Erinys held onto William, and supported his body, as blood seeped from almost every pore of his body.
When the Half-ling suddenly appeared in front of him, the red-headed teenager forcefully canceled his attack. This caused a backlash, which created severe internal injuries.
Truth be told, William had almost lost his senses when he initiated his final attack against Thanatos.
The blood inside him boiled as if it was set on fire, urging him to thrust his sword on the God of Death’s chest, piercing his divine heart, and obliterating it to pieces.
However, after seeing Erinys stand in his way, he regained his sanity and forcefully canceled the blow that was meant to kill Thanatos while his Godslaying powers suppressed his Divinity.
Just like Superm*n being weak to Krypton*te, Gods were inherently weak against God Slayers. It was similar to the hunter and the prey. Both were natural enemies, with the God Slayer overcoming all adversities, killing the God he was fighting against.
It was the typical Hero versus Demon Lord scenario where the Hero always gained the upper hand against a being who couldn’t be defeated by anyone else but him.
“I’m sorry, Will,” Erinys cried as she clung to the Half-Elf that was heavily injured because of her.
Blood spilled out of the corner of William’s lips, but he paid it no mind and hugged the crying Half-ling who was hugging him tightly.
“It is I who should be sorry,” William said after he had forcefully swallowed the mouthful of blood that had risen up from his throat. “I got carried away. I’m sorry.”
Erinys, who could smell the strong scent of blood on William’s body, only cried louder, similar to a little girl whose favorite toy had been taken away from her.
Thanatos slowly propped himself up from the ground before staring at the Half-Elf who was holding his daughter in his embrace.
When he saw Erinys suddenly appear to stop William from plunging the sword into his chest, he felt as if his very soul had left his body.
For him, Erinys was his precious daughter, who brought life to the dull world of the dead that he governed. Although he didn’t spend much time being with her, he would always watch over her from his throne, making sure that he was safe from any harm.
When William appeared in the Underworld, the God of Death was very tempted to kick him out. However, he couldn’t do that because of his mother, the Primordial Goddess, favored the Half-Elf.
He endured…
Endured more…
p、A,nd A-n、o、ve,1 And continued to endure…
Each time he saw his daughter look at William with tenderness, he had the strong urge to leave his palace and toss the Half-Elf into the River of Flames, making him suffer.
The Half-Elf would always pat his daughter’s head, and kiss her forehead, especially when he told her goodnight. Back then, he was really afraid that Erinys would become pregnant because of the Half-Elf’s gestures.
Gods were born from the beliefs of people, while their children were born from their bodies.
Some of them didn’t even need to have a partner to give birth to a child.
Erinys was born in that manner, so Thanatos was worried that the Half-Elf’s constant skinship with his daughter would leave her pregnant. Fortunately, the Half-Elf didn’t do anything untoward with his daughter until he met with him face to face.
Unfortunately, by that time, it was already too late.
Erinys had already fallen in love with William and chose to go with him to the Surface World.
There, the Half-Elf had taught her a lot of things, which would have made Thanatos forcefully descend into Hestia just to snap William’s neck.
Fortunately, he wasn’t able to see what was happening in the Surface World due to certain restrictions placed on him as the God of the Dead.
Thanatos hated William because he had stolen something very important to him. His love was different from others because he believed that, if you truly wanted your child to grow strong, you needed to let them leave the nest and fend for themselves.
Similar to how wolves, lions, and birds, were pushed away by their parents to live on their own, Thanatos believed that it was the only way for Erinys to become an independent person, and grow to become an individual who wouldn’t need to rely on others to survive.
However, after hearing William tell him that he failed as a father, he finally understood that the distance he created between him and his daughter had made her very lonely.
This was why he vented his anger on the Half-Elf, and wanted to show his daughter that she had chosen wrongly. He wanted to prove to her that the one she chose to fall in love with didn’t have the strength to protect her.
