"We are not the same."
Standing in the sky of the Underworld, not a single drop of blood flowed from Hades' severed arm.
It was as if that limb had never existed, some terrible power prevented the regeneration of Hades' divine body, delaying his recovery to his original form.
But in that moment, Hades disregarded his own physical incompleteness and the pain feedback from his godhood, and looked directly into the eyes of the Outsider, despite the mountainous and oceanic pressure.
Devoid of any emotion... In the Outsider's gaze, Hades saw not a hint of regard for life. It was as if he wasn't seeing another deity, but an object, a lifeless thing.
Even inferior to how a deity might view a mortal... Hades didn't know that, even if his own 'divinity' hadn't reached the point of cold indifference to all beings, Laine couldn't possibly harbor any emotion for an entity in a false world. He simply took it as a sign of the Outsider's resolute intent.
So, in that moment, Hades cast aside all his past understanding. He didn't know why the Outsider really dared to act against the Underworld, nor did he understand what he meant by 'different', but perhaps, as Laine said, this powerful deity that suddenly appeared truly possessed some unknown method.
His perception was frantically warning him, an alert coming from the Underworld itself... Although by common sense, no amount of power should be able to damage the core of the Underworld, Hades trusted the intuition of inherent deities more.
If it were the past, like at the dawn of the age when competing for the position of Divine King, Hades might have chosen to withdraw, to retreat from the earth into the depths of the darkness. But now, the Underworld was right behind him, and he had nowhere left to retreat. At that instant, Hades actually felt a twinge of regret.
Unlike his current self, the original trajectory of the Underworld had neither wraiths, and Zeus's journey was much smoother... These thoughts inevitably led Hades to reminisce about that day. Maybe he shouldn't have given up back then... Even if he had failed, it would have been better than now, having waited half an era without seeing any possibility for progress.
But reality has no 'ifs,' what's missed is missed. What seemed like a long time was but a moment, and Hades, with no retreat, involuntarily took a step forward facing Laine.
The ground trembled slightly as if signifying the end of days, and the Underworld seemed to sense the will of Hades, unleashing an unprecedented power.
The heavens were filled with surging gray light like a rising tide, inch by inch ascending into the sky. This was the pinnacle of Hades' power, an innate backlash of the Underworld when wounded, a power of preordained divinity that continued to rise amid passionate emotion.
It was enough to cause any True God in the world to retreat, but unfortunately, these struggles were futile before the enemy they faced.
With a downward press of his left hand in the void, what had risen in that instant was instantly suppressed, the Underworld trembling as a result. The right hand threw the Black Sword, the gathered power of [Death] dissipating into mist, moving through the air before recongealing into solid form, transforming into a long chain. Under Laine's will, it traversed the void, binding Hades' body tightly.
In the original myth, Thanatos, the God of Death, possessed such a chain, forged by the godsmith Hephaestus as a Divine Artifact. This feeble Death god used it to hook the souls of mortals— he is still busy in the Mortal Realm at present and has not returned to the Underworld, nor had a chance to witness in a phantom world what true [Death] looks like.
But like many offspring of Chaos, Thanatos' flawed wisdom could hardly compare to mortals. He once fell for a King's trick and was shackled by his own artifact, becoming the first deity to be imprisoned by humans.
Of course, the fate of that king was clear. After all, mortals might defeat a deity temporarily, but if they lose once, the price is eternity.
Now, however, the same authority, the same style of chains, and the creation of [Death] had Hades firmly locked in midair.
His frantic struggle set off the sound of clashing chains, but Hades' resistance was obviously ineffective.
At this moment, there was no third person in the sky. Those Underworld deities who had ascended with Hades were long gone, not knowing where they had fled. And now, as spring still reigned in the mortal world, even Persephone was with her mother, completely unaware of the happenings here.
Therefore, suspended in isolation in the sky, Laine's expression could not help but turn somber.
Once again extending his hand into the void, this time, Laine drew a stone sword. As he grasped the hilt, it seemed to trigger a certain rule, and flames of gold erupted abruptly around him, failing to harm him in the slightest, but rather adding a golden cloak rustling in the Underworld sky.
This was the Great Solar Incineration, a curse capable of scorching even common True Gods, a remnant of the ancient Sun God, split from consciousness and left behind in the world. It would burn any being that tried to wield it, making it unbearable for the weak and unnecessary for the strong.
But at this moment, what Laine required was not its strength but the nature of its authority. If a system could not be destroyed from the outside, it should be dismantled from within. The best way to accomplish this was to insert into the intricate system something that was incompatible and indestructible.