Chapter 512 - 515: The Dog Is Missing

A huge wooden desk plated with gold leaf stood solemnly in the center of this imposing palace.

Behind the desk, a massive red fur-covered chair was especially conspicuous, its edges likewise decorated with broad, gleaming gold trim.

A black trench coat covered in intricate patterns was casually draped across the tall desk.

Half of it slid down from the writing desk, while the other half was firmly held by a broad, powerful palm.

The Lord of the Underworld, his huge body covered in a heavy cloak, had both hands resting on the writing desk, one hand gripping the trench coat.

His other hand touched his chin, his slightly furrowed brows constantly showing his deep confusion and thought.

He remembered this trench coat very clearly. It belonged to a mortal who had come to Hell.

But now, although the trench coat had indeed been found, the whereabouts of that dog thief remained a mystery.

The Lord of the Underworld stared at the black trench coat in his hand and could not help sighing.

He had lost the three-headed hound that guarded the gates of Hell.

This had not only caused him to lose face in front of the gods of the heavens, but had also left the gates of Hell without anyone to guard them.

Every time the gates of Hell opened, there would be wandering souls trying to escape.

And Cerberus would tear all those cowardly souls apart.

But now, there was no one left to guard the gate for him.

Therefore, this important responsibility had no choice but to fall on the Lord of the Underworld's shoulders.

As the Lord of the Underworld, he actually had to personally guard the gate.

'What utter sadness.'

At this moment, the Lord of the Underworld, who had fallen into deep thought, suddenly raised his head and stared at the high ceiling of the hall.

A clear sensation came from above his head.

Someone had entered the gates of Hell.

And this aura was extremely unusual.

'This feeling...'

The more carefully the Lord of the Underworld sensed it, the more unbelievable he found it.

He slammed his fist onto the desk, making the piles of papyrus jump.

He suddenly stood up, pushing the chair backward with his legs.

The Lord of the Underworld lowered his head, both eyes fixed on the trench coat in his hand.

The aura coming from above was astonishingly similar to the feeling given by this trench coat.

After realizing this, the Lord of the Underworld's eyes filled with red veins, blood-colored patterns covering his pupils.

Even his beard flew upward from his intense emotions.

"Dog thief, I've finally found you!"

He grabbed the trench coat in one hand. At the same time, the cloak behind him began to dissolve, slowly merging into his body and tightly wrapping around his enormous form.

His huge figure left the front of the desk and slowly walked toward a wall covered by blood-red curtains.

The moment the Lord of the Underworld took a step, an extremely terrifying flame suddenly ignited from part of his body.

The flames gradually swallowed his body, and in the end, he disappeared from the palace.

Inside the magnificent hall, only a little devil trembling in front of the desk remained, staring blankly in the direction the Lord of the Underworld had left.

Its mind raced, but it still could not understand.

'It's just a trench coat. Why is the boss so angry?'

———

The enormous gates of Hell stood quietly at the end of a long bridge.

The surrounding air was filled with the scorched smell of lava, with lava constantly surging upward.

The deep flames of Hell flickered from time to time throughout the surrounding space, colliding with the violent lava.

And above this terrifying land was an extremely hazy starry sky.

Light, flickering red stars hung high in the sky, revealing an extremely fractured tranquility.

This was the entrance to Hell.

Countless wandering souls gathered here, and neither the surging lava nor the flickering flames could conceal this blue-green sea of souls in the slightest.

Suddenly, a ball of flame flickered at the edge of the gate, and the huge figure wrapped in a red cloak slowly appeared upon this land.

The Lord of the Underworld looked at these wandering souls, helplessness and anger showing in his eyes.

'Ah, seriously...'

Ever since his obedient guard dog had been stolen, there had been no one guarding the gates of Hell.

Every day, countless dead souls drifted in from outside the gate, then wandered around here in confusion.

These wandering souls had lost their memories from when they were alive. Their gazes were vacant, their steps slow, and they moved aimlessly in every direction.

Some of them were missing an arm or a leg and could still move relatively quickly.

Others had lost parts of their bodies and could only struggle forward along the ground.

They looked like blue-green maggots.

There were also some whose heads had been damaged before death, with a blue-green, smoke-like substance continuously flowing from them.

If he had not seen wrong, that was their brain matter.

It slowly flowed along the ground, seemingly without end.

The Lord of the Underworld looked at this scene with a troubled expression and lightly stomped his enormous foot against the ground.

Immediately afterward, a long spear, gleaming with golden light and extremely sharp, slowly rose from underground. Deep-red patterns covered the body of the spear.

The slender, gleaming spearhead was split in two.

The Lord of the Underworld raised his brows, his angry gaze sweeping across the wandering souls.

Terrifying flames of Hell burst from his eyes.

Looking at the scene before him, he picked up the long spear and swung it toward all the souls at once.

In the next instant, space seemed to be torn open by the deep-red flames, forming a huge rift.

The flames rolled through the air, becoming extremely violent, seemingly transforming into flame monsters that pushed the rift wider.

Through the edge of the flames, countless red stars flickered within the rift, seemingly echoing the starry sky above the bridge.

The Lord of the Underworld raised the long spear and pointed it toward the rift. His deep voice seemed to be accompanied by the sound of something dry and rusty snapping.

It surged out from the empty starry sky and poured into the ears of those wandering souls.

"All of you, get in there. Go to Tartarus, to the place you belong."

"All judgment in Hell will be carried out by me."

"If your souls are pure enough, you will be able to return to the mortal world in a new form."

