhood kept dispersing due to the birth of new gods, ultimately leading to a severe drop in their strength.
That's why Laine decisively wants to merge them all into Spirituality. As for the Twelve Principal Gods lacking godhood later, that's none of his concern.
Iapetus and Mnemosyne are living just fine, aren't they? If those two Titan elders have no complaints, do you Olympian gods dare to take issue?
Having taken the critical first step, Laine is full of confidence for the future. Once Zeus ascends, as long as he can become a powerful Divine Power, the other would not rashly become his enemy.
Zeus, after all, is the Divine King who is best at relying on 'the power of the masses.'