He left the Palace, telling Bael that he was busy and would soon return.

Hades wanted to take a breather and calm his mind.

He understood that if he did not recover, he would give up.

'No, if I give up, everyone will become a puppet.'

He had to fight.

He had to destroy the Cosmos.

And yet, Hades's resolve had been weakened considerably.

'Perhaps Ouroboros was right.'

'The new generation…'

'Perhaps, they would find a better way.'

Hades began searching for someone talented, someone who would lead the next generation.

He consoled himself by saying that since the Eon could no longer reset, and since now countless universes were being born, he just had to wait.

As long as he waited, a huge population would be born.

Then he just had to kill them all to gain the [Fate] of Cruelty. Now, he wouldn't need to destroy the Cosmos.

Before, a single Eon wouldn't have enough population to get him the [Fate] of Cruelty.

But now, it was possible.

And searching for a new generation was just a side project, in case he failed to gain the [Fate] of Cruelty.

His search led him to the Prince of Iltanea Empire.

"The prince, he has a lot of Talent. He is almost at the same level as my…"

Hades could not complete those words.

He shook his head and went to meet and guide Prince Ultris.

'Perhaps, he would find a better way to save this doomed world.'

Hades had secretly hoped.

As Prince Ultris gained strength, Hades was more and more sure of his hypothesis.

Prince Ultris was talented, as talented as Hades' child, if not more.

Someone like him must be able to find a different way than what Hades had found.

Then, Hades wouldn't need to gain the [Fate] of Cruelty.

Somewhere in the corner of his heart, he knew it was just a wishful fantasy.

But for now, reality was too cruel, and he wanted to live in fantasy.

While teaching Prince Ultris, someone inherently talented but too lazy, Hades came across Princess Persephone.

Over time, she began to show interest in Hades.

He ignored her and kept a respectable distance.

Until he noticed that whenever he was close to her, Prince Ultris would gain the motivation to train and surpass him.

A smile, weathered but kind, appeared on Hades' face.

He decided to use this to have Prince Ultris train.

However, unlike what Hades had thought, he opened up too much to Princess Persephone.

He had been too lonely.

And the moment he gained support, his composure had cracked.

Before he knew it, he had married her and had a child with her.

"We will name it Henry. Henry Hargraves."

Persephone's smile soothed Hades' cracked heart.

The warmth of their son expelled the coldness of despair seeping into his bones.

He was happy.

And yet, seeing the child grow, call him dad, hold his fingers, Hades was reminded of his mistake.

Of the child he had caused too much pain.

Persephone noticed Hades' emotions. She asked him what was happening.

He told her it was nothing. But she kept pestering him, until he revealed everything to her.

"I had a son."

"What?! With whom!?"

Hades smiled wryly, hearing her question.

He explained to her about the Womb of Devil, and the child he created through it.

"I feel like I failed the child."

"…"

"He must resent me for everything I did."

"He didn't resent you. Or else, he wouldn't come to ask you to approve his wedding," Persephone said while crying.

Her heart was broken. She wondered how Hades had been able to bear so much sadness all alone for so long.

"Let's revive him."

"…what?"

"We will revive him. And this time, we will give him the life he deserves."

"He died in the previous Eon. He cannot be revived."

"The Forbidden Lands can be accessed now that the Cosmos is in a broken state. We can enter the Forbidden Lands, bring out his ashes, and revive him."

"We… can't do that. He will be reborn as an Ashborn. The presence of people like him would accelerate the decay of the universe and—"

"Stop talking about the universe and others!"

Persephone glared at him.

"Do you know what kind of expression you are making? You looked happy when I spoke about reviving him, and you look like you are withering when you start to put the universe and others before him. Forget about the universe. Forget about the others. What do you want to do?"

"I…"

"It's fine being selfish. It's a normal thing. So tell me, what do you want?"

"I… want to give him the happiness I couldn't before."

Persephone smiled at his words.

"But…" Hades clenched his fist. "I created him to destroy the Cosmos. Do I have the right to say I want to give him happiness? I wanted a weapon. I treated him like a—"

"Do you still want to destroy the Cosmos?"

Hades looked at her.

He looked at her warm hands he was holding.

It reminded him of the warmth of his child's hands.

"No."

Hades could no longer destroy the Cosmos.

He had far too many precious people.

As for the world…

He recalled Ultris, and his near-infinite talent.

'The next generation will be better than us. They will be able to find paths we could not.'

Hades was reminded of Ouroboros' words.

Yes, the next generation would be able to find a better way than what Hades had.

He brought back the ashes of his child from the Forbidden Lands and began to set up rituals to revive him.

He called upon the Voraka from the 9th Eon and temporarily fused it with the Voraka of the 10th Eon.

Devil of Womb was remade.

There were a lot more complicated procedures since Hades wanted to reincarnate the child into the 10th Eon as a proper resident.

It would take a long time.

Hades estimated the process would take 10 years.

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