Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Chapter 462 - 126: Death in the Netherworld under the Blazing Sun_2

Zing——

The stone sword pierced through the air, penetrating Hades’ chest, but it seemed as if the two were not on the same spatiotemporal plane.

There was no sound of a blade cutting flesh; behind the lord of the Underworld, there was no sign of a sword point emerging. At this moment, only Laine knew that the sword had actually used Hades’ godhood as a medium, following some connection deep into the Origin Sea, stabbing into the core symbolizing the Underworld.

In the illusory world devoid of physical laws’ protection, the Sun penetrated the Underworld so easily. For a moment, the entire world seemed to pause, and then came the endless light and heat radiating from the sky of the Underworld.

The dull sky was replaced by light, a great sun’s phantom high in the sky, scorching the dark gray land. Wisps of mist rose, then vanished into nothingness in mid-air.

Watching all this, Laine finally nodded, clearly seeing that his attack had truly taken effect.

Hades was not a Primordial God, and the land of the Underworld was but a manifestation of the material world. If previously, the power of Death had only damaged the surface of the Underworld, now the stone sword had reached straight to the root.

In just a few moments, tiny cracks had started appearing at the core of the Underworld, and on Hades’ body, wisps of vapor were being evaporated away.

Attacking the exterior, only a little would reflect on the Origin. But harming the Origin would certainly be reflected in the symbolic outer world. Just like now, Hades suddenly found a wave of warmth rising from his mind, then spreading ceaselessly throughout his body.

Whoosh——

"What have you done?!"

The sound of clashing chains rang out again; Hades was struggling desperately. In this moment, his power began to disperse, to retreat, like a tough wire inserted into the gears of a precise machine, slowing down its operation, even causing its ’parts’ to conflict with each other.

The entire cycle of the Underworld was affected, showing a trend towards collapse. As the ruler of the Underworld, Hades could clearly sense this. But bound in mid-air, he was powerless to act.

Of course, as the ’foreign object’ embedded in the Underworld, the stone sword carrying the Sun was under even more terrible pressure, but this was meaningless. Because throughout the process, whether it was the Sun, or the various authorities that constituted the Underworld, they themselves were unharmed; it was only as a whole they were forced to ’separate.’

To the Sun, whether it split or not, it remained the Sun, but for the authorities that made up the Underworld, together, they formed the self-sustaining Underworld; apart, they were but individual forces with different powers.

Even an authority like the Underworld, which had a clear regional nature, was far from the likes of Destiny and Lies. As the structure of the Underworld was slowly dismantled day by day, its status diminished.

"Good... this is what I wanted."

Ignoring the false deity’s questioning, Laine maintained his hand in a grasping motion. He was wrestling with the illusory Underworld, preventing the stone sword carrying the Sun from being reflexively expelled from the Origin by the cycle of the realm.

Although destruction is easier than creation, the structure and cycle of the world have ’inertia’; even if this is just an illusory world, it couldn’t completely disintegrate in a brief moment.

"Seven days."

Making a silent judgment, Laine stood calmly in the sky of the Underworld.

Like dragging the Nether beneath the earth, letting the Sun shine directly upon the land of the dead. In seven days, this place would completely disintegrate, and as the original ruler of the Underworld, Hades would turn to dust under the sunlight.

...

Reality, the Divine Palace of the Underworld.

The grand, lavish hall held Hades resting his elbow on the armrest, leaning on his throne for a moment.

The newly appointed Queen of the Underworld stood not far away, in front of her was a cradle, inside which lay a baby with facial scars.

Persephone gently rocked the cradle, singing an unknown tune. Waves of invisible power flowed with her voice, entering the withered body of the child.

He was being transformed, from earthly to chthonic, from alive to dead, of course, and from ’dead’ to ’alive.’ He was favored by the powers of the Underworld, nurtured personally by the Queen of the Underworld, so in some sense, this baby could also be considered the child of Hades and Persephone.

