Chapter 6: The Netherworld - A Desolate Land
Divine Kingdoms!
The concept is straightforward: a god creates a divine kingdom using their own divine power, nurturing, constructing, and developing it. In turn, the kingdom enhances the god, creating a perfect symbiotic cycle.
If there's a weakness?
Should the divine kingdom be destroyed, the god would almost instantly collapse. However, this scenario is rare because divine kingdoms typically reside within the gods themselves. If the kingdom were to be destroyed, it would mean the god had already been defeated, rendering the kingdom's state irrelevant.
Yet...
Few gods choose to focus on cultivating their divine kingdoms. The primary reason is the sheer resources and materials required, making progress slow compared to mastering laws or nurturing followers for faith power.
Therefore, among the three paths, the divine kingdom is the least pursued. Nearly all gods prioritize mastering laws and gathering followers to harness faith power. Divine kingdoms are built but often left to develop naturally without much intervention.
Most gods follow this path. However, there are exceptions, such as the deities of the Japanese pantheon, who obsessively cultivate faith power. In their world, the flow of faith seems inexhaustible. A single follower's faith can be equivalent to that of hundreds of thousands or even millions of ordinary believers, a baffling phenomenon.
"Divine Kingdoms, Laws, Faith," Hades murmured, "These are all manageable for now. The crucial matter is reaching that place."
Logically, Hades should first retrieve his demonic stars from the starry sky.
However, his instincts urged him towards a different destination—a place promising everything he needed. Delaying would mean losing these opportunities.
Trusting his instincts, Hades moved swiftly. After all, his instincts had guided him out of the seal and into survival once before. There was no reason to doubt them now.
Hades vanished, and the many Titans watching him shook their heads. They did not pursue. Kronos had decreed that no harm should come to Hades during these 500,000 years. Thus, watching him further was pointless.
The large assembly of Titans dispersed.
Greek Pantheon, Mythic World
This world, created by the Absolute God of Chaos, Khaos, comprises several realms:
- The Celestial Realm (Heaven): Rich and inexhaustible, filled with endless treasures.
- The Sea Realm: Vast and enigmatic, hiding untold riches and dangers.
- The Earth Realm: Boundless and teeming with life, wealth, and treasures, coveted by all gods.
- The Underworld (Tartarus): Formed from the body of the Ancient God of the Underworld, Tartarus.
These realms together form the complete Greek Pantheon, Mythic World.
Beyond these, there are unique constructs, such as the Astral Realm. Positioned outside Heaven, Sea, Earth, and Underworld, the Astral Realm acts as a barrier against external threats to the Mythic World, composed of countless stars.
Hades was headed to a unique realm established since Khaos's creation of this Mythic World—one that had never been opened before.
The Netherworld!
This realm uniquely belonged to Hades.
To be precise, the Netherworld's very existence was predestined for Hades. While Tartarus represented a world of death, it was essentially the physical manifestation of the Ancient God Tartarus. As such, it was unreliable, liable to vanish should Tartarus awaken and leave.
The Netherworld was created to fill this potential void. With Hades's birth, the Netherworld could legitimately take over as the representative of death among the four realms.
As Hades arrived at the Netherworld, passing through its entrance effortlessly...
He was left speechless.
As the natural-born ruler of the underworld, Hades's increasing divine power and mastery of laws made him more rational, progressively subduing his emotional responses.
But at this moment...
Hades was overwhelmed. The Netherworld was vast, indeed, but aside from its size, it was utterly barren. Not a single precious artifact or even a blade of grass was in sight. Just endless, desolate black earth.
"…"
For a long time, Hades, the rational Underworld King, stood silent.
"Am I seriously this impoverished?" he finally muttered.
"I...," Hades sighed, his voice tinged with helplessness. "No wonder in the original story, Hades and Zeus were almost sworn enemies. Abandoning the Netherworld to create a new Underworld, only to be outmaneuvered and stuck with this desolate wasteland."
Whether it was Zeus's opulent Heaven, Poseidon's mysterious Sea Realm, or Athena's embattled Earth Realm...
Each had its own valuable domain. In comparison, what did Hades have?
If Hades hadn't mastered his emotions to such a frightening degree, he might have disregarded all divine decorum and started cursing.
"…"
After a prolonged silence, Hades collected himself. "Forget it," he muttered. "No point dwelling on this. In the future, I might just abandon the Netherworld and establish my own Underworld. For now, I need to explore this place. My instincts led me here for a reason."
The Netherworld must hold something special, even if it seemed like a barren wasteland. And even if it didn't, Hades hadn't wasted much time coming here.
With that resolve, Hades began his exploration of the Netherworld.
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