Underworld, edge.

It was around the time Hercules met Hebe and the Styx changed.

With the harp in hand, Ender returned to the place where he had been separated from it.

The clone of [Crown of Silence] had been thrown away by him in a simpler way.

That is to take this thing containing the breath of the land of eternal night directly through the portal of the underworld and return to the edge where the eternal night and the underworld moon are separated.

Kerperos, who had just woken up from his sleep and found that he had lost the mark of the God-King, ran directly into the incarnation of the ancient evil creature.

A big battle broke out immediately, and Ender withdrew.

But when he returned here, the puppet naturally did not see any trace of Hercules.

Mobilizing his authority, Ander tried to peek into the shadow of the past.

Despite the many obstacles, he still saw something by using the ritual he left on the great hero as an anchor.

For example, Hercules entered the spiritual world from here, and for example, he should be in the human world now.

His head tilted back slightly, making a slight wooden friction sound.

Ander could vaguely sense the location of the ceremony, which should be near Mount Odilus, but it was a long way from where the Goddess of the Demonic Web had been.

He nodded silently, as if he had gotten an answer.

The puppet was about to leave, but the River Styx beside him suddenly shook slightly.

The water splashes and bubbles rise from it.

With a hint of surprise in his eyes, Ander watched the changes in the River of Oblivion.

Among the three most important rivers in the underworld, Styx is undoubtedly the first, and Acheron was originally nothing special, but it has become more and more powerful in recent years.

Unexpectedly, the River of Forgotten has also undergone some changes today, and has not continued to widen the gap with the former.

"The River of Oblivion... has nothing to do with me."

The figure gradually became blurred, and Ender prepared to leave again.

But in the next moment, he stopped again and turned to look at the gray plain beside him.

"Your Majesty, Pluto, you are such a rare guest."

"You got it wrong, your Highness the Stranger."

The dust rose up, the flying sand swirled, and then turned into a human figure.

Hades shook his head slightly, correcting Ender's statement.

"As the King of Hell and the incarnation of the underworld, you are the guest who has come into my body."

"In fact, if it weren't for the existence of that human, I would have come here as soon as I sensed your presence."

"But it's not too late now..."

After a moment's silence, Hades invited:

"Would you like to join the underworld?"

"Ok?"

He was stunned when he heard this. Ander had many speculations about the appearance of this Pluto.

After all, when he displayed his power in the underworld, he had no hope of hiding it from the god who ruled the underworld.

But as Hades said, he was not very willing to come into contact with Hercules and Dionysus.

It's nothing strange that Hades doesn't like the son of the King of Gods.

But he was a little surprised that the other party would appear in front of him in the end and invite him.

"...Your Majesty, have you recognized the wrong god?"

As a kind reminder, Ender revealed a little bit of his own power.

“I am not a god born from the beginning, but a god of faith acquired later in life.”

"In the mouths of the Olympian gods, it is the so-called 'evil god' and 'evil god'."

"As a member of the Divine Court, I'm afraid it's not a good idea for you to invite me to be recruited, right?"

"Nothing bad."

Shaking his head, Hades explained:

"After all, if you were a normal innate god, you probably wouldn't be willing to join the underworld's system."

"It is precisely because you believe in God that I feel there is room for cooperation between us."

"You desire faith, but I desire the growth of the interface as a whole. There should be no contradiction between the two."

"How about it? Do you want to consider it?"

"I don't think you're in the right state as a normal god, so you probably don't care about the environment in the underworld."

"You can probably tell that in the near future, Zeus's control over the human world will grow stronger and stronger. Sooner or later, there will be no place for you there anymore."

"Leaving early is also a fateful choice."

"..."

Listening to Hades' words in silence, Ander had to admit that what he said seemed to make some sense.

That's right, if I were an ordinary believer in gods, I would probably be frightened by the growing power of the King of Olympus.

In this case, if Pluto, who lives in seclusion, offers to recruit, it might be a good place to go.

"But the underworld is now under the control of the God King. Forget about believing in God. Even you can't protect yourself."

Ender questioned, but Hades didn't care.

"I am naturally prepared for this."

"If you are willing to join the underworld, you will know later."

"But before that, please forgive me for not telling you."

"I see."

With a slight nod, Ander did not ask any more questions but refused decisively.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I have no plans to join the underworld yet."

"After all, even if I don't care about other things, as a 'disseminator of drama', 'the first puppeteer', and one of the 'origins of bards', I also have an endless stream of faith that can at least support the power of Godhead level six or above - this is a level within our faith in God."

"In this case, even if the world is completely occupied by the God King, I can hide in the Kingdom of God without fearing his power."

"So if there is nothing else, please allow me to take my leave."

His voice was calm. Facing Hades, who was much more powerful than himself, Ander did not seem to be afraid.

In front of him, Pluto, who was rejected, frowned but did not make any other moves.

"Godhood level six...weak divine power?"

"Well, in that case, please do as you please, sir."

With a bang, Hades' body exploded and turned into sand again.

Pluto has some understanding of the concept of so-called godhood.

It is something similar to the priesthood of the true God, and is also the basis of belief in God. Or the so-called priesthood is another kind of "godhood" that comes from the world.

The god in front of him possessed at least medium level of divine power, and was also the best among those evil gods. It was a pity that he was not recruited successfully.

But he is different from Zeus. He came here just to try to recruit him.

So if it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work.

"In that case, thank you, Your Majesty."

Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, Ander didn't want to fight with Hades, who was one of the most powerful gods under the gods.

