CHAPTER 126: CHAPTER 25

Deep within the dark heart of the Underworld, within the Floating Fortress, Hades sat on his throne, looking calm and collected.

But within his palm, the Breakdown Sphere pulsed.

A small sphere no larger than a mortal’s eye, but within it, the very fabric of law and order unraveled and rewrote itself in infinite sequences.

The Breakdown Sphere—his greatest creation, his most forbidden project.

Forged from the crushed essence of forgotten gods, tempered in the screams of entropy, and bound by the seals of non-existence, it was meant for one purpose: Transcendence.

Not just to become more than a god—but to rise beyond all of creation itself.

His obsession for transcendence given form.

He had not completed it. The sphere still flickered, sputtered—unstable. However, if given enough power, Hades can temporarily access some of its power.

He closed his fingers around it.

For instance, he can temporarily gain access to limited omniscience. Although it won’t make him all-knowing, it would allow him to observe the present events in all of creation.

Truthfully, using it would leave him severely weakened so he wanted to avoid this path, but now he has no choice.

He badly needed answers.

Hades took a breath that shook the realm.

Then he poured everything into it.

His divinity. His presence. His sacred law.

Every particle of his essence surged into the sphere.

For one blinding moment—it glowed.

The light that poured from it wasn’t divine. It was anomalous. It bent space around it. Time fluttered like a wounded bird. Even the concept of death paused to watch.

And then—he let his consciousness spread.

Outward.

Through the Underworld.

Beyond the surface.

Past Olympus.

Past the stars.

Past the boundary of worlds.

He searched, sifted through veils of fate, space, and divine domains.

And then—he found her.

Sitting atop a crag of reality that didn’t exist on any map, beyond any realm, resting as if she had always been there.

Nyx.

The Primordial of Night.

She looked up the instant he found her—her senses more ancient and more honed than time itself.

Her lips curled into a tired, amused smile.

Then, without a word, using the power still flickering in his grasp, Hades teleported.

In an instant, the void folded and he appeared, robes trailing, hair like strands of starless void, eyes smoldering with untold will.

Nyx blinked once, then smirked.

"Well," she said softly, "it has been a while, hasn’t it?"

The wind of unreality whispered around them.

Hades stared at her, his form reforming completely as the Breakdown Sphere dimmed in his hand. "Too long."

She raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. It was rather... passionate moment."

Hades gave a dry cough—more emotion than usual for the stoic Lord of the Dead. "Not the time for that."

Nyx chuckled, a sound like falling stars over a black ocean. "Passionate friendship of thighs. A divine ’entanglement’ of ideologies and tension, you called it."

"You started it."

"You finished it," she said, winking.

There was a moment of silence between them, playful but not flirtatious. Then the air shifted—seriousness returned.

"But well, I’m sure you didn’t come here for a chat," Nyx said, folding her arms beneath her shadowy cloak. "Go ahead, ask."

Hades nodded. "I felt something. A presence. A will outside our realm. It wasn’t divine nor anything i felt before... but it was intelligent. It gave mortals knowledge they should not have. Knowledge from beyond this era."

Nyx remained silent.

"And something is destroying those knowledge," he added. "Like it’s cleaning up after itself. Or... hiding."

Nyx exhaled. The sky around them grew darker.

"I figured you’d notice it eventually," she said. "I guess it’s time you understood what you’re dealing with."

Hades raised a brow. "Finally going to tell me, are you?"

She looked at him steadily. "You’ve been to Chaos, haven’t you?"

He nodded, his face unreadable. "Long ago. Before even Olympus rose. I saw... things. Entities beyond even my comprehension. They felt...wrong."

"They’re not," Nyx said flatly. "They’re not mistakes. They’re part of the multiverse. Entities that exist outside creation. Beings who feast on universe and feeds on them. The more advanced a realm becomes, the more flavorful it is to them."

Hades stayed still.

