The King of the Underworld is Tired

Morpheus said that when he ascended to the earth to distribute dreams to the living, he saw a stork lying on the ground.

When he noticed that the stork, covered in blood, looked strange, the stork transformed into the god Hermes.

"Morpheus... I must see Lord Hades right away..."

"What...?! Lord Hermes?"

Morpheus then hurriedly brought him to the underworld, where he is currently being treated...

"Something urgent must have happened on Olympus!"

Hermes is the messenger of the gods and the envoy who conveys the commands of Zeus.

He is the son of Atlas's daughter Maia and Zeus, and one of the twelve Olympian gods.

As is typical of messengers, Hermes is incredibly fast.

To compare, when traveling long distances, like from the underworld to Olympus, Iris, who travels via the rainbow, is faster.

However, few gods can match Hermes's speed when he is fleeing at full strength.

And yet, this god, who boasts such speed, was found at the entrance of the underworld, collapsed and covered in blood?

Moreover, among the twelve Olympian gods, Hermes's divinity is so high that few would dare challenge him.

I steadied my confused mind as I entered the room where Hermes lay.

"Lord Hades..."

"...What a state you're in, Hermes."

The young god, who always brought vitality to Olympus with his lively smile and witty actions, was now in a pitiful condition.

The face that once resembled a mischievous rogue was now covered in blood, with not a single unscathed limb.

Despite the attendants' efforts to change his bandages and the lower gods infusing him with divine energy to restore his strength, blood continued to flow.

Hermes, with one eye not covered by bandages, glanced at me, tears welling in his eye.

"A monster... There was a monster..."

"Speak clearly—does Zeus know about this?"

For an ordinary human, or even for a nymph or a lower god residing in nature, such grievous wounds would render them unable to speak a word.

Only because he was one of the twelve gods permitted to sit on Olympus's golden throne could he speak at all.

"...At a regular banquet on Olympus... A monster that called itself Typhon... struck down Lord Zeus in a single blow..."

From his halting words, I pieced together the story.

During a typical banquet of the Olympian gods, a gigantic hand suddenly struck the banquet hall...

In this unexpected blow, Zeus was gravely injured, and though he threw his thunderbolt, the monster merely flinched.

The monster, who introduced himself as Typhon, had the upper body of a man and the lower body of a snake, resembling a Gigantes.

From his eyes, an intense heat comparable to Hephaestus's flames flowed, and his entire body was enveloped in a terrifying storm.

The other gods were either swiftly defeated or fled, and Zeus remained alone, wielding his 'Scythe' in resistance, but eventually...

"You mean he had to use the Scythe?"

"Yes... Lord Poseidon's Trident and my father's Astrape couldn't even leave a scratch..."

The Scythe.

The adamantine sickle that my father Cronos used to castrate Uranus.

That weapon, personally crafted by Gaia, the Mother Earth, was needed to cut through that monster’s skin.

But Typhon... the name certainly feels familiar.

I definitely know this name. It's buried somewhere in my faint memories of my past life...

"Father... Lord Zeus, while trapped in that creature’s grasp... ordered me to go to the underworld and seek help..."

"Keep talking."

"The monster laughed as it crushed my leg... Please, help Olympus, uncle!"

Hermes, the fastest god in Olympus, tried to escape quickly but got caught up in the storm surrounding Olympus.

While Typhon allowed the other gods to flee, he sneered at Hermes and struck his leg.

With a single blow, the messenger god's leg was brutally twisted.

Then, in an effort to escape from Typhon’s sight, he transformed into a small stork and fled...

With those words, Hermes lost consciousness.

It was natural—he had been forcibly holding onto consciousness just to relay the situation of Olympus to me.

"Hades... Are you going to help Olympus?"

The goddess Styx looked at me with a deeply worried expression.

This time, it’s different from when the Gigantes invaded the underworld—this time, the battle is on Olympus.

In the sea, Poseidon is invincible, just as I am in the underworld.

So, what about Zeus in the sky?

"A monster that defeated Olympus alone... This is truly dangerous..."

The answer lies in the absolute 'god' who rules the world.

In the sky, even if all twelve Olympian gods gathered, none could match Zeus.

But the king of gods and the chief deity of Olympus, Zeus, fought in his own domain, the sky, wielding his most powerful weapon, the Scythe, and was still defeated.

To hear this and not grasp the monster Typhon’s strength would be sheer stupidity.

"If I can just rescue Zeus, we’ll stand a chance."

"But..."

"Even if things get dangerous, I can pull myself out, so don't worry too much."

Since Zeus is an immortal god, that monster likely subdued him and imprisoned him somewhere.

Thus, my mission is clear.

Rescue Zeus and fight the monster called Typhon.

