#624Three to One and CharonAI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 622 Three to One and Charon
"That is…"
An Ancient Evil, the Silent Crown!
Even before it arrived, Heracles recognized the source of that power.
Unlike its counterparts, this Ancient Evil, tainted with the aura of Land of Eternal Night, was not particularly keen on slaughter and combat.
It simply stayed quietly within its domain, impartially eliminating any Life that violated its rule of 'Silence'.
Few had seen its true form, and even fewer were willing to face such an unspoken terror.
Because although the Silent Crown never actively killed, as long as you could abide by its rules, you could move freely within its domain... However, that was actually a false premise.
The Silence of the Ancient Evil was an eternal, relative quiet.
It would descend with a power that would make whatever noise you made at this moment forever less than what you made the moment before.
As long as you did not violate this power, you conformed to its rules.
At first, those who stumbled in could easily manage this.
It was merely speaking softly, slowing one's steps, trying not to make any sound... However, as time went on, this terror would strike directly at the soul.
From the words on one's lips to the beating of one's heart.
From the noise made in the outside world to the friction between muscles and bones.
Eventually, even thoughts would be targeted by that omnipresent power, causing them to gradually stagnate, eternally fixed in a single moment.
At this point, the Ancient Evil, whose power could not yet extend to the flow of time, would cease its actions, acknowledging that you conformed to its rules.
Of course, correspondingly, a living being would also perish.
Everything 'noise' he left in this world would become the source of the Ancient Evil's power.
With a solemn and grave expression, Heracles had not expected to encounter it.
In his impression, this terrifying existence had been defeated by the King Cleus of the Underworld long ago, suppressed by mobilizing the power of the entire realm.
Logically, it should no longer be active in the world... However, a moment later, the Great Hero understood why.
"This is not its true body, but it is not a simple clone either."
"This is a unique avatar it created, formed from the 'noise' it absorbed from the world."
"And its purpose in coming here is not actually me, but this harp, which is formed from the power of Land of Eternal Night..."
Under normal circumstances, the Silent Crown would not actively attack external existences, unless something was attracting it.
Taking a deep breath, with two powerful enemies appearing simultaneously, even Heracles felt immense pressure.
But at that very moment, his expression drastically changed.
Within his Perception range, another aura rose.
"That is—the Ancient Evil, Flesh Corridor?"
Equally shocked, Ender had not expected that the small edge of the Underworld would gather three Ancient Evils.
"I see, Hera's seal has a loophole!"
"Long, long ago, the Goddess of Wisdom, who was still active in the human world, and Queen Hera worked together to dismember and dismantle the Flesh Corridor that ravaged the land." (See 3-402)
"I don't know how many pieces they divided this Ancient Evil into, or where each piece was suppressed."
"But clearly, a part of it was sealed by Hera in the Underworld, a place that the gods consider a barren land."
"And now something must have happened to her, causing this seal to be damaged!"
Ender was not aware that Hera had recently used her royal authority as Queen to spy on the Mother Tree that received sacrifices, but he could roughly discern some of the reasons.
However, understanding it did not change the situation they currently faced.
"Heracles, the Flesh Corridor is coming for you; your blood qi and body have reached their peak. The Thousand-Faced Soul Eater should merely be attracted; as long as I find its trace, even if I don't defeat it, I have a way to lure it away by creating a large number of 'false souls' with puppets."
"As for the Silent Crown, you need to find a way to deal with that harp in your hand..."
Quickly offering solutions, Ender was also a little nervous at this moment.
Although two of the three Ancient Evils were avatars, and the only true body had been defeated many times by the Spirit Realm, this still did not diminish their terrifying nature.
Possessing an almost immortal essence, there were few people in this world who could deal with them... But at this moment, Dionysussuddenly spoke:
"Heracles, I am confident I can deal with the last one to arrive!"
"I once watched Ammon fall before me; this time, I will not give them another chance!"
"Good!"
Decisively, the Great Hero spoke in a deep voice.
His gaze swept around, and he revised his plan for the puppet in his mind.
"Ender, you take the harp and use your puppet to lure away the Silent Crown."
"Since Dionysus says he can deal with the Flesh Corridor, I will trust his ability."
"As for me..."
He looked at the end of the gray land, where a faint, illusory Life was gradually emerging.
He saw countless distorted, hideous faces roaring, struggling, and screaming madly within a colossal and indescribable body.
There were old men, women, children.
There were nobles, commoners, bandits.
Whether good or bad, whatever their status in Life, they all had only one outcome now: to exist as a part of the Ancient Evil.
Heracles at least still had the possibility of entering the Spirit Realm and resurrecting the dead... while their best outcome was merely to transform into pure Spirituality energy, to be recycled by the Spirit Realm once again, and molded into brand new souls.
Buzz—
On his chest, a small tattoo materialized from nothingness.
That was the golden balance, also the Balance of Justice.
And as its wielder, Heracles naturally could not only use it to weigh the two sides of the balance... With a thought, his originally vast and magnificent blood qi disappeared, transforming into a special kind of power.
It equivalently converted damage against physical entities into damage against ethereal entities, and transformed damage affecting the mind into damage affecting the body.
By using Ender's Divinity to activate this artifact, Heracles immediately gained the qualification to fight the Thousand-Faced Soul Eater.
As the strongest warrior in the world, it was difficult for him to exert his full power when facing a spirit body.
But with the golden balance, all these problems were no longer problems.
...
The Underworld land, vast and boundless.
Although not as extensive as the human world, there was not the same powerful order here.
Gods could exert a considerable portion of their power here, and Hades, who possessed the royal authority of the Underworld, even more so.
