"Is it still not ready, Michael?"
Not long ago, Metatron had been staying in Heaven with Michael, watching the movements in the Underworld alongside Elise.
Just as the Lord had predicted, there had never been any suspense in this war. The Netherworld had suffered a crushing defeat!
However, one thing was worth noting. Hades would hardly sit there quietly and wait for someone to come kill him.
Faced with the overwhelmingly powerful God of the Bible, the only thing he could do was flee. Thus, while Michael and Metatron had been monitoring the movements in the Underworld, they had also been keeping watch over every teleportation passage leading out of it!
Breaking through the front lines was impossible, so Hades' only choice was to leave through a teleportation magic circle.
Their patience finally paid off. Just as Metatron was beginning to lose patience, she sensed a faint disturbance, proving that coward had finally appeared!
Without the slightest hesitation, Metatron stepped into the teleportation circle and descended directly before Hades...
Back to the present.
"Who are you?"
Seeing his path blocked by an angel, Hades immediately became extremely apprehensive.
After all, an angelic army had only just invaded his Netherworld, and it had taken him tremendous effort to escape.
He had even been forced to reveal his greatest trump card, Samael!
Yet despite all that, he had still encountered an angel along his escape route, and an extraordinarily powerful one at that!
At a glance, Hades noticed the numerous wings behind Metatron. Upon counting carefully, there were actually thirty-six of them.
Unless something unexpected had happened, she had to be Metatron, whose name had recently resounded throughout the world.
Only a few months ago, Heaven had not been like this at all.
But ever since the God of the Bible returned, Heaven had completely abandoned its former policy of recuperation and restraint and begun waging war everywhere!
First came the fallen angels and devils within the Biblical forces. Soon, it would be the turn of other factions.
What Hades had not expected was for it to happen so quickly, or for the target to be him!
"My name is Metatron. I am the angel who will slay you here!"
Metatron never revealed her true emotions to anyone other than Elise and her companions. Someone like Hades, a notorious troublemaker, inspired even less sympathy in her. She wanted nothing more than to eliminate him as quickly as possible.
"Such arrogance!"
Hearing Metatron's words immediately ignited the anger within Hades. Even the flames flickering in his eye sockets burned more fiercely.
However, Hades had not lost his reason. He was doing this deliberately!
Hades knew that he was strong, possessing the strength of a chief god, but against a Super Devil, he was probably somewhat inferior.
If he fought Sirzechs at full strength, the probability of Hades losing would be extremely high, let alone against Metatron, who had effortlessly defeated the Four Great Satans.
And that was not all. A dark-aligned being like Hades was naturally restrained by the holy light of angels!
He could not win in raw strength, and his attributes were countered as well. That left Hades with only one choice...
"If you want my life, come and take it yourself!"
"Just don't end up failing to claim my head while losing your own life instead!"
And so, the battle between the two began.
Though calling it a battle might not have been entirely appropriate.
Given the disparity in strength, Hades failed to land a single hit on Metatron from beginning to end, nor did he manage to launch even one effective attack.
He simply endured Metatron's assault, and several bones in his skeletal body were shattered in the process.
"Huff! Huff!"
"You damned pigeons!"
Hades greatly disliked the Biblical forces. He called fallen angels crows, devils bats, and angels naturally received the nickname pigeons.
Although pigeons carried many positive connotations, such as doves symbolizing peace, Hades could not explain why he always felt there was something indescribable hidden behind the term...
If he absolutely had to describe it, perhaps it was malice from a higher dimension?
In any case, pigeon was definitely an insult here.
Metatron did not understand exactly what Hades meant, but from his tone alone, she knew it could not possibly be anything pleasant.
Her movements abruptly accelerated severalfold, and even the veins on her hands began to bulge.
Judging by her eyes, she looked ready to sever Hades' head in the very next instant...
Whoosh!
And in fact, that was exactly what Metatron did.
Almost instantly, a streak of golden light flashed across Hades' fleshless skull.
Another streak of golden light slammed ruthlessly into his head.
Boom!
A merciless kick struck Hades directly in the skull. The terrifying force even left horrifying cracks across the bone!
But Hades endured it!
