On the earth where the accumulated snow was gradually melting and tender buds were beginning to sprout, a golden-haired girl followed closely behind a girl dressed in pure white.
They lightly stepped across the soft earth, carrying a fresh, damp scent, strolling across this land that had just welcomed spring.
The snow that had originally piled up to ankle height had already melted considerably.
Sparse snowflakes scattered across the vast land, while tender green buds pushed their way out from beneath the thin layer of snow.
It was like awakening after hibernation.
Persephone looked at the overflowing signs of spring around her and couldn't help showing a delighted smile.
She was genuinely happy.
The rich scent of spring around her continuously entered her nose. This fresh, natural fragrance put her in a wonderful mood.
Bathing in the warm spring sunlight, Persephone's footsteps became light, as if she had no attachment to the earth at all.
And wherever her feet stepped on the damp ground, it would instantly become full of life, as if touched by magic.
The black, damp soil seemed to come alive and began to gently turn over.
In an instant, a brilliantly colorful patch of flowers burst from the ground.
Tender branches and leaves stretched out, upright and full of life.
Even the lush grass poked its head out one after another, bathing in the warm sunlight.
Erica had been following behind the Queen of the Underworld the entire time. Seeing the large patches of flowers and grass growing beneath her feet, she watched the Queen of the Underworld's light figure in amazement.
After Professor Viktor released the Queen of the Underworld, Erica regained control of her body.
And from the perspective of a bystander, Erica had witnessed everything that happened at the time.
Feeling the spring atmosphere constantly emerging around her, Erica clearly understood the Queen of the Underworld's happiness at this moment.
After all, anyone who knew they would be trapped in an endless snowy wilderness for four whole months every year would feel depressed.
Thinking of this, Erica came to understand and sympathize with the Queen of the Underworld's initial dissatisfaction toward her.
And now, seeing the Queen of the Underworld so happy and cheerful, Erica couldn't help muttering softly, "She's clearly a god, yet she seems not mature enough..."
It seemed that gods also had all kinds of emotions, and they would feel unhappy or angry because of certain people's actions.
After all, Erica had already witnessed the true appearances of several gods through the professor.
Hermes before, and now the husband-and-wife pair, Hades and the Queen of the Underworld.
These gods were all rich in emotion, with almost all their happiness, anger, sadness, and joy written across their faces.
Besides that, Hermes also possessed an extremely cunning mind.
But apart from that bit of scheming, he didn't seem to have any other abilities.
After the battle in the royal capital, Hermes had even been beaten by the professor until his mind collapsed.
And the Queen of the Underworld at this moment didn't look nearly as frightening as she had when she was sealed in the garden just now.
Her temperament was more like that of an innocent little girl.
It was just that no one knew exactly how many years this little girl had lived.
Next was the image of Hades, the King of the Underworld.
Whenever she thought of this name, Erica would remember Hades's blue skin, his tall figure.
As well as those dark red walls and the golden, forked spearhead.
Erica shook her head, trying to throw away those heart-stopping images.
Seeing these gods with her own eyes made Erica feel that the image of gods in her mind had somewhat collapsed.
At this moment, Professor Viktor's calm voice sounded in her mind, 'You don't need to deify them too much. Gods aren't invincible.'
'The reason they're called gods is simply because of their immortality, as well as the honorific title that arose from being worshipped.'
That was why they were called "gods."
Hearing this, Erica was somewhat dazed.
This could already be seen when Professor Viktor successfully captured Hermes.
Gods weren't invincible.
Precisely because of Hermes's reaction, when Erica first entered Hell and learned that her opponent was Hades, the King of the Underworld, although she felt somewhat afraid in hindsight, she didn't feel that excessive reverence toward gods.
On one hand, it was because of the empire's deeply ingrained laws, which prohibited its residents from worshipping gods.
On the other hand, even a real god had been captured by Professor Viktor, so what was there for her to fear?
Thinking this, Erica silently asked Viktor in her heart, 'Then... can gods die too?'
She was very curious about this question.
Although gods were immortal, according to Professor Viktor, gods weren't invincible.
Wouldn't that mean there was a chance for gods to be killed?
Looking at it this way, perhaps they weren't that different from humans?
Hearing Erica's question, Viktor responded in her mind as well, 'No.'
Erica nodded without surprise. After all, if gods could really die just like that, they wouldn't deserve to be called gods.
But at the same time, a strange sense of disappointment rose in her heart.
Even Professor Viktor said that gods wouldn't die. It seemed that even he couldn't completely deal with gods.
Then, if the King of the Underworld really decided not to let the professor leave, how would they leave the Underworld?
Thinking of this, Erica's brows knitted tightly, and intense worry rose in her heart.
'But they can be killed.'
Those words made her heart jolt, as if it had stopped beating for half a beat.
The professor... what did the professor just say?
They wouldn't die, but they could be killed?
As she stepped across the damp, soft earth, she stared at the Queen of the Underworld's back, dressed in a pure white long dress.
Her heart suddenly began beating rapidly, and an intense sense of unease filled her entire body.
Because the one in front of her was, after all, a true god.
Erica's footsteps involuntarily became even lighter.
As she passed through the thin layer of snow, her heart seemed to be tightly squeezed, afraid of making any sound.
She was somewhat frightened, worried that the other party would hear the mental conversation between herself and Professor Viktor.
If this god heard their conversation, would she fly into a rage because of it?
After all, they were discussing the life and death of a god, something of great importance.
But the determination and fearlessness revealed when Professor Viktor said those words continued to echo in Erica's heart.
Confident, resolute, completely unafraid.
It was as if he didn't take these gods seriously at all.
