King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 36

The King of the Underworld is Tired 36

The Riotous Story of the Underworld – (1)

And so, Dionysus quietly made his way to the island of Naxos…

Zeus and I began to survey the scene from above the clouds.

“Is this Naxos Island?! Artemis, where are you?”

“I can’t see anything?”

Naxos Island is an uninhabited island, untouched by humans.

That’s precisely why the Gigantes [Giants, offspring of Gaia] might have set a trap here.

The humans who offer us faith are, in a way, our eyes and ears.

“Gigantes, come out now!”

“I’ll crush you all at once, hahaha!”

Crack. Crunch.

Two enormous giants, looking down on everything on the island, roared and smashed trees.

They seemed confident that no monsters could stand against them.

But the Gigantes are monsters created by our grandmother Gaia to destroy Olympus.

They should be wary of us, the ones who defeated Typhon [a monstrous giant and one of Gaia’s offspring].

“I still can’t see Artemis!”

“Monsters! We, the Aloadae brothers, have arrived!!!”

They wouldn’t be as careless as these fools.

Surely they were preparing an ambush or activating a trap using their powers…

Just then, Naxos Island began to tremble.

Rumble rumble rumble-

“Is that the trap the Gigantes prepared?”

“An earth power far exceeding Demeter’s… It seems Gaia herself is responsible.”

A roar echoed across Naxos Island, and the ground cracked open.

The island’s topography was utterly destroyed, reminiscent of when Poseidon’s trident struck the earth.

Boom! Crash!

“Ugh! What is this! Is this the work of the Gigantes?”

“Aaaah! These cowardly bastards!”

The giant brothers, who called themselves the Aloadae, lost their footing and tumbled.

Epialtes, whom I stabbed in the ankle, rolled across the ground, clutching his head.

No matter how potent Gaia’s trap, such powerful giants shouldn’t be so helpless.

There was something more at play.

“Ugh! Blech. What is this…”

“A trap?! Did Zeus deceive us?!”

From my vantage point, I could see poison, hallucinogens, and the earth itself directly rejecting them.

Gaia had set a trap fueled by vengeance.

“Oh… I’m glad I didn’t send Hermes to investigate.”

Zeus gazed down at Naxos Island with a grave expression.

The giant brothers were completely incapacitated by the trap, which seemed designed to target the twelve Olympian gods.

As the island was ravaged by a massive earthquake, Gigantes began to emerge from beneath the ground.

Monstrous creatures, a grotesque fusion of snakes and humans, surged toward the giants through the widening cracks in the earth.

But one particularly large Gigantes roared above the chaos.

Did the Gigantes have a command structure…?

“Hahaha! Just as Mother foretold, a big fish has been caught! I am Agrios, serving under King Eurymedon!”

“Die, you dogs of Olympus!!!”

“Attack!!”

“…These bastards!”

“Cowardly monsters who abducted Artemis!!”

King Eurymedon? Had their power grown so formidable that they now styled themselves as kings?

And I had never encountered that commander-level entity before.

Zeus, standing beside me, stiffened as soon as the word “king” was uttered.

The human hero mentioned in the prophecy had not yet been born, so avoiding an all-out war was paramount, but…

Soon, Naxos Island was consumed by the giants’ and monsters’ bloody battle.

The Gigantes hurled rocks and swung trees.

“What god are you?! Ares? Apollo?!”

“Kuh-!”

“You bug-like monsters! Release Artemis!”

Boom! Crunch!

In response, the giant brothers swung their muscular bodies wildly, scattering the Gigantes.

The Gigantes caught in their clumsy grip exploded, but the brothers’ bodies were gradually sustaining injuries.

“Kuh-!”

“Epialtes! Let’s retreat for now… Keuk!”

“Otus!”

First, they lost their balance due to the earthquake, then they were weakened by poison and the earth’s rejection.

And now, hundreds of Gigantes ambushed them from the island’s depths.

Even if they were among the strongest of the twelve Olympian gods, they couldn’t withstand such a horde of Gigantes alone.

The biggest problem was Gaia’s power; the earth itself was rejecting them.

The Gigantes, who identified himself as Agrios under Eurymedon, leaped onto Otus’ back and strangled him.

Otus struggled and eventually collapsed, prompting Epialtes to cry out.

“Indeed, you can kill giants, but Gigantes are more like monsters than gods.”

Zeus rose to his feet and quietly summoned his Astrape [thunderbolt].

A powerful energy emanated from the blue lightning in his hand, radiating a destructive force, but…

This was one of his weaker lightning bolts.

