Episode 74
The Mother of HADES
The laughter would not stop.
It echoed through every collapsing corridor of LEVEL ZERO like the voice of an ancient nightmare finally waking up.
Deep.
Cold.
Inhuman.
And every second it laughed—
the gigantic black gate opened wider.
CRAAAAAAACK!!
Entire steel walls split apart.
Emergency lights burst overhead.
Scientists ran blindly through smoke and fire while alarms screamed across the underground city.
WARNING. PHASE THREE ACTIVE.
WARNING. DIMENSIONAL LOCK FAILURE.
Kabir looked around at the collapsing facility and sighed heavily.
"...you know what?" "I miss normal trauma."
Nobody laughed.
Because at the center of the chamber—
Maya suddenly opened her eyes.
But something was wrong.
Her pupils had completely disappeared.
Black symbols glowed faintly across her skin.
And the darkness around her was moving.
Breathing.
Watching her.
Ethan stepped backward slowly.
"...Maya?"
She didn't answer.
Inside the mental world—
Maya stood frozen in the endless void while thousands of glowing eyes stared directly at her.
Every whisper echoed together.
❝THE MOTHER HAS RETURNED.❞
"No..." Maya whispered.
"This isn't real..."
FLASH!!
Another memory slammed into her mind violently.
A laboratory hidden far beneath the ocean.
Rows of pregnant women connected to massive black machines.
Children crying inside glass tubes.
Scientists recording data.
And standing in the center—
Director Vale.
Younger.
Smiling proudly.
"The child must survive."
FLASH END.
Maya screamed in pain and grabbed her head.
Luna immediately hugged her tightly.
"Don't listen to them!"
But the whispers only grew louder.
❝OPEN THE GATE.❞
❝BRING HIM HOME.❞
❝MOTHER...❞
Maya fell to her knees trembling violently.
"What AM I?!"
Outside—
Arman heard her scream.
And something inside him snapped again.
Not rage this time.
Fear.
Real fear.
Because when he looked at Maya—
the HADES Core inside his chest reacted instantly.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Black-red energy exploded around his body.
The entire chamber shook violently.
WARNING. CORE RESONANCE DESTABILIZING.
Arman grabbed his chest painfully.
"No..."
The ancient creature beyond the gate smiled wider.
Its stitched flesh twisted unnaturally while thousands of trapped souls cried from inside its body.
"...she remembers..."
Kabir slowly pointed at the monster.
"I would just like to officially say..." "THAT THING should not be smiling."
Meanwhile—
Director Vale slowly pulled himself from the rubble.
His face was covered in blood.
Several bones in his body were visibly broken.
But he was still smiling.
Still obsessed.
Still insane.
"You finally understand now..." he whispered.
Ethan turned toward him furiously.
"You experimented on CHILDREN!"
Vale laughed weakly.
"And humanity survived because I did."
Wrong thing to say.
Again.
THOOOOOOOM!!
Arman appeared in front of Vale instantly and grabbed him by the throat.
The shockwave shattered every nearby monitor.
Arman's black eyes burned like hellfire.
"You destroyed lives."
Vale coughed blood.
"But I created gods."
Arman's grip tightened harder.
"You created suffering."
CRRRRRACK!!
Vale screamed as several ribs snapped instantly.
But suddenly—
"MOVE!!"
Kabir tackled Arman sideways.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!
A gigantic black arm smashed through the chamber where Arman had been standing a second earlier.
The creature beyond the gate was forcing itself through.
More of its horrifying body emerged from the darkness.
Gigantic stitched muscles.
Hundreds of blinking eyes.
Rows of human mouths opening and closing across its skin.
Children crying endlessly inside its flesh.
The smell alone made soldiers vomit instantly.
One remaining scientist collapsed screaming.
"It's alive— IT'S ALIVE—"
The creature slowly crawled farther into reality.
And everywhere its body touched—
reality itself started rotting.
Walls melted.
Steel twisted.
Gravity distorted violently.
Kabir stared blankly.
"...nope."
"...absolutely illegal creature."
Subject Zero suddenly roared from across the chamber.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!
The gigantic stitched monster lunged directly at the ancient being.
Not out of rage.
Out of desperation.
Protecting the children.
Protecting everyone.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!
Both creatures collided violently.
The impact shook the entire underground city.
Chunks of concrete rained from the ceiling.
The trapped children inside Subject Zero screamed together.
"DON'T LET HIM OUT!"
"PLEASE!"
"HE'LL KILL EVERYONE!"
Arman's breathing became heavier.
Because for the first time—
he realized Subject Zero had never been evil.
It had been trying to stop this from the beginning.
Meanwhile—
inside the mental world—
the void changed.
The darkness parted slowly.
And something enormous began walking toward Maya.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Every step distorted existence itself.
