Chapter 231

"Your guess is correct."

After Ereshkigal finished rebuilding the underworld, she immediately informed Lancermello of the situation underground.

The dark underground space was filled with the prisons where the goddess of the underworld kept the souls of the dead, but it was different from the seventh singularity point - the prisons that should have been lit by the dark blue fire of souls were now empty, with only the cold wind blowing through the gaps in the prisons, bringing with it a whimpering sound.

"This is Athena's territory... No, maybe the Athena here didn't protect them after death." Lansemello stood in the cemetery belonging to the sanctuary above the ground, staring at the names on the tombstones seriously. "This can only prove that Athena didn't leave their souls, but it can't prove that there is no basis for the servants to appear here - because Hades imprisoned the souls of all the heroes."

"So what are you going to do?" Ereshkigal asked her.

"If Athena here won't protect us, then we'll have to do it." Lancer Melo pulled his black hood and sighed helplessly, "After all, we promised Alaya here to prevent the future where the surface of the earth turns into Hades. For the possible battle in the future, accumulating strength in advance is something everyone will do, right?"

"As long as they pass the test of the seven gates, I don't care what you want them to do - but if someone fails..." Ereshkigal rarely spoke seriously to Lansermero, "They will have to be imprisoned in the gun cell like all ordinary people."

"Of course I know." Lansemero smiled and looked towards the location of the Goddess Temple at the top of the sanctuary. "However, I seemed to sense a familiar breath just now - but it disappeared quickly."

"Maybe it's Athena." Asclepius gave his opinion, "Hades and the others asked me to look after you. I don't believe they won't find someone to sneak in after your soul transfers and they can't contact Chaldea. Maybe the goddess Hecate is helping them."

"The king and the others didn't pay that much attention to me!!!" Lansermello screamed in the depths of his consciousness.

"Maybe they watched Ritsuka save the world in the past, so they are used to gathering together to watch what's happening outside." William, who was once invited by Thanatos to participate in the viewing party of "God of the Underground" in the Chaldea Audiovisual Room, excused the group of gods in the Throne of Heroes, "Now, only when you go out to do commissions can they have a chance to see something exciting."

"Actually, it would be a good thing if Athena really came - at least for us." Lansemero pressed the bird-beak mask on his face and returned his gaze to the Greek letters engraved on the tombstone. "A goddess who can personally carry a spear to the battlefield is more useful than a goddess who can only open a barrier in the back - this type of barrier can be handled by any magician of the Age of Gods, right?"

"Shall we go up and take a look?" Asclepius asked Lansemello.

"No, let's leave it at that for tonight..." Lansemello sank into the depths of consciousness and handed over the control of his body to the three servants. "We'll talk about Athena's problem tomorrow. The Saints have lived with their Athena for five years. I don't believe they can't find out that Athena is abnormal."

"If there is a problem, we will know tomorrow morning."

Let's put aside the question of whether Athena had any problems or not. The next day, Lancermello was respectfully invited to the Papal Palace, and then the Pope tactfully advised him not to rush the project at night. The earthquake that occurred underground last night almost made the Saints on duty raise the alarm of the invasion of Pluto's army.

"...My underworld has been rebuilt. After all, I only told Athena to build the underworld under your sanctuary." Lansemello took a deep breath and ended the topic the moment the Pope stopped talking. "Let's talk about the "protection of the underworld."

"…Neither the question nor the answer itself is meaningful. What is meaningful is the person who makes the choice. And regardless of whether the answer is correct or not, the person standing in front of these seven gates must pass the corresponding test."

The Pope heard from Lansemello the same introduction to the Trial of the Seven Gates that Dietel had reported yesterday. However, he did not trust it, even though Athena herself had confirmed that this trial to protect the Saints had also been approved by Athena...

——The old man, who had been wary of the existence of the underworld for hundreds of years, could not convince himself to trust a pagan god with the same power as Hades.

What's more, the Athena who appeared last night was not the familiar one to them - although they did not realize anything unusual at first, after Athena left, Dieter, who had not yet left the Papal Palace, was pulled by the Pope to confirm each other's memories, and discovered that Athena was different from the past.

This time, Athena was not born in the Sanctuary, so the Saints who came into contact with Athena after she was brought back to the Sanctuary all knew that she was a girl closer to a human than a god. However, the Athena who appeared in the Pope's Hall last night had a more pure demeanor of a god, not the demeanor of the girl they knew who grew up outside the Sanctuary under the name of Sasha.