His skull had not been shattered outright. It had merely cracked. There was still a chance!
And at that exact moment, Hades' neck snapped with a crisp crack...
Thus, under Metatron's incomparable strength, the remaining skull was sent flying!
Farther and farther away from Metatron!
"Huh?"
This sudden development caught Metatron completely off guard.
She naturally understood the power behind her own kick better than anyone. It was absolutely strong enough to explode Sirzechs' head in one strike!
Yet Hades had endured it, suffering only relatively minor damage... How was that possible?
Unless he possessed some kind of special treasure!
But now was not the time to think about that. If this continued, Hades was going to escape!
"Hahahaha! Didn't expect that, did you?"
"This is my escape route!"
Over the past several thousand years, Hades had offended countless people with all his schemes, yet he had survived perfectly well until now!
Great strength was naturally part of the reason, but the most important thing was that he was devious enough and cautious enough!
"Don't underestimate the experience of your elders!"
"With those pathetic little tricks of yours, you'd better hurry home to your mother and drink some milk!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Seeing Metatron grow farther and farther away, Hades burst into laughter despite having only a head remaining. Even the flames in his eye sockets danced merrily.
Didn't expect that, did you?
He was Hades, a skeleton!
So what if several ribs were broken? So what if his neck had snapped and his head had been kicked away?
None of that mattered!
He was the King of the Netherworld!
How could he die so easily?
As long as he reached that place, he could make a comeback!
So what if his opponent was the God of the Bible?
As long as he could reach that place...
Just as Hades was about to escape, a hand suddenly tore through space and appeared directly in his path.
The owner of that hand caught Hades' skull as casually as a basketball player receiving a pass.
Then even spun it twice on one finger...
"You bas—"
Hades was just about to start cursing. What blind idiot dared block the path of the great King of the Netherworld?
Were they courting death?
But the instant that face appeared, Hades swallowed the rest of his words.
"Hahaha, I was wondering who it was. So it's Your Holiness, the God of the Bible!"
"Have you been well lately? Little Hades is here to pay his respects!"
The situation on a battlefield could change in an instant. Throughout his long divine life, Hades had already learned that lesson thoroughly.
When it was time to fight, he fought. When it was time to flee, he fled. When it was time to submit, he submitted!
If he had been incapable of doing those things, his countless enemies would have charged over and annihilated him long ago!
He had only just escaped from that angel, yet now he had fallen into the hands of the God of the Bible and was even being bounced around like a basketball...
What do you take me, Hades, for?
A chicken?
Don't casually humiliate the chief god of an entire pantheon!
"Little Hades is here to pay his respects!"
Although countless curses were already stampeding through his mind, he could not show any of them on his face.
After all, that woman was currently toying with him in the palm of her hand!
Precisely because Hades was now so close to Elise, he could clearly sense the overwhelming power contained within her body!
If she wanted to kill him, his chance of survival would absolutely be less than one percent!
There was nothing wrong with submitting for now. It was only a temporary measure. Once he was safe, he would definitely make Heaven pay the price!
"Oh, I was wondering who it was. So it's the great Lord Hades, ruler of the Netherworld!"
"How did you end up like this?"
Looking at the skull in her hand, Elise immediately became interested. She deliberately put on a puzzled expression, making the corner of Hades' mouth twitch.
"Uh... It's just a misunderstanding. Nothing important."
Naturally, Hades did not dare tell Elise that an angel had done this to him. That would be nothing short of courting death.
"Do you need my help, Lord Hades? You look rather miserable right now."
Elise continued questioning him, but Hades was clearly beginning to grow restless.
After all, he had only just escaped from Metatron, only to encounter the God of the Bible immediately afterward.
"My Lord?"
"You're here!"
While Elise and Hades were chatting, another figure remarkably similar to Elise flew toward them from the distance. It was none other than Metatron, who had been pursuing Hades.
The instant Metatron saw Elise, the panic on her face transformed into delight, then worry... before finally becoming happiness again. She was already throwing herself toward Elise.
Hades' reaction was nearly the opposite. The moment he saw Metatron arrive, he understood perfectly well that there was no escaping now, and he would very likely die here.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
Hades racked his brain but could not think of any way to survive. From his perspective, the God of the Bible would definitely not spare him.
