King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 5

The King of the Underworld is Tired, Part 5 (5/82)

The Tale of the Gigantes – (2)

I hurried towards Mount Olympus and saw countless Gigantes [Giants] already swarming the divine palace above the clouds.

I tried to join Zeus, finding an opening, but intense light and a deafening roar erupted, sending some of the ant-like Gigantes flying.

Kwarururung! Kwagwang!

“Kuweoah!”

“Is that the thunderbolt Mother spoke of!”

That attack, which just blew away dozens of Gigantes, was Zeus’s thunderbolt, Astrape [a weapon of Zeus].

And that giant cauldron shape overturning from above, spewing out hot air, must be Hestia’s power.

Like a technique from that ninja cartoon I saw in my past life, plants and trees grew wildly, binding the Gigantes—that was Demeter’s power.

“Kuhahaha! Your struggles are quite something!”

“Give me more!”

Individually, we are overwhelmingly stronger, but the battle seemed evenly matched. Their numbers are high, and each one is a god, but there’s something else.

A ‘flow’ that acts on the Gigantes as a collective, not as individual Gigantes.

Because of that, the gods, despite their overwhelming power, couldn’t easily end the fight.

I conveyed my thoughts to Zeus, the blonde-haired god frowning above the clouds as he prepared another thunderbolt.

[Zeus, can you hear me?]

[Hades, brother, what about the Underworld? Why are you here?]

[I’ve already dealt with all the Gigantes that came to the Underworld. I’ll take charge of the west side of Olympus, so don’t throw Astrape this way.]

[Thank you, be careful; these guys have incredible regeneration and recovery. Olympus is grateful for your help.]

Zeus… when did you start talking down to me, after being so respectful to your big brother?

Well, you rule the sky, right?

I stopped thinking about the impudent youngest brother and quickly moved through the battlefield.

I focused on slowing the Gigantes’ recovery with the power of death and disrupting their ranks, and soon their formation crumbled.

“There’s something! Keoeok!”

“An assassin whose presence can’t be felt, Hades, the god of the Underworld, as Mother said!”

“Did all our brothers who went to the Underworld fall victim?!”

The Gigantes, attacked by something unseen and injured, recognized me.

To lower their morale, I deliberately took off my helmet and gave a cold smile, making them as excited as hardcore fans meeting a celebrity.

“Hades! I’ll kill you!”

“You rat-like bastard!”

To repay the Gigantes who were sending me such fervent cheers for my handsome face, I raised one hand in response before putting Queneh [Hades’ helmet of invisibility] back on.

Hiding my presence, I immediately leaped away, and a burning oak tree soon slammed into the ground where I had been.

“He disappeared again!”

“Come out, you bastard! Kuaaaa!”

They are impatient, simple, and only strong in regeneration and power, but the reason we still haven’t won is likely due to fate.

If something strange happens in Greek mythology, it’s usually because of fate. I’ll have to talk to Zeus about it after the battle.

And these guys weren’t dying as easily as when we fought in the Underworld.

I thought about unleashing my power to wipe them out in large numbers, but this isn’t the Underworld, so it wouldn’t be as effective as I imagined.

“Keueok!”

In the end, I have to cut them down one by one with my sword.

Leaving the blood-spraying Gigantes behind, I set my next target.

I turned around and pierced his chest.

I swung my sword mindlessly for a long time. The Gigantes swung burning oak trees or threw huge rocks, but not enough to stop me.

I cut snake legs, stabbed arms holding rocks, dodged Gigantes who were gauging my location to attack…

Just as I was getting bored, another change occurred on the stagnant battlefield.

“What…? The ground is shaking!”

“Is Mother Gaia angry?”

Kugugugugu… Jjeojeojeok.

Small cracks that started on the outskirts of the battlefield gradually grew larger.

The Gigantes, caught up in the heat of battle, finally sensed something was wrong.

From a slight tremor to rocks moving erratically.

From the grass swaying to giant oak trees being uprooted.

The ground began to shake more and more violently, now rampaging as if possessed, overturning everything on top of it.

“Euhahahaha! I’ve arrived, Zeus!”

“Poseidon! You’ve come at just the right time!”

That level of earthquake was definitely Poseidon’s Triaina [Trident].

The god of the sea had driven back the Gigantes who had invaded his territory and come to help Olympus.

Poseidon’s hearty laughter, as he slammed the Triaina into the ground, echoed on Mount Olympus, and the Gigantes began to panic.

“Uaaaaaak!”

“Our bodies are sinking into the ground! Let’s retreat for now!”

“Damn it, Zeus. We’ll see you later!”

