(Greek Mythology) The Abyss
Chapter Thirty-Two
To Tartarus, who possessed memories of his past life, the composition of this world seemed utterly unscientific. The most basic elements of the universe were the abyss, the earth, and night. What on earth was this "night and night" thing? Tartarus admitted he couldn't understand it at all.
But existence is its own justification. Worlds are different now, so it's perfectly normal that worldviews aren't universally applicable.
Therefore, Tartarus remained relatively calm. After idly reviewing his inherited memories, he became even calmer. His ability to come here from his original world already proved that there was more than one world. In fact, the number of worlds was so vast that even the laws governing them were unclear. After all, each world had its own laws, and while these laws were interconnected, their governing areas differed.
And the sheer number of worlds also meant that you could discover many worlds with rather bizarre compositions. In comparison, the world of Greek mythology seemed quite normal. As for being unscientific, well, science didn't exist here anyway. (How irresponsible!)
Worlds exist in various forms, from advanced to primitive, and are further categorized into original worlds, sub-worlds, parallel worlds, projected worlds… and so on. These worlds have similarities and differences, ultimately pushing the boundaries of imagination.
However, knowing all this is useless to Tartarus, because traveling to other worlds requires crossing world barriers, something only Chaos can do. Therefore, Tartarus has always suspected that his supposedly sleeping father god in chaos has actually slipped away to play in other worlds.
Considering that Chaos even entrusted him with the divine office of "chaos," how does this possibility seem even more likely?
In the world of Greek mythology, the highest level of the world is the sky, represented by Uranus, like an inverted bowl, connected to the earth on all sides; next is the luminous layer, represented by Aether, the goddess of the sky, where the sun, moon, stars, and clouds move; then comes the air, represented by Aor; below the air is the earth, represented by Gaia, the goddess of the earth, the central layer of the world, the abode of humans and most living beings; below the earth is the night, represented by the goddess of night; below that is the darkness, represented by Erebus, the god of darkness; and below the darkness is the bottom of the world, the abyss, represented by Tartarus.
However, when Tartarus created Hell near the darkness within the abyss, this ranking changes: below the darkness is Hell, and below Hell is the abyss.
This is because although Hell was created from the abyss and is located within its boundaries, the environment of Hell differs from the true abyss. The most obvious difference is that Hell only suppresses beings of non-dark attributes, while the abyss suppresses all living beings except Tartarus, including the gods. Furthermore, their functions differed: Hell was the place where souls reincarnated; the Abyss was where the gods' mortal enemies were imprisoned. Therefore, although they were essentially the same place, the gods treated them as two separate locations.
Tartarus personally preferred to call the area he created Hell, and other places the Abyss. Other beings who couldn't enter the Abyss as defined by Tartarus generally referred to the lowest level of Hell, where Tartarus resided—the closest place to the true environment of the Abyss—as the Abyss, and other places as Hell. Of course, the prison for the gods was also a significant factor in this.
Tartarus sealed the Abyss not for any other reason, but simply because the Abyss was actually connected to Chaos. The Abyss and Chaos, in terms of environment alone, were quite similar—both were boundless, empty spaces. However, Chaos was far more dangerous than the Abyss. Simply put, it was at the level of less than the five great creator gods; even the first god-king, Uranus, couldn't stay there for long.
Chaos was supposed to be hidden after the world was created. Even Tartarus, who succeeded to the position of "Chaos," only occasionally ventured to the boundary between the Abyss and Chaos to observe, never truly entering Chaos. He couldn't easily enter Chaos, Chaos's private domain, unless it concerned the survival of the world, and other beings were even less permitted.
As for Tartarus personally, he didn't want anyone to recklessly venture into Chaos and perish, only to have others come looking for him and cause him a lot of trouble. He also didn't want anyone to wake Chaos, who might actually be slumbering in Chaos, and force him to relive his "fatherly love." He knew firsthand how wicked his father god was and never wanted to experience it again. (Don't deny it, you yourself are pretty wicked too.)
Tartarus's constant stay in the Abyss, rarely venturing out, was not only primarily due to his reclusive nature, but also partly to prevent other beings from entering.
Although any being except perhaps the hopelessly stupid knows that chaos is extremely dangerous, there are always a few arrogant fools who are oblivious to their own mortality.
Look! Here's one.
He watched indifferently as a blue figure in the mirror was attacked and left in a sorry state after triggering the restriction, showing no intention of helping.
If it were a high-ranking god holding an important divine position, Tartarus might have paid attention, but a low-ranking god…
He coldly gave the abyss his order, and unsurprisingly, watched as the intruder faltered and fell under the attack, even its divine core shattered completely.
Tartarus didn't care at all about his act, which was tantamount to god-killing. Although god-killing was a grave crime, even if he had, so what? A low-ranking god, dead is dead; the laws wouldn't bother him for it.
A low-level deity daring to come here is undoubtedly a transmigrator. No native deity would be so brainless, and she is indeed a transmigrator with a "Mary Sue halo."
Speaking of which, how many transmigrators have died now?
Although Tartarus hasn't kept track, he knows some basic facts. The mortality rate for transmigrators is quite high. Although most of them possess various cheat codes and golden fingers, these are ultimately useless. They're destined to die, and having these actually makes them die faster.
Tartarus doesn't care much about these things. Like that "Mary Sue halo," it's really just a luck amplifier, making things develop in the owner's favor, but it has no effect against absolute power.
Only a very small minority are lucky enough to transmigrate into high-level deities. Most are ordinary humans, the better ones becoming fairies or elves, and even those who become deities are mostly low-level ones.
Gods, though claiming immortality, are not truly immortal. Their fall is not uncommon. Killing a god incurs a backlash; without power several times greater than the opponent, survival is impossible. However, if the difference in their levels is vast, the backlash is negligible. Even a high-ranking god, while the backlash from killing one might be enough to cause their demise, can simply be imprisoned if not killed—see how the King of Gods was imprisoned in Tartarus?
And indeed, facts have proven that even cheat codes aren't omnipotent. Even if that Mary Sue girl, relying on her "Mary Sue halo," could safely enter the Abyss without any understanding of its environment, she would still perish due to the Abyss's rejection and triggering its restrictions.
This is a real world, not a novel. Without the author's protection and the protagonist's privileges, no amount of cheat codes will help. Carelessly and diligently concealing one's differences to integrate into this world, or recklessly causing trouble with a sense of superiority, is simply courting death.
Chapter 32