The Sword Emperor Transmigrates-Chapter 262

Persephone.

The mention of her name shocked Hades into silence, despite only being a remnant of his former self. It was enough to stir up the fragments of his memories. He sat back down on his throne and squeezed his eyes shut, lips trembling.

Leonard had heard that name before.

Persephone, the queen of the Underworld and the daughter of Demeter, the great earth mother, goddess of grain and agriculture.

Everyone who studied the myths of Olympus knew this story. Hades went mad with desire from the moment he laid his eyes on Persephone and kidnapped her, bringing her down to the Underworld and making her his queen.

Even Zeus, the god of the heavens, turned a blind eye to the injustice, so Demeter directed her rage at the entire mortal world, causing decades of blighted harvest.

It must have been really hard to be a human back in those days, Leonard thought to himself. A famine that lasts that long could cause multiple nations to rise and fall. The hunting and harvest seasons only last a few months as it is, but decades of crop failure would have been devastating to the entire natural world.

Eventually, Demeter was able to reunite with her daughter thanks to the mediation of the other gods, but Hades had long fed her the fruit of the Underworld, making her a part of his kingdom. So, it was decided that Persephone would spend half the year on the earth and spend the other half in the Underworld.

“Thousands of years have passed since that era, but many stories have endured,” Demian explained. “While most portray the initial circumstances negatively, no one thinks the rulers of the Underworld had a bad relationship. In fact, some say Persephone held so much power that they called her the Hera of the Underworld.”

“You are barely over a hundred years old, and yet you know this story. And to think it was merely a little-known rumor back in the day.”

Hades seemed somewhat pleased with Demian. “Indeed, you are correct, Demigod of mirrors. I used seditious means to bring Persephone to the Underworld, but my love for her was boundless and she wanted for nothing. Even Demeter herself came to accept our marriage and visited from time to time.”

The gods of Olympus were famous for their messy family feuds, but other than the way their relationship had begun, Hades and Persephone’s marriage was harmonious. There were even some versions of the story where Persephone recognized the depth of Hades’s love and turned the nymphs who tried to stop him into trees. In a pantheon where infidelity ran rampant, Hades and Persephone enjoyed a peaceful relationship.

“You did well in using her name to catch my interest. However...”

The momentary softness in Hades’s eyes disappeared. He went back to being the cold ruler of the Underworld, plunging the area in darkness as if to warn the trio.

“But I would advise you to choose your words wisely. Though there have been those who arrogantly entered the Underworld without permission, those who tried to bring their loved ones back to the world of the living, and those who broke the rules of my realm, I never once punished them for their transgressions. However, I do not show mercy to those who insult or lust after my wife.”

“...Such as Pirithous and Theseus.”

“So the story of those scoundrels has also been left behind. Good. Let that be a lesson to you.”

As the leader of the Order of the White Dragon, Demian was well-read in the ancient records, and this legend in particular was hard to forget.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Theseus, himself a proficient abductor of women, traveled to the Underworld with his brother Pirithous, who wanted to kidnap Persephone and take her as his bride. When Theseus sat down on a rock to rest, he found himself fixed to his seat and remained there for many months.

However, he wasn’t the main perpetrator, so his punishment was relatively lenient, and he was eventually released. Pirithous, on the other hand, was dragged away by the Furies to his eternal punishment.

The story showed just how strong Hades’s love and possessiveness for Persephone was.

“As I said earlier, I would like to make a request of you in exchange for arranging a reunion between you and your wife,” Demian said.

“Your insolence is commendable in its own right. Fine, I shall indulge you.”

“Well... Do you know about the Nine Hells?”

The Demonic Realm had only come into being after the God-Slaying War ended, so even some of the gods that had survived the conflict didn’t know what it was.

It appeared that Hades was no different, as he only tilted his head in puzzlement. Demian realized he needed to start from the very beginning and rifled through the information in his head, sorting out what he could and couldn’t tell Hades.

The mighty king of the Underworld had been one of the most powerful deities in ancient times, and helping him regain part of his power to crush the Demonic Realm’s influence could also end up with him setting his sights on the Middle Realm as well.

With the worst-case scenario in mind, Demian chose his words carefully and only told Hades the parts that he absolutely needed to know. Luckily, the god didn’t seem to suspect anything. When Demian had finished, he let out a long sigh.

“That is all. Please let me know if you have any questions.”

Hades made no effort to hide his disgust. “The Nine Hells, was it? This evil race born of our remnants dares to make the netherworld into a seedbed for their devilish kin? Oh, simply hearing about it makes my ears shrivel. How truly detestable.”

To the gods, their powers and domains were a fundamental part of their ego and existence. Even though Hades was only a fragment of his former self, his divine power emanated around him, reacting to his fury at his realm being tainted.

This wasn’t the reaction the trio had expected from a god who didn’t seem interested in anything other than reuniting with his wife.

“Indeed, there is no one more suited for this task than I. Although there are other gods who are considered rulers of the afterlife, even someone like Osiris would be inadequate if their power is rooted in something else.”

