Episode 5: The King of the Underworld is Tired

Episode 5: The Story of Gigantes – (2)

Hurrying towards Mount Olympus, I saw countless Gigantes swarming the divine palace above the clouds.

As I tried to join Zeus, a brilliant light and deafening roar erupted, sending some of the swarming Gigantes flying.

Boom! Crash!

“Graaah!”

“Is this the lightning that Mother spoke of?!”

The attack that just wiped out dozens of Gigantes was Zeus’s lightning, 'Astrape'.

And the giant brazier pouring out scorching heat from above must be Hestia's power...

Like the technique from that ninja manga I saw in a previous life, the grass and trees that sprung up to bind the Gigantes were the power of Demeter.

“Hahaha! Quite a struggle, isn’t it?!”

“Go on, try harder!”

Individually, our power was overwhelming, but the battle seemed evenly matched. Their numbers were vast, and the fact that each of them was a divine being played a role, but there was something else at work.

Not just each individual Gigantes, but the collective entity known as the Gigantes was affected by a certain 'flow'.

Because of this, the gods, despite their overwhelming power, couldn’t easily conclude the battle.

I sent my thoughts to Zeus, who was scowling and preparing another bolt of lightning above the clouds.

[Zeus, can you hear me?]

[Hades, brother, what brings you here? What about the underworld?]

[The Gigantes that invaded the underworld have already been dealt with. I'll handle the western front of Olympus, so don’t throw Astrape this way.]

[Thanks. Be careful, these creatures have incredible regenerative and healing powers. Olympus is grateful for your help.]

Zeus... You always said ‘yes, sir’ to this big brother, but now you speak so informally.

Fine, you rule the sky, don’t you?

Setting aside thoughts of my insolent little brother, I swiftly moved through the battlefield.

I focused on slowing the Gigantes' regeneration with the power of death and breaking their formation, which quickly began to collapse.

“There’s something here! Gah!”

“The assassin without a presence—Mother spoke of the death god, Hades!”

“Does this mean all our brothers sent to the underworld were defeated?!”

As more and more Gigantes were attacked and wounded by the invisible force, they began to recognize me.

I intentionally removed my helmet and gave a cold smile, and they were thrilled, like fanatical fans meeting a celebrity.

“Hades! I’ll kill you!”

“You rat!”

Raising one hand in response to the passionate cheers from the Gigantes, I then put on my 'Kynee' again.

Disappearing from sight, I dodged as a burning oak tree slammed into the ground where I had just been.

“He disappeared again!”

“Come out, you! Graaah!”

Impatient, simple-minded, and only strong in regeneration and brute strength, these divine beings hadn’t been defeated yet, likely due to fate.

In Greek mythology, if something strange happens, it’s usually because of fate. I’ll have to talk to Zeus about it after the battle.

And unlike when I fought them in the underworld, these creatures didn’t die easily.

I considered using my power to wipe them out in one fell swoop, but since this wasn’t the underworld, the effect wouldn’t be as strong as I’d hoped.

“Gah!”

In the end, I had to cut them down one by one with my sword.

Leaving behind the Gigantes spewing blood, I set my sights on the next target.

I circled around and drove my sword straight through its chest.

I swung my sword wildly for what felt like an eternity. The Gigantes swung burning oak trees and hurled massive boulders, but nothing I couldn’t dodge.

Cutting off snake tails, stabbing arms wielding rocks, dodging attacks from Gigantes guessing my position...

Just as I was beginning to grow bored, another strange event disrupted the now-stagnant battlefield.

“What...? The ground is shaking!”

“Is Mother Gaia angry?”

Rumble rumble... Crack crack.

A small crack on the outskirts of the battlefield grew larger and larger.

The Gigantes, absorbed in the heat of battle, finally sensed something was wrong.

The vibrations increased, causing rocks to move on their own.

The swaying of the grass escalated until massive oak trees were being uprooted.

The ground began to shake more violently, as if it was about to erupt and overturn everything above it.

“Hahaha! I have arrived, Zeus!”

“Poseidon! You’ve come at just the right time!”

This level of earthquake could only be caused by Poseidon’s trident, 'Trident'.

The god of the sea had driven away the Gigantes that encroached upon his domain and come to aid Olympus.

Poseidon's hearty laughter echoed across Mount Olympus as he drove his trident deep into the ground, and the Gigantes began to panic.

“Aaaargh!”

“I’m sinking into the ground! Let’s retreat for now!”

“Damn it, Zeus. We’ll see you again!”

