King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 142

The King of the Underworld is Tired 142

Orpheus’s Story – (1)

Orpheus.

Born to Calliope, the eldest of the Muse goddesses, and Oeagrus, the king of Thrace, he was a demigod.

Apollo, recognizing his musical talent, personally taught him how to play the lyre.

He was deemed worthy of a hero solely based on his music and entered the Underworld’s hero training camp.

He used his lyre to ward off the Sirens’ songs on the Argo and even calmed storms.

As Greece’s most renowned musician, he married Eurydice, one of the dryad [tree nymph] nymphs.

But unfortunately, while Orpheus was away on the Argo expedition, his wife…

“Hey, are you a nymph by any chance…?”

“Eek?! Don’t come any closer!”

“No, wait…”

Crunch.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

Aristaios, the god of farmers, the countryside, beekeeping (and also a beekeeper), approached her to speak, but…

Mistaking him for someone with malicious intent, she fled and was bitten by a poisonous snake and died.

How many times have beautiful nymphs been victimized by male gods?

However, from Aristaios’s perspective, who truly had no ill intentions, it was simply unfair.

Anyway, Orpheus, returning from the Argo expedition and seeing his wife’s corpse, wept on the spot.

“Kheuheuheuk! Eurydice! Eurydice! I will definitely bring you back to life!”

Thus, Orpheus resolved to go to the Underworld, but the path through Thebes was blocked…

He had to descend into the Underworld by another means.

Eventually, with only his lyre in hand, Orpheus set out on his journey, asking for directions to the Underworld using his musical skills, and arrived at the entrance.

A path leading into the dark depths of the underworld at a glance.

“Hoo…”

But there was no guarantee that he could save his wife by going there.

There was no certainty that the god of the Underworld would value his talent and save her.

If a living human like him were to go to the Underworld, death was a likely outcome.

The possibility of him not being able to escape after trying to bring Eurydice back was too high.

But Orpheus thought it didn’t matter.

Standing before the path to the underworld, Orpheus checked the strings of his lyre one last time.

And, recalling the emotions he felt when he witnessed Eurydice’s death, he slowly began to play music.

♬♪~♩

More than when he calmed the storm, more than when he defeated the Sirens…

It had to be the best performance of his life, or he would never be able to bring Eurydice back.

* * *

Orpheus closed his eyes and moved forward.

It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see. The music was guiding him to his destination.

~ ♪♩

To his heart-wrenching lyre sound, the stones blocking his path moved aside on their own.

The energy of the Underworld, which chills the living to death, could not penetrate his body, protected by the music.

In the pitch-black darkness where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, only Orpheus’s lyre sound echoed clearly…

The first river of the Underworld, Acheron.

The boatman Charon scoffed at the crazy human coming in strumming a lyre.

But the melody he created caressed and healed his mind and body, which had suffered while working as a boatman.

The mournful notes seemed to express human pain, and the tears of the closed-eyed Orpheus added to the emotion.

Charon, who had been carrying souls for countless years, was shaken in his heart for once.

“Please take me to the other side… Charon.”

“…Just this once, human.”

Charon, who never allowed the living to pass, gestured to him and put him on the boat.

~ ♪

“Keup… Mother… I’m sorry.”

“Euhheuk. Damn it. What’s so special about that lyre.”

“Haaa…”

At his lyre sound, tears welled up in the eyes of the other souls and Charon who were crossing the Acheron River together.

The boat quickly turned into a sea of tears, and the wails of the tearless dead covered the river of sorrow.

The second river of the Underworld, Cocytus.

The River of Woe was very cold, as its name suggested. Even the dead, who had lost their bodies, were reluctant to approach it.

The river of Cocytus, where one’s past is reflected in the water…

“Hahahaha! You seem so beautiful. Now, let’s be together forever…”

“Of course. Even though I look like this, I’m one of the top nymphs…”

There, Orpheus saw the moment he married Eurydice.

Knife-like pain tore at his chest, and he crossed the Cocytus River without hesitation.

The third river of the Underworld, Pyriphlegethon.

