Hades' eyes were fixed tightly on the open Gates of Hell before him.
Beyond the enormous gates covered in flowing lava patterns was a supreme heavenly gate of twisted, mechanical design, engulfed in flames.
Millions upon millions of dead souls and vengeful spirits swirled and twisted behind the heavenly gate.
Crimson remnants of souls floated in the air, struggling constantly, their forms distorted and deformed.
They frantically tried to surge out through the heavenly gate and enter this hellish world filled with churning lava.
Deep within Hades' crimson pupils, the chaotic phantoms of these souls were reflected, and a strong sense of doubt rose in his heart.
Where exactly had this dog thief summoned so many dead souls from?
The scene before him made Hades' head feel heavy.
As the god of the underworld, he could recognize that these dead souls had all fallen into disorder and chaos.
The depths of these spirits' souls had long since been filled with endless fear and madness.
Their minds had already collapsed after enduring prolonged despair, leaving them able only to let out distant roars of painful wails.
Millions of suffering dead souls did not belong in hell.
But now, if these countless souls poured into the underworld without being controlled in time, they would certainly bring enormous trouble to the underworld.
When that happened, the entire underworld would fall into chaos because of the riot of these souls.
Seeing this, Hades, as the god-king of the underworld, could not suppress his anger.
All dead souls should go to the underworld and undergo reincarnation, rather than being imprisoned in some desperate, sealed space and turned into tools or slaves.
Faced with all this, Hades suddenly swung the crimson spear in his hand.
The golden spearhead carved a deep trench across the ground before slowly rising again.
A fierce wave of wind swept through the arena, and the scorching air stirred the surrounding atmosphere.
Hades pointed the spearhead at Viktor's brow. Even the flames wrapped around his body became more violent and blazing.
"Were you the one who imprisoned these innocent dead souls?"
In Hades' eyes, Viktor was already a person guilty of the greatest crimes.
Perhaps these millions upon millions of souls had died because of Viktor.
Even after their deaths, they had been imprisoned, causing them to lose their sanity in endless despair.
Thinking of this, Hades could barely contain his anger.
Someone as evil as this dog thief deserved to have a special prison built for him deep within the underworld.
Not only would he make him deeply experience the cold that reached his marrow, he would also make him endure the pain brought by every punishment.
However, feeling Hades' increasingly powerful aura, Viktor remained unusually calm. He showed no fear at all in the face of the spearhead.
He casually extended one hand and pushed aside the golden spearhead aimed at his brow.
"What you should be considering right now isn't this."
"It's how to deal with 'them.'"
Hearing Viktor's words, Hades' furious gaze slowly shifted upward, toward the supreme heavenly gate outside the Gates of Hell.
The next moment, the supreme heavenly gate seemed to have been struck by an enormous force. Its flaming mechanical frame began to break apart and teeter on the verge of collapse.
But the powerful force pushing against it still did not stop. The combined surge of millions of spirits caused the supreme heavenly gate to split apart with a roar.
Crimson flames gushed out through the cracks, forming a chaotic scarlet opening.
Countless dead souls broke free of their restraints and surged out from the pitch-black vortex, flowing through the air.
These dead souls opened their twisted mouths, their bodies shriveled like skeletons, chaotically filling the entire sky.
When they broke through the Gates of Hell, the starry world that had originally been there was instantly obscured.
This blood-colored haze was woven from countless hideous dead souls, slowly and oppressively swirling high in the sky.
Their shrieks and sorrowful wails caused endless pain to erupt in this instant.
It was like an ocean turned upside down pressing down from the sky, trying to smash the entire hell apart.
Flames erupted in Hades' eyes. Countless spirits swept past him like a blood-red river, filling the entire sky above hell.
The moment the dead souls poured in, the blue-green ghosts on the high platforms on both sides huddled tightly together in fear.
Their bodies trembled, and their eyes showed dull terror.
These sudden, unwelcome visitors filled them with extreme panic.
Every ghost contained an extreme terror and despair.
For ordinary ghosts like them, this powerful and chaotic pressure was simply unbearable.
Hades stared at every dead soul that swept past him, his anger growing stronger and stronger, and his burning fiery beard rose as well.
His fierce gaze glared fixedly at Viktor, flames surging from it as though they wanted to swallow him on the spot.
But even with all this anger, he was powerless against Viktor for the time being.
The most urgent thing was to control the dead souls that had suddenly entered hell.
Whenever he thought about this matter, Hades felt like his head was about to explode, with a buzzing sound echoing in his ears.
After losing his guard dog, he had not only been forced to guard the gates himself, but now he even had to work overtime.
Ever since that dog thief entered hell, he had not had a single peaceful day.
Hades viciously threw a curse at Viktor, cursing and grumbling, "Dog thief, I will never forget you."
"You will never escape the underworld. I'll make sure you experience pain like despair."
He angrily flung his cloak. Orange hellfire rose from his body, and his figure gradually disappeared into the flames.
With Hades' departure, the enormous arena also vanished without a trace, while the spirits that had originally been curled up on the high platforms scattered in all directions.
The millions of dead souls also flowed into the deeper layers of hell.
Viktor slowly raised his head, and the crimson stars appeared again.
