120 Preparations and the Holy War

Kurama was not particularly surprised to see Thanatos and Hypnos trailing behind Hades.

As for whatever Hades had said to the Twin Gods to explain the situation, Kurama found that their gazes toward him had shifted in a subtle, strange way. Before, they had looked at him with the attitude of observing a "mortal who seems a bit out of the ordinary but isn't actually that special," but now...

"?"

Kurama blinked, casting an inquisitive look at Hades.

The King of the Underworld's calm, translucent green eyes swept slowly over Kurama’s face. Although those eyes did not seem to reveal any distinct emotions different from usual, Kurama inexplicably detected a faint trace of amusement within them...

"............"

The Demon Fox suddenly felt a bit unsettled.

However, when he gazed back at the King of the Underworld with renewed suspicion, he found that the other had already returned to "normal." That fleeting hint of a smile seemed like nothing more than a trick of the light, leaving no trace in the eyes of His Majesty.

Kurama twitched his lips, suddenly doubting whether his previous assessment of the Underworld King had been made too prematurely.

On the other side of the screen, Yuko found the interaction between the King of the Underworld and Kurama—that intangible, unspoken rapport that seemed to rely solely on a glance—quite intriguing.

The dimensional witch sipped the fine wine in her glass with a smile (Wait, why is the Count drinking tea while you, Miss Witch, are drinking wine?!), her gaze drifting back and forth between the Underworld King and the Demon Fox, whether intentionally or not.

Noticing the peculiar heat in her eyes, the Underworld King withdrew his gaze from the Demon Fox.

"You are the Dimensional Witch."

Meeting Yuko’s quietly "peering" gaze, he asked the question with the tone of a flat statement.

Yuko, showing no embarrassment or guilt at being caught red-handed, nodded generously.

"That's right. Did you hear about me from Kurama?"

Unexpectedly, Hades shook his head slightly, denying her guess.

"No. It was when I was integrating the second 'Gift of the World.' My power erupted uncontrollably, and as I sensed certain distant parallel worlds, I learned of your existence from the thoughts of their inhabitants."

He did not refer to himself as "We," but used the personal pronoun "I."

This was a "special treatment" Kurama had received from the Underworld King only after waking up from his five-day slumber—the kind of "special treatment" Hades only offered when he granted immense recognition, equality, and respect to another existence.

Yuko did not know the reason behind this, but seeing the slight arch of Kurama’s brows upon hearing Hades’ self-reference, the witch was able to grasp the core of the matter even if she couldn't guess the whole story.

She curled her lips, nodding with polite elegance to the black-haired deity on the screen.

"I see."

Having said that, she ceased speaking, simply engaging in a silent, long-distance exchange of gazes with the Underworld King.

Thanatos and Hypnos, standing behind Hades, were stunned—what kind of woman was this? Her aura was not the least bit inferior to His Majesty's!

The two exchanged a silent look, then simultaneously turned their eyes to Kurama, only to find the Demon Fox looking entirely calm and composed, as if he had expected this scene all along...

Thanatos and Hypnos exchanged another look, their gaze toward Kurama growing even more bizarre.

"............"

The Demon Fox turned his head away in silence. He no longer wanted to know how Hades had explained his identity earlier.

"Since you already know about me, we can proceed with the next topic."

On the other side, after a prolonged, rather long silence, Yuko spoke with a half-smile, breaking the eerie atmosphere.

Hades nodded slightly, his expression unchanged. Perhaps Yuko had already grasped the character of His Majesty during these few moments of contact, as she did not seem to mind his seemingly cold response. Glancing briefly at Kurama, she continued in a calm tone:

"The nature of the agreement between you and Kurama is a matter for the two of you; I will not interfere."

"However, if you intend to use Mokona’s power for time-traveling, then, I’m afraid... you must pay a corresponding price."

"I assume Kurama explained this to you before you reached a consensus?"

The Underworld King nodded, confirming that this had indeed been discussed.

Yuko lifted her hand and rested her chin on it.

"Then, what is the price you have decided to pay? Something important enough to you, and... equivalent to the power of traversing time."

The Underworld King was silent for a moment.

Then, Yuko watched in stunned silence as he tore open space with a casual gesture and pulled out a golden circular stone slab from somewhere...

"This..."

Isn't this the "sacred relic" left behind by the Creator God that Kurama described?

Are you kidding me?

The witch’s mouth twitched. She never imagined that a supreme god like the King of the Underworld would be so thick-skinned as to offer someone else's item as payment to her.

Hades, however, remained calm and composed.

"This is mine."

Seeing Yuko’s face darken to the point of dripping ink, he uncharacteristically offered a "kind" and "patient" explanation to the lady.

"Aside from the messages previously deciphered by Kurama and... Mokona, the remaining information on this slab concerns me."

Or rather, it concerned the "Favored."

On this slab, the Creator God detailed the general scope of the "Favored's" abilities, how those with different power systems should identify their newly awakened powers, and how to master these abilities in the future...

In short, whether for the "Favored" or for someone like Yuko who ran a unique dimensional shop, this was an absolute treasure. Its importance and value perfectly met the requirements of the transaction—even Yuko could not deny this.

Hades, who traded the slab to Yuko, seemed to have taken a huge loss, but upon closer reflection, the Underworld King had surely memorized all the content long ago, and the aura of the Creator God held little significance for him. Thus, handing this over as a trade item was no loss at all—not to mention it served as a sweetener to include the travel expenses for Thanatos and Hypnos in the Mokona time-travel tour group. (Hypnos & Thanatos: ......)

