In the huge palace of the underworld, countless cyan dead souls gathered densely on both sides of the hall, whispering in low voices.
From time to time, they glanced at Erica's figure with their ethereal eyes, their ethereal heads almost touching each other, and their lips trembling.
For a moment, the palace of the underworld was filled with a buzzing sound like the flapping of mosquito wings.
Hades stood in front of his tall and majestic writing desk, lowered his head, and locked his eyes tightly on Erica in front of him.
He knew that the body of the human girl in front of him had been temporarily taken over by the cunning dog thief.
He clearly recognized the familiar aura from the pride, confidence, and indifferent smile revealed in the corner of Erica's eyes.
But even so, Hades still sneered at 'Erica' who made the arrogant remarks.
He folded his arms, his two thick arms tightly crossed in front of his chest, his muscles were tense, and the blood vessels on them were clearly visible like snake veins.
"Do you know what the trial means?"
"As a mere human being, do you think you can withstand the pain of trials?"
Of course Victor knew, because he had speeded through it more than once.
[Hell Trial], this is an advanced challenge in the underworld.
It includes various areas of Hell, as well as a variety of difficult challenges.
But without exception, the ultimate goal of the trial is only one.
That is to fight your way out of the underworld.
Hades looked at the expressionless 'Erica', snorted, and then said coldly:
"I will not start a trial for you, arrogant human, stop dreaming."
After saying that, he sat back on the huge crimson chair and reopened the book filled with densely packed names.
Picking up a long gold pen, he wrote on it carefully.
Hades was writing something while directing the dead souls lining up without raising his head.
"Next!"
He devoted himself entirely to the work of judging the dead souls and no longer paid attention to Erica standing in front of the writing desk.
At this time, Erica's eyes also showed their soft girlish temperament again.
She lowered her head and said silently to Victor who was hidden behind the windbreaker:
"Professor, he doesn't seem to want to agree to us."
She remembered that Victor had told her that those who could pass the trial of the underworld would be qualified to leave the underworld.
Therefore, Erica mustered up the courage to make this request directly to Hades.
However, it was obvious that the other party was not willing to pay attention to them.
At this time, Victor's calm and indifferent voice sounded in Erica's mind:
"Expected."
Hearing this answer, Erica frowned and let out a dissatisfied "tsk".
She believed that Hades refused the request because he was afraid.
Because when Professor Victor said that he could want to conduct a trial, Hades must have thought that Victor had such ability.
That's what Erica thought.
In Erica's mind, the professor is omnipotent.
Therefore, she firmly believed that Hades refused because he was afraid that the professor would pass the test easily and let him go easily.
"Then what should we do next."
Erica was filled with doubts, but Victor hadn't spoken since.
At this moment, a light voice came from the side:
"This way, this way."
Erica was slightly startled when she heard this light voice.
She followed the sound and saw Persephone secretly waving to her in the corner of the palace.
The other party was hiding behind the wall in the corner, half of her body tilted out slightly, and she gestured with her hand.
Seeing this, Erica raised her head and carefully looked at Hades lying on the desk.
The tall Lord of the Underworld was still focused on the matter at hand, and cyan dead souls kept coming and leaving.
Seeing that the other party was not paying attention, Erica walked quietly along the wall and quickly walked towards Persephone.
Soon, Erica came to Persephone's side and asked in a low voice:
"Your Majesty, Queen of the Underworld, do you have anything to do with me?"
Persephone stretched out a finger, put it to her mouth, and made a 'shhh' sound.
Then he smiled mysteriously, held Erica's hand tightly, and said softly:
"follow me."
The two walked lightly through the dark palace corridors.
Suddenly, their figures seemed to turn into chaotic and colorful petals, exploding in mid-air.
As the petals gradually sink and fall to the ground, the pink fluorescence rises and gradually disappears.
…
Pink petals fluttered from all directions like a dream, gradually gathering towards the center of the room.
These light petals quickly gathered into a dense spot of light, and then gradually condensed into the figures of the two girls.
As the petals slowly bloomed, Erica and Persephone's figures landed lightly on the floor of the room.
As soon as she entered the room, Erica felt a brief period of darkness, and everything around her seemed blurry.
But as the lights grew brighter, her eyes began to adjust to the light.
Finally, I saw this deep and solemn room clearly.
Here, it looks like an archive.
The surrounding bookshelves are towering and densely packed with all kinds of ancient and heavy books.
The scene outside the bookshelf made Erica even more amazed.
Countless huge steel gears meshed with each other, making bursts of crunching metal collision sounds in this small space.