Luna immediately stepped in front of Maya protectively.
"You can't have her!"
The darkness stopped.
Then slowly—
a gigantic silhouette emerged.
Impossible to fully see.
Too large.
Too ancient.
Only its glowing red eyes were visible clearly.
And they were staring at Maya with terrifying affection.
"...my queen..."
Maya's blood turned ice cold.
"No..."
The creature extended one massive hand toward her.
Its voice shook the void.
"You were created for me."
FLASH!!
Another memory exploded inside Maya's head.
A woman strapped to an operating table screaming in agony.
Black energy flooding her veins.
Scientists cheering.
Vale speaking calmly.
"The compatible bloodline has been confirmed."
Then—
a baby crying.
A tiny symbol glowing on the infant's chest.
The same symbol now glowing on Maya.
FLASH END.
Maya stopped breathing.
Luna looked horrified.
"...they engineered you."
Outside reality—
Ethan reached the same conclusion.
His face turned pale as he read shattered research files scattered across the floor.
"No..."
Kabir looked at him nervously.
"What no?"
Ethan swallowed hard.
"Maya wasn't chosen randomly."
Everyone froze.
Ethan looked toward Maya in horror.
"She was born inside the HADES Program."
Silence.
Even Arman turned slowly.
Ethan's hands trembled while reading the damaged files.
"Project Mother Vessel..."
"Human DNA fused with dimensional energy before birth..."
Kabir blinked slowly.
"...bro why are scientists always insane?"
Vale laughed weakly from the floor.
"Because ordinary humans cannot evolve."
Arman kicked him brutally across the chamber.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!
Vale crashed through another steel pillar coughing blood violently.
But he still smiled.
Still proud.
"Maya was created to stabilize the gate."
"And you..." he looked at Arman,
"...were created to open it."
Arman's heart dropped.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The experiments.
The voices.
The Core.
Him surviving when nobody else could.
He was never special.
He was designed.
Meanwhile—
the ancient creature continued crawling farther into reality.
Half its body was now outside the gate.
And the world itself was beginning to break apart around it.
Emergency systems failed completely.
Darkness swallowed entire sections of LEVEL ZERO.
Gravity shifted violently.
Several soldiers floated upward screaming before their bodies twisted unnaturally in midair.
Kabir looked ready to quit existence.
"I swear if we survive this..." "I'm becoming a farmer."
Suddenly—
Maya screamed.
Both realities shook simultaneously.
Inside the mental world—
the ancient being had reached her.
It gently touched her forehead with one massive finger.
And instantly—
the entire void exploded with memories.
Ancient civilizations burning.
Massive black creatures descending from the sky.
Humanity worshipping them like gods.
Wars.
Sacrifices.
Entire worlds consumed by darkness.
Then finally—
humans sealing the creatures away behind dimensional gates.
The last image showed one sentence carved into stone:
❝WHEN THE MOTHER AWAKENS, HADES SHALL RETURN.❞
FLASH END.
Maya collapsed completely.
Tears streamed down her face.
"They're not gods..."
Luna whispered fearfully.
"They're parasites."
Outside—
the creature suddenly smiled wider.
Because it heard her.
"...smart child..."
Its thousands of eyes turned toward Arman.
"You carry my heart."
Then toward Maya.
"And she carries my soul."
The chamber went silent.
Arman's expression darkened instantly.
"No."
The creature tilted its head slowly.
"You belong to me."
Arman stepped forward.
Black-red flames exploded around him violently.
But this time—
there was no confusion inside him.
No fear.
Only determination.
He looked directly at the ancient nightmare.
"My life was never yours."
The HADES Core roared inside his body.
Energy spiraled wildly around him.
The creature laughed deeply.
"Then come." "Show me your hatred."
Arman's eyes narrowed.
And suddenly—
he deactivated the energy completely.
Everyone froze.
Kabir blinked.
"...wait what?"
Arman looked calmly at the creature.
"You know nothing about me."
The monster stopped smiling slightly.
Arman pointed toward the terrified children around the chamber.
"You think pain creates gods?"
He looked at Maya.
At Luna.
At Subject Zero still fighting desperately.
Then back at the creature.
"No."
His voice became terrifyingly calm.
"It creates survivors."
BOOOOOOOOM!!
A completely different energy exploded from Arman's body.
Not black.
Not red.
Pure white.
The entire underground city shook violently.
Even the gate itself cracked.
Vale's smile finally disappeared.
"...impossible."
Ethan stared in shock.
"The Core is changing..."
Inside the mental world—
Luna's eyes widened with hope.
"He's resisting it..."
The ancient creature suddenly roared furiously for the first time.
Because Arman was doing the one thing no vessel had ever done before.
He was rejecting HADES itself.
And deep beneath LEVEL ZERO—
something ancient began screaming in rage.