The broken remains of the celestial mountain ran gold with blood. A body lay broken, torn to bits, scattered across a bloody heap.

A sense of foreboding clung to the gods watching things down. Their shock, their awe, and most importantly? Their fear.

It was not supposed to happen. It defied all logic, the very fabric of destiny itself.

Time seemed frozen, yet very fast as well. Sometimes it blared backwards, and sometimes it skipped to a moment forward. But nothing could suppress the sole emotion coursing through their unique existences.

Soldiers, monsters of old and new alike were frozen. Gods from the highest to the lowest were frozen. Their gazes locked to the growing lake of golden blood.

To call it a fight was laughable.

So shocked were they, that they couldn't even make out the simplest of sounds. So shocked that their fear hadn't even registered in them to run.

Only the chuckling of a tall woman wearing an elegant toga adorned with the imagery of lions, chuckled. Never in an amused, nor light humorous way. But a dark gleeful laugh.

The type you'd find in a person who'd only known suffering, who'd since observed their tormentor become the tortured.

She was so happy, that her beautiful face contorted into a cruel ugly expression. She was so overcome with malicious joy, that she barely registered five crawling figures flailing in the pool of golden blood.

Expressions of confusion, fear, relief? It was honestly hard to tell. They were covered head to toe in gore, naked as the day they were born.

They were little more than children ranging from a late teenage girl to a young boy just into his preteen years. The five of them, in their blood soaked states also felt the same expression of deep seated fear.

Though it wasn't at the pieces of flesh. No one was really paying attention to the clumps anymore. They didn't even pay attention to the pool of golden blood that now ran down from the peak of Mt Orthys.

Instead, their focus was locked onto a single person. Standing wide eyed in front of a ripped up pile of flesh and clothing. A single white haired child who appeared no older than five.

…

Lightning struck overhead, lighting up the dark storm Da Hai just sailed through. It was loud, audacious even, and somewhat magical in nature. Da Hai could subtlety sense the presence of a Dao emanating through each streak.

He'd already realized that the bull was not the only sucker with a lightning based Dao to be absorbed. These Daos now functioned as the very logic of this world, constantly trying to direct him.

The boat rocketed back and forth from the fierce turning of waves. Da Hai did not lose balance, nor did he care much for the bully ride. If anything, he found the rain that had once been his own body to be interesting.

Cut off from him, he'd long since regenerated the lost mass. The previous parts were useless to a being like him. Yet to the Hellenistic Chaos World, it was a form of nourishment.

He figured that the only reason it was still triggering this natural phenomena, was because the sisters of fate was pulverized by him. Else his split off watery essence would've been totally absorbed into it instead of remaining as rain.

Da Hai turned, losing interest in the rainstorm. Rather, he detected rapid movement in the waters around him.

"Hmph, preying on innocent bystanders at a time like this. The seas of this land is most treacherous," Da Hai mused. He was brought back to a time in his early years where primordial beasts beset upon innate creatures.

A unique looking thing rose from the watery depths. A giant set of jaws aiming to engulf Da Hai in one bite. No intelligent message was sent, nor any form of threats or blustering.

To Da Hai, it was just an animal of significant strength that wanted to kill. It's power was strange, Da Hai didn't think it was possible for a creature to grow so strong without some form of cultivation.

He had been observing it too, and noticed that its size and physical prowess came from the local Daos. It had no sentient intelligent behind it, something that was impossible for cultivators. It was simply born as a giant sea monster.

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Da Hai sent a wave of force to slap away the creature. In the end, it was little more than an animal. Bigger and stronger, but still a wild animal.

"In the Three Realms, a beast like this would be a demonic beast. Around the cultivation of a Nascent Soul master," He mused. He hastened his boat to continue on to the closest island. "Perhaps that monster was the legendary Scylla. Naw can't be, I don't see any rocky features."

Being attacked by some form of monster may not be an uncommon if he went by what he overheard from the locals. He suddenly felt the urge to criticise the local authorities for not clearing out troublesome monsters.

…

Da Hai happened upon an expansive coast. This was no mere island, but something that qualified as a continent in and of itself. It was much like the islands of the defunct Primitive World.

Da Hai wandered ashore, feeling a sense of nostalgia for his earliest years. A time where he was largely ignorant, innocent, constantly assaulted by headaches, and lonely most of all.

He tried not to think of his senior brother and mentor. Instead, recalling the good times he'd spent with his disciples. Even if it culminated in pain, it was not before creating long years of joyful memories.

"This land feels ancient, far more so than Anatolia," Da Hai said after examining the soil. He took to the air, oversaw the forests and hills in the distance. There was a city sitting there, containing a broken statue of a bull.

Da Hai teleported towards it. The locals in the city were sparse. It had clearly been hit with hard times.

The streets were unkept, even more so with all the rain. Buildings were not maintained well, and the palace sitting above the larger city appeared in ruins.

It was still inhabited, Da Hai detected that much. But there was an air of depression clinging to the city.

As Da Hai walked, he sensed the presence of complex tunnels beneath him. All connecting to each other in a gigantic maze that seemed to spread all across the city and even its exterior.

More so than that, Da Hai could practically smell the miasma of death seeping through the soil. At once, the realization dawned on him.

