King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 80

The King of the Underworld is Tired – Episode 80

The Tale of Bellerophon – (3)

After a short but exhilarating flight, I returned Pegasus to Hermes and glanced back.

“…Ugh.”

Lady Styx still had her head down, avoiding eye contact.

She had approached me a few times, but seemed flustered when I took the lead.

I almost smiled at her adorable reaction, but the stifled sound she made caused my expression to stiffen.

“Um… Hades, about what happened earlier…”

“…It wasn’t an accident.”

“Huh?! Then…”

I decided to take another step… just one more.

I moved slightly closer to the beautiful goddess. She flinched, but didn’t move away.

Just like in the sky, I gently placed my right hand on her waist… and with my left hand, I cupped the back of her head.

At that moment, I revealed my true feelings to the goddess of oaths, more beautiful than any other.

Shame, courage, hesitation… all sorts of emotions swirled in my head, but the smooth, flowing motion washed them all away.

*Kiss*

This time, it wasn’t the force of the east wind, Euros, that propelled me, but my own will.

* * *

Bellerophon.

Born with great courage, he initially aspired to become a hero and travel to Thebes…

But after accidentally killing his brother—committing manslaughter—he lived under the protection of King Proetus of Tiryns.

However… Queen Anteia tried to seduce him.

“Bellerophon, won’t you spend just one night with me?”

“…I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

He couldn’t betray his benefactor, Proetus, so he coldly refused.

But the queen, enraged by his rejection, lied to the king.

“My dear, Bellerophon tried to seduce me! He invited me to his room and subtly flirted with me…”

“What?! That bastard…!”

The king believed her, but according to the laws of hospitality, he couldn’t kill Bellerophon, a guest in his home.

“Bellerophon, take this letter to my father-in-law, Emperor Iobates [King of Lycia].”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

So, King Proetus devised a plan to send Bellerophon to his father-in-law, King Iobates of Lycia, with a letter that read: “Please kill the bearer of this letter.”

He hoped his father-in-law would receive the letter and execute Bellerophon.

“So, you’ve brought my son-in-law’s letter?”

“Yes, here it is.”

However, King Iobates, upon receiving the letter Bellerophon delivered, was also hesitant to kill him directly.

Thus, King Iobates…

“Bellerophon, do you think you can defeat the monster Chimera [a fire-breathing hybrid creature]?”

“Chimera…?”

“It’s a troublesome monster that eats humans. This letter says you possess great courage and strength. If you succeed, I will give you my daughter Philonoe in marriage and pass on the throne of Lycia.”

“Is that true? Then I accept the challenge!”

He attempted to have Bellerophon killed by Chimera, a monster terrorizing Lycia by devouring its people.

* * *

Bellerophon, leaving the Lycian palace in high spirits, didn’t know the monster’s location or anything else about it.

Realizing he might not be able to face the monster with his own strength alone, he headed to the nearby Temple of Athena [Greek goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare].

He was skilled in martial arts and strength,

So he hunted a few deer nearby and offered them as sacrifices to the goddess of wisdom, seeking an oracle [divine guidance or prophecy].

“Goddess Athena, I must kill the monster Chimera with my own strength. Therefore, I seek the wisdom of the gods…”

The news that a human was trying to kill Chimera, a child of Typhon [a monstrous giant in Greek mythology] and a powerful monster, reached Olympus Palace through Athena.

The gods above the clouds rejoiced at the prospect of a new hero emerging.

“It will be difficult for an ordinary human to kill Typhon’s child.”

“Only someone like Cadmus [a hero in Greek mythology] would have a chance against Chimera, wouldn’t he?”

“It’s a powerful monster that could kill most heroes, so how about giving him a little help? If we send Pegasus…”

“Pegasus [a winged divine stallion] to a mere human? And Pegasus is a creature of Medusa [a Gorgon with snakes for hair, whose gaze turned people to stone], a divine beast belonging to the underworld, isn’t he?”

“If we ask Lord Hades and get permission, we can have the human tame Pegasus himself…”

“So, you’re suggesting we test whether he’s qualified to handle the celestial horse? I agree.”

The conclusion from the gods’ meeting was soon conveyed to the underworld and reached Hades’ ears.

Thus, Hermes, who had received the celestial horse from Hades, released Pegasus into the meadow, and the goddess Athena appeared in Bellerophon’s dream as he rested, saying:

“Take this bridle and go to the nearby meadow. When the winged horse, Pegasus, is asleep, seize the opportunity to put the bridle on him. If you endure, the divine horse will become your strength.”

“A winged horse… Pegasus…?”

“And the location of Chimera is…”

When Bellerophon woke up, he was holding a horse bridle, ornately decorated with gold, in his hand.

Only then did he realize that the dream he had last night was an oracle, and he ran to the nearby meadow and immediately found Pegasus.

