The Sword Emperor Transmigrates-Chapter 259

Class 9 Grand Magi represented the peak of magic, and so they were often regarded as half-gods, much like the martial artists in the Demigod Tier. However, there were many differences between them, mobility being the most significant one.

Demigod Tier martial artists could easily reach the speed of sound and even accelerate to outpace lightning. However, they couldn’t teleport unless they were a master of spatial mind martial arts. They could traverse hundreds of kilometers using land shrinking, but they couldn’t swiftly travel thousands of kilometers like mages could.

In a sense, this represented a difference in the way martial arts and magic functioned. Mages could teleport thousands of kilometers by manipulating the laws of nature, but that power wasn’t necessarily their own. It was more like using a very advanced shortcut that not everyone could learn. Martial artists, on the other hand, refined their abilities solely through their bodies, so there were major intrinsic differences.

Even Leonard, with his deep understanding of magic granted by his Dragon Heart, grasped that.

It’s my first time seeing someone use magic with such ease. I can’t believe he transported us to the other side of the world without even using magical commands or arrays.

Once they decided to attempt to negotiate with the Void Deity Hades, all Simon Magnus had to do was simply thump his staff on the ground. A faint thud was all it took to transport three people all the way into the Divine Territory, which was even farther than the southern seas.

If they had used lightness arts or aura techniques instead, it would have taken at least a few hours to arrive.

If I could make my Azure Dragon Qi achieve divinity, I could become one with lightning and make an entire lap around the world in just a few seconds... but I can’t deny that magic is much more efficient than martial arts in this aspect.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

Demian looked just as astonished, blinking repeatedly as he took in their unfamiliar surroundings. When his eyes met Leonard’s, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

Although Simon Magnus had teleported them across an incredibly vast distance, he showed no signs of wariness.

“I believe the Divine Territory is that way,” Simon said as he scanned the area. “I sense a strong dimensional disruption in that direction. It doesn’t feel as foreign as a Corroded Realm, but there’s an area that abides by its own rules of nature. It’s my first time entering a principal god’s Divine Territory as well.”

Mages were weakest against gods because they could wield authorities that were inherent to their powers, so even Grand Magi rarely ventured into Divine Territories or approached Void Deities. However, Simon had already done this several times before in an attempt to uncover knowledge that would help him become a Class 10 mage.

“Oh? These stairs must be the entrance,” he observed.

“I’d assume they lead to the Underworld,” Demian agreed. “According to the legends, he who enters the Underworld shall never come back alive. There might be a rule saying we can’t look behind us either.”

“Ah yes, the famous tale of Orpheus.”

Not even Demigod Tier knights could be sure they would make it out alive if they entered the domain of one of Olympus’s three principal gods.

But the three unwelcome guests did not waver. They immediately moved down the stairs, descending into an unnatural darkness that seemed ceaseless, even to them. It wasn’t too late to turn back, but they were here to negotiate, and breaking the rules would just be a display of bad faith.

Leonard suddenly flinched as he felt the divine power within him stir.

...The Black Tortoise is reacting. It’s associated with longevity and immortality, while Hades is the god of death.

The Black Tortoise, or Xuanwu, was said to rule over death and was often depicted as a leader of countless ghosts, so he had a lot in common with Hades, who was the king of the afterlife. When Leonard felt Hades’s power for himself, the Black Turtle’s divine power amplified a little. Now that it could reach greater heights through Deification, it could learn from a Void Deity’s authority.

“We’re here,” Demian said.

Before them lay the ancient Underworld, complete with its five rivers, and beyond them, the Asphodel Meadows and the Elysian Fields.

“I don’t see Hades’s palace. I suppose we will have to venture deeper into the heart of the Underworld,” Magnus added.

“It’s not very dark even though we’re underground,” Leonard observed. “But I don’t see any sources of light—wait.”

He squinted and looked up, and so did Simon. The Grand Magus recognized the blue shimmering light coming from the ceiling.

“Soul stones. They are the souls of those who weren’t wicked enough to be sent to Tartarus but were still sufficiently sinful. I see they’ve used them to light the area.”

“How long do they have to remain in that form?” Leonard asked.

“I heard it varies greatly depending on the severity of their sins. Some may be released after only a few years, but some may remain there for centuries—or so they say. Either way, those soul stones are only an illusion. Divine Territories are merely echoes of ancient realms.”

The countless soul stones embedded in the ceiling were so ethereal that it was hard to believe they weren’t real. This Divine Territory was far more advanced than the other ones Leonard had been to, which all had a clear sense of artificiality.

“In any case, I don’t think we’ll be able to move around using flying or spatial abilities,” Demian said as they climbed down a crag and approached the first river. “We might have to follow the rules of the Underworld to cross the rivers.”

Simon nodded in agreement.

As Hades’s Underworld was very well-documented, Leonard took the chance to speak first.

“This is the river of woe, the Acheron. The legends say you can only cross over with the blessing of the boatman Charon.”[1]

“Right,” Demian said. “In the ancient days, mourners placed a coin in the mouths or on the eyes of the dead to pay for their passage to the Underworld.”

“But they only did that for the dead. Can the living also cross the river just by paying with a coin?” Leonard asked.

“No. We have to get permission from Hades or convince Charon to let us in. We might have to appeal to his emotions like Orpheus did, or prove our strength like the hero Heracles did.”

