Strongest Superhuman System

"Your soul. I will carry you across the river, but in exchange for my services, you will put your soul on the line. This river is filled with the souls of the dead, each of them trying desperately to get over to the other side. In the event that anyone falls into the river during a crossing, their body is devoured and their soul is lost in the flow of time for the next hundred years.

All the souls within are constantly trying to draw in more souls to join them, so their number never dwindles. I want you to swear by the Styx that if you were to succumb to the luring of the souls and get lost in this river, your soul would become mine to do with as I wish."

What a shitty-ass deal.

There were too many inconsistencies, and Mark was not sure what exactly Charon meant by the souls trying to lure him into the river for him to accept the deal. Mark looked towards the foggy green river curiously, and he was surprised to see many translucent objects floating across the river while trying to get to the other side.

But no matter how hard they forced themselves to move forward, it always seemed like they were stuck in place. Trapped in time.

Were those the souls of the dead? How come I couldn't see anything till now?

Mark turned back to Charon while thinking about the deal. So all Mark had to do was to make sure he didn't fall into the river? That seemed like something doable, and Mark knew that if it was that simple, then Charon would not even bother mentioning the deal at all. There had to be something more to it. What sort of method would the souls use to lure Mark into the river?

Mark asked Charon this question, and Charon stayed silent as he just watched Mark with blank eyes. He was not going to say anything about that and Mark frowned angrily as he saw Charon turn away from him after some time. Mark asked his system for information about the method used to lure souls into the river, but the system also stayed silent.

Mark gritted his teeth in irritation as he realized that he was not going to get any information out of Charon or his system. He would just have to add his own clause to the deal.

"I will accept the deal, but only if you swear by the Styx that you will not try to throw me into the river yourself. Only the souls are allowed to try and lure me in. The moment you throw me into the Styx, the deal is broken, and you get nothing."

Charon eyed Mark for a few more seconds, and Mark did not know if Charon was even thinking about the deal at all or if he was just watching Mark with those unnerving eyes. But after some time, Charon finally reached out to the side, and a long stick appeared in his hand and sunk into the river below him.

"I swear by the Styx that should you keep to the deal, I will keep to it as well."

Charon finally made the pledge, and Mark could literally feel the ground under his feet tremble as the entire river seemed to vibrate in acceptance of the pledge. Mark knew that a pledge made to the Styx was one of the most binding vows that a god could make in Olympus, so he was sure that Charon would keep his word. Mark nodded and swore his pledge as well.

"I swear by the Styx."

Rumble!

The ground under Mark's feet trembled as another pledge was made, and Mark watched Charon pull the boat out into the water using his stick. Mark quickly moved towards the boat and entered before it went offshore, and the both of them drifted out into the foggy river in silence.

…

Eerily silent.

That was the only term Mark could use to quantify the feeling that the river Styx gave him as they drifted deeper into it. There was a fog covering the entire river, so Mark could not see more than a few feet in front of him at a time, but Charon seemed to know exactly where he was going, so Mark could only put his faith in the ferryman and hope that they would get out of this water soon.

The sound of a low, reverberating scream echoed from somewhere miles away, and Mark turned to his left curiously as he watched the fog floating around them from that direction. Something touched the boat and wobbled it slightly, and Mark made the mistake of looking down to see the souls that were passing beside the boat while trying fervently to latch onto it.

The souls in the river were all lost souls that died with no riches, so they were forced to cross the river on their own, so anytime the ferry passed by they would try to latch onto the boat so that it would pull them to the other side. But no matter how hard they tried, it was impossible for them to grab hold of it.

"Help me. Help me. Help me. I'm looking for my son."

"My bank account has millions. Help me withdraw some money."

"Do you like dirty magazines? Help me and I'll give you some?"

"I can't find my mother. My mother was with me when we died, but I can't find her."

"Are you my father?"

Mark began to hear voices echo out from the river as hundreds of souls tried to get his attention at the same time. He pulled back and closed his eyes for a moment to try and drown out the voices. There were many souls all speaking at once, so the voices just melded into a long, unbearable shrill that threatened to burst his eardrums from how loud it was.

"Son, is that you?"

Mark's eyes flew open as he heard that voice. No. There was no way that was possible.

Mark turned to the side quickly to try and pinpoint the voice that had just spoken up, but no matter how hard he tried to single out one soul from the multitude, it was impossible for him to find it. It was like looking for a strand of hair in a haystack!

Mark would recognize that voice anywhere! It has only been four years since she died, so Mark would easily recognize his mother's voice even if it was being overshadowed by the shrill of all the other voices speaking at the same time. That was definitely his mother that spoke just now! Mark turned towards Charon to ask a question.

"Charon! Do you know who – !"

Slam!