A Divine Being appeared before Leto. With black hair and black eyes, he was strikingly handsome, holding a unique tree-shaped Divine Artifact in his hand and smiling at her.
It was none other than Bolos, who had followed the strange guidance of the Tree of Life, leaping from one space to another and emerging from Zeus's body.
Seeing him appear, the exhausted Leto seemed to have found her support. She collapsed toward the sea.
Bolos caught her and, without a word, swept the Tree of Life in his hand toward the nearby monsters.
His own Divine Power was limited and not to be used lightly, but the Tree of Life was another matter.
It was the Tree of Life, the Tree of his belief, and the Tree of the faith of all beings.
After receiving the faith of The Goddess of Wisdom Metis, it was already capable of unleashing a formidable power of belief-based Divine Power.
Using its power, Bolos unleashed a Divine Magic—Grand Annihilation Art!
The so-called Grand Annihilation Art meant annihilating all things in existence.
At his current level, Bolos could only destroy material matter and not laws, spirituality, causality, fate, or the world itself.
Even so, it was more than enough to deal with the monsters before him.
With a sweep of sacred white light, the monsters were reduced to scattered remains.
"So just how weak is Leto really? It's hard to believe Artemis and Apollo are her children," Bolos muttered.
Though he had easily slaughtered the monsters, he didn't consider himself powerful.
The Tree of Life now possessed Divine Power that at most matched Metis at her peak.
From what Athena had told him, Metis never even clarified her initial Divine Office before being swallowed by Zeus. She had yet to find the path to becoming a Supreme God.
In this mythological world, she might have been clever, but she wasn't powerful.
By comparison, Leto was even weaker.
This world had no official ranks below Supreme God, but Bolos figured he could define rough levels.
Those like Metis—profound in their understanding of Divine Office and Divine Power, just a step away from Supreme God—could be called High Gods.
Most Divine Beings who had secured a Divine Office could be considered Middle Gods.
Those who had come of age but had yet to obtain a Divine Office could be called Low Gods.
Of course, this was just a general classification, not a measure of true strength.
For example, the Middle God Leto before him was even weaker than himself, who wouldn't even count as a Low God.
Looking at Leto, pale from blood loss, Bolos guided her over the sea, searching for an island where she could safely give birth.
...
The changes by the sea had long attracted the attention of nearby Divine Beings.
This was the private affair of The King of the Gods Zeus and Queen of the Gods Hera, so none of the Divine Beings dared to interfere.
But now, seeing someone intervene and even kill the monsters Hera had sent, they panicked.
Hera was not a forgiving goddess—best not to let her think they were involved.
One of the Divine Beings quickly rushed to Mount Olympus to report what had happened.
Atop this central mountain of the world stood a resplendent palace, built by the remaining Golden Humans at Zeus's order after his victory in the Titanomachy and his ascension as The King of the Gods.
The Golden Humans were the first generation of humans created by Zeus's father, Cronus, during his reign as The King of the Gods.
This generation knew neither disease nor aging. While alive, they did not need to labor; the Earth provided all they required.
Because of the Titanomachy, the Golden Age ended, and the remaining humans became the servants of the gods, living eternally under their divine light.
At that moment, Zeus was not in the Divine Temple, and Hera had no idea where he had gone off to indulge himself again.
Pregnant and already in a foul mood, Hera became even more furious when she heard the report. She inquired further about the Divine Being who had helped Leto.
"Him?"
Hera's heart sank. Before she had become Zeus's wife, she had once encountered a black-haired, black-eyed male Divine Being, much like the Lady of Night Nyx.
He had called himself a foreign god and even prophesied that she would give birth to an extremely ugly child.
She had been so enraged at the time that she drove him away.
But before leaving, he had given her a dry tree branch, saying that if she ever wanted a more beautiful child, she could use the branch while chanting a prayer.
"I knew it—he and I were never meant to get along."
With an icy expression, Hera ordered her maidservant, the Goddess of the Rainbow Iris, to go to the sea and question this foreign god.
At the same time, she sent messages to The King of the Seas Poseidon and the Lord of the Ocean Oceanus:
No island or sea territory should provide refuge for Leto.
Out of respect for Leto's powerful parents, she had no intention of killing her—only to ensure her unborn children could never be born.
She would see to it that Leto had nowhere to land and no place to give birth.
...
Thus, when the Bolos took the pregnant Leto across the sea in search of a safe place, the sea gods—both near-shore under Poseidon and the deep-ocean gods under Oceanus—refused to let them enter any islands within their domain.
They all understood Hera's deep hatred for this mistress of Zeus and her determination to prevent the birth of Zeus's eldest son.
No Divine Being was willing to offend Queen of the Gods Hera for Leto's sake.
"Looks like we'll have to drift on the Ark of Life," Bolos said calmly.
He had anticipated this. Transforming the Tree of Life into a life ark, he sat alongside Leto, drifting across the sea.
Not long after, a rainbow streaked down from the sky, transforming into a radiant goddess who appeared before them.
"Goddess of the Rainbow, Iris…"
Seeing her, Leto's face went pale, and she began to tremble.
She leaned tightly against Bolos, nearly burying herself in his embrace.
Bolos, entirely unfamiliar with the word "refusal," wrapped his arms around the pregnant Leto without hesitation.
Then, looking up at the rainbow goddess, he asked coolly, "Hera's maidservant—what brings you here?"
Just as he expected, and as myth had recorded, Hera would not personally harm Leto; her target was the unborn Artemis and Apollo.
Especially Apollo. If born, he would become Zeus's firstborn son.
"Foreign Divine Being," Iris said, "Queen of the Gods bids you: Leave Leto, and you shall earn her friendship."
"But if you insist on helping Leto, you will earn her enmity."
"Friendship or enmity—please consider your choice carefully!"
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