Martin Variety in American Comics.

Chapter 200: The Queen of the Underworld and the Big Dog (Please subscribe, read, vote and comment)
Martin walked along the cobblestone path, the pebbles bulging outwards, pressing against the softness of his shoes and against the soles of his feet.

He carefully looked at the twisted garden around him and realized that the owner of this garden must be of extraordinary status.

The underworld leading to the gate of hell is very vast. As another world, this land can almost be said to have no boundaries.

The wind of death coming out of the abyss was blowing all the time. Everything on the underworld was blown by such wind and turned into gravel, falling on the wasteland and forming a soft sand layer.

The wind blowing from the deepest part of the underworld is bone-chillingly cold and can penetrate any substance. Even a soul without any mass cannot escape such cold wind.

If blown by the wind of the underworld for a long time, living beings will transform into a state of death, and finally turn into stone sculptures in the underworld, trapped in the cold underworld forever.

If it is a dead soul, under the blowing of the cold wind of the underworld, it will gradually lose its wisdom and become an unconscious wandering soul, just like those insects without any wisdom, rushing towards the flowing Styx according to the rules of the underworld.

Even the most tenacious intelligent life forms cannot survive long in such a cold wind, let alone ordinary plants.

The lush crowns of the poplars had lost all their leaves, leaving only twisted branches. The upright trunks were dyed black, like charcoal, without any life at all.

The coconut trees don't look much better than the poplars. Their crowns, which should be full of fruits, are empty, and their trunks are bent, with a curvature more exaggerated than that of an arch bridge.

The shrubs growing beneath the tree were equally miserable, with only a few pitiful leaves hanging on the branches, and the blooming flowers were very thin, like malnourished babies.

The flowers are on the verge of withering. Each one is listless, with stamens drooping. Their petals have all fallen off, and their original varieties cannot be recognized at all.

"Persephone, are you here? I need your help to find a friend in the underworld."

Martin stood by the dark pool and spoke softly, but his voice was heard in every corner of the garden.

Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, grain and harvest, and Zeus. She symbolizes seeds, which are indispensable in agriculture.

The goddess grew up with her mother Demeter and never thought about marriage. Until one day, she went to play on earth with the nymphs and was attracted by a beautiful daffodil, and gradually deviated from her original path.

When she was about to pick daffodils, the ground suddenly cracked, and Hades, the god of the underworld, rushed out of the earth riding four black horses. He tied Persephone to his chariot and forcibly took her to the underworld.

When Demeter heard her daughter's cries, she put down her farm tools and went after her daughter. The thriving world suddenly declined and all the crops stopped growing.

Helios, the sun god, saw everything and told Demeter where Persephone was, but it was too late.

Although Demeter is the biological sister of Zeus and Hades, she is not qualified to enter the underworld.

The furious goddess of agriculture rushed to Mount Olympus and demanded that Zeus order Hades to bring Persephone back to her immediately, otherwise she would continue to leave the earth barren.

Zeus, who condoned Hades' kidnapping, felt guilty and was also worried that the earth would become desolate. However, he did not have the power to order Hades, so he asked Hermes to bring Persephone back.

From this perspective, Martin has a pretty good relationship with the Queen of the Underworld.

During the four months that Persephone lived in the underworld, she often sought out Martin, who was able to travel freely between the various worlds, to ask about the situation on earth.

"Martin, why are you here?"

A gentle voice sounded, Martin turned his head and saw a woman in a black gauze dress sitting in the pavilion, a smile just appeared on her sad face.

"It's been a long time, Persephone! The age of the gods has passed, why haven't you left Hades yet?"

Martin walked towards the pavilion, opened his arms and hugged Persephone, then separated.

Persephone, like other Greek goddesses, was naturally beautiful and had the plump figure of a goddess of agriculture. She was also not very willing to wear gorgeous clothes.

When she was in the underworld, she always wore a simple black gauze dress, just like a seed enduring in the dark land, waiting for the moment to break out of the land and see the sunlight.

