Upon hearing Theron’s final Prophecy, Cronus fell silent.
Theron, however, watched him with great interest, wondering how he would ultimately react.
Although Cronus had become the second-generation God-King because of his courage, his control over the world and his authority as God-King were the weakest among the generations of divine rulers.
He was neither like Zeus, the King of the Third Generation Gods, who would later seize absolute power through wisdom and political skill, becoming the undisputed ruler of the gods, nor like Uranus, the First Generation God-King, who possessed absolute power and patriarchal authority over the gods.
Moreover, because of Theron’s intervention, Uranus’s era had ended prematurely, leaving Cronus without enough time to grow.
It was therefore no exaggeration to call him the weakest God-King.
If Theron had not secretly dealt with the powerful Ocean God Oceanus beforehand, eliminating the greatest potential threat to Cronus, it was difficult to say who would be sitting on the throne of the God-King now.
Although Cronus would gradually gain more power as the world recognized him, eventually reaching the tremendous power of a God-King blessed by the world itself, that day was still far away.
At least for now, he was nowhere near that level.
Precisely because he lacked overwhelming strength, he could not rule with the tyranny and absolute authority of Uranus.
When physical strength was insufficient, one had to rely more heavily on one’s mind.
That was also the reason for Cronus’s cautious and suspicious nature.
During his reign, the Chaos World would gradually adopt a system resembling feudalism, with the other Titan Gods possessing absolute authority within their respective domains while remaining somewhat subordinate to Cronus.
So what would Cronus do after learning about his curse and the Prophecy?
Cronus knew that Theron was watching him, so he did not remain silent for long.
First, he was worried that Theron might consider his silence disrespectful.
Second, he did not want Theron to see through his thoughts.
At least on the surface, he stopped dwelling on the Prophecy and instead asked about Theron’s condition.
“Your Highness Theron, I previously promised to fulfill one of your conditions.
I wonder if you have decided what it is?”
Theron nodded with a smile.
“My condition is simple.
Great King of the Gods, you and your brothers should do your best to create more life for this world.”
“This world is vast, but its laws are still incomplete.
Therefore, it needs more gods and more life.
Only then can the world become truly prosperous.”
“And this will also become one of your achievements as God-King.
Cronus was completely stunned by Theron’s condition.
With Uranus’s castration and subsequent loss of his position as God-King—an authority founded upon the power of the father and patriarchal rule—the era in which kingship was determined by paternal authority had come to an end.
The change was similar to how, in the beginning, the individual with the most children within a tribe might become its leader.
In the second generation, however, leadership passed to the one who contributed the most to the tribe, possessed the greatest prestige, and had the support of the mother.
By the third generation, everything would come down to winning people’s allegiance, schemes, and wisdom.
The one with the most supporters would become king.
But that was a story for another time.
With the end of the First Generation, the right to procreate would no longer belong exclusively to the God-King.
It would return to all living beings.
Even without Theron’s suggestion, Cronus believed his brothers and sisters would soon give birth to one new god after another.
After all, this was also a way to strengthen themselves.
When two existing laws merged and gave birth to a new law, the corresponding Titan God would become stronger within their own domain.
As if sensing Cronus’s doubts, Theron added with a chuckle:
“Life does not necessarily have to be divine.”
He gave him a subtle hint.
“Perhaps you can use your imagination to create other forms of life.
Don’t you think the world would be too monotonous if it contained nothing but gods?”
Cronus was immediately moved.
He nodded thoughtfully, clearly understanding what Theron meant.
Seeing that his guidance had achieved its purpose, Theron no longer tried to keep him there and found an excuse to send the young God-King away.
Cronus felt that since he had already agreed to Theron’s condition—and since he genuinely wanted to contribute to the world in order to gain greater recognition and increase his own power more quickly—he was naturally motivated to act.
Instead of returning directly to Mount Kinabalu, he went to visit his fellow Titan Gods.
As he had expected, his brothers and sisters had no intention of giving up on creating new divine authorities and were already actively working toward that goal.
However, Cronus subtly expressed his hope that more life would appear in the world and emphasized that this life should not be limited to gods.
He did not know exactly what kind of life Theron wanted, so he simply encouraged everyone to use their imagination and experiment.
They felt that the world was indeed somewhat monotonous, so they began researching new forms of life on their own.
They created all kinds of strange mythical creatures, while the elemental powers they controlled gave birth to numerous Elves and various Nymphs.
These creatures, which represented the forces of nature, became the first forms of life in the Chaos World besides the gods.
However, their numbers were still insignificant compared with the vastness of the world.
Oceanus, who had also been inspired by Theron’s earlier guidance, felt as though he had gained a sudden insight after hearing Cronus’s words.
Although he did not yet understand the benefits of procreation, he decided to follow the advice after being repeatedly reminded of it.
Thus, he and Tethys gave birth to three thousand Oceanids and three thousand River Gods.
The “three thousand” was not an exact number, but rather a metaphor for an innumerable multitude.
Together, they gave birth to the rivers of the world, while the Oceanids brought countless streams of vitality into the originally barren Ocean Current.
The most direct benefit soon became apparent.
The Ocean Current surrounding the entire world grew increasingly vast.
This represented a breakthrough in Oceanus’s divine authority and power.
Not only did the injuries he had suffered during the battle against the First Generation God-King Uranus heal rapidly, but his authority over the waters even began showing signs of surpassing that of the Primordial Sea God Pontus.
Having experienced the benefits firsthand, Oceanus finally understood the true meaning of “fertility” and became even more enthusiastic.
Seeing this, the other Titan Gods quickly followed his example.
The new laws born from their combinations were mostly extensions of their existing authorities.
These extensions could, in turn, strengthen the gods themselves.
Naturally, the Titan Gods were more than happy to continue this process of creating new divine authorities and forms of life.
The Chaos World, whose evolution had been halted because of Uranus’s monopoly over procreation, finally entered a period of stable and rapid development.
During this time, countless Third Generation Gods were born.
Because resources were abundant, there was little scheming among the gods and almost no competition between them.
The world consequently enjoyed a rare and prolonged period of peace.
Later generations would come to call this extraordinary era—
The Golden Age.