The winged horse, with its pure white body, was grazing in the meadow and sound asleep, as Hermes had indicated.

Bellerophon carefully approached the divine beast from behind.

The sleeping horse didn’t notice the hero’s approach, and soon he succeeded in putting the bridle on the horse.

Thud-

Flap! Neigh!

“Ugh, the resistance is quite fierce!”

Bellerophon quickly climbed onto the horse’s back and tried to tame it.

He had to completely exhaust the power of the divine horse, which was fiercely resisting by flapping its white wings, in order to be recognized as its master.

Neigh!

Flap- Whoosh!

As the divine horse twisted its body wildly in the air, Bellerophon put all his strength into his thighs and grip.

Pegasus, thinking it would be difficult to shake him off easily, moved its wings and soared high into the sky.

“No… the clouds are beneath my feet…! But do you think I’ll give up on you because of this!”

A fierce wind battered the human hero’s body. The scenery of the sky, which he was experiencing for the first time, overwhelmed him.

The only things he could trust were the golden bridle given by the goddess Athena and his own strength.

When he reached a certain altitude, Pegasus stopped flapping its wings and suddenly turned its head towards the ground.

Then, the divine horse folded its wings and dived rapidly, planning to die with the hero on its back.

Whoosh-

“Kuh…!”

But Bellerophon didn’t let go of the bridle. Not once.

He gritted his teeth and endured the fierce gale, the rapid descent from an altitude where he could look down at the clouds, and the imminent threat of death.

Flap-

Just before touching the ground… Pegasus, as if admitting defeat, spread its wings and glided.

The hero, holding onto the bridle from behind the celestial horse, let out a sigh of relief and wiped away his cold sweat.

In the end, Pegasus, unable to shake off Bellerophon, quietly came down to the ground and recognized him as its master.

“You’re not running away even when I get off now. Thank you.”

Thus, Bellerophon rode on the back of the celestial horse and flew to the place where Chimera lived, as the goddess Athena had instructed him.

* * *

When he flew to the place Athena had indicated, there was a huge monster, a combination of three animals, including a lion’s head.

Upon discovering the terrifying monster, the hero drew a bow from his back and nocked an arrow while riding Pegasus.

Whoosh-

A fierce arrow, shot with all his strength, flew towards the monster, but…

Thud.

“No…!”

It lightly bounced off as soon as it touched Chimera’s body.

The skin and muscles of Chimera, born with the blood of Typhon, were so thick that they could not be penetrated by human strength.

After that, Bellerophon continued to fire dozens of arrows, but he couldn’t even make a scratch on its skin.

Chimera grinned at him as if mocking him and spewed intense flames from its mouth…

The flames reached the location where Pegasus was in the sky.

Whoosh-

“Tch. Let’s retreat for now, Pegasus!”

Bellerophon had no choice but to turn around and return to the village,

Leaving only the enraged Chimera behind.

Grrr-

Oh dear… If it’s Typhon’s child, it’s like my own child to me, but unfortunately, it’s destined to die at the hands of a hero.

A voice suddenly came from the earth.

Chimera, a monster with intelligence, was confused. What is this familiar feeling…?!

Grrr?!

Despite Chimera’s question, the voice continued to be heard.

From all directions? No… a strange voice piercing the monster’s brain…

You are destined to die at the hands of a human hero, but prophecy can choose its course.

The goat’s head, which possessed terrible wisdom among the three heads, whispered to the other heads.

This voice definitely feels similar to his parents, Typhon!

I will guide you.

With the last words he heard, Chimera, with his eyes reddened, began to run somewhere.

Bellerophon, who had returned to a nearby village, thought about how to attack Chimera and came up with a clever idea, then headed to the smithy.

He went to the blacksmith who was hammering steel and asked him to make a strange spear.

“Please make me a spear with a lead weight at the end.”

“Lead…? What are you going to use such a thing for? Can you even carry it if I make it for you?”

“Of course, I’m going to use it to kill a monster.”

Thus, Bellerophon, carrying a heavy lead spear, smiled with satisfaction.

When that guy spits out flames, if I throw the spear into his mouth, the lead will melt and go into his stomach, killing the monster.

But…

When I went back, I couldn’t see Chimera anywhere.

Could it be that the monster is hiding because it is afraid of humans? Did I come to the wrong location?

Bellerophon, frustrated, searched the entire area but could not find Chimera.

A voice is heard to him. A voice is heard from above the sky…!

“Bellerophon, Chimera ran in this direction. Hurry up.”

There was a goddess fully armed on a cloud a little further away.

She pointed in one direction with her spear and told Bellerophon the direction Chimera had moved.

“Thank you! Nameless goddess!”

“I am Athena, the goddess of wisdom.”

Bellerophon bowed to her and quickly chased after Chimera on Pegasus.

Wait, but isn’t this direction… towards Lakia?