2 Butler

The best place to find answers to any of his questions will be in a Mortal City. Zagreus felt he knew quite a bit about Greece since he had heard so much about it from Achilles. The Greek hero had told him all about the many cities and...

"What the hell is that?" Zagreus asked out loud when he neared one of the cities.

It was during the night, and he saw large buildings, which were illuminated by bright lights. They weren't torchlights like the ones he was used to in the Underworld, but they looked like some kind of crystals. The buildings were also large with many glass windows, nothing like the ones Achilles had described.

"This place feels so different from home..." Zagreus was looking around, his eyes observing everything in sight, "yet so similar as well."

A group of pale men with sharp fangs and blood-red eyes appeared and started circling him around. All of them were drooling and looking at him like he was the best meal one could imagine.

"Is this the welcoming party?" Zagreus asked, but didn't receive a verbal response from those... creatures? He didn't think they were humans since he didn't feel any life or even blood in them.

*Growl!*

"Yeah, I kinda figured it would be like this," Zagreus commented leisurely, not feeling threatened by the creatures that had surrounded him.

From what he felt, they didn't seem much stronger than the shades he battled in Tartarus. The very same shades he had lost count how many times he had massacred. Zagreus had killed so many of them, even the God of War, Ares, was impressed by him. And that wasn't an easy feat.

The pale men were all shaking with anticipation and couldn't sit still any longer. Like rabid beats, they all pounced towards him.

"Well, this will be a good warm-up." Zagreus cracked his neck, not even bothering to summons his weapons. He didn't need to use any of the Infernal Arms against them.

There were seven of the creatures, and one, faster than the rest, was leading the charge. The leader neared the tastiest meal he had ever smelled and extended his clawed hand towards it, but it never reached.

Zagreus quickly punched out with his left hand, hitting the creature right in the face, and it's head popped like a balloon in a shower of gory. He wasn't a physical powerhouse with immense strength like his father, but he was still a god.

With his current strength and without equipping his gauntlets, he is able to lift about 30 tons. That still wasn't enough to lift the weights in his room, but it was a lot better than before.

Previously, Zagreus was able to lift about 20 tons until he discovered more about his own powers by absorbing a vial of Titan Blood. All of the Infernal Arms grew in strength by absorbing the ichor of the Titans, so he decided to see what would happen if he drinks it.

At that point, Zagreus had already learned that he had some control over blood, and he wanted to test out what exactly he was capable of doing. The worst that could've happened was him dying, which was something that occurred regularly for him, and he wasn't scared of death.

Thankfully for him, that didn't happen. Instead, his physical powers grew, and he became more powerful after consuming it. That was something he really needed if he wanted to pass Elysium's champions without the aid of the Olympians.

Sadly, that was the last vial of Titan Blood Zagreus found. He still didn't know if it was a one-time thing, or if he can continue to consume it to increase his strength.

The other six creatures followed after the leader, dying just as effortlessly with only a single punch from Zagreus. Not only was he way more powerful than them, but he had also been trained on how to fight by none other than Achilles himself since the moment he was able to pick up a weapon.

"That wasn't even good enough for a warm-up," Zagreus said, feeling disappointed at how quick the fight had ended.

It's been almost four months since he came to the Mortal World, and he hadn't experienced a single good fight since then. Zagreus had gotten used to fighting as often as possible in the Underworld, and he missed the feeling of being in a life and death battle.

"Oh, nevermind. There's more of you."

Three dozen more of the pale creatures appeared, but again, Zagreus was a bit disappointed. Those numbers wouldn't be good enough for him to even warm-up.

The entire group dashed towards him, trying to take him down with numbers. Lunging and striking with their clawed hands, they tried desperately to land a single hit on him. But Zagreus dodged out of the way of all attacks with grace, even the ones that he couldn't see.

It seemed as if he had eyes on the back of his head, but that was just his battle sense. Zagreus had forged it during his countless fights and had also inherited a bit of it from the numerous blessings of Ares, the God of War.

One by one, he killed them all, using nothing more than a single hit for each creature while gracefully avoiding all of their attacks.

"Well, that was easy," Zagreus said after the last one dropped. It really was, considering he didn't even use his Infernal Arms.

