Chapter 467: Self respect. 2
Remembering the conversation she had with Aphrodite, she continued to look at Victor with neutral eyes.
'After months of thinking about that slut's words, I... I couldn't help but think she's right' Those thoughts were reaffirmed as she looked at Victor.
And for a moment, she began to see Adonis in the man in front of her.
'Tsk... Pathetic.' Persephone's heart went cold.
Aphrodite underestimated the effect of her words on Persephone. The Goddess of Love had a lot of influence on her 'rival'.
'Self respect, huh...' She thought of the current state of the Underworld.
"Victor."
"...What?" Victor narrowed his eyes when he felt Persephone's gaze. He didn't know what happened, but her entire presence changed.
"I'm done."
"…Huh?"
"You chase after me, and visit me in the Underworld to claim my head..."
"I won't stop you. I probably did a lot of damage to Adonis, and because of that, his family must hate me." She spoke as if that wasn't important, and it really wasn't.
How much harm did the Greek Gods intentionally or unintentionally do to humans?
The bill passed thousands easily.
And did they care?
Of course not. They were Gods. Human morals meant nothing to them, their hatred didn't matter either.
"..." Victor's eyes were serious.
Persephone snapped her fingers.
And a black ball came out of Victor's chest and flew to her hand.
"... That is…"
"The curse I put on Adonis."
Victor's whole head was processing what was happening in front of him now. He couldn't understand anything, he was just curious.
"...I don't understand, what caused this sudden change of thought?"
"It wasn't sudden." Persephone spoke in a neutral tone.
"Time in the Underworld passes differently than Earth."
"For you it might have been weeks, but for me it was months or even years, not that I care about the exact date."
Persephone clenched her fist, and soon the curse was broken.
And slowly the castle began to crumble.
"Next time we meet... We'll probably be enemies."
"..." Victor continued with the same neutral expression on his face.
"How did you know about my feelings?"
"...This is information that not even Adonis knows. In fact, except for a few individuals, even the Gods don't know... The Gods of Hell can read the intent of someone's soul."
"Although you keep your poker face at all times, and control your feelings, your soul cannot lie… Not if you want to, of course."
"...I see..." Victor blinked at the end when he realized that Persephone's last sentence was a hint.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"…What caused your change of feelings?" Victor asked with a relaxed look.
"A rival's words can be more effective than you think."
"Aphrodite..." Victor closed his eyes, his head still spinning rapidly.
"...she has changed."
"...." He looked at Persephone.
"I didn't realize it until a few months ago, but... The Goddess of Beauty changed when she left Olympus..."
"Maybe that was for the better... Gods hardly change, we live for a long time after all."
"... Then why are you still talking to me, aren't you my enemy?"
"The line between enemy and ally is as fine as the line between love and hate."
"If there's one thing I've learned from living for a long time, it's that nothing is as simple as black and white."
"Today, you may be my enemy, but maybe in the future, you will be my enemy who will help me defeat another enemy, or maybe you will be my ally, who knows? The future is uncertain." She spoke in an oddly knowing voice.
Victor didn't ignore Persephone's advice. He knew dealing with the Gods was never simple. If there was one thing mythology can say, it's that it is not uninteresting.
Mythology is strange, confusing, and sometimes revolting, but it's certainly not uninteresting.
The relationships of the Gods came and went depending on the surrounding situation.
"...you're strangely not acting like a spoiled brat."
"Oh, come on. You and I both knew it was an act. We joked around a few times trying to read each other's intentions, right?" She laughed in amusement.
"...." Victor nodded.
"…Oh, but I'm still spoiled. I am a Queen after all." She snorted.
"Your subordinates must be crying with a Queen like you."
"Believe it or not, I'm pretty popular."
"...Really?"
"Yes."
"...the Underworld is fucked up."
"Oy!"
The two laughed a little, but then Persephone's expression changed.
"Before you go... Let me give you a heads up."
Slowly Persephone's hair began to grow, and reaching the floor, a dark aura began to leave her body, her dress began to change to black with lilac edges.
Her eyes were pure darkness, and a long scythe made of power appeared in her hand.
gulp.
Victor's eyes widened widely. This was a pressure many times stronger than he'd felt from Inari, and it made his face unconsciously smile.
Fear? What is it?
Victor was a true maniac, fear only propelled his guts to fight the strong opponent.
He was not afraid of fear, he was afraid of not being able to move and fight someone strong.
"If you invade the underworld with the intention of harming me, prepare to leave your soul in my realm."
"Because this time... I won't be forgiving anymore."
"...PFFT..." Victor slowly got up from his throne: "HAHAHAHAHA" A gigantic smile appeared on his face.
"Forgiving? Bitch, please."
FUSHHHHHHHHHHH.
The pressure from Victor's body exploded, pushing Persephone's pressure away.
Corpses started coming out of the ground around him, and getting up, monsters, humans, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, corpses of various beings were rising up around him like an army, his hair grew to normal size, his eyes glowed blood red.
A red sun appeared in the sky, and Victor's entire face began to disappear, and only something distorted was present, something that had sharp teeth, and blood red eyes.
