With Poseidon, a helper, removed, Zeus turned his gaze to the foresightful Prometheus, the second-generation Titan god who truly troubled Zeus. The foresightful one left no trace of his actions, and Zeus had the star gods watch him for a long time, but could not find an excuse to condemn him.
Zeus summoned the foresightful Prometheus and the hindsightful Epimetheus, and said to them, "Sons of the Soul God, your elder brother Atlas has gone to the far west to hold up the entire sky. His actions have made the world much emptier; the earth lacks vitality and vigor. I command you to go to the earth and create more life. You may obtain the necessary materials from the gods to complete this great undertaking."
Although the silver humans had less difficulty in procreation than the golden humans, the number of newborn humans was still too small. Coupled with the appearance of Typhon and the monsters, the number of silver humans had repeatedly decreased, no longer enjoying the prosperity of their birth.
Prometheus dared not disobey Zeus's command and left the divine mountain with his younger brother Epimetheus for the earth.
In the beginning, the earth and sky were not far apart, and one could touch the stars in the sky from a mountaintop. After Tyche obtained the sky, the appearance of the crystal wall added an extra burden to the sky. Fortunately, the laws decomposed the body of Chaos, strengthening the origin of the world, and the sky gradually became higher.
After the god of strength Atlas lifted the sky, the distance between heaven and earth became even greater. The boundaries of the earth continuously extended, and the newly formed land was desolate, with only wind and rain blowing across it.
Fairies and giants appeared on the vast earth, and the remaining monsters would appear at night and fight with these beings.
Athena sent materials imbued with beautiful qualities. The moment the hindsightful Epimetheus came into contact with these materials, his authority, which knew the origin of all past things, was stimulated. Endless desire for creation filled the god's heart. Epimetheus inherited the power of creation and invention from his father, the Soul God Iapetus. Fertility became a sacred white cow in his hands, and from his keenness, gray-feathered falcons were born. The dead were resurrected in the hands of the hindsightful one!
Epimetheus knew the structural principles of all things that had already existed in the past. This hindsightful god was the most suitable one to restore prosperity to the earth.
Epimetheus sought ancient laws and wisdom from the world's memory, and the materials brought by Athena transformed into various forms of life in his hands. The gods on the divine mountain watched this scene in astonishment, not hiding their shock!
They had always thought Epimetheus was a foolish and useless being, but he had now become the creator of all things. From the agility bestowed by Canna, leopards were born, and Apollo's music was transformed into various birds, which made the gods curious about what creatures would be created from the materials they provided. They looked at Epimetheus with novelty and did not spare their praise.
Only Zeus, the king of the gods, did not focus on Epimetheus, who was creating animals, but kept his gaze fixed on the foresightful Prometheus.
Unknowingly, the materials bestowed by the gods were consumed by Epimetheus. By the time the hindsightful one realized it, nothing was left.
Prometheus had no choice but to take different qualities from the various animals created by his brother and mix them with iron. With these materials, he created strong and tall black iron humans.
Perhaps because the materials for creating the black iron humans came from animals, the new humans possessed a carnivorous nature. They were unwilling to expend energy planting crops on the earth or spending time picking fruits from trees. The power of reproduction permeated the earth, and these black iron humans multiplied rapidly and grew stronger.
The silver humans were already uneasy due to the appearance of monsters. The powerful black iron humans were immediately accepted by these benevolent elders and received their welcome.
Thus, the era of the silver humans came to an end, their twilight drowned in the torrent of the black iron humans.
Unfortunately, the black iron humans were rough in temperament and difficult to teach. Their abundant energy had nowhere to be released, and they would always quarrel over minor conflicts.
Among the gods who received faith, only Hera, the goddess of fertility, still enjoyed respect and worship. The farmlands cultivated by the silver humans became barren, and snowballing conflicts sprinkled blood and wails across heaven and earth, making the gods dislike them.
The angered gods requested the king of the gods to punish these humans who did not respect the gods, but all requests were dropped at Prometheus's plea.
On the earth, Hera, who spread the divine power of fertility, walked with the god of courage. Hera was now a thorn in Echidna's side. Menoetius, who was ordered to hunt Echidna, failed to find the mother of monsters and had to stay by the side of the goddess of marriage to protect her.
Perhaps it was due to prolonged contact, but after Menoetius saved Hera several times from Echidna's attacks, sparks of love began to fly between the two deities. Soon, between the embrace of marriage and courage, Hephaestus, the god of forging and fire, was born. The black iron humans' demand for weapons spurred the birth of this god. Under Hephaestus's guidance, various weapons were created, and bloodshed and conflict erupted more frequently.
Next was Ares, the god of war, who was born amidst the turmoil of flowing blood and fire. This brutal god of war enjoyed the thrill of slaughter and quickly grew powerful from faith.
The gods lost faith one by one and, unable to bear the clamor of war, returned to Mount Olympus.
Having lost the faith that brought them power, the gods naturally would not let it go and united to put pressure on the main gods.
To appease the gods, Zeus summoned Prometheus and ordered him to bring the king of the gods' command to humanity: humans needed to hold grand sacrifices for the gods, through which each deity would receive their share of faith. This barely appeased the gods.
But the black iron humans were too busy killing each other to spend time on labor. Only some aging silver humans were still farming, but the grain they produced was barely enough to feed themselves, let alone provide surplus food for sacrifices.
Prometheus, having no other ideas, went to the temple of Tyche on the water and begged the powerful primordial goddess to bring vitality to the earth. The temple gates were tightly shut, and only the foresightful one's voice echoed on the silent water. Prometheus had no choice but to say, "Mistress of Earth and Sky, ruler of the seas, please look upon me, for I once helped you create the Sirens, and grant me guidance from fate!"
Prometheus's plea opened the temple gates, and Tyche's voice echoed in the vast temple, "Foresightful one, the favor I owe you is not to be used here! Leave, go back to the earth and accompany your creations. As long as you can change their inherited beastly nature, they still have a chance to be saved!"