King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 100

The King of the Underworld is Tired 100 (100/140)

Mount Athos Expedition – (3)

Chrysaor of the Golden Sword.

A giant, snake-like monster that floats and controls a golden sword in the air.

Born with Pegasus after Medusa was beheaded by Perseus…

Unlike Pegasus, its monstrous attributes were strong, and by the time Medusa went looking for it, it had already disappeared.

Orthus.

A giant dog monster with two heads and a snake-headed tail.

The firstborn of Typhon and Echidna, and sibling to the Chimera (defeated by Bellerophon) and Cerberus (guardian of the underworld).

The most noticeable are the two monsters with demigod status, but the other monsters following them are not easy to deal with either.

Including harpies (monsters with the heads of women and the bodies of giant birds of prey), as well as animated trees, man-eating deer, giant lizards, etc…

“The creatures hiding in the mountains are swarming! Quickly intercept the ones in the sky first…”

“Let’s not back down! This is a war against monsters, and the gods are watching!”

“It will take a while for the messenger who went to Macedonia to request support to return! Hold out until then!”

“I dedicate my struggle to Ares, the god of war!”

Krrr! Keoong! Shhh-

The heroes quickly prepare for battle and respond to the horde of monsters coming in droves.

Spears and arrows fly, and monsters rush in to devour humans.

The two groups, filled with murderous intent, collide head-on, and the screams of humans and the howls of beasts fill the air.

The clash of swords and monsters’ claws creates a symphony of struggle, opening the stage for a brutal fight.

Even in this chaos, several heroes distinguished themselves.

The hero leading the expedition, Orion, was one of them.

Shoo-ook- Thud.

His arrow pierced another monster’s neck. The son of the sea god Poseidon, renowned as the best hunter in Greece, accurately targeted only monsters, even in the chaotic melee.

Once again, Orion’s massive arm muscles tensed as he aimed at a monster, drawing the bowstring… the next target is Orthus, Typhon’s child, who is diligently devouring humans with his two heads.

Thud. Krrr?

Orion’s arrow, boasting perfect accuracy, pierced the beast monster’s leg.

As if only then noticing him, Orthus throws aside the human he was holding in his mouth and rushes in.

“That bastard…!”

“Orion! He’s coming your way! Be careful!”

The nearby heroes tried to stop the monster, but only left scratches on its tough hide and couldn’t halt its advance.

Even if it’s not as impenetrable as the Nemean lion’s hide (a source of pride for Typhon’s child and Orthus’s brother), it’s thick enough that most heroes’ attacks won’t even scratch it.

Krrr-

“The hide is too thick! It’s not the Nemean lion, but…!”

“Tch! Orion, it looks like…”

“I know, everyone get out of the way! I’ll kill that bastard!”

Because he was the son of Poseidon and possessed immense strength, Orion was able to pierce its leg with an arrow.

Quickly grasping this, the son of the sea god threw aside his bow and took out the large club and shield he carried on his back.

A battlefield where heroes and monsters were inextricably mixed.

On the other side, Chrysaor of the Golden Sword was fiercely driving away the heroes using poisonous fangs and flying swords…

Here, the screams of humans wielding weapons desperately as their bodies are torn apart by ferocious man-eating deer erupt.

Orion crossed the middle of the battlefield, staring into the eyes of the monster rushing towards him, and firmly gripped his club.

Krrr!!!

“If you’re Typhon’s child, then you’re the perfect prey for me to prove my worth!”

The collision between Orthus, baring his teeth and leaping, and Orion, swinging his club at him, was inevitable.

* * *

In the Olympus Divine Palace, Apollo was looking down with his arms crossed.

It was his father, Zeus, who received the offerings from the heroes trying to enter Mount Athos, but…

“Apollo, watch over them and help them appropriately.”

“I understand, Father. But what do you mean by ‘appropriately…’?”

“Just as it sounds. Gaia [the primordial goddess of the Earth], who is trying to prevent the heroes from gaining too much glory, would never let the expedition reach Mount Athos unscathed.”

“Then… ?”

“You may intervene ‘appropriately’ according to your judgment.”

That was because Zeus had ordered him to watch over the expedition and help them as he saw fit.

Although Heracles (also known as Hercules) was born, this was Zeus’s backup plan in case Heracles couldn’t become a great hero due to some unfortunate event or was killed by Hera [Zeus’s wife, known for her jealousy and animosity towards Heracles, Zeus’s illegitimate son].

The more heroes that are fostered, the higher the probability that a great hero will emerge to lead the war with the Gigantes [a race of giants who challenged the Olympian gods].

Trusting only the newborn Heracles… as the king of the gods, it is necessary to consider the worst-case scenario.

Apollo, recalling his conversation with Zeus, looked down below the clouds, and someone sat quietly next to him.

