King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 73

A Slightly Different Underworld Story – (1)

I rode the chariot with Demeter and crossed the entrance to the Underworld.

“I’ve only heard about it, but is that the famous steel ship of Charon…”

“Demeter?! What brings you to the Underworld?”

We met Charon, who was moving his arms back and forth in the Acheron River, carrying souls…

Grrr. Grrrr?!

“A monster with Typhon’s blood? Was there something like this in the Underworld?”

“I infused it with my power and made it a divine beast, so it’s safe.”

We also saw Cerberus guarding the entrance to the Underworld…

“Please pick up that flowing parchment!”

“Damn it. The souls have increased because of the Gigas’ attack this time.”

“There’s not enough living space…”

Demeter, seeing the overworked Underworld officials, sighed deeply and said to me.

Her face was filled with deep sorrow.

“How can Kore [Persephone’s maiden name] live in a place like this…”

With Demeter, I returned to the place where Persephone stayed.

My niece was surprisingly well-behaved.

Unlike the tomboyish demeanor she showed me, she was calmly weaving.

As soon as Demeter saw her, she rushed over and hugged her.

“Kore! How lonely you must have been in this cold and dark Underworld. I’m here, so let’s go back…”

“I wasn’t lonely at all, Mom. Don’t think of me as a child…”

“How can you be in this dark Underworld when you’re so young…”

“I ate food here, and I want to live with Uncle Hades in the Underworld.”

Persephone slightly pushed Demeter away with a sulky expression.

Still, she has considerable divine power, but Demeter’s overprotectiveness seems a bit much.

“Haa… it’s because of Eros’ arrow [an arrow that causes the person struck to fall in love]. The feelings you’re feeling aren’t normal…”

“I swear on the Styx River [an unbreakable oath in Greek mythology] that nothing has changed, and I wanted to marry Lord Hades even before I was hit!”

“What. What did you say?!”

“Haa…”

Demeter turned her head and looked at me.

An oath on the Styx River… no matter how powerful Eros’ arrow is, it can’t create memories that didn’t exist.

The power of the golden arrow… rather, it makes you clearly remember when you fell in love.

Therefore… that statement is true.

If someone who is already in love is hit by a golden arrow…

Maybe that love will become stronger, or it can hold onto a love that is fading with time?

So… it’s not that she fell in love because of Eros’ arrow,

But a moment of excitement turned into an eternal love…!

Demeter looked at Persephone with a heartbroken expression,

And she quietly hugged her mother.

“Kore… why the master of the Underworld of all people…”

“Well… he saved me when Gigas [giants in Greek mythology] grabbed my neck.”

“Gigas grabbed your neck? Are you okay now? That must have been when Mount Etna was attacked…!”

“Oh, Mom, Uncle Hades saved me just when I was in danger.”

Demeter infuses divine power into Persephone’s body to check for injuries and looks at her with worried eyes.

First, I need to sort things out.

“Arrow or love… you ate the food of the Underworld, so you have to stay here according to the laws…”

“Hades…!”

“But Persephone, aren’t you the goddess of spring and seeds? If you stay here, it will cause an imbalance in the world’s cycle.”

The laws of the Underworld were created to maintain the balance of the world,

If the goddess of the four seasons is completely bound to the Underworld, the mortal realm is in danger.

“Uncle, do you not like me? I’m not doing this because of the golden arrow…”

“The oath you swore on the Styx River must be true. Since you ate the food, you have to live in the Underworld… but do you know how important your role is in the mortal realm?”

“Ugh… but, still…”

“Think about what I told you a while ago. You are the goddess in charge of one of the four seasons and seeds.”

Her eyes droop slightly, and she makes a voice that seems to crawl in.

“…Okay. I can go up to the mortal realm from time to time, right? Huh?”

That’s a relief. But instead of going down to the Underworld from time to time, she’s going up to the mortal realm…

Does that mean she’s going to spend most of her time in the Underworld?

“I’ll only go up when the mortal realm needs me as the goddess of spring.”

“Hoo… Hades is better than other male gods who covet beauty…”

Fortunately, it seems spring will not disappear from the mortal realm.

* * *

I’m going to deliver the results of the Olympus Council and talk about Persephone’s situation.

I summoned all the gods in the Underworld to the conference room.

Many gods had already seen Persephone, but we had to go through the process of formally greeting her.

“…That’s how Persephone came to stay here periodically.”

“Hehe. Let me introduce myself again, I’m Persephone, who will marry Lord Hades!”

My niece…

“I’m already busy, but a new god is always welcome.”

“Tsk, tsk… she’s so young, but she’s tied to the Underworld. Love makes you blind…”

“Ma.. Marriage?! Who decided on the marriage?”

“First of all, let’s put Persephone aside and tell you the results of the Olympus Council.”

I conveyed to everyone the conclusion that the outskirts of the mortal realm and the Underworld would be connected, and Chiron [a centaur known for his wisdom and teaching] would be in charge of educating the heroes.

I also received the Omphalos Stone [a sacred stone in Delphi, considered the navel of the world] for that purpose…

“It fits the prophecy and seems like an appropriate solution.”

“We need to thoroughly control the heroes, so we need to put a lot of restrictions…”

“But who is in charge of this? Does everyone have time?”

“Let’s put up a barrier in the valley where the heroes will be trained so they don’t dare wander around the Underworld.”

Dead monsters and Gigas also come to the Underworld, so there will be plenty of training partners for the heroes.

Fighting monsters that don’t die even if they die will raise strong heroes.

“But… can humans withstand the energy of the Underworld?”

This is where the problem arose.

Well-trained heroes might be able to, but how can aspiring heroes withstand the power of the Underworld?