If he wanted to live, he needed to offer something equal in value to his own life!
Who was Hades? He was one of the three chief gods of Greek mythology! The intelligence he possessed far exceeded anything those insignificant factions could hope to know!
"Wait, Your Holiness, God of the Bible!"
At that critical moment, Hades called out to Elise.
"I know a great deal of secret information about the various pantheons! If you're willing to spare me, I'll tell you everything I know!"
"I ask only that Your Holiness spare my life!"
Those words made Elise pause, and the strange expression on her face disappeared.
Only moments ago, she had been preparing to remove his head and directly dig the information she wanted out of it.
But now, Elise suddenly had a new idea!
Interrogation was ultimately a poor option, because there was no way to determine whether the person being questioned was telling the truth or lying. If Hades fed her false information and had already made arrangements with the supposed destination in advance, Heaven could suffer tremendous losses in both manpower and resources!
She had never expected Hades to volunteer the information himself at a time like this. He was truly doing her a huge favor!
Of course, Elise believed that given Hades' personality, he would definitely mix in some false information. After all, once the cunning hare died, the hunting dog was cooked. The moment Hades revealed everything he knew, he would completely lose his value.
And once Hades had no value left, wouldn't she be free to kill him whenever she wanted?
But that was fine. This was exactly what Elise had been waiting for.
"Oh? That's a tremendous help, Lord Hades!"
"That is precisely what Heaven needs right now!"
After integrating the fallen angels and devils, Heaven would inevitably launch attacks against other factions. In battles between powerful forces, intelligence was especially important!
Sometimes, a seemingly insignificant piece of information could even determine the outcome of an entire war!
Hades had recognized precisely that fact, which was why he had proposed such a condition.
That was also why Elise greeted him with a smile.
Unfortunately...
"What a pity."
"I don't need any of that, Hades."
Suddenly, the atmosphere around them changed.
In Hades' eyes, Elise, who had seemed warm and radiant only moments earlier, now appeared to be drifting farther and farther away, becoming utterly unreachable.
It was...
An absolute difference in the level of their existence!
Even though Hades possessed the divinity of a chief god, Elise still suppressed him completely.
"Even without any of the information you can provide, I can still suppress the entire world through my strength alone!"
Her words carried absolute confidence!
Even Hades fell into a brief daze, merely staring at Elise in silence for a long moment.
But even then, Hades had no intention of giving up. He did not want to die. He absolutely did not want to die!
"I'm still useful, Your Holiness, God of the Bible!"
"I can serve beneath you and wage war in every direction on your behalf! No matter what enemy appears, I'll eliminate them for you!"
"So please! Spare my life!"
Elise merely shook her head slightly.
She knew exactly what kind of person Hades had been in the original story.
Cunning, belligerent, constantly stirring up trouble, unable to stand seeing anyone else prosper... there were so many faults that Elise could not even remember them all.
Leaving someone like him alive would only create another disaster. It would be better to devour him as soon as possible!
Even Elise's magic, Scales of Judgment, was telling her that Hades was guilty of monstrous crimes and there was absolutely no reason to spare him!
"Metatron!"
"My Lord, I am here!"
Elise tossed Hades' skull lightly in her hand and looked toward her little angel beside her.
"I remember Azazel has been researching Sacred Gears, hasn't he?"
"The fallen angels contributed quite a bit during this war, so give these two things to him as a reward for his research!"
As she spoke, Elise extended her other hand. What appeared before Metatron was an incomparably dark little sphere!
Upon closer inspection, dense, deadly poison seemed to be churning across its surface!
This was...
Samael, the Dragon Eater!
More precisely, Samael's remains!
When Elise destroyed Samael, she had preserved his remaining power for research purposes.
Unfortunately, Samael was genuinely useless to Elise. Rather than leave him sitting uselessly in her possession, it was better to hand him over to her subordinates. Perhaps they could extract greater benefits from him.
The same applied to Sirzechs' side.
One Samael, one Hades.
These two were among the finest research materials in the entire world. To any researcher, they represented an enormous fortune.
"As for how they're divided, I don't care. Let Sirzechs and Azazel discuss it themselves!"