With This, No One Can Interfere?
Seated before him was the goddess of violent death.
Keres.
With the other two death gods standing behind her, the master of the Abyss—Tartarus—regarded their representative with an arrogant expression and spoke.
"I've heard the rough outline. You captured that little brat… Nux's child, yes?"
"That is correct."
"Haha. You've done me a truly splendid service. Well, as a goddess of death, you ought to live up to the name."
Tartarus let out a sly chuckle and drained a goblet of nectar that shimmered with black light. Then he set the empty cup down, a thick smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
"With this, the long wait is finally over. Just a little longer. Soon I will break free of this loathsome seal and ascend to the surface. When that day comes, you too will be free to revel in slaughter to your hearts' content as gods of death."
"I am grateful for your consideration. However."
"Hm?"
In that instant the atmosphere around Keres turned ice-cold. Her gaze locked onto one thing alone—Tartarus.
"That is not a particularly interesting story."
"Hm?"
She answered with a smile. Tartarus, a flicker of doubt in his voice, pressed further.
"…? Was that not the very reason you came under my banner? To escape the drudgery of merely receiving the dead of the underworld, and instead climb to the surface to bestow death with your own hands. That is what I was told."
"Of course I said as much. I judged that speaking that way would be the surest path to earning even a scrap of your trust."
"…Then you mean to say you have another purpose?"
A chill had begun to edge Tartarus's voice. Keres drained the nectar before her, set the cup down with deliberate care, and answered.
"A short while ago, while capturing that brat, I saw a male god who had come from the surface. I could not gauge him precisely, yet he was a formidable power. Truly, it has been so long… I wanted to devour him on the spot."
She licked her lips faintly. Then her eyes fixed once more on the being seated before her—Tartarus.
"Even so, I held myself back. One ought to empty the stomach before the main feast, after all."
"What are you—"
"I have always wondered."
In the next breath her hand drifted slowly toward the scythe resting at her side.
"Just what kind of scream would Tartarus make?"
"! You—"
Tartarus's words carried open wariness, yet even then a part of him still refused to believe it. No matter that only the death gods and himself were present, this was the deepest heart of Tartarus—the very core of the Abyss. No one would be mad enough to raise a ruckus here.
Or so he thought.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Do you actually intend to challenge me—"
"Kuhut!…"
"!"
"Kuhuhuhuhut!… Kuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"
Regrettably, among the gods of death—no, among all the children of Nyx—Keres was the most unhinged of them all.
"With this, there's no one left to interfere with us, is there?"
-BOOM!!!!
An explosive crack split the air as Keres launched herself forward. Casting aside the mask she had worn until now, she became a pure beast that craved only death—only the pitiful screams of the strong—and hurtled straight ahead.
"Y-You little—!!!"
"Hahaha!! Yes! Perfect! Even my scythe can't cut through that body! Just as I hoped!"
Tartarus raised one arm and caught the scythe. Black blood sprayed as he seized the blade with the same hand and hurled her bodily away.
-Whoosh!
Keres's body slammed into the far wall, yet the scythe that had been lodged in Tartarus's arm was already back in her grip.
"Ahahah! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!"
A smile of pure mania twisted her face as she kicked off the wall and shot forward once more. Victory never entered her thoughts. Her eyes burned with nothing but the desire to wound, to kill. Relentlessly she poured attacks upon the "Abyss" before her.
*
"Haa… So it has come to this after all."
"This too is fate already written…"
Before them Keres was already locked in gleeful combat. Knowing her nature as they did, the fact that she had restrained herself this long was the greater miracle.
"Well then, we should begin moving as well."
"Agreed. It seems we have a guest down below, in any case…"
With that the two death gods set off at a swift pace. Unlike a certain someone who had come all this way solely for the thrill of a bestial brawl, they still had matters that required careful attention.
*
"Haaaaah!!!"
-CRASH-BOOM!
A single punch sent the wall crumbling in a cascade of rubble. Blow after blow powerful enough to pulp an ordinary body rained down, yet Keres slipped past them with casual ease.
"Kehit! Aren't you a little slow? Lord of the Abyss or whatever—looks like even you can't beat the years, huh? Stuck down here so long without a single fight…!"
-THWACK!!!
Without warning a jet-black sword aura scythed through the air. Caught off-guard, Keres lost one entire arm.
"…Kuhut!"
Her lips twisted slightly. Heavy pain wrapped the stump, yet her gaze snapped straight ahead once more.
"As you say… it has been a very long time since I last fought. Not since Nyx herself laid me low."
Tartarus stepped forward, a massive black greatsword in one hand. A thin, cruel smile played on his lips as he began to radiate divine power far beyond anything he had shown until now.
"Thanks to you my body is finally loose… so I shall start rampaging in earnest."
"Khihit! Yes! That's more like it! I was starting to think the strongest was a bit of a letdown!"
Fresh interest flooded Keres's laughter. Even with one arm gone she burned with even fiercer battle-lust and charged. At the same moment Tartarus, grinning darkly, raised his greatsword high.
Then—
-BOOM!!
"Huh?"
"…Hm?"
Something smashed through the wall and came flying between them. Both fighters halted mid-stride, irritation and confusion flashing across their faces as they turned toward the interruption.
And…
"Ugh… uuugh…"
"…! E… Echidna?"
"…What the hell is that bitch doing here…"
His daughter lay crumpled on the floor, reduced to a bloody rag. The sight of his second-in-command in such a wretched state filled Tartarus with shock and rage; he rounded on Keres.
"You lot! Betrayal wasn't enough—you dare lay hands on my daughter as well!"
"No, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't give me that! If not you, then who—!"
"Me."
"!"
A cool voice cut in from the side. There, approaching with a face so hideous it radiated heat, walked a man… no, a god.
