"Prometheus!"
Epimetheus hurriedly ran into the hut, calling out to his elder brother.
"What's wrong, Epimetheus?" Inside the hut, Prometheus was resting his chin, gazing at a basin of clear water in front of him, lost in thought. Hearing his younger brother's call, he looked displeased at the rushing Epimetheus and said, "How many times have I told you? Think before you act. Why are you still so impetuous? Sooner or later, you'll suffer for it."
"Oh." Scolded by his elder brother, Epimetheus rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit wronged. Then he remembered something and continued to exclaim, "No, something really happened outside."
"Something happened?" Prometheus frowned slightly and asked, "What is it?"
"These past few days, humans have been acting like madmen. They're either looking for fierce beasts nearby or fighting amongst their tribes. Some have even sought out magical beasts and monsters, and those who were most eager to fight have died. At least a hundred humans have died in the past few days," Epimetheus said in a panic.
"...Hmm?"
Prometheus heard this, pushed open the door, and hurried outside, then looked up at the sky.
The sky, clear as if washed, was as usual. The weather was good today. Zeus was doing something, and it was clear he was in a good mood. However, in Prometheus's vision, a faint red glow permeated the horizon, indicating that a chief god was using his authority.
Smelling the lingering scent of blood in his nose, Prometheus frowned: "Ares, what does he want to do?"
As he was pondering, Epimetheus also came out and asked him in a panic, "Prometheus, what should we do?"
"Don't worry for now. Go and restrain the remaining humans. If a tribal leader has died, let them choose a new one themselves."
Prometheus instructed:
"I'm going to find someone."
With that, he walked out alone, leaving the hut, and then strolled to a small river.
Standing by the river, Prometheus was silent for a few seconds, then softly said to the river surface, "Come out, Ares. Zeus must be having an affair today; he has no time to pay attention to us."
After he finished speaking, a few more seconds passed before a voice emerged from beneath the river: "Prometheus, it's better to be safe than sorry. We should find another place."
As the voice faded, a large fish with shimmering white scales surfaced from the river and thrashed about in the water by the bank.
Prometheus then took out a fishing net from his embrace, raised his hand, and cast it, netting the large fish. He held it and laughed, "Haha, what a big fish. I'll have a feast today."
After speaking, he carried the large fish back to his hut. Epimetheus had already left, and there was no one else in the hut. Prometheus closed the door behind him, then threw the large fish into the water basin he had just been looking at, saying:
"Now, can we talk freely, Ares?"
"Of course, Prometheus." The large fish in the basin lifted its head from the water, its mouth opening and closing, but it was Ares's voice that emerged: "I am indeed exercising my authority, but you don't need to worry. I bear no ill will towards the human race. My actions are merely to fulfill my promise to you. Those who died in the struggle are with me. If humanity truly faces annihilation, they will become the seeds of new humanity."
"Does it have to go this far?" Prometheus asked, sweating, after hearing this. "I haven't even started yet."
"Being prepared early is never a bad thing," Ares said. "Currently, I have made all the necessary preparations. Now there is only one question, Prometheus. Since you asked me for such a promise, it indicates that future humans will indeed experience a catastrophe capable of destroying them. Is this catastrophe caused by Zeus?"
Prometheus had nothing to hide. He nodded and said, "Indeed, perhaps I went too far, which angered Zeus, so he had Notus, the God of the South Wind, bring down a torrential rain, causing a worldwide flood to exterminate all humans."
"So it's a flood," Ares's voice sounded thoughtful. "Then I understand."
However, on the other hand, even Ares hadn't expected that the one performing this task would be Notus, the God of the South Wind, whom he had just given a good beating. This world truly works in mysterious ways.
"But if I help humanity survive this disaster, what if Zeus punishes them again?" Ares continued to press. "If he insists on striking humans down with lightning one by one, there's nothing I can do."
"He won't. This also relates to the authority of the God-King," Prometheus shook his head. "God-Kings may seem omnipotent in a small world, but in reality, many of their great permissions involving 'changing the world' are limited. For example, creation and destruction of creation. A God-King can basically only use these two permissions once during their tenure. If Zeus fails to exterminate all humans when using this permission, he will no longer be able to do so if he tries again."
"So, even Zeus only has one chance to reset the world?" Ares said. "I understand. I'll go back and prepare immediately, Prometheus. You can keep this fish to eat. It's a real fish; I just borrowed its body for a moment."
After he finished speaking, the spiritual light in the eyes of the large fish before Prometheus slowly extinguished. Subsequently, it began to thrash its body wildly in the water basin, splashing out a lot of water, some of which even landed on Prometheus, dampening his clothes.
Clearly, Ares's thoughts had left the large fish's body.
The God of Foresight looked down at his chest, thought for a moment, then picked up the water basin.
"Might as well make fish soup."
...
On the other side, Ares, having withdrawn his divine consciousness, looked at the humans he had settled near Hecate's Tree Palace, then continued to command his clones to train them.
These first-generation humans, directly created by Prometheus and Athena, possessed extremely robust physiques compared to later generations and were very suitable for practicing martial arts and magic.
He divided this group into two parts: those who were more courageous and aggressive were taught the cultivation method of Magnetic Field Rotation. However, Magnetic Field Rotation is not something everyone can cultivate. Even now, this group has only learned to master a more acute superhuman sense and gained stronger physical abilities.
The other group, who appeared more cunning... intelligent and agile, Ares taught them the elementary to intermediate divine-era magic that Hecate had taught him, in sequence. Anyway, he had asked the Moon Goddess about it, and Hecate was indifferent, as long as he didn't teach out her secrets.
It would still take some time to temper these humans before they could fully emerge. Ares simply remodeled the open space near the Tree Palace, designing some treehouse dormitories for them to live in, based on his previous life's university dormitory design. He wondered if Hecate would be angry when she returned and saw these things.
However, just as Ares's main body was preparing to return to the Tree Palace to continue pondering whether Magnetic Field Rotation could interact with magic and divine power, his Ares clone on Olympus suddenly received an uninvited guest.
Leto's son, Artemis's younger brother, Apollo, the only designated handsome man on Olympus, suddenly came to him with a look of annoyance.
"Ares, help me," he pleaded with Ares. "A thief stole my cattle!"