King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 31

The King of the Underworld is Tired 31 (31/82)

Sisyphus… The Story of Thanatos – (2)

These days, the goddess Styx has been subtly avoiding me.

I think it’s because she saw that embarrassing side of me last time.

She helps with the work of the Underworld without any fuss, but when the conversation continues…

“Th-Then I’ll go look at the river for a bit!”

“Ah…”

She gradually turns red in the ears, neck, and face, and then quietly leaves.

Have I ever tried to stop her? Of course, I have.

“Goddess Styx, can we talk for a moment…”

“Kyaaaa!”

“Ah…”

She sprints away like a maiden fleeing from Zeus, so I couldn’t help it.

So, it’s not just ending here…

When I feel a gaze from a corner a little further away and look, I see the goddess Lethe with dead eyes for some reason.

“Hades…”

Never before have her blank eyes felt so scary as they do recently.

I feel like she’s silently rebuking me, and my skin stings.

I’m blankly staring at the parchment because I feel like our relationship has been strange lately, when a soul approaches with a desperate look.

“Lord Hades!”

“…?”

“Souls haven’t been coming to the Underworld for days!”

Of course, this Underworld can’t be peaceful.

I urgently convened a meeting of the Underworld.

Other gods also arrived quickly, having received reports about the disappearance of death.

“Suddenly, souls coming to the Underworld have disappeared since a few days ago!”

“Thanatos himself is nowhere to be seen!”

Thanatos, the god who is the personification of death itself.

It is his job to bring souls to the Underworld.

But I sent him to Olympus because Zeus asked for him?

He said something about a heinous criminal, so I sent him to bring that soul to the Underworld for judgment.

But he hasn’t returned to the Underworld yet?

The gods of the Underworld clearly felt something was wrong and were offering their opinions with serious faces.

Even the goddesses Lethe and Styx have serious expressions right now.

“Did he run into a Gigas [giant offspring of Gaia and Tartarus] while trying to catch that heinous criminal?”

“To break the cycle of death and life, holding onto Thanatos would be a quick way.”

“Could it be the work of a monster like Typhon?”

Like the Gigas that Cadmus saw near Thebes,

Gaea [Earth goddess] could have created a new monster to succeed Typhon and attacked Thanatos.

Thanatos is a powerful deity, but he is not invincible.

It is possible that he was defeated or captured by monsters.

“First… let’s contact Olympus and handle the situation on the ground.”

Without Thanatos, who is in charge of death, the other gods will have to suffer more.

The situation in the mortal realm is truly chaotic.

“Ugh! A dead chicken is moving alive!”

“I cut off the cow’s head, but the body is still alive!”

“Damn it! Why won’t you die, you bastard!”

“Well, you’re the one with a knife stuck in your head and still alive!”

First, the gods Moros & Keres, who are in charge of some deaths, are moving as busily as possible to harvest souls,

and the god Hypnos is putting the creatures that should have died into a long sleep to buy time,

and we have no choice but to contact Olympus and ask about Thanatos’ whereabouts.

“Damn it! What a pain because of Thanatos!”

“Isn’t it possible that he’s resting somewhere because he’s been having a hard time?”

“No way! Have you ever seen Thanatos rest for days?”

“Well, never!”

* * *

Meanwhile, here is Olympus.

This place was also in a state of emergency, no less than the Underworld.

As the lives on the ground did not meet death, many gods complained to the supreme god Zeus.

“Father! Humans are not dying on the battlefield!”

“That’s… if this happens, the cycle of life in nature…”

“Lord Hades of the Underworld has strongly protested. The whereabouts of the god Thanatos…”

“No, Thanatos should have gone to catch a demigod… ?”

However, the supreme god Zeus could not properly grasp this situation either.

Atena [Athena], whom he often asked for advice, was absent from the meeting because she had some business to attend to.

“How could that guy possibly beat Thanatos?!

Even Zeus thought Sisyphus only seemed to have good brains, but he didn’t feel any special power.

A word from Pan, the god of nature, gives Zeus confidence.

“Zeus… could it be that he was ambushed by a monster like Typhon… or a Gigas…?”

“There is some truth to that, he must have been attacked while trying to catch Sisyphus!”

Zeus, judging that it was a reasonable statement, immediately called Ares.

The god of war would have no problem even with a monster that defeated Thanatos.

