"Now that I think about it, this is actually my first time visiting the Underworld."
Standing by the riverbank and looking toward the distant city of the Underworld, Duanmu Huai couldn't help sighing. At that moment, he saw a boat slowly drifting toward him before coming to a stop at the dock. Duanmu Huai immediately strode forward and boarded it.
"Excuse me, mind giving me a ride?"
He raised his hand and spoke toward the ferryman of the soul ferry. The ferryman stared silently at him for a long moment.
"This is the River of the Dead. The living may not enter."
"Well said. And if I say I insist on crossing?"
"That depends on your sincerity."
"Sincerity, huh...…"
Hearing the ferryman's response, Duanmu Huai paused, nodded thoughtfully—then suddenly lifted the Thunder Warhammer and swept it horizontally with a "whoosh," stopping the massive hammerhead right at the ferryman's nose.
"You take me across the river, and I'll spare your life. How about that? Personally, I think it's a pretty good deal."
"...…."
The ferryman swallowed hard, though his aged face still tried to maintain an air of calm dignity.
"Threatening the ferryman of the Underworld is a foolish act, trespasser. Though I do not know where you come fro—"
BANG!
Before he could finish, Duanmu Huai smashed him with the hammer, sending him flying. The ferryman bounced across the surface of the river like a skipping stone before sinking with a heavy splash.
"Idiotic fool."
Duanmu Huai snorted, lowered his hammer, and walked to the boat.
"I'll row myself."
Very soon, under Duanmu Huai's control, the soul ferry drifted across the crimson Styx and arrived at the city where Hades resided. Duanmu Huai leapt onto shore, looked up at the void above, and the corner of his mouth curled into a cold smile.
Then he withdrew his gaze and strode toward the Gates of the Underworld.
"Who is he!?"
At that moment, atop Mount Olympus, an old white-haired man glared angrily at a shimmering water-mirror projection displaying Duanmu Huai's back. The Olympian gods stood around him in silence, exchanging looks of shock.
No wonder Zeus was furious. At first, like Ares, he thought Duanmu Huai was someone Athena had summoned for aid. But after Duanmu Huai killed Ares—and absorbed his divine power and priesthood—Zeus realized something was very wrong.
Normally, when a god dies, their divine power disperses and returns to the world, and their priesthood becomes vacant again for another candidate. But this man had not only killed Ares—he had stolen both his divine power and his priesthood.
Divine power belonged to Ares, fine—but priesthood absolutely did not.
This meant that now that Duanmu Huai had taken the War God's priesthood, Zeus could never again bestow the title upon another god.
That made Zeus extremely unhappy.
As mentioned earlier, Olympus was essentially a family-run corporation—every god, near or distant, was a blood relative. Now an outsider had barged into the company and stolen one of their "family assets." How could Zeus tolerate that? If he could tolerate it, he wouldn't be Zeus!
So Zeus, in a rage, banished Duanmu Huai to the Underworld and summoned Athena, demanding an explanation.
But Athena was clueless—she had no idea who this man was or where he had come from.
And that made the situation much worse.
An outsider infiltrated the family business and stole their property—absolutely unacceptable!
"Kill him! Imprison his soul in the Underworld! Let him never reincarnate!!"
Zeus issued the order to Hades, and Hades indeed sent his forces to eliminate the intruder.
However...…
BANG!!
The Thunder Warhammer came crashing down on Cerberus's head, shattering the massive skull like a firecracker. One of the beast's heads burst apart instantly. The now two-headed hellhound howled and attempted to flee, but Duanmu Huai smashed its hind legs with another hammer strike, causing it to collapse like a dead dog. Duanmu Huai leaped up and brought the warhammer crashing onto the remaining head—
BOOM!!!
With the final head exploding, Cerberus's enormous body fell lifelessly to the ground. Duanmu Huai didn't even spare the mangled corpse a glance before continuing forward.
The gates to Hades's palace were tightly shut, but that wasn't a problem. Duanmu Huai reached the towering iron doors, pushed them, pulled them—then lifted his hammer and slammed it forward.
BOOOOOM!!!
The doors blew open like a flimsy curtain. The lower half of the gate bent inward, while the upper half shattered completely, flying into the darkness with a heavy crash.
...…Okay, so the doors were meant to be lifted, not pushed.
Too late now.
The palace interior was pitch-black, darkness swallowing everything. Duanmu Huai didn't care. He just walked straight ahead—and when he stepped into the darkness, a voice spoke.
"I did not expect you to make it here, outsider."