There were no longer any howls from the dead in front of the Gates of Hell. The cracks in the ground that had been spewing lava also slowly closed, and the flames of hell gradually went out.
The deathly silence and calm returned once more.
Vega stood on Viktor's shoulder and used her wings to wipe the sweat from her forehead, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, that guy finally left."
As the god-king of the underworld, the pressure Hades brought was completely different from that of Hermes before.
Compared with him, Hermes was practically here just to make a joke.
Although Viktor had held the advantage in the duel just now, if they really fought for a long time, the other party would certainly have greater endurance.
Moreover, Viktor's current condition did not allow him to engage in a prolonged battle.
After all, this was a body he had borrowed.
"After he finds out where these dead souls came from, he'll understand the truth.", Viktor spoke in a low voice.
Everything around them had temporarily come to an end. Viktor lowered his head and looked deeply at his own body, speaking softly.
"That's about enough."
Vega looked at him curiously.
"What, are you going to return the body?"
Viktor nodded.
Immediately afterward, a blazing flame that stirred the wind currents spun through the air, enveloping his entire body.
Not long afterward, the flames gradually dissipated, revealing Erika lying on the ground.
She was wearing that black windbreaker and looked somewhat weak.
Erika opened her eyes in a daze, feeling intense pain throughout her entire body.
She looked around. This upper layer of hell, which had been filled with battle just moments ago, had now returned to peace.
She took deep breaths, waiting for the pain in her body to subside.
Before long, Erika gradually regained her strength. Supporting herself with both hands against the ground, she slowly stood up.
She patted the dust from her body, frowning slightly as she recalled everything that had just happened.
When Erika had first challenged that burly giant, she had only managed to withstand two of the opponent's attacks before passing out from the intense pain.
But in that hazy state, she seemed to have realized that her body was being controlled by someone.
Suddenly awakening from her vague consciousness, Erika felt that her body was unusually light. She even felt as if her feet were floating in the air.
She felt as though she had turned into a soul, suspended in midair.
In the end, Erika watched helplessly as her own body began moving on its own.
And what was more... it had actually turned into Professor Viktor's appearance.
So Professor Viktor really had been controlling her body just now?
At this thought, Erika's cheeks suddenly flushed, and a scorching heat spread across her entire face.
Wouldn't that mean... she had basically been seen completely by the professor?
No, no, no... How could she think that way?
Erika hurriedly shook her head.
How could the professor possibly be interested in her body?
But she could not help recalling Viktor's confession at her birthday party half a year ago.
Erika, "..."
Could it be that the professor really coveted her body?
No, no, no, no... That couldn't be possible, right...
Just as she fell into confusion and hesitation, a familiar and cold voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
"Pay attention to what you're thinking."
"I always know what you're thinking."
Hearing this voice, Erika froze, as though white smoke had started rising from her mind.
Her thoughts felt like a tangled mess twisted into a knot, leaving her at a loss.
Professor, Professor Viktor actually knew what she was thinking!?
Erika looked around in panic, but there was no one around her, not even a single ghostly figure.
But now, the voice in her mind had also disappeared.
She felt the surroundings become silent. Even the sound of the flames in this upper layer of hell seemed especially unsettling.
After all, this was the underworld. Who knew whether a ghost was stretching out its long tongue and staring at her from the darkness?
Erika felt a trace of fear and involuntarily called out softly, "Professor?"
After her voice fell, Viktor's cold and indifferent voice echoed in Erika's mind once again, "You don't need to test me. The windbreaker you're wearing is my current existence."
Erika suddenly understood.
No wonder when that giant appeared just now, the god had suddenly told her right beside her ear that she absolutely had to keep that windbreaker.
Otherwise, Erika would never have dared challenge an expert like that...
Thinking of the terrifying and powerful aura of the God of the Underworld, Erika's body involuntarily began to tremble slightly.
Thus, she subconsciously tightened her grip on the two sides of the windbreaker's collar, gently pulling them together.
Feeling the warmth of the clothes wrapping around her body, a strange sense of security rose in Erika's heart.
It felt as though the professor was embracing her.
But the moment this thought appeared in Erika's mind, she immediately remembered that the professor could sense her thoughts.
She hurriedly shook her head, trying to drive away these distracting thoughts.
Then she cautiously looked around and hurriedly suggested to Viktor, "Professor, let's go back quickly."
She had originally come to hell to find Viktor and bring him back to the human world.
Now that she had finally found him, she naturally did not want to stay in this gloomy underworld any longer.
However, when Erika prepared to walk toward the Gates of Hell, she was shocked to discover that the enormous Gates of Hell had already closed tightly.
Erika reached out and tried her best to push the gate open, but no matter what she did, it did not move at all.
Only then did Erika realize that she seemed to be trapped.
She anxiously asked, "Professor, can you open this gate?"
Seeing this, Vega, standing on her shoulder, slowly spoke, "It's useless."
"Without the permission of the God of the Underworld, the dead cannot leave the underworld."
Erika became even more anxious.
Because she wasn't a dead person at all, was she?
As though it knew what Erika was thinking, Vega opened its single eye and glanced lightly at her.
"You really aren't."
"But Viktor is already 'dead.'"