“Ares! The time has come to show that bravery again, like when you wielded your sword to save me last time!”

“Oh! You heard about my performance, Father!”

“He must have been attacked by a monster on his way to catch that hateful human. Rescue Thanatos and let that human know death!”

“I understand! Just trust me!”

Ares smiled fiercely, hardening his will to fight.

To be able to defeat Thanatos, he must be a descendant of Typhon or a Gigas.

He thought of the thrilling war with Typhon, put on his armor,

and took out the famous sword that Hephaestus had newly made after the rebellion last time.

The monster (?) who attacked Thanatos will be defeated by the god of war.

* * *

Ares drove his chariot and arrived in Corinth with great fanfare.

I was going to investigate because Thanatos’ trail was cut off here.

But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see any traces of him being dragged away by a monster.

Ares, feeling strange, entered the palace of Sisyphus, the human Zeus spoke of.

He intends to interrogate that human, who was Thanatos’ original target, and ask if he has seen the god of black wings.

And since that guy is also a king, he will be able to find traces of the monster that appeared nearby.

“Intruder! Stab him with a spear!”

“Who are you! This is the royal palace!”

Ares glanced around at the Corinthian soldiers who had surrounded him.

No one with special equipment.

No gods or heroes.

No monsters that could threaten him.

Well, I don’t have to pay any attention to it.

The god of war simply ignored everything and moved his feet to the depths of the palace.

The poor soldiers thrust spears and swords, but they could not wound a god, especially one of the 12 Olympian gods.

“Ugh! Stop him!”

“N-No! The spear is breaking!”

“Swords don’t work either! Run away!!”

He didn’t care what the humans were saying and looked for Sisyphus, the king.

Deep inside the palace, if you go down a little further…

That’s right, this is the guy who is dressed in fancy clothes and a crown, holding a club and ambushing.

The guy who appears to be a demigod is waving a wooden club and saying something.

“Zeus sent you to kill me! But this dogwood…”

At that moment, something caught Ares’ senses, which had reached deep into the palace.

Ignoring the club being swung at his head, he used his divine power to expand his senses further.

Underground, this power felt underground is definitely the energy of death.

Crack. Thud.

“Wh-What! I hit his head, but the club broke?”

There is no need to pay attention to this human who has committed a crime.

If Thanatos, who is presumed to be underground, moves, Sisyphus will be taken to the Underworld on his own.

Ares ran in and threw open the door to the basement.

Why is Thanatos’ power felt underground, is he injured by a monster?

Snore- Keuh-euh-

What Ares saw when he went down to the basement was…

The old god with black wings, who lightly cut the ropes that bound him and was lying sprawled out, was sleeping.

Thanatos, who seemed to be sleeping very comfortably, was snoring in his sleep and scratching his stomach with one hand, opened his eyes and…

met the eyes of Ares, who was making an absurd expression.

* * *

Ares is violent and simple-minded, but that’s because of his divine status as a symbol of violent war, not because he himself is so stupid.

It is common for him to be deceived by Athena, but that is because the opponent is the goddess of wisdom.

In the god of war’s mind, during the last great flood,

memories of working in the Underworld after falling for Athena’s scheme began to surface…

“Damn it! What’s wrong with these damn souls…”

“Heok… Ares?! Help me line up the souls!”

“My wing feathers are falling out more and more today… Is this hair loss, or 탈우(脫羽) [tal-u: Korean word for feather loss]?”

Thanatos was dispatching numerous clones to the mortal realm and working day and night.

He was so busy that he was thought to be the busiest god in the entire Underworld, or even the entire world.

And Thanatos works hard without resting for a moment.

If Ares were in his position, he would have desperately needed a break.

The suspicion grew, and the physical evidence gradually matched.

1. Thanatos was sleeping, having untied the ropes and snoring.

2. It’s not sleep caused by external factors like Hypnos’ power, but just a resting appearance.

3. There are no traces of monsters that could defeat Thanatos nearby.

4. The power felt in Thanatos’ body was the same, and there was no sign of weakening at all.

Thanatos, who was watching Ares’ face gradually rot, opened his mouth with a very hoarse voice.

“Ares?! You came to save me because I was careless and got caught by a human!”

“Haa…”

First, wipe the drool from your mouth and lie, Thanatos.

Ares quietly touched his forehead.