It was his sister, Artemis, the goddess of the moon and the hunt.

“Sister. What brings you here?”

“Brother. Shouldn’t we help the heroes who are being pushed back like that right now?”

“Still, shouldn’t they overcome this level of challenge to become great heroes? We can’t just rely on the baby Heracles, whom Father cherishes so much.”

“But…”

A beautiful goddess looking at the world below with a worried expression.

Apollo sighed, noticing the affection, worry, sadness, and impatience in her eyes.

His sister, Artemis, is a virgin goddess who has sworn chastity.

But… from some point on, Apollo noticed she had become friendly with a human.

“Wouldn’t it be okay to save at least the hero who is bravely fighting Orthus?”

“…Well.”

The only human male that the virgin goddess Artemis is close to, excluding family.

No, if you think about it, he’s a demigod. Because that giant hunter’s father is Poseidon.

It was inevitable that Artemis, the goddess of hunting and archery, and the best hunter in Greece would become close.

But how dare a human try to covet a virgin goddess who swore on the River Styx [a river in the Underworld, and oaths sworn upon it were unbreakable]? I, Apollo, am watching with both eyes open. How dare you not know your place…

“…I don’t like it very much.”

“Huh? What did you say, Brother?”

“Nothing. If that’s your opinion, I’ll send a crow to help the humans a little.”

Since he is the son of Poseidon, the great uncle who cherishes his children so much, he could not directly punish him with divine punishment and kill him.

But… what if it was an ‘accidental accident’ that occurred while fighting a monster?

* * *

The area near the Kingdom of Macedonia has long been a battlefield of bloodshed.

The battle between the heroes gathered from all over Greece and the mythological monsters gradually began to tilt in favor of the monsters.

Numerous monsters attacked the humans first, but they were also heroes who were confident in their skills.

Those who had received all sorts of training in the underworld through Thebes and those who had honed their skills by catching monsters in this world were not easy to deal with.

However…

“Damn it! What about that flying sword… Keok!”

“Hoo… Aren’t there any more who inherited the blood of the wind god?”

Shhh-

Scales that are hard enough to deflect the heroes’ weapons, sharp poisonous fangs, and a huge body that is a threat in itself…

The problem was Chrysaor, who controls the golden sword that flies freely in the sky.

“Kkeu… Eok!”

With another scream, a hero who introduced himself as the son of Notus [the god of the south wind], was pierced in the stomach by a golden sword.

While Orion is dealing with Orthus, who can stop that terrible monster?

If the Theban natives, who seemed used to dealing with giant snakes for some reason, hadn’t distracted him, they might have all died here…

Chrysaor, who seems fine even after the continued battle, and the expedition members, whose morale is gradually declining, are in a dire situation.

Suddenly, something flew over their heads.

Caw- Caw-

“What… what’s that sound?”

“That shadow in the sky… a harpy?!”

Even in the midst of fighting the monsters, the humans, who glanced up at the sky at the sound of a bird’s cry that somehow contained power, were relieved.

A unique cry, a black and large body, and even the sacred energy that resonates with everyone’s bodies.

“It’s the divine beast raised by the god Apollo, a crow!”

“That crow that burned for delivering the news of Princess Coronis of Thessaly?”

“The sun god is watching over this place! The brilliant Phoebus Apollo!”

Apollo was once in a romantic relationship with Princess Coronis of Thessaly.

He sent his white crow as a messenger to deliver news to Coronis.

However, Coronis had an affair with the human Ischys, and the crow immediately informed Apollo of this fact.

Enraged, Apollo shot and killed Coronis with an arrow, but immediately regretted it and glared at the crow…

The white crow, facing the gaze containing the power of the sun, had all its feathers burned black.

That’s how Apollo’s divine beast, which became a black crow, appeared here.

The sun god’s divine beast briefly roamed the sky of the battlefield, then rushed straight to Chrysaor.

The crow, which looked like a single dot when it was in the sky, gradually grew larger as it descended to the ground…

Soon, the divine beast, which had become as large as several people combined, scratched Chrysaor’s back with its claws and passed by.

Shhh- Eek!

The snake monster groaned in pain, spurting a fountain of blood from its back.

The heroes who saw the sight regained their will to fight and rushed back to Chrysaor.

The flying golden sword was also distracted, checking the crow in the sky… and the expedition leader Orion was holding his own against Orthus.

If the two with demigod status are excluded from the battlefield, we have a chance of winning!

The remaining monsters are small fry compared to the Sphinxes, Pythons, and great heroes trained in the underworld.

“That’s right, we can win! We made it through the Thebes training camp! These guys are nothing compared to that…”

“God Ares! Give strength to my sword!”

“Let’s kill them all quickly and help Orion…!”

Unless another variable appears, the expedition will end in the victory of the heroes.