When Imu and Enma arrived at the estuary of the Western Styx River—
The place was already in complete ruin.
The wreckage of nine underworld ships and the charred corpses of countless Pure Titans were being slowly swallowed by the churning underworld waters, flames still licking at their remains.
The only one still present was Major General Matthew, kneeling helplessly by the riverbank, completely paralyzed by fear of the King of the Dead.
Imu was very familiar with that expression—it was clearly the result of being overwhelmed by Conqueror's Haki.
Most likely, the King of the Dead had first knocked out all the titans with his Haki, then burned the underworld ships, and finally seized a vessel to sail across the River Styx and enter Hell.
Imu looked toward the exit of the Styx River that led to Hell and shook his head with a sigh.
"What now? The King of the Dead has fled—so what happens to the role of Underworld King?"
Imu turned to Enma.
"It's fine, Father," Enma answered cheerfully. "Once the 'Will of the Underworld' of the Starfish World realizes that the King of the Dead has abandoned his title, it'll naturally seek a new ruler. And I should be the most suitable candidate."
She was smiling brightly as she spoke—only for Imu to suddenly wave his hand, signaling her to be quiet.
She fell silent immediately, staring at her father in confusion.
Imu, for his part, had just noticed that his star map had received a new notification.
And that, to him, was more important than anything else.
[Notice: The power of the Starfish Underworld's Will is attempting to make contact with the host's soul. Do you wish to enable soul isolation? (Yes/No)]
[Warning: Enabling isolation carries certain risks. However, no hostility has been detected in the Will. The energy contains traces of Underworld origin power, along with a minor divine spark of the Death domain.]
Imu was utterly stunned.
To Enma, however, her father's face appeared expressionless—yet for some reason, his eyes had suddenly narrowed, and his brows were clearly furrowed.
"What does this mean?"
Imu paid no attention to Enma. His heart was gripped by shock as he stared intently at the information on the star map.
Was this saying that the Will of the Underworld of the Starfish World wanted to choose him as the new Lord of the Underworld?
But why? He clearly wasn't an undead. Shouldn't the Will choose Enma instead?
Imu couldn't make sense of it.
But he also knew that no one was going to explain it to him now—and he needed to make a decision immediately.
Anyone with a shred of intelligence could see this was a rare opportunity.
And if he hesitated too long, the Will of the Underworld might withdraw its offer.
So Imu only took two seconds to decide and ordered the star map to lift the soul isolation.
[WMMM————]
In the next instant, both Imu, Enma, and the kneeling Armored Titan nearby noticed a blazing crimson pillar of light descend from the fiery firmament above. In the blink of an eye, it engulfed the area where Imu stood, hurling Enma more than 100 meters away—yet without injuring her.
As for Imu, his soul had already vanished into the light.
"Father!!"
Enma finally came to her senses.
She cried out in alarm, panic flooding her face—but had no idea what to do.
Meanwhile—
Imu felt warm all over. Incredibly comfortable.
Most importantly, visions and memories began flooding his mind.
They were images of the Underworld's history, stretching from its birth to the present. As he witnessed them, he began to comprehend the nature of death—and of reincarnation.
Then he came to understand the meaning of divine spark, divine office, divinity, divine power, and divine flame.
So it turned out—he was now a god, and yet not quite a god.
On the one hand—
He was considered the deity of this Starfish Underworld, tasked with assisting the Will in governing the realm.
But on the other—
His divine power was not yet sufficient to ignite the divine flame, and he had not crossed the 'soul threshold', meaning he hadn't truly stepped into the domain of the gods.
In plain terms, whether it was himself, the previous King of the Dead, or even the Sage of Six Paths from the Pure Land of the Shinobi World—all of them were merely the highest administrators within the limited territory of their respective underworlds. But outside of that?
They could hardly be called gods.
In those fantastical otherworlds, there were many such gods—at least, that's how Imu understood it.
So, how does one become a true god?
It was simple: strengthen one's soul, then use immense divine power to ignite the divine flame, break through the 'soul threshold', and step into the 'domain of the gods' through the path of the soul.
There were three ways to enhance soul strength and divine power.
One was to devour other souls.
The second was to absorb the power of faith.
The third was to draw strength from the growth of the Underworld itself.
The first needed no further explanation.
