Hades paused a moment, then said solemnly: "You must now set out at once for the Three Realms and bring 'the peace of Death' and 'the slumber of Rest' to all living beings in the cosmos."
"Especially you, Thanatos," Hades's gaze fell upon the God of Death, his tone growing particularly grave. "Your task is more important and more burdensome."
"You and Keres must quickly sort out the rules of death in the mortal realm and fully integrate them into the sacred Heavenly Order."
"Only thus can the workings of the universe become healthier and more complete."
"This matter is crucial and urgent. There can be no further delay. Go now and bestow your authority upon the entire cosmos."
"I thank you for your efforts, children. When you return, I will present each of you with a gift."
"They are divine artifacts the Cyclopes have personally forged for you. I believe you will love them."
The two gods rose simultaneously once more, bowed to receive their orders, and declared solemnly: "Honored Sovereign! We deeply understand the weight of our duties! For the development of the cosmos, for His Majesty the God-King's sacred Heavenly Order, we will devote ourselves entirely!"
"And we thank you for your grace! We eagerly anticipate and sincerely thank you for the gifts you have generously prepared for us!"
Keres silently rose and came to stand beside them.
Hades laughed heartily, very pleased with these two children.
"Go, go. I trust you can accomplish all this and will never disappoint me or Zeus."
"Rest assured, we will not!"
With that, the two gods bowed, then together with Keres turned into three streams of light and sped toward the world.
Hades watched their figures departing for the earth and, inexplicably, let out a soft sigh.
From this day forward, the path of death would become clear.
And death would give "life" a weightier meaning.
As for the transformation of life's form—that would be another matter.
That would require… another crucial deity to appear before it could be complete.
For now, it was adequate.
First solve the problem of "from nothing to something," then address the problem of "perfection."
First let those beings whose lives were worse than death find release.
As for what to do after that release?
That would have to wait for later, as more deities were gradually added.
For now, let them remain in the Underworld.
After all, there were still too few divine hands, and the entire divine order system was too crude; it still needed constant development and refinement.
When these three deities set out for the earth and came to the mortal realm, it could be said that all living beings between gods and mortals felt, in some mysterious way, that the cosmos itself had undergone a clear and profound fundamental change.
Death and Sleep—they were completely different from laws like Fate, the Seasons, Creation, Retribution, Fortune, and Opportunity.
The perfection of other laws mostly happened subtly or slowly, like spring rain nourishing all things, silent and soundless.
But Death and Sleep—one could be seen regularly and was the ultimate terror all beings would eventually face.
The other was experienced almost daily.
Thus, countless beings discovered—in fear, or confusion, or delight, or excitement—that now they would no longer, as in the past, have to wait until they suffered utterly destructive blows before death would come.
In the past, it had been an age when the "end" was unclear.
Often, not dying so easily wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Before, even covered in wounds or missing half a body, one still had to linger on in agony.
Even when riddled with terminal illness or the body undergoing horrific mutations, the soul would still be imprisoned within, unable to find release.
Burned by fire, drowned by flood, frozen by ice, harmed by poison…
Various methods, in the past, would not so easily let a being's breath cease.
Only, many of those wounds and torments were utterly beyond recovery…
Thus they became terrible tortures.
For instance, perhaps a lion swept away by a river would suffer drowning at the bottom until its body completely collapsed before finally gaining release.
So long as the slightest trace of life force remained in that broken flesh, that pitiful soul would be trapped inside, continuously enduring endless suffering.
But now, death had become "easier"…
They could finally find release.
No living being knew what the world after death truly looked like.
But humanity, beloved by the gods and possessed of true wisdom, had learned long ago from the gods' own mouths: the soul's final destination is the Underworld.
The physical body's material demise is not the true end.
After death, the soul can still go to the Underworld and continue to "live" in another form.
But for mortals, death is a one-way road.
The path to the Underworld has no return.
In the Underworld, the Goddess of Retribution will judge each being's final fate according to the good and evil, the virtue and vice of their life, following the God-King's sacred order.
Any being who has observed the supreme God-King's sacred and righteous order can find peace in the Underworld and live there normally.