Though the powerful Astrape only caused Typhon some pain without leaving a scratch, I can at least distract him until Zeus uses the Scythe to strike his neck.

"But... wouldn't it be better to bring the underworld's army with you?"

"It would be a pointless sacrifice."

If Hermes was caught up in the storm surrounding Typhon, then sheer numbers won’t work.

Even if I bring the army of the underworld, Typhon wouldn’t pay any attention.

I forcibly turned my head away from the teary-eyed goddess Styx and left the room.

* * *

I returned to the fortress of the underworld.

More precisely, I returned to the audience chamber where my throne is and took my seat.

Why do such troublesome things keep happening?

There is always a pile of work waiting for me, and whenever the underworld feels a little peaceful, problems arise elsewhere.

With a sigh, I reached out to the side of my throne.

My fingers touched a seemingly ordinary, worn-out helmet.

'Kynee'.

No creature has ever been able to perceive me while I was wearing the Kynee, but I wonder if it will work on that monster as well.

I have no choice but to trust in this helmet, which was personally crafted by Arges, one of the three Cyclopes.

Gripping the Kynee tightly, I armed myself with my weapons and armor.

I fastened the 'Styx' sword to my waist, and my entire body was covered in black armor forged from the waters of the underworld.

As I completed my preparations, Thanatos entered the audience chamber, his black wings fluttering.

He spoke in a grave tone.

"Hades, I've heard that Olympus is in danger."

"Thanatos."

"The monster Typhon is immortal. My powers don't work on him, just like with our fellow gods."

Could it be that Thanatos has seen Typhon?

He sends his avatars to roam the earth day and night, so it’s likely he witnessed Typhon.

"I only watched that enormous creature from a distance. When I used my powers to try to extract his soul, he turned his head toward me. Fortunately, he was focused on something else, so he didn’t pursue me..."

If Typhon has immortality like us, it’s likely he is related to the gods by blood.

He could be of Titan lineage... or, considering his resemblance to a Gigantes, perhaps Gaia sent him.

Is this her attempt to finish us off after we repelled the Gigantes' first offensive?

"Tch. You’re dead set on going. Be careful."

I brushed past Thanatos and left the fortress.

For the first time in a long while, I crossed the River of the Underworld fully armed and set foot on the earth.

Thud.

Instead of the dreary air of the underworld, the clear, clean atmosphere of the surface greeted me.

Though I appreciated the feel of the land blessed by Demeter, I wasn’t here to enjoy the scenery.

It was night in the world above.

With the transcendent vision of my divine nature, I could see the moon goddess Selene riding her silver chariot across the sky.

A black horse and a white horse pulled the moon as they hurried along.

But usually, they don’t fly that high. It was as if they were avoiding something on the earth, and the horses did seem to be trembling.

Could this also be Typhon’s doing? I donned the Kynee and headed towards Mount Olympus.

* * *

The towering Mount Olympus... was half-destroyed.

The divine palace in the clouds atop the mountain had turned into a ruin filled with debris, as if some giant had trampled over it.

I couldn’t sense any of the gods, but I saw a monster resembling a Gigantes.

A fierce storm was emanating from the body of the enormous creature, which was large enough to cover Mount Olympus.

Whooooosh...

The monster, whose shoulders touched the sky and whose head brushed the stars, raged in fury.

Whenever it grew angry, the snakes attached to its hair spewed lightning and venom.

Boom! Rumble...

When it struck Mount Olympus with its fist, an entire peak crumbled to the ground.

"Graaaah! Moirai! How dare you deceive me?!"

The 'Moirai'... the three goddesses of fate? What could they have done?

"Lord Typhon! What did they do to you?"

A creature with the lower body of a serpent and the upper body of a human spoke to Typhon.

It must be one of Typhon’s monstrous minions.

"Those old Moirai on that tiny mountain tricked me by giving me a fruit they claimed would grant me great power, but it’s weakening me!"

"They did that...?"

So the Fates on Mount Nysa have helped us.

But if this is him weakened, it’s clear that a head-on battle won’t give us any chance of winning—I need to find Zeus first.

"Ugh... But it doesn’t matter! The only one who was a threat to me is already trapped in a cave—Zeus!"

Seeing how it’s rambling on, assuming there’s no one else around, it’s clear this monster hasn’t been alive for long.

No experienced god or Titan would ever do such a thing...

It strengthens my suspicion that this monster was recently created by my grandmother Gaia, who also made the Gigantes.

Does it not know about my Kynee?

Or does it simply think I won’t help Olympus?

Just as I was about to start searching for the cave where Zeus was imprisoned, I saw a strange creature.

It was an animal with the upper body of a goat and the lower body of a fish, trembling in fear and hiding in the bushes.

I sighed as I passed by the creature, convinced it was one of the gods who had transformed to escape.