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He was not driven by duty. He had always been the irresponsible one, even after taking on the seat of Emet-Selch. Perhaps even more so, since he had been unwillingly forced into the position when Hades rejected his recommendation and pushed for him to take on the role instead. Hythlodaeus still thought Hades would have made a better Emet-Selch, with his superb aetherial manipulation abilities. With a snap of his fingers, Hades could have conjured up Amaurot and its inhabitants effortlessly. Instead, Hythlodaeus had to painstakingly create each shade, each structure, in his slow, clumsy manner.
How different it would have been if Hades had been with him… But Hades was long gone, his life offered up for the summoning of Zodiark. Protected by the importance of his position as one of the Convocation of Fourteen, Hythlodaeus had been spared from being sacrificed, tasked instead with bringing about the protection and eventual restoration of Etheirys. And yet, Hythlodaeus found himself still further away from this goal. The world and its protector, Zodiark, were both sundered - broken into fourteen pieces. (Though somehow Hythlodaeus had again avoided this fate, along with two others - Lahabrea and Elidibus.) Worse, they would never be made whole again, as one of the shards was lost during a failed rejoining. When he first heard of the failure, Hythlodaeus found himself at an uncharacteristic loss for words. Not for the first (or last) time, he felt an intense regret for not having pushed harder for Hades to take on the Third Seat of the Convocation. (Later, Hythlodaeus realised it was a blessing in disguise - Hades would have taken to the role of Emet-Selch only too well, and would definitely have lost all sense of his original self in pursuit of duty.)
After the failed rejoining, Hythlodaeus had only gone along with the plans of the other two unsundered Ascians on a whim, having no other plan back then. Gradually, he had grown tired and frustrated with their methods, and the lack of assurance that the rejoinings would truly work. Even if they succeeded, more lives would need to be offered to give Zodiark the power to protect Etheirys, again and again - would he truly be able to bring Hades back? As his doubts grew, Hythlodaeus drifted away from the other Ascians, neglecting the tasks they assigned to him. (Take over the body of a Legatus and become the emperor of the new Empire? The Hytholodaeus of old would have a good laugh at the mere suggestion. Now, he just found it distasteful; as though it wasn’t enough for the Ascians to be throwing each of the shards into chaos from the shadows... And now, for him to be brought to the forefront and dictate such a large part of the Source’s future? He had summarily declined the role and excused himself from that meeting.) Eventually, they learned to leave him alone, giving him up as a lost cause.
All this while, Hythlodaeus had only been driven by one objective - to meet his dear friend again. As he grew increasingly disheartened over what seemed to be the irreversible loss of Hades, Hythlodaeus gradually stumbled upon a plan. After all, they specialised in creation magicks - why couldn’t he just recreate whatever he had lost? Which is how Hythlodaeus found himself creating an imitation - a poor copy, really - of the world they had lived in, complete with life-like inhabitants. Here, he could pretend that the past millenia had just been a nightmare, and that Hades was still with him. If he didn’t look too closely, he wouldn’t notice the missing details in the city. (Hythlodaeus’ abilities to manipulate aether were really too limited, even after the many lessons from Hades - he just didn’t have the affinity for it.)
It had taken him a long time to recreate Amaurot and its inhabitants, and now that this was done, he could live in this delusion of his own making. He had even prepared a new vessel for himself which resembled his original appearance back on Etheirys. In his new old body, Hythlodaeus turned to the shade of Hades, studying his familiar aether - within the shade were Hades’ memories, restored from a crystal Hythlodaeus had secretly made when his name was chosen as one of the sacrifices. The shade had only just caught sight of Hythlodaeus, and was already pretending to be disgruntled - scowling and frowning - this was just like the Hades of old. With a smile, Hythlodaeus waved and headed towards his dear friend, turning his back on his duty for the last time.