The sensation was so exhilarating that even amidst the searing pain in her chest, Livia found herself oddly amused.

“What is this…?”

With a grimace, Triton grabbed Livia’s hand, which was clutching the dagger. In response, Livia urgently mouthed words.

“Triton…”

He paused for a moment. His reflection was visible in her slightly wavering blue eyes. Whatever emotions lay hidden within them were unclear, but it didn’t matter. This was her chance.

“I… you…”

Her small, trembling hand reached for Triton’s hand, which was holding the dagger’s tip. In a whisper-like, fragile voice, she spoke to the man looking at her with distorted eyes.

“I really hate you.”

In that moment of his distraction, Livia, with their hands still entwined, mustered all her strength to drive the dagger further in.

The chill of death crept up from her toes. Though the wound was in her chest, death seemed to be spreading from her extremities.

The sea god’s gaze grew fierce, his face shattered by mockery and arrogance. Not a bad way to die. Though there was disgrace, she had achieved her primary goal.

The corners of Livia’s lips twisted upward.

And with that, she took her second and final breath.

***

What on earth was this?

Triton, usually unfazed by most things, found himself letting out incredulous laughs while holding the woman who had just died her second death in his arms.

After barely surviving the leech-like worms, she ended up dying right before his eyes? And by stabbing herself in the chest, no less? Why, why would she do this?

Triton’s mouth twisted involuntarily. The pale complexion of the woman, now dead and disheveled beneath him, struck his eyes.

Blood from the gash in her chest, caused by the dagger, soaked Triton’s bed. She had stabbed herself so deeply that death was instantaneous. How could she bleed so much in just that brief pause?

Human life is so fragile. Just a dagger to the heart, and she died so easily. Yet, the flesh torn by those wretched leech worms had healed perfectly under Triton’s touch….

Ha.

Seeing her skin, flawless and without a trace of a scar, only fueled his anger.

She threatened to strangle, stab, and kill him, yet she dies from just a finger in her wound? He didn’t even thrust anything significant, just a mere finger.

He never expected her to escape this moment with such a stunt.

Then again, when did this human woman ever act as he anticipated?

Triton looked at the woman, now a corpse, with eyes filled with turbulent emotions.

“Triton.”

How dare she whisper his name, making him drop his guard, only to take her own life?

The moment he heard his name mixed with her fragile, wavering breath, a shiver like a tidal wave ran through his entire body.

Triton.

He had never attached much significance to his name, but the way she voiced it was different. It was as if something within it momentarily clouded his mind.

Was it Echidna’s cunning trickery, or a hidden talent of Livia Horn?

Her softly whispered voice was tickling, yet the only words she uttered were ‘I really hate you.’

A bitter laugh escaped him.

Just ‘hate’? Just ‘hate’!

A lifetime of hatred, a vow to seek revenge, a promise to tear someone apart—none of these. Just ‘I really hate you.’ It was so absurd that it almost felt charming.

You couldn’t just throw out such a charming remark and then escape like this, Livia.

Yet, on the other hand, it was still puzzling. A woman who had endured all sorts of trials would cut her own chest over such a taunt? Moreover, their trials were not yet over, and Livia’s revenge was incomplete.

Most importantly, there was the smile she wore when she stabbed herself.

Something about it definitely felt off.

“…….”

Triton withdrew the water droplets he had used to contain Livia’s death.

Soon, black smoke that oxidized the soul spread, and before long, Hermes’ feather, which collected souls, floated down. The fluttering feather took the soul and disappeared into the underworld.

Triton quietly watched the scene from a step away.

***

The goddess Athena had said that Livia must die at Triton’s hands.

So, didn’t this death roughly align with her words? Whether it was a trick or a foul play, she had died in his hands, hadn’t she?

…No, had she really died?

Livia blinked her blurred eyes and sat up. Like darkness devouring light, she couldn’t see anything. Although her vision was blocked, she vaguely sensed she was in some vast, expansive place.

Where was this?

It was different from when Livia first arrived in the afterlife. There were no long queues of people walking, nor the distant river of death or the ferryman.

Just darkness…. A void, similar to the unconsciousness of deep sleep, pressed down on her. Suddenly, as she felt a chilling cold, a voice as icy as one that freezes souls reached her.

“You who disrupt the order of death.”

A shiver ran through her entire body.

Livia turned her stiff neck to find the source of the voice. Then she saw a massive leg, as if seated on a throne, surrounded by a halo of light that had not been visible before.

The upper body remained in shadow, revealing only the legs and garments, as if merely indicating its presence.

“You who have met death at the hands of a god. Yet, it is not your time to die. Your existence continually disrupts the order of the world of death.”

An overwhelming presence, as if it could crush with just its voice.

As soon as she realized who it was, her soul instinctively shrank back in fear.

The god of death, the king of the underworld, Hades.

She tried to resist the fear somehow, but it was a futile effort. The ash-colored eyes that appeared in the darkness easily overpowered her.

Her trembling legs gave way, and Livia found herself collapsing to the ground. A metallic sound came from her ankle. Glancing down, she saw the chain, a mark of one who attempted to harm a god, heavily attached to her ankle.

“Your mere presence here disrupts the order of death. Those who take death lightly also take life lightly.”

At that moment, a pillar of deathly flames rose around Livia. The searing heat, as if it would melt her skin, crushed her.

“Learn the fear of death until you return to life.”

Out of water, into fire….

Livia, gasping for breath, let out a hollow laugh. Perhaps due to Triton’s trials, she hadn’t completely lost her mind. Whether this was fortunate or not, it meant she could fully feel the pain.

“Ahhh!”

The infernal flames of hell melted Livia’s skin. The intense heat elicited a scream.

“Stop…. That’s enough, Hades.”

Suddenly, a voice as warm as spring sunlight intervened. The light that lingered near Hades’ legs spread, revealing another throne beside him. The toes of a pink goddess were visible beneath the flowing skirt.

Persephone, the queen of the underworld, was pleading with her husband.

“This girl is merely being used by fate…. If a human does not fear death, it means they are living a life more hellish than death. So don’t be too harsh, Aidoneus.”

The terrifying ruler of the underworld fell silent at his wife’s words. He neither opposed nor agreed, but the pillar of flames that threatened to melt Livia gradually subsided.

“‘That child’ came looking for that woman and came to me.”

At that moment, the lukewarm atmosphere completely changed.

The pillar of flames vanished instantly, and Hades turned slightly toward his wife on the throne.