"Awoooo—!!!" Cerberus's three heads roared, drooling from their mouths, and pounced on everyone. Each tooth was like countless sharp daggers, making everyone shiver.
At this moment, Xenovia, Irina Shidou, and Kiba Yuuto took out their EX Durandal, authkrell, and Holy Demonic Sword to block Cerberus's bites.
With a powerful bite from Cerberus, the blades of EX Durandal and authkrell were directly cracked like spiderwebs, while Kiba Yuuto's Holy Demonic Sword was bitten clean through.
Then, Cerberus flung its three heads, directly throwing the three of them away.
"How is this possible!!"
"Even Cerberus shouldn't be able to leave cracks on a Holy Sword!"
"What's wrong with this Cerberus!!"
Xenovia, Irina Shidou, and Kiba Yuuto looked at the cracked and shattered swords in their hands, all exclaiming in shock.
"Don't compare our Underworld's Cerberus to those hellhounds in the Underworld. Our Cerberus is the ancestor of those hellhounds, far surpassing them in strength." At this moment, a mature and steady voice sounded. A figure in underworld armor sat on a pillar, with arc-shaped metal wings, a cobra head ornament unique to ancient Egypt on his forehead, Egyptian-looking skin, and short, heroic hair.
Saji noticed the Specter, looking at him with vigilance and anger, and said, "Are you the Specter guarding this place?!"
The Specter smiled, stood up, and said, "That's right, I am Pharaoh, the Heavenly Beast Star, Sphinx, guarding the Second Prison."
Azazel looked at Pharaoh, sweating coldly and smiling, "Your hell is truly excessive. Not only do you have Specters, but also Guardian Dragons and hell's gatekeepers."
"Say what you like. It is our job to prevent any punished souls from escaping the Underworld, so the guards are stricter." Pharaoh said with an unchanging expression, hands on his hips and smiling.
As soon as Pharaoh finished speaking, Cerberus attacked everyone again. Facing Cerberus's sharp fangs and claws, immense strength, and agile speed, everyone could only quickly dodge, and then use a giant magic circle to trap it.
Saji, meanwhile, confronted Pharaoh. His Sacred Gear, the Black Dragon Vein, appeared on his wrist, and a dragon vein extended from it, flying towards Pharaoh.
Pharaoh neither dodged nor flinched, merely bowing his head slightly and smiling, allowing the dragon vein to wrap around his arm.
Pharaoh raised his arm, which was entangled by the dragon vein, and shook it as he said to Saji, "Something like this can't trap me. You're just wasting your effort."
Saji clenched his teeth and pulled the dragon vein back with all his might, but Pharaoh remained motionless on the pillar. Still, he didn't give up and said to Pharaoh:
"Pharaoh! Where have you imprisoned Serafall-sama and the others?! Answer me!!!"
Hearing Saji's question, everyone's attention was drawn to them, and Pharaoh replied with an indifferent smile:
"It's alright to tell you. Serafall, Gabriel, and Lavinia are all in Elysium."
"What did you say!!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise, not expecting the three women to be imprisoned so close to where they originally were. Originally, if Asia had been sent to Elysium by Lune in the First Prison, they could have used a magic circle to teleport back to the Underworld.
But complaining now was useless, as Asia had already lost the qualification to enter Elysium.
At this moment, Michael held a sword with a golden flame burning on its blade and pressed it against Pharaoh's neck, questioning him:
"Speak! Where is the entrance to Elysium!!"
"Hmph hmph hmph~! It's at the Wall of Sighs in the Fourth Circle, the Judas Ring, at the end of the Underworld. But for you as you are now, even if you reached it, it would be useless." Pharaoh sneered at Michael's actions, then answered Michael's question.
After speaking, Pharaoh reached for the Egyptian-style harp on his back.
Boom—!!!
At this moment, Rias and Sona had spent some time using a magic circle to trap Cerberus, and then used magic to put it to sleep.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding~!
Just as everyone dealt with Cerberus, a string melody was heard. It was Pharaoh; he ignored the flaming sword at his neck and directly began to play the harp.
"Everyone, you've worked hard on your journey. Please listen to the song I will play for you." Pharaoh played with his eyes closed.
At the same time, the music began to grow heavy, causing all who heard it to feel immense pain, their faces contorted in agony, clutching their hearts as if they might burst out at any moment.
"Sinners who trespassed into the Underworld, your hearts shall be placed on the scales for judgment." Pharaoh's calm tone was filled with endless killing intent.
As the strings were continuously plucked, the hearts in everyone's chests beat more and more violently. Before everyone, an ancient Egyptian mural appeared—the famous Judgment of Anubis.
"Ah—!!!" A scream erupted from Michael, who was closest to Pharaoh. His heart directly burst through his chest and flew out, still beating continuously.
Using Michael's scream as the trigger, others also screamed, their hearts bursting through their chests and flying out.
And, on one end of the scales in the mural before them, a heart was placed. Those who knew a bit of Egyptian mythology were familiar with this famous myth.
Anubis would place the heart of the deceased and the Feather of Truth on opposite ends of the scales. If the heart was lighter than the feather, one could ascend to heaven; otherwise, one would descend to hell.
But no matter who it was, the weight of their heart was heavier than the feather, which was not a good outcome for them.
"Go!! Descend to hell, accepting the result of your judgment!!" After saying this, Pharaoh was about to pluck the last string when he discovered that everyone had vanished from the temple.
"What's going on?!" Pharaoh looked around in confusion and shock, but at that moment, he heard a beautiful melody, contrary to his own harp music.
"Could it be him!? Doesn't he know what kind of punishment he'll receive for doing this!?" At this, Pharaoh covered his face, thinking of one person. Only 'he,' who was close to the Second Prison where Pharaoh resided, could do such a thing.
At this moment, in the flower garden behind the Second Prison, the only place in the Underworld where flowers bloomed, a handsome man with light blue hair, clad in silver armor and holding a silver lyre, played with his eyes closed, utterly engrossed.
The melody was incredibly beautiful, like the Goddess of Dawn guiding the way, making listeners involuntarily lose themselves in its charm.
In the air where petals danced, a beautiful blonde woman stood in the center of the flower garden, but strangely, her body below the head had all turned to stone, like an ancient Greek maiden statue.
And in the flower garden lay the people who had disappeared from the Second Prison, looking as if they were peacefully asleep, as if the pain they had suffered from Pharaoh's music had never happened.
The light-blue-haired man walked to everyone's side, silently playing the lyre in his hands and saying:
"Go back, you poor souls who have come to the Underworld."
-------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 50 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon.
patreon.com/MariaLight
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!