(Greek Mythology) The Abyss
Chapter Thirty-Nine
"Law, I have a feeling something is about to happen," Tartarus said, frowning, speaking to the void.
To be precise, it was a feeling that something was about to be born. However, the abyss, earth, night, and lust—the five most basic elements—form the foundation of the world. The subsequent second-generation gods represented the world's earliest things, gradually perfecting it. Tartarus couldn't think of anything else that could change the world.
"That's your imagination," the Law replied quickly.
"…" Tartarus
Law, that's enough. Even subtle changes in the world can be detected by him. Surely you, the Law responsible for monitoring and managing the world, can't? And your answer was a bit too quick. Couldn't you put a little more effort into your lies?
"Instead of wasting time thinking about these things, you should hurry up and choose a Hades. The God King and Sea King are already in their second term." Perhaps realizing he'd answered too quickly, the Law changed the subject.
"I want to, but you know perfectly well that none of those gods are suitable. How am I supposed to choose?" Tartarus sighed, somewhat exasperated. He was often bothered by Erebus and Nyx's complaints.
But there weren't many dark gods to begin with, and they were all violent. With very few exceptions, even the goddesses didn't possess the gentleness of the laws they wielded. They were practically a criminal gang. They could cause destruction, but managing Hell… forget it. He was terrified they'd tear Hell apart. His only hope lay with Hades, currently imprisoned inside the God King Cronus's belly.
"Then you can manage it yourself for now." Erebus and Nyx's management skills were truly worrisome. They relied entirely on violence, their methods so crude that even the Law couldn't stand it. The constant problems in Hell were simply unbearable. "I don't want to get involved." Tartarus was a classic case of terminal laziness, a symptom manifested in his being, despite the convenience of spatial teleportation, that he remained a notorious homebody throughout the three realms. While he was highly responsible and diligently completed his duties, he would absolutely not touch anything outside his purview that wouldn't affect his life.
"You don't want to get involved, you haven't chosen the King of the Underworld, and you've left Hell in chaos…"
"Shut up, Law," Tartarus said impatiently, "I don't want to hear about the responsibilities of the God of the Abyss, the successor to the 'Chaos' divine office. In fact, aside from not choosing the King of the Underworld, I've completed everything I was responsible for. I'll get the King of the Underworld as soon as possible."
Something went wrong during its formation, and the Law completely lacked its usual aloofness. It was not only talkative but also prone to rambling, completely overturning everyone's expectations of it and successfully reshaping Tartarus's already shattered worldview countless times since arriving in this world.
If the Law could know Tartarus's thoughts, it would surely protest its innocence. Originally, the Law was quite aloof, but Chaos was simply too troublesome, always either causing problems or on the verge of doing so. Therefore, the Law had to constantly advise Chaos, and over time, it evolved into its current talkative self. Its interactions with Tartarus were merely a continuation of this style.
Unfortunately, the Law couldn't easily glean the thoughts of gods, so it simply kept quiet after Tartarus's protests. Compared to Chaos, who needed repeated reminders to fulfill his duties and frequently caused trouble, Tartarus was far too responsible and meticulous. The Law felt it was better to go along with Tartarus on these trivial matters. After all, it had survived for so many years without Hades; delaying the selection of Hades wouldn't make a difference.
The argument between Tartarus and the Law came to an end, and Eris happened to enter the Abyss Temple at that moment.
"Your Majesty Tartarus."
Although still young, Eris's manners were already quite impeccable. The petite and well-behaved girl gracefully bowed to Tartarus, then immediately sat down beside him with the fastest speed within the bounds of propriety. Her expression was one of affectionate closeness mixed with a hint of unease, and she had changed her form of address.
"I'm sorry, Uncle, Eris didn't mean it. Hypnos and Thanatos are arguing again."
"Oh, I see." Tartarus's reaction was indifferent. There was no way around it; this kind of thing happened so often that everyone had become accustomed to it.
"Eris really didn't mean it." The little girl lowered her head slightly, her tone filled with guilt and unease. Her hands gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her fingertips turning slightly white from the force. She looked like a usually well-behaved child feeling guilty for a careless mistake, making it impossible to scold her.
However, Eris's appearance didn't stir any emotion in Tartarus. Her divine duty as a goddess meant that even without ulterior motives, she would unintentionally incite conflict. Although Eris was originally a sweet, obedient, and adorable girl, do you think anyone would remain so innocent and kind after being taught by Tartarus?
Perhaps she was born with this potential. Even though she hadn't been in the Abyss for long, Eris already possessed the makings of a cunning and ruthless woman. Don't be fooled by her seemingly innocent appearance; she's done her fair share of underhanded tricks and schemes, though her methods are rather subtle. Even if someone knows it's her, there's no proof. This time, the argument between Hypnos and Thanatos was undoubtedly her doing again.
"Tone it down, don't go too far." Tartarus didn't criticize Eris's behavior in the slightest, only telling her to tone it down. Her divine duty as a goddess meant Eris was destined to be disliked by others, but Tartarus didn't want Eris to be unable to get along with her siblings. Occasional pranks could be considered mischievous, but going too far would only lead to disgust and rejection.
"Okay." Eris was always intelligent; she understood Tartarus's hint and obediently agreed.
Seeing Eris's agreement, Tartarus didn't say anything more, but brought up another matter, "Your training has been a bit poor lately."
Now Eris truly felt guilty and uneasy. Tartarus had always been biased towards the goddess, from Nyx Gaia to Hemera Eris now. Tartarus's attitude towards them was definitely much better than towards their brothers, and his demands were much lower. Yet Eris couldn't even complete the training that Tartarus had lowered the difficulty of; it couldn't be worse.
The sisters Hemera and Eris were probably the type whose talent points were misallocated; one mostly went into physical strength, and the other mostly into intelligence, resulting in a severe imbalance.
"Forget it, you should just learn runes with me," Tartarus finally told Eris.
Hmera's intelligence was hopeless, but Eris's physical strength could still be salvaged. At least for things requiring intelligence, Eris should be fine; a mage useless in melee combat was much better than a complete weakling.