The concealment effect of the Invisibility Cloak, combined with Ranni's profound mastery over spatial magic, made it impossible for even Thanatos to detect her presence.
"Let's go."
Arthur didn't bother hiding beneath the cloak. Instead, he walked openly through the stone gate.
…
In the Underworld, Thanatos was still brooding over his defeat earlier that day.
He had never expected Arthur to be so monstrously powerful.
At the time, he had already pushed the channel transmitting the power of death into Voldemort's soul to its absolute limit—the maximum that fragile soul could withstand.
And yet, Arthur had still utterly overwhelmed him.
Thanatos simply couldn't understand how a mortal could grow to such a terrifying level while still in the human world.
Suddenly, he sensed that the spatial passage connecting the Underworld and the mortal realm had been opened once more.
He immediately rushed over to investigate.
Perhaps this was finally his chance to descend into the mortal world personally and settle things with Arthur.
With that thought in mind, Thanatos arrived at the entrance to the spatial corridor.
Then he saw the person he wanted to tear apart standing calmly before the gate.
Arthur was even smiling and waving at him.
After stepping through the stone gate, Arthur hadn't wandered deeper into the Underworld. He simply stood there waiting.
He knew Thanatos would definitely sense the disturbance and come investigate.
Sure enough, it didn't take long.
"Hey. Good evening. I came to see you."
Arthur greeted him cheerfully with a wave.
Thanatos, however, wasn't buying the friendly act.
"Mortal! You actually dared to enter the Underworld? You court death!" Thanatos roared furiously. "I truly wonder who gave you such courage!"
Arthur waved dismissively.
"Come on, it's not like I destroyed your true body. I only killed one of your avatars in the mortal world. Is that really worth getting this angry over?"
Thanatos almost laughed from sheer rage.
Was this about the avatar?
He couldn't care less how many disposable vessels like Voldemort died.
What truly enraged him was the fact that Arthur had stolen a portion of his divine authority.
Thanatos stopped wasting words altogether.
He raised the massive scythe in his hand and prepared to strike Arthur down.
"Whoa, whoa, no need to get so worked up!" Arthur quickly interrupted. "At worst, I'll just give the authority back to you."
Thanatos paused mid-swing.
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Really? You expect me to believe you'd be that kind-hearted?"
Arthur nodded repeatedly.
"Of course. I never wanted the thing in the first place."
"I don't believe you."
Thanatos trusted none of it.
This was divine authority—the very thing that could allow someone to ascend to godhood once fully mastered.
He refused to believe Arthur felt no temptation whatsoever.
"I'm serious," Arthur replied. "I only learned to control a bit of death energy, and then this authority suddenly attached itself to me."
"It even told me that if I completely mastered it, I'd have a chance to become the next God of Death."
"But honestly? All I want in life is a happy family and a peaceful future. I've never had any desire to become a god."
Thanatos still looked unconvinced.
Arthur's explanation wasn't enough to earn his trust.
Seeing that the god still didn't believe him, Arthur added:
"If you don't trust me, I can swear a Soul Oath."
A Soul Oath was an ancient form of magic that required the caster to swear upon their very soul.
If the oath was broken or left unfulfilled, the soul would be completely annihilated.
Because the punishment was so absolute—and because the spell itself was extraordinarily difficult—this magic had long since fallen out of use.
Very few wizards in the modern era even knew it existed.
Arthur himself had only discovered it within the Malfoy family's private collection of books.
But for a deity as ancient as Thanatos, the concept was naturally familiar.
"In that case," Thanatos said, "make your oath."
Arthur nodded.
After chanting an extremely long incantation, he slowly declared:
"I, Arthur, swear upon my soul that so long as Thanatos answers three of my questions, I shall return the authority of death to him."
Thanatos frowned immediately.
"You never mentioned that I would have to answer questions."
Arthur shrugged.
"I prefer equal exchanges. Besides, isn't this better for proving my sincerity? I genuinely do intend to return the authority."
Thanatos considered it for a moment.
Oddly enough, that reasoning did make sense.
If Arthur had sworn to return the authority completely unconditionally, Thanatos would have become even more suspicious.
"Fine," Thanatos said. "Ask your questions."
Internally, however, he had already made up his mind.
Depending on Arthur's questions, he would decide whether the mortal deserved a quick death—or a slow one.
Yes.
Even after the Soul Oath, Thanatos still fully intended to kill him.
Arthur himself had taught him something earlier:
Never underestimate deceit in battle.
Arthur asked his first question.
"Are gods naturally this huge?"
At the moment, Thanatos appeared clad in black robes, wielding a massive scythe, with enormous wings spreading behind his back.
His divine form towered hundreds of meters high.
Compared to him, Arthur wasn't even as large as a finger joint.
Thanatos had expected some cunning or dangerous question.
Instead, Arthur asked… this.
"No," he answered. "This is merely my divine manifestation."
"Then can you turn into a human-sized form?" Arthur asked. "Honestly, craning my neck upward while talking to you is exhausting."
Beneath the hood of his black robes, Thanatos' lips curled slightly.
"I can," he said. "That counts as your second and a half question."
Before Arthur could protest, Thanatos' gigantic form rapidly shrank until he stood at ordinary human height.
That was the nature of Soul Oaths.
As long as the conditions technically aligned with the wording, the oath recognized it as fulfillment.
There were countless loopholes one could exploit.
That was one of the reasons this ancient magic had been abandoned.
Arthur frowned slightly, clearly not expecting Thanatos to abuse the wording so shamelessly.
Thanatos reminded him coldly:
"Hurry up. You only have one question left."
Arthur fell silent for a long moment.
Then he slowly spoke.
"You should still remember the last thing I said to you earlier today… right?"
"Of course I remember," Thanatos replied. "What about it?"
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