The numerous Gigantes, who had shown amazing regeneration and combat endurance on the ground, temporarily retreated as the massive earthquake made it difficult to fight.

* * *

The fierce battle with the Gigantes ended, and I approached Zeus, wiping the sweat from his brow and catching his breath.

What did Mother Gaia create to drive us out, and did he know anything more about this situation?

I asked the question with Poseidon in front of Zeus.

“There was actually a prophecy, big brother.”

“A prophecy… from the three goddesses of fate?”

The three goddesses of fate, the Moirai [Fates], daughters of Nyx [Night], the goddess of the night.

Clotho [Spinner], who governs the past, Lachesis [Allotter], who governs the present, and Atropos [Inflexible], who creates the future.

The fate determined by the three goddesses, who appear as old women, was absolute, and no god could defy them.

When Clotho spins the thread of fate, Lachesis determines the length of life, winding or weaving the thread of fate, and when Atropos cuts the thread, life is taken.

“The prophecy said that our gods cannot win the war without borrowing the power of a great human hero.”

“Humans…? Was there such a race?”

“If there is no race called humans, we just need to create one. We should have Prometheus, who surrendered to us, create humans modeled after our appearance.”

“No wonder the ones who came to the sea were so confident, the prophecy might have had an influence…”

“And those Gigantes are gods born when Uranus’s [Sky] genitals were cut off by Cronus [Titans’ leader], and his blood was used by grandmother to conceive them.”

“They don’t have immortality, but they wield the power of gods. We must be wary of them.”

“Hmph… they can’t match our Olympian gods.”

Everyone sat in the Olympian palace and decided to discuss detailed countermeasures.

Opinions ranged from revisiting the three goddesses of fate to slightly twist the prophecy to going to grandmother Gaia [Earth] to persuade her.

“Let’s create that human thing first and then think about it.”

“We should also consider creating life forms other than humans…”

“The number of gods is too small. At this rate, we will only be defeated.”

“We don’t know when they will invade next, but they will surely come in numbers that are incomparable to now.”

Was it around this time that Zeus, who still seemed rational, began to turn into a crazy rapist?

The prophecy of the human hero, and the fact that the number of gods was insufficient due to the war, led to the need to replenish forces… but please, no incestuous rape.

The meeting grew longer and longer, and as I was about to return to the Underworld after talking with the other gods, someone grabbed me.

“Hades, just a moment this way.”

Following the small hand that tugged at my sleeve, I turned my head and saw a small goddess.

Hestia, the goddess of home and hearth, with her well-suited light brown bobbed hair.

She stirred the firewood in the hearth with a poker, watching me.

What’s going on with her, who usually sits in a corner at the gods’ meetings without expressing any opinions?

I looked around once and carefully sat next to her.

“Could we perhaps create a hearth in the Underworld?”

The Underworld and a hearth, a truly incompatible combination.

Putting aside personal preferences, this is an act of encroaching on the territory governed by another god.

The Hestia I’ve seen is definitely not a thoughtless or rude god.

To put her symbol of protecting the home in the Underworld, what is she thinking?

As I looked at Hestia with a questioning gaze, she said shyly.

“That’s… you said you were going to create life forms other than us gods, right?”

That’s right, because a human hero is needed to win the war.

And many other life forms will be created to maintain the survival of humans.

“Zeus doesn’t like his authority being challenged, so the newly created life will not be immortal, right?”

Of course, that’s right. Zeus is acting as our leader, calling himself the king of the gods who rule the sky.

I don’t have much interest in power, but Poseidon seemed to have quite a bit of dissatisfaction.

New life forms are likely to be created as mortals without immortality, unable to threaten Zeus’s authority.

That’s how it was in the original myths, so this place will be no different.

“Then your people will increase from now on, and I want to comfort the poor souls in the Underworld who are trembling with fear, even just a little.”

We do not experience death.

The Greek gods are not perfect absolutes, but at least they are eternally immortal.

But she is a gentle and kind deity. Reward is closer than punishment, and compassion is closer than indifference.

Hestia, who had compassion for the trees swept away by the earthquake created by Poseidon, seemed to have been touched by the death of living beings.

“Could you do something about just the entrance? Even though all memories are lost in the Lethe River [River of Forgetfulness], the fear of the Underworld will be engraved in the souls.”

The benevolent deity, with her hands clasped, asking for a favor as I showed a sign of contemplation.

Well, just the entrance to the Underworld outside the fortress would be fine.

As I slowly nodded, a red glow appeared on her face, and she smiled brightly.

“Thank you for granting my request. Next time, I will visit the Underworld myself and create a hearth for you.”

The Underworld might not be as gloomy as I thought.