The second was straightforward as well: make more beings aware of you, make them revere you—this included the many undead within the Underworld.
The third was by far the most difficult.
It required strengthening the Underworld of the Starfish itself—expanding its size, increasing the number of souls it could accommodate, and so on.
In doing so, it would naturally generate a divine feedback that nourished him, the Lord of the Underworld, further strengthening his soul.
Although Imu wasn't yet a true god, as the Lord of the Underworld, his soul potential had received an enormous boost.
From this point forward, in training his soul, willpower, and spirit, he would encounter no bottlenecks—at least not until he reached the upper limit.
As for what that upper limit was, Imu still didn't know.
Finally, there were the duties, obligations, and powers of the King of the Underworld.
Imu had no objections to those.
What left him a bit helpless, though, was that the Will of the Underworld required him to remain here for at least three months each year. Otherwise, he would be deemed to have abandoned his title as Lord of the Underworld—
And that meant losing everything: the divine spark, divine office, and divine power.
In other words, until he ignited the divine flame, no matter how much divine power he accumulated, none of it truly belonged to him. The Will could reclaim it at any time.
Besides, as the King of the Underworld, he could appoint a subordinate god to help manage its day-to-day affairs.
Subordinate gods could also be called demigods.
Enma would be perfect for the role.
...
"Father…"
Enma watched with wide eyes as Imu's figure slowly emerged once more from the dissipating crimson pillar of light.
Only, Imu looked… strange.
Not in the sense of any physical change.
Rather, it was the unsettling aura now radiating from him—wisps of black mist that evoked unease, tension, and even a trace of fear just by sight alone.
But the moment Imu's feet touched the ground, the dark mist quickly flowed back into his body.
This, in truth, was divine power—the divine power associated with the domain of Death.
He had only just acquired this power, so his control over it was still unstable. That was why it leaked and enveloped his body.
"Did something happen just now, Father?" Enma's eyes were filled with concern.
Imu was at a bit of a loss for words.
Just earlier, both of them had thought the Underworld's will would choose the other to become the new Lord of the Underworld—never expecting it to fall to him instead.
To be honest, it still felt bizarre to him.
He even suspected that the requirement to spend three months here every year had been tailor-made for him by the Underworld's will.
Which made the whole situation worth pondering.
He really didn't want to play any more games of wits with the Underworld's will.
At the same time, with a casual wave of his hand, a stream of black light shot directly into Enma's forehead.
She immediately turned pale with fright, her whole body trembling violently as terror surfaced on her face.
She thought her father no longer wanted her—that he was now preparing to erase her entirely.
Enma was instantly heartbroken.
But in the next moment, her attention was completely absorbed by the massive influx of information that had appeared in her mind.
The stream of black light just now had contained information Imu wanted Enma to know. Once it entered her mind, it allowed her to absorb and memorize it rapidly.
A short while later, Enma had processed most of the information. Her face was filled with shock.
But more importantly, it gave her a clear sense of what she was supposed to do next—and how to do it.
She finally felt grounded.
"Don't make any major moves for now. Stay quiet for a while," Imu said calmly.
"Once the discussion with the Pure Land of the Shinobi World is over, start recruiting the souls of former World Government officials and military personnel."
"As for high-level combat forces, I'll find a way to send some over. When the time comes, we'll carry out a full-scale reconstruction of this place."
As he spoke, Imu waved his hand and conjured a spatial gate before him, its edges shrouded in drifting black mist.
On the other side was the interior hall of the King of the Dead's castle.
He had been living here these past few days.
One after the other, they stepped into the magnificent hall built entirely of obsidian. The spatial gate vanished behind them the moment they passed through.
...
Inside the grand hall of the King of the Dead's castle—
Imu walked up to the throne that once belonged to the King of the Dead.
Turning around, he looked solemnly down at Enma below the dais and made a formal proclamation: "From this day forward, I bestow upon you the name Enma Nerona, with the title Warrior God of the Underworld. You now stand on equal footing with the Five Elders of the World Government, and shall govern all Underworld realms under its command."
Upon hearing this, Enma immediately dropped to one knee and replied in a reverent, delicate voice: "I shall faithfully carry out Lord Imu's divine decree!"
"Now then," Imu continued, "you must begin purging all remnants of the King of the Dead's influence throughout the Underworld..."
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---