(Greek Mythology) The Abyss of the Underworld
Chapter Thirty-Three
Although Tartarus dismissed the halo as utterly useless, it was actually quite useful.
For example, it allowed the transmigrated woman to safely enter the abyss without any prior knowledge of the underworld.
While its "universal key" feel a bit odd, it's undeniably a very useful ability. Just look at how many unknown secret realms and fortuitous encounters the protagonists have gained using it—it's practically an essential item for any journey. You deserve to have it.
Another example…the circular object on the ground, so conspicuous in the darkness of the abyss, shimmering like jade and emitting a soft white light.
Although it changed from translucent to opaque, this didn't stop Tartarus from recognizing it as the "Mary Sue Halo."
So why did it remain intact while the divine essence shattered into dust and disappeared? Tartarus silently reassessed the halo's actual power in his mind; its resilience was truly remarkable.
With a thought, the halo vanished from a thousand miles away and reappeared before Tartarus. It has to be said, this thing truly piqued Tartarus's curiosity.
Tartarus rarely failed to do what he wanted to know, and he quickly figured out the reason.
The halo's composition was quite similar to that of a godhood; both were condensations of laws. The halo carried laws concerning luck, enhancing the owner's luck, decreasing the luck of others, and even possessing a slight resemblance to the laws that Eros wielded, capable of subtly influencing the emotions of living beings.
Judging from the strength of the laws carried by the halo, it was almost equivalent to the godhood of a high-level deity. Unfortunately, that Mary Sue didn't know how to utilize it. Forget fusion; she hadn't even established the most basic connection. In other words, this halo was still unclaimed, a complete waste of its potential.
This also explains why the halo survived; it wasn't part of the transmigrated woman, so it wasn't repelled by the abyss. Its own power, comparable to a high-level deity's divine essence, was enough to allow it to survive the attack.
Looking at the halo, and thinking of Danis, who had already condensed half of her divine essence, Tartarus had an idea.
He ordered Danis to come over, and without waiting for her to bow, Tartarus decisively and brutally merged the halo into Danis's body, without even consulting her.
Having done this, Tartarus, without any remorse, tossed her back, set up a barrier, and left her alone.
It must be said that Tartarus truly had the style of Chaos: either become a god or die; there was no third option.
She already knew he was willful, but this sudden, unexpected action still caught Danis somewhat off guard.
Either a successful fusion grants godhood, or failure means certain death. Typical of her cold and ruthless boss.
But Your Majesty, couldn't you at least say something before you act?!
The initial fusion phase is already the most dangerous, and to be completely unaware of it—could it be more miserable?
Also, while she's happy to become a god, isn't this divine essence… a little strange?
Staring blankly at her two-tone divine essence, half pure white and half deep black, Denise's feelings were incredibly complex.
#Is this kind of divine essence really scientific? #
#Your Majesty, your trickery skills have improved again!#
Of course, don't get the wrong idea. The half-divine essence that Denise originally condensed and the halo fused perfectly. It definitely didn't look like a forced combination of divine essence and halo as it appeared. It's just that some strange chemical reaction occurred between them, causing the divine essence that Denise had guessed would be gray after mixing black and white to become like this. They're practically the same except for the color.
Okay, actually, there is a slight difference. The white half of the law leans more towards luck, and the black half leans more towards misfortune. Therefore, Denise is both the goddess of luck and the goddess of misfortune. Although the two states cannot exist simultaneously, switching between them at will is no problem. The difference is the color of her hair and eyes. When she has silver hair and silver eyes, she is the goddess of luck; when she has black hair and black eyes, she is the goddess of misfortune.
So, she doesn't want this ability to switch states at will at all. She increasingly feels like she's being used as a guinea pig. What to do?
A barely perceptible, dark light flickered in his eyes, a slight emptiness in their depths. Tartarus peered through the obstruction and directly saw the peculiar divine spark.
"Luck, is it?" Tartarus murmured with amusement.
Luck is indeed a very special ability. Often, it's meaningless, because so-called luck merely changes the probability of an event occurring or not, and sometimes even then, it's only for minor, insignificant things. But at certain times, it's far too important, important enough to change fate.