With those words, the surroundings lit up. Duanmu Huai looked around to find himself inside a vast cylindrical cage. At the same moment, he felt a gust of wind behind him. Turning, he saw two glowing purple hooks flying toward him, completely ignoring the power armor he wore and stabbing straight into his torso. A chilling force surged—his soul was being hooked and ripped from his body!
"Hmph!!"
Duanmu Huai roared, enduring the soul-rending pain as he stomped the floor. Black flames of Death Predicted erupted from his body, surging up the chains. With a scream, a shadowy figure leapt back as the chains binding Duanmu Huai were blasted away.
"Impressive. You do have some skill after all...…."
"So, you're Hades?"
Duanmu Huai snorted coldly, gripping the warhammer.
His first impression of Hades was—ugly as hell.
He remembered the Hades from the Saint Seiya Underworld arc—tall, elegant, beautiful. But this Hades? Not even close. This one was a bloated, obese shut-in—layer after layer of fat hanging off his torso, metal spikes protruding from his flesh, and a flaming mask covering his hideous face. Compared to Ares, Hades wore far less clothing, basically dressed like a wrestler—just a pair of briefs and boots. Maybe Hell was too hot?
"Yes, outsider...…"
Hades held two soul hooks and glared at Duanmu Huai. Though his expression was hidden by the mask, Duanmu Huai could tell from the tone that he'd been burned badly by the black flames.
As expected of the Lord of the Dead—he could actually hook at one's soul. If the target had been a mortal, they'd have been dead outright.
"Who are you? What do you seek here?"
"A dead man doesn't need to know so much, Hades."
Black flames erupted from Duanmu Huai's body, his helmet glowing blood-red. Seeing this, Hades felt a stab of inexplicable terror flash through his mind.
Then humiliation surged up to replace it.
He was the Lord of the Underworld, ruler of death itself—how dare he feel fear before such an unknown man!?
Unforgivable!
"If you refuse to explain, then I'll kill you and extract your soul! I'll torture the truth from you!"
"That depends on whether you've got the ability!!"
With those words, the two clashed again.
Hades hurled his soul hooks toward Duanmu Huai, who raised his warhammer to block. The hooks wound around the warhammer instantly, and Hades grabbed the chains with both hands, pulling hard to drag Duanmu Huai forward.
Unlike Ares, Hades was far stronger—not just in power, but size. Ares could turn into a giant, but Duanmu Huai could break that form with black flames. Once Ares reverted, he was similar in size to Duanmu. But Hades, as one of the three great Olympian brothers, stood nearly ten meters tall without transforming. Combined with his massive, overweight frame, his strength was monstrous. Even Duanmu Huai was only evenly matched in a direct tug-of-war.
"Hah!!"
Hades roared and pulled the chain violently. Duanmu Huai staggered a step forward. Seeing this, Hades grinned. Clearly, this outsider had reached his limit. All Hades had to do was pull a bit harder—
Suddenly a sharp, explosive pain from behind shattered his thought.
Duanmu Huai, anticipating the stalemate, didn't rely on brute strength—he instantly changed tactics. While Hades was tugging with all his might, Duanmu Huai summoned a card and activated a spell—
[Grand Javelin]!
A massive stone spear erupted from the ground and stabbed straight upward into Hades's backside—like a thousand-years-kill, but with a literal boulder spear.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The pain from his rear obliterated Hades's will to fight. He arched back and screamed, instinctively trying to pull away from the scorching agony.
Duanmu Huai gave him no chance.
"Die!!"
At the moment Hades loosened his grip, Duanmu Huai's jetpack ignited with a roar. He shot forward like a boulder launched from a trebuchet, slamming full-force into Hades's belly, forcing him backward—
Driving the stone spear even deeper into Hades's body!
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
The agony drove Hades mad, but Duanmu Huai wasn't about to show mercy. After delivering the reinforced thousand-years-kill, he leapt upward, drew his chainsaw sword, and stepped onto Hades's shoulder. Then—
Like chopping down a tree—
He swung down at Hades's neck!!
"VRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"
The chainsaw blade tore through flesh and muscle, sawing into his neck. Hades tried to resist, but the pain from above and below rendered him helpless.
A moment later, he felt a sudden coldness at his throat—
Then everything ended.
Hades's severed head spun away as his enormous, bloated body collapsed, blood and divine power gushing skyward before surging into Duanmu Huai.
"Whew...…"
Only then did Duanmu Huai exhale and jump down from the corpse. He looked at his handiwork and nodded with satisfaction.
"Looks like I did a pretty damn good job."
(End of chapter)