The God of Underworld

The Underworld lay in its usual stillness, the black rivers flowing silently under skies of endless night.

Yet Nyx's arrival shattered the stillness, her divine sense swept out in a pulse that touched every cavern, every obsidian palace, every shadowed corner of the realm.

Nothing.

Her brows knit tighter with each passing heartbeat.

Hades' presence was nowhere to be found.

Not in his palace.

Not in any sections of the realm.

Not even in the furthest reaches of Tartarus.

She didn't even found him in her realm where he used to stay before.

Nyx's lips pressed into a thin line.

Just where is he? How can he hide so well?

He didn't escape this universe did he?

A flicker of unease threaded through her thoughts.

The divine council… Shiva… If she returned without Hades, the alliance would falter before it even began.

And the others would use it as proof that her claims were hollow.

No. She must find him. She can ask his patrons. Then she'd search the overworld. Gaia would certainly know if Hades is in her domain.

She pivoted sharply, vanishing in a blur of starlight to search the deeper chasms of the realm.

But then...

A hand touched her shoulder.

The instant her skin registered the contact, her instincts exploded.

Her aura flared, shaking the very foundations of the Underworld.

Rivers surged upward in defiance of gravity, black winds howled through the halls of bone, and the air grew so heavy with killing intent that entire flocks of underworld shades dissipated instantly.

She spun around, shadows curling in her palms, ready to annihilate the offender—

And froze.

"…Hades?"

There, standing before her with an outstretched hand, looking all calm and collected as if her outburst of power didn't bother him, is the God of the Dead and King of Underworld.

Hades.

The raw destructive energy around Nyx instantly collapsed back into her form, swallowed in a heartbeat.

The overwhelming danger in her stance softened into disbelief.

Her voice, so sharp a moment ago, now wavered with an uncharacteristic mix of irritation and relief.

Her cheeks heated ever so slightly.

"Sorry if I startled you." Hades hummed, "I was practicing when I kept sensing your probing. So I decided to meet you."

"You… why sneak up on me like that?" she muttered, looking away as if that would hide the hint of color in her pale face. "I couldn't even sense y—"

She stopped.

Her eyes narrowed. Her divine sense swept over him again, this time more carefully.

Nothing. Not a single wisp of divinity. Not even the faint hum of godly existence that even a restrained deity could not conceal.

Her gaze sharpened. "Wait… I can't sense you. At all."

It was as though he stood in a place beyond the Underworld, beyond the universe itself. As if he wasn't here in any way her mind could fully comprehend.

Her mind drifted back to when they driven out the outer horror some time ago. Hades has also achived that state then.

Realization struck like a thunderbolt.

"…You've transcended."

Hades inclined his head ever so slightly, his voice carrying a calm weight.

"Yes. But my state is… unstable. I must practice, refine, and anchor myself before it tears me apart."

Nyx's usually unreadable eyes widened, starlight flickering in their depths.

"How?" Her tone was sharp, almost demanding, the disbelief warring with fascination.

Back then, he used the Hogyoku, and that was a temporary transcendence, it can barely even be called that.

As she asked, Hades did not answer immediately. Instead, he reached up and loosened the folds of his dark robe.

The heavy fabric parted, revealing his muscular and sculptured chest.

In its center, embedded deep into his very being, pulsed a sphere of shifting with impossible colors—the Breakdown Sphere—its surface warping and twisting reality itself.

Around it, faint cracks of light ran through his flesh, glowing like the veins of a dying star.

Nyx's breath caught. The energy radiating from it wasn't divine, nor mortal, nor even primordial—it was something wholly other.

The Breakdown Sphere felt more complete, more alien than when she first saw Hades used it.

She immediately thought of the eye Hades took.

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"…You merged them. That eye and the spehere. You merged those two things!"

Hades' lips curled into the faintest of smiles, cold yet triumphant. "I did. No wonder my Breakdown Sphere couldn't completely turn me into a Transcendent Being. It is because all materials I used still came from this universe. Its ability, therefore, is still limited in the scope of this universe. With the eye from the outside, the sphere had completely broke those limitations."

Nyx studied him in silence for a moment, her gaze lingering on the faint distortion that seemed to ripple in the air around him.

