King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 86

Love and Fire – (1)

Lately, Gaia has been quiet.

Could it be because the hero hopefuls who gathered in Thebes have finished their training and returned to the mortal realm, hunting down monsters?

Perhaps it’s also because, to prevent heroes from falling into Gaia’s madness…

…each of them was given an item imbued with Dionysus’s power.

Knowing this, Chiron also put quite a bit of effort into mental training.

“Lord Hades, Demeter and Persephone have arrived at the entrance to the Underworld.”

“Is it time for Persephone to come… Let them in.”

The messenger approached and reported that it was time for Persephone to return to the Underworld.

After a short wait, the two goddesses entered, opening the doors to the audience chamber.

Demeter with her cold expression, and the golden-haired one running towards me…

“Uncle Hades! I missed you!”

Hug.

I hesitated for a moment whether to avoid it or not… I met Demeter’s gaze and just hugged her.

Seeing me accept her daughter, her eyes softened again.

She used to be so overprotective…

“Oh? You accept me well now? Hehe…”

“It’s been a while, Persephone. Now, go stand over there for a moment.”

I put her down next to me, smiling brightly, and looked at Demeter.

The goddess of the earth, with her arms crossed, finally opened her mouth when she met my eyes.

“Hades. You probably received news from Olympus this time.”

“If you’re talking about the message saying they want to send Hephaestus to the Underworld because he caused an accident, then you’re right.”

*Swish.*

I took out the official letter written in Zeus’s own hand and sent to the Underworld.

You could tell at a glance that it was written in a scrawling handwriting, as if he was furious.

“Hades, my brother, I heard the Underworld is very busy? Hephaestus caused a big accident, so just keep him in the Underworld for a while…”

I didn’t know what happened, but adding one more hand to the already busy Underworld was a good thing.

I immediately sent a letter of consent to Olympus…

“So, the reason the earth goddess, you, came all the way to the Underworld to tell me is…”

“That accident is the problem! That guy tried to rape Athena and failed, and then he impregnated Gaia!”

“What nonsense are you talking about, Demeter?!”

What’s going on again…

* * *

The whole story Demeter told me was as follows.

Athena visited Hephaestus’s smithy in the Olympus Palace.

The goddess of wisdom wanted to ask the god of blacksmiths to make her a high-quality weapon.

Recently, her temple was attacked by a Chimera [a fire-breathing hybrid creature], and she seemed quite angry.

But…

“Hephaestus, maybe a shield and a spear…”

“Huff… Athena!”

Hephaestus, who had been mistreated by Aphrodite and living alone, attempted to rape Athena because of her beauty.

But Athena was the goddess of wisdom and the goddess of war at the same time, so…

“Hey!”

“Huh?! Ugh!”

*Thud!*

She suplexed and threw away Hephaestus, who was trying to rape her.

However, due to the impact, Hephaestus’s semen splattered on Athena’s thigh…

Athena wiped it off and threw it on the ground.

“So the earth mother Gaia gave birth to Hephaestus’s child, and Athena is temporarily raising the child?”

“Yes, that’s right! That guy is just like his father, trying to rape even a goddess who has sworn chastity…”

The reason Zeus was so angry and sent Hephaestus to the Underworld was not because of the attempted rape of Athena.

We are currently at odds with the earth mother Gaia.

We don’t know what Gaia, who suddenly had a great-grandson’s child, will do.

Unnecessary provocation, no, insult to a powerful enemy… is it rape?

She is not completely an enemy, and I used honorifics because she is my and Demeter’s grandmother,

But she had a child with my nephew Hephaestus…

“Humph! So you know why I came all the way here again, right? When Hephaestus comes down to the Underworld…”

“Uh… yeah. I’ll make sure he can’t approach Persephone.”

Fortunately, thanks to Demeter speaking to me, I was able to stop the flow of consciousness flowing into the abyss.

She came to see Persephone off and to tell me to prevent the god of blacksmiths from approaching her daughter.

Wait a minute, if Hephaestus’s semen splashed on the ground and Gaia became pregnant…

Didn’t we also have an earth goddess on our side? Like Demeter in front of me.

I glanced at Demeter’s belly, but it didn’t look like she was pregnant at all.

Still, it would be better to hear it directly from her mouth, just in case.

“But aren’t you also an earth goddess? Are you okay…”

“Eek! Do I have to say with my own mouth that I was able to be safe because I didn’t have full control over the earth!”

“…I’m sorry.”

Demeter, who blushed and huffed for a while, left the Underworld,

Persephone, who realized the reality of the blacksmith god, who could be said to be her cousin, came to me and…

*Hop.*

She climbed onto my lap on the throne and made a seductive expression.

Well. She’s much clumsier than Aphrodite…

“Hehe! Lord Hades! Gaia is giving birth to Uncle Hephaestus’s child, so wouldn’t it be okay for us to be together?”

“…Demeter would not be happy to see you.”

