I am hardly astonished by something, but the size of the gate was enormous. Even enormous is an understatement for its size. If I transformed into my dragon form, I wouldn't be able to cover the half.
The four of us: Thor, the basilisk, Zi, and I, stood at the foot of the gate. Behind this gate existed the Underworld, the domain of the dead. I looked at it with awe. The gate was decorated by various runes and symbols, but all of them seemed to fit in there and weren't messy at all.
I looked at Thor, who was still looking at the gate, and said, "Cover your eyes, Thor."
Thor shifted his gaze to me and asked, "And why would I do that?"
"You don't need to know, just cover them."
He looked at me silently, then closed his eyes with a sigh. "There. I closed them."
I nodded and took out my newly acquired necklace. The Darkvoid Emerald gave an intense grey glow, prompting the gate before us to open with a rumble. With the key activated, I tucked away the necklace and told Thor to open his eyes.
The gate to the Underworld was opening, albeit slowly. It took two hours for the process to finally finish. During that time, we tried to enter multiple times, but a force stopped us from setting foot inside. We were able to enter now that the two sides were completely opened, though.
I only took a few steps inside and stopped. Zi gave me a questioning look, to which I answered, "This domain is dangerous to the extreme. I would rather avoid every unwanted problem, so it is better to check everything out."
It was better to be safe than sorry, especially considering that this is Orcus's domain. The others looked convinced and waited with me. During this time, I checked my surroundings.
The Underworld was a dark place, but there was still a source of light, and that was the rivers that were glowing brightly with a yellow color. "The Yellow Springs..." I mumbled and examined the endless rivers. They weren't made of water; no, they were made of souls.
I turned to the basilisk and asked in the Dragon Tongue, "Did you drink the souls from the Yellow Springs to mutate?"
The basilisk nodded its head and replied, "I did; all of the others did as well. When we are born, our parents force us to drink from the springs. However, not all of us survived; the only ones to survive are the mutated ones."
"Why would you drink in the first place?"
"Our ancestors fled into the Underworld, but found it hard to survive in here because of the thick, deathly aura present. Our mutations allow us to live without constrictions in both the outside and inside worlds."
"I see." After I said that, everyone fell silent. After two hours, the gate closed completely, and I said, "Let's move!"
------------
Updated on 25/6/2026