"Oh." Zagreus then sensed someone else.

Unlike the creatures he just fought, this one was different in the sense that he felt life energy from him. The man was tall and pale with blood-red eyes and large fangs. All similar features to the lifeless creatures, but his face was more feral-looking, resembling that of a bat.

"Are you like the long lost brother of the Furies?" Zagreus jested while observing the man. He was definitely more powerful compared to the lifeless creatures, but he didn't feel threatened.

"Blood...bloood...blooood..." The man muttered with drool coming out of his mouth.

"You even speak like Tisiphone! You actually might be related!" Zagreus said, smiling at his own stupid joke.

"Blood...bloood...blooood..." The man kept repeating, his blood-red eyes never leaving Zagreus' form.

"Yes, yes..." Zagreus said tiredly. It took him ages to get Tisiphone to say his name rather than "murderer." He definitely wasn't going to waste time doing the same with this guy.

"I am a God of Blood," Zagreus continued and raised his palm, from which a drop of blood emerged and crystalized into a bloodstone. He looked at it for a moment, remembering all the times he was made fun of for his red blood by Alecto.

Out of all the Furies, Zagreus disliked Alecto the most. That's why he always made sure to stick as many bloodstones in her as possible. She deserved it for calling him the God of Trash and making fun of his blood so many times.

Without any other movement from Zagreus, the bloodstone flew at the pale man, and before he could move out of the way, the bloodstone lodged itself in his chest.

"That takes care of that," Zagreus said, expecting the man to drop down, but that didn't happen.

Instead, the man's features softened. The claws on his hands shortened, turning into regular, albeit sharp nails. His feral-looking bat face slowly transformed, returning to a human face, but he still kept his blood-red eyes, and his fangs shortened just a bit.

The man then dropped on his knee and almost unwillingly said, "M-master."

"Huh?"

Dr. Michael Morbius was a Novel Winning winning biochemist, one of the most brilliant minds on Earth. However, he suffered from a blood disease that made him weaker and weaker by the day. He didn't have much time left, and he knew that, but there was no cure for his illness.

So, Michael decided to make his own. He developed an experimental treatment, which involved vampire bats and electroshocks. Michael succeeded in curing himself, but there were unforeseen side effects of the treatment, turning him into a pseudo-vampire. He needed to consume blood to survive and gained typical vampire characteristics such as an aversion to sunlight. Not only that, but whenever Michael drained the blood of a human, he transformed them into a mindless thrall.

For the past month, Michael has been slowly making his way towards the coast. He wanted to get out of the country before he turns anymore of his fellow citizens into mindless thralls. Michael didn't want to put them through this, but whenever he got hungry, he couldn't stop himself from feeding onto humans. His body just acted on his own.

Michael arrived a day ago at Meteora when he suddenly felt extreme hunger. No matter how unwilling he was, he ended up feeding on forty men in just a single day.

Michael had just satisfied his hunger, but that's when he sensed it. His enhanced senses picked up a particular smell. The only description he had for it was euphoric. Just by smelling it, his body started brimming in ecstasy.

His body started moving on his own, despite his hunger being satisfied. He just had to have it!

Michael tracked the euphoric scent until he found it, surrounded by the dead bodies of all the mindless thralls. He paid them no mind, his eyes never leaving the man that stood there. His fight-or-flight sense was screaming at him to run away, but his hunger overpowered it.

Witnessing Zagreus create a bloodstone would've made him breathless if already wasn't due to his pseudo-vampirism. The crystallized blood was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He wanted it!

He needed it!

Michael then saw bloodstone quickly flying towards him. He wanted to grab it, to be able to savor it, and enjoy its taste. However, the bloodstone moved too fast and embedded itself inside his chest.

The most unbelievable thing happened afterward. Blood started flowing through his body, and his life force was rekindled once more.

Michael was revived from his undead state, and he wanted to scream in joy. However, his body acted on his own, and he dropped on his knee. His mouth and tongue started moving on their own, and even though he didn't want to, he said, "M-Master."

