King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 131

The King of the Underworld is Tired – (2)

The sea monster Charybdis, daughter of Poseidon, incurred the wrath of Zeus due to her insatiable gluttony.

She devoured nectar and ambrosia without restraint, and even swallowed passing ships whole…

“Poseidon, how big is your daughter?”

“Not that big, really. She barely reaches Typhon’s waist, a rather petite figure.”

“How is that petite by any measure?”

Typhon is a giant whose shoulders touch the sky and whose head brushes the stars of the night sky.

Comparing her to him at all gives you an idea of how enormous Charybdis is.

Well… with a body that size, she’s bound to have an insatiable appetite.

It’s no wonder Zeus couldn’t contain his anger and hurled a thunderbolt.

“Can you send a messenger to Olympus to summon Demeter?”

“Why Demeter?”

“If I go and bluntly tell her to curb her appetite, she obviously won’t listen. But if we periodically provide her with grains blessed with abundance, your daughter will stop tormenting sailors.”

“Well… ahem! I considered that method too… but would Demeter really step up for my daughter?”

Poseidon stroked his beard and subtly turned his head away.

He must have done something to Demeter when Persephone went missing.

I suspect he tried to force himself on her… Anyway, things have been frosty ever since.

How am I going to persuade Demeter?

“Ha. Isn’t this all because you were eyeing Demeter with lecherous eyes back then?”

“Lecherous eyes! I was merely trying to offer ‘comfort’…”

“Comfort? Who on earth gives a grieving mother whose daughter has gone missing a sleazy look!”

“Ahem, ahem! Ah, let’s just stop here! Let’s move on from the old days!”

This is truly unbelievable. Should I just beat up Charybdis and tell her not to eat humans?

Sigh… No. She’s already been struck by Zeus’s lightning, and she’s also Gaia’s daughter…

“Just consider it a debt you owe Demeter.”

“No, I’m not so sure about owing a debt?”

“You don’t like that? Then I guess we’ll just have to let Charybdis be reviled by humans. You get soft when you see your daughter, so I offered to discipline her instead… If you dislike owing Demeter a debt that much, there’s nothing I can do.”

“…?”

“Don’t mortals always offer you tributes, praying for safety before venturing out to sea? But you keep letting Charybdis swallow ships whole. If rumors spread that the god of the sea isn’t properly repaying the tributes he receives, I wouldn’t know anything about it. Isn’t that why you lost the city to Athena? If I were an Athenian, I would have chosen Athena too. Tsk.”

Perhaps it’s because I’m spouting words that would prick his pride.

Poseidon’s face gradually turns sour.

“The chief deity of the sea who doesn’t properly care for his child, who devours sentient beings indiscriminately, that’s very…”

“Okay, I get it, stop! Just think of it as owing Demeter a small debt!”

“Good thinking. Humans will praise your benevolence.”

Like a sudden surge of waves, he’s easily swayed with a little provocation.

But that’s enough of that. Any more and he’ll get angry.

* * *

“So, you summoned me, who was resting comfortably in Olympus?”

Demeter, who came into the sea, looks back and forth between Poseidon and me.

Having suddenly received contact from two of the three chief gods and coming into the sea, Demeter’s eyes are full of doubt.

“Yes, it’s an opportunity to burden Poseidon here with a debt, so I hope you’ll help out.”

At my answer, she scanned the sea lord up and down.

What on earth does that look mean? It’s a very reluctant gaze…

“Hmph. Have you finally decided to manage your child a little? I hope that resolve lasts long, Poseidon.”

“…I originally wanted to let her do whatever she wanted, but Hades here made a valid point.”

“So, what exactly do you want me to do?”

Thank goodness. At least Demeter is cooperating.

Of course, she occasionally sends very disapproving glances, but… she seems to be tolerating it because of my relationship with Persephone and Charybdis’s misdeeds.

Poseidon knows that too, so he doesn’t seem to be entertaining any useless thoughts.

“Well. If you create food with the blessing of abundance…”

“Demeter, aren’t you the divine personification of abundance, the opposite of Limos [the goddess of famine]? So…”

“I will decree that humans offer sacrifices into the sea when they pass near where Charybdis lives.”

“If even a small amount can fill her up, she should be satisfied.”

“Poseidon, but isn’t this something you could just go and persuade her to do…”

“I actually still think it’s better to let her do whatever she wants…”

“It’s obvious why Charybdis turned out that way.”

Thus, Poseidon, Demeter, and I pondered how to persuade Charybdis.

