After the Titanomachy, the world was now to be ruled by Zeus and his siblings.
Poseidon, having become the ruler of the sea, headed straight for the ocean.
Zeus, as the god of the sky and now King of the Gods, was bestowing rewards upon the other gods, but Poseidon didn’t have much interest in any of that.
“I should hurry up and build my temple first. Should I ask the Cyclopes for help? In the myths, I think it said I built a golden palace deep beneath the sea near the island of Euboea. Probably?”
As Poseidon entered the sea, the waves wrapped around him. Countless sea creatures, mysterious beings, and lesser gods who had been waiting for him bowed their heads.
““We congratulate Lord Poseidon on your victory.””
Poseidon had expected this kind of thing, so he greeted them naturally and spoke.
“Since I’ve become the true God of the Sea, we need to announce the enthronement of the new king to every strait in the world. For the next seven days and nights, hold a festival without pause. Let the entire sea know of my enthronement.”
Thus Poseidon, as the official sovereign of the sea, celebrated his enthronement with a festival lasting seven days and nights, making his presence known.
However, there was a minor problem: the gods and nymphs of the sea acknowledged him as the lord of the ocean because they had witnessed the power he displayed during the Titanomachy and heard the rumors, and also because he was favored by Oceanus, the primordial sea.
But humans refused to accept any of this.
They still worshipped Kronos, and believed that the sea was ruled by Pontos, the protogenoi deity.
The humans who followed Kronos—those of the Golden Race—were a perfect race who did not die unless struck down by gods or mysteries.
Because of this, they did not know hunger, did not know fear, and did not know death. They were beings blessed with complete perfection.
They worshipped Kronos for granting them such blessings, and continued to believe in Pontos, the sea god they had originally revered.
“Mm, do I really need to deal with this? There’s no way Zeus is going to stay still anyway.”
Thinking that, Poseidon dismissed the issue as trivial and stopped paying attention.
After all, he wasn’t a god who weakened without human worship.
More importantly, the thing that Poseidon considered far more urgent than the faith of humans was the current state of the sea itself.
Because of that, Poseidon ignored the Golden Race for the moment and focused desperately on dividing the sea and establishing rules.
“As expected, it’s a chaotic ocean of monsters with no order. It’ll take quite some time before it resembles the sea from my previous life.”
The sea of this era was one where all sorts of monsters and nymphs roamed chaotically.
More precisely, because of Pontos’ influence, they were devouring each other, ruling over one another, and strengthening themselves in a brutal era of survival of the fittest.
Of course, Poseidon could just leave the sea alone if he didn’t care, but what he wanted was the peaceful ocean of his past life.
He simply didn’t know yet that this would soon become the spark of a great war.
* * *
Having decided to recreate the sea of his previous life, the first thing Poseidon did was ensure that monsters could no longer manipulate the waves however they pleased.
He also imposed control over the gods and nymphs dwelling in earthly rivers, wells, and underground waters that connected to the sea.
He created exclusive territories so that sea monsters could no longer freely devour humans or dominate one another to build up power.
Along with this he issued a warning to all races on land and sea.
—The Etrurian waters, the whirlpool-ridden deep region near the upper Nile of the Mediterranean, and a portion of the area east of Crete are designated as the domain of the Ketea.
—When humans pass through those regions, they must obtain the permission of the Ketea. This is officially declared in the name of Poseidon.
Because of this decree, the Ketea could no longer leave their designated territories at will, nor could they attack humans out of boredom.
And under Poseidon’s rules, they could no longer devour each other either.
He also stopped the mischievous deeds of the sea nymphs.
Except for the Nereides and the Oceanides, most other sea nymphs and spirits didn’t hesitate to drag humans into the sea and devour them.
For example, the Sirens loved to lure humans with their songs, drag them into the water, and suck out their vital essence—this was their hobby and amusement.
Given that humans of this age were immortal, it created an effect similar to trapping someone underwater for eternity and tormenting them endlessly.
They didn’t feel pain, but Poseidon had no intention of letting such scenes continue.
* * *
While Poseidon busily carried out his work, elsewhere in the deep sea—
Pontos, who had always been receiving offerings from the Golden Clan and from the sea nymphs, frowned at the rumors he was hearing.
“So this brat named Poseidon is daring to ruin our sea?”
“Hehe, rather than ruin… he’s controlling us, stopping us from killing humans freely, and preventing us from taking tribute.”
“That’s the same thing!!! Not to mention, if he’s destroying the rules I established, then he intends to reduce my influence!!!”
At Pontos’ roar, the deep-sea cavern rumbled ominously.
“Hah! Just because they defeated Kronos, they think the world is theirs now. Fools. It seems I must step forward, I, Pontos, the true master of this sea, to restore peace.”
“Um… Lord Pontos, but the others won’t agree….”
Pontos snorted at the serpent-shaped nymph’s words.
“Do not worry. I already prepared for this.”
* * *
“Sister, Poseidon is being way too arrogant. Who does he think he is, trying to control the Ketea and even us? We’re the bloodline of Lord Pontos.”
“It’s understandable arrogance. He is the god acknowledged by the primordial sea.”
“Sister!!! You don’t have any complaints?”
“But Thetis. He is the rightful ruler of this sea.”
“Ugh. Then you’re saying that Poseidon, that upstart, is in the right. Hmph, I’ll claim our freedom no matter what.”
This was a room deep within the sea, inside the coral forest where the Nereides lived.
Here, Thetis—the third strongest among the Nereides—was arguing with her sister Amphitrite while harboring strong resentment toward Poseidon.
