Chapter 392 - Gigantomachia (17) (1/2)

“Why are you like this even until the end?” Persephone muttered quietly as she looked at Hades. He was kneeling and supporting himself with a sword, looking as though he were simply taking a breather after an intense battle.

Despite her cold wintery aura, for a moment, different emotions flickered on her face. She had always resented her husband. He had stolen her youth, but…there were times when she’d nearly reciprocated his feelings.

He had always loved her sincerely. Although he’d never been able to properly express himself because of his indifferent personality, it was impossible for her not to know how much effort he took to appease her. Because of that, she had contemplated for a long time before deciding to make a contract with Mother Earth.

Although she had resented her husband at first, after some time passed, she had begun to let go of her hard feelings. She’d hesitated because she knew that making a contract with Mother Earth would mean endangering Olympus, where her mother was.

When Hades discovered her secret, Persephone hadn’t yet been an Apostle of Mother Earth. If Hades had spoken with her instead of running away, perhaps things would have turned out differently today. “Horrible fool.”

But those possibilities were meaningless now. “Because of you, I’ve become a villain, someone who has betrayed both husband and family while you’ll remain someone great.” She had made her decision, and she couldn’t turn back now. “In that case, I’ll become an even greater villain.”

Persephone stroked Hades’ face with her hand. There was still warmth lingering on his unshaven face. Before it could disappear, Hades’ body disintegrated. Whoosh.

Persephone’s expression stiffened. “It’s not here…?” She opened her palm. It was filled with dust that slipped between her fingers. The important thing that she should be holding wasn’t there, the thing that only the King of the Underworld possessed: the godly ability of death.

After the Black King had faded away, many godly societies had taken a piece of this. In Olympus, Hades had been the recipient, and he had descended to the Underworld with it.

But where was it? Why couldn’t she see it? It was impossible for it to be lost, and she looked around just in case she’d missed it. But even as Hades’ dust faded away, she couldn’t find it at all.

A thought occurred to Persephone. “Is it possible?” Had Hades already given it to someone else? She thought of Yeon-woo, but she couldn’t think of when they might have made the exchange. The throne wasn’t something that could be handed over that easily. Also, since the recipient was a mere mortal, the system and Allforone would have refused to allow it to happen.

Had Hades made his preparations expecting this? When? The questions that filled her head didn’t change the fact that the power of the throne had been taken right from under her nose.

The power of the throne was a necessary part of making Tartarus completely hers because it possessed the right of ownership. Persephone slowly stood. “You made things complicated until the end. I do hate you.” With those words, she released the last of her level which she’d been suppressing.

Whoosh. Her body disappeared with the wind, and a shadow crept along the ground of the holy territory.

* * *

It was around then that darkness began to flood the ground like water, rising up to the knees of those remaining on the battlefield before releasing a black haze in the air. The haze rose in streams, twisting like pretzels until they formed thousands of huge tentacles that shot up to the sky as though a cage had been set over the holy territory.

“What is that?” Athena, who was fighting Krios, had a sudden ominous feeling and looked up. Hermes, Ares, Poseidon, and the others who were dealing with Typhon also turned to see what was happening.

“That’s…?”

“No way!”

“Unbelievable!”

The tentacles began to combine into a black shape with a strange aura that exuded a power that should not be manifesting. It was the aura of the common enemy of all gods and demons, Mother Earth. She was attempting to descend.

“What are you doing, Typhon>” Poseidon glared at Typhon, but Typhon just laughed maniacally.

“Hahaha! Looks like our queen has decided to go all the way. She tried to stay above the fray, but I guess things haven’t gone as she hoped.” As soon as his laughter ended, the black form exploded and darkness spread across the sky.

Boom! It slowly took shape, growing to an enormous size that made the Titans look tiny. Although only its torso could be seen, its shadow was gigantic enough to loom over the entire Tartarus. Soon, Persephone’s face emerged from the gigantic entity. She looked down at the ground, her torn wings of darkness spreading behind her as she directly manifested Mother Earth.

She roared, and storms churned, sweeping away both divine beings and superior beings as they battled. The columns of the temples were pulled up by the roots, and the ground turned over, forming large mountains.

Persephone was so large that she couldn’t speak or use Open Speaking. However, her powerful will could be interpreted by everyone present: Find him. Catch him. She rolled her eyes as she projected her will onto Tartarus once more.

* * *

[The hidden true name of Vigrid-???, Durendal, is released.]

[Folklore: Giant assasination]

Whoosh! Whoosh! The flames blazed.

[You have succeeded in killing Tityos. The killing of another god has been added to your achievements.]

[You have achieved…]

…

[You have succeeded in stealing a piece of holiness from Tityos. The holiness is added to the incomplete sections of the throne.]

[You have gained an additional clue on transcendence.]

Even though they’d managed to avoid Krios and Typhon, Dis Pluto’s troubles didn’t end. Titans and Giants intensified their chase, rushing in to take advantage of this opportunity to completely eliminate Dis Pluto and nip any future problems in the bud.

Yeon-woo had to destroy them while Shanon, Hanryeong, Rebecca, and Boo prevented them from moving. He spread his Fire Wings, flying among the enemies. He lost count of the number of monsters and gods he cut down.

Because he was fighting too many at once, the Philosopher’s Stone began to overheat. Although he had the purple magic power of the Soulstone and his Demonic Draconic Divine Body that had been awakened to the fourth step, they weren’t enough to remove his mental exhaustion.

If there was a silver lining, it was that he could steal a bit of holiness from gods when he killed them. Previously, he didn’t know what to do with holiness and had only guessed it, but after receiving the power of the throne from Hades, he finally understood what to do.

Holiness was the power that allowed one to possess a divine level. It wasn’t always good to have an enormous divine level. Although it gave you the upper hand in battles, you also risked falling as much as you rose since maintaining a high divine level put a lot of stress on the soul. It also created a lot of vulnerabilities.