Chapter 3095: Mercury Chronicles (45)

Humans couldn't scale Mount Olympus, not even Zeus's own favored sons who had been abandoned on Earth—they struggled tremendously to regain their place on the mountain.

The newly-formed youth group found themselves utterly alone, but the situation in this cosmos was vastly different from others. The adopted sons of the Wayne Family had connections that could startle beings across all cosmos.

Tim also joined the team, providing remote technical support. The first person he contacted was Deathstroke.

After the economic crisis, hit men were out of work; many plunged into desperation, lowering their prices significantly. Deathstroke, needing to support his son, had leaped into the Mariana Trench—it was simply cheaper that way.

Tim hired Deathstroke, not to take them to Mount Olympus, but to find a path into the Amazon.

Despite Paradise Island being a public tourist spot, the Amazon's defenses were extremely tight. Female warriors patrolled the area in shifts; approaching the core was no easy feat.

However, now the Young Avengers had to find a way to contact the Amazonians—Diana must have left a method to reach Mount Olympus there.

Deathstroke proved himself as the strongest Tactical Master, leading the group through the Amazon rainforest and finding a small path. He successfully hacked the high-tech device used by Paradise Island to conceal its location, allowing the group to sneak in stealthily.

Deathstroke proved to be an even better infiltrator than Batman, leading his group unscathed and unnoticed toward the palace of Queen Hippolyta of Paradise Island.

Out of caution, they didn't all reveal themselves in front of the queen, instead sending Dick and Raven forward, while Jason and Aisha hid nearby to guard against any unforeseen dangers.

Dick and Raven's arrival gave the queen quite a shock. They didn't reveal how they infiltrated, and the aura of the Sanguine Demon wafting from Raven made the queen wary. Upon learning they sought information on Mount Olympus, the queen expressed her helplessness.

About two weeks ago, Mount Olympus had closed almost all its pathways to the world, the queen shook her head, saying, "Even I can no longer sense the mountain's presence, nor can I travel to Olympus anymore."

Dick and Raven exchanged glances, believing the queen hadn't lied; it seemed Mount Olympus truly was in trouble.

"Have all the pathways been closed?" asked Dick.

The queen nodded and said, "As far as I'm aware, all pathways on Earth have been sealed, but..."

"But what?"

"There is still a pathway to Mount Olympus from the Netherworld. That gate can never be shut. So if you wish to go to Mount Olympus now, you must first venture into the Netherworld, a land of the dead, filled with an air of death and fear..."

Hearing about the fearful aura, Aisha became excited. If not for Jason holding her back, she would have leapt forward.

Recognizing this, Dick said, "We are not afraid of these aspects; we just want to uncover the truth. Your Majesty, do you know how to reach the Netherworld?"

"Only the dead can enter the Netherworld. However, since you are not devotees of Olympus, you may not need to cross the Styx after death. There remains one way for you to reach the Netherworld."

"What is it?"

"You must find the 'Key of Tartarus.' Someone once used this key to open the Netherworld Gate and journey to the land of the dead."

"Where is the key now?"

"I don't know," the queen shook her head. "It happened too suddenly; I couldn't have anticipated, nor could I have searched for the key. Actually, I have a favor to ask of you."

Dick guessed what was coming, saying, "You want to know the condition of Mount Olympus too, don't you?"

"Yes, and if possible, I hope you can prevent the disaster that is happening on Mount Olympus."

Dick sensed an undercurrent in the queen's voice. He said, "You seem unsurprised that disaster has befallen the gods."

The queen sighed lightly, saying, "It was inevitable."

Dick narrowed his eyes.

"It is all due to their own doings. But my child, this is a war among the gods and does not concern the human race. On the contrary, if the gods are completely destroyed, the entity that devours their power will turn your home into hell."

"Who is that?"

"The source of all magic power and the creator of the gods. His name carries a special force; it's best not to speak it aloud. If you can, assisting the gods would also be helping yourselves."

Her Majesty the Queen knew something, but not enough, Dick thought. Perhaps she had learned something from Zeus or the other gods of Mount Olympus, foreseeing this day.

However, the disaster came suddenly, so the Queen had no time to do more. She could not easily leave Paradise Island, and now the task of saving the gods fell on the newly formed Young Avengers.

Speaking of this, Dick was also overwhelmed. Although he had no reverence for the gods, he had to admit that Diana's family was not something the Evil Gods of Earth could meddle with; those were the genuine Elder Gods.

