Epic of Caterpillar Chapter 2910 2911: The Lord Of Death

[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]

[CRASH IMMINENT.]

[EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY VIA SAFETY PODS.]

"Persephone!"

Hades bellowed, his gaze locked on his wife, who hung suspended within a gargantuan glass tube, her form drifting in murky, lime-colored fluid. During the long years of her captivity, Humans had subjected her to endless, cruel trials.

Her once-divine physique had been rendered a horrific mockery. Tubes were embedded throughout her body. Her legs and right arm had been amputated, and the majority of her hair had been shorn away. They had even harvested one of her eyes for cold analysis, while many essential organs were swapped for primitive, mechanical alternatives.

"M-Mom...?!"

Zagreus struggled to breathe as terror overcame him upon witnessing his mother's dreadful state. She was a mere shadow of her former self—her remaining eye stared vacantly into the void while she languished in the tank.

In days past, Persephone had been hailed as one of the most radiant goddesses in Genesis. She had chosen Hades over legions of other suitors, drawn to his balanced and composed nature.

Zagreus and his sisters cherished memories of her as a devoted, warm-hearted mother. She had guided them through breathtaking realms and taken them on peaceful outings.

She was gentle and deeply affectionate, always reminding her children how cherished they were and how vital they were to her existence.

Hades, despite possessing the raw potential to ascend to the status of Supreme God, had never desired it. He was profoundly satisfied with the life he had built.

Within the Realm of Tartarus, surrounded by his kin, his loyal subjects, the souls, and the undead, he held every treasure he could ever crave.

While others feverishly pursued ultimate power, Hades saw no need; he possessed everything.

This was the precise reason that when they abducted the most precious treasure of his life, he succumbed to raw insanity, challenging invaders so mighty that his only hope lay in trying to bait them into mutual destruction.

And now, finally, Hades had located her.

Yet, viewing her in such a shattered and desecrated form ignited a fury so intense it roused something primal and monstrous within the depths of his soul.

Erebus.

RUMBLE!

His power surged in a violent torrent as the titanic mothership began its descent toward the surface of Earth. At last, Hades’ wrath was thoroughly unleashed.

Humans piloting advanced mechs rushed to confront him, wielding anti-divinity weapons specifically engineered to stifle gods. They had extracted every ounce of utility from his wife’s torment.

And yet...

"PERISH."

Before the God of Death, the Lord of Tartarus, and the bearer of the Fragment of the Primordial Spirit of Death—forged by Genesis itself and linked to the very grandchildren of the Universe's Primordials—

—the full, absolute authority of Erebus, the Primordial Spirit of Death, manifested.

Since his first death, Hades had pushed himself relentlessly, pushing his Cultivation to the absolute limit.

He had reached his breaking point.

No more.

"Kuaaaggh?!"

"H-How can this be happening—Uuugghh?!"

"Eeaaaahh!"

"W-Wha—Aaaaaggh!"

The humans who boasted of their mechanical superiority shrieked in unbearable agony. Scores of them were wiped out instantly as their souls were torn violently from their bodies.

Their shells shriveled into desiccated husks, faces locked in expressions of absolute futility as they struggled to process the overwhelming force of Hades.

Hades forced his Consciousness Domain to expand across the entire vessel. Wherever his reach touched, Death followed.

Every single soul who had inflicted pain upon his wife. Every scientist who had conducted twisted experiments on her. Every monster who had caused her suffering. Every inhuman creature that no longer deserved to be called a person.

They all met the same end.

Even the pilots within the massive metal titans choked once, then collapsed, lifeless.

A thick, jet-black shroud of death surged outward uncontrollably.

"Dad...!"

Zagreus scrambled to shield his sister and their companions, including Hanshuan and Henshian, the Sun Monkey God siblings, alongside Glimmerdust, the Moon Moth Goddess of the Moon's Shadow, and Sindarin, the Moon Elf Goddess of the Moonlight Dew.

"Z-Zagreus! Is your father going to be okay?!" Glimmerdust stammered, her voice trembling in fear.

"He is obviously not okay—he's suffered a total mental collapse! His rage is absolute!" Hanshuan shouted.

"W-We need to act before everyone, including ourselves, is eradicated!" Henshian insisted.

"Zagreus! You possess immense power—can you rein in your father?" Sindarin asked, glancing back.

"Big brother?"

"We will assist you!"

Zagreus observed his sisters hoping for a solution, but he shook his head with grim resolve.

"I will handle this...!"

He bolted toward his father, determined to reach him.

"Father, contain your rage! You are putting Mother in danger! We must find a way to safely extract her and treat her wounds before it is too late!" Zagreus implored. "I am unfamiliar with this technology, but there must be a way!"

"S-Son..." Hades groaned, clutching his skull. "Aaaarrgh! N-No...! T-They are here...!"

"What?" Zagreus’ eyes widened.

"T-Take her...! You must take your mother before—Kuuaaaggh!" Hades screamed as his frame contorted in a horrifying display. Countless voices wailed from within him as some monstrous force clawed to break through his defenses. "R-Run! Take her and flee!"

"What?! Dad?! What is happening?!" Zagreus cried out.

"DO IT!" Hades roared, his voice now corrupted, as if a being from another plane were attempting to use him as a vessel. "HURRY...! I CANNOT HOLD THIS MUCH LONGER...! I...!"

"Father...!"

