Chapter 93

Melinoë was kind enough to leave him at the entrance of the forest instead of the center.

It saved him a lot of time, even though part of him would really like to test some of his training against the skeletons.

On the other hand, those three will be the real test.

He doesn't really want to fight, but those three are guarding the gate to the center of the underworld, so he has no choice but to deal with them.

Looking around and seeing that Dio was alone, Dio walked calmly to the edge of the land and faced the river of liquid fire, the Flagonte River.

The first time Dio saw it, he was quite busy running away, so he didn't notice its details—the most noticeable of which was its smell of rotten eggs and sulfur.

Dio didn't usually feel the heat, so the heat it gave off was also a surprise. He never felt too hot or too cold because the temperature was always mild for him.

Dio can still be burned or frozen, depending on the temperature, but it has to be much lower or higher than what a human can endure.

Dio kneeled and moved his hands towards the river.

Dio was about to make contact when a layer of bright gray ectoplasm enveloped his hands.

Dio scooped some water into his hands without getting burned because his hands are shaped like cups and protect him.

With a thought, Dio shaped the gray energy into a sphere around the small amount of bright liquid fire.

Now that that was done, Dio made his energy stronger. He won't have to focus on it to keep it from disappearing.

Dio stood up, and the small gray ball in his hand disappeared.

It didn't vanish; it's just been stored.

This was a small conjuration trick taught by Melinoë.

It converts the physical ectoplasm into energy and disperses it, but when it is summoned again, the ectoplasm returns to the form it was in before it was turned into energy, with the item inside it still intact.

It is a very useful trick, and there are various versions of it that magicians use to do the same—to store and conjure their items.

However, the difficulty of performing his version of the trick is important.

First, the soul produces ectoplasm.

So, if Dio was not careful and suffered any minor damage to his soul, the consequences would be unpredictable since not even the gods can heal a wounded soul.

This often happens because this energy is very submissive and easy to control, which makes magicians and other beings that deal with it less cautious, which is why the outcome is predictable.

The good news was that the soul was like a muscle—the more he used and trained with this energy, the more his soul would generate it.

So Dio was using up to eighty percent of his energy to stay safe.

Once, Dio went over ninety-five, and he fainted for a few days.

Dio's energy reserves aren't very big. For example, this little trick used up twenty percent of his energy.

It is a small price to pay to bring a part of one of the rivers of the underworld home.

This small amount will help him a lot to strengthen his spell and maybe help him create another while focusing this time on fire and not healing.

"Just one more."

Dio said as he distanced himself and ran while jumping to the other river.

Dio only found two rivers on the journey, so not getting some of the River Styx is a waste of time because he will be farther away from it as his journey continues.

The next place Dio walked was towards the Styx River, which was a few kilometers away.

From this distance, Dio can already see the natural stone wall where the gates to the central area of the underworld are located.

Dio then reached the shore of the river of polluted black waters.

Dio did the same things he did at the river of fire, he scooped up some of its water and stored it for later study.

On the way, he saw some white poplar trees, which made him laugh while remembering something.

Dio was filled with memories of the ghosts when he got to the underworld, but he used a branch from the same tree to keep them away because he thought he had found something magical.

Dio stored the branch in his backpack, and when he told Melinoë about it, she laughed at him for a long time.

It turns out that this is a very common tree without any magical effects.

The only thing special about it is that the white poplars are one of the symbols of Hades, and the ghosts somehow know this and stay away from them.

Aside from that, it's just a normal tree, which made him feel embarrassed.

The path became more fertile, and he finally reached the dock, where he saw his backpack lying on the ground untouched a few meters in front of the dock.

Digo picked it up and wiped it down while checking to make sure nothing had been moved inside.

Clearly, the enemies have no desire to steal his stock of food or water.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The scream of the enemy made his ears hurt, but he was not as affected as the first time because of the earplugs Melinoë gave him.

Dio put his backpack back on the ground and drew his sword while facing the three bat-winged women flying towards him in the sky.

The Furies, who are also known as Erinyes.

They are three sisters born from the drops of Uranus's blood that splattered on the ground when he was killed by Cronus.

At the moment of their birth, their only instinct was revenge, so each sister was responsible for punishing certain crimes that mortals commit in the underworld.

Dio didn't recognize them before, but Melinoë gave him complete information about them.

The reason for their previous attack was also explained.

It turns out they are incredibly loyal to Hades, and when the news spread that he would become his successor, they went mad and considered him an enemy of their king who must be destroyed.

The three women, wearing only dirty and old pieces of clothing with large bat wings, nails the size of blades, and dry skin similar to mummies, continue to approach at high speed.

It is wrong to think of these three as different creatures.

They have been fighting together for thousands of years, and it feels like fighting against one another.

In addition to their claws, which slow down his natural healing, and the poison in their fangs, which Melinoë told him could kill anyone, they also have this sonic scream that can kill.

In other words, it won't be an easy fight.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The three scream together once again before attacking him.

The scream is close enough to Dio that it makes his ears buzz a little, but it's not a big deal.

Then, the three line up behind each other as they dive towards him, all with their claws ready.

Dio defended against the first by placing his xiphos in front of his body and tossing it to his left in time to see the second right behind and the third attacking together.

Dio teleported to their left and tried to behead the second, but the third defended her sister with her claws.

Dio pulled his sword, took a step back, and kicked one of them in the face, which caused her to collide with the other and roll on the ground.

The first one who attacked suddenly appeared in front of him with her claws aimed at his eyes.

Dio dove and just barely cut the claw that cut his eyebrow.

Dio grabbed her wrist with his free hand, spun her around, and then threw her into the air.

Before she could get up, Dio stepped on her chest and raised his sword.

Of course, before Dio could finish her, he was once again interrupted by the other two.

"Επικαλούμαι το κρύο της θλίψης του ποταμού koʊˈsaɪtəs!"

(I Summon the Cold of the River Cocytus's Wailing!}

Dio blew a massive amount of pitch-black mist at the two.

These two bats flap their wings and rise to avoid his attack since Dio has used this trick on them before.

"Haaa!"

Dio shouted in pain while looking down.

The one who was pinned to the ground by his foot cut his ankle with her claws.

Dio kicked her head with fury and pain, which caused her to roll away from him.

One of the two flew ones attacked him; Dio ignored her.

Instead, he held his sword downward and teleported behind the one floating a few meters above the ground while waiting for her chance to attack him.

When he appeared behind her and was unable to fly, he moved quickly while aiming for her wing.

She was also fast and managed to dodge, but not before Dio grabbed her wrist, and then she started flying upwards.

Dio accidentally dropped his sword from the quick rise, but he still managed to grab her other arm with his free hand.

When Dio squeezed her wrists tightly, she spun in the air, trying to make him let go.

Dio uses this to his advantage. When she's almost done spinning, he lets go of her, and gravity takes over.

He can then wrap his arms around her neck and his feet around her waist.

She didn't like that at all, and she did a few somersaults to try to get away from him, but Dio was secure and was squeezing her neck hard.

"BAAANG"

...

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