“Otus! Keuheuk!”

“If we kill only this one, we win!”

“Press him down with your body!”

After a fierce struggle, the Gigantes, now reduced to dozens, pelted Epialtes with rocks.

They swarmed over him, pinning him down with their weight and striking his ankles to bring him down.

“No… way…”

“Hahahaha!”

Thus, the Aloadae brothers, who challenged Olympus, met their end.

Although they had defeated hundreds of Gigantes, it was a futile end considering their immense power.

* * *

When the battle on Naxos Island concluded, Zeus stood up, lightning crackling in his hand.

He intended to annihilate the Gigantes, who were exhausted from their fight with the giant brothers.

“Now that it’s over, shall we clean up?”

“Throw it gently so that it doesn’t affect the sea.”

Sparkling- Rumble!

Zeus, with lightning flashing in his eyes and coursing through his body, the king of the gods who ruled the sky, raised his arm for a moment…

Flash- Kwakwakwakwang!!

A single lightning bolt struck Naxos Island.

However, the entire island sank with that one blow, and the Gigantes were massacred.

The island was torn to pieces; countless lives must have been lost.

I am not the god of prophecy, but I could foresee Thanatos [god of death] complaining to me again.

“Zeus, I will return to the Underworld.”

“Come visit Olympus again next time, hahaha!”

“I hope you don’t come for something like today then.”

I saw Aphrodite drinking nectar and chatting with the goddesses over there.

I had to take her back to the Underworld.

“Hades!”

My eyes met Aphrodite’s, who was looking at me from a corner of the slowly concluding banquet.

Was that a genuine smile, born from the prospect of working in the Underworld?

She walked over to me and stood naturally in front of me.

“Let’s go quickly. We have a place to be, right?”

“That’s right.”

Aphrodite, giving me an expectant look, followed me.

But the whispers around me were unusual.

“Gasp! Hades is doing it again…”

“During the Great Flood… I worked in the Underworld…”

“Poor Goddess Aphrodite…”

…The goddess who shuddered, recalling her time working in the Underworld, I distinctly remembered assigning her an easy task.

* * *

As I entered the entrance of the Underworld with Aphrodite humming, I saw Thanatos’ clone.

He had bound the souls of two giant giants with ropes…

“To be defeated by mere monsters! Release us!”

“Gasp! H… Hades?!”

Otus and Epialtes, who had died at the hands of the Gigantes earlier, had arrived in the Underworld.

I would have to instruct Minos [a judge of the Underworld] to assign them to forced labor.

They recognized me and Aphrodite and struggled.

“Release us, Hades!”

“Send us back to the land!”

But there was no chance of that.

If they were alive and protected by the prophecy, perhaps…

But they were already dead, mere souls. Did they truly believe they could escape Thanatos’ grasp?

Thanatos’ clone roughly tossed the souls of the two giants, and they tumbled across the floor.

Nevertheless, they continued to spout nonsense, demanding Artemis’s release and their return to the land.

At this rate, Charon’s [ferryman of the Underworld] work would be disrupted.

“Aphrodite, you can distract them, can’t you?”

“That’s easy~”

The goddess of beauty and love smiled.

Soon, the goddess’s gaze, filled with allure, turned to the giant souls.

“Quickly get us out of here… Ah…”

“Cowardly Zeus! Surely with Artemis… Uh…”

It wasn’t the first or second time that souls dragged into the Underworld had caused trouble.

If the goddess of beauty and love could control the dead, everyone’s work would undoubtedly improve.

Where should I assign this goddess?

The icy cold Cocytus River [river of wailing], where souls hesitated?

Or the banks of the Acheron River [river of woe], where many caused trouble, like just now?

The Phlegethon River [river of fire], where people hesitated to cross because of their memories from the land?

As I watched the goddess, hands on her hips and nose in the air, Charon spoke to me.

The perpetually weary ferryman of the Underworld grumbled.

“Ha. These guys don’t even have coins. Should I take them?”

“They are heinous criminals, so they must be judged. I’ll pay for the drachmas [currency] instead.”

“Tsk… I understand. Get on quickly, you guys!”

The souls of the two giants, now completely dazed, boarded Charon’s boat in turn.

First, Otus’ soul got on…

Splash- Tilt.

Hmm? Was Charon’s boat that weak?

It was clearly built to withstand any number of souls.

“Hmm? Why is it so heavy? Hey, you get on that side!”

Charon seemed to have the same thought as me.

He tried to balance the boat by positioning them on opposite ends.

Next, Epialtes’ soul got on the boat…

Creak- Crack!

Uh…?