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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 48: Contact with the Lord of Death
Hades?
Isn’t he an Olympian god?
But he’s being called the "Lord of Death"?
Ah, damn.
What the hell is going on?
So, this guy is the Lord of Death, right?
He looks... completely human.
Annoyingly handsome, too.
Pale skin, white hair.
His features go beyond elven perfection—he looks like a perfectly sculpted statue.
Red eyes, with a monocle over his left one.
The Lord of Death was smiling brightly.
“Ah, no need to be tense. Relax. You can’t use your power here anyway.”
“Ugh.”
He was right.
It felt like I’d gone back to the powerless state before my awakening.
The only comfort was that he didn’t seem hostile.
“I can’t do anything to you either. The moment I learned of your existence, those Olympian siblings of mine started protecting you fiercely. If I even try to harm you, they’ll come rushing in.”
“Hm…”
“I simply wish to have a conversation. You’re nothing more than a small fragment of Kim Jiho’s soul. You can’t influence your true self. That makes you the perfect conversation partner.”
He raised both hands as if to show he meant no harm.
Not that it would matter—I couldn’t do anything even if he were dangerous.
At least I didn’t sense any hostility.
“Where is this place?”
I looked around.
The surroundings were dark, and the ground was made of skulls.
The chair the Lord of Death sat on was constructed from bones and flesh, and the desk in front of him was made from countless finger bones.
A greenish light floated in the air, dimly illuminating the space.
The ceiling was a wall of corpses, and fresh blood dripped from it.
This was disgusting.
“This is my cozy home, Necropolis. My office, to be exact.”
“How did you drag me here?”
“Well, the leader always gets the best room to sleep in.”
Ah, no wonder I felt sleepy…
“Hm. You still seem tense. Care for a drink?”
The Lord of Death clapped his hands, and a corpse on the ceiling opened its mouth, pouring blood downward.
Bones rose from the desk and formed a cup, catching the blood.
“No thanks. It looks disgusting.”
“Aw, divine blood tastes the best. At your level, hmm…”
He adjusted his monocle and studied me closely.
“With this, your mana could increase by 3.”
“Mana 3?”
“Yes. That corpse isn’t just any corpse. It’s a god. S-rank.”
Ugh.
The idea of gaining 3 mana was tempting.
But drinking in enemy territory wasn’t a good idea.
“Ah, but as a fragment of a soul, you can’t drink it anyway. Haha.”
What?
Was he just messing with me?
“Hehe, yeah, I knew. I just wanted to show off. This is Prometheus, my divine blood supply. Hehe.”
Giggling, the Lord of Death drank the blood in his cup.
Just a moment ago, he seemed serious.
Now, he was acting insane.
Is this guy a lunatic?
“What a crazy bastard!”
Oh, he can read thoughts too?
“I can, but your face screamed ‘crazy bastard.’”
“Ugh. Get to the point. Why did you call me? To kill me?”
“Even if I killed you here, your true body is still on Earth. If it were that easy, I’d have done it already. Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. Time is short.”
He emptied his cup and set it on the desk.
“If things continue like this, you’ll end up as an angel at the B-rank stage—a puppet of order.”
“What? An angel?”
“Yes. A soul-type like you being born is rare, but it’d be a waste for you to become an angel. That’s why elder brother came to stop it.”
When did he start calling himself my elder brother?
If we’re talking age, he’s more like a grandfather.
“Pfft. Judging by appearances, you’re the elder one. Brother Jiho! Why do you look so old?”
Ugh, his lunacy is giving me a headache.
This guy doesn’t lose an argument.
“I don’t like losing. Hehe. Anyway, yes, you also have Pollux’s skills, don’t you?”
The Lord of Death turned his monocle and scrutinized me.
“So, you must have plenty of children… or are they still in the womb?”
“I’ve never done it.”
“What? How is that possible? Are you… questioning your sexuality? Ah, I see. You’ve achieved a state of clarity. Got lucky in a draw, huh? Anyway, since you don’t have kids, I’ll give you some bonus points.”
Bonus points?
Says who?
“Magic encyclopedia, thunder god, Flame Chariot—wow, your skills are no joke. The Olympians have abandoned Earth to pour everything into you. That’s a penalty. Too much favoritism.”
“They abandoned Earth?”
“Of course. If they pour all their power into one person, how will the other awakened ones survive? And your SP… it’s less than I expected. Why? Didn’t you defeat Ampellion and defend a fortress? Shouldn’t you be drowning in SP?”
“They’re distributing it in installments.”
“Installments? Why?”
“They said the difficulty level dropped.”
At that, Hades chuckled while fiddling with his monocle.
“If the difficulty dropped, shouldn’t they give you even more SP as a reward? Pfft. It’s a rare chance to inflict significant damage on Hades, the Olympian disgrace.”
“Well… they said the lowered difficulty also reduced the maximum they could give at once.”
Hades burst out laughing.
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t the accomplishment earn even more SP? Pfft. Ampellion is an S-rank boss. I’d have thrown 500,000 SP at you for that. If it doesn’t work in Necropolis, they could just pay you from Earth’s resources.”
500,000 SP?
For one achievement?
"I got an achievement... but..."
“Achievement, huh? Pfft. That’s nothing. It’s only natural. The other faction is desperate to push you to B-rank. They would’ve handed it to you even if you ran away. That stupid achievement. Are they saying they won’t feed the fish they’ve already caught? That’s something Hera does a lot. Nitpicking through laws she doesn’t even follow herself. No wonder she doesn’t get love from all of Olympus. You’ve earned extra points for being hated by Hera.”
Suddenly, a surge of anger welled up inside me.
Were they really toying with me over the rewards?
I had shrugged it off when they split the payments earlier, but settling everything about capturing Ampellion with just one achievement felt outright insulting.
