King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 149

The King of the Underworld is Tired 150

Interlude – A Tale of Somewhat Strange Heroes

(Theseus is related to the main story, but Heracles is an unrelated side story!)

The Hero Theseus.

A hero born to Aigeus, the King of Athens, and Aithra, the princess of Troezen.

Aigeus slept with Aithra and, before leaving, instructed her to send their son to him when he came of age, leaving a token hidden under a large rock as proof of his lineage.

“Hngh… Mother! Is this really what Father left behind?”

“Yes. The token is under there… but it seems a bit too much for you to handle right now.”

Theseus, after his birth to Aithra, attempted to lift the rock at a young age but failed.

Determined to gain the strength to lift the rock, he set off for the hero training camp in Thebes.

“Ugh… Aaaargh!!!”

“Tsk. That Theseus. He got smacked by Python’s tail again and went flying.”

“I wonder what he broke this time? I hope he didn’t hurt his head?”

He endured rigorous training in the underworld, battling all sorts of monsters and deceased heroes.

When Theseus, now a grown man, returned to Troezen, he glanced at the rock and…

“Hap!”

Kwaaaang!

He smashed the rock with his bare hands, retrieving the sword and sandals hidden beneath.

Naturally, Aithra had already informed him that his father was Aigeus, the King of Athens.

Thus, Theseus journeyed to Athens to find his father.

Of course, along the way, he encountered numerous monsters and villains, all of whom he dispatched.

First, Periphetes, the villain he encountered first.

He was lurking in the forest, ambushing and killing passersby with a bronze club, but Theseus seized the swinging club with his bare hands, snatched it away, and killed him with it.

Second, Sinis, the villain.

He tied people’s limbs to bent pine trees, then released the trees to tear them apart and kill them – a rather gruesome method.

Theseus pretended to be captured by him and was tied to a pine tree.

But the moment Sinis released the pine tree, Theseus exerted his strength and uprooted the tree.

Kwajijik… Kuung!

“Hey.”

“H… Heeik!”

“This is quite the workout. I think you deserve to experience it yourself.”

Thus, Sinis met the same death as those he had inflicted on others.

Third villain, Sciron.

He robbed passersby and forced them to wash his feet on a cliff…

Before kicking them off the cliff to their doom.

But Theseus beat up Sciron, made him wash his feet,

And when his feet were clean, he kicked Sciron off the cliff to his death.

He also executed Cercyon, a brutal king who killed passing travelers in wrestling matches, and Procrustes, who either cut off the heads of passersby if they were taller than his bed or forcibly stretched them to fit if they were shorter – a truly twisted individual.

Theseus, who even slew the ferocious boar Phaea, which terrorized the region between Megara and Corinth, gained considerable fame.

He was recognized by King Aigeus, who had remained childless until then, and was elevated to the position of Prince of Athens.

“Father, I intend to go to Crete and kill the Minotaur.”

“Hmm…”

“If I return alive, I will raise a white sail on the ship; if I die, the ship will bear a black sail.”

Afterward, Theseus easily killed the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull, in Crete, and returned with Ariadne, the princess of Crete.

He faced the danger of having Ariadne abducted by Dionysus [god of wine and revelry] during the voyage,

But fortunately, the goddess of justice intervened, and he returned safely with a white sail, intending to marry Princess Ariadne.

* * *

Somewhat Strange 12 Tasks – (1)

The Great Hero Heracles (also known as Hercules).

No one would dispute that he is the greatest hero in Greece.

But even he, praised as invincible, harbored a concern…

It stemmed from the eleventh task, which involved obtaining the golden apples of the Hesperides.

“Hoo… If you confront Ladon, the dragon guarding the golden apple tree, directly, neither of you will emerge unscathed.”

“Then what should I do?”

“You must enlist the help of Atlas, who bears the celestial sphere on his shoulders, to retrieve them.”

First, he slew the eagle that perpetually devoured the liver of Prometheus [a Titan who gifted fire to humanity and was punished by Zeus], as a reward for the advice, and then he journeyed to Atlas.

Atlas, burdened with supporting the sky, said this:

“Keuk. You seek to pluck the golden apples? My daughters, the Hesperides [nymphs], are the guardians of the tree; it would be possible if I were to pick them.”

“Then…”

“You must hold up the sky for a while in my stead. I’ll bring the golden apples soon.”

Heracles nodded and took Atlas’s place in supporting the sky.

He, who had never felt a lack of strength until now, experienced pressure for the first time.

“Keuheup!”

The weight of the sky was bound to feel heavy, even for Heracles.

Wait a minute, heaviness? For him, who found everything easy, difficulty meant… it was exercise!

Some time later, Atlas, returning with the golden apples, was shocked by the sight before him.

