"We're different."

Standing in the sky of the underworld, not a single drop of blood came out of Hades' severed arm.

As if there had never been a limb, some terrible force prevented Hades' regeneration and kept him back to his original state.

But at this moment, Hades ignored the mutilation of his body and the pain that came back from the priesthood. He looked at the outsider in front of him, and met the other's gaze under the pressure of the mountains and seas.

There is no emotion...... From the other party's eyes, Hades did not see the slightest feeling of looking at life. It's as if the other person is not looking at another god, but at an object, a dead thing without life.

It can't even compare to the gods looking at mortals...... The Hades did not know that even if his 'divinity' had not yet reached the point of ignoring all beings, it was impossible for Ryan to have any emotions about the existence of a false world, he only thought that this was a sign that the other party had made up his mind.

So at this moment, Hades let go of all his past cognitions. He didn't know why the other party really dared to do anything to the underworld, and he didn't know what he meant by 'different', but maybe as he said, this powerful god who suddenly popped up really had some kind of unknown means.

Perception is a frenzied warning, a warning from the underworld itself...... Although according to common sense, no matter how powerful the power is, it is impossible to harm the foundation of the underworld, Hades believes in the intuition of the innate gods.

If it were in the past, as was the case at the beginning of the epoch when he was fighting for the throne of the god-king, the king of Hades might choose to retreat, retreating from the earth to the netherworld. But now, with the underworld behind him, he has nowhere to retreat. At this moment, Hades actually regretted it a little.

Unlike him in reality, there are no undead in the underworld in the original trajectory, and Zeus's experience must be smoother...... This reminded Hades of that day. Maybe he shouldn't have given up in the first place...... Even if it fails, it is better than being like now, even if you wait for half an era, you still don't see any possibility of moving forward.

But reality is not, and if you miss it, you miss it. It seemed like a long time, but in fact it was only a moment, looking at Ryan in front of him, the unretreating Hades couldn't help but take a step forward.

"Let's ——!"

The earth trembled slightly, and the underworld, which was like an apocalyptic scene, seemed to have felt the will of the Hades, and it burst out with unprecedented power.

The gray light in the sky swelled like a tide, rising into the sky inch by inch. This is the pinnacle of Hades' power, the instinctive resistance of the underworld after being hurt, the power of the innate god is rising under the fierce emotions, it is enough to make any true god in the world retreat from it, but unfortunately, in the face of the enemies it faces, these struggles are just useless.

The left hand void pressed down, and the moment that had risen was stopped, and the underworld trembled. With his right hand, he threw the black sword, and the condensation of [Death] power immediately disintegrated into mist, and after swimming in the air, it condensed into a substance again, turning into a long chain. At Lane's will, it swam through the void and bound to the Immortal.

Originally, the mythical god of death Thanatos had such a chain, but it was an artifact made for him by the craftsman god Hephaestus. This weak Grim Reaper has used this to seduce the souls of mortals—he is still busy on earth, and he has not returned to the underworld, let alone the opportunity to witness what true death is like in even an illusory world.

It's just that, like many of the gods of Kaos, Tanatos' shallow wisdom is far inferior to that of mortals. He had been tricked by a king into being bound by his own artifact, becoming the first god to be imprisoned by humans.

Of course, in the face of the immortal gods, the fate of that king is also obvious. After all, humans may be able to defeat the gods for a while, but if they lose once, the price will be eternal.

But now, with the same authority, the same style of chains, the creation of [death] has locked Hades firmly in mid-air.

Whoa—

The struggle provoked the sound of chains colliding, but Hades' resistance obviously had no effect.

At this moment, there is no third person in the sky, and those underworld gods who have risen into the air with Hades before have long since run away. Moreover, it was still spring on earth, and even Persephone was still with her mother, completely unaware of what was going on here.

So hanging alone in the sky, in front of Hades, Ryan's face couldn't help but become solemn.

