Episode 24: The King of the Underworld is Tired

Episode 24: The Story of Pluto’s Temple – (1)

Hades' Office, after many years have passed.

The King of the Underworld was, as usual, judging souls and selecting those who would be sent to Elysium.

A servant approached him as if there was something urgent to convey.

"Hades, sir, currently in the underworld…"

"Let them in."

What entered was the soul of an old man with golden hair, faded from aging.

I recognized who he was at a glance.

“A distinguished guest has arrived in the underworld.”

“Do... do you know me…?”

He deceived Typhon, stole Zeus' tendons, founded Thebes, and defeated Drakon Ismenios, the wicked son of Ares. 

For this, he was sentenced to eight years of servitude and, eventually, was forgiven by Ares and married his daughter, Harmonia, becoming the first human to marry a goddess.

The great hero Cadmus was now trembling before me, kneeling down.

"It seems that crossing the River of Forgetfulness has erased your memories. Mnemosyne, please fetch some water from the Pool of Memory."

"Alright, Hades. Since it's Cadmus, I suppose it's fine."

Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory.

When the dead drink from the waters of the River Lethe as they cross over to my fortress, they lose all their memories of the living world.

However, if they drink from the Pool of Memory, which holds the opposite properties, they can recover those memories.

Well... occasionally, souls who harbor intense grudges manage to retain their memories even after drinking from the River Lethe, but…

Anyway, the goddess who governs that pool is Mnemosyne, who has just left. She’s also the mother of the Muses, who preside over learning and the arts, after spending nine nights with Zeus.

Cadmus gradually regained his memories after drinking the water from the Pool of Memory.

The cloudy and confused look in his eyes slowly cleared, and the demeanor of a great hero returned.

“Ah... Lord Hades. It has been a long time.”

“Yes, it has been a while. I was too busy to attend your wedding with Harmonia.”

He fully recovered his memories and smiled gently as he bowed, just like the first time we met.

“It’s alright. Lord Hades, as the ruler of the underworld, you were bound to be busy.”

“Were you not disappointed that I didn’t attend the wedding?”

“Haha... If you had come, it would have made me even happier.”

“Hmph. You’ve grown quite witty with age.”

The reason I restored Cadmus' memories of the living world was simple.

I wanted to hear directly from the great hero, who stood tall even before Typhon, about how he viewed his life.

“What do you think of the life you lived?”

“What do you mean...?”

I continued, with a slightly bitter expression.

“The curse of misfortune you received as punishment for killing Ares’ son, Ismenios.”

“Ah…”

“I find it regrettable that the tragedy of the Thebes royal family, which you founded, stemmed from that curse. Though Ares himself came to regret it...”

Once a curse is cast, not even a god can reverse it.

I’ve heard that Ares regretted cursing Cadmus after giving his daughter to him in marriage.

Though Cadmus was the first human to marry a goddess, the ending was not a happy one.

Due to the curse of misfortune, the continuous tragedies that befell his descendants led Cadmus and his wife to choose to transform into snakes as they closed their eyes for the final time.

“Rather than living as snakes…”

“O Father Ares… do not leave my husband alone. Please… please turn me into a snake as well.”

Cadmus paused, lost in thought.

Despite the many heroic feats he accomplished, in the end, he was made to suffer due to the gods...

Would the resent the gods who kidnapped his sister, cursed him, and finally, the cause of his descendants, leading him and his wife to choose death?

"I am not one to be ungrateful for the blessings I was given."

Different from before?

After a moment, he spoke again.

"The curse of Lord Ares… I can understand him. What parent could forgive the one who killed their child?"

"Mm."

"If anything, I am grateful for the short punishment of eight years and for being given his daughter. And also…”

Unlike when we first met… this was not a lie to avoid punishment, but the truth.

Though his life ended in misfortune, and he met death, his nobility remained intact.

"Thanks to that, I was able to meet a wife who followed me even in death.”

Harmonia, the goddess of harmony and daughter of Aphrodite and Ares.

Unlike Drakon Ismenios, she was an immortal goddess but chose to follow Cadmus into death.

“The tragedies of my descendants are also my responsibility; who else would I blame? Governing Thebes with my wife was rather enjoyable as well. Though I did have some concerns about the remnants of Typhon…”

"The remnants of Typhon? Did they resemble Typhon?"

“Yes. Although it was much smaller, it was a powerful creature with a snake's lower body and a human-like upper body, much like Typhon. I had a difficult time defeating it.”

A lower body of a snake and an upper body of a human.

A creature so strong that even Cadmus, who had defeated Drakon Ismenios, struggled against it.

My face gradually stiffened.

Could it really be a remnant of Typhon? Or could it be a different monster that I know of?

"But since then, no more remnants of Typhon have been found, so I didn’t feel the need to report it to the gods… Lord Hades?"

It could be a Gigantes.

* * *

"Where did you find that monster?"

"Ah… I was out for a walk near Thebes when I heard a strange sound and followed it to a cave. That’s where I found it."

