The Ferryman of the Styx

'The pure and flawless Son of Light also has a hidden dark side. I've heard that His Highness Apollo possesses a plague divine essence. Furthermore, I am very interested in the historical divinity derived from the records of all changes in the world by the Light." 'As long as Your Highness transfers these two divine essences to me, the Delphi Oracle will belong to you. Additionally, if possible, I would like to borrow the Veil of Night. I can also make a promise to you, that in the future, when you seize the sovereignty of Light, I will offer my assistance." Hebes's words caused surprise to flash in Apollo's eyes. It seemed she knew something about his future—who told her? Prometheus? What did she want to do with the Veil of Night? Suppressing his doubts, Apollo seriously considered Hebes's proposal. The historical divine essence was inconsequential; to him, it was like a chicken rib—something that was not particularly useful. However, the plague divine essence, though it was only a second-tier essence, was a rare and powerful one, and giving it up made him feel a bit pained. '…Alright! I will agree to your terms." Apollo gritted his teeth. By giving up these two divine essences, he could avoid sacrificing half of his Light faith and secure future assistance from her. Despite their past grievances, he had to admit that this rapidly rising goddess had considerable influence in the divine mountain. Apollo inserted his hand into his chest, and a golden light radiated from his heart. When he withdrew his hand, two divine essences floated in his palm. One essence was pitch black like obsidian, shimmering with ominous dark light. The other essence was much more beautiful; it was transparent, with yellow sand swirling within it, and amidst the sand, various scenes flickered, recording everything that had occurred in the world. Plague divine essence, historical divine essence. 'I swear by the River Styx, I am willing to exchange the plague divine essence and the historical divine essence for the Delphi Oracle with the goddess of life, Hebes." The goddess with golden hair and purple eyes smiled faintly. 'In the presence of the River Styx, I agree to this transaction." After reaching an agreement with Apollo, Hebes readily handed over the Delphi Oracle to him and absorbed the two divine essences into her body. Then Hebes collected the corpse of Python, the beast that was now dead and of no use to Apollo, taking up space. Seeing her take the corpse away, Apollo thought she intended to offer it to Hera as a collection, and he didn't give it much thought. Both parties achieved their respective goals. Apollo still needed to establish a new temple of Light in Delphi to spread the faith and solidify his status as the god of Light and prophecy. As for the Veil of Night, it was taken to Hebes's temple by Artemis. This goddess was still brooding over her earlier defeat to Hebes, so when she handed over the Veil of Night, she wore an expression of displeasure that was hard to miss. Hebes, having a request of her own, didn't bother to argue with her. After taking the Veil of Night, she dismissed Artemis, who was busy and didn't have time to indulge in petty games of resentment. With ambition, she should learn from her brother, who was already preparing to seize the sovereignty of Light in the future instead of hunting for fun in the forest every day. Within the Temple of Life, Hebes activated her divine power, unleashing the unparalleled creativity of the laws of life. In just a moment, a goddess identical to her appeared by her side. This was a temporary doppelgänger created using the divine essence of life. She kept her eyes tightly shut, her face serene, as if in a deep sleep. Her aura was identical to Hebes's, and even Helios's Eye of the Sun could not discern any difference between her and Hebes. Hebes had already instructed the nymphs of the temple in advance, claiming that she had exhausted too much energy in her battle against Python and needed to sleep in the main hall to restore her divine power, instructing them not to disturb her. She placed the doppelgänger on a reclining chair in the temple, then donned the Veil of Night. The dark divine power of a moonless, starless night concealed her form and hid her aura. The golden-haired goddess, shrouded in the Veil of Night, made her way westward to the westernmost part of the continent, the Valley of Cuchutus. The valley was dark and narrow, flanked by towering black cliffs, at the bottom of which grew a vast expanse of daffodils. These were the sacred flowers of the Underworld; touching them would allow one to reach the realm of the dead. Hebes gazed at the daffodils and activated the pale terror derived from the essence of ice and snow, letting a wisp of deathly divine power, like jade, seep from her fingertips into the daffodils. The flowers emitted a ghostly light, and in the next moment, Hebes had silently entered