Michael wanted to cry. He was finally healed, but he ended up being enthralled by the man in front of him. That was ironic, considering he was supposed to be the vampire, but there was this sensation of extreme happiness while Michael stood in front of his Master. He loved the feeling of being a servant just as much as he hated it.

Zagreus was slightly confused. He felt some kind of connection with the kneeling man. Hitting someone with a bloodstone had never garnered such an effect before, but then again, this was the first mortal he had used them on. Maybe there was more to the bloodstones than he initially believed.

"Do you know me?" Despite that, Zagreus still cautiously asked. This may as well be another Skelly situation with someone sending the man to him for assistance.

"Of course!" Michael confirmed, nodding enthusiastically. "You are my Master!"

Zagreus rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, please stop calling me Master," Zagreus said. He was okay with being called Prince, but he didn't like the sound of Master. "My name is Zagreus, what is yours?"

"As you wish, Master," Michael said and introduced himself, "I am Michael Morbius, your loyal servant."

Michael felt like crying. He felt compelled to confirm his status to his new Master, no matter how humiliating it might've felt.

"Great. Now that we got that out of the way, can you lead me to your home, or maybe a tavern where we can talk? I need to ask you some questions," Zagreus said. He needed to know where are the gods.

Michael looked at the numerous headless bodies on the ground. He thought they should've been disposed of in some way, but who was he to question his Master.

"As you wish," Michael said and turned around to lead him to the abandoned place he was using as his current home. It wasn't suitable for his Master, but he didn't know of any taverns where they could safely talk, and he will follow his Master's words to a fault.

On the way, Zagreus kept thinking to himself, 'Is this what having a butler feels like? I always wanted to have one.'

Soon, they arrived at an old and abandoned building that was practically empty.

"Well, umm, this will do, I guess," Zagreus said after looking around for a bit.

"I apologize for the place not being to your standards," Michael bowed in apology.

"It doesn't matter," Zagreus said with a shake of his head. There were more important things than their location. "I have something important to ask you. Where are the gods?"

"Gods?" Michael asked, confused by the questions. He knew that there are superpowered humans or mutants out there, who have god-like powers, but they were proven to be humans. As a brilliant biochemist, he had quite a bit of knowledge on that topic.

"Gods don't exist, they are just myths and legends. There are..." Michael began explaining, but Zagreus stopped him.

"No, they are real. You are talking with one right now."

"Of course you are one, Master," Michael said with conviction, even though he personally didn't believe it, "but..."

"My father is Hades, God of Dead." A shitty father, but his father nonetheless.

"My mother is Persephone, Goddess of Fertility." Ever since she returned to the Underworld, she had been a true parent to him, unlike someone else.

"Nyx, Goddess of Night, is like a second mother to me." If it wasn't for her, he would have never been alive.

"Thanatos is like a brother to me. Do I need to keep going?"

"..." Michael stared speechlessly at Zagreus.

The way Zagreus spoke with certainty made Michale believe in his words, no matter how unbelievable it sounded. His Master also had no reason to lie to him, so what he said must be the truth.

That information made him boil with happiness on the inside. His Master was a god! And he might get to study his DNA in the future, something no other biochemist has done before. Obviously, he will make sure no the spread any information about his Master, so he doesn't somehow put him in danger, but the chance of studying something so incredible was simply unbelievable.

"Gods are real," Michael muttered.

"Yes, so where are they? I've spoken with my uncles and the rest of my family, and they all said they are at Mount Olympus and how glorious it is there. But I visited the place, and I couldn't find any traces of them."

"I... can't answer that," Michael said. "No gods have made their appearances in the past 2 000 years. To us, they are nothing more than myths and legends."

"Great. It seems I won't be visiting my family anytime soon. Hmm, maybe I can explore the Mortal World and try to locate some of the other pantheons."

Zagreus knew there are other pantheons out there. His father had mentioned them a few times. He loved complaining about the other Gods of Death, most commonly about some Hela lady. Zagreus was interested in meeting her since, besides him, she was the only one that has made his father complain so much.

"It will be my honor to accompany you!" Michael said, intending to follow Zagreus. After all, he was his Master.

"Sure, I won't mind the company, and I will need someone to explain to me the mortal customs," Zagreus accepted.

