Soma appeared at the Entrance to Hell. Just as he expected, Hades’ Realm is rejecting his other powers. As such, he opted to temporarily seal his other powers and only use the portion of his soul which is the reincarnation of Hades. Both of his eyes turned completely scarlet black upon doing so. He slowly ascended the steps towards the first checkpoint of the Underworld.

Soma’s first stop was Hell’s Gate. The large Gate contains the message “All those entering should abandon all hope.” Unaffected by the message, Soma made his way towards it, causing the gate to tremble in response.

“Hmph!”

“Abandon All Hope?”

“Who need it?”

“I am the Darkness! I do not need any hope.”

“But if you stand in my way, I will destroy you and this puny gate!”

The Hell’s Gate is supposed to prevent the living from entering the Underworld. Despite sealing his other powers, the Hell’s Gate detected that Soma is a living being possessing otherworldly powers and hence it tried to reject him, even if he is emanating Hades’ cosmos and aura.

“Trash Gate!”

“There is no need for you to stand any longer!”

Soma slowly pointed his right hand towards the engraved message on top of Hell’s Gate. He then drew several hand seals using only his right hand in a split second. Afterwards, he tightly clenched his hand into a fist.

“Disintegrate!”

The Hell’s Gate, which stood for several millennia, was instantly shattered and turned into dust. This caused the Guardians of the Eight Prisons to get startled. Soma then slowly made his way towards the River Acheron, where he was met by the guardian Specter and boatman Acheron Charon. Soma tossed a bag full of several gold and silver pieces towards Charon, which the latter greedily accepted.

“Take me to the other side.”

“Yes, noble guest.”

Unknowingly, Acheron Charon was plotting on how to eliminate Soma, which he viewed as a living being. The reason for this is that the other powers of Soma were conflicting with his Hades Powers, cancelling each other out. To the Specters guarding the Eight Prisons, he is but a living mortal who lost himself in the Underworld. Soma didn’t bother explaining himself as he nodded and turned into a mist. He appeared on board the Acheron Boat in a blink of an eye. Acheron Charon then slowly rowed his boat towards the other side.

When the two were in the middle of the river, several tortured souls were trying to climb aboard the boat. However, Acheron Charon used his staff to break their hands. When Charon thought that Soma was spacing out, he immediately performed his sneak attack.

“Acheron Twin Attack!”

“Rolling Oar and Eddying Current Crasher Combo!!”

Faced with the combo attack, Soma did not even bother to dodge. When the attacks were a meter before him, the attacks naturally dissipated on their own, as if possessing their own sentience. Acheron Charon was taken aback by this.

“Impossible!”

“How could a living mortal dissipate my attacks without any effort!”

“Who exactly are you, human!”

Soma did not answer Acheron Charon’s question. Instead, he provide his own.

“Your brothers also ferry others, right?”

“Two of them happen to be at my Castle.”

“I think you will be the third ferryman.”

Acheron Charon was taken aback. He had lost his brothers centuries ago, not knowing what happened to them. He was startled with this sudden development, as he remembered the last words of his older brother before they parted.

“Charon, I’ll be ferrying all kinds of beings in that castle.”

“This is my destiny, as yours is to become a ferryman in the Underworld.”

Acheron Charon looked at Soma, and he trembled in fear. He suddenly got on his knees and begged for forgiveness.

“I’m so sorry, my lord. I didn’t know that the Prince of Darkness was my passenger.”

“Please do not kill me and enslave my soul, I beg of you!”

Soma did not bother with Charon’s begging as he directly held him by the neck.

“Foolish Specter, do you even know who I am?”

“Once I get my Surplice I will torture you day and night before bringing you into the frontlines of the Holy War!”

“I’ll make sure your brothers share the same fate as you!”

Soma then released his Hades Aura and Darkness Cosmos, which startled Charon. Afterwards, several notifications rang on Soma’s head.

“Ding!”

“Your mastery of your Hades Powers has risen.”

“Continue to work hard, Vessel of Light and Darkness!”

Soma ignored the notifications as his deep black eyes stared at Charon. Charon felt that he lost himself into the deepest abyss of Hell as he realized his mistake. Cold sweat could be seen in his forehead, and it also drenched his back.

“Forgive me, Hades-sama, I didn’t realize that it was you!”

“I deserve to die a thousand times!”

Soma released Charon, and the latter immediately kowtowed to the former. Good thing that his boat was made from the strongest Underworld Tree, the bearer of the Soul Sealing Beads found in the deepest parts of Tartarus, or it would have already been broken into splinters.

“Enough!”

“Just take me to the other side, and you will not speak about this to your fellow Specters!”

“Once I make my way to Elysium, all of you will know who I really am, and all of you will answer to my summons!”

Charon brought Soma to the other side and upon descending the boat, the former still kowtowed solemnly to the latter.

“Forgive me, Milord!”

“Please kill me in order for me to atone for my grave sin!”

Charon kept banging his head on the ground. Soma did not even bother to turn around and slowly made his way towards the first prison.

“I said enough, Charon!”

“Continue as before, if you do not want to become like Hell’s Gate!”

Acheron Charon was startled upon hearing this, and this further confirmed his assumptions that Hell’s Gate was indeed destroyed.

“I understand, Hades-Sama!”

“Charon obeys!”

With steps as light as a feather, Soma continued his way towards the First prison, ascending the steps one at a time.

“For a reincarnation of Hades, why is Hell’s Will making trouble with me?”

“I’ll acquire all of Hades’ Powers and no human, no God, no Deity, no Vampire, no Reincarnation of Hades can stop me!”

“Do you hear me, Alone?”

“Wait for me, I’ll be there shortly.”