Reaching into the void again, Ryan pulled out a stone sword. When he grasped the hilt of his sword, it seemed to trigger some kind of rule, and the golden flames suddenly ignited around him, but they did not hurt him in the slightest, but it was like adding a golden cloak, hunting in the sky of the underworld.

This is the Great Sun Burning Body, a curse that is enough to make ordinary true gods unbearable, and it is the remnant of the ancient sun god whose consciousness is separated in the world. It will scorch any being who tries to use it, so that the weak cannot hold it, and the strong do not need it.

But at this moment, what Lane needs is not the strength of its power, but the nature of its authority. If you can't destroy a system from the outside, then disassemble it from the inside. And the best way to do that is to insert something out of place into this sophisticated system, but indestructible.

Boom –

The stone sword broke through the air and pierced Hades's chest, but the two sides didn't seem to be on the same plane of time and space.

There was not the slightest sound of a sharp blade entering the flesh, and behind the Hades, there was no sword blade breaking out of the body. At this moment, only Ryan knew that this sword was actually using Hades's priesthood as a medium, and it had penetrated deeply into the Source Sea along some kind of connection, piercing into the origin that symbolized the [Underworld].

There is no protection from the laws of the world in the illusory world, so the [Sun] penetrates into the [Underworld] so easily. For a moment, the whole world seemed to stand still for a moment, and then with it, endless light and heat radiated from the sky of Hades.

The dull sky was replaced by light, and the shadow of a great sun hung high in the sky, scorching the dull gray earth. Wisps of mist evaporated, then dissipated in mid-air.

Seeing all this, Ryan finally nodded, because he could clearly see that his attack was really working.

Hades is not a primordial god, and the land of the underworld is only an outward manifestation that originates from the material world. If before, the power of [Death] only destroyed the surface of the underworld, then now this stone sword is truly straight to the source.

In just a few breaths, at the core of the underworld, small cracks have begun to appear in the earth, and on Hades's body, there are also wisps of water vapor that have evaporated.

Attacks are external, and only a little will be fed back to the source. But the harm to the source will definitely be reflected in the symbols of the outside world. Just like now, Hades suddenly found that a wave of enthusiasm was rising from his mind, and then spreading to his whole body.

Whoa—

"What did you do?!"

The clash of chains rang out again, and the Immortal struggled. At this moment, his power was dispersing, retreating, like a tough steel wire inserted into a delicate machine, its movement began to slow down, and even the internal 'parts' were clashing with each other.

The entire cycle of Hades has been affected, and it is gradually having a tendency to collapse, and as the lord of the underworld, Hades can clearly perceive this. Yet tied to the air, he could do nothing.

Of course, as a 'foreign body' inserted into the underworld, the pressure on the stone sword attached to the [Sun] is actually even more terrifying, but it doesn't make sense. For in the whole process, neither the Sun nor the many powers that make up the underworld, they themselves have not been compromised, but as a whole, they have been forced to 'separate'.

For the Sun, it is not separated from it is the Sun, but for the many powers that make up the underworld, when combined, they are the Underworld of their own, and when they are separated, they are just different powers.

Even a theocracy like [Underworld], which has an obvious regional nature, is far from being like [Doom] [Lies], when the overall structure of the underworld is broken up day by day, its status will also be weakened.

"Very good...... That's what I want. ”

Ignoring the false gods' questioning, Ryan maintained a position of false grip on his right hand. He was wrestling with this illusory underworld to prevent the stone sword attached to [Sun] from being spontaneously excluded from the root by the circulation of the interface.

Although it is easier to destroy than to build, the structure and circulation of the world have 'inertia', and even if it is just an illusory world, it cannot be completely dismembered in a short time.

"Seven days."

Silently making a judgment, standing in the sky of Hades, Ryan looked calm.

It is like dragging the underworld to the earth, and letting the sun shine on the underworld. After seven days, the place will completely disintegrate, and Hades, the original lord of the underworld, will also be reduced to smoke and dust in the light of the sun.

······

Reality, Hades Shrine.

In the tall and ornate hall, Hades rested on his elbows on the armrests and rested on his throne.

