King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 56

The King of the Underworld is Tired 56 (56/82)

Prophet Prometheus – (4)

I returned straight to the Underworld, gave Pandora back the necklace I had borrowed, and summoned all the gods residing in the Underworld.

Many gods, hearing the news that they had received prophecies from Prometheus, dropped everything and rushed over.

Even Thanatos, the busy god of death, seemed to have hurried.

Once everyone gathered in the office, I brought up Prometheus’s prophecy.

“…No matter how well we prepare, he says we’ll be struck by Gaia’s attack.”

“It’s a fixed future, so we can’t change it…”

“I’m worried about how painful that strike will be for us.”

“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to put up defenses in really important places in advance?”

“Styx, that’s impossible. Trying to avoid the prophecy will only…”

The office became noisy as soon as I opened my mouth.

If it were Olympus, controlled by the strong authority of Zeus, the king of the gods, it wouldn’t be like this.

But here, in the Underworld, it is different.

Except for the fact that I have the main decision-making power and respect the old gods who have lived for a long time,

all the gods are somewhat equal and can freely express their opinions.

In fact, it wasn’t like this in the early days of the Underworld’s creation,

but thanks to my efforts, as I found the rigid and inflexible atmosphere uncomfortable, this horizontal atmosphere was formed…

“Hades?! Why are you just standing there?”

“What else did Prometheus say?”

“Ahem! Get a grip, Hades! I’m much more tired!”

“Lord Thanatos… have another glass of nectar…”

“Ah. I’m sorry, everyone… I was lost in thought for a moment.”

…That startled me.

Before I knew it, everyone had stopped talking and was just looking at me.

I pulled myself together and told them about the other prophecy Prometheus had given.

“And Prometheus said, [If the mortal realm and the Underworld are connected after that, the gods will win].”

“How can we connect the mortal realm and the Underworld?”

“It’s too vague as to how much, how, and where we need to connect them.”

“I don’t understand it at all either…”

“Are you saying we have to turn the world into a complete mess to win?”

Even if we can’t change the fact that we will suffer great losses,

how are we supposed to connect the mortal realm and the Underworld to win… This is giving me a headache.

While all the gods were racking their brains trying to interpret the prophecy,

the voice of the Goddess of Forgetfulness, who had been staring blankly into space, was heard.

“Hades, shouldn’t we take our time to think about that problem?”

“Lady Lethe?”

“Aren’t we given a grace period to connect the mortal realm and the Underworld until we are struck by Gaia?”

Prometheus certainly said that.

After suffering great losses from Gaia’s attack, if we then connect the mortal realm and the Underworld…

“Surely, I’m not being told to mobilize all the forces of the Underworld and advance…”

“Of course, that’s not the prophecy… or is it?”

“Shall we check how many troops we can mobilize in the Underworld right now?”

“…Were there no other prophecies, Hades?”

I stopped Morpheus from checking the Underworld’s forces, and as I was pondering the prophecy,

Hypnos, who had been quietly folding his arms, asked me a question.

“Ah… now that I think about it, what else did Prometheus say…”

Hades, you should keep your lower body a little looser! Heh heh heh!

…What intention did he have in saying that?

A prophecy that you would say to Zeus, no, since he told me to keep it loose…

“What a quack prophet…”

“What did you say, Hades?”

“What else did Prometheus say?”

Styx and Lethe, the two goddesses, asked with curious faces.

I stared at the innocent eyes of the goddesses for a moment and answered appropriately.

“…It’s nothing. He was just playing a prank on me.”

“Well, Prometheus was like that.”

“That guy was always smirking and grinning slyly.”

…Why do I feel like I did something wrong?

* * *

In the somewhat strange atmosphere,

a low-ranking god entered the office.

“Lord Hades, the messenger who went to Olympus has returned.”

“What did Olympus say?”

Prometheus’s prophecy should naturally be known in Olympus as well,

so I had sent a messenger in advance to receive a reply from the Olympus Divine Palace.

“Yes. They said that no matter what preparations they make, they cannot avoid being hit by Gaia’s attack as stated in the prophecy, so they will maintain the status quo.”