If even they succumbed to some source of magic, would the human race truly have any resistance?

That said, thinking about these matters was of no use. With the Justice League and Bruce off Earth, Dick felt it was his duty as the eldest son of the Wayne family to protect Earth in their stead.

After leaving the Queen's palace, Dick relayed all the information he'd gathered to the others, including Gordon and Victor, but none had heard of the mysterious Key of Tartarus.

Now they understood the consequences of not choosing the magic theory class at the Gotham Magic Academy. Those obscure and hard-to-pronounce magical legends were unheard of to them, leaving them clueless about where to start searching.

Normally, they would turn to Constantine for knowledge in this area, but he was nowhere to be found.

With no other choice, Dick communicated to Mercury, where the Justice League was. Although they couldn't return, they could still send information.

Zatanna suggested they seek the Master of the Dark Night.

The Master of the Dark Night, Jim, and his team had spent some time at the Gotham Magic Academy before returning to London to man the Forgotten Bar, where Raven then teleported them.

Hearing their purpose, the Master's expression grew serious, and he set down his glass to say, "If something has befallen Mount Olympus, it certainly signifies a great disturbance in the Magic realm. You youngsters should not get involved."

Aisha snapped a piece of his counter in half with a bite, wiped her mouth, and said, "Repeat who you just called children?"

The gorilla detective was extremely distressed while the Master of the Dark Night sharply inhaled and assessed Aisha, seeming to recognize something. He said, "I admit you might have some skills, but this is not simple. The source of the gods' power is an ancient secret; brute strength alone won't suffice."

"We know Hades is powerful," Dick explained. "And his Netherworld is more independent than Mount Olympus. If we can find him first, learn the gods' secrets from him, and gain his support, perhaps we could change the situation on Mount Olympus."

Seeing their determination, the Master of the Dark Night didn't object, saying, "I can't easily leave the bar to avoid people taking advantage and causing more chaos in the magical planes. As for this Key of Tartaros you mentioned, I haven't heard of it either. But I know that in recent years, the Netherworld Gate was once opened."

"When?"

"That's not important. What's important is if this mysterious key can open the gate and someone succeeded before, chances are that he still possesses the key."

"Who is this person?"

"Grand Mage Faust." Mentioning this name, the Master of the Dark Night couldn't help but frown. "He was once a part of the Grand Mage Alliance but has long since vanished, with most believing he went into hiding to avoid debts. But I know this fellow has never sat quietly."

"He didn't appear during the last major vampire incident, evading that calamity. He is likely still hidden somewhere in the Dark Space, delving into forbidden secrets."

"Do you know where he is now?"

The Master of the Dark Night slowly shook his head and said, "These old fellows are all very cunning, and it's hard to find their hideouts. I'm afraid I can't help much, sorry."

Returning without success again, Dick didn't feel discouraged. At least they had gathered some clues and learned the name Faust.

Dick transmitted everything the Master of the Dark Night had said to Tim, who began a comprehensive search for the surname Faust to see if they could find anything in the societal records of ordinary people.

Meanwhile, the group headed to the Gotham Magic Academy, specifically the School of Magic Theory's library which held a vast collection of magical tomes that Bruce had brought back from Hell. These tomes contained many secrets of the ancients unknown to humans, possibly even information about the key.

Although a batch of top students had left, many students were still attending classes. Curious about Dick and his seldom-seen group, they even alerted the dean.

Now, the dean of the Gotham Magic Academy was Sedis Shivana, indicating he had some talent in that role.

Feeling that they could trust him since he was the dean, Dick and the others discussed their investigation.

Upon hearing it, although Shivana couldn't find this old fellow named Faust, he knew an old man who was also part of the Grand Mage Alliance, the one squatting at the Rock of Eternity—his childhood nemesis.

Shivana disclosed openly about his childhood encounters with Old Shazan. The kids listened with righteous indignation, knowing what a good teacher should be like, and found Old Shazan's irresponsible and negligent teaching methods particularly objectionable.

Adhering to the principle of striking first before confirming the presence of dates, they hoped Shivana would find a way to take them to the Rock of Eternity to ask the old man if he knew anything about Faust. They hoped he did.

However, Shivana didn't personally take them but suggested they seek out Shazan's chosen successor, Billy Batson.