"About that... you see, we humans have something called an ID. It's a small card with information about you. You will need that if you want to explore the world," Michael informed him, already doing his best to explain the mortal customs.

"Then let's get me one," Zagreus said.

"Well, you see, it will be a bit hard to get you one the normal way. Of course, there is another way, but we will need to procure some funds before that," Michael said, thinking of getting him a fake ID.

"Funds?" Zagreus questioned while putting a hand in his sack. He pulled out a shiny golden coin and asked, "Is this worth something here?"

"Definitely! This will be more than enough!" Michael said in surprise. Just by looking at the coin, he guessed it will be worth at least 1 500€. That should be enough for a high-quality fake ID.

"Just this one?" Zagreus asked, used to Charon asking for at least 50 of those.

"You have more of them?" Michael asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I can make a large pile with the amount I have," Zagreus said casually, having no idea how valuable they actually are.

Michael was celebrating on the inside after hearing that. He might not only get the chance to study a god's DNA, but he won't even have to care about funds since Zagreus was filthy rich.

Since it was still night time, and they won't be able to go get a fake ID at the moment, Michael wanted to get to know his Master better, so he asked, "Can you tell me about the Underworld?"

Zagreus' father was Hades, so he figured that's where he has lived until now.

"Sure. The Underworld is separated into a few levels. Tartarus is the lowest and also where my home was. The place is filled with shades that will attack you, to try and prevent you from trying to escape, and it's also protected by the Furies."

"The Furies? What are they like?" Michael asked in interest.

"Well, Alecto is a bitch." There was no need to say anything else about her.

"Tisiphone has some trouble speaking and keeps repeating "murderer" over and over again. Took me quite some time to make her say my name, but I succeeded in the end."

"Megaera... she and I used to be in a relationship. Twice at that, but having to kill each other regularly didn't work out for us."

"Why did you have to kill each other?" Michael asked, just as surprised at that as he was about Zagreus being in a relationship with Megaera.

"Because I fought my way out of the Underworld regularly," Zagreus said as if it wasn't obvious and continued his story.

"Asphodel is one giant lava sea, and it's protected by Lernie, a massive bone hydra. I'm pretty sure he has a stash of diamonds somewhere under the lava since every time I killed him, he had a large diamond in his main head."

"A large diamond?" Michael asked and gulped.

"Yeah." Zagreus pulled the largest diamond Michael had ever seen from his sack to show him.

"A-and you have more of those?" Michael asked with a tremble in his voice. He might have underestimated how rich Zagreus was.

"At least a thousand of them, not sure how many exactly." Yeah, Michale had hugely underestimated how rich Zagreus actually was.

"After that, we got Elysium, the paradise of the death Heroes. Plenty of strong warriors, and it's protected by an arrogant prick and Asterius."

"An arro

gant prick and Asterius?" Michael questioned.

"Theseus and the bull of Minos," Zagreus elaborated.

"You have fought with the mythical king Theseus?" Michale asked in astonishment.

"Yes, Asterius is a noble warrior. I respect him a lot," Zagreus answered, not even wanting to talk another word about Theseus, that arrogant prick.

"Then we have the Temple of Styx, which is pretty much infested with vermin and satyrs, and also protected by Cerberus."

"You've also fought Cerberus?" Michael asked.

"No, no, no. Cerberus is such a good boy, I would never harm him. I just gave him a satyr sack, and he left me alone. Simple as that. After dealing with all that, we have Father as the last guardian of the Underworld."

"Wow, so you battle your way out of the Underworld in one go?" Michael asked, impressed by Zagreus' achievement.

"Oh, no. I died thousands of times before I succeeded," Zagreus said as if dying was something normal to him.

"You've died thousands of times?!?"

"Probably more, I stopped counting a long time ago. Hypnos would probably know how many times since he was always there to greet me when I walked out of the River of Styx," Zagreus answered.

"So, are you the God of Rebirth?" Michael asked since that's how it sounded to him.

"Hey, I should add that to my titles. Zagreus, God of Blood, Darkness, and Rebirth!"

Michael didn't think that's how this worked, but who was he to question a god?