*
From the moment I entered the castle I had been thinking.
Right now I was armored more thoroughly than I had been against Cronus, and the instant I set foot in the underworld my power had actually grown stronger than it was on the surface. Most opponents I could crush with ease.
All except one.
Tartarus.
A Primordial God, and the root cause of this entire mess—a garbage rapist bastard. If he decided to move in earnest, even I might not be able to protect my companions.
So while I fought Echidna I deliberately made the punishment more brutal. Partly to put her down, but more importantly to keep Tartarus's attention fixed on me. The moment he learned of Nux and the Cyclopes' escape he would race straight there.
Yet time passed and still no sign of him. Puzzled, I redoubled my efforts at thrashing and hurling his daughter around—until a certain scene entered my vision.
Beyond the wall I had punched open with Echidna's body stood a massive, muscle-bound giant nearly twice my size, a jet-black sword in hand.
Tartarus.
And facing him, one arm already gone, gripping a giant scythe, was the goddess of violent death I had seen earlier—Keres.
They were clearly locked in an all-out duel. For a second I was simply stunned.
Weren't these two on the same side? Wait… come to think of it…
The confusion lasted only a heartbeat before I grasped the situation. The death gods had been angling to backstab Tartarus from the start—right down to the raid on Nux's mansion. Nux was a fragment of Nyx, practically a little sister to them. Kidnapping Kedalion had likely been part of the same scheme.
Whatever the truth, their little civil war had bought me extra time.
"I was wondering why you never showed up no matter how much I rampaged. So this is why…"
"…Who are you?"
Hostility radiated from him the instant our eyes met. Between the death goddess's condition and the rocket-delivery of the unconscious Echidna, it seemed my free time was over.
"Just a passing minor god."
No reason to tell the truth. If I blabbed carelessly and Kedalion's name slipped out, things would get messy.
"Why did you do that to my daughter?"
"She insulted my face. Called me ugly."
"…"
"…"
Both of them made faintly complicated expressions. Yes, it was an insult—but did they actually have the conscience to look embarrassed about that face? The thought that even in the Abyss this mug of mine "sold" in a different sense flickered through my mind. I layered a light edge of anger onto my divine power and let it flare.
"You're next."
"!… Silence! A mere minor god dares lay hands on my daughter! Unforgivable!"
With a roar Tartarus's sword came flying at me. I clenched my gauntlet and met the blade head-on.
-BOOM!!!
The impact hit like a volcanic eruption. I kept batting his successive strikes aside. Whatever the sword was made of, it could not pierce Titanium Alloy. Still, even through the gauntlets a tingling numbness crawled up my arms, and I frowned.
I had expected it, but his raw power was several levels above mine. The title of Primordial God was no empty boast; in a straight fight my odds were almost—
"Keh… heh… heh!!!!… Hahk…!"
"Hm?"
Then an unexpected sight unfolded right in front of me.
"Kihiit!… Ihihihihihit!"
In that split second Keres had slipped behind Tartarus and swung her scythe at the nape of his neck.
"Yes… more… bark some more. Come on… louder!"
"Y-You bitch!!!"
Rage twisted Tartarus's face as he spun around. I did not waste the opening.
"Hup!"
-BOOM!!
My fist, Titanium Gauntlet blazing with ultra-high heat, smashed into Tartarus's face. The same punch that had landed solid hits on Cronus poured out in a relentless barrage.
"Hahahaaah!!! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"
Beside me Keres howled with manic laughter, scythe flashing even with one arm missing. She looked every inch the madwoman she was, yet thanks to her Tartarus kept being driven back, forced to take hit after hit.
But then—
-Thud!
-Crack!
"!"
"Heeh~?"
"Insects…"
In the next instant Tartarus seized both my fist and Keres's scythe. His face and body were a ruin, yet his divine power never wavered as he lifted us both into the air. At the same time black blades of smoke—cut from the Abyss itself—materialized all around us, each one locked onto our bodies.
"…"
"Fufufut… this… isn't bad at all."
Even now Keres's twisted smile never faded. I felt a flicker of genuine admiration—until Tartarus's enraged voice rang out.
"Die!"
And then—
-CRASH-BOOM-BOOM!!!
He hurled us both into the wall. The storm of abyssal blades followed, raining down like a black monsoon. Even armored, I would have to brace for serious wounds—yet in that moment I saw none of the blades falling toward me.
"Damn it…"
Keres, bare-skinned, was about to take the full brunt. My body moved before my mind could catch up.
"Huh?"
The next second the abyssal blades poured onto me instead. They raked the gaps in my armor, carving fresh wounds; vivid pain flared and I scowled.
It lasted only a heartbeat, yet it felt like an eternity. Then Keres and I smashed through layer after layer of wall and were flung clear of the building.
We finally skidded to a halt in a garden-like space with a sheer cliff at our backs. My whole body was a mass of injuries; a faint dizziness washed over me as I slowly pushed myself upright.
Then—
"You… what the hell did you just…"
Keres's voice rose from just below me. I answered quietly.
"I simply blocked the attack with my armor."
"Don't give me that crap! Why? Why did you pull me in and protect me?"
"To conserve combat strength. Nothing more."
"!…"
For a moment the goddess of violent death simply stared, blank-faced. Then—
"Ha… hahat."
A short, incredulous laugh escaped her.
"I mean… for a reason that stupid… I already knew you weren't ordinary, but you're even crazier than I thought."
"I was about to say the same of you."
"Fufufut…"
Challenging Tartarus in the heart of the Abyss already proved neither of us was sane. A strange sense of kinship settled between us as we both rose to our feet.
And then—
-BOOM!!
Tartarus smashed through the wall and appeared. I glanced once at the cliff behind us, and a thin smile touched my lips.