After several dozen breaths, under the crowd's strange gazes, Hades—his head lowered, utterly devoid of the fearsome presence he had displayed earlier—used his own blood as a medium to swear an oath before the Goddess of Oaths. He pledged to remain neutral in this coup and to no longer involve himself in Olympus's struggles.
Once the vow was declared, the Lord of the Underworld looked around and unexpectedly felt a sense of relief.
First it had been the ancient Underworld goddess Hecate, then the three brothers of death, then the three Underworld Judges turning against him. Now even his own wife had defected.
Right—there was also that damned dog that bit its master.
With his own house burning to this extent, he could barely keep himself together. He truly had no energy left to deal with Zeus's mess.
What was more, based on what that powerful enemy had just revealed, Hades learned that the three initiators of this coup were Poseidon, trying to pull his brother back; Hera, punishing her husband's infidelity; and Athena, seeking to rescue her mother. The moment he heard this, his head throbbed. He chose to completely lie flat, cutting off any urge to keep wading into this muddy water.
Seeing her husband yield, Persephone let out a satisfied snort. The resentment in her heart eased considerably thanks to Hades's attitude, and she stepped forward to help the wounded Lord of the Underworld to his feet.
Sensing that his wife's previously cold attitude toward him had softened, Hades finally discarded the last trace of guilt in his heart. All that bitterness from moments ago vanished without a trace.
After all, brothers were meant to be sold out. Nothing was more important than a wife.
Watching this scene, Samael glanced at the Underworld King, who was starting to show signs of being henpecked, and a teasing smile quietly surfaced on his face.
That said, persuasion was persuasion. He had no intention of placing all his hopes on Hades's promise alone. The necessary procedures still had to be followed.
Accepting that the situation was beyond salvaging, Hades cooperatively handed over the Underworld Sword, obediently accepted several layers of suppression spells from Hecate, and, under the Ancient Serpent's questioning, bluntly revealed everything he knew about Zeus's trump card.
In truth, the suspicious God King of wisdom had only separated out the portion of authority used to manipulate the divine seals, temporarily granting Hades the qualifications to invoke Tartarus's [Taboo of the Gods] as a precaution.
The true core key was still in Zeus's hands. More precisely, it was the thunderbolt scepter that embodied the authority of the heavens.
If hostility were exposed too early and the God King were pushed into a corner, there was a real chance he would directly summon the [Taboo of the Gods] to suppress the rebellion, opting for mutual destruction.
Therefore, before making a move, they absolutely could not let him get hold of the thunderbolt scepter.
Samael silently considered this and firmly etched the conclusion into his mind.
While the Ancient Serpent was planning the next steps, his companions were hardly idle.
Atalanta, along with the two witches Circe and Medea, freed up their hands and moved among the scattered groups of human Heroic Spirits who had collapsed to the ground, panting.
The earlier fighting had been intense, and there were no shortage of wounded, both light and severe.
The huntress took charge of setting broken bones and performing basic bandaging, while Circe and Medea drew upon the leylines to cast healing Magecraft, accelerating their recovery.
Beyond that, Samael discovered that the divine seals Zeus had engraved into the human Heroic Spirits were not entirely useless.
Dozens of human Heroic Spirits whose bodies had clearly been destroyed were, guided by the divine seals, able to reassemble their soul flames. Nourished by vast amounts of Ether, they slowly regained physical form.
Having a divine seal engraved, leaving a "backup" within the Pure Land of Bliss and on the Spindle of Fate, was effectively the same as having a save point. These divine-seal puppets could be reused and sent back onto the battlefield again and again.
Once he understood the mechanism, the Ancient Serpent could not help but click his tongue in amazement, inwardly grateful.
If they had not uncovered this ultimate trump card in advance, then even if they managed to pull Zeus off his throne, it would likely have been a bitter victory, leaving them bloodied and broken in the process.
As the chaos in the Pure Land of Bliss finally came to an end, the three Underworld Judges returned to their respective duties. Charon went back to rowing his ferry, while Thanatos, the God of Death, escorted Hades and his wife to the Underworld Palace together with Hecate, the Goddess of the Underworld Moon.
Friendship was one thing, but caution was another.
At least until the rebellion in Olympus was fully settled, Hecate and Thanatos would remain by Hades and his wife's side for several days. It was a precaution, in case the Lord of the Underworld had a change of heart halfway through and secretly tipped off Zeus.
As for Samael, considering the unique nature of the divine seals, erasing them wholesale would be far too wasteful. On top of that, releasing too many people from the Pure Land of Bliss at once would make it easy for bad actors to slip in and leak information.
So over the course of two days, he deliberately put on the appearance of great difficulty, carefully selecting only a few dozen Heroic Spirits he truly trusted—such as Perseus, Orion, Sisyphus, and the three sons of Heracles. He erased their divine seals and kept them close.
As for the others, the Ancient Serpent promised that once he had the time, he would rescue the remaining participants from the Pure Land of Bliss in batches. That was enough to stabilize their expectations.
Two days later, everything was ready.
Dozens of top-tier Greek Heroic Spirits from the Golden Age gathered along the banks of the River Styx, boarding Charon's shabby little ferry one by one.
At the pier, not only Hecate, Thanatos, and the three Underworld Judges were present—even Hades, who was effectively under soft house arrest, arrived with his wife to see them off, prepared to witness the largest-scale resurrection of the dead the Underworld had ever seen.
As the figures at the tail end of the group gradually thinned, Samael frowned slightly and glanced at Circe and young Medea standing beside Hecate, a trace of reluctance surfacing in his heart.
"You really aren't coming back with me?"
"Hecate-sensei said this is a war between gods. We're still too weak to be of any help. Staying here to assist her, calm the human Heroic Spirits, handle communications, and learn more advanced witchcraft is the only way we can truly support you."
The usually loud and scatterbrained girl spoke with rare seriousness, laying out her intentions honestly.
"Yes. Even though it's hard to part, for Lord Theseus's sake, I'll work as hard as I can!"
Little Medea clenched her small fists, her expression solemn and focused. Her violet eyes glimmered beneath the gray mist, and a quiet sense of mission radiated from her.
Seeing that his companions had made up their minds, Samael felt reluctant, but he nodded in relief at their resolve to share his burden. He raised his hand and gently patted the two girls on the head, his eyes filled with a soft, affectionate smile.
Under that intimate head pat, Little Medea's cheeks flushed red. Gripping her Underworld Moon Staff tightly, she mustered her courage and spoke.
"Th… Theseus-sama… about my earlier request… have you… thought about it?"
Smack!
Samael flicked Little Medea on the forehead and snorted lightly.
"Kids aren't allowed to date."
At those words, the hopeful look on Little Medea's face instantly collapsed. She squatted down like a wilted eggplant, sniffing as a strong wave of bitterness welled up in her chest.
"Then… You need to grow up quickly…"
Just as Little Medea's mood plunged to rock bottom, a gentle, lingering whisper echoed by her ear, leaving the little witch stunned and frozen in place.
It wasn't until the fully loaded ferry disappeared into the deathly mist of the River Styx that Little Medea snapped out of her daze. She lifted a hand to touch her burning cheeks, her face flushed as she let out a silly, breathy laugh.
...
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