Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

As the bloodstone sank into her palm, a cold glint flashed in Tsurugi's heterochromatic eyes. Without looking back, she walked towards the dark and terrifying outer perimeter of Tartarus.

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775. The Journey to Tartarus

The underworld, located underground in Greece, is a world opposite to the surface.

It was born from many primordial gods, and in this world of living beings, which is far more brilliant and glorious, the three most important are Tartarus, Erebus, and Nyx.

Tartarus, the god of the abyss, is said to have never interacted with any living being from birth to death. After he fell into eternal slumber, his body and existence transformed into the vast and deep hell, and this dark and desolate terrifying region formed the lowest level of the underworld.

This is a prison where the remnants of the Titans, the enemies of the gods, and all sorts of monsters are held, but at the same time, the Sanctuary of Hades, who rules the underworld, is also located here.

The Styx has five branches: the largest tributary, Styx, which encircles the underworld; Acron, which is the river of sorrow that serves as the main entrance; Leth, which is the river of oblivion that allows one to forget the past by drinking its waters; and Coctos, which is the river of lamentation formed from the tears of criminals.

Guided by Hermes, the souls of the dead in the mortal world enter the underworld via Acron, and board the ferry of Charon on the River Styx to reach the Garden of Truth located in front of Hades' sanctuary.

The souls of the dead will be judged and adjudicated here by the three judges: Aeacus judges the souls of Europe, Rhadamanthus judges the souls of Asia, and Minos has the final say.

What? You're asking what Africans do?

There's no Africa in the world of Greek mythology! The Ethiopians and Egyptians there are all white!

Regardless of the outcome, they will all be sent by Charon into the Leyte River to forget their memories, and then distributed to different areas along the river.

The kindest souls and the souls of heroes will be sent to the highest level, 'Paradise Bliss', because the underworld is a place that becomes more terrifying the deeper you go, while this is the area closest to the ground and not actually within the underworld, a place of eternal happiness like paradise. The souls of heroes will then enter the most beautiful 'Island of Elysium' within it.

The creator of this place is the great Nyx, the embodiment of the dark night, a primordial god who exists simultaneously in the underworld and the earthly realm, maintaining her own identity. Her existence is the only light and beauty in the sunless underworld, and the beautiful paradise she created is the closest place on this earth to Mount Olympus.

The next level of mediocre souls will be sent to the Narcissus Plains in the middle layer—where most of the dead live an eternal life without joy or sorrow, like a gloomy dream. Because they are far from the surface, this place is full of lava and flows with the River Styx. At the same time, on the boundless plains, there will be a constant emergence of a gloomy fog that makes people lose their minds and fall into a gloomy fog, making it an area completely unsuitable for life.

The creator of this place was Erebus, the dark companion of Nyx, representing the darkness of the underworld, and this place is actually the true boundary between the underworld and the realm of the dead. This boundless darkness is neutral and pure, as pure as He who has fallen into eternal slumber.

As for the lowest-ranking souls, they were naturally imprisoned in Tartarus's prison, the Sanctuary of Hades, by Hades himself. This vast, boundless region, as expansive as the earth above, is the true location of the Underworld.

The Sanctuary of Hades was built here to fulfill Hades' function of suppressing these criminals. Therefore, if Tsugumi wants to leave the Underworld, she will have to fight her way out.

Unlike Orpheus, who received Hades' permission to take a shortcut, Tsurugi had to fight his way from Tartarus to the dark Narcissus Plain, then to Paradise, and finally through the Sacred Grove of Poplars before returning to the human world.

The incredible nature of this path lies in its bizarre M-shaped difficulty curve—although Hades wasn't so depraved as to throw his son into the underworld where the Titans and their enemies reside, the undead roaming Tartarus are no pushovers either.

The extraordinary individuals imprisoned here may not be heroes, but the things they do are often more extraordinary than those of most heroes.

For example, the great river blocking his path in front of Dongjiang, and the Tantalus within it.

This man was the son of Zeus, a prospective god like Hermes, but driven by vanity, he began spreading the secrets and scandals of the gods among mortals. It is said that the stories of Hades and Persephone, as well as anecdotes about Zeus, were all leaked by him—and he even heavily embellished them!