Using force to beat her up and coerce her is out of the question, given that her parents are such big shots.

Demeter produces food from the earth filled with the blessing of abundance and stores it in the temple.

Then Poseidon issues an oracle in his temple, declaring that when passing near where Charybdis lives in the sea, they must offer food blessed by Demeter…

Also, ambrosia and nectar, and food from the sea, are periodically delivered to Charybdis.

And finally.

“I can’t swear on the River Styx [a sacred oath that even gods must uphold]… but I promise on my trident.”

“Good. If I have something to ask of you next time, I’ll contact you, Poseidon.”

Poseidon considers himself to owe Demeter a debt.

Of course, he won’t grant excessive demands, but the right to ask the chief deity of the sea for a favor.

“Finally, it’s all over. Shall we go talk to your daughter now?”

Poseidon bitterly clicks his tongue. He should have educated his child properly in the first place.

Well, it’s a relief that he seems to have come to his senses a little, even now.

* * *

Riding on the back of a dolphin, a divine creature that Poseidon provided, I moved to the place where Charybdis is.

A calm sea with gentle waves and a moderate breeze. In the distance, ships carrying humans were passing by.

The dolphin carrying me stopped, so I stood on the surface of the water and looked around.

We must have arrived now, right? I can feel a fairly strong energy down there. Is that Charybdis?

In terms of power, she seems to be on par with Triton… Well, her mother is Gaia [the primordial goddess of the Earth], and she herself is a goddess.

“Hmm?”

I was thinking about how to approach her in the sea when the surrounding water seemed to be heading downwards.

To be precise, Charybdis was rising to the surface, sucking in seawater.

A whirlpool formed in the middle of the sea, and part of her enormous body was revealed.

No, the whirlpool *was* Charybdis.

Everything is being sucked into the center of the whirlpool filled with huge teeth.

Naturally, so were the humans traveling by ship a short distance away.

“Aaaah! Th-There’s a sea monster!”

“That whirlpool, no, the ship is being sucked into the monster’s mouth…!”

“Lord Poseidon, please save us…!”

“Are we going to die like this? Row faster!”

“This is the best I can do!”

The mortals on board panicked and prayed to the gods. They gripped the oars so hard their hands bled, trying to escape from this place.

Some had already given up and were shedding tears, while others glared at the whirlpool with bloodshot eyes.

Whooooosh—

I am the god of the underworld. I cannot control water and the sea like Poseidon.

I cannot fly quickly through the sky to rescue humans like Hermes [the messenger god], nor can I open a rainbow passage to evacuate them like Iris [goddess of the rainbow].

However… I had enough power to stop Charybdis’s actions, who was currently sucking in seawater.

I’m sorry, Poseidon.

I’m going to have to hit your daughter a little.

* * *

The captain of the ship that unfortunately passed through the sea area where Charybdis lived gritted his teeth.

He had certainly heard that disappearance incidents occurred in this vicinity. But the reason was a sea monster.

If he had known this, he would have taken a different route altogether.

Whooooosh—

No, a monster? Is that really just a simple monster?

The toothed whirlpool that swallowed all the seawater was showing the majesty of a god.

“Hehe… Hehehehe! Mother!”

“I shouldn’t have boarded the ship… Am I going to meet Thanatos [the personification of death] here?”

“We clearly offered cows to Lord Poseidon before coming out to sea! So why is this happening…”

“Lord Poseidon must not have liked the offering!”

The crew on the ship were in a panic.

They had now stopped rowing and let go of the oars.

That’s because they couldn’t possibly escape from that terrifying whirlpool monster.

In front of a mythical monster that devoured all the surrounding seawater… ordinary people, neither demigods nor heroes, could only despair.

The captain closed his eyes and offered a final prayer to Poseidon.

The old man, 70 years old, who had served the sea god all his life, sought the god more earnestly than ever before.

‘Gods of Olympus! My lord Poseidon! Please have mercy on us!’

The screams of the crew, the sounds of sobbing and wailing, echoed around him.

And…

■■■■■■!!!!!

A deafening roar…?

He quickly covered his ears and opened his eyes.

His mouth gaped blankly, and clear liquid flowed from his eyes.

The old captain quietly put his hands together and knelt on the spot.

The other crew members followed him in the same way.

“I will send you to a safe place.”

A black pillar that seemed to annihilate everything between the sea and the sky was erected,

Because they saw a god who had somehow climbed onto the deck.

“It is not yet your time to come to the underworld.”

They are alive now.