Chapter 358: Underworld King Instant Kill

However, being able to catch suitable research material also means we can endure the pain of aesthetic fatigue; let's go, kids!

The Plague Doctor suddenly quickened his pace, running toward the inverted pyramid at an unbelievable speed; in the blink of an eye he had already run nearly a hundred meters, his speed not at all inferior to that of an adult Astate.

?

Seeing this, the Grey Knights said nothing, but the silent atmosphere was equivalent to extreme astonishment.

How could this strange doctor run so fast??

Even Artemis was momentarily stunned, but she quickly gripped her Full Moon Bow again and ordered: "Forward."

Yes!

Next, Artemis and the thirty Grey Knights marched briskly, raising dust on this hellish desert that only a convoy could kick up.

Conversely, the Plague Doctor's speed kept increasing, leaving Artemis and the Grey Knights far behind; moreover, the most amazing thing was that he could accelerate while running and still take out a notebook to write.

However…

The Plague Doctor is an anomalous phenomenon native to Earth; since it's already "abnormal," where could there be any logic?

Therefore, the Plague Doctor reached the pyramid's bottom tip—the entrance to the interior—one step ahead of Artemis and the others.

Here, there were countless demonic creatures.

The vast majority of them were misshapen, twisted humanoids, their skin uniformly a sticky, blood‑red hue, with gloomy eyes glowing green, fixedly staring at the extremely tiny, lone Plague Doctor.

Next, the demons revealed extremely greedy smiles, making their already hideous faces even more loathsome.

They can't defeat an Astate, so could they not subdue a "little guy"?

But before the demons could strike, the Plague Doctor deliberately approached the nearest one—a bull‑headed, humanoid demon about six meters tall—and extended his right hand to touch its left calf.

Huh??

The instant the Plague Doctor touched it, the bull‑headed demon felt numb all over; after letting out a confused grunt, it could no longer control itself and collapsed into unconsciousness, falling face‑up with a "thud" onto the sand.

Hmm‑hmm, how fresh and tasty… oh, no, I mean how lively a specimen this is… today's haul is rich.

All we heard was the Plague Doctor humming a tune as he opened his pack with his left hand, grabbed the bull‑headed demon's foot with his right, and—right before the demons' eyes—single‑handedly lifted the demon and shoved this "poor" fellow into his small bag.

The whole process went smoothly, like flowing clouds and water.

?!!!!

What the hell is going on?!

The demons were dumbfounded.

Conversely, the Plague Doctor thought catching just one live specimen wasn't enough, so he scanned the surrounding demons, flexed his wrists, and smiled: "Please cooperate with my work and stay still where you are."

Cooperate?

How could they possibly cooperate?!

Roar!!

Already frightened by Artemis, the Grey Knights, and the reserves, the demons panicked, turned, and fled while shouting; to them, this strange doctor before them was now a million times more terrifying than an Astate.

Soon after.

When Artemis and the others arrived at the pyramid's entrance, they happened to see the Plague Doctor stuffing a beast‑like demon into his pack and waving at her and the Grey Knights.

"…" Artemis and the others were speechless.

At first, I thought the Plague Doctor was merely an eccentric, learned medical or clerical worker; even if he had some combat ability, he should still be far weaker than an Astate.

Thus, this Plague Doctor is far from being as simple as everyone imagined.

In fact, Artemis and these Grey Knights joined Umbrella later than the Plague Doctor did; at that time, the Plague Doctor could be successfully controlled by Hank, one of humanity's peaks, mainly because he was willing to cooperate—if he weren't, the then‑Umbrella had no way to forcibly control this doctor.

After a brief moment of surprise, everyone entered the pyramid together, continuing upward to investigate, attempting to find the imprisoned "spirit" recorded in the texts, or the "evil god" that carried out the imprisonment.

They walked in.

Its interior largely resembled the pyramid ruins on the surface of Sokoyang, except everything was reversed—what were once clean walls were now covered with writhing, twitching blood‑streams and viscous pus‑like fluid.