Of course, since he was not born from her directly, he would naturally not become a True God. But a creature born through such a process, aside from immortality and authority, would probably not differ too much in mere strength.

Time passed by the second, and at some point, the Queen of the Underworld also sat back in her place.

The transformation of that baby was not an overnight matter, after all, he had once been blessed by the [Guardianship] power of Hestia. Moreover, Persephone’s control over the authorities of the Underworld was not yet so effortless; such delicate operations were taxing for her as well.

Resting with closed eyes, Persephone was in good spirits. Life in the Underworld was indeed very nice; if it could be a bit brighter, that would be all the better...

"..."

"Stop it!"

"Heh..."

Suddenly, an angry shout shattered the calm of the Divine Palace, and the vast ashen grounds trembled for a moment. However, perhaps realizing something, as the voice’s owner reined in their power, everything returned to normal.

Inside the Divine Palace of Hades, Hades abruptly awoke from his sleep. He gasped for air, his sharp gaze sweeping around, but all that met his eyes were the temple’s pillars and the slender figure of the Queen of the Underworld.

"What’s wrong with you, did you have a nightmare — didn’t expect you to be frightened by a nightmare?"

Initially startled, she then spoke teasingly. But in Persephone’s eyes, one could see a flicker of clear concern and vigilance.

Gods seldom dream, especially not unpleasant dreams. After all, there has been no talk of a Deity governing dreams in the world of today, so excluding the interference of external forces, the nightmare itself could very likely be an ominous portent from fate.

"...Huh, it’s nothing, probably just a warning."

His heartbeat slowly relaxed, and Hades gradually returned to his usual demeanor. He waved his hand, signaling that there was no need for concern, but clearly, the Queen of the Underworld’s curiosity had been piqued.

"What did you dream about?"

"Were you thrown into the Abyss, or was someone trying to strip you of your throne as the King of the Underworld?"

She made two guesses, which she thought were the most likely scenarios.

As for anything else, it likely wouldn’t be enough to elicit such a violent reaction from Hades.

"...No."

Shaking his head, the King of the Underworld denied it.

"Then what was it?"

Growing more curious, Persephone couldn’t help but press further. Before her, after hesitating for a moment, Hades still revealed the truth.

"It was actually a ludicrous vision... I dreamed that the Underworld was destroyed by someone."

Seeing the Queen’s skeptical look, Hades gestured for her to hold her comments. He stood up from the throne, his gaze sweeping across the plains outside.

The number of high-ranking wraiths was growing, and the Underworld was expanding, everything progressing towards a better future.

"This is the best choice..."

Muttering quietly to himself, Hades smiled, then spoke to Persephone:

"The memories of the dream are vague, I am not clear on the cause and effect, I hardly remember the specifics, but in general, it seemed like an unfavorable ending."

"There were no wraiths, no strength, and I sat alone on the throne until one day, a being emanating light came down to the Underworld. He stood before me, proclaiming he was going to destroy the entire world."

"And then what?"

"Then he did it."

Sitting back down in his chair, the King of the Underworld gripped the armrest.

He looked upward slightly, as though gazing at the Nether Moon, or perhaps at the Mortal Realm above the ground.

"He drew the Sun down to the Underworld, or perhaps dragged the Underworld up to the Mortal Realm."

"Light and heat enveloped the world, and under the blazing Sun, I was scorched for seven days... without a drop of dew, without a breeze, in a place unknown to all, I and the Underworld turned to ashes."

"This was the end of the dream... It’s interesting, isn’t it?"

"...What’s interesting about that?"

A bit confused, Persephone asked.

"Well, what I mean is, what then after he destroyed the Underworld?"

He laughed softly and then shook his head.

"Never mind, it has nothing to do with me, it’s just a preposterous dream after all."

"The Laws of this world are so mighty, a dream is ultimately just a dream... Compared to it, this Underworld of mine, is the truly real world."