The countless Gigantes, who had demonstrated remarkable regenerative and combat endurance on land, found it increasingly difficult to fight amidst the massive earthquake and temporarily withdrew.

* * * 

After the fierce battle with the Gigantes, I approached Zeus, who was wiping sweat from his forehead and catching his breath.

I wanted to ask him and Poseidon about what Mother Gaia had created to drive us out, and if they knew anything more about this situation.

“There was a prophecy, big brother.”

“A prophecy... from the Fates?”

The Fates, also known as the Moirai, were the daughters of Nyx, the goddess of the night.

Clotho, who spins the thread of fate, Lachesis, who determines the length of life by measuring and weaving the thread, and Atropos, who cuts the thread, ending life.

These three goddesses, who appeared as old women, were absolute in their control over fate, and not even the gods could defy them.

“There was a prophecy that if we gods didn’t borrow the strength of a great human hero, we wouldn’t win this war.”

“Humans...? Was there such a race?”

“If there is no race called humans, then we’ll just have to create them. We should have Prometheus, who sided with us, create humans in our image.”

“That might explain why the ones who came to the sea were so confident—it could be due to the influence of the prophecy.”

“And those Gigantes were born when Grandmother Gaia conceived them from the blood that came from Uranus when he was castrated by Cronos.”

“They're not immortal, but they wield divine power. We should be cautious.”

“Hmph... Even so, they can’t measure up to us Olympian gods.”

We all decided to sit down in the divine palace of Olympus to discuss detailed countermeasures.

There were suggestions to visit the Fates again to try and twist the prophecy slightly, or to persuade Grandmother Gaia.

“For now, let's focus on creating this ‘human’.”

“We could also consider creating other life forms...”

“There are far too few of us gods. At this rate, we’re bound to lose.”

“We don’t know when they’ll invade again, but it will surely be with a number far beyond what we faced today.”

Was it around this time that Zeus, who still seemed rational, began to turn into a mad rapist?

With the prophecy about the human hero and the realization that there weren’t enough gods to sustain the war effort... Well, I hope he doesn’t resort to incestuous rape to boost our numbers.

As the meeting dragged on, I exchanged a few words with the other gods and was about to leave for the underworld when someone stopped me.

“Hades, just a moment, over here.”

Turning my head in response to the small hand tugging at my clothes, I saw a petite goddess.

It was Hestia, the goddess of the hearth and home, with her chestnut brown bobbed hair suiting her well.

She was poking at the logs in the hearth with a poker, watching me intently.

She had been sitting quietly in the corner during the gods’ meeting without offering any opinions—what could she want now?

I looked around cautiously and then sat beside her.

“Could we perhaps build a hearth in the underworld?”

The underworld and a hearth—what a truly odd combination.

Regardless of my personal feelings, this was an act that could infringe upon another god’s domain.

From what I’ve observed, Hestia isn’t a thoughtless or rude deity.

To bring a symbol of the home into the underworld... What could she be thinking?

I looked at her with curiosity, and she spoke shyly.

“Well, it’s just that... They said they’re going to create life forms other than us gods, right?”

That’s right, we need a human hero to win the war.

And many other life forms will likely be created to sustain human survival.

“Zeus dislikes having his authority challenged, so the newly created beings won’t be immortal, will they?”

Of course. As the king who rules the sky, Zeus would ensure his authority is unchallenged.

I’m not particularly interested in power, but it seems Poseidon has accumulated quite a bit of resentment.

The new life forms will likely be created as mortals without immortality, so as not to threaten Zeus’s authority.

That’s how it went in mythology, and this world won’t be much different.

“So, as your subjects increase, I want to give some comfort to the unfortunate souls who end up in the underworld, who might be trembling in fear.”

We do not experience death.

The Greek gods aren’t perfect absolutes, but we are at least eternal.

However, she is a benevolent and gentle goddess, closer to rewarding than punishing, to compassion than indifference.

Hestia, who felt sympathy for the trees swept away by Poseidon’s earthquake, seemed to have considered the concept of death for living beings.

“Couldn’t you do something, even just for the entrance? Even though they lose all their memories at the River Lethe, the fear of the underworld must be etched into their souls.”

As I hesitated, she clasped her hands together and pleaded.

Well, if it’s just the entrance outside the fortress, I suppose it’s fine.

As I slowly nodded, a flush of red appeared on her cheeks, and she smiled brightly.

“Thank you for granting my request. Next time, I’ll visit the underworld myself and build the hearth.”

The underworld might not be as gloomy as I thought.

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