Greek Demon Myth

0 – Prologue: Bottom of the Abyss

[Oh dear]

The deepest abyss of the world,

In it, a shadow flickered.

A fierce pack of wolves, a black snake spewing flames, two greedy eyes flashing, and more.

In a moment, thousands of shapes wriggled in the darkness before a beautiful woman appeared.

With jet-black hair, flawless skin, and a slender figure, she was breathtakingly beautiful without wearing anything but a single sylphlike garment.

Like a forbidden fruit, like sweet poison, she knew she would fall into destruction worse than death if she tasted it, but she would eventually reach out her hand to the beautiful reaper.

[It’s been a while since I’ve taken a proper form…. Who is this guest in this dark abyss?]

Not that I mind!

Giggling, she looked up and gazed at a soul falling from the sky.

This abyss was a place where the distinction between up, down, left, and right had lost its meaning.

As she was the abyss itself, the order here was always subject to her perception and changed accordingly.

[Come here~ pitiful and great soul. How did you return to this abyss, avoiding the touch of Styx and rejecting the reins of Thanatos?]

Like a seductive Hetaira or a calling mother to a child.

The abyss called the small soul, but the soul just stood silently in the air, looking up at the sky.

[Oh my? A quite resilient soul. Interesting.]

The abyss whispered, revealing a giant pupil in front of the soul’s eyes.

[You didn’t receive Olympus’s blessing or even the mark of the three judges.]

An existence that did not belong to the fate of this world. An existence that should not exist in this world.

Therefore…

[Even more intriguing and fun.]

A world where the abyss itself only glimpsed like a dream, another present, past, and future world, like a mirror scar that was endlessly twisted and tangled, but only reflected each other’s illusions, an soul from a world beyond.

[Oh, chaos in the world. You even crossed that world twice?]

The soul, who had been silently standing there, trembling like a candle in the abyss’s eyes, which scrutinized everything about it.

[In this world, in this world, in this world…]

It would be really fun.

Watching the countless worlds from the outside audience was not a bad thing, but it was always tiring to just watch as a third party.

[Especially when that young punk Zeus’ heroes are spreading out endlessly…]

At least with this, I could flip his outfit quite amusingly.

[Now, great yet small soul. I shall congratulate you.]

-Woof!!

[Huh? But you cannot cross the Styx. You are not a soul of this world, and you do not even have a coin to give to the ferryman. Do you want to take a walk along the river Lethe for a few hundred years?]

-Woof!

[What? Death? Annihilation? Ha ha ha!]

The cute rebellion of the adorable soul made the abyss laugh, causing ripples in the waves.

[Oh child, you do not know well, or rather, you cannot know!

I am the abyss, and I am also death and annihilation.]

The eyes that were shaking with laughter flashed countless powers within the waves.

[You cannot even cross the Styx, nor can you stand in front of the boring judgment seat.

Therefore, your death and annihilation are solely my responsibility.]

However, I have no intention of giving you rest.

-Touch!

As the lips of the abyss touched the small soul, some of its powers were sucked into the soul, causing the abyss to shake.

Even if it was the soul of a great hero, if even a speck of her power were contained, the container would shatter and collapse.

However, this foreign soul sucked in all of her power without leaving a single drop, as if it was originally its own.

[As expected…

My eyes did not deceive me.]

To be born purely as a human and to greedily swallow her divinity, which is the very abyss itself.

In this world where gods, monsters, spirits, and fairies live and breathe, what kind of fate will this unique soul summon?

How long has it been since my heart has fluttered like this?

The crescent moon blessed the soul before it, like a long night.

“Give yourself to me.”

Underneath the endless abyss, a mighty power began to writhe.

“Your bones are the oldest stone of the earth, your flesh is the deepest darkness, and your soul was born from the oldest night, which is me.”

“My children, death and sleep, anger and revenge, and fate will bless you.”

“Now, go. Oh, hero of the same name. You who have reached the realm of the gods on your own, without even having the blood of the gods in you, you who are a blasphemer. Celebrate your third life for me.”

Slowly, a child began to rise towards the earth in a blessing darker than the light of Hyperion and deeper than the abyss of Tartarus.

“On the day you are ready, I will come find you.”

Until then, may you have good dreams.

As the mother of the past night waved her hand with a smile, the child crossed one of the thousands of mirror images and disappeared.