The crazy mortal son of Zeus was exercising using the sky.

Ddddd…

“Huk. Hoo-uk. Are you. Huk. Here? This is quite. Huk. The workout!”

“…Are my eyes deceiving me because of Zeus’s lightning?”

Heracles was squatting and standing up, supporting the sky, training his lower body muscles.

It was already bordering on the divine that a mortal could withstand the weight of the sky, but he was exercising with it?

Atlas gestured for Heracles to stop and resumed supporting the sky himself.

Heracles expressed his confusion as he watched Atlas unexpectedly take back the burden.

“…?”

Atlas smirked as he looked at Heracles, who, despite receiving the golden apples, lingered and voiced his doubts.

No matter how much he boasted strength beyond human comprehension, Atlas still considered him a mere mortal.

“Why? Are you wondering why I didn’t pass on the task of supporting the sky to you permanently?”

“To be honest, yes. Prometheus suggested you might try to trick me and gave me some advice…”

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“He must have told you to adjust your stance, reposition the lion skin on your shoulder, and pretend you were about to lift it again.”

“…How did you know that?”

Atlas laughed as he looked at the dumbfounded Heracles.

Prometheus must have become dull-headed from the constant torment of having his liver torn out every day!

“No matter how strong you are for a human, you cannot perpetually hold up the sky. Only immortal Titan gods can accomplish that.”

“……”

“Originally, I resented Zeus for entrusting me with this sky. I even contemplated abandoning it since it wasn’t the Titans’ sky anyway…”

“…Then why didn’t you?”

“But when I considered it, I realized there was much riding on my shoulders.”

Atlas’s eyes seemed to gaze into the distant past.

The majesty of the Titan gods, who once ruled the world, emanated from him, pressing down on Heracles.

“Beneath this sky reside my daughters, the Hesperides, Calypso [a nymph], and countless mortal descendants.”

“Hmm…”

“So how could I abandon the sky? Countless lives and descendants thrive below.”

The giant supporting the sky returned to his original position after uttering those words.

Impressed by this, Heracles bowed to the great Titan and departed with the golden apples.

* * *

Somewhat Strange 12 Tasks – (2)

Heracles’s 12 tasks.

The final task was to capture Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld.

Thus, Heracles descended into the underworld.

Charon [ferryman of the dead], the ferryman of the Acheron River, spotted him wandering near the riverbank.

“A living person. I cannot transport you to the underworld.”

“I am a human named Heracles. Please grant me passage, as I must enter the underworld to fulfill Hera’s task.”

“Get lost, human.”

Usually, individuals would give up or plead at this point, but Heracles was different.

He became enraged, raised his club, and aimed it at Charon.

“You refuse to take me to the other side? You’ll change your mind!”

“Hoo.”

A fierce aura emanated from him, suggesting he would assault anything, god or otherwise.

However, Charon remained unfazed. He merely rows and ferries souls daily, but…

He is the son of Erebus [god of darkness] and Nyx [goddess of night].

He is a child of the Protogenoi [primordial deities], who have existed longer than the three main gods of Olympus.

No matter how strong Heracles is, threats would be ineffective.

In the first place, the disparity between gods and humans is vast.

Regardless of Heracles’s threats, they would not sway an ancient god who is not even a lower-level deity but the offspring of two Protogenoi.

But…

“Okay. I’ll take you!”

“…?”

“But since I’m taking you to the other side, hit me a few times.”

“What?”

“Hey, you may look young, but are you hard of hearing? I’m saying I need to rest a bit, using the excuse that I was injured by you!”

Heracles’s eyes widened.

“Do you know how long I’ve been rowing? You can’t even imagine it! So stop talking and hit me with that club! Judging by your strength, you can overpower any god… That’s enough to fool Hades!”

“…? I understand.”

“Kilkilkik! If you break your promise, I’ll throw you into the Acheron River…”

A potent energy flowed from the shabby ferryman.

Only then did Heracles realize that the other person was a high-ranking deity and nodded.

“Here. Hit my head.”

“…Is this how it’s done?”

Kwajik.

“Ha! Isn’t that what those muscles are for? Hit me a little harder! Enough for Hades to be fooled!”

“Ugh. Uh… I understand.”

Kwaaaang!

Charon, struck by a mortal, collapsed with a radiant expression.

Charon, who discarded his cumbersome oar and closed his eyes, soon began to snore.

“Keueo… Puu… Keueo.”

“…Crazy.”

Thus, Charon’s first rest since the beginning of time was…

…interrupted by Hades, who discovered him lying down and snoring between the Acheron and Cocytus rivers.

He was sentenced to a year in chains for the crime of attempting to rest… no, for allowing a living person to pass through.