"Run, both of you! I’ll hold them off!"
A man’s voice echoed in Ethan’s ears.
Sothing unseen coiled around him, pinning his limbs. He struggled, but his body refused to respond. It felt as if he were sinking underwater, all strength drained from his muscles.
"If we go, we go together!" a woman’s voice cried out, lodious but unyielding.
"June, listen to ... they won’t kill ! We’ll split up. As long as they don’t catch you and the child, I’ll be safe!" The man’s words cracked with urgency.
The woman did not answer, yet Ethan felt the man’s resolve, sharp and immovable. Then ca the clash of bodies, the sounds of a desperate struggle. And just as suddenly, darkness pulled him under.
...
He had no sense of how much ti had passed when the world returned in fragnts: voices first, then the faint blur of light.
"I can’t possibly take him back there!" A cold female voice cut through the haze.
"Why not? He’s practically your—" another voice broke in, higher, agitated, and strangely identical to the first.
"Silence! You know perfectly well why I sent you away from that place all those years ago!"
"Yes... and because I know, I refuse to walk the path you carved for !"
"You..." the first voice faltered, then hardened. "Excellent. You destroyed your Nether-form and had a child with a mortal!"
The second voice laughed, low and bitter. "What? Do you feel polluted now? Let tell you this—I made my choice. I have my own will, and I regret nothing!"
"You will regret it," the cold voice hissed. "I’ll see to it that you never et again."
"And what exactly are you going to do?"
The sharp rhythm of their argunt thinned, fading into silence.
...
Swish. Swish. Swish.
The sound of rain filtered through the dark. Ethan pried his eyes open, only to find the world swimming before him. Through the blur, he made out a face—striking, beautiful, but never quite coming into focus.
"Sweetheart, I’m so sorry," the woman whispered, her voice breaking with tenderness. "But Mama has to leave you here for now. One day, I’ll co back for you with Papa."
Though her features remained hidden by the rain, Ethan felt her love pressing against him like a warm shield. She lingered there for what seed like forever, unwilling to let go. At last, she turned and walked away, each step heavy with resolve. His fading sight caught only the faint image of an umbrella tilted over him, shielding him from the storm. The rain roared louder, and his vision dissolved into blackness once more.
...
"My foolish child, ti is running out. It’s ti to return."
The scene around him shifted, dissolving into sothing entirely new. A woman stood before him clad in black armor, her long hair flowing all the way to her heels. Tucked beneath one arm was a lavishly designed VR headset, gleaming with unnatural light. With her free hand, she reached out and brushed his cheek.
"Can I see you again?" Ethan’s voice trembled. He threw himself into her embrace, clinging desperately. The armor was cold and unyielding, yet to him it radiated a boundless warmth.
"Perhaps... you don’t belong here," she whispered. "And I..."
Her words trailed off. She pressed his head gently against her chest, her hand moving slowly over his hair. Her eyes glistened with helplessness, sorrow, and an ache she could not hide.
Ethan lifted his face, straining to see her clearly, to burn her features into mory. Yet no matter how hard he tried, her face remained blurred, elusive. He struggled, fought to hold on to the image, when the space around them shuddered violently. A strange force seized him and flung him away.
Darkness claid him again.
...
In the distant Underworld, the figure whose face Ethan could never clearly see suddenly opened her eyes. A tear slipped from each eye, trailing down her cheeks.
"Damn it! I was only in seclusion for a short while, and I never imagined... I truly never imagined he could enter the Underworld, let alone pass through the Gates themselves!" Her voice, now stripped of tenderness, was cold as steel. With a flick of her finger, she flung away the tears.
"Heh heh..." A shadow peeled itself from her body, a phantom identical to her in form.
"And there’s sothing else you never imagined," the phantom whispered with a mocking smile.
"You..." Her armored gaze darkened. A sudden shift coursed through her body. She clutched her chest, fingers brushing against a dal-like object. Her expression twisted in shock as she stood abruptly.
"Where is the Nether Jade?" She lunged forward, seizing the phantom by the throat.
"Heh... it’s with its original owner," the phantom said without hesitation.
"Hmph. Even if she has it, what good will it do? Without the Nether Armor, she’s nothing!" The armored figure hurled the phantom to the ground and turned sharply toward the hall’s exit.
"Heh heh... why don’t you act now? What are you waiting for?" the phantom rasped, propping herself up.
"Caw, caw, caw... I wanted to keep watching, but since you insist..."
Buzz.
The dal on the armored figure’s chest burst with a violent purple aura.
"Lord of the Underworld... this cannot be... no—"
Her cry ended in a scream as the aura consud her. Her body crumbled to the floor, and when the haze dispersed, only a withered skeleton remained.
"I held up my end. Now, won’t you fulfill your promise? Open the Gates of the Underworld and release ," the skeleton rasped, though its jaw never moved.
The phantom ignored him. She staggered to the fallen figure, collapsing over her. With trembling fingers, she unfastened the dal from the armored corpse’s chest.
If Ethan had been there, he would have recognized it instantly. It was the sa dallion he once wore, the one Morzan had told him to discard before leaving:
[Sorenth’s Emblem]
Effects: Protects the wearer from the corrupting miasma of the Necrotic Domain.
Slot: Chest.
Description: Special item, does not occupy an equipnt slot.
When Ethan left the Gates of the Underworld, the emblem had vanished. Morzan had explained then that Ethan’s entry had been a trap. The Lord of the Underworld’s servant had given him the emblem deliberately, so Ethan would carry it inside, allowing it to absorb the realm’s death energy and eventually break the Lord’s seal.
"You’ve released . Now you’ll be hunted by all realms, just as I was," the skeleton—the Lord of the Underworld—taunted.
"My affairs are none of your concern. If I can see him again, what does it matter if I’m hunted by all realms?" the woman replied, slipping the VR headset over her head. Her long hair vanished beneath it, and her voice steadied, becoming emotionless.
"eeh heh heh... interesting," the Lord cackled. He snatched the discarded dal, dissolved into a cloud of purple mist, and drifted away from the grand hall.
"Guards! Open the Gates of the Underworld!" the woman’s commanding voice rang out.
"Yes, Commander!"
A mont later, she gave her next order.
"Command ten million Nether Legionnaires to assemble. We march."
"Yes, Commander!"
At once, the Gates of the Underworld erupted with movent.
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