Cadmus said that he encountered a gigantic half-human, half-snake creature that was devouring people in that cave.

He drew his sword and fought it, but… surprisingly, even for Cadmus, who had slain Drakon, it was a tough battle.

Not all Gigantes possess the same level of strength.

Cardmos was fortunate that the entity he encountered was one he could handle.

Could it be that hiding in the cave kept it out of the eyes of the Olympian gods?

If our grandmother, the Earth Mother Goddess Gaia, is using all her strength to conceal the location of the Gigantes, then it's no wonder Demeter hasn't noticed. 

Though Demeter is the Goddess of the Earth, her power is clearly below that of Gaia.

Unlike when we overthrew the Titans, the advantage of the first strike lies with them.

Perhaps it's a trap deliberately set to draw in the gods, or it could be the independent actions of a few of them.

But we need to confirm if it really is a Gigantes first, through the Goddess of Memory.

"Mnemosyne, please verify Cadmus' memories for us."

"Very well. Close your eyes for a moment."

The Goddess of Memory, Mnemosyne, placed her hand on Cadmhs' head and read his memories.

It didn't take long before she looked at me with a serious expression and nodded.

Damn, it really is a Gigantes.

"I see... Very well. For your services in life, you are granted the right to enter Elysium."

"E-Elysium... Thank you! Lord Hades!"

"Your wife is also included. May you both live happily there."

Thus, the first residents of the Elysian Fields, paradise, were born. He would live peacefully with his beloved wife in Elysium forever.

Though I enjoyed the conversation with Cadmus after a long time, my mind was not at ease.

A Gigantes was found in Thebes, unnoticed by the soldiers of the underworld?

But I don't have the time to personally hunt down the Gigantes.

I can't just abandon the duties of the underworld and wander around the mortal realm.

Perhaps I should take a page from Apollo's book and interfere with the mortal world through my temple?

"Priest of Delphi, I am someone who has come from afar..."

"Are you here to receive an oracle from the god Apollo as well? Wait in line."

But unlike Apollo, with his versatile godhood and ability to prophecy, who would willingly seek the underworld?

Apollo is widely worshipped in the mortal world, and his temple on the island of Delphi is famous, but...

In the mortal world, my temple exists only in one place, Thebes.

It was built by the living Cadmus in honor of his connection with me in his country.

"Send word to Olympus that we've found traces of the Gigantes, and bring Morpheus to me."

"Yes, my lord!"

Soon after, Morpheus arrived after being summoned by a spirit soldier.

"What is it, Lord Hades? Have I done something wrong...?"

"I'm not questioning you about your hobby of occasionally giving humans nightmares."

He looked at me with an uneasy expression.

Did you think I wouldn't know? But I'm not here to call you out on that, so let's move on.

"I need your help."

* * *

The great hero Cadmus founded the city of Thebes.

The one and only temple of Hades in Thebes, or rather, the only one in the entire world.

It should be swarming with mortals hoping to receive divine protection, as it serves three gods.

"Yaaawn~"

But instead, it was deserted.

The priestess of Hades, Pharonna, sat there looking as if she were bored to death.

No visitors, and people avoided her because she was a priestess of the underworld.

The only good thing about being a priestess of Hades was that no one ever dared to pick a fight with her.

Even though she was of marriageable age and one of the top ten beauties in the city...

Not even the tough men from the pankration tournaments dared to flirt with her, let alone talk to her.

"Haa... I'm so bored..."

They were probably afraid of being dragged to the underworld for messing with the priestess of Hades.

But the temple, too, was shunned because of its association with the god of the underworld.

"Why am I so sleepy in the middle of the day...?"

The temple of Hades, built by the command of the founding king of Thebes, the great King Cadmus, was far too quiet.

It was so deserted that no one noticed when the only priestess there fell into an unnatural slumber.

* * *

When Pharonna opened her eyes again, she was no longer in the temple.

She found herself in a space filled with darkness so thick she couldn't see an inch ahead.

As a well-educated priestess, she quickly understood the situation and knelt down.

"I... I do not know which god you are, but do you have orders for this humble human?"

She had just fallen asleep, but upon waking, she found herself in another world.

Her memories were clear, and her body moved fine. This couldn't be just a regular dream.

Surely, a god had intervened.

But she didn’t think it was the god she served, Hades.

After all, her lord had been silent for so long.

A low, cold male voice echoed from somewhere in the darkness.

"I am Pluto."

...!

Pluto, the lord of the underworld, another name for the god Hades.

Was he here to punish her for not properly managing his temple?

She was about to hurriedly explain herself but stopped when he spoke again.

"You are my only priestess in the mortal world. In recognition of your devotion, I will give you both a reward and a task."

A reward and a task... So he did have something for her to do!

"From now on, you will revive my temple. I will bestow upon you a blessing to help with that."

Her body remained frozen in fear.

Her vision went black once more.

Finally, knowledge violently poured into her mind before she awoke from the dream.

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