The trio didn’t have many options to choose from. But if they were forced to fight, Charon wouldn’t be that strong of an opponent, considering how he wasn’t in his original form and only existed because of his affiliation with Hades.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Right then, the crew heard the gentle sound of paddling from beyond the mist.

It was the boatman Charon—a popular figure in Olympian mythology, the ferryman who guided the dead to the Underworld. At last, he was here.

He was clad in long, heavy robes. If it weren’t for his tall, stooping figure and calloused hands, it would be hard to tell who or what he was.

Just as the three were trying to figure out what he would demand and how they would be able to convince him, Charon reached the shore.

“You may board my boat.”

It seemed they didn’t even need to hand him coins or fight him. Leonard, Simon, and Demian all blinked in surprise.

“You do not require payment?” Simon asked.

“As my master has invited you as his guests, I do not.” He lifted his oar and pointed to the other side of the Acheron. “However, you will face trials as you cross the river, and you must overcome all obstacles before you reach my master. You may think of it as a test to see if living beings such as yourselves deserve passage into the Underworld.”

“Ah, like Heracles?” Demian asked.

“...That man was a bit of an exception.”

Even before he became a god, the legendary hero defeated the guard dog of the Underworld with his bare hands and threatened even Helios, the god of the sun, and Poseidon, the god of the sea, with his poisoned arrows dipped in the Hydra’s blood. Not knowing who he was, Charon had blocked his way into the Underworld and Heracles gave him a severe beating.

Ultimately, he ferried him across the river without any payment and was put in chains for a year as punishment. A tragic fate for someone who was something like a middleman; he hadn’t had a choice either way.

Charon was silent for a moment as he recalled those distant memories. But as soon as Leonard, Simon, and Demian boarded the boat, he collected himself and announced, “Let us depart.”

As Charon rowed with his large paddle, the ferryboat quickly made its way down the Acheron and soon approached the next river—Cocytus, the river of wailing.

The surface reflected the sorrows of one’s past life, filling them with grief. Some ghosts would instinctively reach out to touch the water, only for their souls to freeze over as they fell in.

...Hm? Wait, does that mean the river holds potent yin energy?[2]

Leonard didn’t think any further as he reached out to touch Cocytus’s water. And as expected, a ghastly coldness crept into him. Even as a Demigod Tier knight, if he failed to suppress the energy, his flesh and soul would freeze over.

“Heavens.” Charon was shocked by the impulsive gesture. “To think that you have acquired the divine power of Cocytus. You must be one of us. Forgive me for not recognizing you sooner.”

He was right. The Black Tortoise residing in Leonard’s Mindscape had opened its eyes and drank the water like it was nectar. Its jet-black shell darkened even more, progressing its Deification and bringing Leonard one step closer to perfecting the balance of his yin-yang.

Through this shortcut, Leonard had instantly closed the narrow gap between the divine powers of the Black Tortoise and the Vermillion Bird.

Demian and Simon had also turned around to watch him, so they barely noticed as they reached the end of Cocytus.

“This is the river of fire, the Phlegethon.”

Flames flowed like the currents of a river in a way that shouldn’t have been possible. The fire burned away the evil and wickedness of one’s soul, but it didn’t affect the living. However, Leonard did something strange again.

Now that the Black Tortoise was sated, it was time for the Vermillion Bird to feast.

“And even the divine power of the Phlegethon...!” Charon exclaimed in awe, his eyes going wide under the shadow of his hood.

Only those with very specific divine affiliations could draw upon the power of the purifying flames, and there were less than ten gods in the Olympus pantheon who could do so.

The Vermillion Bird spread its wings, growing in size. Its flames shone even more brilliantly as it took in the power to wash away impurities.

It was a strange sight. They had come here to convince Hades to cooperate with them, and yet here was Leonard, rapidly growing his power.

“I hope Hades won’t mind that I drank from his rivers,” Leonard said.

“My master is generous. Indeed, everything in this domain belongs to him, but he will not rebuke you for something so trivial.”

“Haha.” Demian chuckled, unabashedly joining in on Charon’s awe. “They say Divine Territories are mere replicas of the original realms, but these waters should still be quite dangerous, considering the rules of the Underworld...”

Simon’s eyes sparkled as he and Demian watched Leonard. But Leonard himself was too busy feeding the Vermillion Bird to notice.

“I see we have already arrived at Lethe. I have rarely reached this river so swiftly.”

The ferryboat was already approaching the fourth river. The river of wailing was the second most famous river of the Underworld. Here, the souls had their memories erased to prepare for reincarnation or to simply begin anew in the afterlife.

However, none of the three visitors were interested in that; they simply enjoyed the tranquil view until they reached the final river.

“What the...?!”

“Hm.”

“This one looks almost indistinguishable from its original form.”

They had arrived at the River Styx, the river of many myths imbued with incredible power.

1. Most sources, including Homer’s Iliad, depict the River Styx as the entrance to the Underworld. However, there are some other mythological accounts that say Charon rows the dead over the Acheron instead. The Acheron has also been depicted as a lake and used as a synonym for the Underworld, such as in Aescheylus’s Agamemnon and Euripides’s fragments. ☜

2. Yin is associated with cold, darkness, and the netherworld. ☜