Godslayer's Legend

Going back in time by a few hundred hours, the Hell universe had received a visitor whose arrival caused alarm to the members of the Devildom’s Royal Family.

Creusery rushed through the castle’s corridors toward one of Diablo’s offices, slammed the doors open, and immediately shouted.

"Dad, something’s wrong!"

Diablo instantly frowned. "What?"

"Hades’ Arbiter is here," Creusery said.

For a moment, Diablo stared at Creusery in confusion, trying to process what he had just heard. But knowing his son wasn’t one to joke about things like this, he rose from his seat.

"Explain."

"The Burning Realms security detected a spacecraft approaching through the same route Hades always uses, and when the ship was surrounded, the person inside identified himself as an Arbiter sent by Hades and requested to speak with Arthur and Leya."

Diablo’s frown deepened as he moved with Creusery toward the throne hall.

When the doors opened before them, they saw a god in black robes with runic inscriptions, the exact same uniform Diablo had seen on the last Olympian guest received in this hall no more than a week earlier.

Upon sensing Diablo’s presence, the man placed a hand in front of his chest and bowed.

"Greetings to His Majesty, the King of Hell. I am Zeeyr, Arbiter of the Underworld, serving under His Majesty, King Hades."

"Arbiter?" Diablo repeated. "You’re an Arbiter?"

"Yes," Zeeyr replied with a nod.

The man opened his palm and summoned a familiar-looking token, presenting it to Diablo.

An Underworld Token.

"His Majesty instructed me to present this," Zeeyr said. "His Highness has the means to verify its authenticity."

For a moment, there was silence, and sensing something off, Zeeyr looked between Diablo and Creusery, confusion forming in his expression.

"Is there a problem?"

"Not long ago, someone with that exact same token came here claiming to be an Arbiter sent by Hades," Creusery explained.

Zeeyr’s expression instantly changed to one of disbelief.

"That’s impossible," he said, shaking his head. "I’m the only Arbiter His Majesty sent. I was directly ordered to lead His Highness and Her Highness to the Underworld. My mission was top secret, and no other besides His Majesty should know I’m here."

"But another Arbiter definitely came," Creusery replied, then pointed at the token. "He had this token, and Arthur verified it."

Zeeyr froze in shock at Creusery’s words.

"Impossible. What is the name of this Arbiter? And how exactly did His Highness verify the token?"

"Arthur used a crystal containing a charge of Hades’ Authority," Diablo said. "When he infused it with divinity, it pulled the token in like a magnet."

Hearing that, Zeeyr nodded lightly.

"Yes, that’s what should happen when an Underworld Token comes into contact with His Majesty’s Authorit—!"

He suddenly went silent, eyes widening slightly as he looked up at Diablo and Creusery.

"Did the token glow when His Highness verified it?!"

When Diablo silently shook his head, Zeeyr’s expression darkened.

"Impossible. Underworld Tokens are created through His Majesty’s Authority. When exposed to his Authority, magnetisation is the minimum reaction. The divinity inside the token should respond to His Majesty’s divinity and glow with His Majesty’s colour.

The only tokens that do not glow are deactivated Tokens, and deactivation only happens under rare circumstances."

"Circumstances like what?" Diablo asked.

"Incapacitation, death, or worse...removal from duty."

Clearly, for the Arbiters of the Underworld, losing their position was seen as a fate even worse than death itself, but that was not the point that mattered here.

What mattered was that the token brought by the Arbiter who had gone to Olympus with Arthur and Cattleya was deactivated.

"What is the name of this Arbiter?" Zeeyr asked, his voice colder.

"Pheldir."

Hearing Creusery’s response, a light of recognition appeared in Zeeyr’s eyes, and his expression changed.

"I know of him. He’s a high-ranking Arbiter who’s been missing for over a year. There were even rumours that he was a traitor!"

He immediately turned around and rushed towards the exit, shouting, "I need to go to Olympus now. His Highness is in danger!"

Creusery clicked his tongue in annoyance and moved after him, but before he could take another step forward, Diablo reached out and grabbed Creusery’s shoulder, stopping him.

"Wait. They left over a week ago. You won’t catch them even if you travel at full speed."

"Then what do you expect us to do?!" Creusery shot back.

Silence filled the throne hall for a moment.

Then Diablo clicked his tongue and muttered, "I really hate when my bad feelings turn out to be right."