The Underworld is a place where ordinary mortals can only come after they die and abandon their bodies.

Even if it’s the outskirts of the Underworld, the energy of death coming from all directions is not good for the living.

“Isn’t the Underworld a place where even if the living stay for a short time, they become emaciated?”

“Demigods or complete heroes might be able to, but pure humans in the Underworld…”

“If we exert our power, the energy will only get stronger… we need a god from the mortal realm.”

“Uncle Hades, I think I can solve that problem!”

I was even thinking about separating a part of the Underworld when Persephone said that.

She’s going to solve it with the power of the goddess of spring and seeds?

“Can you do it? The Underworld is my territory, so it will take quite a bit of power…”

“I’m fine with just one small valley!”

“Are you okay? Persephone, even if you are the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, you are not at the level of the Twelve Olympians, are you?”

“…It’s too much for a young goddess like you.”

“To neutralize another god’s territory, especially Lord Hades’ energy…”

“I can do it! I can’t just play around in the Underworld!”

If she, who has to stay here periodically because she ate the food of the Underworld, takes on the task, it would be perfect,

But she would be very tired because she has to continuously emit power in the valley.

Even if I try to find another god from Olympus…

There is no god who likes to stay in the Underworld for a long time.

If they are one of the Twelve Gods, they have heavy responsibilities, so they can’t stay in the Underworld even more.

“…Let’s go to the outskirts together for now.”

* * *

I came to the outskirts of the Underworld, the place where Persephone and the heroes will train.

Chiron was waiting for me in the huge valley on the outskirts of the Underworld.

“Lord Hades. I’ve heard the story.”

“Yes. As you know, I want you to train heroes here.”

“Hmm… I never imagined I would be training disciples in the Underworld…”

“So, is it impossible?”

“Rather, there are better aspects. If we use the monsters of the past who have met their deaths, they will be good teaching materials.”

The monsters who met their deaths and came to the Underworld received the blessing of oblivion and became gentle sheep.

There were also monsters that became divine beasts similar to Cerberus and became forces guarding various parts of the Underworld…

“Python [a giant serpent in Greek mythology], who was killed by Apollo, is also doing well here.”

“You’re talking about the giant snake who was the original owner of Delphi.”

King Snake Python.

One of the monsters born from the Earth Goddess Gaia’s relationship with Poseidon, and the original owner of Delphi.

Because he had the ability to predict the future, he foresaw that Apollo would kill him and take his place, so he tried to kill the young Apollo but failed.

Later, Apollo, who had grown up as a god, shot thousands of arrows and killed Python,

Python’s wife, Pythia [the priestess of Delphi], surrendered willingly, so he did not kill her and made her a priestess of the Delphi Temple.

Of course, the reason why Apollo was able to kill Python, who was the child of Gaia and Poseidon…

“Poseidon, Gaia is now our enemy. Of course, so are his children, the monsters…”

“Hmm… it’s his destiny to die…”

“The god of prophecy must be on our side.”

It was possible because of the tacit approval of the gods who were at odds with Gaia.

“There are Gigas who died, including Python, and the Sphinx [a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human] that Oedipus dealt with, and the sea monster that Perseus killed…”

“I’m worried that the heroes will say it’s too hard. Hahaha!”

“Um… Uncle Hades. Shall we start now?”

It was time to neutralize the energy of the Underworld.

After telling Persephone to start now, I moved Chiron back.

Thump, thump, thump…

First, I separate the valley as much as possible with my power.

To reduce Persephone’s burden as much as possible, I disrupt the energy and then…

When I nodded to Persephone, a bright light burst out from the body of the goddess of spring and seeds.

Whoa-ah-ah-

“Eek…”

At the same time, I felt a bright and warm power gently enveloping the valley.

And the sweat flowing from Persephone’s neck and the ichor [the ethereal fluid that is the blood of the gods] flowing from her nose… were also visible.

“Ugh… ugh.”

The place where the heroes will be trained was perfectly covered with the divine power of spring.

It’s certain that I feel a slight awkwardness, as if something is caught in the valley that used to be felt as my territory.

But Persephone, who had exhausted her power, collapsed on the spot.

Thud.

I quickly approached her and supported her back.

As I wiped Persephone’s forehead, which was covered in sweat, she looked at me and smiled brightly.

“Are you okay? It seems like you overdid it.”

“Haa… It’s a little hard, but… I’m okay! I’ll recover quickly if I rest…”

Thump-

The goddess of spring, who had consumed too much power, fell asleep in my arms.

I looked down at the goddess, who showed a warm and lively atmosphere even in her completely defenseless state, for a moment.

“…Lord Hades.”

“It was fortunate for our gods that Persephone was hit by the golden arrow.”

Chiron, who knew the circumstances of Persephone staying in the Underworld, approached quietly.

The reason why she overused her power to the point of falling asleep must be because she fell in love with me.

She proved it on the Styx River… it’s not that she fell in love with me because of the golden arrow,

But if there was no golden arrow, I wouldn’t have even thought about bringing her to the Underworld.

I would have ignored it, thinking it was just a momentary feeling of a young goddess.

“…If the goddess of spring did not stay in the Underworld on a regular basis, it would have been difficult to train heroes.”

I was trying to avoid it,

But not only those who were involved in the gods’ rapes or love affairs and suffered damage come to the Underworld.

There were also those who committed suicide because they loved each other so much that they didn’t want to be apart, or those who happily welcomed death in a moment of joy.

“Love is so difficult.”

“…Even the goddess Aphrodite would have a hard time clearly defining that emotion.”

I quietly held her back and the back of her knees in my arms so that the sleeping Persephone would not wake up.