Elfir stared at his new arm. The one that had been cut off in battle now moved with power, its crimson skin and strong fingers flexing. "What?!" His eyes widened in shock. He had not expected the evolution to restore his lost limb.
A cry of joy and happiness escaped him. He dropped to his knees right there. "I swear in the name of the Styx," he declared, his voice shaking with emotion, "that I and my lineage will be loyal to the crown of the Underworld forever."
All around him, the same miracle occurred. The crippled walked, the blinded saw, the broken were made whole. It was as if they had all been reborn. Seeing Elfir's oath, others followed him. They knelt and swore the same promise. Their loyalty did not come merely from the evolution and miraculous healing. It grew from lives made better, from safety and respect they had never known before. It was strengthened by the horrible stories they heard from soldiers about the cruelty in the Duke's camps.
As the festival ended, the people returned to their homes, their hearts full of new hope.
Hades prepared for his greatest trial. He wore light armour that fit close to his body and carried a sharp spear and a strong chain. The day had finally come to confront Campe, known as the symbol of chaos and destruction, a child of Tartarus and Gaia. But she had been born with a violent and beastly nature without a single thread of intelligence. She did everything based on instinct; because of this, she was uncontrollable and caused a significant amount of destruction. Thus, she was trapped in Tartarus and given the false title of "gatekeeper" to hide the fact that she was its most dangerous prisoner.
Hades and Hecate traveled to the western edge of the Underworld where a giant boulder stood alone. Hidden within it was the gate to Tartarus. Hecate held up her lamp and whispered ancient and powerful words.
'Æßåçæäñ¢§∆>'
The lamp glowed with a violet light. Its cover unfolded like a metal flower, revealing a golden key, the Key of Tartarus. Hecate took the key, pushed it into a hidden hole in the boulder, and turned it three times to the right. She pushed it deeper and turned it two times to the left.
Click.
The sound was sharp and final. Ancient letters and symbols drawn on the rock door glowed with a lava-like light. The door seemed to wake up and swung open on its own.
Creeeak.
It revealed not a tunnel, but a hole into nothingness, a doorway to another dimension where the real Tartarus existed.
Hades moved to step through, but a small pull on his jacket stopped him. He turned and saw Hecate, her face downcast. "Is it necessary to face Campe alone?" she asked, her voice quiet. "Can't I come with you?"
Hades sighed. He stepped close to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "This is my fight, my queen. I have to do it myself," he said softly into her ear. Then he suddenly grinned, breaking the mood. "Is my sweet wife sad I'm leaving her alone? Don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow to celebrate with you."
He laughed softly, then stepped backwards into the hole and fell into the darkness without giving her a single chance to say something. Hecate, irritated by his joke, stomped her feet and shouted after him, "Who would be sad for a chicken-brained bastard like you? Stupid!" Her shouting made her feel a little better, but fear still tightened its grip on her heart. She hugged herself, waiting.
---
Hades glided down and landed on hot, red ground. Rivers of lava flowed through cracks in the walls, ceiling, and floor like bloody veins. Sometimes the lava formed faces that screamed silently for help before something underneath pulled them back down.
Tartarus was a place of darkness, lit only by the dim glow of molten rock. Horrifying screams echoed constantly from cells built into the walls, prisons for the most dangerous beings ever to exist.
Closing his eyes, Hades extended his divinity of Secret. The labyrinth of Tartarus unfolded within his mind, every corridor, every prisoner, every floor etched in impossible clarity. But as his vision brushed the prison's deepest layer, it touched something vast and terrible. A secret so immense it threatened to split his mind. His eyes snapped open, gasping, sweating despite the heat. Whatever that secret was, it felt too big, too dangerous to know. He pushed the feeling away.
He calmed his breathing and walked to the end of the floor. Hades descended through nine such circles, each one a deeper, more horrifying testament to ancient sins than the last. The screams of the damned became a constant choir, and the air grew thick with despair and the smell of sulphur and burning flesh. He reached the deepest floor, the 10th floor, and stopped before a massive cell, its bars thick enough to hold a mountain. This was the prison of his six uncles, the three Hecatonchires and the three Cyclopes, sons of Uranus and Gaia, brothers to the Titans. They had been imprisoned for eons, first for their monstrous appearance, and then out of fear of their immense power.
A deep, grinding rumble echoed from within the profound darkness of the cell. Thud. A hand the size of a boulder slammed against the bars, its span barely enough to hold his waist. A single, massive eye blinked open in the darkness, and a gaze of pure, ancient power pinned him where he stood. "Who are you, tiny one?" a low voice boomed. "And what are you doing in this cursed place?"
Hades stood straight. "Nice to meet you, Uncle Brontes. I am Hades, King of the Underworld. Son of Cronus and Rhea."
The giant grumbled, "Cronus... Rhea..." Then he paused. "Wait. I did not tell you my name. How do you know it?"
"I am the master of secrets," Hades answered calmly. "Knowing things is my power."
"Do you know about us?" Brontes asked.
"Yes."
"Then you know what your father and grandfather did to us!" Brontes slammed his palms against the bars in a rage that shook the ground.
"I know," Hades said, not flinching. "And that is why I am here. I have come to defeat Campe and free you from this prison."
Brontes took a moment to calm his anger. "You? You think you can defeat Campe? The symbol of destruction? With the strength you have?"
Hades answered by unleashing his full power. His aura flared, pressing down on the very air of Tartarus. Brontes's eye widened in shock.
'This child... his raw strength matches Campe's,' the giant thought. 'But power alone is a dull blade. Does he have the skill to use it?'
"Let's see if you live or she does," Brontes said finally.
"Then I will see you soon, Uncle," Hades said. He turned his back on the giant, a show of utter fearlessness, and stepped into the final hole, descending to the arena at the very bottom of all things.
---
Absolute darkness surrounded him. A deep, rhythmic breathing sound vibrated through the stone. Hades took a step forward.
Suddenly, two massive serpentine eyes snapped open, glowing with malevolent gold. Then a hundred more smaller pairs of eyes ignited around them, hissing in unison. The very ground shook as a colossal form began to uncoil.
'Flash.'
Hades conjured a sphere of brilliant white light and tossed it high into the air. It hovered like a captured star, illuminating the darkness before him.
The light revealed the monstrous fusion of woman and serpent, scaled in emerald, with a crown of living, venomous snakes for hair. Her lower body was a gargantuan serpent's coil, powerful enough to crush mountains. Her upper torso was that of a muscular woman, but it ended in hands tipped with claws that could shred anything. She was chaos given form, destruction made flesh, and her golden eyes locked onto Hades with ancient, intelligent hatred.
The final battle began.