King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 124

The King of the Underworld is Tired 124

Second Task – Slaying the Hydra (3)

Heracles dodged the Hydra’s relentless, regenerating attacks.

The hero’s mind raced, searching for a way to stop the Hydra’s regeneration.

‘If burning it doesn’t work… then piercing it with something might stop it from regenerating.’

If he impaled it with countless trees, pinned it down with boulders, and buried it in the earth, even an immortal monster would die.

But…

‘Have I retreated this much?’

Heracles glanced around, realizing his position.

He had rolled on the ground to avoid the Hydra’s venom and retreated several steps.

In contrast, the monster continued to regenerate and advance, even with its heads exploding.

The contrast between the hero and the monster was stark.

It was clear who was being hunted.

Clench-

He gritted his teeth without realizing it.

Is this… right? Even if he manages to kill it, can he repay this humiliation?

How can a coward who avoids the Hydra’s venom dare to challenge the throne of the gods?

Isn’t the idea of burning it or burying it in the earth something other heroes would do?

If he can’t face such a monster head-on, he’ll only drift further away from Olympus!

‘Right, trying to use tricks from the start was a mistake.’

Crack-

Heracles gripped the iron club, which he had been casually swinging with one hand, firmly with both hands.

Even steel groaned and twisted under the strength of his grip, but he paid no heed, glaring at the Hydra before him.

Humans who used wisdom to deceive and kill monsters were praised as heroes.

But what he was challenging was a god. To become a god who looks down on everyone from above…!

“…I’ll beat you to death.”

He would crush the monster’s regeneration head-on.

Heracles recalled the Nemean Lion, which had ultimately met its death at his hands, and swung the iron club.

Unlike before, when he carefully swung the club to avoid the monster’s fluids, this was a full-powered strike.

Whoosh! Crack!

‘If the fluids are poisonous, I’ll blow them away with the wind pressure instead of dodging!’

One of the Hydra’s heads flew off, but not a single drop of fluid splattered in his direction.

Gaining confidence, Heracles continued to swing the club.

From left to right. From right to left. He repeated the full-powered strikes.

Until when? Until the monster in front of him couldn’t regenerate and died!

Whoooshㅡ! Pow! Crack!

“Haaah!!!”

Continuous strikes. More continuous strikes.

Heracles’ body was the greatest human physique, strengthened by Hera’s milk and the power of the River Styx [a river in Greek mythology with magical properties].

Therefore, he didn’t tire at all, even after unleashing a barrage of full-powered strikes.

And all his senses were focused on smashing the enemy before him.

Not just killing the enemy, but pulverizing it with a storm of continuous strikes.

Whether it was a giant mountain, a monster, or venom, he would crush everything in his path.

“Let’s see if your regeneration is faster, or if my speed of destroying you is faster!!!”

ㅡShriek?!

One of the Hydra’s heads exploded.

It regenerated again.

Two of the Hydra’s heads exploded simultaneously.

It regenerated again.

Three heads, no, four heads were torn off.

It regenerated again…

One of the monster’s heads spewed venom, trying to melt the human.

But Heracles’ clubbing blew that head away first.

The fight continued for two days.

The Hydra’s venomous fluids and Heracles’ sweat dripped onto the ground, and the air filled with scattering fragments.

A regenerating monster and a destroying hero.

The monster was the first to surrender in this endless cycle.

The Hydra, with its heads constantly exploding, turned to flee. Desperate to get away from this terrifying human.

But Heracles’ clubbing was faster.

Crack. Pow. Crack!

The Hydra’s massive bulk gradually diminished.

The monster’s regeneration couldn’t keep up with the wounds on its body.

And finally…

Boom! ㅡSplash!!!

A desperate, full-powered strike blew the Hydra’s entire body away.

Including all nine heads and its torso.

“…Did I get it?”

The venomous water snake with endless regeneration.

Was defeated by Heracles, who possessed endless strength.

* * *

Heracles sat on the ground and slowly removed the Nemean Lion’s pelt from his body.

The most difficult part of killing the Hydra was the venom.

Even Heracles had to fight while being mindful of the Hydra’s poison for two whole days.

The hero shook his head, looking at the green venom smeared all over the Nemean Lion’s pelt.

If it weren’t for the training with Lady Megara in the Underworld, he might have died here.

“Hoo…”

Even Bellerophon and Cadmus couldn’t wound him, but the power of the gods could injure him so easily…

Thus, he had to learn techniques like other heroes, desperately blocking and dodging attacks.

The sparring with the goddess had raised Heracles’ level by several stages, and this was the result.

As he caught his breath and examined his body, he heard someone’s footsteps,

He turned his head and saw dozens of soldiers, horrified by the torn-up and overturned ground and the traces of battle.

“Huh… Huh!”

“What is this…!”

“Um?! Soldiers? Who sent you?”

At his question, the soldiers stammered.

“W-we are under the command of King Argos… We came because citizens reported a loud noise…”

“Ah, the commotion was because I was dealing with the Hydra, Chrysaor [a giant in Greek mythology], and Lamia [a child-devouring monster in Greek mythology].”

