...Huh?"
The Underworld—not much is known about this realm beneath the world of men. The humans know only what the gods have told them.
But if there is one undeniable truth, it is that the Underworld is where the souls of men ferry to once they meet their end. And if their souls are judged evil, they are deemed unworthy of rest and will be spawned back as monsters.
That is why Rhys believes that the monsters will never truly disappear, because the number of evil men outnumbers those that are not. The humans make their hell a reality.
One would think the Underworld would be a gloomy place because of this, but no. Rhys has seen his sister's explorations in the novice and training areas, and it looked just like the surface… except one could see half the world on the horizon.
As the Underworld is beneath the Earth's surface, the Earth's surface is beneath the Underworld, relatively speaking. Once you pass through the Hole, the gravity starts to invert—making what is supposed to be the ceiling of the Underworld its surface.
And right at the very center of the Underworld is the Helios, the Underworld's sun, as well as its sky. The Underworld was an Earth that never sleeps, never turns into night—a hellish paradise.
At least, that is what it is supposed to be. But now, Rhys finds himself completely in the dark. His body felt like it was wrapped in a dozen heavy, damp cloths.
"...Hm," a small breath escaped his lips. Is it possible he was actually dead? Was this how the Underworld turns the souls of evil men into monsters?
No. Death wouldn't be this suffocating, at least not for him.
So, what is this situation he finds himself in? Where?
The last thing he remembers was being strangled by Lex, and then pushing him together to die a poetic death—and then as if the Fates were playing with him, a Hole opened up and swallowed the both of them.
Rhys most likely lost consciousness as soon as the G-force of the sudden shift of gravity hit him as he entered the Underworld's domain.
He's alive.
"That's… unfortunate," Rhys breathed out before moving his hands in front of him; it took a bit of effort since the cloth wrapping him was incredibly tight, but he was able to do so. He then gritted his teeth, before starting to pull the cloth open.
The cloth was weird, like several silky threads dangled together. Several of Rhys's veins started to emerge from his skin. And finally, with a feverish effort, he was able to tear the cloth. Unfortunately for him, the entire thing ripped open as he did so, causing him to fall on the cold, but slightly soft and somewhat frosty ground.
Not frosty in the way that it was cold, no. The ground was white.
"..." Rhys lifted up his hand, which seemed to carry some weight as the white residue on the ground stuck to it like a string… with what seemed like a skull hanging on it.
"...Fuck," Rhys blinked a couple of times before hastily waving his hand off of the white silky residue and throwing the skull away...into a pile of even more bones.
There were bones, bones, and entire skeletons scattered everywhere; surrounding him from all sides.
Maybe he really was dead? Rhys thought. But as he looked up, he saw the cloth he was trapped in—and it was not alone as it hung with several others like a cocoon from the frosty ceiling.
"...Oh," Rhys muttered as he finally realized where he was and what he was actually stepping on. He was inside a cave in the Underworld, currently surrounded by cobwebs and several dozens of skeletons.
"Well… shit."
If there was anything consistent in the Underworld, it was the fact that it had a tendency of making already scary creatures even scarier by making them bigger.
This time, it was spiders.
Giant spiders. And judging by the alarming amount of cobwebs around him, whatever brought him here was as big, or bigger than him.
Realizing this, Rhys could really only stand up and sigh.
A gruesome death for an even more gruesome life, he thought. There truly is no justice in this unfair world—or perhaps there is, and this is its way of saying that Rhys deserves all the fucked up things that happened to him.
Well, he wasn't going to resist. If the world wanted him dead, they could have him…
…there was nothing for him in the world of the living anymore.
He had no dreams.
He has no family, not anymore.
And perhaps, he never really had a life—he died the very moment he let his mother get murdered in front of him.
This is enough.
"Where are you!?" And in that moment, Rhys roared; screaming out as he never did before, "I'm here! You've wanted this for a very long time, right!?"
Rhys then started walking, pulling back his hair and revealing his face that was sculpted by the gods themselves. He then took off his shirt, showing his chiseled body. He took everything off, no longer shying from the world as he stretched his arms to the side.
He then waited for death to show itself.
A second.
A minute, but it never came.
And so instead, Rhys searches for it himself once more. He continued to walk in the unusually bright cave, stepping over several skeletons without a care in the world… and very soon, he heard a whisper—a cry.
"..." He calmly approached the sound, moving perhaps deeper into the cave until finally, he saw the image of death—not his, however, not yet.
"R… Rhys…?"
It was Lex; his face, completely emaciated and dry as he dangled in the air. His hand that he tried to stretch toward Rhys as soon as he saw him, almost skin and bone.
"Oh hello, Lex," a hint of a smile crawled on Rhys's face as he saw the look of fear in Lex's eyes. He then very slowly approached him; his voice, unnaturally calm and soothing, "I was wrong… we're both going to die here today."
"H…help me."
"No, I'm… too weak to help anyone," a small chuckle escaped Rhys's lips as he casually sat near Lex… watching as the life in his eyes very slowly started to fade away.
Lex's body soon began to flinch, but Rhys just shrugged his shoulders as he stared him right in the eyes. Rhys then turned to look at the reason why his body was convulsing, only to see something latching onto his stomach, eviscerating and mutilating it.
8 long black legs; chittering in the air as it slightly moved and pierced the ground with its sharp ends. Its body was the size of a small car, with patterns that made it even more daunting than it already was. That wasn't what made the thing in front of Rhys a monster, no—the rest of it was.
The head that was mowing down Lex's stomach was not the head of a spider, but rather that of an utterly pale woman that carried with her an otherworldly beauty; her long black hair that seemed as silky as the webs around her, moving ever so gracefully as she devoured Lex.
Soon, however, she pulled her head away, revealing the rest of her human parts.
A set of well-toned arms.
Her large, round bosoms which jiggled as she stood up to look at Rhys.
Her small waist enhanced her voluptuous shape even more.
But then, anything human stops there as everything below it was that of a deadly spider.
So, this is what death looks like.
"It's… fine, ma'am. You can continue," Rhys calmly said as he looked the spider lady straight in her large dark eyes,
"I am not going to run away."
"...Oh?" And to his surprise…
…the spider lady answered, "Food… can talk?"
"..."
"..."
"Huh…
…well, that's weird."