Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades
Chapter 608 - 608: Leonora's Tears

"I must return to the Underworld," she said simply. "I apologize but I cannot stay here for long."

Zagreus gave her a nod. "Understood. You can leave."

Cereberus let out a soft grunt and walked over to her. The three heads gently nudged her side before turning back to the others.

Nameless Death watched them without saying a word.

Gremory and Cereberus began their departure. The beast glanced once over its shoulder repeatedly — not at the angels or Zagreus, but at Nameless Death — but it could only leave silently after it saw Nameless Death's cold eyes.

Zagreus walked up to him after that.

"We're going to hunt the Level 9 monster now," he said. "Let's not waste time, and don't worry. I haven't forgotten about our deal."

Nameless Death looked at him.

There was no trust in his eyes, but no immediate resistance either. Just that same calculating stillness.

"Hunt?" Asmodea's voice came from behind.

She sounded amused, lips curved in a faint, unreadable smile.

"Is that why you called us, Prince? You needed help with something?"

"Yes. I need the corpse intact. That's why I called you."

Asmodea tilted her head with a thoughtful expression.

"A Level 9 monster, you said?"

"That's right."

She turned to Leonora, who stood slightly off to the side, looking more like an observer than a participant. Then she turned back to Zagreus.

"Prince," Asmodea said, voice calm but with a formal undertone, "I would request you grant my disciple the honor of completing your request."

Leonora's eyes widened.

"M-Master?" she stammered. "He said Level 9... That means it's at least Stage 4, Grade 5. I'm only Stage 2 Awakened. I can't—"

"Silence," Asmodea said, giving a sharp glance to Leonora.

The Grim Reaper's smile looked especially evil to her disciple. It seemed her master was finally taking revenge for every time Leonora ignored her in the past.

Zagreus looked at her, then at Asmodea.

If a Grim Reaper made a request like that, there must be a reason. Hopefully, she wasn't doing this to end her disciple for once and all.

"Alright," he said. "I'll allow it."

Leonora blinked, unsure if she'd heard correctly.

Her mouth opened as if to argue again, but she stopped. She exhaled quietly and gave a short bow.

"Thank you, Prince."

She didn't look happy. More like someone volunteering to walk into a meat grinder for the sake of duty.

They left the forge soon after, making their way across a stretch of barren land.

With Barbatos present, they made use of mimicked Space to compress travel across vast distances.

What would've taken years by conventional methods was reduced to six months.

In that time, they reached the outer borders of the Jungle of Red Silence.

Moving through the outer ring of the jungle was manageable. The atmosphere was heavy, the trees tall and strangely uniform, but no immediate threats emerged. That changed the moment they crossed into the inner ring.

Nameless Death stopped mid-step. Asmodea narrowed her eyes. Leonora paused beside her. Even Barbatos became serious.

Zagreus, however, kept walking as if nothing had changed.

"This…" Leonora muttered. "I feel… stronger? No, something is different."

"It's the Sacred Treasure fusion effect," Barbatos said with a serious tone. "Gods can only rank up by fusing with Sacred Treasures. If someone wants to break their gene limit, or rise beyond what their planet allows, then they need a Sacred Treasure. That's what this effect is mimicking."

Nameless Death glanced around.

Trees, soil, even air carried a faint, unnatural glow.

Everything within the inner jungle was being gradually fused with something invisible.

'So this is why the monsters swarm the inner region,' he thought. 'This is what draws them here. A chance to break through their limits, and evolve.'

Even without reaching a full breakthrough, exposure to this kind of energy could force growth.

But normally, fusing with a Sacred Treasure was dangerous.

The power could rip you apart from the inside out if your body wasn't ready.

Yet here, the air itself acted like a diluted Sacred Treasure, empowering everyone without killing them.

"This is weird," Asmodea said. "Sacred Treasures are unique and rare, yes. But they can only fuse with one being. So how is it possible that a Sacred Treasure is fusing with everything here?"

"I don't know," Zagreus said, not turning around. "But that's exactly why I wanted to reach the center of the jungle. The origin of this effect — whatever's spreading this power — I believe that's where the medium of the Berserk is located."

The others didn't question him.

He had already explained the nature of his Shadow Trial to them.

They began moving again, this time deeper into the jungle's heart.

The outer ring, vast as it seemed, was barely a fraction of what lay ahead.

The inner jungle stretched endlessly. It took them two full months to make it across the thick of it, navigating unpredictable terrain, hostile beasts, and constant fluctuations in the sacred aura.

Eventually, they reached a clearing unlike any other they had passed.

The trees gave way to a crater of scorched stone. The soil was black, almost metallic. At the center of the crater stood a single creature.

It was a monster made from metal. It body was shaped from welded plates, exposed cores, and jagged steel bones.

Its eyes glowed with molten light.

Its breath came in rhythmic mechanical hisses.

Zagreus stopped just outside the rim of the crater. Asmodea turned to Leonora.

"It seems it's this little one that you have to fight, Leonora," Asmodea said.

Leonora looked at the creature, then at her master, then back at Zagreus.

She almost looked like she would cry.

When Asmodea made no mention of withdrawing her words, Leonora had to walk toward the crater.

Each step felt heavier than the last to her.

The monster didn't move until she stepped past the halfway point. Then, its eyes flared, and its limbs twitched with mechanical tension.

It whirred to life like a machine returning to function after being dormant for centuries.

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