With the awakening of Fear, a cold silence settled around me. Yet I was not satisfied. I turned my focus inward once more, breathing slowly, my divine energy flowing with greater clarity and precision.
Before me now floated the fifth orb, a soft light blue, almost deceptively gentle in color, like the calm before a storm.
But as I extended my energy toward it, I felt no comfort.
Instead, I felt a stain like ink seeping into clean water.
This orb pulsed faintly, and the moment my divine essence touched it, I was struck by a flood of sensations: shame, greed, rage, lust, envy, gluttony, pride… and something deeper, like longing, regret, craving, and grief.
This was not just the domain of sin.
It was the domain of dark desires, of truths people buried deep, the part of every being they hid from others and even from themselves.
I saw flashes of memories that weren't mine. Kings betraying their brothers for power, lovers consumed by obsession, and holy men defiled by hypocrisy. These were not just acts… they were essences.
This godhood did not simply reveal sin.
It revealed the deepest emotion that hid behind their masks.
And so, the Fifth Orb awakened. Hades, Bearer of Sin and Mirror of Desire, had taken another step toward the throne. And now… nothing would be truly hidden again.
---
On the outside, Hestia stood frozen, her gaze locked on him.
"I have witnessed divine auras of joy, of war, and of purity and chaotic elements. But this… this was different."
As Hades awakened the light blue orb, his aura didn't just darken; it grew sinister.
His aura was neither wild nor special. But, just near him, it felt like he was the most evil in the world. It felt uncomfortable around him as if he could see through you, see your weaknesses, your shame, and your failures. It was the kind of presence that made even gods want to hide their eyes.
Hestia, shivering with an unknown cold, intensified her sacred flare and created a ring of fire around her.
"Why is he awakening all the evil divinities? He becomes more like an apocalypse as he awakens them."
She joined her hands, closed her eyes, and earnestly prayed, "Please, Lord Kaos, please don't make him what I fear he could become. Please."
Hestia clenched her fists, watching shadows ripple behind Hades as if they were responding to unspoken confessions.
There was now something unnerving in his silence. A presence that felt like being judged… without a word spoken.
---
With five divine orbs awakened, my soul had begun to shift into something far removed from the mortal shell I had once known.
Yet I pressed forward, drawn toward the sixth orb, a blackish-red sphere, dark and pulsing like a restrained heartbeat in the void.
As I approached it, I felt a weight, heavier than any other. This wasn't subtle or quiet. It radiated a presence that demanded submission or defiance, and I could feel it demanding transformation.
The moment I began channeling divine energy into it, a chilling thought entered my mind.
"To awaken this godhood… you must abandon the remnants of your human nature."
A heavy, yet unrecognizable, sound echoed in my mind.
This was the domain of demonic energy and demon lordship, the embodiment of wrathful authority, chaos-bound command, domination, and raw instinct.
To claim this domain was to cease being merely human, even in thought, and to accept something more primal, more brutal… more feared.
I hesitated. If I accepted, I could be powerful but would lose something precious.
Again those voices whispered in my ears.
"Why… are you not abandoning your weak self? Do you not want to become strong and powerful among your peers?"
"Yes, but…"
"But? Have you forgotten that when you were born, you were eaten alive by your own father, and you just helplessly struggled? Many divine beings were present, but still, they didn't stop him. Do you know why? Because you were weak and nothing, whereas your father was the strongest, and compared to him, you weren't even a strand of hair."
This bewitched my mind; I still held firm, but deep down, I agreed with it. As I still resisted, suddenly faint memories of my mortal life—empathy, restraint, and kindness—rose to the surface: my sister's kindness and my mother's warmth. But then, like a storm crashing down, I remembered my father's hands gripping me when I was just an infant. All the emotions rose up—the fear of death, feelings of loneliness and abandonment, and the intense pain of acid burning my skin.
"Cruelty has no mercy for gentleness. The world respects power."
I clenched my fists and whispered in my mind, "If this is what I must become to rise… then so be it. I accept you."
The effect was instantaneous.
My soul surged with a violent blaze as the orb merged with me. My body convulsed, bones groaning as divine transformation overtook me.
---
From across the chamber, Hestia gasped, her heart skipping as she instinctively took a step back.
Hades' aura suddenly flared up. He screamed with intense pain.
"Aaaahhh!!!"
Before her eyes, Hades' form began to grow, his once slim 12-year-old frame stretching into a tall, athletic 16-year-old body, lean yet muscular, radiating a terrifying maturity.
His nails elongated, slightly pointed and sharp, resembling predatory claws.
His canines lengthened, not grotesquely but enough to stand out when he opened his mouth.
Just above his ears, a pair of ominous, black, obsidian-like small horns emerged like sprouts from the ground; at the root of the horns, golden ichor flowed out, but little by little, it darkened as his horns grew, extending backwards in clean, sleek lines. Each one was about three-quarters the length of an adult hand, sharp at the tips, and exuding a chilling elegance. Finally, his golden ichor blood fully changed into pure black.
His aura twisted into something wholly demonic, violent, and unyielding, a force that bore down like a storm of wrath and war.
Hestia hid her face but sometimes peeked through the gaps between her fingers. Her body was shivering and sweating excessively.
"T-This… isn't… awakening a domain," her voice shattered.
"H-He's evolving into a new species… he is no longer mortal, no longer a god, but has become something like… a demonic god."
She looked at Hades's shadow and saw the shadow of a giant bird with purple eyes that glared at her.
She quickly shut her eyes and muttered to herself, 'It must be an illusion, yes, that's an illusion.'
She looked again and saw the normal shadow of Hades. 'Phew.' But still she felt an intense gaze upon her. She looked around but found nothing.