Chapter 355: Attempting to Become the Cosmic Will
Underworld.
Near the passage connecting to Purgatory, the area was littered with corpses—enough to form mountains of the dead.
"Lord Hades, the interior has been cleared."
"Are you certain it's completely cleared?"
Hades, covered in blood, frowned as he asked.
This time, they aimed to thoroughly eradicate all forces of the Primordial Gods.
Therefore, Purgatory was no longer being sealed but purged through relentless slaughter.
This particular passage to Purgatory wasn't the one originally belonging to Hades' Underworld, but another, more hidden conduit.
They had learned of this passage through the God of Mischief's disclosure. Primordial God Gaia was exceedingly cautious, maintaining numerous secret strongholds as contingency measures.
If she truly failed, she could hide away and wait for an opportunity to rise again.
But this time, they couldn't allow Gaia any such chance, which was why the God of Mischief Loki had gone to great lengths to uncover these locations.
"That bastard Loki didn't even mention there was a giant hidden inside with strength comparable to Ymir's"
A grumbling voice chimed in—it was the God of Conquest, who was also in a pitiable state.
Though he complained, he wasn't truly blaming Loki; instead, one could sense a tone of lament in his words.
Loki, who had always had a poor reputation among the gods, had now become a hero.
Many of the gods who had previously scorned him would likely live the rest of their lives burdened by guilt.
That guy had had the chance to escape and return, but he had to show off, saying something about how only death could make him shine brighter.
What a fool—why emulate that bastard Zeus?
"Huh? What's going on?"
Adamas instantly tensed as numerous corpses began to stir.
After a slight tremble, they became completely still again.
"Their souls are disappearing!"
Hades, as the God of the Underworld, observed this phenomenon.
He immediately grabbed one of the corpses, examined the remnant soul within, and his expression changed drastically. He promptly destroyed both the corpse and the residual soul.
Almost immediately, he received communications from other gods who were either clearing out hidden strongholds or still battling remnants of the Primordial Gods' forces.
"What? The Primordial God's followers are collapsing without warning? Dying? Committing suicide?"
Adamas was stunned, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"It's not suicide! This is bad!"
Hades, sensing something, grew increasingly grim.
He could feel the abnormality in the Greek space, where terrifying soul power was gathering.
It was Gaia—Gaia was devouring the souls of all her subordinates.
What did she intend to do?
Soon, Gaia's plan became clear.
The Greek mythological space was undergoing changes, as if the space itself had become a living organism.
This world seemed to possess self-awareness.
Not only that, but this self-awareness was also attempting to spread.
Though invisible to the naked eye, one could perceive with their spirit some gray tendrils extending outward, creeping toward other mythological spaces.
Even the human world, the planet of humans, was subtly changing.
Gaia was invading the World Tree, attempting to devour it and become the will of this universe.
"This is!!!"
Hades' expression shifted slightly again, as he realized his own thoughts were changing.
He was beginning to regard Gaia as the one he should pledge loyalty to—in other words, Gaia was clouding his will.
No!
This wasn't mere confusion; Gaia was using the Akashic System to tamper with the Akashic Records.
To put it simply, she was altering history, starting from the very source, forcing him to accept a different perception.
For example, imagine a person full of righteousness, passionate about fighting evil, whose behavior was shaped by their educational environment.
Now, suppose someone went back in time and provided this person with a different education, twisting their perception to believe that evil is good and good is evil.
In the end, this person, with their distorted perception, would become someone who revels in wickedness.
And that is exactly what Gaia was doing!
"Hades, what's wrong?"
Adamas asked nervously, noticing Hades' troubled expression, as if he were struggling with something.
"Adamas, kill me. Now!"
"Huh?"
The sudden demand left Adamas completely bewildered.
"Make it so my soul can never be revived. Hurry!!!"
"No, wait, what are you talking about? Explain it clearly!!!"
Adamas had no idea why Hades would make such a request.
"You... it's too late. Get away, run!"
"What? What's too late? You..."
Sensing something, Adamas instantly dodged from his original position, just as a trident pierced through the spot where he had been standing.
Had he been even a fraction of a second slower, his body would have been impaled by that trident.
So, Adamas glared darkly at the owner of the trident—Poseidon.
He had nearly been killed by Poseidon once before, and now, faced with this blatant attempt on his life, he was furious.
"Oh? The trash actually dodged?"
The mocking tone only fueled his rage.
"Trash should just disappear, okay? Don't waste Lady Gaia's time."
These words made Adamas' face turn ashen. Had Poseidon betrayed their side?
"Hades, don't stop me this time. I'm going to—"
Thud—!
A spear pierced through his chest, blood gushing forth, leaving Adamas stunned.
"H-Ha...di...gurgle..."
Blood also surged from his mouth, making it impossible for Adamas to speak clearly.
He turned his head in disbelief to look at Hades behind him, unable to comprehend why he was being killed.
"Why—"
Thud—!
A trident pierced through his skull, completely ending his life.
Thus, the two who had withdrawn their weapons gazed at the fallen corpse and then revealed eerie smiles.
In reality, almost nothing had changed in the past of these two.
Greek mythology remained nearly identical to its historical counterpart, with over 99.99% similarity.
However, it was only infinitely close to identical, not a perfect 100%.
The subtle alteration lay in the shift in cognitive perception.
Otherwise, Gaia, who had not yet obtained the main system Akasha, would have been utterly incapable of truly altering history.
Although relying solely on the subsystem of the Greek pantheon, she couldn't genuinely modify the Akashic Records, she managed to alter the cognitive perceptions of the gods within this pantheon, subtly influencing them until the designated time for eruption.
This way, the other mythologies remained unaware that the gods of Greek mythology were now entirely those with reversed perceptions.
Unaware, the other pantheons would not be on guard against them, making it easier for them to covertly carry out their schemes, assisting in the invasion of the subsystems of various pantheons.
Then, Gaia repeated the same process, turning enemies into allies.
Ultimately, successfully taking control of the main system would mark Gaia's victory.