Chapter 177

Dio exited the portal where he had left this realm last time, near the beautiful white trees, and faced the gates of the realm of Hades.

The place has a beautiful angle to the gates of the kingdom, created from a stone structure he can't measure.

A line of souls were all grouped one behind the other while walking synchronously towards the giant doors on the ground.

This is his destination.

Dio ran as fast as he could while avoiding the souls and always paying attention to the towers above the wall.

He came to this realm with clear objectives.

First, Dio will cross that gate and find a place to set up a small base, a safe place where he can always return.

Second, he wanted to find Melinoë if that's possible. Dio doubted what happened during his fight against the vampire mage.

Dio was helped by someone he couldn't feel or see at the last second, and this situation directly fell into what she could easily do with her ghosts.

This situation remained unexplained for quite some time after the battle ended, and things calmed down.

He was forced to reflect on everything that had happened.

Dio's mental state was a bit altered, but he was improving, and he was even traveling the world with the help of Black Canary.

He wanted to know who protected him, but he knew very well that finding Melinoë without her wanting to be found was almost impossible.

So Dio won't even return to where we first met. He would choose to rely on luck to solve this little mystery.

It took only a short time at his maximum speed to reach the gates of the wall and face them.

The entrance walls to the realm of Hades were built on a natural formation, or the natural formation was built to be a wall.

The size of this thing is no smaller than a small mountain, and the black gates are made of irregular, rugged, rough rock.

There were no details on the open doors, and there was no design. It was raw and cold, emanating a feeling of being impassable.

But that's not the only thing that's leaving him in awe. The sight inside the gate is even more impressive.

There was a chain attached a long chain made of the same metal as his sword, shiny black on the floor.

This long chain fell to the ground and was split into three, each attached to one head of the same creature.

The five-meter-tall animal's body was lying on the ground. It was muscular and wide, and it had black fur.

Its heads were also on the ground while looking in different directions with fiery red eyes all the time.

Their teeth were exposed and sharp as swords, while Dio could clearly see a faint glow of dormant flames in their throats.

Finally, the creature's tail is the same size as that of a thick boa.

It was standing on guard while moving its head left and right while sticking its tongue out to watch his back.

A perfect guard dog without a weak spot.

Cerberus.

Cerberus didn't care at all about his presence, and his purpose was to prevent souls from escaping his master's control.

They keep walking in their huge line because everyone is welcome.

They still keep their distance from Cerberus, who is in the middle in front of the entrance, even if they know the dog won't attack them.

Dio could see the new destination of the souls very well, even from the gate entrance.

It was a white mountain to the north at the top of which was a temple in the Greek style shining white.

That must be the place where the judges of the Underworld will judge souls.

They were beings who were once mortal, and Dio didn't want to

encounter them.

Dio walked quietly to the left of Cerberus while the old monster looked at him. He didn't take his eyes off of him the whole time.

Cerberus didn't try anything, but he kept an eye on him, and it became increasingly difficult to ignore his smell since Dio was getting closer to take a left on the wall.

Cerberus reeked of pure sulfur, and anyone who smelled it knows how bad it is.

Finally, Dio stood in front of the left path and moved further away.

He was walking backward without taking his eyes off Cerberus's left head.

Twenty minutes later

Dio finally felt comfortable enough to turn his back on Cerberus.

It was the second time he felt a sense of danger and power like this.

The first came from his fight against Cain.

He had encountered a god before, but even though they emanated power, they never emanated more intentions towards him.

So those weren't moments as tense as this one.

Now, Dio knew that as soon as he tried to leave through the gates, he would attack him with everything he had.

Luckily, he didn't need to leave the gate to leave the Underworld.

Then Dio looked at the path ahead of him.

There was entire green grass, snow-capped mountains in the distance, and a blue sky with white clouds in front of him.

A good place that went on for thousands of kilometers.

They were all beautiful on one side of the river but not so pretty on the other.

The river crossed the entire expanse of the fields ahead like a natural barrier.

This river didn't appear to be as imposing as the others Dio had encountered in this place, but that was just a illusion.

It was a calm river, with white waters like milk but without smell.

In fact, the river didn't even make a sound.

It's something new that may or may not be there. That was the feeling the River Lethe gave him.

It could wipe away any memory or trace of a person with just one of its drops, and he took a few steps back in fear even knowing this.

Then, four souls with two men and two women reached this place, and without a second thought, they threw themselves into the river.

They caused no disturbance in the white waters. It was as if they had been swallowed by it.

The disappearance into the river didn't last long.

After a few seconds, the four emerged on the other side of the riverbed while dragging themselves with great difficulty.

These people looked like they didn't know how to walk.

They looked at everything around them and even at themselves as if it were the first time they had ever thought about any image because it was the first time.

Dio now knew that the beautiful place in front of him was the Fields of Asphodel after putting together what he saw and learned about mythology.

This is where souls that were neither good nor bad are placed after judgment and their bath in the River Lethe.

A much better version of Purgatory.

They will live peacefully without harm here like new and pure creatures.

It's not such a bad punishment if you think about it that way.

Dio took a few steps back from the new souls on the other side of the river and jumped over it farther than he needed to.

He didn't want to take any chances, so he jumped to the other side and fell twenty meters to land on the grass below.

Dio won't even try to collect a drop of the river to study. It's too dangerous.

On the other side of the riverbed, he took a closer look.

This place is calm and perfect for fulfilling one of his objectives.

He will establish his base somewhere here, and since it is peaceful, he will easily cross it until he finds his new destination.

It was a stroke of incredible luck to find this place, and excited in this way, he began searching for the perfect spot to create a small base.

How naive he was.

...

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