“Wh-wh-what?!”

“I smashed the Hydra with my club, and you’ll find the corpses of Chrysaor and Lamia if you go that way.”

The soldiers of Argos were dumbfounded by his words.

What was this crazy man babbling about? Not only the venom-spewing Hydra, but also Chrysaor of the Golden Sword, and Lamia, who was notorious near Athens?

But the obvious traces of a tremendous battle, the sweat on his brow,

The massive, muscular physique that looked like it could beat down monsters, and the Nemean Lion’s pelt covered in green venom made the soldiers’ eyes waver.

“Hey, isn’t that green fluid on the ground the traces of the Hydra’s rampage?”

“Did some divine punishment befall this place? That torn-up thing… is that really the Hydra’s…!”

“Good heavens. Are you Heracles, who wiped out the Nemean Lion’s pack? One of my relatives is a priest of Lady Hera…”

“What am I looking at… Is the Hydra really dead?”

“Then that golden sword on his waist is really Chrysaor’s…?”

“…Anyway, I’m busy, so I’ll be going now.”

Heracles picked up the Nemean Lion’s pelt and moved on, leaving them behind.

He ignored the soldiers who revered him, calling him a great hero and saying that he must be the incarnation of an Olympian god.

“Do you know what a god is? Do you just think they are perfect beings with strong and immortal bodies?”

He was so strong, and his achievements were already sufficient.

“A divine being exists to maintain the balance of the world. If you only have that kind of thought, no matter how many achievements you accumulate… you will never become a god.”

Why did the Lord of the Underworld say that he couldn’t become a god?

He should be qualified to become a god with this overflowing power alone?

The great hero didn’t know yet.

* * *

In the end, Heracles killed the Hydra.

Along with Chrysaor of the Golden Sword and Lamia, who devoured children near Athens.

“Hades, I’ve brought Lamia.”

“Thank you, Thanatos [the personification of death in Greek mythology].”

Lamia, who came to the Underworld, naturally met me.

Lamia knelt and prostrated herself on the floor of the audience chamber, trembling with fear.

I could feel many emotions in her eyes at a glance.

Anger, fear, resentment towards the gods, and sorrow… As expected, she had a grudge strong enough to resist the River of Oblivion [a river in the Underworld that causes forgetfulness].

“Raise your head, Queen of Libya.”

“Q-queen?! Heh… Am I still a queen?”

“Look at your body again. See if you still have the lower half of a snake.”

Hera’s curse was lifted when Lamia met her death.

To be precise… the curse remained on the corpse, but the soul that came to the Underworld was freed from the form of a half-human, half-snake monster.

“I’ve eaten only… over hundreds of children…? Heh… What punishment will you give me? Tartarus [a deep abyss in the Underworld]…?”

“I know that you became that form by receiving Hera’s divine punishment.”

“……”

“I will take into account that you lived a life stained with blood, cursed by Hera for having an affair with Zeus. I will also take into account that you, a mere human, could not refuse Zeus.”

The price of the affair with Zeus was Hera’s curse.

She lived a miserable life, stealing and devouring the children of other women and seducing men to their deaths.

But I couldn’t just show mercy.

“The number of children you have eaten is very high. Even though it was because of Hera’s curse, you still have to pay the price for your sins.”

“…Hehehe…”

“Since it was a spirit influenced by a curse, not your own will, I will erase your memories with the blessing of oblivion.”

At the gesture of the Goddess of Oblivion, Lamia’s eyes turned blank.

But since she had committed sins, she had to pay the price. If she atoned for her sins for hundreds of years, I might allow her to be reincarnated…

Lamia left, and Lady Lethe [the goddess of oblivion] approached me.

“Chrysaor is as I said…”

“Yes. Lady Medusa is meeting him. Like Pegasus, he seems to be very attached to his mother.”

“We can send him to the Hero Training Center soon. The golden sword that flies through the sky is gone, but his body will be enough for the heroes.”

Monsters often couldn’t rest even in death.

The Nemean Lion and Chimera were also in the Underworld’s training grounds… Bellerophon hated it, but it was necessary.

Chrysaor would soon be in the same situation as them.

“Hades, shouldn’t we stop Heracles’ tasks at this point?”

“…?”

“Opinions are divided even among the Olympian gods. He’s already a great hero who has defeated two of Typhon’s children, so isn’t he already the hero of prophecy…?”

“What is Hera’s reaction?”

“She looked very resentful that Zeus’s bastard was completing his tasks and killing monsters… Hermes, who came to the Underworld, said so.”

Since the hypothesis that Heracles is the hero of prophecy has gained traction, it will be quite difficult for Hera to kill him.

In the first place, I told her not to kill him with divine punishment, so she will just give him a lot of difficult tasks.

But Gaia blocked Heracles’ path when he went to kill the Hydra.

There may be a possibility that she will continue to interfere with him.

“It’s already too late… Even if the Gigas [giants in Greek mythology] escape the gods’ eyes, if it’s Heracles…”

Should I kidnap a Gigas and throw it at him?