Becoming a Saint Since the Age of Myth

Apart from the Terrestrial Inferiority Star whom Wuxin had killed at the beginning, they encountered only two more Specters afterward.

With the power of death concealing him, Wuxin managed to fool them without any real danger.

The boundary ahead was unusual. Rather than a fixed barrier, it was a layer of something like mist, hazily obscuring the way ahead.

"Let's go!"

Calling out to Tenma, Wuxin took the lead and stepped into the mist.

Only then did he realize that it was no ordinary mist, but liquid droplets condensed from the aura of death.

"What a dense aura of death! Bury a corpse here, and it would soon turn into a zombie or some similar monster!" he could not help remarking.

"What good are zombies? It's not real resurrection!" Tenma shook his head.

Some ignorant people equated becoming a zombie with coming back to life, but as Saints, they knew perfectly well that these were two entirely different things.

"You don't understand!"

Wuxin glanced back at him and smiled. "For me, this death aura doesn't just turn corpses into zombies. Fighting somewhere like this would boost the power of my Sekishiki!"

"At the same time, this dense aura of death can serve as a miraculous medicine to restore my stamina and speed up the healing of my injuries!"

"To me, this place is an absolute treasure."

"Unfortunately, it belongs to the Underworld!"

As they spoke, the two walked out of the area shrouded in thick mist.

In fact, the mist-covered area was not particularly large. They emerged after just four or five steps.

They had officially entered the Second Prison, Torrential Rain Hell.

Compared with the First Prison, the scenery here was completely different. A layer of dark clouds covered the sky, and heavy rain poured down without end.

Although they were at the edge of the Second Prison, where the rain was lighter, every raindrop fell like a meteor, carrying an extraordinary force that struck Wuxin's armor with ringing clangs.

"There's something strange about this rain!"

Also standing in the rain, Tenma could not help using his Cosmo to fend it off.

Even though he was now merely a soul, almost completely immune to physical damage, he could still feel the pain of the raindrops striking him.

More frighteningly, those raindrops seemed to contain a terrible corrosive power as well, causing pain even to a soul like him.

"There certainly is something wrong with this rain!"

Wuxin sighed and explained as he walked forward, "The rain here isn't ordinary rain. It's an extremely heavy form of water, far denser than normal water."

"At the same time, empowered by the laws of the Underworld, it can corrode incorporeal spirits, specifically punishing those imprisoned here for the sin of greed."

Chapter 60: Action in the Second Prison

"He won't even let people rest after death. Hades really is despicable!" Tenma was furious when he heard this.

"No, no, no. You can't put it that way!"

Wuxin shook his head and said seriously, "Although our Sanctuary is locked in fierce conflict with the Underworld, I personally feel no aversion or hostility toward the Underworld's hells."

"Why is that?" Tenma was deeply puzzled.

Continuing onward through the downpour, Wuxin patiently explained, "Hell's punishments aren't deliberate torment, but a reckoning and conclusion to the past deeds of every life."

"Good people reincarnate smoothly and obtain a better next life, while evildoers are punished to repay the sins of their lives."

"In a sense, the Underworld's hells are places that reward good and punish evil."

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Tenma felt his entire worldview shatter.

As he understood it, Hades had always represented evil, and Hell was a place of wickedness. No matter what, it should have had nothing to do with rewarding good and punishing evil.

"Quite a surprise, isn't it?"

Giving Tenma a teasing glance, Wuxin continued, "You think Hell is evil only because you've seen the inhumane torment inflicted on the dead here."

"But in fact, if you have the time, you can patiently question the souls being punished here."

"When you do, you'll discover that they were all utterly wicked people in life. They have only themselves to blame for receiving such punishments."

"But... but... but..."

Tenma was too stunned to speak.

Wuxin spoke with such conviction that he believed he probably was not lying to him, but he still found it difficult to change his previous impression of Hades.

After a long silence, Tenma finally said, "Hell's punishments are too terrible. Even if those souls were wicked people in life, I don't think they should be tortured like this!"

"Shouldn't they really? You're too naive, Tenma!"

Wuxin shook his head and chuckled. "The existence of Hell's punishments makes those evildoers restrain themselves somewhat, to lessen their punishment after death."

"But without Hell's punishments, think how utterly unrestrained they would become!"

