[700 PS = +1 Bonus Chapter.]
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Skelly scratched his chin — or rather, his jaw — before letting out a nervous laugh.
"Haha... Well, boss.. Or almost boss, or whatever you are… this is complicated. But look, I'll tell you what I know. It's not much, but it's a start, right?"
I crossed my arms. "Go ahead. Anything helps."
He cracked his knuckles — literally — and began to speak. "Look, until about three months ago, everything was as usual. You—or the original Zagreus, I'm not sure what to call him—was here, doing your escapades. Always trying to get out of the underworld, giving everyone a hard time. But in the end, we had a routine: Hades on his throne, Persephone tending the garden, Hypnos napping at the wrong times... You know how it goes."
"But then… well, things changed. I was in the courtyard outside the house when I heard a loud noise coming from the main hall. By the time I got there, it was already a mess. The great Zeus himself was there, all pompous, with thunder and everything. He went straight to your father and started saying something."
"Zeus? Here?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's not... normal, right?"
"Not at all," Skelly confirmed. "But I couldn't hear much of what they were saying. I just remember Hades seemed really angry—more than usual, you know? Then, suddenly, the floor started shaking. Like, really shaking. It wasn't like an earthquake, boss. And that wasn't all."
"After that, I heard footsteps. Heavy ones, you know? Like Cerberus's, but... different. I looked at the door, and there was this tall guy wearing a long black cloak with a hood that hid everything but his face. And, my friend, when I say he had a skull face, I'm not exaggerating. Literally. He looked more like me than I do."
"Hades rose from his throne and demanded the stranger identify himself. And you know what the guy said?"
I shook my head.
"'I am Hades.'"
At that moment, Cerberus let out a low growl, as if he understood the weight of those words.
"What do you mean, he was Hades?"
"Yeah, boss. That's what I thought too... Well, I don't know. When I woke up, everything was empty. I was the only one in the house. I found Cerberus in one of the chambers of Tartarus when I decided to explore to try to find the others. He was a little confused and dazed, but we managed to understand each other, so I brought him here... There's a chance the others are out there too."
The big earthquake three months ago... I remembered it, but not as Zagreus. As Akihiro Nishihara. It was a long time ago when I arrived in Japan, so it stood out to me, even though it wasn't a particularly strong earthquake.
Could it be that this earthquake happened because of my arrival? Or was it just a coincidence?
When it came to the system, it was hard to believe this synchronicity was normal. It had to be related. And unlike the systems I'd read about in novels, this one caused much more abrupt universe merging. The golden fingers here were much stricter.
Despite everything, it was all very exciting because it meant I didn't have to hunt Rebel Devils in Kuoh to raise my Stygian Flame.
"Skelly, how far did you get in Tartarus?" I asked.
"My maximum has always been six or seven rooms before dying. I'm very good at absorbing damage, but I don't know how to use my fists. Why, boss? Are you going to look for the others?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with expectation.
[Ding! The system proposes the mission 'Combat Test!']
1 - Reject Skelly's request. (Reward: 1 Fusion Point)
2 - Accept Skelly's request and explore Tartarus a little. (Reward: 5 Fusion Points)
3 - Accept Skelly's request and complete Tartarus. (Reward: 10 Fusion Points)
Receiving a mission made Skelly's request tempting, but my day had been too long.
"Yes, I'll look for the others, but not today. I'm a little tired, and I have a life on the surface," I said, watching the hopeful expression on his face fade.
Skelly was just a skeleton employed by Hades. He would never question my decision, no matter how selfish it seemed.
And there wasn't much point in getting excited about evolving the Stygian Flame here in the underworld, since my best way to gain power was through Fusion Points. The key was balance—visiting the underworld only when I had ample free time.
[Ding! The Master chose option 1! Reward: 1 Fusion Point]
"Oh, sure, boss! Who am I to question your decisions, right? Just, uh... be careful out there in the other world. I still don't know what that big skeleton was. And please don't forget to come back. We get kind of... lonely around here."
I smiled slightly. "You got it, Skelly. Take good care of Cerberus for me, okay?"
The big hellhound, lying in the corner, raised one of his heads and barked.
"Yeah! I was talking about you. Behave yourself and obey Skelly, okay?"
"We'll be waiting, boss!" Skelly waved enthusiastically as Cerberus let out a trio of barks.
I headed toward the pool of blood that connected me to the world of the living and dove in to return to Kuoh.
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