Type-Moon, there are too many myths that defy the heavens!

There are countless parallel worlds of Type-Moon, and it can be said that any of them may appear in the Lostbelt. Why does Persephone still believe so firmly in the fate she has foreseen?

Ash knew that when he had the idea of meeting Hades, he could use the system's ability to predict the future to explore the consequences of facing Pluto directly.

But he didn't want to do that.

His intuition told him that some things had to be faced personally in order to see the clues clearly.

As he went deeper into the borderline, Ash could feel his senses becoming ambiguous.

First, the whistling sound of the wind gradually subsided, and secondly, the sense of touch on the body surface became dull.

Finally, even the concepts of years and months began to become blurred.

"Adonis, you've crossed the line."

A sound as majestic as the mountains, as fierce as the scorching sun, exploded in Ash's mind like thunder in spring.

Just by hearing this voice, Ash could see countless powers.

"Your story shouldn't include meeting me."

It is plague, it is ghosts, it is hell, it is death.

But that was only a manifestation of His power.

The real Him is mysterious, ancient, and came from outer space, but He gave up His identity as an outsider and integrated into the magnificent existence of this world.

Even if His true body is destroyed and He loses His believers, He is still a god worthy of humankind's awe.

But even such an awe-inspiring god did not make Ash feel any awe.

"You can rest assured that I will not disturb your life with Persephone."

"Because you are destined to bring harm to Persephone, causing her to be unable to obtain what she desires, and ultimately giving up the Goddess of Spring's divine core, completely transforming into the Lord of the Underworld."

"Even if you stop here, you can still return to your original destiny and become the lover of two goddesses, becoming a god worshipped and believed by women."

The gods' advice revealed the answers to many mysteries for Ash.

But even so, he had no intention of expressing gratitude.

Not only that, he even felt emotions he had never felt before.

Because he couldn't hear any emotion in the god's warning.

"What do you mean, you won't disturb my life with Persephone?"

"What do you mean, I'm destined to be the one who harms Persephone and causes her to grow into the Goddess of the Underworld?"

"Hades," Ash asked, chanting the god's name loudly, "What exactly is Persephone to you?"

"That's not a question for you to explore."

"What you need to do is to bring pain to Persephone so that she can grow into the true master of the underworld."

"Back off, Adonis."

"The future of the underworld needs you and Persephone."

"Whether it's Greece, Rome, or even after the Age of Gods fades away, if you journey to the inner sea of stars, you can be with God and become the immortal chosen by God."

"Such a fate is not a bad thing for you."

"..."

Ash was silent.

He never imagined that Hades, who abducted Persephone and prevented her from leaving the underworld in the myth, would look like this.

No.

He could have imagined that Hades might be such a god.

Because, this kind of cold, rational, and emotionless way of observing fate and calculating the results is the behavioral logic of the "underground Zeus" and the attitude that the flagship backup aircraft of the Olympus fleet should have.

Rather, it is Ash who should reflect on himself.

I reflected on why I had forgotten that this was Type-Moon, and that the Greek gods were emotionless mechas driven solely by the orders of their creators.

Rather, it is the emotionally rich Persephone who seems to be an outlier among the Mechas.

Hades now has simply returned to his original appearance.

But even so, Ash still found it hard to accept.

"Hades," Ash asked again, "What exactly does Persephone mean to you now?"

"She is the third generation Earth Mother, inheriting Demeter's responsibilities and in charge of spring and the power of sowing."

"Then why did you take her away from Demeter and force her to become the master of the underworld?"

"Because the world does not need eternal spring, nor does it need everlasting vitality."

"The world needs death, suffering, and setbacks."

"Only in this way can humanity grow."

Ash's anger burned out.

What replaced the anger was unspeakable sadness.

"Hades," Ash asked, "What will become of us if we lose the faith of mankind, the gods that mankind needs?"

Hades didn't answer.

But even without an answer, Ash knew the answer.

Human faith is nothing more than an embellishment of natural gods.

Even without human belief, natural gods still have a complete self and personality.

But the Mecha God is different.

Mecha-Gods are machines that respond to human faith and derive their personalities from it.

Their personality is nothing more than a special thinking circuit given by faith.

Their love comes from their response to human faith.

Once they lose the faith of mankind, they will return to their original form.

therefore.

Ash knew he was wrong.

Hades did not transform back into a machine.

He simply gave up human faith and his own personality out of a "love" that he could not understand.

Otherwise, why would He act against human hopes out of consideration for human growth?

If not, why doesn't He bring disaster upon mankind so that they will fear Himself and gain sufficient faith?

Such behavior is not pleasing and does not command the slightest respect. It is undoubtedly destroying people's faith in themselves and their own personality.

"Hades... why are you doing this?" Ash couldn't help but ask, "Why are you abandoning humanity's faith and your own personality?"

