Chapter 2: The Growth of Phanes

The first thing Phanes saw when he opened his eyes was a breathtaking woman cradling him in her arms. Her long, golden hair cascaded over her shoulders like flowing sunlight, and her violet eyes, filled first with shock, quickly softened into something warm—something deeply maternal.

For a moment, Phanes was disoriented. The overwhelming sensation of being born anew coursed through him. He could feel the strange divine energy in his body, powerful yet unfamiliar. As he stared at the radiant woman, a realization struck him.

'So this is my mother in this life… Rhea, the Titaness of Motherhood, Fertility, and Marriage. She's even more beautiful than I imagined.'

Despite the oddity of being reborn, Phanes couldn't help but smile inwardly. He had read countless stories and myths in his past life, and now he had stepped directly into one.

Then, his mother spoke.

"As the personification of Life, Light, and Space, your name shall be Phanes."

Phanes felt something click within him at the name. Phanes, the god of creation, light, and cosmic order—an existence of pure radiance.

To his surprise, he understood every word perfectly, even though he knew the Titans spoke an ancient divine tongue. 'So gods have the ability to understand all languages instinctively? A useful ability.'

Just as he was processing his thoughts, the grand doors of the chamber burst open.

A towering man entered, his amber eyes burning with intensity. His massive muscular frame radiated authority and divine power, and his presence alone seemed to bend the air around him. A thick mane of hair and a beard, both dark as the stormy sky, framed his imposing face.

Phanes recognized him immediately.

'Kronos… the Titan of Time and Harvest. The King of the Titans. The god who devours his children.'

Even though Phanes had been expecting this moment, a sense of dread crept into his heart. It was one thing to know something would happen—it was another to experience it firsthand. 'Even knowing that I will survive, I can't help but be afraid…'

Kronos' gaze locked onto Phanes, and in an instant, his expression twisted with horror and fury.

"Rhea… give me the child." His voice was deep and commanding.

Rhea instinctively pulled Phanes closer. "Kronos, he is your son—our son!" she pleaded.

But Kronos was unmoved.

"That child is no Titan. He is something else. I will not allow him to exist."

Phanes barely had time to react before a massive hand seized him. His tiny body was lifted effortlessly from his mother's arms.

Kronos opened his mouth wide, his enormous maw dark as the abyss.

'Here it comes…' Phanes thought, closing his eyes.

Then, with a single, swift motion—

He was swallowed whole.

Inside the Belly of Kronos

Phanes plummeted into darkness, tumbling downward through the Titan King's esophagus. The walls around him pulsed, squeezing rhythmically as he descended.

Though it was hard to focus in his current situation, Phanes forced himself to stay calm.

'At least he didn't chew me. If he had, I would have been erased before I even had a chance to exist properly.'

As he continued falling, he instinctively tried to channel his divinity.

A natural instinct told him that as a god, he could manipulate his domains—Life, Light, and Space. But when he attempted to shift his infant body into an adult form, a crushing force prevented him.

'My divinity is being restricted…!'

It wasn't just that he was a newborn—something about this place, inside Kronos, made it nearly impossible for him to exert his full power.

'Damn… looks like I'll have to wait until I grow naturally.'

Phanes sighed in frustration but accepted the reality. He would have to bide his time.

The descent seemed endless. Hours? Days? Months? Time felt warped within the body of a god who governed it.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, Phanes stopped falling.

He was fully grown now, standing on solid ground—or at least, what passed for ground inside a god's stomach.

His body had matured into that of a young man, his golden hair flowing down his back like liquid sunlight, his emerald eyes gleaming with the essence of life itself. His physique was strong but lean, muscles compacted rather than bulky—evidence of divine perfection rather than mortal training.

Looking around, Phanes scowled.

"I need to find shelter. If I don't, Kronos' stomach acids will incinerate me out of existence."

He placed his hand against the fleshy walls of his prison, feeling the pulsating heat radiating from them.

His divine instincts kicked in. He knew exactly what to do.

Bracing himself, he drove his hands into the Titan's esophagus, piercing through the thick, living flesh.

"Ughhh…" A distant groan echoed through the walls.

Phanes grinned.

"That must've hurt, old man."

Determined, he continued tearing through the flesh, carving out a cavern for himself. It would serve as a temporary sanctuary—not just for himself, but also for his future siblings, who would inevitably join him in this hellish prison.

As he worked, Kronos suddenly shuddered.

"AHHHHH… DAMN YOU, PHANES!"

The Titan clutched his chest in agony, attempting to suppress the pain.

Phanes smirked at the sound of his suffering. "Hearing you scream like that… honestly, it's kind of soothing."

Kronos, enraged, slammed his fist into his own chest in an attempt to silence the discomfort.

The entire space quaked violently, nearly throwing Phanes off balance. But he reacted swiftly, using his restricted divinity of Space to stabilize himself.

"Careful there, Kronos. You almost made me fall." Phanes muttered.

Finally, after relentless effort, he completed his work.

A small, hollow cavern now existed within the esophagus of a god, reinforced by his divinity

.

With a satisfied nod, Phanes extended his hand, summoning his Light Divinity.

A golden glow illuminated the cavern, making it feel less like a prison and more like a sanctuary.

Then, he channeled his Life Divinity, filling the space with a soft, green energy—one that nurtured rather than destroyed.