The newly appointed queen stood not far away, with a cradle in front of her and a baby with a scar on her face.

Persephone gently shook the cradle and sang an unknown tune. Invisible forces flowed into the child's shriveled body.

He is being transformed, from the earthly to the underground, from the living to the dead, and of course, from the 'dead' to the 'living'. He was favored by the forces of the underworld and raised by the Queen of the Underworld herself, so in a sense, this baby can also be seen as the child of Hades and Persephone.

Of course, after all, he was not born in person, so it is natural that he will not become a true god. It's just that the creatures born in this way, in addition to immortality and authority, may not differ too much in pure power.

Time passed like this, minute by minute, I don't know when, the queen also sat back in her place.

The transformation of that baby did not happen overnight, after all, he had been baptized by the power of Hestia's [Guardian]. Moreover, Persephone's grasp of the authority of the underworld was not so handy, and this delicate operation was also a draining task for her.

With his eyes closed, Persephone was in a good mood. It's a good time in the Underworld, and it would be nice if it could shine a little brighter......

“……”

"—Stop!"

"Ho ......"

Suddenly, a shout of rage broke the peace of the shrine, and the vast dust shook for three points, but perhaps realizing something, everything returned to normal as the owner of the voice retracted.

In the Hades Palace, Hades woke up from his sleep. He gasped heavily, his sharp eyes scanned left and right, and all that could be seen was the pillars of the temple 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 scared by a nightmare too?"

was first startled, and then said mockingly. But in Persephone's eyes, there was a palpable hint of concern and alertness.

God rarely dreams, especially dreams with bad content. After all, there is no god in charge of dreams in the world today, so excluding the interference of external forces, the nightmare itself is likely to be a bad omen from fate.

“…… Whew, it doesn't matter, it's probably just a warning. ”

His heartbeat slowly slowed as Hades slowly returned to normal. He waved his hand, signaling that the other party did not need to worry, but it was obvious that the curiosity of the underworld had been aroused.

"What did you dream about?"

"Are you imprisoned in the abyss, or has someone ousted you from the throne of Hades?"

Uttering two guesses, this is what Persephone thinks is most likely.

As for the rest, I'm afraid it was far from enough for Hades to react so violently.

“…… No. ”

Shaking his head, Hades denied.

"What's that?"

Curious, Persephone asked. And in front of her, after a moment of hesitation, Hades still told the truth.

"Actually, it's an absurd dream...... In fact, what I dreamed of was that the underworld was destroyed. ”

Looking at the questioning eyes of the queen, Hades motioned for her not to speak yet. He rose from his throne and swept his gaze across the plains outside.

The number of high-level undead is growing, the size of the underworld is also increasing, and everything is developing in a good direction.

"That's the best option......"

Whispering silently, Hades smiled, and then said to Persephone:

"The memories in the dream are very vague, and I don't know the cause and effect, and I don't really remember what the specific process was, in short, it seems to be a bad ending."

"There are no undead, no power, I am alone on the throne, until one day a being who radiates light comes to Hades, and he stands before me and declares that he wants to destroy the whole world."

"And then?"

"And he did."

Sitting back in his chair, Hades held the armrest.

He raised his head slightly, as if he was looking at the dark moon, and as if he was looking at the mortal world above the earth.

"He pulls the sun to the underworld, or he drags the underworld to the earth."

"Light and heat enveloped the world, and under the scorching sun, I was scorched by the sun for seven days...... There was no rain, no breeze, and in a place where no one knew me, I was reduced to ashes with Hades. ”

"This is the end of this dream...... Interesting, isn't it? ”

“…… What's interesting? ”

Some didn't understand, Persephone couldn't help but ask.

"Well, I mean, what about after he destroyed the underworld?"

He smiled first, and then shook his head again.

"Forget it, it has nothing to do with me, it's just an absurd dream."

"The laws of this world are so great that dreams are only dreams after all...... In comparison, this underworld that belongs to me is the real world. ”

(End of chapter)