Chapter 582: Father and Son (7)

『You must heed your mother's wishes, child.』 Persephone could vaguely remember the words her mother, Demeter, had said to her when she was young. Although she had always been stuck inside a glass chamber and barely conscious, Demeter always mumbled the same words to her: "Listen to my sorrow. Heed my wishes. Help return the warm father my wretched little brothers have taken away from me. Since you have been created from the talent and Factors of mighty beings, you will be able to fulfill my wishes. You must."

『You are the only chance for our ruined family. So, please...』

Persephone didn't understand her birth mother's words, but sometimes, whenever she was awake, she would ask her mother, "Mother, you're always asking me to return your precious parents to you, but why don't I have any parents like that?"

* * *

Showering death on their enemies, and fighting for their allies: the Ghost Giants beat up anything in their path, following the words of their motto. The Gigantes had regained their courage after the appearance of Yeon-woo's subordinates and quickly began to strike back, with outstanding contributions from the eight great Gigantes, especially Ephialtes, Clytius, and Mimas. Alcyoneus, whom Mother Earth was said to favor, destroyed many of the Dis Pluto soldiers as he moved forward.

「Rise...again...」 However, at Boo's command, the shadows wavered and the destroyed Dis Pluto members stood again, attacking the Gigantes from behind.

As long as Yeon-woo was safe, Dis Pluto was invincible. No matter how many times they were destroyed, Yeon-woo's near-infinite supply of magic power and holy power after swallowing Kronos' true body meant that they would never disappear. Of course, this was an extremely frustrating situation for the Gigantes.

『You insects! How can there be no end to you...!』 Alcyoneus shouted up to the sky. It was horrifying not knowing where Vigrid would emerge from the emptiness, and the Dis Pluto soldiers who returned from death over and over were equally horrifying. It was hard to believe that this was the holy territory that Olympus was so proud of having absolute authority over.

What was even more frightening was that every time the Dis Pluto soldiers returned, their armor and weapons grew darker, and their auras changed. If they had once had the auras of warriors of death who protected Tartarus, their auras were now more violent, like a plague that would send all living beings to the abyss of death. There was an eerie air around them that made their opponents feel fear and horror.

Alcyoneus knew where this energy came from since it was a power the Gigantes had been using just moments before. 'To think he'd be able to bring out Kronos' holy power in such a short span of time...!'

Kronos' holy power was the mysterious power that had restored the divinities of the Titans and Gigantes, allowing them to seize Olympus. It was true Mother's Earth had been a huge factor, but it was Kronos' holy power that made everything possible. But now Dis Pluto was using the powers that had made the Titans and Giants undefeatable? The Gigantes couldn't help recoiling in fear. Their absolute authority had been taken from them. Of course, Alyconeus and the other Gigantes still had much of Kronos' holy power left, but now, it could no longer be replenished.

Furthermore, there were limits to how much of the holy power they could use because of their incompatibility. From the beginning, they could only access Kronos' strength thanks to Mother Earth's powers. However, Dis Pluto was different. They had an almost infinite amount of Kronos' holy power, and they weren't limited when it came to using it because it came from the spring of death. As they repeated death several times and grew closer to the spring of death, they were becoming more familiar with Kronos' holy power.

It was obvious who would be at an advantage the longer the battle went on. In addition, Dis Pluto wasn't the only card Yeon-woo held. The descendants of the giants who had terrorized divine beings roared throughout the battlefield, and in the sky, the Summer Queen and Kalatus emitted Breath, making it difficult to move through the heat.

[The 'Temple of the King of the Underworld' is under threat from the overwhelming strength of hostile forces!]

[The eastern zone has been occupied by a Heavenly Spirit (Rebecca)!]

[The western zone has fallen to the Ghost Giants.]

[The southern zone has been exposed to 'Bone Dragon (Ismenios)' and 'Demonic Dragon of Chaos (Kalatus)'.]

[The northern zone is close to destruction due to 'Death Lord (Shanon)' and 'Death Lord (Hanryeong)'. Reconstruction is urgently needed!]

...

[The 'Temple of the King of the Underworld' is in danger!]

[The 'Temple of the King of the Underworld' is in danger!]

[A stronger defense is required!]

...

[The 'Temple of the King of the Underworld' is being taken over by player ###!]

Alcyoneus gritted his teeth at the dismal messages. There was only one word in his mind: ruin. He was one of Mother Earth's children and had tried to reclaim Olympus in the past, but he and the others hadn't been able to defeat Zeus and were locked up in Tartarus. 'That...cannot happen again!' Alcyoneus gripped the halberd in his hand. He didn't want to return to a period of grief and submission again. 'How, how...?' Realizing there was no path to victory, he looked around and focused his gaze on the giant stone that looked like a pillar in the center of the temple.

It was an altar that was used to connect to Olympus in the heavenly world in cases of emergency. 'I must retreat to Olympus and reorganize our battle lines!' Alcyoneus began to dash towards the altar as soon as the thought formed in his mind. 'Yes! I can just stay in Olympus, away from this cursed Tartarus!'

