Chapter 238 Hades

"Yeah, and what about it?"

…

(Orion POV)

"Well, if you're from the overworld, then…." The woman before us shuttered, almost paling at the thought of us coming from the earth.

"What's wrong with being from earth?"

"Well-"

All of a sudden, a chilling sensation ran throughout our bodies and my spine almost folded in half from the amount of pressure weighing down on me.

It was as if a thousand pounds of rocks had been dropped onto my head and forced me to bend down.

"Th-The jailers…" The woman muttered, her voice trailing off with fear as a few skeletons cloaked in bone-white robes appeared in front of us.

In each hand, a singular black chain dangled all the way to the ground, and this was the one thing that made us take a slight step back.

"Split up," I muttered, and everybody instantly disappeared into their own directions, only for them and myself to be slammed into the ground.

The duo of skeletons had split into six exact and almost perfect copies of each other, making me shiver just from their sheer power.

"You… What are you…?" I attempted to question the skeleton, but its chain soon wrapped around my neck and began to slightly choke and pinch me with its cold, dark links.

"Death," The thing muttered as the chain slithered down from my neck, which had formed a tight collar and tied my hands together.

It kicked my back, somehow me flying up into a stand position, leaving me nearly stunned.

"Now, do not resist, for your future depends on this one single meeting," It muttered again, only for it to disappear into thin air.

Confused, I took a look around to try and find it again, but just as my neck twitched, so did the scenery around me.

I was now inside the hall of a large throne room with a single man sitting on a throne of bones, his dark cloak draping over him, but I could still see his appearance… his boney appearance.

"Ugh… *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*..."

Suddenly, the sound of a girl coughing appeared beside me, but I could barely turn my head without the chains choking me to the point of nearly passing out.

So, I made sure to keep my head still and whisper under my breath to Aisa, who kneeled right next to me.

"Aisa… Where are the others?" I whispered, but the skeletal knights lined up against each pillar holding up the ceiling eerily turned their heads towards me.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know-"

All of a sudden, the sound of even more people coughing came from around me, so I assumed everybody was here now, though I didn't dare to turn my head.

"It seems you all have gathered here…. Welcome to Tartarus, the domain of death and the home of myself, Hades."

"I could already tell it was you dickwad. Such an edgy-looking thing wouldn't be able to escape my ga- my bad," Cy taunted the thing before us, only to quickly stop upon feeling his death aura tickle the back of his neck.

"Why the fuck are we chained up?" Bella asked, but Hades had no intention of answering our questions.

He slowly rose from his throne, receiving the hundreds of salutes that were spread out from the skeletons across the room.

The sound of spears clanging once against the ground shook the air around us, and a single chant from the organless beings was let out.

"ALL HAIL THE KING!"

The pressure within the room nearly snapped our mortal spines in half as the god descended from his throne, each step vibrating the atmosphere around us.

"This guy is pretty strong," Bella wearily smiled, trying to keep a strong appearance due to her pride.

"No shit," Findir muttered back and then redirected his eyes downward as the skeleton's empty eye sockets locked onto him.

"As the god of the underworld, I dictate what happens down here. Everything is under my rule but not under my control… the demon lords you might be familiar with dictate that. So, let's get right to the main course… Will you give up your souls to me for the rest of the fighting humanity, or will you become a citizen of this place and give up your soul to Tartarus," Hades said, his words lingering in our minds.

"Is there no other option?" Luna asked, as cool as a cucumber.

"Would you like another one?" He asked, somehow seeming a bit nice as the words slipped from that lipless hole of his.

"I mean, I'll take it," She quickly replied.

"Then, become my slaves. Becoming my slaves will grant you unimaginable influence and power, but you all will slowly become mindless skeletons towards the end of your contract."

"We'll become citizens of Tartarus," I announced, and nobody spoke up to change my words, as I already knew what everybody was thinking.

"Good choice. Then, I'll see you all later,"

I swear I saw the skeleton smile before the chains binding us disappeared, and we plunged into a pit of burning green flames.

Upon coming in contact with it, my flesh and skin began to burn into ash but somehow quickly regenerated.

I attempted to scream and funnel some of the pain away with my lungs, but my organs quickly disappeared and reappeared, leaving only my brain untouched.

Ugh… It's too much… I'm gonna… faint.

…

My eyes snapped wide open, and my breath was heavy, heaving in a sullied and ash-ridden atmosphere that seemingly coated the inside of my lungs.

I quickly swiveled my head to gather information, and from what I saw, I was currently in a prison cell big enough to only fit myself, a toilet and a stone bed.

CLANG CLANG CLANG

All of a sudden, a pair of boney hands clashed against the cell bars, forcing me to cover my ears as all of my senses were still so sensitive… or was it something else?

My vision felt clearer than ever, and my sense of touch was absolutely incredible. It felt like I was able to graze and identify each and every single individual molecule making up my cell.

My hearing was so great that I could hear the grunts and giggles of other humanoid things resting within this prison.

"Get changed. We're leaving for the first culling," A skeleton said as its hands pulled itself into view and tossed a light pair of torn clothes straight into my cell.

As I didn't want to anger or get on the bad side of anybody else right now, I quickly changed, making sure to continuously gather as much information as possible.

Staying quiet and obedient was the best way to go about this foreign world, so I quickly sealed my mouth shut as the bars to my cell sunk into the ashy black ground.

Upon taking a step outside of that confined world, I saw at least fifteen other demi-humans who looked just like me but with horns poking out of their heads.

It was strange. I could almost feel and instinctually know that they were demi-humans… like a kinship of some sort.

But, just as I began following the crowd, I caught a glimpse of the black marble walls, which seemed as if they had just been freshly waxed.

Slowly, my hands moved to my head, and I felt the pair of solid rigid horns protruding from my pale white skin.

"GET MOVING!" A skeleton shouted at me and attempted to hit me with a whip made of bones, but I quickly caught it and let it drop softly and silently.

"Y-You arrogant demi-"

"Stop,"

Everyone stopped in place for at least a second to turn around and lock onto the skeleton, who was draped in a silky purple robe.

The pressure he emitted was so strong that I could barely stand up around him, leaving my pride only more crushed as all this new world did was beat my ass and show me just how weak I really was.

『Status』

[Name: Orion]

[Race: Demi-Human]

[Class: Prince of Blood]

[Level: 12/55] (250/200) XP Needed

[HP: 75/75 MP: 50/50 SP: 45/45] - Above Human

[Strength: 40] - Above Human

[Defense: 40] - Above Human

[Magic: 45] - Above Human

[Speed: 45] - Above Human

[Skills: [Spear Coating] [Berserk Coating] [Empower] [Scout] [Ancient Torterras Tongue]

[Prince of Blood Skills: [Tangible Bloodlust] [Blood Manipulation] [Blood Envision]

[Blood Sampler] [Cloak of Blood] [Egg of the Progenitor]

[Passive Skills: [Toxic Immunity] [Toxic Body] [Night Vision] [Breath of the Snowy Underworld] [Blood of the Underworld] [Blood Tainted Aura] [Blood Tainted Presence] [Speech of a King] [Constitution of a Tarturling] [Prisoner of Tartarus]

[Rune Path: [Influence of Battle] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked]

[Equipment: [Magic Ring] [Storage Ring] [Sangria King's Spear]

…

At least all of this is still working… but what is that? Prisoner of Tartarus? I thought I would become a citizen.

At that point, I nearly punched myself in the face as I gave into the instinctual fear and pressure that rampaged through my body… and believed the words of that damn god.

Blood drew from the palm of my hand as I squeezed my fist shut.