Woof, woof woof!

The sound of three heads barking at once echoed loudly. Strangely enough, that booming noise was a welcome one.

Livia opened her arms and hugged the most lovable dog from the underworld.

Mumu, Mumu…

He was the only loyal friend and family member who had returned to her side without dying. As she rubbed her cheek against his sulfur-scented, fluffy fur, Mumu rested his head against her, as if to embrace her. The intense heat from the dog comforted her.

The last time she had seen him, he was barely big enough to reach her calf, but now he had grown large enough for Livia to fully embrace.

“It seems you’re not starving over there. You’re quite sturdy. I’m really glad.”

At Livia’s words, the middle head of Mumu smacked his lips as if he remembered something. She briefly wondered what a hellhound might eat but dismissed the thought. It probably wasn’t anything normal, so she figured she didn’t need to know.

“The goddess really did send you to me. I’m so grateful…”

Livia rubbed her eyes, which had grown hot with emotion, with the back of her hand and expressed her gratitude to Persephone. She held the dog close, savoring the warmth for a long time.

She hadn’t realized it while she was in the sea, but once she was back on land, it became clear.

Down there, it had been too cold for her. Livia, who loved the mountains, fields, and sunlight, found the dark and damp place particularly challenging.

Of course, it was incredibly mysterious and beautiful, almost mind-bogglingly so, but it was filled with enemies.

Reflecting on it, from the time her family died until now, she hadn’t had a single day where she could rest her mind and body. It wasn’t that she felt sorry for herself, but it was a bit exhausting.

So, for now, she just wanted to let her guard down for a moment.

Livia held Mumu until the sun fully rose. The dog didn’t whine and simply offered his embrace, licking her cheeks and chin.

“That tickles.”

She burst into laughter for a moment. Strangely, after laughing, energy returned to her tired body.

Yes, this was enough.

After giving Mumu’s shoulder one more firm hug, Livia sent the dog back to the underworld.

With Lete’s soul in the hands of a witch, she had one more task to accomplish.

‘I have to rescue Lete.’

For that, she needed strength. She couldn’t bear the thought of her young brother being alone in such a cold and dark place.

The idea that her kind and gentle brother’s soul was captured, unable to rest peacefully, broke her heart.

She hadn’t anticipated it and therefore hadn’t prepared. She never imagined Echidna would go so far as to meddle with souls that had crossed the river of the underworld. She was a far more ruthless woman than Livia had ever thought.

A cold chill ran through Livia’s heart.

No matter what, she wouldn’t let things go according to that woman’s plan. A resolute determination settled quietly in her fiery eyes.

***

Shortly after returning to the sea, the second trial began.

“Face the leech-like creatures rising from the underground, Livia. With that insignificant human body of yours, let’s see how long you can last.”

Livia fell from a deep precipice, landing amidst a pile of bones that had turned to white skeletons.

However, the situation wasn’t as hopeless as she had feared. The cliff was deep, but there were protruding rocks and ledges that she could use to climb back up.

It had been frightening, but not unbearable. Paradoxically, this made Livia Horn uneasy. There was no way the trial set by that person could be this simple.

Livia held her breath, waiting for the ‘something’ she was sure would come. There had to be more than this. More than this…

Then it happened.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.

An eerie, chilling sound reached her ears. It was so faint at first that she could barely hear it, but it grew louder and quickly approached.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.

They were coming.

As tension built to the point where it was hard to breathe, black creatures began crawling up from the white bones piled at her feet.

“……!”

Thousands of insects with sharp teeth charged at Livia.

***

“Will she survive this time as well?”

As Triton’s low voice echoed while he stared into the darkness, Dugong and Actius, who stood by his side, responded solemnly.

“No, this time, we must put an end to all those bugs.”

“Indeed. How dare those filthy creatures infest the ocean depths…! They should not exist!”

Triton frowned slightly, looking at them as if questioning their words, but then he realized the situation and let out a sound of understanding.

Come to think of it, they had been waiting for the Titan leeches. He glanced down at his hand, which held the trident, with a dry smile.

The faint scar on the back of his hand had been left deliberately unhealed. It was from when that human woman had ambushed him while hanging from his bedpost.

Even as she was being strangled, she had tried to fight back by biting his fingers. That pathetic attack had been more amusing than threatening.

“The only instinct I know of in humans is just one.”

“And what is that?”

“…Survival. Simply, the will to live.”

Despite saying that, her eyes had a blind determination that didn’t shy away from death.

All for the sake of avenging her family, she had endured her body being broken, swallowed the dregs of the sewer, and withstood the agony of her flesh and bones being torn apart alive.

He couldn’t understand it. Weren’t humans inherently weak creatures?

They were born that way, and their limitations were clear: soft flesh, bones that broke easily, limited time, predetermined lifespans…

Because of this, they pursued the present. They reacted strongly to even the slightest pain and lost themselves in trivial pleasures.

They would wail inconsolably when their children died, and sometimes, for power, they would strangle the partner they had loved all their lives. Creatures full of contradictions and frailty.

Such was humanity, so why did she repeatedly risk her life in pursuit of revenge?

His interest in the human woman grew a little more each day. Like ripples cast on a calm surface, she brought small bits of excitement to his otherwise dull life.

For that alone, the words that human woman had spoken had proven their worth. As he recalled the determined look in the woman’s eyes as she scratched at the back of his hand, a familiar warmth spread in his lower abdomen.

Somehow, staring into those green eyes made the area below his waist itch. Unlike his father or the great god, he didn’t have a habit of flaunting his lower body whenever he pleased.

However, while he had experienced desire before, he had never been consumed by it. So this reaction was merely lust, not true desire.

“They’re here.”

At Dugong’s words, Triton casually pushed aside his thoughts and turned his head. In the deep darkness of the ocean floor, the tentacles of the giant leeches began to emerge.

The worms of the sea.

These creatures, akin to leeches at the bottom of the sea, fed on the Titans’ lifeblood and crawled out at their host’s command.

“Let’s go.”

Triton’s eyes turned cold. The blue trident, a symbol of the sea god, cut through the currents as it surged forward with power.

***

They were truly vicious creatures. Though they moved rather slowly, about the size of an adult’s palm, they were terrifyingly persistent. No matter how many were killed, they kept emerging relentlessly from the dark crevices.

Livia, who had been tirelessly crushing the bugs with her sword, finally couldn’t hold back and called out to Mumu.

The flames spewed by the hellhound were powerful, but the location was not ideal. After all, this was underwater. No matter how extraordinary Mumu’s flames were, there were limits.

‘…What should I do?’

Cornered, Livia gritted her teeth as she hid Mumu behind her. The endless swarm of bugs was a problem, but the bigger issue was the walls.

She was trapped in a large pit, and escaping it was extremely difficult. The walls were coated with green slime, making them incredibly slippery.

Growl! Yelp! Yip!

In a moment of inattention, dozens of leech-like bugs clung to Mumu’s thigh.

“Mumu!”

Livia rushed over to pull the bugs off. The bugs bit into Livia’s hands, but she didn’t care. What mattered more to her was Mumu.

“This won’t do, Mumu. You need to go back before you get hurt more.”

The dog, now larger than Livia, shook its head vigorously.

Even as it staggered, it continued to spew flames, now reduced to less than half their usual power. The sight of the dog, which had returned to protect its master even in death, pained Livia.

‘If only I were stronger. If only I were wiser…’

With tears clouding her vision, Livia gritted her teeth and, as if making a decision, slashed her own forearm with her sword.