The smile on Persephone's face instantly faded. She tilted her head slightly and said in a sad voice, "I am just an ordinary god. The era of the gods passed, and my power was taken away. It made it impossible for me to leave the underworld. My mother once tried to take me away, but Hades stopped her."

"The great Zeus doesn't want to offend his brother, so I can only stay in this dark hell forever."

Martin felt very sympathetic towards Persephone. The Hades in this world was not as fair, selfless and affectionate as in myths and legends.

At the beginning of creation, it was Hades who deceived the goddess of magic Hecate's feelings and her magic, causing the goddess to curse the magic of the multiverse.

When the gods humiliated Hecate, Hades not only did not step forward to stop them, but instead gave her a fatal blow.

For a man like this, it is obviously a fantasy to expect him to be good to a woman he has robbed.

"It just so happens that I need to rescue someone from the underworld. I can save one person or two people. You will follow me out of the underworld in a while."

Martin looked at Persephone, who was about to turn into a cold statue, and made a promise without any hesitation.

Persephone looked at Martin in surprise and shook her head, "You have always been a kind god, Martin. But I cannot let you take such a risk. Hades is too dangerous."

Even the gods could not resist the aura of Martin and subconsciously regarded him as a familiar friend.

Martin waved his hand indifferently: "Don't worry. You know, I always get myself into trouble, and this time is no exception. I didn't want to help Zeus, but I came anyway for my friend."

"That's really your temper."

A genuine smile appeared on Persephone's plump face, and the lifeless garden regained some life.

"Zeus asked you for help, probably for the princess of Paradise Island - Diana, right?"

"you know?"

Martin was subconsciously a little surprised, but he quickly realized that she was the Queen of the Underworld!
"It's hard not to know. The news that Princess Diana killed Ares in the human world was widely spread. No one expected that Zeus would arrange this."

The smile on Persephone's face became more and more lively, and she no longer looked like a cold statue.

Martin shook his head slightly: "Is that Ares guy really dead? I have my doubts."

Persephone also shrugged her shoulders. The gods were always cunning, and no one could guess what cards they had in hand.

"Before, that girl also passed by my garden. I advised her to go back and not take risks. But that brave girl did not accept my kindness and insisted on going to the Gate of Hell."

"Diana is a strong female warrior. No matter what difficulties are in front of her, she will not back down."

"You know Princess Diana well?"

"We met in South America not long ago, experienced some things together, and became friends."

Diana is Persephone's sister, and their father is Zeus.

But Zeus had so many children that it was hard for Persephone to have any feelings for Diana. It was only because of Martin that she became curious about her. Martin did not go into detail. After the goddess left the underworld, her whereabouts were still unknown.

Protect her identity now, in case she leaks the news to the gods of Olympus. Martin will be in trouble.

"I'm leaving!"

Martin stood up and prepared to leave the garden and continue towards the Hell Gate.

He said to Persephone: "You stay here and don't go anywhere! When I find Diana, I will return along the same route, pick you up, and go to the human world first. After that, you can decide your own destiny."

"Well, I don't have the ability to fight, so I won't cause you any trouble."

Persephone said with concern: "Martin, you have to be careful. Hades has blocked all the news related to this matter. I still don't know why Diana came to the underworld. There may be other unknown secrets hidden behind it."

Martin smiled slightly and didn't care: "The thing that is most lacking in this world is secrets. But for secrets to become weapons that can hurt others, it takes time and a transformation process.

Hades doesn't know that I have already arrived in the underworld. As long as I catch him by surprise, I can take you and Diana away as quickly as possible."

Martin had no intention of confronting Hades head-on.

Killing a god is not an easy task.

Especially for a main god like Hades, the success rate of killing him is zero without prior preparation.

Since there was no possibility of success, Martin tried his best to avoid direct conflict with him.

After all, the underworld is Hades' territory, and fighting him here is not a wise choice.

"Hide yourself well."