For example, the power of misfortune might cause someone to slip and fall; in ordinary times, it might not mean much, but in battle, it could be a matter of life and death. Similarly, the power of luck might simply make things a little smoother in ordinary times, but sometimes, a slight deviation can save you from a fatal attack.
Tartarus wasn't surprised by the laws Denise possessed. No god was born with such heaven-defying power, but those born into godhood might, especially someone like Denise who forcibly fused with the laws to achieve godhood. Her innate control was far inferior; even if she could use it skillfully after becoming familiar with it, she would never be able to advance further, and naturally, she wouldn't be feared by the world's laws.
Therefore, while Denise's power might change many things in humans, such changes were insignificant in a god's case; she couldn't even enhance her abilities.
However, this was enough for Tartarus. He hadn't intended to use this ability for anything; it was just an experiment. Success would be good, but failure wouldn't be a loss. This level was just right, perfect for adding some fun to his boring life.
Just like Tartarus was now considering how to fully utilize Denise's abilities to prank people.
Misfortune can bring endless bad luck, while good fortune, when used well, can create anxiety and psychological pressure due to excessive success, leading to self-inflicted fear—a truly perfect (prank) ability. It would be quite amusing to see Cronus wield such power.
Tartarus is extremely aloof, rarely showing any emotional fluctuations, while Cronus is one of the few gods who can displease him.
This second-generation god-king not only has questionable taste but also questionable intelligence. Destroying humanity is one thing, but extreme actions during a dynastic change to consolidate rule or enhance power are understandable. However, destroying once and then again shortly after is simply laughable.
First, the gods whose duties were related to humanity, though they might not say it outright, were certainly extremely dissatisfied. Second, Gaia was also unhappy; the destruction of humanity would damage the earth, and the power to repair it would be drawn from her, the goddess of the earth—no wonder she was unhappy. Then, the sea gods were also unhappy, because Cronus had destroyed the world with a flood, and most of the dead blamed the sea god. Even if it didn't affect anything, who would be happy to be a scapegoat for no reason? Finally, the god of the underworld was even more dissatisfied. The souls of those who died in the flood weren't destroyed, so they could be reincarnated. There were already many silver-ranked humans; wiping them all out would increase their workload immensely!
Tartarus didn't interfere, but Erebus and Nyx had to. Having heard too many complaints from his younger siblings, Tartarus was annoyed and naturally became dissatisfied with Cronus as well.
Destroying a few cities was one thing, and destroying a country was another, but did he really have to destroy all of humanity? Using a bad mood as an excuse, what did they ever do to you?
One action drew the hatred of most of the gods. No wonder he's the "second" generation god-king! Even if Uranus was cruel, at least outwardly no one could find fault with him. Cronus's actions, desperately drawing hatred, were practically courting death; he deserved to be overthrown.
Thinking of this, Tartarus suddenly remembered that Queen Rhea was currently pregnant. This must be Hades, the future king of the underworld.
Silently, he suppressed the urge to toss Denise's divine power crystal into Cronus's palace. Although the world's generally unrestrained atmosphere meant a vast number of gods, even the Underworld had seen a surge in numbers due to Nyx's prolific procreation over the years, this increased quantity meant a lower quality. Those powerful enough to be the King of the Underworld were few and far between, and a virtuous and responsible god like Hades was extremely rare. The King's Palace and the Queen's Palace were too close; if something happened, where would he find another Underworld King he could tolerate?
While the King of Gods and Poseidon's errands and truancy were one thing, if the King of the Underworld, responsible for managing the reincarnation of beings, wasn't responsible enough, the world would definitely descend into chaos.
The ruler of the three realms cannot be easily replaced, so the selection of Hades must be extremely careful. Erebus and Nyx had helped manage Hell for so many years, and were even close siblings, yet Tartarus didn't grant them the title of Hades because their personalities were unsuitable. This is evident in the constant minor troubles that have plagued Hell over the years, despite the lack of major problems.
Therefore, Tartarus ultimately had to regretfully abandon this idea and instead instructed Daenerys to create trouble for Cronus.
So, in the end, it was poor Daenerys who suffered, right?