Time passed quietly.
Persephone had taken little Enma to rest, leaving Hades alone.
Now seated upon his throne, Hades remained silent, immersed in deep thought.
Counterparts.
Yes.
The subject occupying Hades' mind was precisely the issue of counterparts—an extremely significant matter for him.
At this moment...
Hades released his divine senses, his gaze inward. To an ordinary deity, it would be impossible to see what was occurring on Hades' body.
But Hades himself could see it clearly.
His body was connected to countless intricate lines of divine energy, like threads, each of them attaching to him and slowly channeling concepts and essence into his being.
However...
This process was excruciatingly slow—so slow, in fact, it felt almost illusory. Though the energy seemed to flow in continuously, the reality was far less promising.
Hades focused briefly on his own state and discovered that each thread contributed only the tiniest amount of energy—perhaps one tiny fraction every hundred or thousand years.
This was no surprise.
The absorption of counterparts was never an easy feat.
For deities, such an act of unification was as rare as it was laborious. Were it otherwise, such power would lose its significance entirely.
Hades understood this perfectly.
And yet...
Although Hades had anticipated these challenges, he regarded the matter with solemn seriousness.
Counterparts!
This was a crucial concept.
Absolute Gods are unique.
For primordial Absolute Gods, born directly from the Chaos Sea, their uniqueness was innate—they were manifestations of singularity. But for Absolute Gods who ascended to that realm later, their uniqueness had to be earned.
The ascension of a deity to the rank of Absolute God involved an intricate process: the total absorption of all counterparts across the Chaos Sea—their essence and concepts unified into one being.
This was an unyielding rule, a foundational law of existence.
No matter who the deity was, no matter how mighty, anyone aiming to cross this threshold had to follow the same principle.
Hades understood this all too well.
For a long time, Hades had been researching and contemplating how he might begin absorbing the counterparts of himself scattered across the Chaos Sea.
But despite all his efforts...
Hades had made no real progress in this area.
Until now.
To Hades' surprise, something had shifted after the birth of his daughter, Enma.
Without warning, threads connecting him to his counterparts had formed, and the process of unification had begun.
This development caught him off guard.
Frankly...
Hades had no idea why this had happened.
Despite his efforts to understand it, the exact mechanism behind the shift remained unclear.
What had triggered this change?
What was the underlying principle at work here?
Even Hades, with his intellect and insight, could not answer these questions.
All he knew was this:
Ever since his daughter's birth, he had become whole. A complete and perfected entity.
Beyond that, however...
The reasons behind this remained a mystery.
To say that Hades was confused would be an understatement.
This unexplained change, which defied all logic, left him deeply perplexed.
But Hades wasn't the kind of god to waste time obsessing over what he couldn't understand.
If something couldn't be figured out at the moment, then he would leave it for the future.
This wasn't unusual—many things in the lives of gods unfolded over time, and the answers would eventually reveal themselves.
To Hades, this was the logical approach.
Hades sighed softly, setting aside his doubts for the time being.
For now, what mattered was that he had begun absorbing his counterparts.
Even if the process was painfully slow, it was progress.
More importantly...
This shift had significant implications for his future plans.
"Counterparts…"
Hades muttered the word softly, his voice calm but reflective.
The absorption of counterparts was key to reaching the next level of divinity.
It wasn't merely about power; it was about achieving singularity, becoming the one and only.
For Hades, the road to becoming an Absolute God was no longer just a dream.
Even so...
This process would take an incomprehensibly long time.
"Perhaps billions… even trillions of years..."
Hades calculated silently.
Time wasn't an issue for a god like him.
But the realization still brought a sense of disquiet.
Hades had always been a planner, someone who sought to actively shape his destiny.
Now, faced with the prospect of simply waiting for countless epochs to pass, Hades felt... unsettled.
For an ordinary deity, this situation would have seemed like a gift from the heavens:
"You don't need to do anything. Just wait. And in the end, you'll naturally ascend to the pinnacle of existence."
Such a scenario was almost absurdly ideal.
But Hades was no ordinary deity.
And his personality wouldn't allow him to just "wait and see."
"Should I continue with my original plans... or let them go?"
Hades whispered to himself, deep in thought.
His original plan for the Underworld had been methodical and deliberate:
A stable path of growth.
No reckless risks.
No unnecessary conflicts.
Even with the advent of the New Era and the opportunities it might bring, Hades' approach was simple—he would participate as necessary, but only within the bounds of stability.
This had always been his philosophy.
The reason was straightforward:
The Underworld, and Hades himself, had already passed the most dangerous stage of their development.
The phase where survival required taking enormous risks had long since ended.
Now, Hades was in a position where steady, measured progress was not only sufficient but optimal.
If opportunities arose that could guarantee significant growth, Hades wouldn't hesitate to seize them.
But...
If such opportunities carried excessive risk or uncertainty, he wouldn't waste his time.
He had no need to gamble anymore.
For Hades, this was the essence of his strategy:
Stability.
"Still…"
Hades' thoughts turned once more to his counterparts.
The fact that he had begun absorbing them—however slowly—opened new possibilities.
"It seems... the future holds more questions than answers."
Hades murmured softly, his tone calm yet thoughtful.
The slow absorption of his counterparts meant that his path to Absolute Godhood was already underway.
However long it took, this process was inevitable.
In the meantime...
Would he abandon his plans, sit back, and wait for eternity to take its course?
No.
That wasn't who Hades was.
Even if the road ahead seemed assured, Hades had no intention of letting fate unfold passively.
His nature was one of action, not inertia.
For Hades, the true joy lay in the journey, not just the destination.
"Hmm…"
Hades leaned back on his throne, his mind already considering his next steps.
"The plans I've laid out for the Underworld... will proceed as before.
"Even if the endgame has already been decided, the path leading there must still be forged by my own hand."
Hades' voice was steady, filled with quiet determination.
He would not change course.
Not now.
Not ever.
The threads of fate may already be drawing him toward the Absolute...
But the path would remain his own.
Every choice, every action, would be deliberate.
And that, to Hades, was all that mattered.
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I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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