Martin waved goodbye to Persephone and used magic to create a path leading directly to the gate of Hell.

In order not to attract the attention of the gods of the underworld, he did not add any special abilities to this path.

Fortunately, the gate separating the inner and outer underworld was very obvious, and the time state of the underworld was also vague, so Martin did not need to worry that today would pass quickly.

"Woof, woof, woof, roar—"

Just as Martin was able to vaguely see the gate to Hell, he heard a dog barking and saw a shadow as big as a mountain swaying in front of the gate.

A gigantic dog-shaped monster with a body more than ten meters long and more than fifty heads on its head was guarding the gate of hell. Lightning, frost, flames and black deadly venom spewed out of the mouths of the dog heads of all sizes.

The tail formed by the giant python opened its mouth wide, and its sharp fangs emitted a purple luster, showing its lethality.

The huge lion claws dug one groove after another in the ground.

Cerberus, one of the many monsters born to Typhon, the father of all monsters, and Echidna.

The name of this dog-shaped monster means spots and also means "devil in the dark".

Cerberus once made great contributions to the monsters in the battlefield against Zeus. After Typhon was killed by Zeus, this demon dog was captured by Hades and became the guardian of the gate to hell, allowing only outsiders to enter but not people inside to come out.

This demon dog completed its mission very well and devoured the ghosts who wanted to escape from hell.

However, Cerberus did not stop everyone. Heroes such as Hercules, Aeneas, and Orpheus had all used violence or wisdom to subdue this demon dog.

Now Cerberus once again encounters an opponent like the ancient Greek heroes, that is Diana.

Cerberus relied on his physical advantage to launch continuous attacks.

Every time its paw stepped forward, the ground shook, and sand flew everywhere, covering everything around it.

Its more than fifty heads spewed out large amounts of fire, frost, lightning and venom, covering every inch of the land and leaving people with nowhere to stand.

The tail and mane formed by the giant python and countless poisonous snakes always have their mouths open, secretly looking for an opportunity to sink their fangs into the enemy.

It looked like Cerberus had the upper hand.

Diana could only use the boots on her feet to fly in the air and avoid the attacks of the demon dog. She felt like she was fleeing in a panic.

But Martin saw clearly that Diana had the initiative in the battle. No matter how Cerberus attacked, the demon dog's sharp claws, fangs or venom could not hurt Diana.

The shield and sword wielded by Diana could leave deep scars on Cerberus with every attack.

As the wounds accumulated over time, Cerberus' body received more and more wounds, and the purple blood flowed into a river. The strong toxicity contained in the blood eroded a river channel in the territory.

The painful demon dog lost its already limited sanity, howled and spewed out more venom, then bit Diana with all its might, its speed and strength increasing significantly.

Although Diana predicted the opponent's actions, she was still splashed with venom.

Most of the venom was blocked by the armor, and the remaining small part fell on Diana's bare arms and long legs, making a hissing sound and corroding her skin and flesh.

"Uh!"

Diana screamed in pain, but before the sound came out, she clenched her teeth and swallowed it back into her stomach.

She used a strip of cloth to wrap her hand and the hilt of the sword together, cut off the poisonous snake that was biting her, and then stabbed the tip of the sword into the body of the demon dog. She rushed forward and tore a larger wound.

After doing all this, Diana's injuries worsened further and she fell powerlessly to the ground covered with venom.

"Go away!"

Martin jumped up, caught Diana who had fallen to the ground with both hands, and slowly returned to the uncontaminated ground.

Cerberus seemed to recognize Martin, and he rushed towards Martin with a rage a hundred times stronger than when he faced Diana.

"Quiet, big dog!"

Martin raised the double-snake staff in his hand. Two bronze snakes were coiled and intertwined around the staff, and his sapphire eyes flashed with a strange light.

The ferocious Cerberus suddenly felt very sleepy. Pleasant and soft music sounded around him. He shook his body weakly twice, fell to the ground with a thud, and fell asleep.

　First update, keep working hard, go for it!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)