Tower of Heaven

Atlas once again found his way back to Vanatos. This time, he contacted Alaric beforehand.

"So you promised him something like that?"

Alaric clearly wasn't pleased with the agreement Atlas made with Jason, but he couldn't argue about it.

"This is related to saving your daughter, so don't complain. In fact, send Adella or someone to meet them instead of going yourself."

"Why would I go myse–"

"I know you're thinking about going yourself, so don't pretend otherwise."

"Tch."

Alaric crossed his arms. He didn't like being defeated by a kid, but he already knew he couldn't beat Atlas in words.

"Why Adella? She's a little too much for them, isn't she?"

She was a very personable individual and handled a lot of the clan's external affairs. She was also the one who met with the other clan representatives regularly for the management of Divine Sanctuary as a whole.

Of course, the final decisions were always made by Mireiya or Alaric, but Adella was the face of the clan.

"She's too important for them, that may be true, but this is necessary to show sincerity. In my personal opinion, the woman among them who has the barrier talent is worth nurturing. You should look into her."

"Ah? My son-in-law is looking at other women? Ari's only been gone for a few months!"

"Did your wife's sense of humor rub off on you? When did you start making such jokes?"

Atlas rolled his eyes as he listened to the old man's laughter.

'Fortunately, he sounds like he's calmed down.'

Alaric was no longer blinded by revenge. As expected from a great Immortal, he was able to suppress his emotions and replace them with rationality.

"Kid, put aside those little guys. If they're useful, there's no problem with nurturing them. If they aren't dragons or dragonkin, they probably won't be under our jurisdiction anyway. We can just accept them and pass them off to one of those other old bastards."

For only one moment before their communication ended, Alaric's tone became serious.

"The preliminary plans for our response have been made. You'll be away for most of it, but it's still important for you to know. Swing by the palace when you get back and continue on your way afterward."

Atlas agreed and put down his communication talisman. He was already in Vanatos, actually, but he wasn't planning on returning to the Tatsuya Clan quite yet.

Alaric informed him when the meeting would take place, so Atlas only had to appear around that time.

'Before then, I have roughly two months.'

There were many things he planned to do in those two months, but the first and foremost was this.

"Who should I choose?"

Immediately as he spoke, his vision was once again filled with holographic text boxes.

He was receiving so many offers for the Death Relic that he was almost concerned, but after consulting Scarlet Fox about it, he was able to get a quick answer.

Of course they wanted the Death Relic!

"Death" was a Dao that created many Gods. Some of them were very powerful entities that embodied death to the point where they could be called Death itself.

However, the majority of those Death Gods were still in the budding phases of Godhood. Their primary desire was to increase the weight of their Legend and presence so they could begin their ascent through the stages of Godhood.

The Death Relic previously was not something they'd desire. It was merely a Mortal Artifact, after all.

But, that Death Relic managed to do the impossible. It risked all of its energy and power and dropped from a Heaven Grade Artifact to a Human Grade Artifact, but it had succeeded in changing its Legend and rewriting its history.

This gave it a "restart." It was now an artifact with the potential to ascend to Godhood on its own. If a budding God could take it at an early stage and nurture it to its peak state, their own Legend and power would grow tremendously.

With this desire backing them, so many Gods that Atlas had never heard of from pantheons that either barely existed or didn't exist at all were contacting him.

All of them could give him the recommendation he sought, so it was really only a matter of "who" he was going to choose.

As Atlas ruminated over it and looked through their names, he saw an interesting message.

[Mistress of Death says not to give the Death Relic to any of those worthless Gods.]

Immediately, he knew that this person was much greater than all of the rest. It was something he learned about Godly titles as he interacted with them for the purpose of this deal.

The more direct one's title was, the more power one had.

For instance, one of the Gods approaching Atlas was called, [The One Who Contacts Death Through The Veil], and another was called, [Death's Arbiter Who Uses A Spinning Sword].

[Huntress of the Night], [Great Sage, Heaven's Equal], [Treacherous Phoenix], [Morningstar].

These were the kinds of titles Atlas was used to seeing, but only now did he realize that the Gods who stayed by his side were incredibly prominent entities.

[Mistress of Death]'s message didn't end there.

[Mistress of Death says that the Death Relic will be useful to you in the near future.]

[Mistress of Death says that she will give you a recommendation to enter the underworld without you having to give her the Death Relic.]

[Mistress of Death says her only condition is that when you challenge an Underworld Guardian, you face the one of her choosing.] Continue reading stories on empire

Atlas' eyes narrowed. This was how he learned that there were multiple Underworld Guardians.

[Mistress of Death]'s proposal was tempting. The only problem was…

'No. I should just take her offer.'

Regardless of his worries, it was definitely the best path for him. She said that the Death Relic would be useful for him in the near future, but the near future she spoke of…

'...is the one where I reach the underworld.'

He had learned to trust the words of Divine entities. He didn't trust them wholeheartedly, but he knew that it was uncharacteristic of them to lie.

Lying was simply beneath them. With their power, regardless of what truth they spoke or what goal they had, if it was related to ordinary people or things, they could get anything without much effort.

Only in matters against other Gods did they have to start scheming and lying again.

'[Mistress of Death] is a powerful God. A recommendation from a God of that level is completely different from what I would receive from the ones who want the Death Relic.'

With a recommendation like that, perhaps his journey to hell would be simplified by manifold.

Atlas firmed himself and chose to respond to this very message.

"[Mistress of Death]."

He spoke that person's title. When her title was spoken, she sensed it across all barriers of space and time and turned her attention to him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Mistress of Death is watching you.]

[Mistress of Death is awaiting the good news.]

"It seems you already know. I have indeed chosen to take your offer."

[Mistress of Death nods in satisfaction.]

[Mistress of Death says that it is natural for her to know your intentions, as you would not have called for her otherwise.]

"That is true…"

[Mistress of Death asks if you truly wish to accept her offer.]

[Mistress of Death says that she will not hide her intentions to test you.]

[Mistress of Death says that it will be much easier if you take the offer of a weak and pathetic God.]

Atlas couldn't help but smile at her oddly targeted messages.

"I am aware that this is a test, but I am also prepared to face it. If I was not prepared, I would not be fit to enter hell in the first place, correct?"

[Mistress of Death smiles.]

[Mistress of Death says you are correct about that.]

Understanding that he'd fully understood her intentions before ever calling him, the Goddess titled [Mistress of Death] finally gave him what he wanted.

A location, along with the title of a creature.

It was his next target, and the only thing physically standing between him and the underworld.