If an ordinary person saw this, they'd surely keep their distance, but the Plague Doctor was thrilled to collect samples, exclaiming: "Heaven! If I'd known a field trip could yield this much material, I wouldn't have stayed holed up on Earth!"

Afterward, while listening to the Plague Doctor's chatter, they weaved through the pyramid, passed the reverse hall with its load‑bearing columns, and continued on until they reached the pyramid's highest point—the largest plaza.

Here, instead of the imagined demon gathering, the plaza's center held two stone pillars etched with markings, and metal chains hung from their tops, tightly binding a "prisoner" standing between the two pillars.

Not far behind that prisoner stood a crystal sarcophagus; due to the angle, Artemis couldn't see what or who lay inside, but the moment she saw the prisoner, she blurted out:

"Uncle?"

Even with disheveled hair, Artemis could still recognize him—her paternal uncle, and formerly one of the Twelve Olympian Gods, the Underworld King Hades.

?

Hearing the familiar voice, the Hades bound by the metal chains regained a bit of consciousness, slowly lifted his head, and with his blood‑shot eyes gazed forward; then his expression froze, unable to believe that his niece, who had been ambushed by the demon Samael and fallen into a deep sleep, would appear here.

"Little…" Hades had just begun to warn something.

"Boom—!!!" he was cut off by a shudder like an earth‑shaking tremor.

All that could be seen was a humanoid Titan four hundred meters tall, its skin blazing fire, its eyes like green gemstones, with horns on either side of its forehead, leaping from the sky and landing on the desert at the pyramid's edge.

Furthermore, as the Titan touched down, the sky‑scorching flames that had been burning continuously vanished without a trace, as if the flames that had enveloped the entire region were merely the Titan's incarnation.

Thus, this Titan is likely the evil god recorded as having imprisoned the Underworld King Hades.

Had it been tens of thousands of years ago, before Artemis was pierced in the abdomen by Cassius's gun and fell into slumber, she would have habitually announced her identity, asked the opponent's name, then probed each other to gauge their strength.

But after awakening, especially under Sui Bian's influence, Artemis was just as disinclined to speak or to test; the moment she saw the anomaly in the sky and the Titan descending into her view, she had already retracted her comparatively weaker Full Moon Bow, drawn the Thunderbolt with her right hand, and pointed its tip at the Titan…

Ri—!!!

The Thunderbolt's crystal blazed ever brighter, emitting a piercing golden Spiritual Energy glow.

Crack!!!

A bolt of Spiritual Energy lightning shot out, twisted and bent; in a single strike it shattered and dispersed the Titan's humanoid body.

The whole process didn't even last two seconds.

Two seconds later, the region's flames died out, the whispers and corruption ceased, everything returned to calm, and as Artemis shook her slightly numb right hand and re‑hung the Thunderbolt at her waist, it signified that the battle was completely over.

"Ah, what a fine specimen." Only the plague doctor kept shaking his head, regretting the already instantly slain Titan whose name he didn't even know.

"Fortunately there's still one..." At that moment, the plague doctor turned his deep gaze toward Hades, his look gradually becoming scorching.

..." Artemis glanced at the plague doctor, then stepped forward and ordered: "Ran Min, bring your brothers with me; the rest of the squad, disperse and stay on alert."

"All right, ma'am."

The four squads of Grey Knights instantly dispersed; another squad of Grey Knights, together with Artemis and the plague doctor, walked to the center of the plaza to inspect the crystal coffin and the bound Hades.

As she approached, Hades, extremely weak, said: "Artemis… you… how did you get here? Is that… lightning? Zeus… how is he?"

"It's a long story… uncle." Artemis didn't rush to explain, but told the plague doctor: "Doctor, I'll leave the rest to you for now."

"Hahaha, all right, kid, don't worry—I may be impatient, but I won't shortchange a cooperative patient. All right, let me examine you!"

The plague doctor chuckled, pulled out his favorite large bone saw from his small pack, easily cut the metal chains binding Hades so he could lie flat on the ground, then took out various tools to conduct a full examination of Hades, to see if he had contracted the plague—or, put another way, to see if he had been corrupted.