Finally, he activated Space Divinity, subtly stabilizing the area to prevent it from collapsing due to Kronos' bodily functions.

The cavern pulsed with divine energy, radiating the essence of creation and order.

Phanes exhaled, pleased with his work.

Now, all that remained was to train.

"I need to master my divinity. If I can push past the restrictions here, I might be able to escape before Zeus even arrives."

And so, within the belly of the Titan King, Phanes began his long and silent preparation.

Unbeknownst to him, his very existence had begun to distort the fate of the Greek Pantheon, drawing the attention of cosmic forces beyond even the Primordials.

The gods had not yet realized it, but a new anomaly had been born.

One that would change everything.

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Time flowed strangely inside Kronos' stomach—or rather, it was distorted beyond mortal comprehension. Hours felt like days, days like centuries. There was no sun to mark the passing of time, no seasons to signal change. The only thing Phanes knew for certain was that he was growing stronger.

At first, he was unsure of how much time had passed. Perhaps a century, perhaps only a few years. But within this endless void, he transformed.

His body, once that of a youthful god, had matured fully. His golden hair still flowed down his back like radiant silk, but his features had become sharper, more defined—his emerald-green eyes gleamed with intelligence and divine authority.

His frame had filled out, sculpted by the sheer density of his divine power. No longer just lean, his physique was now powerful yet compact, his muscles brimming with unshakable strength. He stood at an imposing height of 6'3" (191 cm), and though he had long since stopped aging, his presence had never felt more formidable.

Yet, it was not just his body that had evolved—his abilities had advanced beyond recognition.

Mastery Over Life, Light, and Space

Through constant training and experimentation, Phanes had expanded his control over his three major divinities, each unlocking new capabilities.

Divinity of Life

Originally, his control over life had been limited to passive healing. But now, his mastery had reached a point where he could instantly heal wounds of any severity. He could restore with a mere thought, reversing even the most grievous injuries as if they had never existed.

His deepened understanding of life had also granted him a new minor divinity—Fertility. Since fertility was the foundation of all procreation and creation, it naturally aligned with his domain. He suspected that if he continued developing this aspect, he might be able to create new forms of life entirely.

But healing was not the only power he gained. He discovered he could use Life itself as a weapon.

He called it 'Life Drain'—a terrifying ability that allowed him to absorb the life force of any being weaker than him.

The first time he tested it, he reached out and touched the fleshy walls of Kronos' esophagus. Instantly, the living membrane withered, turning dry and brittle. However, before he could study it further, Kronos' regenerative abilities kicked in, and the tissue restored itself instantly.

'I see… even here, Kronos' divine body is too powerful to weaken permanently. But if it were a lesser god or a mortal, they would be reduced to nothing in an instant.'

This realization only fueled his determination.

Divinity of Light

Phanes had always known that Light was one of the most destructive forces in existence. At first, he had used it merely as illumination, but as he practiced, he discovered its true potential as a weapon.

The first time he attempted an offensive attack, he summoned a spear of pure light and hurled it into the membrane of Kronos' esophagus.

The result was devastating.

The light spear pierced through the flesh effortlessly, the intense heat causing the tissue to disintegrate into nothingness. Kronos groaned in pain, his divine body instantly regenerating the lost tissue—but the power was undeniable.

'So, Light can be a weapon of absolute destruction. I can refine this further.'

Through his experiments, Phanes gained a new minor divinity—Fire. It made sense; light and fire were closely linked, both capable of burning away darkness.

He learned to conjure holy flames, capable of purging and incinerating impurities, and he realized that he could develop even more destructive forms of fire if he pushed his comprehension further.

Divinity of Space

Perhaps the most difficult of his divinities to master, Space required precise control. At first, all he could do was expand his small cave, which was originally 10 meters wide. Over time, he managed to increase it fivefold, creating a spacious sanctuary within the Titan King's body.

However, he quickly ran into a problem—his control over space was unstable.

No matter how much he tried to widen and manipulate the space, it would always revert back over time. It was as if something was interfering with his divine power.

'Something is interfering… No, it's the nature of this place. Time is a mess inside Kronos. That must be why my space divinity keeps destabilizing.'

After careful study, Phanes realized that traces of space divinity were interwoven into the chaotic flow of time within Kronos.

This could only mean one thing—Kronos also possessed a minor divinity over space.

Phanes, never one to waste an opportunity, used his Extreme Comprehension Talent to study these traces carefully. It didn't take long for him to make a breakthrough.

Through sheer focus, he managed to extract and absorb some of the divine essence left behind by Kronos, and with it, he gained something new—

Minor Divinity of Time.

The moment he comprehended time, something clicked within him.

He could feel time's influence over space, the way it bent and twisted, and with this new knowledge, he finally stabilized his space manipulation.

Now, he could permanently maintain the expanded size of his cavern as long as he remained here.

This was just the beginning

'A New Presence…'

Just as he finished his training session, something shifted in the air.

A sound.

Faint at first, like a whisper carried through an endless void.

Then, a voice.

Phanes immediately focused his divine sense, sending it outward. The moment he did, his ears sharpened, and he caught the sound more clearly.

Someone was speaking outside.

His heartbeat quickened.

Was it finally time?

Had another of his siblings been born?

He closed his eyes, channeling his senses to listen carefully to what was happening beyond the Titan King's body.

His long wait was finally coming to an end.

(To be Continued)