Zagreus nodded grimly. He turned to lead the souls of the humans he had saved, commanding them to assist. He wove them into physical phantoms. Gathering their numbers, they swiftly detached his mother's life-support pod and steered it into the sanctity of his divine realm.

"Quickly, follow me!"

Zagreus fled with his companions, physically pulling his sisters away before they could return to his father. He was no fool; he understood the situation. When his father invoked that dark, forbidden power to protect them, something hideous had exploited the gap to manifest.

It was an ancient, long-forgotten adversary from its failed, initial attempt.

Zagreus shuddered, dreading the identity of this creature—the same one who had previously toyed with Goddess Hel.

"WRAAAAHHHHH!"

"...?!"

Zagreus and his group flinched at Hades' final, tortured scream, followed immediately by a deafening explosion. A thick veil of nether mist billowed out, followed by massive tentacles made from rotting flesh, exposed bone, and raw nether.

"RUN!"

Zagreus scooped up his friends and accelerated, shattering the hull of the spaceship to burst into the open sky.

"Eh?!"

"W-Where are we?"

"Whoa! That is something else!"

They gazed down at the vast metropolis of Tokyo as the mothership cratered into a nearby forest, triggering a massive, earth-shaking blast.

BOOOMMM!!!

"Dammit..."

Zagreus stared in disbelief at the destruction and the horrors crawling from the vessel's wreckage. Countless tentacles. Death. Pestilence. Decay. Nether. And a swirling rift of dark fog connecting to the Nether Plane—the domain where all terminal concepts, curses, and spirits of the dead congregate to consume.

It was a realm commanded with absolute cruelty by its master, a terrifying Outer God who reigned over the concept of Death across every universe.

What defense could a small group of young gods provide against such a titan?

"F-Father..."

"No..."

Zagreus felt the tears of his sisters soaking his shoulders as they sensed Hades trapped within that perverse transformation. He remained there, distorted into the perfect vessel for an ancient, vengeful god seeking to haunt them once more.

"Was taking Hel not enough for you? Now you desire everything else..."

As Zagreus whispered in despair, the tentacles lunged in pursuit.

"Shit...!"

"Zagreus, we have to escape!"

"Zagreus, just run!"

His friends screamed, and Zagreus grit his teeth in frustration. Always evading. He was constantly running!

"D-Damn it all!"

He understood his options were slim; combating such a being seemed like a fool's errand. Or9 it did, until—

"Necrotic Lord, even now you dare attempt to seize the world I govern?!"

A booming, majestic female voice resonated across the heavens. Everyone looked upward. A colossal titaness, crafted from living timber and nature itself, materialized with thousands of gods in her wake. Their collective aura radiated pure Life—the absolute antithesis of this Ruler, and his most potent weakness.

"T-The Supreme...! The Supreme Goddess of Life and Nature?!"

Shock flooded their hearts; many had assumed she had perished, but here she reigned.

"WRETCHED LIFE-WEAVING DRUID! I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE! WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE IS THE CHAOS SPAWN?!"

"Kireina is occupied with tasks far superior to dealing with a resentful corpse like you! Be gone!"

Flora summoned vast quantities of the life force of nature. Massive spirit forests erupted across the battlefield. Swarms of spirits emerged, assaulting the Necrotic Ruler.

Her subordinate gods engaged as well, raining down spells from a distance as she had strictly ordered. She understood that a single touch from this abomination meant instant fatality.

"CHARGE! KILL HER MINIONS! WEAKEN HER!"

Flora was mightily powerful, yet the Ruler of the Nether Plane was equally formidable. He summoned an army of the dead—Generals, bone knights, zombies, and wraiths—to clash against Flora’s forces and sap her strength.

To her growing worry, her front lines were buckling. She clicked her tongue, digging deeper into her potential. She invoked a pact with Yggdrantia, causing branches of the Cosmic Yggdrasil to erupt, mutating her form and bolstering her power.

"Witness the fury of Nature!"

With a thunderous command, the forest life surged, swarming the Nether Plane Ruler and dealing massive wounds. However, CLAAASH! "Ngh?!"

In the throes of battle, she was distracted for a heartbeat. The Ruler utilized this slip to lash out with a hidden tentacle, cleaving through her left leg. The flesh decayed instantly, forcing her to sever the limb before the pestilence could consume her.

"Hohoho! Is that it?! I expected more from a life-weaving druid!"

The Outer God mocked her as he seized the initiative. As Flora desperately calculated a new angle, she noticed flashes of red and azure descending from the sky.

The crimson streaks shredded the Ruler's body, while the azure flashes released torrential barrages of divine weaponry.

"Kireina...? Frank?!"

Flora stared in amazement as scores of Heart Essence Avatars of Kireina and Frank converged on the Ruler.

"It is indeed us," Kireina signaled. "We are here to help, Flora!"

"Stay strong and keep pressure on him!" Frank urged.

"You need not tell me twice!" Flora replied, crossing her arms stubbornly. "Hmph!"

As the conflict peaked and the Nether Plane Ruler buckled under the combined onslaught, Flora caught a faint, pained whisper echoing within her consciousness.

It was not from anyone on the field. "Help... Help me... Please... I require someone like... you..."

Flora traced the mental signal down into the planet's very core. She felt a profound, instinctive connection to a soul calling out from deep within. "Grant me your vessel... allow me... to shield my world..."

It was the Planet’s Will—the soul of Earth itself. As Flora weighed this heavy burden, the situation worsened. From the firmament, a dozen more motherships hovered, and Titan Mechs charged their cannons. The time for hesitation had ended.