Kurama had been completely unaware that Hades would use the slab as a bargaining chip. Watching Yuko look reluctant, yet holding the slab tightly once Mokona transferred it to her, he couldn't help but feel amused. Yuko had always maintained a mature and reliable queen-like image in front of him and Mokona; he rarely saw this cute side of her. Seeing it now, thanks to Hades, was an unexpected bonus.

After receiving the slab and giving Kurama a few final instructions, Yuko, eager to explore the secrets of the slab, and the Count, who was also interested, ended the communication. Kurama stayed behind, hugging Mokona and happily feeding the little one afternoon tea, while inviting the Underworld King and the Twin Gods to join.

Thanatos and Hypnos declined the Demon Fox’s invitation with polite thanks.

Unexpectedly, Hades nodded and sat down directly beside Kurama.

Kurama smiled and poured him a cup of his own special homemade hot cocoa.

"Is there something you need, Your Majesty?" he asked with a smile.

"...Hades."

The Underworld King paused, his answer completely unrelated to the question.

Kurama was caught off guard for a moment.

"Hm?" he uttered, a single syllable of confusion.

Hades looked at him calmly.

"You may address me by my name directly."

He said softly, lifting his cup for a light sip.

Kurama looked at him in astonishment, his expression suggesting, "Are you really the King of the Underworld, or are you an impostor who swapped places with him?"

The Underworld King lowered his eyes, saying nothing.

Kurama’s expression gradually shifted from surprise to a faint, gentle smile.

"Hades."

He changed his address with ease.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" After changing his tone, his choice of words became much more casual.

The Underworld King gave him an unreadable look and set down his cocoa cup.

"The remaining slabs," he said concisely.

Kurama frowned slightly. "But didn't you say..." It was notoriously difficult to find these things; even Zeus, with the authority of the King of Gods to mobilize all his deities, hadn't had much luck...

"This time is different," Hades shook his head. "I can 'sense' them."

Using his ability as a "Favored," not as the King of the Underworld.

Kurama’s eyes lit up upon hearing the explanation.

"Really?"

His mind began to calculate rapidly.

"If we can find the remaining slabs, not to mention how many good things we can exchange for from Miss Yuko, just the time it would take for Mokona to replenish the energy it lost would be significantly shortened!"

Although Mokona’s energy absorption rate was fast in the Elysian Fields under the constant shroud of the Underworld King’s cosmos, the little one had expended far too much energy supporting the barrier in Sanctuary and then having to exert himself to the limit to protect himself and Kurama during the ambush at the Count’s pet shop. The constant, normal rate of absorption would never be enough to recover what was lost in a short time.

But with the slabs left behind by the Creator God, it would be different.

Mokona had recovered more than half of its stored energy just by absorbing the energy from that one slab. If they could find three, or even two more, Kurama figured it wouldn't take long for Mokona to be ready for the next time-travel journey.

Hades was clearly satisfied with this unexpected windfall. His original suggestion to find the slabs was only to see if they contained different information that could help him better master his powers as a "Favored."

The two reached an agreement instantly, and in the following time, they began a journey together to search for the slabs across the world.

With Hades’ radar-like, precise sensing of the slabs’ aura, and Kurama’s illusion-plant barriers serving as a cheat to evade the prying eyes of powerful cosmos like Zeus’s, they were able to move in and out of the Underworld unnoticed. Coupled with Thanatos and Hypnos taking full control of the supervision of the "Holy War" during this period, the efficiency of the Underworld King and Kurama in finding the slabs was truly astonishing—

In just half a month, they had found five slabs, and according to Hades’ senses, there were only two left in the world...

"One is in the frozen Arctic, the territory of the Norse gods who have long since lost most of their divine power. The reach of the Olympian pantheon doesn't extend far there, so we don't have to be as cautious as before. As for the other one, heh... this is interesting. It’s actually in the Temple of the Sea King..."

After learning the precise locations of the two remaining slabs from Hades, Kurama took a look and realized that both locations were very delicate.

"It seems that besides the gods of the Olympian pantheon, other pantheons are also aware of the legend of the slabs and are collecting them. And within the Olympian pantheon, Zeus is not the only one trying to collect them."

The Sea King, the Underworld King, and the King of Gods—these three supreme deities of the Olympian pantheon all clearly had their own desires for the slabs.

However, compared to Zeus and Poseidon, Hades was clearly less interested in relying on external objects. Before becoming a "Favored" and gaining the ability to read the content of the slabs and sense the rich aura of the Creator God, the Underworld King had clearly forgotten about them after a glance, not even harboring the thought of collecting them for future contingencies...

"You really are a hundred percent 'simple, crude, and brute force' type, Hades."

Thinking of this, the Demon Fox couldn't help but chuckle and tease.

As they had grown more familiar with each other over this period, their interactions had become increasingly harmonious, and the King of the Underworld, who had experienced such casual teasing from the Demon Fox many times, just raised an eyebrow at him without replying.

Kurama smiled to himself, not minding the reaction.

"It looks like we should go to the Arctic one first. Didn't you say Odin has been asleep for many years and the Norse gods have mostly fallen silent with him? I imagine the difficulty will be less than that of the Sea King’s temple."

After laughing, the Demon Fox returned to a serious tone to discuss the business at hand.

Hades thought for a moment and was about to respond when a space not far from them was suddenly torn open, and the blond Sleep God emerged with a grim expression...

"Your Majesty, something has happened."

Stepping out of the spatial rift and approaching Kurama and Hades, Hypnos’s voice was unsteady.

"As planned, Thanatos’s projection was just sealed by Sage, the current Pope of the Sanctuary."

"Also sacrificed in this battle was his disciple, Manigoldo of Cancer, one of Athena’s twelve Gold Saints."

"But, strangely enough, after the war ended, we did not receive their souls."

"Someone intervened mid-way and snatched away the souls of these two Saints, which should have belonged to the Underworld."