Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Originally, it merely held [Memory], but now, it had gained an additional power.

“A new Styx River!”

With a grave expression, Hades, the rightful ruler of the Underworld, instantly understood what had happened.

The birth of a Styx River required a cause: the Styx was born when the authority of the world’s oaths was delegated; Acheron came into being because the Underworld had a master, the river of fire was drawn by his own hand, and the scene before him was clearly a resonance between some power of the Spirit Realm and the Underworld, for the fourth Styx River was about to emerge.

This would normally be a positive event, just as the birth of the natural gods signified the reinforcement of the current Laws in the previous two epochs; an increase in the number of Styx Rivers would also strengthen the power of the Underworld, but at the moment, Hades was not the least bit happy.

Because Hades felt that, unlike the river of fire and the River of Sorrow, this new Styx River seemed, similar to the first Styx, not to be under the jurisdiction of the Underworld’s Laws.

“Your Majesty.”

As the signs of the birth of the Styx River manifested, the confrontation between the two Principal Gods also came to a halt. Liana looked at the changes with some confusion, while Hades contemplated how to end this inexplicable battle.

Taking this opportunity, the Naiad, who had been watching with a heart full of terror, finally overcame her fear and approached Hades’ side.

“Your Majesty, your Divine Palace just now—”

“I can see it, and this is not the place for you to be.”

A twitch appeared at the corner of his eye, and his tone was somewhat stiff. A palace was of little concern to Hades, but as his dwelling place, it represented his dignity.

And yet, it was clear to anyone with eyes that he now had no way of handling the Goddess of the Nether Moon; he couldn’t even manage a retaliatory strike of equal measure—her abode was probably inside the Spirit Realm. And now that Minta had mentioned it again, it truly irritated Hades.

This Nymph might not have any duplicitous intentions towards him, but she was certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed.

“Sigh—”

“Let’s end it here, Princess Liana; I have witnessed your power, and you should understand that even in the Underworld, I have some strength.”

Speaking slowly, Hades looked towards the beautiful goddess in front of him. In terms of appearance, she was not inferior to the renowned Hera, though their styles were different.

“I won’t bring up the past again, and as for my Divine Palace that you destroyed, consider it an apology to you. Let’s not continue this meaningless battle.”

With an unchanged expression, Liana had to admit that this foreign impostor god indeed had some strength. Perhaps she could suppress him with the power of the Divine Artifact, but in the Underworld, it would be difficult to truly subdue Hades.

Among the original eighteen angels of the Spirit Realm, their attitudes towards beings of the outside world could roughly be divided into three categories. The ignoring faction believed their existence or non-existence had nothing to do with them; the destructive faction believed those who did not believe in the creator deserved to be eradicated; and there were those who believed in redemption, who felt that the beings of the outside world were merely lost and needed to recognize the greatness of the Lord for education.

Liana actually fell between the last two categories; she believed that mortals could be educated, but these false gods were difficult to change. However, she was not as extreme as the second category, so it wasn’t to the point where she felt the need to strike upon sight.

“You call this place ‘Fields of Truth’?”

With a cold voice, looking at this place that proclaimed itself ‘Truth,’ an idea faintly formed in Liana’s mind.

If the Lord’s name could be glorified, it seemed that an almost immortal god was not that important after all.

“Yes, this is the name I have chosen for the core of the Underworld, is there anything amiss?”

His expression became guarded, for after the previous incident, Hades had vaguely realized that this goddess born of the Spirit Realm might have many beliefs that weren’t quite the same as those of the contemporary gods.

Without replying, Liana smiled as she looked at the vast grey plain. Hades was somewhat surprised; it was the first time he had seen the Goddess of the Nether Moon smile, but the next moment, he realized something was wrong.

In front of him, Liana’s fingertips lightly touched the air, and an illusory river flowed out from the void.

Perhaps due to a destiny’s alignment, as soon as it appeared, it was immediately accepted by the Underworld. Emitting an essence that made all things forget their past, one end began near the Well of Reincarnation, stretching infinitely towards the grey land.

“What are you doing?”

Divine power surged, and Hades was ready to intervene, but once again, he found to his frustration that the dominion of the Underworld did not repel her. Protected by the power of the silver mirror space, the illusory river cut right through the heart of the Underworld, from the site of the old Divine Palace in the Fields of Truth, splitting this central area of the Underworld in two.

Even the river extended further, disrupting some tributaries of the River of Fire and probing towards the gates of the Underworld. Finally, it halted just behind the River of Sorrow.

Only then did Hades notice a familiar figure had appeared there.

“From now on, this will be Erinys’ ‘River of Oblivion,’ and it should ease her burden somewhat.”

“The souls of all beings shall flow from here into the Spirit Realm, cleansing themselves of their past along the way, before being reborn into samsara. And wherever the river flows, all beings will bear witness to this, thereby recognizing the greatness of the Spirit Realm.”

Pleased with her own arrangement, a river originating from the fourth layer of the Spirit Realm and situated at the very center of the seven layers naturally should pass through the axis of the Underworld.

Turning to face Hades, Liana’s mood seemed much improved. She remembered visiting Laine and Cronus a few times. Since everything of the Lord was right, naturally the Goddess of the Nether Moon should learn from it.

‘This is probably what the Lord wanted me to learn by dealing with this alone.’

Feeling somewhat joyful, her tone became much milder. Looking at Hades in front of her, Liana spoke with an even voice:

“The angels of the Spirit Realm are loyal only to the creator of all things, this is the first time, and also the last, I will tell you this.”

“Furthermore, guard the banks of the River of Oblivion well. Do not let the souls be stolen by other lives, for the fewer souls the Spirit Realm receives, the less power the light within the Nether Moon will have.”

“Are you still willing to uphold our previous covenant?”

Ignoring his sister far off at the gates of the Underworld, Hades was surprised by Liana’s words.

He had thought that due to the conflict between them, their previous agreement no longer mattered.

“I dislike you, only out of personal distaste. But it does not concern the covenant you just made.”

Liana had been most influenced by two beings since her birth, one was Laine, and the other was Themis, and most of her understanding of the outside world came from the two. The latter needs no explanation, while the former, aside from playing a few word games when she was still weak, always kept his word.

So as Liana said, as long as Hades did not first break his promise, she did not mind using the power of dominion to add some of the Nether Moon’s light to the Underworld.