Why is Hephaestus being called an uncle?

He is your half-brother… no, cousin… damn it, my head hurts, so I should stop thinking about it.

“Ehehe… Didn’t you miss me?! I only thought about Hades every day!”

Why did you drop the uncle title, my niece.

And don’t… rub… that… on my arm.

* * *

I sent Persephone back to her chambers,

After some time, two gods visited the Underworld.

“Hades Grandfather, it’s been a while.”

“Hello…”

One was the muscular god Hephaestus, with his wrists tied and his shoulders slumped in despair…

The other was the goddess of the moon, Artemis, who followed him as if watching him to make sure he didn’t escape.

Seeing Artemis periodically glaring at Hephaestus and sending him contemptuous glances,

I guess this incident spread throughout Olympus.

Most of the gods must know the whole story of this incident.

“I’ve heard everything that happened. Artemis, you can go back now.”

“Ah… and…”

“Is there anything Zeus told you to tell me?”

Artemis’s sharp voice, speaking with her head bowed, echoed through the audience chamber.

Athena, who swore virginity to the Styx River [a river in the Underworld and a goddess], just like herself, was almost raped, so it wouldn’t have felt like someone else’s business.

“Yes, Father told me to tell you to ‘use Hephaestus as much as you want, as your brother wishes’.”

Hephaestus’s face became even gloomier.

But no matter how I think about it, isn’t this his own fault?

“Tell Zeus I understand, you can leave now.”

“I understand, Grandfather.”

Before Artemis left, she glared at the blacksmith god with a sullen look.

Perhaps because he had committed a crime… he only avoided her gaze and did not respond in any way.

“…Humph!”

*Thump, thump.*

After Artemis returned to the mortal realm, I spoke to Hephaestus.

As soon as my mouth opened, his trained muscles, which were drooping like rotten meat, twitched.

“Hephaestus.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“Why did you do that? Athena is a virgin goddess who swore chastity to the Styx River, and you even tried to force yourself on her without a formal marriage.”

“That’s… I’m wronged!”

What else is he wronged about?

You tried to rape her and failed…

I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Hephaestus burst into anger.

“Uncle Poseidon told me that the reason Athena was coming to the smithy was because she liked me…!”

“Ah.”

I knew what was going on as soon as I heard it. From the beginning, the two of them didn’t get along very well.

During Poseidon’s rebellion, I heard that Athena was invited by Poseidon but did not participate,

Medusa, who had a relationship with Poseidon, was turned into a monster by Athena…

They even fought for a long time, Poseidon and Athena, to have one of the cities in the mortal realm.

The people of the city chose Athena, who gave them an olive tree, over Poseidon, who gave them a horse, so she eventually won.

The name of that city is Athens.

It is a place where there are the most faithful followers of the goddess of wisdom.

“Poseidon tricked you to teach Athena a lesson… Tsk.”

“I think so too. But no one believes me.”

“Of course! Who would believe the words of someone who tried to rape a goddess who came to the smithy and failed!”

“That… that is…”

Sigh… bear with it. Bear with it. I don’t know if this is right, really.

No. This is a matter of education, and it is highly likely that he learned it because of Zeus’s womanizing.

Moreover, he has never slept with his wife Aphrodite.

The eldest son of the supreme god Zeus, the god of volcanoes, fire, and blacksmiths, is in this state…

Olympus’s future is very bright today.

“Call Eros, who is in charge of torturing criminals.”

“Yes!”

After waiting in the audience chamber with Hephaestus for a while, I saw a young god entering, dripping ichor [the ethereal fluid that is the blood of the gods] from his fingers.

The god of love prostrated himself as soon as he crossed the door.

“Lord Hades, I’ve reflected a lot now…”

“Eros. Tell Hephaestus here what you were doing and you can go up to Olympus.”

Eros’s face lit up and his eyes widened.

The exhausted look he had just shown was gone.

“Thank you! Lord Hades! Even if my mother tells me to, I won’t do it again, really!”

“That… Grandfather.”

“What?”

“Do I have to be in charge of torturing criminals? If you give me something to do as a blacksmith…”

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll tell Zeus to transfer your affiliation to the Underworld.”

…::;;

The root cause of the Athena attempted rape incident is Hephaestus’s loneliness.

It must be because he couldn’t satisfy his desires even with the goddess Aphrodite as his wife.

“Then I’ll step down…”

“Follow me, Lord Hephaestus!”

I covered my head as I watched Hephaestus and Eros leave the audience chamber.

Wait a minute… He’s so shaken that he tried to rape Athena, a goddess who swore chastity,

If even a beautifully decorated Gaia appears, wouldn’t he turn to that side?

They even have a child between them, really, if this goes on… hmm.

I can’t force his wife Aphrodite to love him, so should I really divorce them and find him a new goddess?

“…Hephaestus.”

“Yes?”

I need to solve your tiresome marriage problem.