But those who have defied the God-King's sacred order will be cast into the cold River Styx, cleansing their sins amid endless drowning and freezing cold.
Different sins will receive different sentences of punishment.
Even the least intelligent beings know the agony of drowning and choking on water, know the torment of cold and freezing.
And the gods have solemnly explained: ordinary water in the mortal realm will freeze into ice when too cold.
But the water of the River Styx is countless times colder than ordinary water, and never freezes.
The deeper you go in the Styx, the colder it becomes; the farther it flows into the depths, the more it pierces the soul.
It can even make powerful gods feel that real, divinity-freezing agony of ice.
Nor should you fantasize about floating to the surface to breathe even one mouthful of air, for in the Styx even a feather sinks.
Everything that falls in will only continue sinking down.
Even beings that can breathe underwater are no exception.
For the Styx is transformed from Ocean's pure water, and within it exists no breath that can sustain breathing.
The Styx treats all beings who fall into it equally, ensuring they all suffer that ultimate, ever-intensifying torment of drowning.
Along with that soul-freezing, stabbing cold, and the merciless tearing and battering of surging undercurrents.
This punishment seems simple but is truly the most cruel.
In later ages, mortals imitating a ten-thousandth of its form created a torture for interrogation and punishment that proved unfailingly effective.
Its name: waterboarding.
And the Styx's punishment is equivalent to the S-PRO-PLUS-MAX deluxe supreme edition of waterboarding.
Being cast into the Styx is a severe punishment even for gods; one can imagine how terrifying it must be for the fragile souls of mortals immersed within.
Though no human has yet experienced the taste of this torment the gods describe,
absolutely no one wants to try it.
Once you fall in, forget about getting out until your sins are cleansed.
At present, the simple and pure humans have not yet produced any individuals who need to enter the Styx to wash away their sins.
But in the future there certainly will be…
And likely not few.
Of course, this judgment only applies to beings of higher intelligence.
Beings without higher intelligence need no judgment and can simply live normally in the Underworld after death.
In truth, beings without higher intelligence often have shallower spirituality as well.
Even though Zeus has granted them souls, those souls remain weak and thin.
Under normal circumstances, they won't last long in the Underworld—at most a few hundred years—before the soul naturally disperses, leaving only the purest light of spirituality.
As for life in the Underworld, it is far less comfortable than in the mortal realm.
For the Underworld is truly too desolate, and too vast.
The air is stifling, there is no sunlight, no warmth.
Everywhere you look is bleakness.
And once you reach the Underworld, you're basically destined to be separated from all your loved ones and friends.
For after souls entering the Underworld pass through judgment, they are randomly scattered throughout the Underworld.
And the Underworld is truly so vast that once scattered, you're unlikely ever to meet again.
This also serves to embody a complete farewell to the past, a complete farewell to one's former life.
Entering the Underworld is also a new beginning.
Birth is a new beginning; and death is a new beginning in another world.
Death means losing everything you currently have.
Everything—all of it—must be said goodbye to completely.
People with higher intelligence do not want to lose all they hold dear.
Though life contains many things they don't want, those they do cherish are worth grasping with all their might.
Life is lived running toward those things worth cherishing.
But the gods also told them good news.
That is, beings who strive for the God-King's sacred and righteous order, as well as those who make outstanding contributions to the cosmos, may, after death and judgment, ascend to the God-King's supreme and sacred realm—Heaven.
In Heaven, they will have new, more perfect, robust, and healthy bodies.
There, with no worry for food or clothing, no hunger or cold, it is the most peaceful, most beautiful domain.
There are the most beautiful landscapes and the "Aether" that only gods can breathe.
In Heaven's superior environment, there is no worry that souls will dissipate with the passage of time.
And even without cultivation, one will gradually grow stronger over time—whether in body, spirituality, or soul.
Those who reach Heaven, in principle, are no longer mortals and can be called celestials.
With sufficient effort, even becoming a god is not impossible.
And with a bit more luck, an unforgettable encounter with a beautiful nymph is not unimaginable.
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