Nyx continued, "The presence you sensed is likely a fragment of one of them. They don’t always come in full form. Sometimes, they send a piece—like a parasite. It manipulates a world. Accelerates it. Advances it."

"To ripen them?" Hades whispered.

Nyx nodded. "Yes. They will then devours it. Timeline, matter, soul—everything. Then, that fragment would return to their original body."

Hades felt something cold tighten in his gut. "How...did it get here?"

"Remember your battle with Uranus?" She asked as Hades nodded, "your clash created a crack at the boundary of the universe, causing the entity to sense this place and invade it."

Hades frowned. So it’s his fault?

"No," Nyx stated, as if reading his mind. "That little crack would’ve closed on its own before the entity could find this place. Blame Khronos, he was the one who let the entity inside."

"...but why?"

Nyx shrugs, "Dunno. That man has always been mysterious. He’s probably seen something in some parallel futures that made him want to do what he did. Don’t worry, he is the one who wanted to keep this universe safe more than anyone."

Hades looked sceptical, but nodded.

"Then who’s destroying the traces? The knowledge given by that entity?" he asked.

"It’s Khronos," Nyx replied. "He’s been quietly keeping it in check. Cleaning the timeline, removing polluted echoes, keeping the infestation from spreading."

Hades narrowed his eyes. "...that man is really contradictory."

Nyx turned away. "Tell me about it."

"...where did you get all this knowledge from? Did this happen before?" Asked Hades.

Nyx was quiet for a moment, but soon nodded. "Yes. To the Egyptians."

Hades blinked. "The what?"

"Another pantheon," she said. "From a parallel universe. Different rules. Different gods."

"There are other pantheons?" Hades was shocked.

Although the term ’Egyptians’ does sound so familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Maybe it’s related to his past life as a mortal?

Nyx nodded. "Many. Anyways, as I’ve said, one entity tried to devour the Egyptian Universe."

Hades stared.

She turned to him fully. "They fought back. Barely won. But they were crippled. Lost most of their gods. Their hierarchy shattered. Last I heard from them they were destroyed."

"What?"

"Yeah. They pissed off the Christian God."

Even the void shuddered.

Hades looked puzzled. "Christian what?"

Nyx smiled faintly. "Another system. Different world. Powerful monotheistic being. You don’t need to know him now. Just know he is incredibly powerful."

"This...this is a lot to take in." Hades muttered.

"Take your time." Nyx offered a comforting smile, "For now, we should focus on expelling or preferably killing that entity. We must not fail."

Hades narrowed his eyes.

"Because if we do, "she whispered, "Nothing would be left of us. They devour our entire existence. We’d be forgotten. Gone. No hope of reincarnation nor revival."

Silence followed.

The weight of her words settled like dust upon his shoulders. The eternal, terrifying truth: Even gods can be forgotten.

And when those things devour, they devour memory too.

Hades clutched the dim Breakdown Sphere tighter.

"How many pantheons exist?" he asked, quieter now.

"More than you’d imagine. But most are irrelevant. Only a few are worthy of notice."

She raised her fingers and began counting.

"The Mesopotamians. The Norse. The Hindus. The Christians. The Chinese."

Each name fell like a bell toll.

"And of them, is the Christian God the most dangerous?"

She met his eyes.

"No, it is Shiva from the Hindus." she whispered. "Destroyer of worlds. An aspect of the Hindus trinity. Even I’m not confident on taking him on."

Hades remained still.

Different pantheons. Different universes. Many more mysteries and powerful beings. If he can travel to them, he might find a way to complete his Breakdown Sphere and achieve transcendence.

He wanted to ask more—but Nyx shook her head.

"Not now," she said. "Focus on what’s in front of you. The foreign entity is still here. Hiding. If we don’t find it and stop it..."

She didn’t finish the sentence.

He understood.

"...We’ll end up like the Inca Gods," she added.

"Who?" Hades asked.

Nyx looked at him, a smile tugging her lips.

"Exactly."