the Underworld. Before her appeared a dark, seemingly endless river, the first river at the entrance of the Underworld, called Acheron. Anyone wishing to enter the Underworld must first cross this river. However, this river had no buoyancy; even a deity, without the help of the ferryman Charon, would risk losing their divine power and sinking into eternal oblivion if they fell in. Hebes removed her veil, her pale terror and plague divine essence shining brightly. Divine power enveloped her entire being, her golden hair gradually turning into a dense ink-black color, her magnificent purple eyes tinged with crimson, and her beautiful face becoming enchanting, giving her an icy and alluring demeanor. Even if she were to encounter the gods of Olympus now, no one would be able to associate her with Hebes, the goddess of life. Hebes waited by the river for a moment, and soon a figure appeared, ferrying across the waters. His skin was a bluish hue, holding a long pole, and his eyes burned with ghostly blue flames. He was Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld. 'Crossing the river?" Charon looked at the unfamiliar goddess with his ghostly blue eyes. Judging from her divine power, he recognized her as a deity of the Underworld and asked. '…" Hebes remained silent, merely nodding as she handed Charon a divine coin made from the essence of plague and death. Charon weighed the coin, nodded in satisfaction, and without further questions, gestured for her to board the boat. He then used his long pole to row the boat toward the other side of the river. Riding the ferryman's boat, Hebes quickly entered the Underworld. It was indeed as rumored—dark and desolate, devoid of life; compared to the environment of Olympus, it was in a league of its own. Hebes took out the Veil of Night once more and donned it as she sped through the Underworld, arriving at a corner near the boundary, not far from the Underworld prison that held the sinful gods—Tartarus. Hebes dared not approach too closely; Tartarus was guarded by a cyclops, and she couldn't guarantee that any noise she made wouldn't be detected. She only needed to draw upon a wisp of Tartarus's aura to fabricate a reasonable identity for the doppelgänger she was about to create. Hebes took out a seed of all things that she had secretly hidden away when creating new humanity. With her jade-like fingers, she traced a divine pattern, extracting the divine power belonging to the Earth Mother Gaia. Without the Earth Mother's power, the shimmering seed of all things transformed into a mundane object. With a flip of her palm, the compressed form of Python appeared in her hand. She activated her life divine power, refining it into the purest abyssal magic. Hebes's fingers danced as the laws of life intertwined in her hands, guiding the two powers to merge with each other. The golden-green light belonging to the Earth Mother gradually fused with the purple ghostly light of Tartarus under Hebes's manipulation. As time passed, Hebes's divine power flowed away like water, and she had to take out her life staff to replenish her strength. After an unknown period of catalysis, the two powers finally transformed into a purple-golden divine egg. It's done! Hebes forced out a drop of divine blood and inscribed her mark upon the divine egg. She closed her eyes, and her already solidified divine soul leaped forth. 'Split!" With Hebes's command, an invisible blade of soul struck at her divine soul, severing half of it away. The agony of the soul's rupture made Hebes's face pale, but she controlled the severed half of her soul with a wave of her hand, merging it into the divine egg. She then activated the divine essence within her heart, sending the death divine essence representing pale terror, which had evolved from the ice and snow divine essence, and the plague divine essence obtained from Apollo into the body of the divine egg. The divine essences, shimmering with pale and purple-black light, merged into the divine egg, which lit up as a slumbering deity slowly took shape within. A smile crept onto Hebes's lips as she looked at the black-haired deity with wings sleeping inside. This was her other half, a deity with a nature completely opposite to her own, born from the Underworld—the god of death, Pakos, who reaped lives with plague and frost. No god on the divine mountain could possibly connect the dots between these two deities. Hebes bent down and gently caressed the divine egg, burying it within the underworld soil and setting up multiple protective barriers around it. Her other half had just been born and would need some time to gestate before it could hatch. During this period, she could only ensure its safety as much as possible… The seed had been planted, and Hebes temporarily left the Underworld, awaiting the future. Time was the least valuable thing for deities, slipping through their fingers like fine sand, rushing by in a matter of decades.