"What do you mean that rulers do not die?" Saruto said, his features tense and his voice a mixture of shock and anger. "Do you mean that everything I've done... was in vain?"
Hades smiled calmly, her smile tinged with deep confidence. "I didn't say everything you've done was in vain, Saruto... quite the opposite."
Then, in a mysteriously quiet voice, she added, "Raise your hand."
Saruto cautiously raised his hand, his eyes watching her suspiciously. In a flash, Hades moved with incomprehensible speed and severed his hand. Saruto eyes widened in astonishment, and he cried out, "What have you done?!"
But before he could react or become angry, he saw something that froze him in place. His severed hand disintegrated before his eyes, transforming into particles of dark energy that vanished into thin air like smoke.
The next moment, his hand began to reform. Bones, muscles, skin—everything returned to its original state. Saruto took a step back, stunned. Hades said confidently, "You are now a Half-Ruler... and that means you have acquired some of the attributes of rulers."
Then she continued, "And among the most important..." "Regeneration."
"So… I don't die either?" Saruto asked in surprise.
"No," Hades shook her head. "Demigods can be killed."
Then, in a serious tone, she added, "If your body is cut in half, or your head is cut off… you can die. And when targeting the body, you must ensure that the spinal cord is destroyed, because it is the mind that issues the regeneration commands, and the signals pass through it." "Destroying one of them is enough to eliminate half a ruler."
Then she looked at him sharply and added, "As for the true rulers… no matter what you do, you cannot kill them."
Saruto clenched his fist and said firmly, "So… is there a way to kill the rulers?"
Hades smiled mysteriously and said, "Yes… there is."
He took a step closer and said expectantly, "What is it?"
She paused for a moment, then said calmly, with a hint of surprise, "You must grant me one request first."
Saruto said without hesitation, "Whatever your request, I will grant it." "Tell me."
Hades looked at him with a different kind of gaze, one that held not just the authority of a judge, but something deeper. Then she said in a low voice, "You must marry me."
Saruto froze. "I agree—" he said immediately.
Then he stopped abruptly, realizing what she had said. "Wait…did you say I should marry you?!"
Hades smiled faintly. "Yes."
Then she added, with rare candor, "From the first time we met…I saw something strange in you. And as time passed, and as I stayed by your side…I began to feel those human emotions I had never known before." "And I began... to admire you, Saruto."
Silence fell. Saruto began to think, recalling all the moments he had spent with her: how she had supported him, trained him, saved him, given him the chance to see his parents, and how much she had sacrificed for him. He remembered his earlier words to her: "Whatever I do, I can never repay you."
"Perhaps... this is the least I can do for her," he thought to himself.
He raised his head firmly and said, "I accept that you will be my wife, Hades."
He reached out and fashioned two glowing rings from the darkness. He placed one on Hades finger and the other on his own. Then, with a sincere smile, he said, "Hades... after I have fulfilled all my obligations, I will hold my wedding... with you, Emilia, and Star. I promise you that."
Hades smiled and accepted his promise. Then, with a stern expression, she said, "And now... it is time for your answer." "Saruto… do you remember the Realm of the Seventy-Two Demons?"
"Yes," he said.
"The Demon King… can create a weapon for you capable of killing rulers."
Saruto eyes widened in astonishment, then he smiled, a smile full of hope and fire. "So… the Demon King can create a weapon that kills rulers?! Finally… I'll be able to kill Umbra!"
Then he turned to Hades and said firmly, "So, my next journey… is to the Realm of the Seventy-Two Demons."
Hades nodded and said, "Yes…"