A few minutes before Thanatos descended on the Fourth Layer of the Underworld…

Calli, who had just left the Fourth layer after meeting Erinys, suddenly found herself frozen in place.

Suddenly, her entire vision was warped by a bright flash of light. When the light receded, she found herself face to face with the God of Death, whose eyes had already started to blaze crimson.

"You have met Erinys," the God of Death stated. "Tell me, where did you see my daughter?"

It wasn't a question, but a direct order, making Calli's body shudder. All of the Ferryman of the Underworld were personally chosen by the God of Death.

They had gained a unique privilege that others could only dream of in the Underworld, which had allowed them to live a life of comfort. However, all of them were subject to the whims of the God of Death.

If Thanatos no longer had any need for them, they would be stripped off of their roles, and tossed into the River of Flames as punishment for breaking his trust.

It was at that moment when Calli found herself choosing between the happiness of her best friend and her safety.

Her teeth chattered due to fear and anxiety because she knew, with utmost certainty, that she couldn't lie to the God of Death.

Because of her current panicked state, she had temporarily lost her voice, which made Thanatos impatient.

Without another word, the God of Death placed his hand on Calli's head and forcefully extracted her memories.

He had placed a spell on all of the Ferryman of the Underworld that the moment they met Erinys, they would immediately be transported to his Palace, where he could extract the information from their lips, or their brains, if they refused to cooperate.

Half a minute later, the God of Death tossed the body of the crippled Ferryman to the floor before teleporting out of his palace to descend to the Fourth Layer of the Underworld.

"E-Erinys…," Calli said in a hoarse voice as she tried to prop herself up, but she no longer had the strength to do it.

Eriny's best friend collapsed on the floor as tears streamed down the side of her face.. "R-Run… Erinys. He is… coming."

After squeezing out those words from her lips, Calli lost consciousness.

As much as she wanted to keep Erinys' location a secret, there was nothing she could do against the God of Death who ruled the Underworld and held their Fates in his hands.

—-------------

Fourth Layer of the Underworld, Lust's Abode…

Erinys' flying ship, which had been shackled by countless dark chains, swayed in place as strong gusts of wind blew across the Fourth Layer of the Underworld.

William and Thanatos had exchanged several attacks with each other with the Half-Elf always being blown away with each exchange. However, he always managed to regain his balance before Thanatos could follow up with his attack, which the Half-Elf would always dodge by a hair's breadth.

"Die!" Thanatos unleashed countless Death Rays at the Half-Elf who was zigzagging across the sky, evading his attacks with the help of Optimus' high-speed calculations.

"Quickshot War Arts First Form," William roared as he dodged the Death Rays that fell on him like rain.

"Railgun!"

A brilliant flash of light erupted from the tip of WIlliam's wooden staff, dispersing the Death Rays in front of it before speeding towards Thanatos, who blocked it with his Death Scythe.

The God of Death was pushed back by William's attack by a few meters before the power of the Railgun disappeared.

"Quick Shot War Art, Burst Form," William shouted as he once again unleashed a powerful attack. "Railgun Burst!"

Three Railguns fired consecutively from the tip of William's staff, pushing the Half-Elf back due to its powerful recoil.

Thanatos roared as he once again blocked the three Railguns that were fired in his direction.

However, due to the consecutive attacks, he was pushed over a dozen meters from where he stood, making him roar in anger.

​ Enraged by the Half-Elf's futile attempts to keep him at bay, Thanatos disappeared from where he stood and reappeared in front of William, with his Deathscythe prepared to strike.

However, instead of the Half-Elf, what he saw was Soleil, whose entire body shone as brilliantly as a star that was about to explode.

"Bloom in the battlefield!" William roared. "Fleur Du Soleil Ars Nova!"

A powerful explosion, similar to a Nuclear Bomb shook the entire Fourth Layer.

William reappeared in front of Erinys' flying ship, and created a barrier to protect it from harm.

As if coming to a silent understanding, William and Thanatos had fought miles away from the chained Flying Ship to prevent it from being involved in their battle.

However, after activating Soleil's Ars Nova, whose power was similar to a nuclear strike.

The Half-Elf teleported in front of the flying ship, and created a barrier, just in case the attack was strong enough to pose danger to the Half-ling, who was currently trapped inside it.

William narrowed his eyes as he stared at the brilliant, mushroom-like explosion in the distance, which was the aftermath of Soleil's full powered attack.

A moment later, the mushroom was split apart, from its center, showing the God of Death, whose face was no longer hidden by the tattered hood of the cloak that he always wore.

The God of Death had long, platinum blonde hair that was held in place behind his back by what seemed to be a black ring, with a skull embedded at its center.

His blue eyes, which were very similar to Erinys', stared hatefully in his direction, making the Half-Elf feel a shiver run down his spine.

Just like his daughter, the God of Death was extremely handsome. Compared to him, William only looked like an above average guy, proving that his beauty far surpassed the realm of mortals.

"Is that your best, Half-Elf?" Thanatos asked with a sneer.

Clearly, the damage he received from William's attack was nearly non-existent, making the Hal-Elf smile.

"No," William replied. "How about I fight you again when I have recovered the other half of my soul?"

Thanatos scoffed, "Very funny."

"Yeah… you don't have a sense of humor," William replied as he quickly thought of another way to fight against the God of Death who simply shrugged off Soleil's full-powered attack.

In truth, the Half-Elf was also using this battle as a way to better understand what kind of attacks could hurt a God.

Although his situation was not very optimistic, the Half-Elf wanted to gauge if any of his attacks could pose a significant threat to a God, which would be beneficial when the Gods of Destruction finally descended on the world of Hestia.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read