But, in the end, it wasn’t Thanatos that protected Erinys.
It was the other way around.
Despite the dangers, his daughter came to his rescue and used her small and frail body to stand in front of the sword that was meant to take his life.
‘You’ve grown strong, Erinys,’ Thanatos thought as he looked at his crying daughter, whose dress and body were now stained with the Half-Elf’s blood.
Even though he didn’t want to admit it, Thanatos had to face reality. The Half-Elf he had looked down upon had become an existence that threatened beings such as him, who stood above mortals and wielded great powers and could make the entire world tremble if they wished for it.
Two hours later, Erinys finished wrapping William’s body with bandages, which almost made the Half-Elf look like a mummy.
Even so, she didn’t find the situation funny because she knew that the reason why her lover suffered so much was because of her.
“I think it’s about time I have a proper talk with my father,” Erinys said.
“Do you need me to accompany you?” William asked as he stared at Erinys’ blue eyes that closely resembled Thanatos’ own eyes.
“No. I want to talk to him alone.”
“Are you sure?”
Erinys nodded.
William could see the determination in her eyes, so he no longer insisted on accompanying her. The Erinys of the past would cower whenever her father was around, but now, there was strength in her gaze, which assured the Half-Elf that everything was going to be alright.
The Half-ling left the Half-Elf inside her cabin before flying towards her father, who was busy repairing the Fourth Layer of the Underworld that was on the brink of total collapse.
“Father, we need to talk,” Erinys said as she landed behind Thanatos.
The God of Death turned around to look at his daughter, whose eyes were no longer filled with fear, as she looked at him with a steady gaze.
“Are you leaving again?” Thanatos asked.
He knew that this wasn’t the reason why Erinys wanted to talk to him. The God of Death knew that Erinys would accompany the Half-Elf back to the Surface World, so this question was useless.
Even so, he still asked, not because he knew the answer to it, but because he wanted to hear the answer from Erinys own lips, so she could make her stance clear to him.
“Yes,” Erinys replied. “I will go with him. However, I promise to visit you twice a month.”
“I see,” Thanatos turned around to continue to repair Lust’s Abode. However, the real reason why he turned around was to prevent his daughter from seeing the smile that had appeared on his face.
He thought that Erinys would leave him for good, but after hearing that she would visit him twice a month, he felt a happiness that he had not felt for a very long time.
In order to hide his current mood from his daughter, he decided to ask her why she came to talk to him.
“Father, I just want to say that I have been lonely for many years,” Erinys said. “You never came to see me on my birthday. You never came to see me whenever I was sad.”
Tears once again streamed down Erinys face as the pent up sadness she had endured over the years burst forth like a raging river.
The Half-ling told her father all of the things that she had felt throughout the years that she hadn’t been able to see him, and the things that she had wished had happened over the past few years of her life.
Thanatos didn’t make any comments, nor did he stop Erinys from pouring out her resentment to him. Only when the Half-ling was too sad to talk, that only sobs escaped his lips, did the God of Death turn around and wrap his daughter in a loving embrace that had been long overdue.
“I’m sorry for making you lonely and sad,” Thanatos said as he hugged his crying daughter. “I know it’s a bit late, but I’d like to talk to you more, do things with you more, and understand you a little more.”
William, who had strong hearing, heard Erinys pain-filled cries from inside the cabin. However, even though her sobs were filled with sadness, they also contained relief, and a sense of peace, as if the burden she had carried for a very long time had finally disappeared from her heart.
“I’m happy for you, Erinys,” William said softly as he placed his hands over the blue gem in his chest.
He could tell that it was not only him who felt this way, but also his four wives, whose silhouettes were currently hugging him from all sides, easing the pain he was currently suffering from with the power of their love.
All of them knew that after they returned to the surface world, the Half-ling, who had lost her voice, would regain the things she had lost, as well as gain the love and happiness that was rightfully hers by birth.