"Bulls, a maze, an island in the ocean. This is kingdom Crete isn't it," Da Hai stated as a fact. "Quite a decrepit sight compared to the thriving Ephesus."

Thunder rumbled in the distance. As if heralding the closing days of the city and her people. At the governing buildings, the latest king was deep in his cups. He'd sooner drink himself away than deal with the declining kingdom.

It seemed that entire island did not have a good fate. Whatever golden age it experienced disappeared long ago, leaving a decaying corpse. Touches of divinity were all over the ancient buildings, yet none of it preserved any glory.

Da Hai wandered the desolate wet streets a little while longer. All the while, he payed little attention to curious gazes observing from their windows.

Lighting flashed across the sky again, illuminating the pouring rain. Da Hai's attention was drawn to a tavern. The alcoholic aroma was rich, especially for a mortal establishment.

"Interesting," He said. Out of curiosity, he wandered in and took a seat. He was the only customer there.

"Where abouts are you from?" A gruff darker skinned man hovering over the establishment asked.

"So sure I'm not a local?" Da Hai asked in jest.

"Have you seen yourself in a mirror?"

"Of course of course," Da Hai replied. "I'm from further east. Far inland across the wide open sea."

The tavern owner nodded in understanding. Then he asked what Da Hai wanted. Customers don't come around often, and even he was planning to move away soon.

He told Da Hai as such. Ever since a previous Wanax, the title for Crete's king, had offended the gods, things went downhill. Harvests became poor, newborns were incompetent. Even the mainland seems to have blacklisted them.

Da Hai learned that the city of Athens used to send tributes to Crete. In fact, many city states across the mainland looked at them as a cultural hub. They were favoured by the gods back then.

"Here, our strongest drink as requested," the tavern owner said after placing down a mug. He had a smug air to him when he presented it.

"Are you sure about this young man? My ancestors served the gods themselves. They learned to brew for them. Even halfblood children of theirs cannot resist a single gulp."

Lightning flashes outside, adding dramatics to the tavern owner's tale. Da Hai scoffed at the description.

"It's not bad. Another please," Da Hai said in a heavy accent. Ten servings came and went, yet he remained unaffected.

"What the hell are you?" The tavern owner was scared out of his wits by this point. No way could Da Hai be human.

"Oh just a man exploring the world," Da Hai said, signalling for another serving. "I am curious though about something though. Your kingdom is ancient by your own words. How much of this world's history do you know?"

Lighting and thunder continued to pulsate outside as the two conversed.

…

Thebes, like all other city states was engulfed by fierce rain. Everyone was locked inside as a result, and all symposiums had been canceled.

Semele, the Theben princess cradled her belly with a sense of unease. Waking up and finding her lover missing had not done well for the girl's mental health.

She had screamed and grown frantic that day. Her startled parents learned of it and grew angry. The servants who'd helped her had been punished as a result. That was several days ago, before news of a grand prophecy overtook the city's news networks.

"He must be out doing his duties. He's a god after all," she said with insistence. "The greatest god of them all father. He loves me and…and he will be back for me."

Her father rubbed his face with tiredness. King Cadmus, retired monster slayer and current king could not believe how native his daughter was.

"I know gods, a single offspring would not warrant their attention. Even if your lover was some great god like you claim, it would not change their attitudes," King Cadmus said.

"What possessed you to sleep with a no names stranger anyway? How could my talented daughter be so easily charmed," he groaned.

Semele was uncharacteristically loyal to this supposed god who came to her chambers. Hiding the relationship from him, forming dalliances with them. She seemed to hold them in extremely high regard.

"He was…" she sounded hesitant. "We just got along. He wasn't like anyone else I've met."

He didn't want to reveal too much to her father. Her godly lover had told her who he was, but it was that same name that made her scared. Happy as well as scared.

"When we met, he just seemed so sad," she ended up saying instead.

"Sad? What kind of god would be sad. Are you sure you weren't tricked by some clever demigod?" King Cadmus sat back down in frustration.

"No matter, I will submit a plea to Olympus. Perhaps the gods up there can help me." He had bigger fish to fry after all. The great prophecy regarding a monster who had stolen key aspects of the universe was not good news.

He was a hero in his youth, had fought alongside the legendary Perseus after all. His great deeds earned him blessings that offered an elongated lifespan, causing him to outlive even the son of Zeus. But as a result, he knew more than any young king how dangerous such misters were.

Creatures that were so threatening that fate itself decreed their annihilation. Just gazing out to mainland Greece, one could see the remains of one such monster.

Mt Etna, the place where the strongest bolt of lightning struck down Typhon. It had been a truly oppressively dark era.

"He's definitely gone to face the prophesied monster," Semele suddenly said. Her face full of realization as she convinced herself of the reason. "He just doesn't want me to worry."

Seeing his daughter's naive heart flutter, Cadmus looked away. He didn't have the heart to speak with her anymore.

The world seemed to be heading towards darker times. Already, he'd received news of sightings relating to the Olympian gods.

Apollo was spotted descending to Delphi. Artemis, Ares, and Athena were seen shooting across the sky. Minor gods accompanying them like loyal soldiers.

Sooner or later, they may even enlist him. As long as fate decreed it, he must obey. He needed his bronze Xiphos reforged.

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