Yeon-woo and his subordinates were only powerful in Tartarus. Yeon-woo wasn't qualified to enter the heavenly world on the ninety-eight floor, and it would be pointless for him to go there. In fact, since the Gigantes had lost Kronos' corpse, Tartarus wasn't even that important anymore. Although they wouldn't be able to capture Poseidon and the others, the risk of a rebellion didn't matter if they blocked off the only path to Olympus.

To get to the ninety-eight floor, Yeon-woo would have to get past Allforone on the seventy-seventh floor first. Alcyoneus didn't think Yeon-woo would be able to defeat Allforone, even if he had Kronos' legends. If Allforone could be defeated that easily, the beings in the heavenly world would have descended into the lower floors of the Tower by now. Alcyonneus decided to retreat first and reorganize their forces. They could continue the war later. He didn't know what kind of punishment he'd receive for not carrying out Mother Earth's orders, but it was important to get out first.

『What...are you?』 But there was already someone at the altar. At first, he thought it was a comrade who had come to the same conclusion, but he realized that this was a massive, undead creature with tattered robes. The creature had a strange crystal orb in his hands and fire blazed in its eye sockets. It was the Arch Lich, Boo/Faust.

Normally, Alcyoneus would have just shooed the being away, but he found that he couldn't even approach the creature. The being was clearly stronger than ordinary undead, and in fact, calling it one of the undead seemed insufficient, which was why he'd asked what it was.

The shadow that wavered around Boo made his blood run cold. It was a strange energy that seemed to deny the laws of the world. Now that Boo/Faust had the Pale title, he was a transcendent with divine authority. It was difficult to tell whether he was a god or a demon, but he was clearly a divine being. However, the aura of transcendents who ruled over laws wasn't there, as though he weren't transcending the laws but rejecting them outright.

'Just like...an otherworld god...!' Alcyoneus' eyes widened. Only then did he read the energy spinning around the being: laws of the otherworld, also known as disorder or chaos. It was the same as the powers of the creatures who called themselves the old rulers! 'No... with that much strength... he's almost an Outer God...!'

However, Boo/Faust spoke, interrupting Alcyoneus' thoughts. 「I...despise...fools like you...with...ignorant eyes...that don't...recognize...your...true...master...」

Rattle rattle. The sound of bones clicking against each other rang out as his jaws moved up and down. Alcyoneus felt shivers run down his back.

「He...has come himself...but you...idiotic fools...did not...bow...to him...」 Boo/Faust narrowed his eyes in dissatisfaction.

『W-what nonsense are you speaking about?』 Alcyoneus shouted to repel his fear.

「That...is...your...crime.」 Boo/Faust lifted the orb in his hand in the air as if he didn't want to listen to Alcyoneus.

Alcyoneus hurtled forward. He didn't know what Boo/Faust was doing, but he knew that he couldn't let the creature succeed. However, it was poor judgment on his part. Boo/Faust was a leader among Yeon-woo's subordinates, and his magical knowledge was deeper than those of most divine beings and otherworld gods, since he'd studied the Emerald Tablet in his past and current lives. He was a master of the laws of order and chaos, which was why Alcyoneus sensed the energy of otherworld gods from him.

However, Boo/Faust's powers weren't within order or chaos. Those were just categories the divine beings in the Tower and the otherworld gods had created for convenience. The true essence of power existed even before that: darkness. Boo/Faust was confident no challenger in the long history of the Tower who had chased after darkness had ever been closer to darkness than he was. The master he served was the successor of darkness and a true heir, with the Black King's Apostle as his father. Those who defied his words were trash that needed to be swept away.

The crystal orb in his hand was dark and emitted a blinding light at the same time. It was made of the egos of divine beings Yeon-woo had absorbed, like the Crawling Chaos and Typhon, which he'd taken from the Demonism. The egos and vestiges glowed spectacularly and transformed into a thick fog made up of the Demonism's mind dispersed in the air. Ssssss.

『N-no...!』 It surrounded Alcyoneus and began to penetrate through his skin. By the time he realized this fog was connected to emptiness and darkness, a curse that took one's soul, it was already too late. After he scattered into dust without even putting up a fight, Boo/Faust began to eliminate the other Gigantes who were behaving rudely to his master.

Rattle. Rattle! Each step made the sounds of his clicking jaws ring out.

* * *

[The center of 'Tartarus', the 'Temple of the King of the Underworld' has been reclaimed!]

[You have made an achievement that is not easily accomplished. Additional karma will be provided.]

[You have acquired 150,000 karma.]

[You have acquired an additional 200,000 karma.]

...

[You have been rewarded....]

...

[The ownership of the hidden stage of the 60th floor, 'Tartarus', is being transferred from 'Persephone' to player ###.]

[Warning! The environment of the stage is too hellish. No living beings can reside here.]

[Establish more temples.]

[Construct a Great Temple in the center and reinforce the strength of the holy territory.]

[Many beings are currently trespassing in your holy territory.]