Godslayer's Legend

Chapter 1019: The Being Called Tartarus

"...I heard he recently fought with Hera, and it got bad enough that Athena had to step in and separate them."

Hades narrowed his eyes at that final detail, and Arthur, noticing the mixture of confusion and suspicion in his expression, smiled calmly.

"The Twelve Olympians have far too much on their plate to care about me right now, especially Zeus, but I don’t need to tell you that, do I, Dad?

You know your brother better than I do. You know that man is too prideful to allow his power and influence over the lesser universes surrounding Olympus to decline. He’d be far more focused on restoring that influence than focusing on me, and this is the best opportunity to get in there, obtain what I want, and leave."

Then, raising his hand, Arthur pointed at the device strapped to his right wrist before adding, "And also, have both of you forgotten that attached to my right arm is a device that allows me to leap across entire Multiverses? Leaving Olympus whenever I want would be a piece of cake."

Arthur tapped the Cosmic Teleporter and infused a small amount of cosmic energy into it, and as its outlines lit up with a glow, he said, "I’ve used its energy a lot travelling from place to place, so I don’t have enough for a round trip to Olympus and back, but what’s left should be more than enough for a one way trip from Olympus to Hell, and to avoid the possibility of my arrival being detected, I can use the remaining energy right outside Olympus’ barrier to create a portal leading directly into Tartarus with coordinates from you, dad."

The Cosmic Teleporter’s abilities could get Arthur in and out of Olympus without any of the Twelve Olympians noticing anything unless he was creating portals that led directly into one of their Divine Territories.

Arthur spoke with the confidence that he could enter and leave easily, but Hades’ next words challenged that confidence.

"That thing can’t get you into Tartarus. I doubt it can even get you into the Underworld."

"Huh?"

Arthur couldn’t help letting out a confused sound at Hades’ words, and seeing his expression, Hades pressed his fingers against his temple and sighed.

"Come on, Arthur, do you think I’m an idiot or something? I’ve known you’ve had that artifact for decades, but I’ve never once suggested that you use it to teleport directly into Tartarus. Why do you think I never did that?"

"..."

The man’s question made Arthur blink in surprise before realisation appeared in his mind.

’True, Dad has never mentioned using the Cosmic Teleporter, even though he knows I’ve used it to travel to other universes...’

Seeing that it had finally clicked for Arthur, Hades asked another question.

"Millions of High-Tier Deity Titans, Giants, and their monstrous offspring are imprisoned in Tartarus and haven’t had any opportunity to escape for hundreds of thousands of years.

Do you really think that Tartarus, which is capable of containing them along with several Protogenoi of Olympus, would be an ordinary ’prison’?"

Arthur didn’t even need a second to reach the answer to that question.

"No."

Sealed within Tartarus were the Protogenoi of Olympus, the Primordial gods, whom Arthur now knew were actually Avatars of several Eternals and even an Aggressor.

’Speaking of which, why is an Aggressor’s avatar in a universe the Eternals were using as a testing ground?’

That was a question Arthur wanted answered, but he didn’t focus on it now because there was no way for him to get that answer currently.

Instead, he focused on remembering which of the Protogenoi were Avatars of Eternals.

’Gaia is, well, Gaia’s avatar. Then Uranus is Ranus’ Avatar...’

He sighed internally at the two Eternals who hadn’t even made the minimum effort to hide their connection to Olympus.

The others, however, were a little different.

’Nyx and Erebus are apparently Julio’s Avatars, while Aether and Hemera belong to Dulio. The fact that Tartarus can contain all of them means it’s obviously not ordinary. Even the Underworld, which contains Tartarus, is another place that needs special analysis.’

"Tartarus isn’t just a place," Hades suddenly said, pulling Arthur out of his thoughts.

When Arthur looked up at him, the man revealed something that completely caught Arthur off guard.

"Tartarus is a Protogenoi."

"Wait, what?! It’s one of Olympus’ Primordials?!"

"Yes," Hades answered calmly. "Tartarus is simultaneously a place and a being. It doesn’t conform to the normal universal laws you understand, and one of the distorted laws of Tartarus is the law of space."

Hades paused for a moment, then continued, "To put it plainly, you can’t enter Tartarus through any known means of spatial travel. You have to go in through physical entrances.

That Cosmic Teleporter of yours might help you bypass universal barriers, but let me tell you something even Zeus envies: the ’Underworld’ is inside a dimensional barrier as strong as the one that defines the region of space-time we call the ’Olympus Universe’. Tartarus’ barrier is even stronger than that."

Another revelation that completely floored Arthur.

The ’Underworld’ was commonly known as one of Olympus’ big three Galactic Superclusters, made up of billions of galaxies, but it was located within a special dimensional barrier that restricted entry into the section of the universe it occupied, which explained the numerous stories about people facing trials and meeting special conditions just to enter the Underworld.

"So do you understand now? Even if you’ve got that teleportation device, you’d still need to warp into the main space-time of Olympus first, before you can even enter the Underworld, and then Tartarus through its designated entrances."

It sounded like Hades was trying to convince Arthur that his plan wouldn’t work, but he unintentionally suggested another plan for Arthur...the original plan Arthur had in mind.

"And that’s exactly what we’ll do," Arthur said. "Zeus can’t do anything if I get into the Underworld, can he? Also, the region right outside the Underworld is a free territory, right?"

"Sure, Zeus doesn’t have the guts to do whatever he wants in my Underworld without risking a war with me, which would NOT go well for him right now, and yes, the Underworld doesn’t share borders with any other territory. There’s a massive region of galaxies not under the direct control of any of the Twelve Olympians between the Underworld and the next of their territories.

But what does that have to do with anything?"

Hades’ reply made Arthur nod in satisfaction, and then he summoned a projector from his subspace, using it to display an Intergalactic Map of Olympus he’d acquired from Larry.

He pointed at the space right outside the Underworld on the map, then looked up at Hades, who was staring at him in confusion.

"How about you return to Olympus first, Dad, and confirm, to ease you and Mum’s worries, that Zeus is preoccupied, or possibly not even in Olympus, then you send one of your subordinates to inform us that the coast is clear and we can come over. After that, we move in, get close to Olympus, then I use the Cosmic Teleporter and bring us to a galaxy near the Underworld.

We then make our way into the Underworld, where you’ll be waiting to take us into Tartarus. It’s best if you don’t move around, just in case Zeus or any of the other Olympians have spies nearby who might notice your actions and report them."

When he finished speaking, Cattleya immediately interjected.

"You keep saying ’we’. Who’s ’we’? Who are you planning to bring along?"

"Huh? Obviously, you, mum. Who else?" Arthur replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hades, having already figured that out before Cattleya even asked, asked a different question instead.

"You speak of spies watching my movements, but have you forgotten that I hold a Monarch-Rank Authority of Darkness? If I want to move unseen within Olympus, not even the Twelve Olympians would notice me.

If I use Kynee, I could sneak up to Zeus and smack him in the face, and he wouldn’t know until after I hit him."

Arthur laughed at the example his father gave, then waved his hand dismissively and replied, "No need. It’s better you stay put so mum and I come to you, than for you to come to us."

He dismissed the projected map after saying that, and as he tossed the projector back into his subspace, Hades asked, "Did you get that map from the drifters?"

"Yep," Arthur confirmed.

"And did you also get the information that Zeus isn’t in Olympus from them as well?"

Arthur froze for a moment at that question, then chuckled and nodded lightly.

"Yes, I did. He left not long after you did."