I was trying not to think about it since my thoughts were being read anyway.
But it felt like I was being pushed around by the gods of Order.
“Yeah, that’s right. Pushed around.”
On the other hand, I also couldn’t help but wonder if this insane lunatic was trying to sow discord.
This guy was impossible to trust.
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“Oh, I completely agree. Would I have called you here to trust the Order faction? Of course not! I called you to cause discord. Hehe.”
“At least you admit it.”
“But this is something you should hear here and then forget later. Even this discord.”
“Forget it?”
“Yeah, you have to forget it. If you remember, Pollux will read your thoughts, and then they’ll say you’ve been tainted by Chaos and immediately reprogram your mind. I’ve already set it up so the memory will resurface when you hit B-rank.”
Sigh.
Would the gods of Order really go that far?
“Ugh, those Olympus brats, myself included, aren’t to be trusted. None of them.”
“Still, it’s normal to trust the guardian spirit that’s been helping you all this time over something the enemy says.”
“That’s true. But I’m just here to give you a warning and a hint. When you reach B-rank, buy the full set of Form Maintenance from the shop immediately.”
Hearing about Form Maintenance eased my wariness a little.
At least he wasn’t telling me to defect or anything like that.
“Form Maintenance? I already have it.”
“Hmm… you’ve got perfect Form Maintenance. But you’ll need to grab every rank below it as well—basic, advanced, everything.”
“Should I buy it now?”
“I told you, you won’t remember this later. Plus, buying it now would look suspicious. Just buy it the moment you hit B-rank! They’ll go crazy trying to turn you into an angel. You’ll need to buy it before that.”
“And will it be enough to get Form Maintenance?”
“To become an angel, they need to erase your sense of self first. If you have all the Form Maintenance skills, even Zeus won’t be able to pull that off.”
Hmm.
If they wanted me to become an angel, they would’ve done it back when I was D-rank.
Why wait until I climbed all the way to B-rank?
No way.
I’d never let that happen.
Though it’s coming from the Lord of Death, buying Form Maintenance has been a habit, and I’ll probably get it at B-rank anyway.
“Good thinking. But to do that, save 60,000 SP.”
“Si… sixty thousand?!”
“Yep. B-rank Form Maintenance is expensive. Ahaha. Now it makes sense why these jerks are handing out SP in such tiny chunks. To stop you from buying Form Maintenance! They’re so mean.”
“Ugh…”
Before I realized it, I was completely drawn into the Lord’s words.
Somehow, it all seemed plausible.
“I’ll give you just two hints. First, when you’re B-rank, buy every kind of Form Maintenance skill. Second, save up 60,000 SP without letting anyone notice. What do you think? Can you agree to that?”
“Hmm…”
“If you don’t agree, these suggestions won’t work. You’ll end up splurging your SP and won’t have enough to buy Form Maintenance at B-rank. And then, you’ll turn into an angel.”
“It sounds like a great deal if you’re right, but… what’s in it for you?”
The Lord of Death shrugged exaggeratedly.
“Of course, there’s something in it for me. First, I’ve tied up your 60,000 SP. Second, I’ve avoided the hassle of dealing with a soul-bound angel. And third, if you find out I was right, you’ll be more likely to accept my offers. Win-win. The best kind of deal.”
“Hmm…”
On some level, it made sense.
But something about it still didn’t sit right.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to. Honestly, I called you here as insurance. I’ll just deal with you in Kevrian.”
“…Fine. No need for the suggestion.”
“Really? No suggestion?”
“Yeah.”
“Even if you become an angel?”
“I’ll manage. If I remember, I’ll buy it right away.”
At my repeated refusals, the Lord of Death spat on the ground.
The green spit hit a skull lying on the ground, and the skull melted away entirely.
Whoa!
Acid spit?
“Pfft. What a shame. Could’ve made things easier. So, you’re not a total idiot, huh? Is it because of Athena’s mental shield…?”
So there was something to it?
What would’ve happened if I had agreed to the suggestion…?
“I was even planning to unlock your Chaos potential along with the suggestion. What a pity. Such a pity.”
Yeah, definitely not someone I could trust.
“How can you trust the enemy? I’m the only one you can trust. Hehe. Still, I wish I could’ve persuaded you. I could’ve scored some extra points.”
The Lord of Death got up from his seat.
He walked slowly toward me, adjusting his monocle, and stared me down.
“With a natural aptitude of 333… quite the opposite of Heracles. With talent like this, reaching B-rank will be tough. A soul mediator… such an interesting creation. Did it absorb part of Ampellion’s soul too?”
My vision began to blur.
My body grew translucent, and I could feel myself fading from this space.
“You refused the suggestion, but you’ll remember this day when you hit B-rank. When you do, at least buy the Form Maintenance skills. If you don’t want to become an angel, that is. And if you’re short on SP, just search ‘HadesDeathLove’ in the shop. I’ll lend you some at 1% daily interest. Hehehe.”
With the Lord of Death’s obnoxious laughter echoing, my vision went completely dark.
Am I… forgetting this?
When I woke up, I was in my room.
The best room in the fortress.
Ugh, damn it.
Lying here dreaming about Hades?
What nonsense.
I got up and kicked the bed out of frustration.
Well, that helped a bit.
I did get some useful information… but I can’t be sure if it’s true.
Wait a minute.
I do remember!
‘Yeah, you have to forget it. If you remember, Pollux will read your thoughts, and then they’ll say you’ve been tainted by Chaos and immediately reprogram your mind.’
As that line came to mind, a chill ran down my spine.
Was the Lord of Death lying about erasing my memory?
[Pollux says stop kicking the bed and bring a girl in instead.]
Huh?
What…?
Do they really not know?
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HELHEIM SCANS
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