"If you care, you can also sign a contract with me." Lansemero stood calmly in front of the Pope with his long black sleeves in his pockets. "But I hope you know that even though humans have knocked down gods before, this is not something that can be accomplished by one person. Only by gathering enough strength can we knock down the gods of the sky."

"Men look up to the heavens, and one day—they will overthrow the gods."

"You don't have to rush to give an answer to this matter - just give an answer before the end of this holy war." Lansemero turned and walked out of the Papal Palace. He paused for a moment and confirmed with the Pope behind him, "Sagittarius should be in the palace he is guarding, right? I have something to ask him next, so I'll take my leave now."

But before the Pope could find time to summon the Sagittarius Gold Saint to find out the situation, Hades, the god of the underworld, raided the Goddess Temple in the Sanctuary alone.

"...I heard that you set up a barrier covering the entire sanctuary to prevent the resurrection of the Hades Warriors. Although I would come to you regardless of whether there is a barrier or not..." The black-haired Hades stood opposite Athena, "But along the way, I didn't encounter anything that looked like a barrier."

"Long time no see, Athena."

Following the Saints all the way to the Temple of the Goddess, Lansemello left the Saints who were restrained by Hades and calmly walked to the side of Athena. After sensing the familiar divine aura, he decisively spoke back to Hades of this world: "Have you forgotten what Athena's divine duty is?"

"Why else do you think I would remove the barrier?" The goddess with golden eyes smiled softly, and the scepter in her hand turned into a sharp spear. "No matter what kind of battle it is, 'Capture the leader first' is an eternal truth. The Hades Gladiator will keep resurrecting? It doesn't matter, I just need to kill you."

"……you!"

"Ah, exposed." Lansemello, who was resting beside Athena as a pendant, caught a glimpse of Hades' expression and stopped Athena from taking the next step. "That guy is not Hades - no, he has Hades' divinity, but he is not Hades in appearance; he probably knows your body here."

"Didn't you ask for specific information about this?" Athena turned her head and asked Lansemelo, "You obviously came here before me."

"They asked you to come with them because they were too worried..." Lansermello curled his lips and pointed in the direction of the cemetery. "I was busy asking Ereshkigal to build the underworld and save people. I was planning to do it slowly. Now that you are here, you can try to speed up the work."

"Let's ask a simpler question." Athena left the black-haired boy with the title of Pluto behind her. "Do you know the cause of the problem? When I came here yesterday, there was nothing wrong here."

"Of course there is no problem now - because the problem is the next holy war in 243 years." Lansemello answered Athena's question with his face in his hands, while thinking, "To be honest, this time is too generous. Are you coming only this time or the next one? Where did the original consciousness of that girl go?"

"Next time... no wonder you plan to take your time with everything except the Underworld in Ereshkigal..." Athena rubbed her forehead helplessly and turned her attention back to the black-haired boy. "I can only stay with you for one time. Hecate said that I can't personally participate in the next time. By the way, since Hades is not the real Hades, why can't we just end this holy war?"

"That's a good question. I can just take out Hades' soul or his own soul... Do you want to try?" Lanser-Mero's eyes lit up, and he looked towards the black-haired boy eagerly. "But it seems that I'm missing some materials - it's not a big problem, at worst I can just dig the soil."

Just when everyone was shocked by the content of Athena and Lancermelo's discussion without paying attention to anyone else, the Hades' army finally came to take back the young man who possessed the divinity of Hades but was not Hades - a gorgeous carriage pulled by three headless horses came here through space and slowly stopped in front of everyone.

"Come on, Lord Hades, please get on the carriage." The woman with long black hair got off the carriage and blocked the black-haired boy behind her. "If you still have any nostalgia for your past life in your heart, I will personally destroy those ties."

"Divine Barrier: Aegis!"

At the moment when the purple-black thunder descended, Athena released one of her many treasures - Aegis, which can be regarded as the top protective gear among the many god-made weapons.

"It seems that reincarnation will only make you more rude and stupid - Pandora." After the thunder disappeared, Athena, who had already judged the identity of the person by the breath, took back the treasure and looked at Pandora, "In the past, you released many disasters, but sealed hope in the box - cowardly and stupid, you are just a gift made by the gods..."

"Who gave you the chance to be Hades' sister and my aunt?"

"Besides...did she allow you to leave?"

The white-haired girl wearing a bird-beak mask who was originally standing beside Athena had now turned into a girl with golden hair and golden eyes. She exuded a breath of death that was even more terrifying than Hades, the god of the underworld.