"Because humans eventually grow up."

"A child who cannot separate himself from his parents cannot grow up."

Hades said so.

Chapter 16 Where Did the Greek Family Heroes Come From?

"A child who cannot be separated from his parents cannot grow..." Yafu repeated Hades' words. "For this truth, are you going to give up yourself?"

"Why did you do this?"

"Adonis, you have created unnecessary misunderstandings about us."

"It is not humans who choose us, but we who choose humans."

"We have abandoned the Creator's civilization and chosen to protect human civilization."

"Even before we landed on this planet and met your ancestors, Zeus and I had already observed humanity's future."

"We will protect humanity, and eventually we will say goodbye to humanity, allowing it to grow."

"Although humanity's growth is very slow, so slow that thousands of years from now, it won't be able to compare with us, it has also demonstrated the possibilities that belong to humanity and this planet."

"Therefore, it is humanity's future that pleases us, and that is why we protect humanity."

"This is a two-way choice between us and humans, part of an exchange of interests."

"What I'm doing now is simply following our goal and helping humanity grow as quickly as possible."

"If you read sadness in my choice, it just means you're too sentimental."

"We are machines, so we should follow the most efficient option."

"You are measuring my choices with human emotions. You are nothing but arrogant."

Am I really being arrogant?

Ash couldn't help but ask himself this question in his heart.

If I was really being arrogant, and if Hades had only made his choice based on calculations, then why didn't He, the God of Machines, just drive me, a parasite, away instead of wasting His breath on me?

This is neither reasonable nor rational.

So, everything Hades said was a lie!

"If you always make choices based on reason and don't care about other people's feelings," Ash asked, "then why did you allow Persephone to grow and become the goddess of the underworld at a time when humans and gods are about to part?"

"If you only think from the perspective of rationality and efficiency, this behavior, other than making Persephone happy, has no real benefit or value at all."

Ash asked loudly, "Hades, isn't everything you do a way of making up for depriving Persephone of her original role and turning her into the mistress of the underworld?"

"If that's not the case, why do you indulge Persephone so much and give her so much freedom?"

"..."

Faced with Ash's continuous and straightforward questioning, Hades fell silent.

As Hades fell silent, Ash's blurred senses gradually became clearer and began to return to normal.

It was not until Ash's senses were fully restored that he suddenly discovered what kind of world he was standing in - he was now in a mechanical temple!

This entire mechanical temple was made of fine steel, and the ground was covered with intricate mechanical circuits connecting to various parts of the underworld. At the source of those countless circuits was a huge relief of a broken human face as big as a mountain.

Ash recognized this human-shaped relief.

It was a product with a face similar to that of the Mecha God Zeus, and it was the face of a flagship backup machine.

"'Interstellar Combat Annihilator Mobile Fortress No. 02 Hades'..." Ash read the code on the relief and couldn't help but sigh, "Is this your true form, Hades?"

"That's right." Hades' face gleamed as he answered, "My divine body was destroyed long ago when the 'White Destruction' arrived. The remaining parts are my final body."

"So... you have become the core of the underworld itself."

Ash looked at Hades' shattered body, which had lost its ship form, and couldn't help but sigh: "You will take Persephone away, and you also want her to inherit your responsibilities and manage the underworld for you, right?"

"Yes," Hades answered truthfully, "I left her in the Underworld because I needed a god to manage the Underworld while I was unable to move."

"So, everything you said before was a lie." Ash said firmly, "The so-called rational thinking and exchange of interests are just excuses for me to stop exploring your reasons."

In response to Ash's words, Hades fell into a brief silence again.

"...I shouldn't have spoken to you about Persephone. I should have sent you back." Hades lamented, "Talking about love with someone who possesses the Echo of Love is a foolish choice."

"'Echo of the God of Love'?" Ash asked after hearing what Hades said, "What is this thing, and what is its use?"

"This is part of Aphrodite's divinity, possessing powers close to those of a god," Hades answered truthfully. "It will make it easier for you to win the favor of others and perceive the 'love' in their hearts."

"You were able to expose my lies because you saw through my feelings," Hades continued. "Although this power was granted to you by the 'Echo of Love,' the fact that you were able to do this demonstrates your considerable adaptability."

"So, you do have 'love' for humans, for Persephone."

"I shouldn't be the one asking this..." Ash sighed and asked the question on his mind, "You clearly love Persephone, so why did you ask me to be her lover?"

"Because she hates me for taking away her 'youth', and more importantly, because my 'love' for her is not what you think."

"I'm Zeus's backup. Originally, if Zeus died, I would have inherited his duties," Hades said. "Before we came to Earth and became the patron saints of humanity, there was no difference between Zeus and me other than our numbers."

"And at that time, Persephone was already born."