This gradually put Erica at ease, and her footsteps became lighter as well.
At this moment, the one-eyed Vega stood on Erica's shoulder.
Seeing her uneasy yet excited appearance, he narrowed his eye and communicated with Viktor in his mind, 'Did you scare her?'
Viktor was silent for a moment.
He had originally wanted to add a few more words, such as the fact that he had already killed gods countless times.
But if he really said that, for a "local" like Erica, it might be too shocking.
After all, they had grown up listening to myths.
The lofty image of gods had already been deeply engraved in their hearts.
Not everyone could be like Viktor and have no reverence whatsoever for these conceptualized lofty beings.
Viktor thought it over carefully in his heart.
In the game, the names of every god corresponded to the myths of the real world, and even their relationships were extremely similar.
For example, the relationship between Hades and the Queen of the Underworld.
He didn't know whether this had been deliberately designed.
When players entered the game, every deity they encountered could correspond to a god from ancient mythology in the real world.
In the game, the gods all used the names of gods from real-world mythology, so Viktor naturally didn't have much reverence for them.
Not to mention that he had already defeated them more than once.
However, there was no point in telling Erica about these things, even if he did.
'Forget it. I've already given Erica enough shocks today.'
Thinking this, Viktor quietly shut his mouth and carefully felt Erica's intertwined and complicated emotions.
In the end, Erica followed closely beside the Queen of the Underworld with both uneasiness and anticipation.
The two of them arrived together at the edge of this vast land.
The Queen of the Underworld stood by the shore, closed her eyes, spread her arms, and took a deep breath of the fresh air filled with the atmosphere of spring.
The fresh scent made her feel refreshed.
The excitement and joy in her heart gradually calmed down under the gentle spring breeze.
And before them, beyond the edge of the land, flowed a river of death so profoundly silent that it seemed utterly devoid of life.
Seeing the scene before her made Erica break out in goosebumps.
She still remembered that when she boarded that transparent boat, the countless painful and crazed souls beneath the River Styx had left her with a deep and indelible impression.
This profoundly silent river connecting with this land covered in flowers and grass looked extremely out of place.
At this moment, the Queen of the Underworld slowly lowered her arms and folded her hands over her lower abdomen.
The smile that had originally risen on her face also faded slightly, becoming more steady and dignified.
She looked at the River Styx and said gently to Erica, "The River Styx is a river that absolutely does not allow the living to set foot on it. You should have realized this when you took the boat to find me."
These words were meant for Erica.
Listening to her, the uneasiness in Erica's heart gradually faded, and she nodded blankly.
She remembered that when she had first boarded the boat, Professor Viktor had told her many rules, such as not making a sound on the boat and not looking back after getting off.
These actions were all meant to deceive the boatman, making it think that the passenger was merely a dead person heading to the depths of Hell.
"By relying on this kind of loophole, Charon can indeed take you across the river."
"But no matter what, you cannot reach the deepest part of the Underworld, Tartarus."
After hearing this, Erica seemed to suddenly understand. She asked softly from behind the Queen of the Underworld, "Because I'm alive?"
"That's right."
Persephone nodded, then pointed at the golden branch Erica was clutching tightly in her hand and explained, "But as long as you have this, you can enter the Underworld as a living person."
Erica lowered her head and looked at the branch in her hand, which shimmered with a warm golden light. Suddenly, she heard a smug little snort.
She raised her head following the sound, only to see Persephone standing there with her hands on her hips, her body leaning slightly backward, smiling confidently.
She said proudly, "Because Charon will definitely take you to the Underworld for my sake."
Erica blinked and looked at the Queen of the Underworld with some understanding.
That made sense. After all, she was the Queen of the Underworld.
Her status was illustrious, second only to one person.
A boatman would of course have to give her some face.
Just then, a thick, pale fog suddenly rose from the surface of the river before them.
The fog quickly spread, soon covering the entire surface of the river.
From within the white fog, a huge figure wrapped around a long pole slowly emerged, gliding toward the shore.
After all, having had the experience from before, Erica was mentally prepared this time.
She wasn't as frightened as last time, simply watching as the boatman came to the shore.
And just like last time, the boatman froze for a moment when it saw them.
Then it slowly opened its mouth, inlaid with golden teeth, and exhaled a strand of deep white smoke.
Through the swirling smoke, the boatman looked at Erica, faint flames burning in its empty eye sockets.
It seemed curious about why it had just ferried Erica over and now had to ferry her again.
But soon, it stiffly turned its head, and its gaze fell on the Queen of the Underworld.
Seeing the boatman's gaze, Persephone looked extremely pleased with herself.
She lightly curled her arm and beckoned to Erica, "All right, we should get on the boat."
But just as Persephone was about to step onto the boat, the boatman suddenly grabbed the golden oar.
It swung it down toward the top of her head very quickly.
Bang!
The crisp sound was clear and echoing.
In the blink of an eye, it spread across the entire River Styx and the grassland filled with the atmosphere of spring.
Erica was startled and looked at the Queen of the Underworld with concern.
She covered her head with both hands, tears even appearing at the corners of her eyes from the pain.
"Ugh... why are you like this?"
Even Erica was confused.
She raised her head again and stared sharply at the boatman across from her.
The skeleton boatman propped the oar back against the boat, then extended a withered arm from its baggy robe.
It held up three fingers toward the Queen of the Underworld, indicating "three."
The Queen of the Underworld rubbed her head, then slowly raised her head and looked at the three fingers Charon held up.
At this moment, her eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief, "What!? You actually want to charge me three gold coins before you'll let me on the boat?"
"I'm the Queen of the Underworld!!!"