Setsuna remained calm, even shifting to a more comfortable sitting posture. "I am a righteous Saint. How could I become the evil God of Death?"
Thanatos's heart was full of silent complaints: 'A righteous Saint? Then how can you wear the Heavenly Chief Star Surplice with such peace of mind?'
Hypnos said in a deep voice, "The Underworld is on the verge of destruction. The cycle of life and death in the entire universe will fall into chaos. Billions of souls will be annihilated..."
"This immense karma and sin certainly has its reasons in Hades-sama himself, but Goddess Athena personally ending Hades-sama is also a direct trigger."
"Heaven will definitely not spare her."
"But if you are willing to step forward, assume the responsibility of the God of Death, stabilize the Underworld, and repair the cycle of reincarnation, wouldn't that make up for the mistake Athena committed?"
"This..." Setsuna showed a slight 'hesitation'.
Seeing Setsuna's attitude soften, Thanatos quickly said, "You don't want the souls of those who have died to have no destination, do you?"
Setsuna let out a long sigh, his voice seemingly full of helplessness. "Alas, you have truly put me in a difficult position."
After 'struggling' for a moment longer, he seemed to finally make up his mind. "Very well, I will reluctantly become the God of Death."
Hypnos: "..."
A supreme authority coveted even by major gods, and he was being reluctant about it.
But regardless, Setsuna had finally agreed.
Hypnos forcibly suppressed his urge to rant and quickly said, "Excellent, Setsuna-sama... no, Your Majesty the God of Death. The most urgent task now is to stabilize the Underworld and prevent it from continuing to collapse."
"We will do our utmost to assist you, to guide you to gain the recognition of the Underworld's original will. Once you gain recognition, you can initially mobilize the power of the Underworld and attempt to repair..."
Before Hypnos could finish his words…
Hum—
The Underworld, which had seemed on the verge of complete disintegration, suddenly shuddered.
Then, the collapse stopped.
What was more, the Underworld began to actively repair the previously destroyed areas.
Hypnos and Thanatos were dumbfounded, 'What was happening?'
Setsuna shrugged casually. "Is this enough?"
"How did you... did Your Majesty do this?" Thanatos exclaimed, his voice changing tone.
Setsuna said in a matter-of-fact tone, "First step, become the God of Death. Second step, control the origin. Third step, repair the Underworld. Isn't this very simple?"
The Twin Gods felt dizzy. They never expected that the Underworld's origin would defect even faster than they had.
Although they still couldn't understand how Setsuna had done it, the great stone hanging in the Twin Gods' hearts had finally fallen.
The Underworld was finally saved.
The two looked at the figure on the throne, knelt on one knee, and bowed their proud divine heads.
"Congratulations to Your Majesty for taking control of the Underworld!" Hypnos's voice was steady and full of respect.
"We swear to serve Your Majesty to the death!" Thanatos's voice was filled with excitement and trembling.
Amidst their joy, Hypnos suddenly remembered the huge hidden dangers lurking in the Underworld.
"Your Majesty!" He quickly looked up, his tone urgent. "This subordinate has one more matter to report. Within the Underworld, besides the fallen Hades-sama, there is another major god hidden..."
Before he could finish, a rough, wild laugh echoed through the Underworld.
"Hahahaha! Hypnos! Thanatos! You two have done well!"
"The one day isn't even up yet, and you've actually managed to temporarily stabilize this wretched place? Excellent! I will reward you handsomely!"
With this arrogant laugh, a tall, dark red figure tore through space and descended with a bang at the palace gate.
He had obviously been monitoring the movements of the Twin Gods. Sensing the stabilization of the Underworld, he immediately followed the Twin Gods' aura and found them, impatient to claim his spoils.
However, when he stepped into the palace and saw the scene before him, his smile instantly froze.
The Twin Gods, whom he had expected to be grateful and fearful...
Were actually kneeling on one knee before a being with an obvious human aura, in a posture of submission?
A surge of rage at being fooled rushed to Ares's head.
"Hypnos!" Ares's voice was icy. "Who is this insignificant human ant? What are you doing?"
Hypnos slowly stood up and said solemnly, "Ares-sama, please watch your words. Do not be disrespectful to His Majesty!"
"This..." He stepped aside, respectfully pointing to Setsuna on the throne. "Is the new ruler of the Underworld, His Majesty Chiaki Setsuna."
Ares was first stunned, then burst into laughter, his tone full of mockery. "Hahahaha, Hypnos, Thanatos, you two idiots! Fools!"
"You have willingly degraded yourselves, letting a filthy human become the God of Death. If that wretch Hades knew, he might be so angry he'd come back to life."
Hypnos remained unperturbed, simply calmly stating the fact. "His Majesty has already proven his ability. It was His Majesty who stabilized the Underworld when it was on the verge of collapse."
Thanatos snorted coldly. "The Underworld is the kingdom of death and reincarnation. Only an existence that controls the supreme authority of death is worthy of becoming the God of Death!"
Ares's expression turned cold. "Very well. Since you have chosen destruction, I will destroy this wretched Underworld, along with your worthless, so-called God of Death!"
Setsuna sneered. "As the God of War, you couldn't even defeat Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War. You fled to the Underworld, begging for mercy..."
"A complete waste like you is also worthy of spouting such nonsense here?"
"Aaaargh!" Ares was completely enraged. Losing to Athena was the humiliation of his life, the thing he most taboo others mentioning.
"You scum! I will rip out your soul! Burn it with the fires of war for hundreds of millions of years!"
He drew a giant divine sword, entwined with blood-colored lightning and the aura of destruction, and with the terrifying force to shatter all things, he slashed down toward Setsuna on the throne.
"Die! War Punishment - World-Slaying Slash!"
A towering, dark red pillar of destruction descended. The just-stabilized Underworld once again trembled violently.
"Your Majesty, be careful! This is Ares's War Sword..." Hypnos was somewhat worried, after all, Setsuna had not yet had time to forge his own exclusive divine weapon.
Then, he saw Setsuna catch the blade of that destructive pillar of light with his bare hands.
Hypnos and Thanatos were so shocked their eyes nearly popped out, 'Catching a major god's divine weapon attack with bare hands?'
'Even Hades-sama in his prime could never have so casually caught Ares's anger-fueled attack with his bare hands.'
'At the very least, he would have needed to use the Sword of Hades to block and deflect it.'
An unbelievable guess surged into their hearts, 'Could it be that this new God of Death was even more powerful than Hades-sama?'