This time it was Vali's turn to feel a growing sense of disappointment. Not only had Lavinia, whom he regarded as an older sister, been taken away by Hades, but his sworn brother Ikuse Tobio had also stayed behind to hold off the enemy for him.
Thinking of this, Vali could not stop the tears from flowing.
Subsequently, the group arrived at Fourth Prison - the Dark Swamp of Yuchen Lake. This was an incredibly pitch-black swamp that emitted a foul stench, and black bubbles were rising from the surface of the lake.
"It stinks so much...!!" Sisters Koneko Toujou and Tachibana Kuroka, who had a keen sense of smell, couldn't stand the foul odor and pinched their noses.
Benniah couldn't stand it either. Pinching her nose, she took out a map of the Underworld, looked at the location and content on it, and said:
"This should be Fourth Prison - Yuchen Lake. It is a Dark Swamp where the discontented and the angry sink each other. This is an infinitely vast black swamp, a terrifying swampland; once the dead jump in, they can never come out."
As they spoke, many souls descended from the sky of the Underworld, all falling into Yuchen Lake. Some were attacking each other to make their opponents sink before themselves, while others had given up struggling and allowed themselves to sink to the bottom of the lake.
Everyone felt their skin crawl watching this scene, and they couldn't help but think: 'How did Hades ever think of setting up such a hell...'
At that moment, a wooden raft sailed toward them across Yuchen Lake. Upon docking, a Specter wearing armor covered in fangs and a wolf-head helmet held a long oar and looked at them with a mysterious smile, saying:
"Welcome to Fourth Prison, trespassers of the Underworld. I am the Guardian Specter here, Phlegyas of Lycaon, the Celestial Crime Star."
Azazel took out a bag of ancient gold coins and looked at Phlegyas, saying, "Don't tell me you also require a ferry fee like at the Acheron River."
"No, it's free." Phlegyas put down the oar and jumped onto the shore.
Hearing Phlegyas's words, everyone felt an inexplicable sense of relief. But to their surprise, Phlegyas added:
"But it is impossible for you to cross this Yuchen Lake!!"
"Howling Inferno!!" Phlegyas gathered intense Cosmos in both hands and fired many rays at the group in front of him.
As everyone prepared to defend, Arthur was the first to rush in front of them. Holding the Holy King Sword, he slashed at the space before him, cutting open two spatial rifts that sucked the Howling Inferno inside.
"Hmm?" Phlegyas felt a familiar aura from behind. He turned his head to see two brand-new spatial rifts appear behind him, from which his own attack, Howling Inferno, flew out.
Phlegyas dodged with agility, then looked toward Arthur and said, "I see. Is that the Holy King Sword that can cut through space? No wonder dimensional rifts appeared."
"Jackal Sting!!" Phlegyas condensed his Cosmos onto the fangs on his hands, revealing dark claws as he charged at Arthur like a wild wolf.
Arthur blocked Phlegyas's claw attack with the blade of the Holy King Sword, but Phlegyas's offensive was as fierce as a tsunami. Arthur could only keep parrying and retreating.
While parrying and retreating, Arthur said, "Vali! Issei Hyoudou! Leave this Celestial Crime Star Specter to me, you guys go quickly!!"
"Arthur! Why are you doing this too!!" Vali responded angrily.
"Brother..." Le Fay looked at Arthur with teary eyes.
Arthur was forced into a corner by Phlegyas. He gritted his teeth and swung his sword at Phlegyas, but not even a scratch was left on Phlegyas's underworld armor.
Yet Arthur still fought back with all his might, shouting loudly to Vali, "The two of you are the trump cards for all of us! Only if you defeat Hades can the 'Great Eclipse' be lifted!!"
Hearing Arthur's answer, Vali could only hide his sorrow in his heart. He shouted for everyone to get on the raft, and they had no choice but to follow him.
As more people boarded, the size of the raft grew larger. With Azazel responsible for punting the boat, they set off toward the next hell.
Phlegyas, pinning Arthur down, grew furious as he saw the group punting away. "Damn it!! Don't think you can cross Yuchen Lake!!"
"Appear! Guardian of Fourth Prison..."
"Don't even think about summoning the Guardian Dragon!!" Arthur kicked Phlegyas away. Phlegyas crashed against a rock wall and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
A powerful Cosmos erupted from Phlegyas's entire body, its pressure making Arthur unable to move. Phlegyas's mouth moved as he began to chant an incantation: "Surging galactic power, when both flesh and soul are exhausted, the soul of the king shall curse the world!!"
"Appear!! [No. 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon]!!"
As Phlegyas finished his chant, the Dark Swamp in front of the raft began to boil, and a terrifying figure gradually emerged.
A black sphere surged out of the boiling Dark Swamp. The sphere sprouted sharp dragon claws and a fearsome dragon head. Its eyes were like beacons in the darkness, and its chest bore a sky-blue numerical symbol resembling 95.
Ten pitch-black dragon wings were on its back. It had no lower body, appearing like a ghost, with three vengeful spirits circling around it.
[No. 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon] (Rank: 9 / Attribute: Dark / ATK: 4000 / DEF: 0)
"Roar——!!" Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon roared at the people on the raft. Its roar sounded like countless vengeful spirits claiming lives, echoing continuously in their minds and souls, making everyone tremble.
This roar could even be called a curse and a mental attack.
Michael clutched his head and struggled to open one eye to look at Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon. "Rather than a dragon, it's more like a collection of vengeful spirits."
Michael and Azazel condensed light spears in their hands and threw them at the Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon, hoping to destroy it by exploiting the vengeful spirits' weakness to light.
The two light spears did not pierce the dragon's body. Instead, they sank into it as if it were a swamp. Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon's swamp-like body surged, swallowing the light spears into itself.
"What! It swallowed the light!!" Michael cried out in shock at the sight.
Cold sweat trickled down Azazel's forehead as he analyzed, "It seems this fellow isn't a collection of vengeful spirits, but a special kind of dragon."
"Don't get in the way, you pile of mud!!" Monkey King shouted angrily, raising his Golden Cudgel. The staff grew longer and larger as he attacked Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon.
Unfortunately, after the staff hit the dragon's shoulder, it was as if it were being gripped; no matter how much force he used, he couldn't pull it out.
"Roar——!!" Then, Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon spat a pitch-black breath at Monkey King.
Monkey King, hit by the attack, had no physical wounds, but he felt his body become extremely heavy, as if something were pressing down on him, and his breathing became a bit difficult.
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