Typically, a god’s realm of authority was decided from birth. However, there were some rare cases where it changed later on. In the case of Osiris, he had originally been the god of fertility and agriculture, but after being killed by Set and resurrected, he became the god of death, afterlife, and rebirth.

Naturally, his aptitude and power as the ruler of the afterlife wasn’t as impressive as Hades’s.

When it came to measuring this kind of authority, the most important consideration was pure power, but the second most important was legitimacy as a ruler. Hades was the perfect embodiment of both, which was why the trio had decided he would be the best entity to work with.

“Let us review the terms once more,” Hades said after hearing the proposal. “You will bring me Persephone. Once we have repelled the Demoniacs and the Outer Gods, you will make me the sole ruler of the Underworld. In exchange, I will continue to fight off any threats to my realm, and I will be forbidden from interfering with the affairs of the Middle Realm. Is that correct?”

“That’s the basic idea. And please don’t forget the additional stipulations.”

“I am prohibited from reconstructing the Underworld, I will submit to the will of the Divine Throne, I will allow all movements of my wife and myself to be tracked, I will sign a nonaggression pact with the Arcadian Empire, and I will be named the divine guardian of your nation.”

A bemused expression formed on Hades’s face as he listed the rest of the terms.

“I know that the times have changed, but you are still extremely presumptuous. I wonder how many gods would accept a deal where their arms, legs, and even neck would be chained.”

Unlike before, gods had to strengthen their foothold in the world by acquiring devoted worshippers, but if they were shackled by nonaggression pacts or restricted to being a patron god, they would be trapped by those limitations for a long time, even with their power restored.

As a being once superior to humans, Hades should have been the one favored in this agreement, but now, reduced to a Void Deity, things were different.

“Will you refuse?” Demian asked.

“Of course not.”

Unlike other gods who lusted for power and control over mortals, Hades didn’t care about the contract as long as he could live out a peaceful life with Persephone. A devoted husband indeed.

Hades had never cared for worship or praise from devotees, and riches meant nothing to him when he could grow anything he wanted in the Underworld.

After countless days spent like a living corpse, the god of death felt the ice in his heart thaw and all reason slip away at the thought of reuniting with his wife. That was all it took for him to accept the unfair contract.

“I, Hades, swear on the River Styx that I will fulfill all the terms of the contract we discussed and purify the Underworld.”

Not even the gods of Olympus could break an oath sworn on the River Styx, and now, this very oath bound Hades like a shackle.

Thinking the matter was resolved, Leonard and Simon were about to speak up, but then—

Rrrrrrrrrr—!

Hades’s palace—or rather the entire Divine Territory—shuddered. It seemed like they could be crushed at any moment.

The god saw the shock in their eyes. “You need not be afraid. My name, Hades, is also the name of my realm. I am the Underworld, and the Underworld is me. Now that I have agreed to join you, there is no more reason for my Divine Territory to remain here.”

“Wait, you’re leaving already?! Why?!” Demian cried.

“However unequitable the terms of our contract may be, the sooner I fulfill them, the sooner we will be on more even ground,” Hades proclaimed in a dignified voice. “If it means that I will reunite with my wife even a second faster, I must finish this as soon as possible.”

Haden then turned to Leonard. No matter how powerful a Void God was, they couldn’t remain in the world without their Divine Territory. They needed a vessel or host to remain in.

These circumstances were already unique, and at that moment, there was only one person who could handle it.

“This is the price you pay for drinking from my waters, Demigod of the second body.”

“...Come on in,” Leonard sighed. If he refused, Hades would lose what little power he had and dissipate like ice melting under a scorching sun.

Leonard opened his Baekhoe point to let him into his Mindscape. It put an even heavier burden on his body, which was already saturated with energy from him pursuing deification. In fact, the impact was so great that it even stirred Ancestor Cardenas.

“What is this power?” Hades asked, surprised. “A dragon god? No, you were born of a dragon but your spirit embodies that of a sword.”

“I sense a dark energy from you. You must be a deity of the netherworld. It does not appear that you have come here with the goal of conquest, but I would advise you to stay in your place and not disturb him,” said the Ancestor.

“Him? Hm? A turtle? It is faint, but I sense the power of death. Ah, so it is.”

Hades immediately understood and subdued his energy so the Black Tortoise wouldn’t attack him.

As the three divine beings within Leonard stopped talking, the knights and the mage suddenly found themselves surrounded by land instead of the walls of a dark palace. They had emerged in the area where the Divine Territory had been overlaid.

“Well, I think that went well, but we should probably hurry,” Demian said, scratching his head when he saw Leonard looking a little pale.

“Should we go to the family head first, or to Commander Audrey?” he went on. “If someone gets too close to the Nine Hells, those scoundrels might start coming out even if they don’t sense Hades’s power...Simon, if you would.”

“I would need the coordinates first. I don’t know where the base of the Black Dragon Order is located.”

“Oh, right.”

As Demian rattled off the long string of numbers, Simon engraved them into his magic array and casually gestured with his staff.

And then, he cast Multi-Teleport, enveloping them in light.

Fwoosh!

With that, the mission was over. The trio had succeeded.