He looked back at Creusery. "Get Larry. Tell him I need to use that trip Arthur passed to me."

Creusery’s eyes widened in realisation, and he immediately turned and rushed out of the throne hall.

Left behind, Diablo clenched his fists as his eyes narrowed and he muttered,

"Arthur... what the hell are you planning?"

◇　◇　◇

The Arthur whom Diablo suspected was "planning" something was currently on a planet in Olympus, sitting casually while swinging his legs and humming along to the tune of the music echoing through the square at the centre of the city Cattleya had left him in.

The city square around Arthur had become far livelier than it had been earlier in the day. The festival that he and Cattleya had arrived to see at noon was now in full swing, and the entire square was overflowing with people.

Music echoed through the streets from every direction as groups of musicians played with drums, flutes, cymbals, stringed instruments, and bells, their melodies blending into the atmosphere of the celebration.

Vendors lined the streets and edges of the square, selling food, drinks, ornaments, accessories, and flowers, while crowds moved between them laughing and speaking excitedly.

’There are flowers everywhere.’

There were flowers woven around the fountain at the centre of the square, flowers hanging from lamp posts and balconies, flowers decorating vendor stalls, and flowers draped across strings of lights hanging overhead.

Almost everyone in the square wore flowers somehow. Some had wreaths resting on their heads, some wore rings of flowers around their necks, and others held bouquets or single flowers in their hands while they walked through the crowd.

Suddenly, a firework shot into the sky, the glowing explosion blossoming high above the city, expanding into the shape of a massive flower made of golden light.

"That looks cool," Arthur muttered, looking up

As the firework slowly faded, the atmosphere in the square changed again.

More dancers began gathering toward the centre around the flower-covered fountain, and more people cleared away from the middle to make space for them. The tempo of the music gradually increased as the instruments became louder and more energetic, and pairs of dancers began moving around.

Partners moved in circles around each other while stepping in rhythm to the drums and strings, their joined hands pulling one another into spins before separating and reconnecting again. Groups crossed paths around the fountain in overlapping patterns while skirts, robes, and ribbons moved together with the music.

As the tempo rose further, the dancers started switching partners.

People laughed as they turned from one partner to another in rhythm with the clanging of cymbals, and some of the dancers even reached toward the edges of the square and pulled spectators into the dance alongside them.

At the same time, several people carrying bags filled with flowers began weaving through the moving dancers, encircling one pair after another.

Whenever the crowd cheered loudly toward a particular pair, those carrying the flowers would begin placing flowers into the dancers’ hair or around their shoulders until the cheering died down, after which they would move toward another pair and repeat the process again.

Arthur watched the entire thing for a while before muttering,

"Are they doing some sort of selection for best dancers or something?"

Right as he said that, the cymbals rang loudly again as partners switched once more, and several people sitting near the edge of the square were suddenly pulled into the dance by the passing dancers.

Unknowingly, Arthur had chosen to sit in the exact area reserved for those willing to join the dance, so when the sound of the cymbals echoed, one of the young women among the dancers reached toward him and pulled him to his feet.

Of course, Arthur could’ve easily stopped a mere mortal from dragging him anywhere, but honestly, there wasn’t much point in bothering over something so harmless. The mood around the square was cheerful, and he didn’t particularly mind, so he simply allowed himself to be pulled into the fold.

The musicians switched songs almost immediately afterwards, and the dance began again with even more energy than before.

Arthur found himself moving together with the unfamiliar young woman as the dancers circled around the fountain. Their joined hands separated and reconnected repeatedly as they moved through the crowd, turning alongside other pairs while the music echoed through the square.

Then once more, the loud clash of cymbals echoed through the festival, and partners switched again.

The young woman released Arthur’s hand and turned toward the next person behind her, while Arthur decided to continue playing along with the atmosphere and turned toward the person behind him as well.

He reached out and took the hand extended towards him, and the moment he did, his eyes widened slightly.

’Oh wow.’

Arthur quickly controlled his expression, maintaining his smile as he continued dancing.

’What a twist of fate,’ Arthur thought internally.

The young woman whose hands he held laughed as the two of them continued dancing together, and barely a minute later, the sound of clanging cymbals echoed through the square again, but this time the cymbals rang three separate times.

Arthur blinked in confusion since he had no idea what that meant.

He looked toward the woman in front of him and asked, "Is this the part where we’re supposed to switch partners again?"

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