This river of flames, which purifies souls by burning them, looked truly hot.

Wouldn’t he be burned as soon as he took a step?

The flames seemed to incinerate his body in an instant.

But… it wouldn’t be hotter than his heart, burning with the loss of his wife.

The fourth river of the Underworld, Lethe.

The infamous waters of the Lethe River, which erase memories of the living world.

However, Orpheus played the lyre and jumped in without hesitation.

*It is enough to leave memories with my wife. All I want is to save Eurydice.*

Intense obsession. Firm purpose. Burning will. A lyre performance that supports all of this.

The obsession of the hero who set foot in the Underworld for the sole purpose of bringing back his wife was so strong that the waters of oblivion could not erase his memories.

~♩

Finally, after crossing the fifth river, the Styx, he headed towards Hades’s fortress.

He advanced with the souls shedding tears because of the lyre sound and discovered the divine beast guarding the gate of the Underworld, Cerberus.

“Keureureu…”

Cerberus, who was about to bite the living human, stopped in his place and growled.

The emotion of sadness, felt for the first time, subdued the divine beast’s ferocity.

In addition, Cerberus was confused because Orpheus’s soul, who had passed through the rivers of the Underworld alone, had changed a lot from the beginning.

Just as Hercules received faith from humans and raised his status by performing tasks, Orpheus, who had overcome impossible obstacles with the power of music alone, was gradually growing.

As Orpheus, who was originally a demigod, even increased his status, Cerberus became even more confused and eventually cleared the way.

* * *

Thus, Orpheus arrived before Hades, who ruled the Underworld.

The beautiful blonde goddess next to him was shedding tears at his lyre sound, but the black-haired god on the throne remained unmoved.

Could it be that even his full-power performance had no effect on the master of the Underworld?

Orpheus stopped playing the lyre and hurriedly knelt down and shouted.

“Lord of the Underworld! I am a humble human called Orpheus. Please save my wife, Eurydice!”

A moment of silence passed, and the god who ruled the Underworld opened his mouth.

“Bring back the dead? Did you come to the Underworld believing only in your musical skills?”

“…Please, I implore you!”

“Since there is a precedent from the time of Tantalus [a figure in Greek mythology punished for his hubris], I can listen if the process of meeting death is unreasonable. Wait a moment.”

At Pluto’s gesture, a nearby attendant approached and, following his command, went outside.

A wait that felt like countless eons continued for a while, and then the returning attendant whispered something in his ear.

“Your wife, the nymph Eurydice, died in an accidental death from a snake bite. It is quite unfortunate, but… there is no problem with it.”

“Th-That can’t be!”

“As compensation for reaching the Underworld with the body of a living person without any help and meeting me, I will not take your life. Now go back, hero of music.”

Orpheus’s heart crumbled at the ruthless words that could not be considered the words of a god of mercy.

*No, Lord Pluto is also the master of the Underworld… but he cannot give up like this.*

He was determined to take Eurydice with him. What good is it to escape the Underworld alone? If he cannot take her, even if he dies…!

“Please. Please, I beg you!”

“You might think that saving a nymph or two is not difficult for me. You probably came to the Underworld with that in mind.”

“……”

“It is not a difficult task as you say. But that is precisely why I cannot save your wife.”

“Why… is that?”

“If I revive the dead as I please, the boundary between the living world and the underworld will collapse. This is a problem directly related to the balance of the world. Unless it is a death that is too unfair and terrible, like the case of Tantalus… even if Zeus himself asks me, I cannot revive them.”

Orpheus raised his head and looked at the king of the underworld.

The blonde goddess next to the throne seemed to want to take his side, but she couldn’t say anything.

It must be because she couldn’t dare to infringe on the authority of Pluto, who ruled the Underworld.

But still, he couldn’t give up…

Even if he incurred Pluto’s wrath and fell into Tartarus [the deep abyss in the Underworld]. He must bring Eurydice…!

“Just once… please listen to my performance.”

“Hmm?”

“I will show you the ultimate performance that will please your heart! Please save Eurydice!”

The husband who lost his wife gritted his teeth and raised his lyre again.