Beginning Of Multiverse Saga-Chapter 517: Deimos Sneak Attacked

Sharky knew the Underworld was dangerous.

He chose not to involve Hela or Sigurd. He knelt before Hela, gently holding her hand, "Take Sigurd and return to Asgard. Be safe. I will find Astrid."

Hela nodded, she summoned the Bifrost seal and stepped into its light to return home, unaware that something had been tampered with, and that her path would not lead where she intended.

Sharky turned back to the goddesses.

Before he could speak, a familiar presence descended.

Artemis appeared, bow in hand, moonlight gleaming in her hair. She smirked slightly. "The Underworld is not a place for one man to walk alone," she said. "And I enjoy dangerous journeys. I’ll help you."

Demeter stepped forward beside her. "And I know the paths," she added quietly. "I will guide you."

Sharky looked at them both, then nodded once. "Then we will go."

And so, the trio was formed, Sharky, Demeter and Artemis, the hunter, scout, and fearless warrior

Their destination was clear. The Realm of Hades.

---

While Sharky, Demeter, and Artemis descended toward the forbidden borders of the Underworld.

Deimos was already in motion.

He followed Hela as she activated the Bifrost, baby Sigurd held protectively in her arms. The rainbow bridge flared, then trembled.

But Deimos did not come alone. Behind him crept monsters chosen for a single purpose, kidnapping.

Keres, daughters of Nyx, spirits of violent death. Sisters of Phobos and Deimos. They melted into shadows, draining divine energy with every breath.

Hyspeloi, blood-serpents of Ares, forged in ancient wars. They could scent Asgardian divine blood from miles away, coiling to suffocate and crush.

Chthonian Harpies, spawn of Echidna. Their dark feathers dripped shadow-blood, and their screams shattered teleportation and divine senses.

They swarmed behind Deimos, silent and obedient.

What Deimos did not realize, Hela was not prey. She was the Queen of Hel, the Reborn Goddess of Death, and far stronger than Deimos and all his monsters combined.

---

At the same moment, Ares made his move. He had found that Sharky was going to the Underworld to do something.

He sent Enyo, his sister and wife, goddess of bloodshed and war-destruction, to intercept Sharky.

She rode a war-chariot made of bone, drawn by skeletal lions with burning eyes. The ground split beneath her wheels as she descended.

Her aura burned red with endless slaughter. She did not come to negotiate. She came to delay them, to stop them from whatever they wanted to do.

"Sharky Valor..." Enyo called, her voice ringing with war. "I will not let you succeed."

She did not know who Sharky truly was. But Ares had commanded. And Enyo obeyed.

---

Meanwhile, Demeter guided Sharky and Artemis deeper into the lower realms. With every step, the world grew less like Olympus.

Black cliffs loomed like broken teeth. Screaming winds tore through the air. Floating bones drifted like ash. Shattered columns sank slowly into red mist.

Demeter explained each danger, ancient seals, cursed ridges, forgotten traps, her voice steady despite the horrors around them.

At times, she stopped Sharky. Pulled him close.

Pressed a brief, grounding kiss to him, but when their kisses turned into intimate moments, even she didn’t know.

Each time, Artemis watched from a distance. Her jealousy stirred, her curiosity deepened. And something unfamiliar tightened in her chest.

She had faced monsters, titans, and gods without fear. Yet, this was different. Her quiet thoughts trembled.

"...How is he so strong? No god has ever made me feel this way..."

For the first time in her immortal life, the heart of the virgin huntress wavered.

---

Finally, they arrived at the Underworld gate. Yet Sharky saw nothing.

Before them stretched what looked like an ordinary rocky canyon, silent, empty, lifeless. No gates. No realm. No sign of the dead.

But Demeter stopped. "This is it," she said quietly. "It is hidden."

She began to explain, "Hades’ realm cannot be seen by the living. It is concealed by the Veil of Lethe. A flowing curtain of liquid darkness that masks itself as mundane terrain. It erases divine senses, scrambles time perception, and rejects all attempts at detection. Gods, Titans, demons, even Chronotrixians cannot perceive what lies beyond it."

She looked at Sharky. "Only those guided by the Underworld’s own may enter."

Demeter stepped forward and placed her palm against the empty air.

The space rippled.

A faint outline appeared, a massive gate forged of shadow-crystal and iron bones, ancient beyond reckoning.

Still, it remained sealed.

Demeter turned to Sharky. "Only Hades or Persephone can open this gate, or one who was once blessed by them."

She raised her hand.

A soft green-golden glow bloomed from her palm.

"Persephone and I shared many springs together," Demeter continued. "Her blessing... still remains with me."

The gate responded.

The Veil of Lethe peeled apart like living darkness, revealing the colossal black entrance of the Underworld.

A wave of cold swept outward. A war-tinged aura pulsed from the threshold. Sharky felt it, and ignored it.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward with Demeter and Artemis.

They crossed the boundary.

---

As the Veil closed behind them, another presence slipped through, silent, burning, patient.

Enyo.

She entered the Underworld moments after them, unseen, already forming her plan to delay Sharky at any cost. She had found out that their mission was Cerberus, so she had decided to abduct him before they found it.

