Chapter 657: Pluto Dom
The Homebound Gods
For creatures living on Earth, home holds a special significance: it is the resting place of the soul and the harbor for the heart.
Everyone has a home, Humans and Gods alike.
Luke shared Hanyue's parting words, and when the heroes learned that the tentacled monsters' true purpose was to lead the Gods home, they fell silent. Empathizing with them, J'onn finally understood why the Gods were willing to become monsters.
It was all for the sake of going home.
For home, anything was worth doing.
Diana spoke with a hint of bitterness. "What do we do now? Should we leave?"
The main body of the tentacled monsters lay directly beneath the Plain of Bones. Staying here meant risking an attack at any moment. One or two Gods wouldn't be too bad, but if dozens of them showed up, escape would be difficult.
Luke shook his head. "It's too late to leave now. We must wait until at least daybreak."
Clark hesitated.
"Are you saying they only operate at night?"
"We didn't encounter anything when we arrived during the day, but at night, such a huge change happened. That tells us all we need to know." He paused, then added, "Leaving now isn't smart. The best course of action is to stay put and hide."
Diana pondered. "You plan to use magic."
Luke affirmed this, forming a hand seal. Golden light spilled from his fingertips, creating a milky-white barrier. This shield cut off the group's aura, making them imperceptible to outsiders. He then used an illusion spell, casting a mirage around them to deceive sight and hearing.
From above, the heroes vanished, replaced by a dense patch of shrubs.
Having done all this, Luke changed the hand seal, and his body shifted from solid to illusory, splitting off a phantom. The phantom gradually solidified, turning into an exact duplicate of Luke.
Diana was astonished. "Is that a..."
"A Soul Clone."
Luke spoke, sounding slightly fatigued. "I was meditating earlier to create it. It is linked to my consciousness and can be used to explore the situation inside the cave."
"Will it work?" Clark asked.
"Don't worry, absolutely."
Luke was confident. If the Demon-kin ancestors could do it, he certainly could.
The Soul Clone was homomorphic with the main body but lacked self-awareness. Luke endured the ripping sensation as he separated his consciousness and deposited it into the clone. Instantly, the world seemed to split into two, coexisting yet non-overlapping—a truly strange sensation.
The clone started moving toward the cave. The interior was pitch black. Even with fire, it was impossible to see the path ahead. This place seemed to connect to the abyss. The deeper he walked, the fuzzier his senses became. Gradually, he could no longer perceive his surroundings, and the connection to the main body became intermittent.
Sensing something wrong, Luke immediately stopped. He summoned flame in his hand and slammed it heavily into the ground.
Snap!
The sound of shattering glass came from below, followed by a terrifying suction. A spacetime vortex appeared beneath his feet, swallowing him whole. After a dizzying moment of weightlessness, Luke arrived in a world of absolute darkness.
There was nothing here: no light, no air. Everything visible was void. Even time felt blurred.
Luke looked around, completely lost.
He tried flying at full speed in one direction, but no matter how long he flew, he could find no landing point.
Darkness, pure darkness.
It was like a dead universe.
No wonder the Demon-kin ancestors said the exit connected to destruction. This was the reality of that destruction.
Luke wandered for a while, finding nothing else. He decided to dismiss the clone, and his consciousness returned to his body.
Diana quickly asked, "Well?"
"It's bad," Luke sighed softly. "The depths of the cave don't connect to Earth. They connect to a dark space. There's nothing there. I flew for a long time and couldn't find an exit. If I'm not mistaken, the Gods must have used some method to forcibly alter the spacetime node inside the cave."
Clark spoke with a hint of despair.
"Does that mean we can't go back?"
"No. There is still one way."
Luke looked up, gazing into the distance.
The Meeting with Pluto Dom
The Underworld, the realm of the dead, has existed since the dawn of the universe, spanning trillions of years. It represents death, one of the fundamental rules of the cosmos.
This rule condenses into a power, which is the divine essence of the Death Gods.
The Underworld has many Death Gods. Different civilizations give birth to different myths, and different myths give birth to different Death Gods. Death Gods are not immortal; they are tightly linked to the civilizations they represent. When a civilization dies out, so does its Death God.
Therefore, the lifespans of Underworld Death Gods rarely exceed 30,000 years, with few reaching 100,000, and hardly any reaching a million.
Among the many Death Gods known to Klind, only one has a lifespan exceeding a million years: Dom, the most powerful entity among the Gods of the Underworld.
During the ancient War of the Gods, he was the leader of the Underworld forces. Countless Human Gods died by his hand. Later, he was ambushed by several combined Human God Kings. After that battle, he left the battlefield and retreated to his temple to recover. It is said that he suffered severe injuries that have not healed for thousands of years.
Dom resides in Plutopolis, one of the largest cities in the Underworld, home to millions of creatures and a pilgrimage site for all Underworld races.
Klind arrived at the Plutopolis Temple via a portal. After explaining his purpose to the guards, he waited outside in anxious fear.
In the Valley of the Dead, he was the undisputed King. Here, he was just a small figure.
After a long while, a guard slowly emerged.
"Go in. Straight ahead, don't turn. The Master awaits you in the great hall."
Klind quickly gave thanks. Instead of flying, he ascended the stairs step by step. When he reached the end, he paid his respects with the most ancient of sorcerer's greetings.
"Klind of the Valley of the Dead greets the ancient God of the Underworld, Lord Dom. May death attend you, and may the cycle of reincarnation spin forever."
The figure seated on the stone throne raised his head. He was a very strange being.
Four arms, two legs, deep blue skin, no nose, and three eyes arranged in a triangle: one a black vortex, one burning with flame, and one permeated with frost.
His hair was like a mass of tentacles, each possessing its own consciousness. As his voice sounded, all the tentacles turned to examine the newcomer.
Dom rested his chin on his hand, not speaking aloud, but a hoarse voice echoed in Klind's mind.
"I remember you, the specter who controls flame. You were present at the War of the Gods."
"What is the purpose of your visit?"
Klind dared not delay. He used magic to materialize the scene from the God-Demon Battlefield. The moment Dom saw Hanyue, his aura fluctuated violently.
"The Moon Goddess, Princess Hanyue?"
"Impossible!"
Klind spoke anxiously. "I found it impossible too, but she has definitely appeared. Everyone present was controlled by her singing, and the corpse of the Underworld Dragon, Avogadro, was consumed by her tentacles."
"Ancient God of the Underworld, this matter is too bizarre. If the Moon Goddess is resurrected, does it mean that other Human Gods have also returned? This is a matter of great importance, and I could only seek your aid."
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
On Patreon, you can explore Extra Chapters in advance!