Crowned in the realm of death Chapter 38

Hades was completely drained body aching, mind heavy, energy scraped down to nothing. His armour hung on him like lead.

He took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the spear, and stepped through the door.

The air was stale, heavy with dust. A half-collapsed temple hall stretched out before him, its ceiling cracked open to the grey sky. In the centre stood a crumbling statue of so forgotten god, its face worn smooth by centuries.

Hades faced it directly.

“Miramor. I know you’re behind that statue. Co out.”

For a mont, nothing.

Then, from behind the shattered stone, a half-transparent figure drifted forward no face, no fixed shape, just a swirling cloud of pale mist, like a ghost that had forgotten its own form.

It laughed high-pitched, childish, and wrong.

“Ahh! You found ! You’re good at this!”

The voice didn’t co from the air it ca from inside his head.

Hades stood firm. “I am Hades, King of the Underworld. As a rciful king, I give you one chance. Submit… or die.”

Truthfully, he didn’t have the strength for a direct fight. His aim is to buy so ti, enough to breathe, to gather the faintest scrap of divine energy.

Miramor’s laugh sharpened.

“King? You? Another little mutt barking in a graveyard!”

It struck without warning.

A hundred spears of ghostlight erupted in every direction so shimring with lethal divine energy, others nothing but illusions.

Hades spun his spear in tight arcs, striking, cutting, deflecting. Real or fake, he smashed them all. In return, he fired a burst of black, arcane bullets only for them to dissolve against a transparent barrier.

Then ca the roar.

A ripple of invisible force exploded from Miramor, ripping through the air like a shockwave.

It hit before Hades could react. In a heartbeat, his connection to every divinity was gone. Darkness, sin, secrets, dreams, death all snuffed out at once. His wings dimd, their tallic lustre fading.

No… this is worse. Before, my powers were only restrained. Now they’re gone entirely.

Above, Miramor tilted his head.

“Oh? What’s wrong, God-King? Soone pull the plug on your fancy tricks?”

Hades clenched his jaw.

I’m nothing but a mortal now… but I’m not finished. As long as I breathe, there’s still a chance.

Another barrage ca this ti from every angle. Spears slid out of the walls, stabbed up from the floor, rained down from above. Without divine sight, he couldn’t tell illusion from reality. His world beca flashing steel and splitting pain.

Then "shhk!"

A white-hot stab tore through his side. An invisible spear punched through armour and flesh.

Hades dropped to one knee, his grip on the spear tightening until his knuckles turned white. Blood poured down his robes.

Miramor floated higher, giggling.

“Aww… you’re breaking already? No fun at all.”

Hades yanked the spear out with a guttural cry. His vision blurred, but he forced himself upright. Without divinity, there was no magic, no shield. Only muscle, reflex, and stubbornness will.

Wave after wave slamd into him. So blows he deflected. Others he dodged. Many landed leaving deep cuts, holes, and bruises across his body. Each wound slowed him, dragged him closer to collapse.

He was down to one knee again, using the spear like a crutch. Breath ragged. Limbs trembling.

Then

A ripple of killing intent brushed his skin. He moved without thinking, twisting away from the next strike, deflecting another, then another. His instincts were sharpening, reading faint traces in the air.

Still… this wasn’t enough. He was surviving, not winning.

“With this strength,” Miramor mocked, “you dream of being king, mutt?”

The words stung not because they were cruel, but because they lit a spark.

King…

Hades’ teeth ground together.

I am the Lord of the Underworld. One of the apex divinities. And a half-ford ghost dares to nullify ? Ridiculous.

He raised his voice not to the air, but to the depths of his soul.

“What are you afraid of? You were born to rival the Primordials yet you cower before this worthless phantom? Co out. Answer your king’s call!”

Deep inside, his divinities trembled.

Another spear wave ca faster, sharper, lethal.

This ti, Hades didn’t move.

If my divinities will not answer now, I have no right to call myself king.

The mont the spears touched him

BOOM!

A shockwave ripped out from his body, obliterating the incoming spears midair. Miramor’s nullification shattered like glass.

Hades’ wounds sealed. His wings burned black with a tallic glow. Dark haze spilt from him, drowning the ruins in night.

Above his head, a crown of violet divine energy shimred into existence, heavy and terrible.

His spear ignited with netherfire, burning so hot the air scread.

He had stepped into the realm of High-Level Chief Gods.

And now… Miramor is the one who trembled.