“That would be reasonable. There’s no way to avoid the prophecy even if you try.”

If we gather all our forces to defend one place, they will attack another place.

That goes for the Olympus Divine Palace as well.

“Athena guessed that the losses from Gaia’s attack would create the need to connect the two worlds.”

“A need to connect the Underworld and the mortal realm arises?”

“Are humans all going to die?”

“A plan to request Hermes to receive information periodically…”

“I can’t guess at this point.”

“Or will Demeter’s Omphalos [navel] stone be taken away?”

If so, it’s not something to worry about from now on.

Making preparations to avoid the prophecy may rather cause the prophecy to come true.

“Let’s stop the meeting here for now. However, it would be good to continue communicating closely with Olympus as we are now.”

I should only go this far.

In order for us to win, we must connect the Underworld and the mortal realm…

As I stopped talking with the gods and tried to leave my seat, Mnemosyne called out to me.

“Hades, a newly born god has been assigned to the Underworld.”

“To the Underworld? Did someone force them to do it?”

“I don’t know about that… It’s news from Olympus…”

There are several cases in which a new god is born.

First, if a mortal who has achieved merits and achievements in the mortal realm is recognized by the gods, they ascend to Olympus and become a god.

Second, if both parents are gods, their children grow rapidly from birth and become gods.

Third, there are cases where mortals who have achieved great deeds are worshiped as gods by humans after death.

Fourth, in the case of Dionysus, if a demigod gains faith from humans, they can be promoted.

Anyway, there are many other ways to become a god…

However, among the gods born so far, not a single one has been assigned to the Underworld.

There are many reasons for this,

first of all, the gods of the Underworld don’t have time to make children, so new gods are not born.

Secondly, the Underworld is a workplace that most gods avoid.

Even if we ignore the dark underground space where no life force from the mortal realm can be felt…

“Oh, is a new face coming in after thousands… no, tens of thousands of years?”

“Finally, our work will be reduced a little.”

“A new god… what should we make them do first? First of all, inside the fortress so they can’t run away…”

“I wish they would harvest souls with me.”

There was too much work in the Underworld.

It’s so infamous that it’s known even in Olympus, so who would want to come to the Underworld?

But there is a new god assigned to the Underworld?

At first glance, someone must have forced the new god, or a god who doesn’t know the situation well must have applied.

“Then I will really end the meeting now. I’m going to meet the god who came to the Underworld, so everyone, get to work.”

“I’m working even if you don’t say that…”

“Ahem. I’m sorry. Thanatos.”

Thanatos, whose eyes were turning in all directions as if he were seeing something, said.

Well, Thanatos has so many alter egos that he controls in the mortal realm.

* * *

Sitting on the throne in the audience chamber inside the fortress, I waited for the god who was assigned to the Underworld.

What kind of crazy god with such unique tastes hopes to work in the Underworld?

Squeak.

The huge audience chamber door slowly opened, and what I saw was…

A man with two snakes entwined around a staff [caduceus] and winged shoes,

The messenger god Hermes…?

He bowed to me with a playful smile, as if exaggerating.

The messenger god only showed that smile when something fun happened…

“Hello, Uncle! I am Hermes, the messenger of all. Today, I have brought a new god!”

I thought you were working here.

So you brought the new god yourself?

Not only is it difficult for a newly born god to find the entrance to the Underworld,

but it would be good if the messenger god, who can freely travel between the boundaries of the world, helped…

Knock knock. Knock.

Hermes knocked on the closed audience chamber door a few times again with a playful face.

As if that were a signal, the presence of divine power felt outside the door moved.

Who is coming that you are doing this?

Even though Hermes is playful, he doesn’t commit rude acts…

Squeak.

The door opened once again, and a beautiful goddess slowly entered.

Bright and light turquoise hair, a refreshing energy and a scent I’ve smelled somewhere before, that face?

“Menthe? Why did you come to the Underworld?”

“E… hehe… Ah… Hello, Lord Hades.”

One of the Naiads [water nymphs], the water fairies and priestess of my temple in Thebes.

Menthe, the creator of mint, the plant that was in my past life and has now become my symbol.

Wait a minute, Menthe became a god?