"By then, the entire human world might turn into hell!"

At this, Tenma's expression immediately changed.

An orphan since childhood, he had often mingled among the lowest rungs of society, and he knew very well how dark the bottom of society truly was.

If those villains knew there would be no punishment after death, heaven knew what they would do.

At that moment, he completely corrected his shallow understanding of the Underworld's hells.

Wuxin sighed and continued, "Of course, the existence of the Underworld's hells has a certain justification, but that doesn't mean Hades is suited to ruling the human world!"

"That is also the source of the conflict between the Underworld and Sanctuary!"

"So that's how it is!" Tenma understood at last.

These were things he had never heard before, and they raised his understanding of the Holy War to another level.

Meanwhile, after a prolonged, fruitless search in the First Prison, Heavenly Heroic Star Lune, who commanded it, noticed something was wrong.

"Earlier, you reported finding traces of Tenma. Why have they suddenly vanished again?" he demanded with a frown of the Specters serving beneath him.

Previously, although they had yet to capture Tenma, at least scattered reports had continued to come in. Now, however, there was absolutely no news, as if he had vanished completely. It was hard not to find that suspicious.

The Specters exchanged glances, and finally one gathered his courage and stepped forward.

"My lord, we suspect Tenma has already left the First Prison!" he replied with his head lowered.

"Left the First Prison?" Lune was somewhat surprised.

The man continued, "Shortly after we last received news of Tenma, the Terrestrial Inferiority Star also disappeared. We found only his shattered armor."

"There's no doubt he must have been killed."

"We also went to the Sanzu River to check. Heavenly Interlude Star Charon told us no one had returned toward the Gate of Hell recently."

"So we surmise that Tenma must have gone deeper into Hell. He may well have already entered the Second Prison."

"The Second Prison?"

Lune tapped lightly on his desk, a flicker of unwillingness passing through his eyes.

Only after a long while did he speak. "Continue searching the First Prison, and send word to Heavenly Beast Star Pharaoh in the Second Prison while you're at it."

"Tell him that Tenma is a target specifically requested by Lord Hypnos and Lord Thanatos. He must be captured!"

"Yes!"

The Specters breathed sighs of relief, then withdrew one after another.

Soon, the news reached the Second Prison.

"That Lune really is incompetent! All those people couldn't catch a single Tenma, and instead let him escape into the Second Prison. What trash!" Pharaoh sat by the window, plucking his strings, his tone utterly scathing.

Then, without giving the messenger another glance, he turned toward a corner of the temple.

"Cerberus, stop sleeping. Come out with me to find someone!"

At his soft call, six red eyes suddenly lit up in the darkness.

Immediately afterward, an enormous figure emerged.

It was a giant dog with grayish-white fur and three heads, the mythical monster known as the three-headed hound of Hell.

Perhaps cranky from being abruptly awakened, Cerberus let out an angry roar and lunged straight at the Specters who had come from the First Prison to deliver the message.

"No-!"

"Don't-!"

"Save us, Lord Pharaoh!"

Sensing danger, the Specters hurriedly backed away and shouted for help from Pharaoh, the commander of this prison.

Unfortunately, Pharaoh did not spare them so much as a glance. He merely left them a casual remark and headed for the door on his own.

"Cerberus is a little cranky after waking up. Just let him vent. You can come back to life anyway!"

Hearing this, the Specters' hearts sank.

They could indeed come back to life, but the agony of being killed was real. No one wanted to experience death, even if they themselves were Specters who represented death.

For a moment, they fled even faster.

Unfortunately, their strength was nowhere near enough to face such a mythical monster.

Before they could escape the temple, Cerberus caught up with them and easily chewed them up and swallowed them, one to a mouthful.

"All right, my little darling. You're not angry anymore now, are you?" Pharaoh walked over and gently plucked the harp in his hands.

Plink, plonk-

A soft, serene melody flowed out, echoing throughout the temple. The formerly enraged Cerberus slowly calmed down as well and crouched docilely beside Pharaoh.

Seeing this, Heavenly Beast Star Pharaoh finally stopped playing and ordered his subordinates, "Pass down my command. Have every Specter and underworld guard mobilize and search for any suspicious person entering the Second Prison!"

At once, the previously quiet Second Prison bustled with activity.

Chapter 61: Garden in the Rain