Those wandering souls, who had originally been without consciousness, all turned around after hearing the Lord of the Underworld's almost commanding words and surged toward the starry rift swallowed by flames.

In an instant, that enormous blue-green sea seemed to have found a way out and began orderly streaming into the rift.

Although their speeds varied, at least the flow of this sea of souls had finally become stable.

After all the surrounding souls had entered the rift, this empty area finally returned to tranquility.

The Lord of the Underworld let out a long breath and slowly walked to the gates of Hell.

He raised his head and looked at these enormous doors.

Terrifying patterns resembling flowing lava were carved across the huge doors. A totem surrounded by lava flowed across the surface, looking like a skull.

Facing these enormous doors, the Lord of the Underworld slowly raised the arm holding the long spear and swiftly thrust it into the center of the gates of Hell.

After completing all this, the Lord of the Underworld closed his eyes and quietly waited.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The long spear was like a key, precisely fitting into the great lock of the doors.

A powerful rumble rang out, and the huge ancient mechanical doors slowly opened to both sides, causing the red skull patterns to twist faintly.

'Finally, he's here...'

The Lord of the Underworld opened his eyes, his pupils wrapped in blood-colored patterns staring fixedly ahead.

He could clearly sense a powerful and unique aura hidden behind the doors.

It was human.

Moreover, the other party's entire body was wrapped in a powerful elemental aura.

Almost every kind of elemental power was intertwined throughout the body, powerful yet orderly.

This unique aura allowed the Lord of the Underworld to almost immediately determine the other's identity.

The Lord of the Underworld became furious to the extreme, the veins beneath his blue-green skin bulging.

At this moment, a terrifying aura burst from his entire body, every inch of his muscles tensing to the limit.

Wrapped completely in his red cloak, he released a faint, hazy cloud of smoke.

He was ready. Ready to fight to the end against the audacious person who dared to return to Hell.

He raised his head, wanting to get a good look at what form this person would appear in before him.

However, when the gates were completely open, he froze.

The red light in his eyes gradually faded.

It was replaced by utter confusion.

Because there was no tall man before him as he had expected.

The Lord of the Underworld slowly lowered his head, his somewhat puzzled gaze falling to the ground.

There was a human girl there, struggling to push one half of the gates of Hell.

That's right, a human girl with golden hair.

Seeing this, the Lord of the Underworld held his stomach, opened his mouth, and burst into loud laughter.

"Hahahahaha, a human girl? I really can't believe it."

She did not look tall enough at all, clearly just a human who was still growing.

The Lord of the Underworld's first impression was that this girl was extremely weak.

So weak that perhaps he could blow her all the way to the distant River Styx with nothing more than a breath.

After laughing freely for a while, the Lord of the Underworld sighed in boredom.

'Sigh, how boring.'

Ever since that adorable little guard dog had disappeared, there had been no one guarding the gates of Hell.

Even a human girl this weak could easily break in.

However, a trace of surprise and confusion rose in the Lord of the Underworld's heart.

On this girl, he could actually sense a powerful force similar to that of the human from back then.

It was precisely this mysterious and familiar power that had caused him to mistake her identity for a moment.

At a glance, the girl before him gave him the feeling that she was extremely weak, nowhere near half as powerful as the human who had bravely entered Hell back then.

Yet she could easily come to Hell?

'Could it be that his Hell had become someone's backyard, with humans casually coming here for a stroll every day?'

The Lord of the Underworld returned to his serious and merciless expression. He slowly raised his long spear, pointed it at the girl before him, and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me."

"Why are you here?"

The golden-haired girl seemed to have been greatly startled by the Lord of the Underworld and stared straight at him.

She stood stiffly where she was, her face pale, seemingly unable to speak for a moment.

Even the Lord of the Underworld felt as though he was bullying a child.

He had never wanted to mistreat innocent people, especially a little girl like her.

Normally, humans who accidentally entered Hell were dealt with by his guard dog.

It had been hundreds of years since a human capable of facing him directly had appeared.

It was only by coincidence that he had made the wrong judgment.

The two sides remained at a stalemate for quite some time before the Lord of the Underworld finally sighed helplessly.

He withdrew the long spear and waved his broad palm.

"Forget it. You can leave."

"Go back the way you came."

He had just turned around and was preparing to leave.

But at this moment, the girl's gaze became extremely firm.

Her eyes were fixed on the black trench coat held in the Lord of the Underworld's hand.

"Please wait."

The girl's voice suddenly rang out, but the Lord of the Underworld completely ignored her and continued walking toward the depths of Hell.

"I want to challenge you!"

As these words fell, the surroundings fell silent.

Even the Lord of the Underworld's light footsteps came to an abrupt stop.

The Lord of the Underworld did not turn around. He merely spoke in a deep voice.

His voice was like the howling of countless vengeful souls in Hell, piercing Erika's ears.

"You mean, you want to challenge me?"

This time, the Lord of the Underworld turned around.

His enormous blue-green body once again bulged with countless veins, and even his long, pale beard was ignited with terrifying flames.

A powerful pressure erupted from all around, filling the entire land of Hell.

The lava representing death churned restlessly, while red flames continuously burst apart.

The terrifying aura released by the Lord of the Underworld pressed against the surrounding space, almost causing it to twist and break.

The red cloak behind him also erupted completely with flames, struggling wildly in chaos.

His eyes carried a deep red light, like a violent beast, staring straight at the girl before him.

"Human."

"I already gave you a chance."

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