Not only that, he also stole mead from the gods' feasts to share with his mortal friends and stole the golden dog from Zeus's temple. Most outrageous of all, in order to test whether the gods were truly discerning, he murdered his own son Pelops and cooked him into a dish to serve to the gods.

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But only Demeter, the goddess of grain, who was troubled, accidentally ate a piece of shoulder blade, and the other gods, upon discovering this, cast her into the underworld.

The punishment he suffered was so severe that he had to stand in a deep pool of water, up to his chin, but when he was so thirsty that he wanted to bend down to drink, the water would immediately recede, preventing him from drinking.

Behind him were fruit trees laden with fruit, but when he was too hungry to reach them, the wind would blow the branches away, preventing him from touching them. Above his head hung a huge rock that could fall at any moment and crush him, tormenting him with the eternal fear of death.

Interestingly, his mother, Pluto, the goddess of wealth, was transformed into Pluto, the god of the underworld, in Roman mythology. One could argue that they might be considered brothers in some sense...

"Oh, hi. Zagreus, you're here again?"

Tantalus, forced to endure eternal torment, smiled familiarly at Tsurugi's arrival.

"Trying to get through here again? You know the rules, just kill me."

Tantalus didn't want to be his enemy; he was simply longing for a long slumber to alleviate his suffering. He was a true god without divine authority, and therefore immortal, so his torment was endless, and only a long slumber could bring him some rest.

As the representative of sinners, Tantalus stood in the water, and with his voice, countless dark spirits and vengeful souls slowly crawled out of the water.

They were tall and strong, exuding an extremely dangerous aura, their pale faces filled with bewilderment, pain, and resentment.

They were all mortals who had committed the sin of waste in the human world, or rather—they were basically the bronze and silver humans who were wiped out by Zeus's great flood.

The world of Greek mythology is said to have five types of human beings, therefore Prometheus was not the only creator of humankind.

The first type consists of golden humans created by the Titan Iapetus during the time of Cronus. They were perfect and tall, as eternal as gods, but were sent to Tartarus along with Cronus after his defeat.

The second type of human is the Silver Humans, created by Zeus. They have a long childhood and a short lifespan. Their childhood lasts a hundred years, but they are immature due to their mothers' overindulgence. Their adult lifespan is also very short, so they lack reason and are disrespectful to the gods.

The Bronze Humans were created later, coexisting with the Silver Humans. They were created by Zeus from ash wood. However, they were more violent and arrogant than the Silver Humans, with hearts as hard and cold as ash wood. They did not eat grains but only meat, and were savage and cruel.

These two groups of humans, who coexisted, squandered the rich and resource-rich earth and disrespected the gods, angered Zeus and Hermes, who were traveling incognito. This angered Zeus, who sent down torrential rains, and Poseidon unleashed a great flood that engulfed the earth.

Thus, the Silver and Bronze Age humans perished, while the two remaining survivors—Deucalion and Pyrrha, sons of Prometheus—were able to build a large ship and survive, leaving behind the bones and stones of Mother Earth, and creating the humans of the Iron Age.

The demigod heroes, existing in a unique era alongside the Iron Empire, created the main stage for Greek mythology.

What appears here now are large numbers of silver and bronze humans who were killed by Zeus himself—and most of Tartarus are these enemies!

The bronze humans wore armor and weapons made of bronze, sharp and sturdy. Their gazes were fierce and cruel, their eyes were bloodshot, and they carried a faint scent of Ares's blood!

They were obsessed with the slaughter and war represented by Ares, the god of war, and their hearts were filled with violence. Therefore, Ares favored them greatly, granting them a portion of his own power and a physique far superior to that of the Black Iron humans!

The Silver Humans, on the other hand, are innocent and carefree, yet each one is a born wizard. They are Zeus's original creations, and therefore possess magical abilities similar to those of gods. In this dark underworld, they can unleash all sorts of primal and wild powers.

"Cousin, is this on such a large scale?" Tsurugi raised an eyebrow as she looked at the at least four-figure Dark Spirit Legion blocking her way.