Even standing still, even when she couldn't even sense his presence. Hades felt… different now—heavier, older, as if something eternal had taken root in him.

"How long will this state last?" she finally asked, her tone curious but with a glint of calculation in her eyes.

Hades' reply was calm, almost matter-of-fact. "Permanently. This isn't like the last time—when we faced that outer horror and I forced myself beyond my limits. That was… a fleeting breach. A pseudo-transcendence."

His gaze grew distant, recalling the moment. "Back then, I burned myself to activate the Breakdown Sphere and reach it, and it couldn't even last for long. But now… this is different. This time, the step was perfect. There's no going back. I have, in all of my glory, transcended past the domain of the gods."

Nyx's lips curled into a slow, satisfied smile, her starlit eyes brightening.

"Perfect…" she murmured, tasting the word. Then, straightening slightly, she asked, "Well then, do you have time to spare?"

Hades tilted his head, his brows drawing together. "Time for what?"

"To accompany me," Nyx said, the faintest trace of amusement threading her voice, "to the divine council. With you, the alliance can be carried out far more smoothly."

He frowned slightly. "Divine council? What's that? Some group you formed with the rest of the Primordials?"

Nyx shook her head. "No. It's a gathering of the highest-ranking gods from neighbouring pantheons."

Hades eyes widened slightly.

"Once, long ago, it was formed for one purpose only—to annihilate me." She spoke the words without shame, as if it were nothing more than an amusing anecdote.

Hades' eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Her smile grew sharper, edged with the shadow of old battles. "They considered what I did a grave sin. I broke their order, shattered a law they thought unbreakable, and completely ruined some eternal friendship. To them, it was blasphemy… an unforgivable offense. But in the end, they couldn't punish me, not in any way that mattered. My power was too great, second only to Shiva himself. Even united, they could not touch me without losing more than they could bear."

Hades remained silent, watching her with that unblinking calm of his.

Nyx continued, her tone softening slightly, "Then, eons passed. The council no longer meets to condemn me—at least, not openly. It became… a semi-official forum, a place to speak of potential cooperation. In truth, no such cooperation has ever been realized. They prefer to guard their own dominions, to keep their walls high. Still… information has been traded there in the past. Warnings. Rumors. Names of things best left forgotten, and the like."

Her gaze locked onto his. "But now? With you by my side, a newly transcendent god, the only one known to succeed in ascension, they will have to listen. They will have to consider what unity could mean. They will have to see that we are not a plea for aid…but a force they would be wise to stand beside."

Hades' expression didn't change much, but his eyes flickered with thought. "You speak as though the council will welcome me. They might try to eliminate me and consider me a threat. If that happened, don't blame me for annihilating them."

Nyx gave a soft, almost musical laugh. "Oh, they won't. Gods are arrogant, but those who sit at the top know what to prioritise. Once they realized the gap between you and them, they will fear you, and would fear those outer beings even more. They will know that only through an alliance will they have a chance to be freed."

He crossed his arms. "Fear is a dangerous foundation for an alliance."

"It is also the most reliable," Nyx countered smoothly. "Trust can be betrayed. Friendship can sour. But fear… fear keeps even the most arrogant gods from doing something foolish."

Hades studied her for a moment, as if weighing not just her words, but the intent beneath them. "And what exactly do you want from this alliance? Protection? Resources?"

Her smile thinned. "Neither. I want their attention focused outward for once, instead of on each other's throats. You know those beings from chaos has started to feed, and I for one, would rather not face them alone."

Hades tilted his head. "You think they'll really agree to this?"

"Once they see you? They have no choice." she said without hesitation. "You've already fought what they fear most. You've transcended before their eyes, and unlike me, you have not committed any sins that would make you earn their ire."

One of the reason why her proposal for alliance always failed is because everyone hated her.

Hades was silent for a long moment, the weight of her words settling between them.

Finally, he exhaled slowly. "Fine. I'll go. But I won't play courtier."

Nyx's smile returned, faint but satisfied.

"I wouldn't want you to." She turned away, her dark cloak flowing like liquid shadow. "We leave when the moons align. Until then, inform your patrons. We don't want them to think you just disappear on them."

Hades nodded, watching her leave.

He turned, flying back to his fortress to inform his Patrons.