Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

After all, he couldn't possibly go above ground in the guise of a River God and attempt to unify the many rivers. Not to mention whether the Divine King would object or how the Lord of Ocean would react, Styx alone was an insurmountable threshold for him.

So for a considerable amount of time, Charon was just an idler in the Underworld.

Hades initially thought so as well, even for himself who was short of help, Charon really didn't have much of a presence.

This situation continued until the Typhon disaster, when the wraith Evans reported to him a discovery, marking the first time the River of Sorrow had actual significance. (See 3-168)

After personally making a significant effort to seal the "Silence Crown," Hades who finally located the entrance to the Land of the Dead, Helheim, encountered trouble once again.

In this alien realm, filled with the aura of Death, he faced rejection once again.

Different from Asgard or any remnant of the Nine Realms, that world rejected living things; it was determined by its inherent law. Unfortunately, as a god of Chaos, Hades inherently lacked the possibility of death like the deities of the Nine Realms.

However, for Hades, encountering trouble was nothing out of the ordinary, as his divine life had always been about overcoming endless problems, never having stumbled upon fortunate windfalls like Zeus.

Therefore, after just a bit of thought, Hades came up with a solution.

If the environment rejected him, then he must either change himself or the environment.

As the Lord of the Underworld, Hades lacked the ability to change himself, and even if he could, he wouldn't turn himself into a deceased. Thus, changing the environment remained the only solution.

For this purpose, he summoned Charon, deciding to use this useless Styx River to achieve his goal.

Three rivers of the Underworld, one flowing into the Abyss, one into the Spirit Realm, and this third one, into the Land of the Dead. Since he couldn't collect a ferry fee at the gates of the Underworld, then he would collect it at Helheim's gates.

As the river with some authority over the Underworld laws, allowing Acheron to burst into Helheim also meant the laws of the Underworld were eroding and assimilating that realm.

Strong though Helheim was, without the World Tree, if it claimed to match the entire Underworld, that would be an impossibility.

With the gap in strength, the outcome of the erosion was certain. And once this assimilation led by himself truly completed... Hades himself didn't know what kind of benefits he would reap.

Before Poseidon, the sea had its master; before Zeus, the Mortal Realm had three generations of Divine Kings, but only the Underworld had a single ruler from beginning to end.

He is the Uranus of the Underworld, the original Lord of the Dead, the embodiment of the Underworld Land, and the one who contributed the most. So for him, strengthening the Underworld meant strengthening himself.

Let the Styx River pave the way, and later he would select capable wraiths and demigods from the Mortal Realm to enter, accelerating the occupation of Helheim, and when that time comes—

"Hmm?"

Boom—!

His expression changing slightly, Hades abruptly rose from his throne.

Just now, a massive tremor suddenly came from afar, causing the Underworld to shake, even the palace swayed. And that direction, could it be the Abyss?

"Charon, did someone enter the Underworld just now?"

Catching the essence instantly, Hades asked seriously. Hearing this, Charon extended his senses, exchanging perception with the Acheron River.

"...Your Majesty, there has been. A short while ago, the King of All Gods just entered the Underworld," said Charon.

"..."

"...I knew it, whenever he's involved, nothing good ever happens!"

Cursing under his breath, Hades never imagined that he'd stop minding his own Golden Apples, and still, Zeus would find a way to trouble him... But just as he thought this, another even larger tremor occurred, and Hades couldn't help but let out a light huff.

"However, it's fortunate, I already made preparations for this."

The Earth quaked, shockwaves continued, the previous tremors were clearly not isolated. But Hades merely stepped forward leisurely, reaching out to knock on a pillar inside the palace.

The crisp sound echoed through the great hall, and while an ordinary person might not understand its significance, Charon's eyes widened upon hearing the disturbance.

"Heh heh, it seems you've caught on? Indeed, few are aware that, as the god of the Underworld, I also control a considerable portion of the mineral wealth beneath the earth. What other deities consider precious materials are merely commonplace to me."

"So, Charon, I've learned from previous lessons, and as I constructed this Palace of Hades, I made ample preparations."

"Before," Hades said, clenching his fist, articulating every word, "do you know how many times this palace has been destroyed?"

"Three times!"

"And each time, they were unwarranted disasters!"

"But that is in the past. From now on, it will never collapse again, because this palace has been cast using the method of forging divine artifacts! Sans the authority and might, materially speaking, this is a massively scaled-up Divine Artifact!"

"Hmph, with this, unless a Great Divine Power directly targets my palace, mere shockwaves will no longer harm it! Let Zeus himself strike at it, and it would be best..."

Hades didn't finish the thought, but the implication was clear: it would be best if Zeus broke a few legs.

As for being killed, that was naturally impossible; Hades didn't entertain such fantasies.

"Your Majesty is truly formidable, with far-sighted wisdom and marvelous stratagems! This time, it is surely foolproof!"

Praise came from beside him, as Charon, who had decided to align closely with a powerful ally, did not hesitate to flatter unabashedly.

If one overlooked the great disparities in their appearances, he even bore a slight resemblance to Zephyrus.

"Cough, let's not celebrate in haste, wait for matters to conclude."

Hades coughed lightly, feeling like he had been slightly too emotional.

But this was a normal reaction; anybody's home being destroyed repeatedly would respond in kind.

"Since there's an issue, you needn't rush to leave. I want to see what sort of enemy Zeus has provoked in the Abyss."

······

Boom——

The door at the junction of the Abyss and the Underworld shook with an increasingly violent rumble.

Inside Tartarus, Zeus was slowly retreating.

Though initially overwhelmed with rage, Zeus eventually remained Zeus.

For someone like him, unless cornered, engaging in a battle to the death without considering pros and cons was utterly out of the question.

So as he calmed down, Zeus began to move towards the gates of the Abyss.

As the King of All Gods, he had begun to realize during the fight that the Abyss was repelling not only him but also the opponent, albeit to a lesser degree.

The closer he got to the portal, the less pressure he felt upon himself, and the greater the pressure became on his adversary.

In such a scenario, there was no need to say how he would act... Defeat was not an option, nor was flight.

As the King of All Gods, even for the stability of his sovereignty, he could not afford to lose to an unknown foe.

'Just "battled for three hundred rounds and emerged with a slight edge, but due to the conflicting interests of the gods over the ocean, had to retreat temporarily"...' With the script silently planned, Zeus's grip never loosened.

However, amidst the heat of battle, Zeus failed to notice a colossal entity, nearly fused with the chaotically profound void of the Abyss, was stealthily approaching him.