Dark clouds gathered, piling layer upon layer.
The sky had already been pitch-black to begin with, draped in perpetual gloom, making the gathering storm clouds blend into the darkness so that they scarcely stood out at first glance.
As one of the rarest powerhouses across the seven parallel universes, Hades carried only a single burden in his heart:
His daughter.
The mighty figures of this world differed somewhat from those of other realms; they were rarely purely cold-blooded or ruthless.
Those who grew strong through conviction invariably held a soft spot within their hearts, for how else could the convictions they clung to ever bloom into flowers?
"Child, come to me," Hades called out to Phoebe, extending a hand in his weakened voice.
Phoebe stood frozen in place.
It felt as though a torrent of memories and emotions had been forcefully poured into her mind. Yet these feelings did not feel jarring or unnatural; they merely arrived with such overwhelming velocity that she was left momentarily dazed.
"Phoebe! Don't go!" Kino's voice rang out from behind.
With Master Wyatt's direct guidance, the Ultra Beast Warriors had adapted to the Netherworld's gravity with astonishing speed; they were, after all, natural-born prodigies.
Kino stepped forward, intent on stopping Phoebe.
There was no doubt that the fallen, defeated figure before them was none other than Hades himself, their ultimate enemy.
It was just that he happened to have been taken down by a couple of guys who had moved a step faster.
Even so, Kino could not shake his unease; who knew what kind of trump cards Hades might still have hidden up his sleeve?
Yet, being somewhat boorish and loud, he completely failed to notice the dramatic shift in expression on Phoebe's face.
"Oh, come on, Kino, didn't you see those two uncles are still standing right there? What is there to worry about? Is Hades going to eat Phoebe or something?"
In contrast to Kino, Thales appeared entirely unruffled.
It was glaringly obvious that Hades had been thoroughly defeated by their group.
So what was there to be afraid of?
Had the atmosphere not felt a bit too solemn, he would have loved to trot right over to Zoran and offer some warm, flattering pleasantries.
"How can you just..." Kino started to argue, only to be cut off by a sigh from behind.
"Let her go," Master Wyatt said softly. "Phoebe's roots are here."
"Master?" Kino and Phoebe gasped in unison, the former sounding bewildered, the latter utterly shocked.
Phoebe's eyes locked onto Master Wyatt's, and the old master gave a slight nod, as if answering an unspoken question.
Finally, looking down at the figure lying broken on the ground, Phoebe let out the word from the very depths of her soul: "Father!"
Her declaration left Kino, Thales, and the others completely dumbfounded.
Yet she paid them no mind, sprinting all the way over to Hades, dropping to her knees, and wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace.
Zoran watched the tender scene of father-daughter reunion unfold beside him with an impassive expression.
He had known about the relationship between these two all along.
Ten thousand years ago, right before the great war against the White Tiger tribe, Hades had entrusted his infant daughter to Master Wyatt, who was still his friend at the time, to be taken away.
So much time had passed since then. Only now, with his resurrection, were they meeting for the very first time.
Out of respect for a powerful adversary and a touch of elder-like gentleness, Zoran did not mind giving Hades a little more time.
At least, as an opponent worthy of Shendu, Hades was a genuinely respectable man.
"Even the longest stretches of time and space cannot silence the call of blood and family."
"Thank you," Hades said, suddenly turning his gaze toward Zoran. "Though I have fallen, my legacy endures. That brings me some comfort."
With Phoebe's assistance, Hades slowly rose to his feet and cast a sweeping glance across the settled battlefield.
"The old men of a bygone era should step down. Let the cycle that belongs to us finally come to an end."
The cycle of this world was inextricably tied to its two supreme titans:
Hades, and Snow Empress.
It was the entanglement born between these two that drove the wheel of reincarnation turning round and round.
In terms of karma, the lion's share belonged to them alone.
To be able to see his daughter one last time filled him with a deep sense of satisfaction. No matter how one looked at it, the words of gratitude he offered Zoran came straight from the heart.
When facing one another as true rivals, it was impossible not to feel a deep sense of respect for such a foe.
Especially given the words Zoran had whispered to him just moments earlier, while Phoebe was running toward him…
Along with the ultimate fate Zoran had described.
"It sounds like a fitting end, after all; leaving the world in the hands of the successors and the youth."
Hades's gaze swept past the Ultra Beast Warriors standing before the Black Tortoise spacecraft, lingering particularly long on Kino.
At that exact moment, Kino finally realized that the man standing before him was not only his number-one enemy and one of the strongest beings in the universe, but also, technically speaking, his future father-in-law.
"Father, where are you going?" Phoebe asked, sensing the subtle shift in the air, unable to hold back the question.
"Toward my destined conclusion," Hades replied firmly.
Suddenly, he thrust his palm forward, using a gentle burst of energy to push Phoebe back at a safe distance.
Zoran raised his hand in tacit coordination. In that instant, the crushing gravity of the Netherworld was dialed back to its absolute limit, and the surrounding world began to shimmer and warp.
Visible ripples of hetero-energy surged upward like flowing water.
Hades, Snow Empress, the warriors of the Netherworld and the White Tiger tribe, and even Titusz, who remained trapped within stone, all found themselves pulled along in the wake of Zoran's presence, rising together toward the sky.
And, of course, there was one other individual.
Zoran reached out a hand and yanked Ghost King up by the collar from where he had been cowering on the ground, letting out a cold snort. "Playing dead won't save you."
Ghost King had been lying low and silent, trying to coast through and slip away unnoticed.
But since Zoran had spared his life thus far, he certainly wasn't going to let him off the hook now.
Curiously enough, the happiest person among them all at this moment was Titusz. Blood still seeped from the corners of his lips, but he wore a brilliant, joyous smile as he cursed at Ghost King's distorted, aging face: "Finally! I will make you pay with your life for my sister!"
His gaze then snapped toward Hades. "And you! You're no different!"
Finally, his voice softened into a hollow, melancholic sigh, muttering, "And... myself as well..."
Yet, of everyone present, the one who looked the most at peace was Hades.
He parted his closed eyelids by a sliver and looked up toward the heavens.
It was raining in the Netherworld.
Dark, heavy clouds filled the sky, piling up like towering mountain ranges of gloom.
Hades's dominion over the Netherworld was absolute; rain and meteorological shifts like this had never occurred here before.
Unless... it was because of Phoebe, whom he had just chosen as the true heir of the Netherworld.
Her heart was grieving.
"Suddenly hearing the sound of shattering jade beside my ear, I looked up and realized the heavens had poured out their wine. Hahaha, a toast to the journey ahead!"
Hades laughed aloud, his figure rocketing upward amid a sudden surge of kinetic energy until he vanished into the firmament.
"Father!" Phoebe cried out, reaching her hands toward the sky with a heart-wrenching scream.
She did not know it yet, but as far as outcomes went, this was already the best possible conclusion for her.
She would no longer be tortured between familial duty and affection, nor forced to agonize over impossible choices.
Master Wyatt seemed lost in a torrent of deep thoughts as well. Gazing up at the sky, he shook his head and murmured under his breath:
"That which has been is what will be, and that which is done is what will be done..."
The curtain had finally fallen on a generation of legendary rivals, playing out amidst the rain of the Netherworld, a truly moving spectacle.
At the very summit of the vault of heaven, cutting through even the thickest layers of storm clouds, a pale purple moonlight flashed for a brief moment before fading away.
Zoran reappeared before the others, stepping quietly to Shendu's side.
"Is it over?" Shendu glanced at him.
"It's over," Zoran replied.
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