King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 120

The King of the Underworld is Tired 120 (120/140)

First Task – The Nemean Lion Pack (1)

Three days had passed since the hero begged for forgiveness before Hera’s temple.

A relentless storm, seemingly targeting Heracles specifically, battered him mercilessly.

Swishhhhh-

Cold raindrops lashed at him, and the ground turned into a muddy swamp.

The soggy, waterlogged ground and the creeping chill…

Whoosh-

On top of that, a storm filled with Hera’s power swirled around Heracles, trying to knock him away from the temple, but he stubbornly held his ground.

He withstood the raging storm with his patience and steel-like muscles, honed in the Underworld.

One week.

He had become a local spectacle near the temple dedicated to the goddess Hera.

The rumor that a muscular giant was enduring the storm to atone to the goddess spread far and wide to nearby cities.

“Hey, are you the one they call Heracles? What on earth did you do to…?”

“Hey! There’s a storm raging nearby, be careful!”

“The goddess Hera is so heartless…”

Sympathy for him arose among the city’s people, and some even began to cheer him on.

‘May that hero endure the goddess’s punishment and be forgiven for his sins…’

Two weeks.

As sympathy for Heracles grew among the humans, Hera sent hail to drive away those who supported him.

Hailstones, harder than ordinary stones, poured down from the sky without stopping.

Thud. Thud thud.

“Whoa, let’s get away from here!”

“Be careful! The hail is only falling there!”

“It really must be the goddess Hera’s punishment…”

However, the hero’s skin, hardened by the power of the River Styx [a river in Greek mythology that grants invulnerability], was not injured at all.

Heracles remained… in the same position as before.

People whispered, and now even those who spoke to him disappeared.

Rumors spread that he might not be human, and hypotheses circulated that he was a demigod or a monster in disguise.

Three weeks passed.

Hera above the clouds grew impatient.

If that detestable bastard of Zeus retreated from the temple, she had planned to drive him mad.

But that human continued to beg her for forgiveness and plead for mercy.

If he kept begging for forgiveness so close to her temple, her priests could be harmed by the violence that the bastard would unleash in his madness.

‘If she could somehow get him far away… she could send him into madness.’

Unable to bear it any longer, Hera called Hebe, the goddess who was her and Zeus’s daughter.

“Hebe.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“As the goddess of youth, seduce that human. Just get him away from my temple.”

Thus, Hebe, disguised as a human, approached Heracles.

Even though she had taken human form, she was the goddess of youth, and her beauty captivated all humans.

“Goodness…”

“How can such beauty exist? Did Princess Psyche [a mortal woman who became the goddess of the soul in Roman mythology] possess such beauty in the past?”

“She is truly worthy of being called the incarnation of Aphrodite [the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation].”

Despite the countless praises and accolades of humans, the goddess moved her feet and approached Heracles.

Her approaching a sinner receiving Hera’s punishment caused the surrounding people to sigh.

“Are you Heracles?”

“……”

“The goddess Hera is so cruel, why is she inflicting such trials on you?”

“……”

“I’m curious about your story. Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk. Hera wouldn’t mind if you’re only away for a short while.”

A touch full of pitifully fabricated emotion reached Heracles’ shoulder, but he didn’t budge at all. As if he had no interest at all, he silently kept his head buried in the ground.

The goddess of youth, who had been trying to seduce him for a long time, eventually gave up and left.

It was the fourth week that Heracles had been kneeling in front of the goddess’s temple.

Enraged, Hera called Pan, the god of nature and the son of the messenger god Hermes.

If storms, hail, rain, or the seduction of a goddess didn’t work…!

“Pan. Show that bastard the disgusting side of nature. Let the human’s true colors be revealed as he grimaces and shakes off the filth.”

“I understand what you mean. But isn’t that human Heracles?”

“Don’t even utter that cursed name in my presence!”

“Hmph… I’m sorry!”

Thus, according to the command of the Queen of the Gods, the god of nature moved.

The birds flying in the sky, the deer drinking water in the nearby forest, the boars, squirrels, and chipmunks…

“From now on, dump your waste there.”

All sorts of animals moved as the master of nature ordered…

One by one, animal droppings piled up on Heracles’ body, eventually accumulating more and more.

Dark, murky excrement piled up in front of Hera’s temple, and a terrible stench filled the air.

* * *

And so, currently, Heracles felt like his nose was rotting.

Thud. Thud. Splatter.