After all, whether it was the change of eras or the Typhon Rebellion, this place was never the main battlefield.
So, alone, Hades silently walked along the Styx River, leaving the recently built Underworld God Palace.
Not Styx, but Acheron, the ancient Styx River most closely associated with him, even born with him.
The surging river water churned, connecting with a small portion of the Underworld's fundamental power.
Although in the core royal authority of the Underworld, the River of Pain occupied far less than half a share, many times, having it and not having it were two different concepts.
As long as it existed, Acheron could accomplish many things others could not; this was one of the privileges of a Styx River... At a certain moment, looking at the suddenly rising bronze pillar and the tremor in a corner of the Underworld, Hades's expression was calm.
As the God of the Underworld, a true god who possessed several tenths of the Underworld's royal authority by virtue of his Divinityalone, he could not turn a blind eye to these things that were almost attached to his body.
The King Cleus did not manage these because the King Cleus had no need to manage them.
After all, as Zeus's brother, Hades understood what the other party was thinking too well.
"Your Majesty, do you need me to do anything for you?"
The river water swirled slightly, and a raft emerged from it.
Holding a long pole, the left hand beneath the gray robe was now only crystalline white bone.
Charon, the ferryman of the Styx River, respectfully bowed, offering his highest reverence to the King Cleus.
A thousand years had passed, and he was no longer the weak and pathetic ferryman he once was.
A powerful Divinity fluctuated on his body, and some Divinities of Darkness, Death, disease, and aging swirled around Charon.
Yet, they were not similar to Geras, the true God of Aging, or Apollo and Artemis, who controlled the ability to spread and heal plagues.
Because in fact, the God of Aging of Chaos never involved Death; it was more of an existence that contrasted with the power of the Goddess of Youth.
The two even came into being one after another, their powers mutually restraining each other.
And Apollo and Artemis were not truly the Gods of Plague; even the concept Pandora controlled was far closer to plague itself.
This result might be related to Chaos naturally not having strong Deathpower, so many related powers were far less powerful than in other worlds.
However, the current Charon was clearly an exception; on his body, those unique domains connected together, as if they were meant to be that way.
Thump-thump—
He stopped, standing by the river.
Looking at the few subordinates who were willing to obey his commands rather than Zeus's or the Dark Ruler's, Hades's lips curled into a stiff smile.
He wasn't very accustomed to laughing heartily, because the present world rarely gave him opportunities to do so.
"No need, let them fight it out themselves."
"Heracles, Zeus's son... From the moment he defeated that lion, I noticed this warrior of the human world."
"If he wasn't the Son of the King Cleus, perhaps he could have become another Evans, a capable assistant for me in the Underworld."
"What a pity, Zeus pays enough attention to him, just like that human named Perseus."
"If he hadn't achieved certain goals in advance, and then taken the initiative to test and challenge the Spirit Realm, perhaps this human would not have simply come to the Underworld like this, but rather as a sharp sword of Zeus, provoking and demonstrating against me."
Hades was not entirely clear about what support Zeus had suddenly obtained that made him dare to take this step early.
However, he guessed that it was likely related to the powerful will he had recently sensed, coming from Tartarus.
If that existence hadn't been there, Zeus would most likely have repeatedly tested his attitude, used this human to create various conflicts, thereby provoking his rebellion, and finally punished him in the name of righteousness; or if he had endured, the other party could have used the young man accompanying Heracles as an anchor point to gradually extend his royal authority.
But all plans are not fixed; when the King Cleus realized he had a better, simpler, and more brutal solution, he naturally made a change.
And clearly, facing the threat of a Great One in the abyss, the King Cleus also had to make concessions for it.
"Alright, no need to pay attention to their affairs."
"That human, or the god with the aura of royal authority following him, they are all just pawns of Zeus—of course, perhaps in others' eyes, I am too."
"But as the Lord of the Underworld, I can at least change my perspective and look at it from outside the chessboard... So Charon, how are the things I entrusted to you coming along?"
"Your Majesty," Charon spoke respectfully, his aged face showing only 'loyalty': "As you wish, everything is currently in progress."
"Only when your 'Prophecy' is realized will the King Cleus of Olympusno longer be able to do anything to you."
"Hmm."
He nodded slowly. Although Hades had never discovered any prophetic abilities since then, a god's dream would not occur without reason, especially for a powerful god like him.
So, even though he still hadn't found out whose alter ego the being was that caused the sun to fall and dragged his body to be exposed to the great sun for seven days to die, the King Cleus didn't think it was false.
"Then Charon, do you have anything else to say?"
Noticing his subordinate's hesitant expression, Hades asked casually.
Unexpectedly, Charon bowed slightly and gave him a very interesting answer.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"A while ago, I found a human who had residual power of Styx and lightning on him."
"He seemed to have been grazed by the King Cleus's artifact—this should have instantly taken his Life."
"But some of the Styx River's power saved his Life, allowing him to survive in another special form after abandoning his physical body."
"I think this way of utilizing the Styx River's power is very special, as if it's imitating that human named Achilles... So I captured him and imprisoned him in a nearby dungeon."
"Oh?"
Hades had no reaction to the earlier content.
It was only when the name Achilles was mentioned that he finally took it seriously.
To be a mere mortal whom the gods could not harm, and whom Zeus's artifact could not affect—how wonderful it would be if such power could be applied to the undead.
Although he could not command Styx, Acheron might still be able to try.
"Good, very good."
"Preserve his Life; I will go see him myself later."
His expression was solemn. Although he was a god and the other was just a human, Hades didn't find anything inappropriate about it.
Looking at the Underworld, he didn't have many gods as subordinates to begin with.
Whether he liked it or not, he had long been accustomed to it.
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