"Your Majesty," the esteemed god-king, before the prophecy, I hope you understand one fact: prophecy has always been about observation, not creation." took another sip of the sweet nectar, and Lain explained solemnly:
"I cannot change fate; I merely observe it, even just a part of it."
"And observation is not without cost. When you know it, it knows you too."
"What do you mean?" Faced with the unfamiliar realm, the god-king was somewhat puzzled. "'It knows me' means what?"
"Fate is originally uncertain. Although it has fixed trajectories, it is not necessarily immutable."
"But if you attempt to observe it through prophecy, fate will become a predetermined outcome. You can only postpone its arrival, distort its meaning, but you cannot make it disappear entirely."
"So, do you still want me to make this prophecy?" In the end, Lain asked the god-king in return.
The preceding words were not fabricated by Lain; this was the information he received after obtaining the priesthood of [Prophecy].
When anyone tries to directly observe fate, whether or not they borrow the hands of other gods, they themselves become a part of fate.
Just as a person cannot grab their own hair to lift themselves off the ground, so too no existence can defy the shackles of its own essence.
Upon realizing this, Lain decided never to prophesy for himself.
As for the "prophecies" made by certain gods in later generations, Lain actually preferred to call them curses of fate.
On the other side, hearing Lain's explanation, Uranus breathed a sigh of relief, but then hesitated again.
The cost of prophecy was great, which made him less wary of Nyx, the mother of destiny, but he still wanted to know his own fate.
The First God-King. Thinking of how Lain addressed him from the foot of the mountain, Uranus remained resolute. "I believe in my own power," he said, meeting Lain's gaze. At this moment, having just ascended to the position of god-king, his immense power multiplied his confidence.
"Make the prophecy, Your Highness Lain. Regardless of the outcome, I promise you a reasonable condition in the name of the god-king."
"I believe that with my current power, nothing is predetermined." As the first god-king, the symbol of paternal authority, Uranus, who already stood at the pinnacle of divine power, took another half step upward. Now, he stood on equal footing with the primordial gods, and even Gaia, who was not adept in combat, was no longer his match. This filled him with immense confidence. He believed that even if the prophecy's outcome was not favorable, he could delay its arrival and distort its meaning, just as Lain had said.
"Heh, the gods of Chaos, always so confident," Lain chuckled inwardly, knowing that things were unfolding as he had anticipated. Meeting the god-king's gaze, Lain simply nodded, and in the next moment, his pitch-black eyes shimmered with a mysterious white light.
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This was not a disguise to deceive with a false prophecy; Lain was genuinely probing Uranus's future. However, the result was obvious: the priesthood obtained solely from one prophecy was very weak, even weaker than the power of spiritual priesthood by several magnitudes. In a void, Lain saw nothing. With his current power, he was far from seeing the god-king's fate. But that didn't stop him from making his first major prophecy.
"One era," under the gaze of the gods, Lain spoke, "You will rule the world for one era. You and the Earth Mother will bear new offspring, but they will not be like us, with divine and perfect appearances. One day in the future, your eldest son will raise a blade against you, and your reign will be shaken."
"Ridiculous!" Uranus hadn't even reacted yet, but Erebus beside him couldn't bear Lain's words any longer.
Despite being only three days old, the eldest of the twelve Titans already possessed power close to that of a mid-tier deity. The raging power surged within him as he boldly pressed towards Lain, attempting to stop the foreign deity's bold words.
He succeeded in silencing Lain, but he also failed because the Father of the Gods spoke up.
"Stop, my child." With a wave of his hand, Erebus's divine power was easily quelled, and Uranus's gaze turned towards him.
"You should not lay hands on guests."
The god-king's tone betrayed no emotion, but everyone present felt his suspicion at this moment.
"Father, I swear to the world, I will never challenge your position as god-king."
Seeing his father speak, the Lord of the Ocean knelt down, expressing loyalty to his father. But Uranus remained noncommittal.
Indeed, oaths had constraints on deities, but they were not necessarily fatal. Even now, when the authority of oaths had not been delegated to the world, violating an oath would at most lead to a decline in divine power and turmoil in divine duties. But if one could ascend to the position of god-king, everything could be salvaged.
"Respected Prophet, is this the entirety of the prophecy?" The Father of the Gods ignored his son and continued to inquire of the interrupted Lain.
If this was all, then this prophecy was just that.
He would divide his eldest son into three parts, casting them into Tartarus, the abyss of darkness, and the depths of the earth, ensuring he could never oppose him for eternity.
"No," but Lain's response evidently did not meet his satisfaction. In the furious gaze of the Lord of the Ocean, Lain smiled and said to the god-king, "Lord Erebus will never be the true wielder of the blade, Your Majesty."
"The prophecy indicates that the one who will overthrow your throne will receive assistance from another of your kin."
"All things that have a beginning, have an end."
"And the son wielding the blade certainly isn't your eldest child."
As soon as the words fell, the gazes of the remaining eleven Titans in the hall changed, leaving only the Lord of the Ocean relieved. Although in the complete prophecy, he also had the potential to be an accomplice, Erebus was certainly not the primary offender. When everyone is guilty, it's as if no one is guilty, and he was very clear on that. Unless his father wanted someone sitting alone on the throne, he wouldn't be punished.
There was silence in the hall for a moment, until finally, it was Mother Earth who broke the calm. Her gentle face was filled with concern, and at this moment, Gaia was not the calculating mother of the gods. She looked at Lain, who had just made the prophecy, and asked in a serious tone, "Respected Lord Lain, wise Prophet, I wonder if you could give us more clues?"
"Because of your prophecy, suspicion will fill the relationship between father and child, and the newborn divine court will be difficult to keep peaceful. I imagine you wouldn't want to see that scene either."
But faced with Gaia's implicitly threatening request, Lain calmly shook his head.
"I'm truly sorry, respected Mother Earth."
"It's not that I don't want to provide an interpretation, but in this regard, the prophet himself is not as wise as the listener."
"After all, I am just an observer, a transmitter; the essence of fate is still far from me."
In the end, Lain gave Gaia an irrefutable answer.
"If you still have doubts about this, you can go to the realm of the night."
"I believe that in the domain of fate, Lady Nyx's third aspect, the destined Lord Ananke, will have a more detailed interpretation."
"As her elder sister, you surely won't return empty-handed."