“Ugh…! The smell! What is that?!”

“Leave him be. He’s a sinner who committed some wrong and is repenting to Hera. It’s been four weeks already.”

“Then what’s that? All the birds and beasts around are pooping and peeing on him!”

“Shh! Shh! That must be a divine punishment.”

“Ugh… the smell. Even inside the temple, there’s a disgusting smell, is this okay?!”

“We must pray to Hera that the sinner seems to have repented. I can’t stand the smell anymore…”

“No, but what sin did he commit…”

The favorable gazes towards him turned into disgusted looks as animal waste piled up on his body.

The immediate stench felt more potent than the nobility of the ascetic who silently accepted the goddess’s punishment.

‘Damn it. At this rate, I’m going to pass out from the stench.’

Of course, Heracles felt like he was going crazy.

His steel-like mental strength, which had been unaffected by the hail, rain, and the seduction of a woman pouring down on his body…

Thud.

‘Ugh. That crazy beast is peeing after pooping…!’

It showed its limits in the face of this terrible stench and unpleasantness.

But fortunately for Heracles, his mental strength was stronger than that of Hera’s priests.

The goddess’s priests began to pray because of the terrible smell coming from the temple day and night.

“Goddess Hera… what sin did that man commit?”

“Rather, punish him and kill him… the temple is filled with the smell of animals…”

“A sin that offends the Queen of the Gods deserves to die ten thousand times, but now even that sinner has repented…”

Hera, watching this situation from the clouds, was furious.

“Grrr! That bastard has great patience!”

“Um… Mother. He didn’t even turn around when I spoke to him. Maybe it’s better to just forgive him…”

“Be quiet, Hebe!”

‘Hmph… he entered the River Styx, but he’s still human anyway, I’ll just kill him with the task.’

* * *

One month and one day, the day of Thanatos [the Greek god of death].

A priest of the goddess Hera approached Heracles, who was covered in animal excrement.

He was the same priest Heracles had met for the first time.

“Ugh… the smell. Hey, Heracles! You’ve won.”

“…!!”

“The goddess Hera has given an oracle. First, wash your body and receive the oracle.”

The priest covered his nose and hurriedly went back into the temple, and only then did Heracles slowly rise from his seat for the first time in a month.

Thud thud.

All sorts of foul-smelling excrement fell from his body, but Heracles grinned.

‘Finally… is the Queen of the Gods giving me a task?’

Splash!

The hero went to a nearby river, threw off all his clothes, and jumped into the water.

The fish hurriedly fled from the stench and disgust, and eventually even the god of the river revealed himself.

The god of the river, who appeared with a staff, pointed at Heracles as soon as he appeared in the water.

“I saw which crazy human was polluting the river, and it’s the guy receiving the goddess Hera’s punishment!”

“God of the river…? No, um… I’m sorry.”

“What?! You’re sorry? Have I ever seen such a crazy guy! If today wasn’t the day of Thanatos, you would have died by my hand, not Hera’s!”

Heracles stared blankly at the spot where the god of the river had disappeared after saying those words.

Of course, it wasn’t because he was afraid of the divine punishment.

‘I think I could win if we fought… or not?’

After briefly having disrespectful thoughts, he washed his leather tunic and sandals, as well as his clothes, in the river and put them on neatly.

Then, as he headed back to the temple of Hera, all traces of animal excrement had disappeared.

Judging by the priests offering prayers of gratitude, it seemed that the goddess had eliminated it with her power.

“Heracles. Come inside. The high priest will deliver the goddess’s oracle to you.”

“Hmm.”

A woman of advanced age appeared before Heracles as he entered the temple.

Judging by her luxurious attire and the attitude of those around her, she seemed to be the high priestess of Hera.

“I will deliver the oracle of the goddess Hera.”

“……”

“There is only one way to wash away your original sin. You must complete all the tasks given by the goddess.”

“How many tasks do I have to complete?”

“She said that you must solve about ten tasks in total, and she also told us about the content of the first task.”

‘No… there are ten tasks to accomplish? I’m going to have to travel all over Greece.’

Of course, my goal is to become a god, but…

The content of the first task was heard in Heracles’s ear as he grumbled inwardly.

“Your first task is… to eliminate all the Nemean lion packs.”

‘Lion packs? I’m sure when I learned from Teacher Chiron [a centaur in Greek mythology known for his wisdom and teaching]… I heard there was only one Nemean lion.’