Artemis's Spiritual Perception told her that Hades was still the kindly uncle she knew from ten thousand years ago, only his divine power (Spiritual Energy) had weakened to its lowest point.

But she didn't readily trust Hades, after all corruption in other dimensions takes many forms, so Artemis had the plague doctor conduct the examination.

"Ma'am!" At that moment, Grey Knight Ran Min, having seen the scene inside the coffin, hurriedly reported to Artemis: "There's also someone here who appears to be an inhabitant of Mount Olympus."

?

Upon hearing that, Artemis walked slowly to the crystal coffin, looked down, and saw a stunning "goddess" with a golden-ratio figure, wearing a black ancient Greek-style dress, with long black hair.

Moreover, this "goddess"'s visage bore some resemblance to Artemis, though she looked much older, lacking Artemis's air of being out of touch, and was more steady and mature.

Persephone?

Upon seeing that "goddess", Artemis recognized the one lying in the coffin as her half‑sister and also her aunt, the "Underworld Queen" Persephone.

As for the reason she's her aunt…

Because Persephone and Hades are a married couple.

There's nothing to be done—the relationships among the Olympian gods are extremely chaotic, which is why she initially avoided getting involved and kept to herself; nevertheless, Persephone and Hades truly qualify as a model couple among the gods.

Seeing that the one lying in the coffin was her sister, Artemis reached out with both hands, trying to lift the lid.

But with a "sizzle!", her hands were burned by an electric current, forcing her to abandon the idea of lifting the lid.

It seems this coffin is under some kind of curse, one that even her strength cannot dispel.

"Ma'am?" Ran Min aimed his dedicated power spear at the coffin.

"No problem." Artemis waved her hands, which emitted a few wisps of green smoke, and said: "Move the coffin; get ready to withdraw from here."

"Yes." Seeing that his instructor and superior were unharmed, Ran Min lowered his spear blade and began directing his brothers to move the coffin.

Meanwhile, Artemis returned to the plague doctor and Hades' side, asking: "Doctor, how is it?"

"Hmm…" the plague doctor murmured, shaking his head slightly, and replied: "The situation isn't good; the patient has sustained irreversible physical damage. The only bit of good news is that, although he's in the midst of the plague, he hasn't been infected by it."

"Enough." Artemis set aside her worries and continued: "Doctor, please finish the examination quickly; we need to withdraw from this chaotic region."

"All right, kid, give me five minutes—no! Three minutes will suffice."

———————

…

Fourteen days later.

The inner world of the Terra Shield.

The Round Moon, with its wings unfolded, sailed through the perpetually open polar entrance into the inner world, then proceeded at a steady pace to the New Raccoon City‑dedicated starport of Umbrella.

Another half hour passed; inside the underground base located a hundred meters beneath the new headquarters building, Artemis and the Grey Knights, having removed their powered armor, accompanied the plague doctor and the soldiers tasked with his safety, using an anti‑gravity cart, led the comatose Hades lying on a sickbed and Persephone still in the crystal coffin toward the central hall.

The gate opened.

They walked inside.

Always dressed in a black formal suit, Sui Bian also appeared in everyone's view.

"Ah~! Sir, I'm so glad to see you as soon as I get back from my trip!" Upon spotting Sui Bian, the plague doctor exclaimed excitedly, seeming quite pleased with this business trip.

"Chairman." In public, Artemis no longer called him "boss"; she pushed the crystal coffin before Sui Bian and said respectfully: "We have no choice but to seal this coffin's curse."

"Hmm."

Sui Bian nodded, then extended his left index finger and lightly poked the coffin; hearing a "click—" and a "clatter!", the invisible, intangible seal was easily pierced by him.

Everyone who witnessed this had unchanged expressions, accustomed to it.

After all, any thing or any threat placed before the current chairman is an "instant kill"; the Grey Knights even believe that if a true evil god dared to step into the physical universe, the result would surely be a sound thrashing by their father.

And Sui Bian, who had dispelled the curse, placed his hands behind his back, smiled at the plague doctor and Artemis, and said: "All right, it's time to learn about the fate of this underworld couple."

"Yes, Chairman (Sir)."

(End of chapter)