He was not afraid because he had long known that his puppet body had many special features.

The reason why it is difficult to be detected is its concealment, its natural affinity with history and space, its compatibility with the magic network, and its resistance and immunity to most forces and even some authorities...

Even as its creator becomes more powerful, even His past work, this creation that bears witness to the beginning of faith in God becomes more and more miraculous.

But this does not mean that Ander can do whatever he wants. After all, he is just like the God King who uses many tricks.

As his brother, no one can guarantee that Hades doesn't have two unique cards up his sleeve.

"Pluto...if there is a chance in the future, I can get in touch with him."

I pondered silently, but that was all for the future.

The originally terminated virtualization continued, and this time, Ander's departure was not terminated.

Soon, the banks of the Styx, which had just experienced a war not long ago, returned to peace again...

"...Hmm? Where are the people?"

After a long time, a stream of light flew from afar.

Using the trump card left by Zeus to temporarily re-seal a small part of the [Corridor of Flesh and Blood], Dionysus hurried back here.

A complete ancient evil creature is no joke. He is almost certain that if Hercules was facing the Thousand-Faced Soul Eater that had just been born and had not been beaten several times, the possibility of failure would definitely be high.

But when Dionysus hurried back, he was dumbfounded to find that there was no one in front of him.

"What about people?"

"Where have everyone gone?"

Dionysus was completely speechless. He searched for a long time on the banks of the River Styx, but found nothing.

There are many traces of battles here, as well as the mixed aura of different forces, but there is not even a single living person to be found.

Half a day later, I sat on the bank of the River of Forgotten.

He couldn't find anyone, so he could only wait here...

"Look what I found!"

His tone was excited. Eros had just checked the changes at the source of the River of Forgotten, and he found Dionysus here.

"A lone god without a divine position, and the son of the king of gods Zeus!"

"Well... you're out of luck."

"Come, stand with the skeleton!"

He just shot an arrow casually. Although it did not have the hatred of the god level, the power of this arrow was actually average, but Dionysus was really weak enough.

So he had hardly put up any resistance before an arrow pierced his chest.

However, something unexpected happened to Eros. Although Dionysus was indeed affected by the golden arrow, he did not move at all for a while.

It was as if there was one him who was hit by an arrow, and there was another one who was not hit.

Eros frowned and was about to go forward to see what was going on, but the next moment, Dionysus resumed his action.

"?"

"How strange! Could this be a god without a priesthood?"

Shaking his head in confusion, Eros didn't care about this little thing.

The small wings behind her flapped slightly, and she continued to fly along the course of the River Styx.

When you come out, you should at least do something useful... such as capturing the souls scattered from evil creatures and throwing them back into the River of Forgotten.

……

The human world, the West Sea.

Come back from where you went down.

For ordinary people, this is not an easy job.

Because the time and space of the entrance to the underworld are so strange, it is difficult to distinguish where you come from and where you are going.

But Ender was obviously not among them, so it didn't take him too long to crawl out of a cave not far from the coast and return to the human world.

Let go of your senses and search around.

On a reef near the sea, Ander found the thin figure.

Prometheus was quietly watching the sea on the shore.

The howling storm and huge waves over a thousand feet high crashed past, and drops of water fell on his body.

On a journey to the human world, the Titan who had been imprisoned for thousands of years once again walked through this land.

But he rarely spoke along the way, and mostly accompanied me silently.

"You're back...but where's Hercules?"

"Of course he went to where he was supposed to go."

He spoke quietly, Ander's voice was calm.

"I don't believe you haven't guessed it, otherwise you wouldn't be waiting here."

"...That's right."

Sighing, the wise man of foresight said slowly:

"In fact, Hercules himself should have guessed it."

"[Book of Purgatory], a book from the Nine Hells."

“It records countless mysteries and can answer most of the world’s puzzles, but it cannot change its essence.”

"This is a book from the home of the devil, and the devil's gift is never meant to fulfill your own wishes."

"So when this shortcut comes to an end, he may get an answer, but that is definitely not the ending he wants."

The sea breeze blew, bringing with it a slightly salty and fishy smell.

However, after staying in the sea eye for a long time, Prometheus has become accustomed to these things.

Floating in the air, the puppet came to his side.

Ender couldn't agree more with the words of the foresighted man.

"That's right, demons...are not easy to deal with. They were there at the end of the Bronze Age."

"But even though I don't think he can succeed, it's not because of these reasons."

"I simply didn't think there was any point in sneaking across the border, so I didn't go with him."

"And the final result also proved my guess."

The neck rotated a circle and the puppet's voice paused slightly.

Looking at the thin figure beside him, he asked the doubts in his heart.

"Your Highness Prometheus, I actually have a question that I have been curious about for a long time."

"Each of us has our own purpose in this adventure with Hercules."

"I don't know about Amon, but he's dead... at least he looks dead. Dionysus was sent by Zeus to serve his father."

"I hope to go into the spirit world with Hercules to seek the answer I want to find - what about you?"

"Are you embarking on this journey just to repay him for rescuing you?"

Prometheus was never doubted, because a god who could truly remember each of his creations was not worth doubting.

Ander was just confused.

"I really want to know...Have you really let go of everything in the Bronze Age?"

Prometheus said he let it go, but Ender thought not.

For thousands of years, the Fire Thieves have never surrendered to the God-King, and it should be the same now.

It's just that he is smarter and more rational, so he has learned to solve problems in a way that can really achieve his goals...

And who else could be the source of this problem except the God King?