"I'm back from hell, Typhon!"
Eros gripped the jagged rocks at the riverbank, launched himself upward, and finally stood on solid ground again after so long.
He had swum against the current of the River Styx for nine days and nine nights before crawling out of that abyss.
Seriously, what kind of trash rule is it that you can't fly in the Styx?
If the Oceanus mark hadn't still worked, Eros would've torn both his arms off from exhaustion.
Naturally, all the hatred from soaking in that river for nine straight days had to be pinned on Typhon without question.
"So this must be the lower layer of the Underworld?"
He glanced around briefly. Though dim and lifeless, the underworld here was still far better than Tartarus.
Wait, what was that white thing?
Eros squinted and realized it was a young girl fixing her disheveled robes. No wonder the glare hurt his eyes—her divine aura was blindingly potent.
Hold on. A young girl?!
Eros immediately had a bad feeling, and right then the girl froze, blinked twice, then squeezed out a flood of tears.
"Waaaah! Mommy! A stranger just jumped out of the River Styx!"
She bawled as she ran screaming toward the back. Clearly, she was completely terrified.
Crap!
Only now did Eros remember he wasn't wearing a single stitch of clothing. Panicking, he immediately summoned a new outfit with his magnetic powers.
There was no way he was getting saddled with another weird, scandalous title.
But the moment he moved, he realized something horrifying—his magnetic field powers had no effect on the girl at all.
Her body was shrouded in both darkness and some mysterious divine energy, and the quality of that energy was absurdly high—far stronger than Acheron's silver bugs.
How deep does this Underworld go?! Even a random young deity by the riverbank has divine energy like this?
Eros didn't dare delay. He chased after her and swiftly grabbed hold.
Thankfully, most gods, even with incredible authority and powers, didn't have particularly remarkable physical strength.
He easily lifted the startled girl off the ground.
"Calm down! I have a reason for being here, I swear I'm not some kind of intruder!"
After soaking for nine days and nights in a river that scrubbed away soul and memory, who had time to care about clothes?
So not wearing anything was understandable, right?
In fact, what was this girl doing near the riverbank anyway?
"Let go of me! Or I'll hit you!"
Seeing her clench her fists, Eros really didn't want to start his return by offending a local deity.
"Okay okay, no harm meant! I just want to clear up this misunderstanding."
He gently set her down.
Magnetic fields spun. Matter reassembled. A fresh new outfit materialized over him.
With sharp style and a face that could topple kingdoms, Eros activated several charm-boosting skills at once.
"My name is Eros. And you?"
Handling an immature deity like this? Child's play for Eros.
A warm, big-brotherly smile was all it took to make someone her age lower her guard.
The girl stared at him in a daze, her earlier panic fading.
It wasn't until Eros asked her name again that she snapped back to reality.
"Eros? Are you a human?"
"Yeah, I am."
Eros answered without hesitation—only to find himself suddenly shackled with divine restraints on both hands.
"Good. Take him away!"
Sure, she had been briefly dazzled by his looks, but she wasn't some gullible child.
Jumped out of the Styx and claimed to be human? What kind of nonsense?
Caught red-handed like this, he'd be brought back for interrogation—who sent him, and what was his purpose approaching her?
She smirked. Interrogation... this would be fun.
"Hey now, I really am a bona fide human. If you don't believe me, you can check my body for proof."
Eros sighed helplessly.
He thought she was some naive young goddess. Turns out she had a bit of a wicked streak?
Misjudged. He should've used a different approach.
"No need! Once you come back with me, you'll confess everything on your own."
She struck a noble pose, but the eager glint in her eyes betrayed her true thoughts.
"At the very least, you should tell me your name, right?"
"Huh?"
She tilted her head at him.
"I am Hypnos, daughter of the goddess Nyx and goddess of sleep! You'd better remember the name of your captor!"
This bold stranger who dared trespass in her domain? He'd have to pay a terrible price.
With answers!
Hypnos, goddess of sleep?
Eros looked her over in amazement.
A petite form wrapped in dark, flowing robes. A thin black tail swaying behind her.
It moved! His curiosity surged!
This wasn't just a sleep goddess. This was a full-fledged deity with a mischievous streak!
To deal with a tricky, defiant goddess like this, there was only one way—strike first and strike hard!
Eros flexed both arms and shattered her divine restraints in an instant.
"Little goddess, didn't your mother teach you to be polite to guests?"
His magnetic field surged, and the power of his cosmos began to burn. But Hypnos scoffed.
She didn't know exactly what his powers were, but they looked weaker than her divine energy. This guy dared resist?
But what she saw next made her eyes go wide.
On his arm: the mark of the great ocean.
On his wrist: a faint golden glow.
On his ankle: a black sigil radiating abyssal energy.
At the corner of his mouth: a flicker of unknown light.
Add to that the faint Typhon aura lingering on his body, and three divine radiances gleaming behind him...
The colorful blessings and seals nearly blinded her.
Who was this guy? Why did he carry so many divine marks and traces from powerful gods?
It was like a scholar seeing a lost artifact—Hypnos's focus instantly sharpened.
"I really don't like fighting deities... especially young ones."
Eros clasped his hands together and assumed the opening stance of [Limitless Zen Tremor].
He hadn't attacked earlier because he believed in being gentle with newer gods.
Also, he was wary the girl might possess absurdly broken divine authority, making her troublesome to fight.
But the powers of sleep were strong in trickery and ambush—not direct combat.
If she got into a fight, she'd be sitting at the same table as Acheron.
"But for a troublemaker, this guest has no choice but to help teach a proper lesson!"
[Limitless Zen Tremor]!
When it came to defiant young deities like her, first he had to firmly establish who was in charge.
Sure, her energy was impressive, but raw power wasn't everything.
But why could he go through with it?
Simple, because he wasn't about to let a kid boss him around.
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