"I wouldn't expect less from you."
"You can throw everything at me while I go after your head."
"Do you want my head so bad? Does Adonis' death bother you so much?" She couldn't understand his determination.
"...I'll go after your head, but it's not for Adonis."
"...."
"You've harmed my wife's family for years..."
"YEARS!"
His roar did damage all around.
"My wife's tears will never be in vain... No matter who the enemy is, those who make them cry, only one fate awaits them."
"Death."
"..."
'He really is adorable… Aphrodite was right.' She couldn't help but be a little jealous of the women who received this crazy, obsessive, destructive love, but at the same time affectionate, gentle, and enviable.
"I see..." Persephone closed her eyes.
"From the beginning this wasn't about Adonis personally."
"They were about the people close to him…" Understanding what was happening, she opened her eyes with a glint of determination.
"...I'll be waiting for you in the underworld, Alucard."
Crack.
The world shattered like glass.
...
Persephone awoke on her throne in the Underworld.
"Thanks for the help, Thanatos." She spoke to the man in front of her who was covered in a black cloak.
"... My Queen, why didn't you kill him? He is clearly a threat." The Entity of Death asked:
"I am Death. With my power, even in that 'dream', you could have killed him the moment you summoned the scythe."
"Hmm… I honestly wonder why… I don't have a big reason you know? I don't hate him either. If I'm being honest with myself, I kind of like him a little…"
"…." Thanatos narrowed her eyes from under the black cloth.
"And if I killed him there, Aphrodite wouldn't rest until my dying body was in front of her."
"Are you afraid?"
"Nah, even if she's a Titan, she can't fight the whole Underworld... Actually, I think she can with that annoying power of charm, and knowing the woman, she wouldn't attack alone, she has a lot of influence after all."
'I would have to ally myself with various other Pantheons depending on the conditions of Aphrodite's threat, and the fight itself would escalate into a war over one man…' Persephone had examples of what had happened in the past.
But the event itself was caused by a Princess who was kidnapped by the enemy country, the country from which the woman was kidnapped was so furious that it sent all its people to war over a woman.
She was just so loved that way.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"But that's not the point, I just don't have time for it, other than that, man wouldn't go down without a fight."
"You saw it, right? How strong his soul was."
"...Yes, a being that contains millions of other souls within its own soul... A Progenitor of Vampires..."
Persephone nodded. She felt a little sour. She didn't know if she'd made the right decision, but it was better to make that decision than to humiliate herself in front of that man.
'Self-respect, huh?' Persephone couldn't help but think that was the best advice Aphrodite had given her in years.
Quake, Quake, Quake.
"It's starting again..." Thanatos muttered as he felt the flow of souls enter the Underworld.
"Tsk, Diablos is fucking up the whole natural order of things with the gate open."
"How many souls have we received this month?"
"69 million soul."
"…so many!?"
"With the Gate of Biblical Hell open, that sector cannot operate properly. Consequently, the souls that are being judged in that Hell, and the souls that died and were judged by the three Judges of The Abyss are being distributed to all 6 remaining Hells."
"And that's causing trouble for all Hells because we're getting individuals who didn't believe in our existence, consequently, the reincarnation cycle is being jeopardized."
"Ugh...the Underworld isn't big enough to hold so many souls at once, and dealing with souls of other religions is problematic..."
"What are the 7 Heavenly Realms doing?"
"They are quiet, even Mount Olympus knows nothing."
'Impossible, how did they not notice such a big problem in the Cycle of Souls?'
"How about using Tartarus?"
"That is silly, I don't know where my idiot husband has gone, but I won't make the mistake of opening Tartarus."
"So we're going to send them to the other mythologies?"
"Yes, send the souls to the Hells of Shinto mythology, Norse or Yama, that old man will love so much work."
"Hmm, that might work, after the Biblical Hell, the Hell that Yama commands is the one that has the most capacity to receive so many souls."
"Queen Persephone, we have a problem!" A man opened the castle and entered.
"Hypnos, what is this disrespect?" Thanatos asked in a neutral tone that sent a chill through the God's body.
"I'm sorry Lord Thanatos, Queen Persephone, but this is an urgent matter!"
"... What happened?"
"Cerberus is gone!"
What does it mean if the guard of Hades' realm disappears? The being that guarded the Gates of the Underworld? This means that the door to the underworld didn't have a guard, and if it didn't have a guard, souls could leave, and other beings could enter.
"..." After a long silence, Persephone spoke:
"Fuck."
"We must inform Zeus of this. If the souls start to come out of the Underworld, the Underworld might stop working and in the worst case scenario break… and if the Underworld breaks… 'death' won't make sense anymore, people of greece will die and their souls will be wandering aimlessly, and that will generate even more chaos.." Thanatos spoke.
"I know."
"Thanatos, you will be temporarily placed as the new Guard of The Underworld. Hypnos, go to Olympus and report to Zeus."
"Yes, my Queen." The two spoke at the same time.
"Furies."
Three women appeared in front of Persephone.
"I have a job for the three of you."
"At your service, My Queen." + 3
....