"Tch..."
The piercing blade of the double-tined fork came to an abrupt halt, stopping one inch before the target's forehead, its cold light flickering.
Death had never been this close before.
Lorne's back was almost soaked through with cold sweat.
But at this critical juncture, the other party's patience was extremely limited.
There was no room for too much thought. He immediately seized this tiny opening he had managed to buy, and spoke in a low, grave voice.
"I am the Queen of the Underworld's man. Entrusted by her, I helped Melinoe break free from the control of Goddess Hecate and am responsible for escorting Her Royal Highness the princess out of the Underworld.
Your Majesty the Underworld King. I don't think you can kill me."
Having his identity called out in a single sentence, Hades's expression didn't change in the slightest as he simply extended his hand coldly.
"Evidence..."
"Right here!"
Lorne immediately dug the Cornucopia out from his chest.
As the life divine artifact wielded by Persephone herself, nothing could better prove his close relationship with the Queen of the Underworld than this object.
Sensing the residual divinity on it, Hades furrowed his brow slightly and spoke in a low voice.
"My daughter. Where is she?"
"She is currently in a very safe place. Apart from me, no one should be able to find her."
Lorne answered in a measured voice, his tone carrying a meaningful implication.
Hades caught the meaning beneath those words.
His expression went cold. His gaze flickered with a grim light.
"You are threatening me?"
"Not a threat. Just being straightforward."
Lorne spread both hands, his face a picture of innocence.
"I'm standing right here. I'm the fish on your chopping board. If you wish, you can end my life at any time."
But then Lorne immediately shifted tack and spoke with a smile.
"However, if you kill me, things may not be so easy to wrap up afterward. You would not only lose your daughter, you would also lose the wife you love.
After all, if something were to happen to Her Royal Highness the princess because of you, Lady Persephone would likely never forgive you for the rest of her life."
"....."
After a brief silence, the double-tined fork in Hades's palm dissolved away and his arm dropped.
'Phew. Made it through...'
The shadow of death looming over his head disappeared. Lorne let out a breath of relief, feeling incredibly grateful in his heart that he had kept a card up his sleeve before setting out, holding Melinoe back in the Arimaspian Cavern as a contingency.
Otherwise, he might very well have been torn to pieces by Hades by now.
After all, even if Melinoe had been present, she might not necessarily have been able to stop Hades from his intention to kill and silence witnesses.
Because this Underworld King, just like Lorne himself, should not have been in this dreamscape world at this moment!
Lorne laughed coldly inside while quietly sizing up this Underworld ruler whose expression was shifting between cloudy and clear.
'This old timer had left his own palace rather than staying put, and suddenly appeared in the [Dream Realm].
It was probably connected to the "secret" Hecate held.'
What he wanted to do was the same as him. Most likely he also wanted to take hold of the dreamscape world's secrets and no longer be restrained by Hecate.'
After all, if there were truly a choice, who would want to be a pathetic, browbeaten king who couldn't even protect his own daughter and wife?
'Damn it. I knew there was no such thing as a genuinely well-behaved person in the God King's family!'
At this very moment, Lorne, cursing inwardly, finally understood why the interior of Elysium had no one guarding it.
Why the [Gate of Truth] leading to the dreamscape world had been wide open.
Why neither the Oneiroi nor the sleep god himself were anywhere in the dreamscape world.
Because he was not the first to come in.
Someone had made arrangements ahead of time.
Obviously, this Underworld King had also learned the news that Goddess Hecate had gone out to attend a banquet, and had secretly diverted the three thousand Oneiroi and sleep god Hypnos, then quietly crept inside.
With Hades himself clearing the path, no wonder the road had been so suspiciously smooth.
After a round of self-reproach for his own lack of thoroughness,
Lorne noticed that Hades's expression seemed to have improved somewhat, and asked with careful caution.
"Your Majesty. Pardon my boldness in asking. Has even you failed to find 'that thing'?"
Hades glanced at Lorne and a trace of disdain flickered through those pitch-black eyes.
"Do you think what you have seen is the entirety of it?"
So saying, the Underworld King summoned his double-tined fork and drove it into the ground.
He turned it slightly as the divine inscription characters engraved on both the front and back of the blade lit up one by one.
Purple-black light patterns spread and pulsed outward from the ground in ripples.
The spiritual veins buried deep in the abyssal layers instantly surged and boiled.
Column after column of ether light erupted from magical formation diagrams taking shape on the ground and pierced through the heavens and earth of the dreamscape world.
HMM!
A ripple-shaped pattern of dim light spread outward in all directions, with the divine artifact in Hades's hand as its core.
The ground beneath the two of them dissolved away, revealing a "chasm" leading straight down into darkness, exposing the true underground abyss beneath this dreamscape world.
Lorne looked down, and couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath, his expression freezing slightly.
He finally understood the true scale of this dreamscape world.
What he saw were broad passageways constructed from pitch-black volcanic rock, stretching in rows in all directions.
There were at least a thousand of them.
On both sides of the stone walls, at fixed intervals, dark rock cavities had been hollowed out, each like an enlarged version of a deity's niche.
Their openings were sealed by screens of light woven from divine inscriptions.
And inside, figures that were either ferocious, or imposing, or sinister, or solemn, stood quietly within.
Like frozen sculptures, still and dim. Some had even half-dissolved into nothingness, sunk into that boundless dark abyss.
Among them were defeated Titans, divine monsters of all shapes, old gods that had fallen and disappeared, terrifying demonic beasts...
'By rough estimate, the number was at least still in the tens of thousands!'
Obviously, the old gods who had vanished after the war between new and old gods, the War of Typhon, and the successive changes of divine ages, had been almost entirely buried here.
Hades pulled out his double-tined fork.
The ground gradually returned to its original state, concealing the "secret" once more.
The streets and buildings that had been caught up in the two of them fighting also restored themselves accordingly.
The dreamscape world's residents, carrying cheerful smiles on their faces, continued to enjoy their paradise-like lives.
Everything. As though nothing had happened at all.
Hades dissolved the double-tined fork in his hand, glanced at the young man before him, fell silent for a moment, then spoke quietly.
"What needs to be done I will do.
She has no need to touch things she cannot control..."
Obviously, this Underworld King had taken Lorne's infiltration to be the intention of Queen of the Underworld Persephone.
Lorne gave a slight nod and promised earnestly.
"Understood. I will convey your meaning and your concern for Her Royal Highness the princess to the Queen of the Underworld."
So saying, he turned around, preparing to use the opportunity to slip away.
Things had developed to this point far beyond his own control.
Staying any longer served no purpose, and would only invite additional risk.
However, no sooner had Lorne taken his first step than that deep, cold voice drifted quietly from behind him once more. "Wait. Did I say you could leave?"
Lorne's expression changed and he instinctively summoned [Goat].
BANG!
But the next moment, a familiar shock came crashing into the back of his neck.
Lorne's vision went dark, and his consciousness plunged into boundless chaos.
(End of Chapter)