But Amphitrite, who remained calm throughout and tried to persuade her, only irritated Thetis further.
Soon Thetis stormed out the door.
Watching her, Amphitrite muttered with worry in her eyes.
“Mm… why is that child acting like this all of a sudden? She was never interested in worldly matters. Could something terrible be brewing…?”
Amphitrite sensed an ominous feeling as her sister, who had never shown dissatisfaction in her life, suddenly changed, but she couldn’t forcefully stop Thetis when she hadn’t actually done anything yet.
Meanwhile, Thetis was moving much faster and more radically than Amphitrite feared. She had already begun gathering the Nereides and plotting with them.
“Even if Sister refuses, if our sisters and even our Oceanid aunts cooperate, she’ll have no choice but to listen. Hmm… the uncles all have rivers to oversee, so if they leave, it’ll be too obvious. But our sea nymphs alone will be enough.”
Standing atop the highest coral hill before the sisters and aunts she had already gathered, Thetis shouted loudly.
“How long must we endure the oppression of that tyrant?”
“Now we must step forward for our freedom and justice!”
“Do you not hear the cries of the powerless young mysteries and nymphs suffering!!”
“Let us go, and fight!!!”
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Their thoughts and actions were warped and extreme.
Poseidon was simply constructing order and enforcing it; he had never demanded sacrifice, nor forced suffering upon them.
If anything, the sea under Pontos’ reign was the one that had always demanded sacrifices from the weak and caused suffering.
And yet they cheered wildly. And soon, most of the nymphs and weak gods listening to Thetis’ speech had their eyes lose their light, replaced by a sinister dark green glow.
* * *
A few days later—
Having successfully stirred up the others, Thetis sought out Amphitrite again, dissatisfied that her sister still hadn’t submitted.
“Sister, how long are you going to hold out? The other sisters and aunts already agreed to fight.”
“You foolish child. This is madness.”
“Hah! Two-thirds of the sea is already on our side. And if you join us, Father and Lord Pontos will move as well.”
Amphitrite fell silent as she looked at the sister who had become reckless and extreme.
She knew already that her sisters, aunts, nymphs, and even sea monsters were rapidly gathering behind Thetis.
They weren’t the ten mightiest Nereides or the Oceanides, but they weren’t a force that could be ignored either.
And the real problem was that their numbers kept growing—far beyond what Amphitrite could ignore.
“…Haa… you are dragging us all into a war.”
In the end… even Amphitrite had no choice but to participate in the war.
At this point, even someone like her who opposed war to the very end had to decide.
‘The problem is that no matter how I think about it, there’s no chance of victory. But…’
For Amphitrite, who treasured her family dearly, this wasn’t a matter of choice.
Her weaker sisters could truly be annihilated in a war….
* * *
Having convinced even Amphitrite, Thetis grew more confident and went to her father Nereus and mother Doris to demand their participation as well.
“Mother, Father, please join our war. We will drive Poseidon out and reclaim full sovereignty over this sea.”
Behind her, the Ketea and nymphs glared with their dark green eyes, overflowing with resentment toward Poseidon.
“Oh Gaia, have you gone mad? You’ve driven all the sea mysteries, who didn’t even join the Titanomachy, into war.”
“Father, the one who’s insane is Poseidon! How can he oppress and subjugate us, the most free beings of the sea?”
“You foolish daughter. He acts simply as the God of the Sea. And all he did was stop you from tormenting humans. You are still the freest beings in these waters.”
“Hmph, these things build up one by one until we end up like fish caught in a net. Father, our children have already gathered their strength. And Mother’s sisters all agreed to join too. So you and Mother, like Sister Amphitrite, should join the war to protect us. Or will you watch your daughters and sisters bleed and fall?”
Nereus and Doris were at a loss for words at their daughter’s outrageous demand.
Thetis had never been this extreme; being away from her, they could feel that she had changed into something uncanny.
Her dark green eyes radiated an unspeakable dread.
In the end, Nereus and Doris had no choice but to join the war under Thetis’ pressure.
The power she was emitting now was not something they could resist.
To protect their children, they had to enter the fight. There was no other choice.
“Doris, it seems someone is manipulating Thetis.”
“I feel it too. That energy is definitely…”
If the war broke out, both victors and losers would face punishment.
The instigators would be subjected to the most terrifying punishment of the sea—being dissolved into the Primordial Sea.
Or be sealed in the deepest depths of Tartarus with the Titans.
Or the weaker ones might all simply become nourishment for the ocean….
* * *
Meanwhile, Olympus had also noticed the strange developments.
“Huh… I can’t believe something like that is happening in the sea. But why is Poseidon staying still?”
“He’s probably enjoying himself while waiting. It’s Poseidon.”
“Well, even during the war he did that—he likes rounding up enemies and hunting them all at once. Anyone watching him would think he’s the god of war or hunting. He likes driving the prey together that much.”
“Zeus, more importantly, what if we use this chance to wipe out the Golden Clan? Poseidon is the sea’s chosen god. He’ll win in the end. This might be the perfect time to take care of them since they’ve already been a problem.”
“Metis, that’s an excellent idea. We didn’t have a justification before, but with this war we can put all the blame on the other gods and take care of everything at once. We should send a messenger to Poseidon for his agreement.”
Zeus nodded at Metis, Hera, and Demeter’s words.
“Then Metis, you should go deliver our intentions to Poseidon. Since you’re the daughter of Oceanus, the sea gods won’t find you suspicious.”
“That’s a good plan. I’ll head out right away, Zeus.”
“Oh, and if possible, see if you can make Poseidon owe Olympus a favor.”
“You’re ruthless with how you work people.”