In the heart of the labyrinth, Saruto walked slowly, his steps hesitant, his eyes scanning the high walls that resembled nothing more than colossal tombs. Every passage seemed to lead him into the unknown, every turn a potential death trap.
He tried to summon the Dark Power. He closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and concentrated as he always did. Nothing. He opened his eyes in astonishment, then tried again, still nothing. "Impossible… Did she really do it? Has Hades stripped me of my power?" he whispered to himself, his voice trembling.
Anxiety crept into his heart, gradually transforming into despair.
"I am… nothing without the Dark Power," he said softly. "How will I fight the monsters? How will I survive?"
Elsewhere, Hades watched him through a crystal ball, her eyes shining with profound understanding. She smiled faintly and said, "He has inhaled the scent of the Nerat plant… the plant that unsettles the mind and sows anxiety and despair in the soul." Then she added, testing her tone, "So, Saruto… how will you overcome this ordeal?"
As Saruto walked on, a colossal monster emerged from the shadows, its body deformed, its eyes blazing with a deadly hunger. Saruto blood ran cold. He turned and ran with all his might. But the monster spotted him and gave chase.
Saruto reached a crossroads and turned right without thinking.
He stopped abruptly. Another monster was waiting for him. He cursed his luck and tried to turn back, but stopped when he realized the truth. The two monsters had him surrounded.
In a flash, one of them lunged forward, and with a single movement, severed Saruto head from his body. He felt nothing. No pain… no fear… not even shock.
Elsewhere in the labyrinth, Saruto suddenly opened his eyes and stood up, panting. He touched his neck in confusion, then his head. "Pain… I was just dead?" he said, bewildered. "How am I still alive?"
Hades' voice pierced his head: "I forgot to tell you… every time you die, you will be reborn."
She paused, then added, "But… there will be excruciating pain with each death."
"But I don't feel anything…" Saruto said nervously.
Suddenly, the pain erupted. A scream shattered the silence. He felt as if his head were being ripped from his body a thousand times at once. Unbearable pain, a fire tearing at his nerves. He collapsed to the ground, screaming and begging, "Stop! Please! Enough!"
Then the pain vanished. He lay on the ground, his veins bulging, his heart pounding wildly. Hades said coldly, "This pain… is to remind you of what awaits you each time you die."
Saruto staggered to his feet and cried, "Damn you, Hades!"
Then he remembered Void. His face hardened. "What about Void?" he asked anxiously. "What's happening to him?"
"You should be worried about yourself," Hades replied.
"Please… tell me," he pleaded.
Hades sighed. "Void… has died five times already."
Saruto eyes widened. "Five times?! How much pain must he have endured?"
In another world, Void was running, his arm severed, blood trailing behind him. A monster pounced from behind, tearing him apart mercilessly. Then he got up. He received the same pain. "He died again… this is the sixth time," Hades voice echoed in Saruto's head.
"I'll leave you now to continue your training," she added.
"Wait! Is there a way to kill these monsters?!" Saruto cried.
"Find out yourself," she replied with mysterious calm.
The connection was lost. Saruto clenched his fists. "Damn it…"
Hours passed. Saruto died again and again. Each time the pain grew more intense, more excruciating, until he could no longer bear it. He began marking the wall with each death. One line, two lines, twenty lines.
Twenty deaths. He collapsed back at the starting point, unable to move, resigned. Hades watched and decided to intervene. She conjured a monster nearby to force him to his feet. Her plan worked. Saruto ran, thinking, "How will I kill them?!"
As he fled, he spotted a Nerat plant. He stopped. He gazed intently at it. He stood beside it, waiting for the monster to approach. He held his breath, covered his mouth, and then struck the plant with force. The scent filled the air.
The monster inhaled it and stopped. It began to hallucinate. Saruto didn't waste his chance. He lunged forward, grabbed the monster by the head, and with all his might, snapped its neck. The monster fell dead. Saruto collapsed beside it, gasping for breath.
The monster's body began to decompose, until it was reduced to a dark shard.
Saruto looked up at her and reached out. The shard pierced his body and merged with him. He felt a strange warmth, a power returning. A small but real fragment. Hades' voice pierced his head: "Congratulations, Saruto. You've recovered 1% of the Darkness energy."
Then she continued, "You still have 99% to go… that's 99 shards… that's 99 monsters."
"Can you do it?" she asked with a smile.
Saruto raised his head, his eyes gleaming with murderous determination. "I will," he said.
Hades smiled. "And that's what I want from you," she thought to herself.