White steam slowly rose from the gaps between the gears, intertwined with the crisp sound.
In the center of the room is an extremely thick shaft that drives countless gears to rotate in this space.
While Erica was still wondering where this place was, Persephone let go of her hand.
He gently stretched out his finger and pointed in a direction far away in the room.
She whispered to Erica:
"See there?"
Following the direction of Persephone's finger, Erica raised her head.
His eyes passed through the emptiness of the room and settled on a huge stone tablet floating high above.
The stone tablet looked like it had no specific shape, more like a randomly carved boulder.
But its surface is covered with dense text.
Erica felt that the words looked familiar, but she couldn't identify them.
It seems that they are all written in different countries.
"They are all 'heroes' who have passed the [Hell Trial]."
Persephone's voice sounded in Erica's ears, with a hint of solemnity.
Erica's eyes widened when she heard this.
Looking at the name carved on the rock, I shouted in surprise:
"so much!"
There were more than a thousand names in just the part she could see.
Erica looked at the name written on the rock and subconsciously felt that this hell trial was just that.
But at this moment, Persephone's voice contained a hint of laughter:
"Is it much?"
"The names you see now are successful challengers from among the 100,000 people who participated in the trial."
Hearing this, Erica's heart felt like being poured with ice water, and a chill spread.
Out of 100,000 people, only a thousand people can leave their names on this?
Thinking of this, Erica couldn't help but ask:
"Then...what about the remaining people?"
Erica seemed to have a premonition in her heart, but she still couldn't help but eagerly asked her doubts.
But Persephone just smiled faintly, turned back to look at her with a deep look, squinting her eyes, and asked softly:
"What do you think?"
For those who fail to pass the trial, their fate is to fall back into the abyss of hell.
Their bodies will be burned to death in the blazing flames, and their flesh will be roasted into blood-like steam.
In the end, only a cold white skeleton was left.
The soul will be permanently sealed in the bones, and will be tortured by the fire of hell forever.
What's even more cruel is that these souls may even become enemies of those who challenge the hell trials in the future.
Hearing this, Erica's body shivered involuntarily, and her hairs stood on her head.
At this moment, she no longer felt that the difficulty of the trial was easy.
To her, this was more like a gamble with her soul at stake.
The entire underworld is the home of this casino.
But in her emotions of fear and shock, Erica suddenly remembered what Persephone had said before.
Why does she call those who pass the trial "heroes"?
What's the meaning behind this?
"Isn't the trial just about leaving the underworld?"
Erica asked curiously.
Persephone seemed a little surprised by Erica's question. She glanced at Erica curiously and asked:
"Who told you that completing the trial was just to leave the underworld?"
"If it was just to escape the underworld, we shouldn't have set foot here in the first place."
Well, what I said is true.
It's just that Erica entered the underworld specifically to save Professor Victor.
Then, Persephone continued:
"Heroes who successfully complete the trial and leave the underworld will receive the 'curse' of hell. This curse can give them powerful power..."
"Wait a minute, if that's the case, why is it a curse?"
Erica interrupted Persephone suddenly, confused.
Persephone was startled for a moment, then explained:
"The heaven likes to call the rewards given to humans blessings, so there is nothing wrong with us in the underworld calling the rewards given to humans curses."
Co-authoring means doing the opposite of the other person, right...
From here, Erica noticed the antagonistic relationship between the underworld and the heaven.
"Of course, the reason why it is called a curse is not entirely because we have to go against the heaven."
Persephone looked at Erica, and then at the black trench coat draped behind her.
The direct gaze made Erica feel a tingle in her heart, and she couldn't help but cough slightly.
Persephone seemed to be brought back from her thoughts by the cough, so she continued:
"You and Victor are both mages, right?"
Erica nodded, feeling a small sense of pride in her heart.
Because she is the youngest third-level mage in history!
However, Persephone's next words extinguished her pride like cold water:
"But unfortunately, if you really pass the trial and receive the reward from hell, the accompanying curse will also befall you."
Persephone's voice suddenly became colder:
"You will no longer be a mage."
These words echoed in Erica's ears and shocked her soul.
She closed her mouth and lowered her head in silence.
"However, you can rest assured about one thing."
Persephone's tone suddenly changed, with a hint of playfulness, and she said with a smile:
"This curse will not fall upon you."
Hearing this, Erica slowly raised her head and loosened her clenched fists.
Those clear eyes were full of doubts:
"why is that?"
Persephone smiled calmly and continued to explain to Erica:
"Because the trial will no longer be open."