“There’s nothing I can do. I let you pass easily last time, so Megara found me quickly…” Tantalus sighed, but there was no need to say more.

When the goddess of vengeance comes knocking, all that awaits him is a miserable torment.

"So sorry, bro, I'll have to give it my all this time."

Looking at the Dark Spirit Legion summoned by Tantalus, the king who ruled this era, Tsurugi did not take out his weapon as usual—in fact, he did not carry any weapons at all.

He simply looked at Tantalus, then placed his palms together in a heart shape.

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An endless stream of bloody bronze swords and the raw, primal magical energy that had been unleashed covered him like a torrential downpour.

All Tsurugi did was softly utter a single word.

"Gluttony"

An invisible black hole appeared in his palm.

An incredibly powerful suction force erupted, and in an instant, all the dark spirits lost control of their bodies, swords, and even their sorcery.

They all transformed into the most basic soul energy, surging into the black hole in Tsurugi's hand, and then were piled up in his body.

The light in his eyes grew ever brighter, and the soul accumulating within him made his divinity shine ever more brilliantly.

"Haha? When did you learn Limos's tricks?" Tantalus's eyes lit up as he watched the undead army vanish in an instant.

"Zagreus, have you already learned to wield your father's power?!"

"It wouldn't exactly be considered exploitation." Tsurugi lowered his hand; the thousands of dark spirits had vanished completely. He felt the familiar stacks of souls within his body and murmured softly.

"I just used a little bit of the old method."

Hades' power is everything in the underworld—all of humanity after death, negative emotions, tragic perceptions, or, to put it simply, the authority of the offspring conceived by Nyx.

Hades' divine power lies in his ability to control all of this in the underworld!

However, this power cannot be used on earth. This is because Hades' authority merely allows him to invoke these powers, not to seize them.

But—Dongjiang is different.

At least the seven crowns he wields can allow him to seize these souls of original sin and bring them out of the underworld, and even—

Tsurugi took a deep breath, clenched her hands, and then transformed into a round, pink devil.

"POYO!"

Feeling this familiar power, Tsugumi nodded, then transformed back to normal, and then shook her head slightly.

Yes, but not enough.

The authority of original sin allows him to punish the souls who have committed original sin, turning them into a part of his power, and transforming them into the form of the corresponding demons to fight in the underworld.

But the only and biggest problem here is that the power of these original sins cannot be brought to the surface.

In Greek mythology, I've never heard of any god with a negative reputation having any significant status. The treatment of the most negative of the twelve Olympian gods is well-known.

Moreover, with all these things on her body, Tsugumi was afraid she'd be killed like a monster...

"Oh, my good bro! I never imagined you had such a deep grasp on your father's power!"

Tantalus was very excited.

"Then overthrowing your father is just around the corner!!!"

With a casual flick of her wrist, Tsurugi severed his head, and as Tantalus's head was separated from his body, the great river that had been blocking his path vanished.

He continued forward and soon came to the next obstacle.

This is a very, very tall mountain, and at the foot of the mountain stands a burly man dressed in green who looks quite relaxed.

"You've come again, Prince!" He waved happily when he saw Tsurugi.

"We missed you so much, didn't we, Stone!"

The large, round rock next to it: ...

"Look! Stone says he misses you terribly!!!"

"...Sisyphus." Tsugumi looked at this famously wise, yet also notoriously reckless, sage from mythology and asked quietly.

"I have some questions I'd like to ask you, and I wonder if you could give me a good answer."

"Oh, I will answer to the best of my knowledge, Your Highness!" Sisyphus smiled heartily.

"What kind of god's power exists in the underworld that is strong enough to be found on earth?"

Sisyphus pondered for a moment and then gave his answer.

“Revenge and rage, Your Highness.”

1056

776. Nemesis and the Expansion of the Domain

In that glorious earthly world, all negative divine forces are destined to be inferior.

Nyx has many offspring—dreams, death, sleep, pain, aging, toil, revenge, deception, vice, and so on.

Aside from the most unique fate, the most powerful thing is sleep, which is considered utterly tasteless by modern people.