King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 101

The King of the Underworld is Tired 101

Mount Athos Expedition – (4)

Orion, son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, wrestled with Orthrus, who was once again charging at him, and thought:

‘If we keep this up, we’ll win. The Raven Divine Beast is helping the other heroes capture Chrysaor, and if I can just kill this Orthrus…’

Orthrus, the son of Typhon, was the most formidable opponent he had ever faced.

Two dog heads relentlessly tried to bite him, and the snake head on its tail aimed for his legs whenever there was an opening.

And its hide? It was thicker than any monster or beast Orion had ever hunted.

Grrr! Keeing!

“Hoo… I’m starting to lose strength, you bastard.”

Still, he was a demigod and a giant hunter, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t win.

Although Orion was bleeding from bite wounds all over his body, and his body was screaming in pain from taking the monster’s forepaws head-on…

…it was still better than Orthrus, who had to fight Orion with an arrow piercing his leg.

Huff… huff…

He looked down at Typhon’s son, who was collapsed on the ground, panting and spilling copious amounts of blood.

The monster’s dulled hide looked unsightly. Its once glossy fur was now tattered from Orion’s relentless clubbing.

Soon, the son of the Sea God would capture the monster and achieve a tremendous feat.

If he hadn’t gotten involved with Apollo’s sister, that is.

The moment Orion staggered forward, leading his weary body to deliver the final blow to the exhausted monster…

Apollo’s divine beast, the raven, flew towards him.

The raven, which had been flying straight towards Orion, suddenly spread its wings and soared upwards near him…

And Chrysaor’s golden sword, which had been fiercely chasing the raven, flew towards Orion without changing direction.

“What…!”

Thwack-

Belatedly, Orion turned his head, gasping for breath, but he already felt the sensation of sharp metal piercing his body…

With the chilling sensation of the golden sword deeply embedded in his side, Orion sensed the end.

“No! Orion!”

“Damn it…! Focus on the monster in front of you!”

“I’ll be right there… Shit!”

He was the son of the Sea God. If he received proper treatment from a physician, he could have saved his life, but this was a battlefield.

Heroes and monsters were fighting all around, and there was no room to worry about just one person.

Realizing this, Orion glared at Orthrus with all his remaining strength.

He was already finished. He had long given up hope of surviving. If so…!

“As a companion to cross the River Acheron [the river of woe in the Underworld, one of the five rivers of Hades]… you’ll do nicely.”

As he mustered his last strength to raise his club, the wound in his side widened even more, causing terrible pain.

But immediately after, the blow that struck the monster’s head flew straight and true.

Thwack- Squish!

It was the moment when Orthrus, the son of Typhon who had devoured countless people, fell into eternal slumber.

However, the hero who had accomplished this amazing feat staggered and collapsed to one knee.

“Kuh… Ugh.”

The divine beast’s cry from the sky tickled the ears of the dying hero.

A feeling of the surroundings slowing down. Was this a panoramic flashback?

The black raven was Apollo’s divine beast. A loyal animal and subordinate that obeyed only the Sun God’s commands.

So, he was sure it would disperse Chrysaor’s sword and help the expedition…

He couldn’t have failed to anticipate that if it suddenly changed direction in front of him, the golden sword following behind would pierce him.

But he had not incurred any particular grudge from the Sun God… why?

A goddess flashed through the hero’s mind as he pondered.

The moon goddess Artemis, who had become close to him through their shared hobby of hunting.

Her brother was the god Apollo.

Ah. Ha. Hahaha… As expected, getting involved with gods never ends well…

Realizing this, Orion smiled bitterly at the overwhelming sense of futility.

Was the reason he couldn’t move his body now because of the wound in his side? Or was it because of the emptiness that seemed to have hollowed out somewhere in his heart?

Despite his body growing cold, he didn’t feel like he wanted to live.

‘I’m not sure… I’ll have to keep thinking about it… in the underworld…’

Even as a giant scorpion monster approached the hero kneeling and about to collapse, ready to sting him with its venom…

He remained completely still, embracing death.

* * *

Above the clouds, in the Olympian Palace.

The beautiful moon goddess was glaring at her brother as if she wanted to kill him.

But the god Apollo simply shrugged, as if it were nothing.

“Killing Orion, that was definitely something you ordered.”

“Sister, you don’t understand. The battlefield is originally like that. A moment’s carelessness invites death.”