---

Meanwhile, Hela stood within the Bifrost, Sigurd held close in her arms, when suddenly the bridge stopped.

The radiant path froze mid-transition.

Hela’s eyes narrowed. "That’s impossible," she muttered. "The Bifrost cannot be halted."

The light faded.

When she looked around, she was no longer between realms. She stood instead at the exit of Olympus.

Her grip on Sigurd tightened. Something was very, very wrong. She felt a dark pressure behind her.

She didn’t even need to think, who was he, "Deimos, I know you’re there. Stop hiding."

The shadows tore open.

Deimos stepped out, a spear of condensed terror in his hand. Behind him emerged his escort.

The Keres, spirits of violent death, tall, winged women with blackened skin and skeletal faces, their claws dripping shadows that rotted anything they touched.

And the Hyspeloi, emaciated terror spirits with serpent-like hair, mouths split impossibly wide, rows of needle teeth glistening as they fed on fear and pain.

Deimos smirked, and said in a mocking tone, "Goddess Hela... little sister of Asgard. Why rush home? I only want to talk."

Hela’s expression hardened.

"The moment you appeared here, I understood your purpose. You want answers about Phobos. You will not get them."

Deimos laughed, sharp and cruel, "Then I’ll take his screams instead."

He pointed toward Sigurd, and lunged forward.

The ground cracked beneath the force of his movement.

Hela released Sigurd from her arms. The infant prince floated safely upward, sealed within a sphere of death-energy, untouchable, absolute.

Her hair flashed crimson, then blue, then black as her power surged.

Deimos struck first, unleashing a shockwave of pure terror.

Hela walked straight through it. She caught his spear mid-strike, snapped it in one hand, and drove her fist into his chest.

Deimos was hurled across the sky, smashing through marble spires.

The Keres descended, claws extended.

The Hyspeloi shrieked, their cries vibrating reality itself.

And Deimos struggled to rise, battered and bleeding, a terrible realization struck him. She was overpowering him with ease.

---

Meanwhile, Sharky compared the Underworld to Olympus, and found them nothing alike.

Olympus was radiant, alive, overflowing with divine splendor.

The Underworld was a drifting nightmare.

A floating realm of rivers of black lava, towers of bone, and an eternal night sky where pale souls drifted like mist, whispering regrets that never faded.

Sharky moved forward through the void, levitating effortlessly. Demeter stayed close at his side, her expression tense but focused, while Artemis watched every direction, fingers never far from her bowstring.

Then the guardians appeared.

From the darkness rose the Obsidian Sentinels, towering rock-skinned giants, their chests glowing with molten cores, cracks of magma running through their bodies like veins.

Beside them emerged the Wraith Enforcers, floating armored specters wrapped in chains of inescapable binding, their hollow helms burning with pale fire.

From the ground itself formed the Shade Golems, massive humanoid shapes made of compressed shadow, bodies rippling like living darkness.

They surrounded Sharky.

Sharky didn’t care about them, he floated forward and raised his voice.

"HADES! SHOW YOURSELF!"

His shout struck the Underworld, the sound rolling through cliffs of bone and across seas of shadow.

"HADES! SHOW YOURSELF!"

The echo traveled endlessly... But no god answered. Instead, the guardians moved.

Obsidian Sentinels charged, molten fists swinging with earth-shattering force. Wraith Enforcers lashed out, chains screaming as they flew toward their targets. Shade Golems erupted from the ground, clawing upward in waves of living darkness.

Sharky’s eyes narrowed, "You want a fight? Fine."

He activated Crystal Freeze. His aura shifted instantly, icy, diamond-blue, absolute. A wave of pure zero-degree frost detonated outward.

BOOM.

Everything in its path froze, Giants locked mid-charge, magma cores crystallized. Chains turned brittle, shining like blue glass. Wraiths froze into ghostly statues.

Shade Golems solidified into dark, frozen masses. A heartbeat later, CRACK. CRACK. CRAAAAACK.

They shattered like glass, fragments raining into the abyss.

But they didn’t die, the shattered remains began to move again, shadow and stone flowing back together, and reforming itself.

Sharky watched calmly, unimpressed, "So they can regenerate, interesting."

---

Meanwhile... the battlefield above Olympus descended into chaos.

Hela carved through the sky like a living catastrophe, but this time the enemies did not come one by one.

The Keres dove from above in a frenzy, wings screeching, claws ripping through divine air.

The Hyspeloi screamed in unison, their voices crawling directly into Hela’s mind, flooding her thoughts with fear-visions, false deaths, and whispered despair.

And Deimos struck from the front, unleashing sonic waves of condensed terror that shattered marble and ruptured space itself.

For the first time since the fight began, Hela was pushed back.

Her hair flashed red, then black, then blue, all at once, emotions colliding violently as her power surged unevenly.

Deimos laughed, while blood falling at the corner of his mouth, his eyes were wild, he mocked her, "The Goddess of Death... struggling? I will enjoy breaking you."

The Hyspeloi shrieked louder, Keres tore into her armor, sparks of necromantic energy scattering.

Hela’s eyes went utterly cold, "...Enough." She raised one hand. Behind her, a black-green portal of death magic tore open, expanding violently. Something enormous moved within.