“Why did you kill the human I cherished?!”

“Why would I kill that human? What benefit would I have?”

The moon goddess glared even more fiercely at the sun god.

The fact that the raven, which was luring the golden sword, happened to change direction in front of Orion must have been due to the sun god’s influence.

But she couldn’t strongly question him.

There was no clear evidence that he had manipulated the divine beast, and her brother’s motive for killing Orion was also unclear.

She wanted to tell him to swear on the River Styx [a river in Greek mythology over which the gods swore binding oaths] that he really didn’t kill Orion, but…

Forcing an oath on another god was a tremendous discourtesy. Even Zeus, the king of the gods and their father, did not force oaths on the River Styx.

“Why are you so angry just because that one human died, and even if I did kill him, what does it matter to you?”

“Orion is…”

“You don’t mean to say that you value that mortal more than this brother of yours?”

A sound of suppressed anger escaped her bloodied, chewed lips.

That was right. Arguing with the sun god over just one mortal was absurd… even though they were both among the Twelve Olympians, the versatile Apollo was even stronger than her.

“Eek! I’ll be going now!”

“Ah, Artemis.”

Apollo grabbed her as she was about to rush off somewhere.

For a moment, the sun god’s eyes turned cold as he looked at the moon goddess.

“Don’t give them too much affection.”

“……!”

“Aren’t you a goddess who has sworn chastity? You’ll only suffer if you care about such mortals.”

* * *

Here, where the Mount Athos Expedition and the monsters were fiercely fighting.

When Orthrus and Orion met their deaths side by side and fell to the ground, the situation changed again.

The Theban heroes, who had plenty of experience fighting heroes who had become undead and monsters who had died, played a significant role.

Thanks to them, the surrounding monsters were gradually cleared away, and as a result, the burden on Chrysaor with the golden sword increased even more.

Swish-

The fact that a long wound was inflicted, piercing the scales of the giant snake for the first time, was also a result of that.

Unlike the attacks that had only resulted in scratches until now, this was the first meaningful injury they had inflicted.

Red blood splattered everywhere, and the monster with the status of a demigod howled in pain and anger.

Shaaaaa!!!

“Finally, the sword is going in! Focus on attacking that spot!”

“Damn it, Orion…”

“While the raven is dealing with the flying golden sword, let’s inflict as much damage as possible!”

The number of heroes killed by Chrysaor was not small, but the number of monsters that had died was also countless.

Orthrus, the son of Typhon, could also be seen on the floor, which was full of red blood.

What Chrysaor, who possessed not only great strength but also some wisdom, saw was… the numerous humans rushing towards this place.

Along with them, the sound of horns and the thick smell of metal echoed.

Boo-ooo-

“Huff. Huff. Reinforcements from the Macedonian kingdom!”

“The kingdom’s army has arrived, just hold on a little longer! No, let’s kill them all here!”

“Glory to the gods! Let’s honor the dead Orion with the corpses of monsters!”

The army approaching from afar, holding spears, swords, and shields, could be seen. As if mobilizing the kingdom’s entire force, their numbers were by no means small.

The heroes cheered at this, while the monsters bared their teeth and growled.

Realizing that the situation had become unfavorable, Chrysaor pushed away the surrounding heroes with all his might.

The expedition members were horrified and retreated from the fiercely pulsating giant body, but his goal was not to fight but to escape.

Swoosh-

“Uh… wait. That bastard is running away!”

“Into the gap in the cracked earth…! But it’s impossible to chase him…”

“Damn it, we have no choice but to let him go. We can’t go into the ground.”

Despite his massive size, Chrysaor moved with surprising speed.

The monster, carrying the golden sword he had been controlling, disappeared into the ground like a defeated soldier.

With only a narrow margin, the army of the Macedonian kingdom arrived, and the monsters exhausted from fighting the heroes were engulfed in the wave of the army.

Unless they were monsters as powerful as Chrysaor or Orthrus, the combined forces of the army and other heroes were enough to handle them.

Kuh-heong! Kwaeeek-

Thanks to Apollo’s help and the efforts of the Theban heroes, most of the monsters were dealt with, but the expedition also suffered enormous damage.

A large number of heroes, including Orion, were killed or injured, and there were also a significant number of people who were disabled.

However, Orthrus, the son of Typhon, was dead, Chrysaor had run away with his tail between his legs, and the other monsters had been exterminated, so could it not be considered half a success?