King of Underworld

Chapter 36 Tumultuous Story of the Underworld – (1)

Thus, Dionysus quietly descended to the island of Naxos…

Zeus and I began to observe the situation below the clouds.

“This is Naxos Island, right? Artemis~!”

“I can’t see anything.”

Naxos Island was an uninhabited island where no humans lived.

Therefore, it could be that the Gigantes had laid a trap there.

Humans who worshiped us were like our eyes.

“Gigantes, come out quickly!”

“I’ll strike you down in an instant, ha ha ha!”

Crack. Crash.

Two massive giants, towering over everything on the island, shouted as they smashed trees.

Their confidence was palpable, as if there were no monsters around that could challenge them.

However, the Gigantes were monsters created by our grandmother Gaia to destroy Olympus.

They would surely be wary of us, who had even defeated Typhon.

“I can’t see Artemis anywhere?!”

“Monsters! The Aloadae brothers are here!!!”

They wouldn’t be as careless as those fools.

They were surely lying in ambush somewhere, ready to spring a trap with their powers…

At that moment, Naxos Island shook violently.

Rumble—

“Is that the trap prepared by the Gigantes?”

“A power far greater than Demeter’s… It seems Gaia herself created this.”

A thunderous noise echoed across the entire island, and the ground split open.

The island’s topography was completely destroyed, as if Poseidon’s trident had struck the earth.

Boom! Crash!

“Damn! What’s this now? Is this the work of the Gigantes?”

“Ugh! You cowardly bastards!”

The giant brothers who called themselves the Aloadae lost their balance and fell.

The one I had stabbed in the ankle, Ephialtes, rolled on the ground, clutching his head.

No matter how powerful Gaia’s trap was, there was no way such strong giants would be helpless.

There had to be more.

“Ugh! What… is this…?”

“A trap?! Could Zeus have lied to us?!”

From what I could see, it was a combination of deadly poison, hallucinations, and the power of the earth itself rejecting them.

Gaia had meticulously set her trap.

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

Zeus, with a serious expression, looked down at Naxos Island.

The trap seemed aimed at the Twelve Olympians, and the giant brothers were unable to regain their senses.

As the island was devastated by the massive earthquake, Gigantes began to emerge from the ground one after another.

Monstrous creatures, a grotesque mix of snakes and humans, attacked the giants from the cracks in the earth.

But then, a particularly large Gigantes shouted first.

Had the Gigantes developed a leader?

“Ha ha! Just as Mother said, a big catch has come! I am Agrios, under King Eurymedon!”

“Die, dogs of Olympus!!!”

“Attack!!”

“…These bastards!”

“The monsters who took Artemis!!”

King Eurymedon? Did that mean their forces had grown strong enough to call someone a king?

And that commander was a face I had never seen before.

Zeus, beside me, hardened his expression as soon as he heard the word “king.”

It was wise to avoid an all-out war since the human hero foretold by the prophecy had not yet been born…

Soon, the island of Naxos turned into a battlefield of bloodshed between giants and monsters.

The Gigantes hurled rocks and swung trees.

“Which god are you?! Ares? Apollo?!”

“Gah!”

“You filthy monsters! Give Artemis back!”

Boom! Crash!

In retaliation, the muscular giants swung their massive bodies around, hurling Gigantes into the air.

The Gigantes caught in their brutal hands exploded entirely, but wounds began to appear on the brothers’ bodies.

“Urgh!”

“Ephialtes! Let’s get out of here for now… Gah!”

“Otos!”

First, they lost their balance due to the earthquake, then weakened by the poison and the power of the earth.

And then, hundreds of Gigantes, who had been lying in ambush underground, launched a simultaneous attack.

No matter how strong they were, even among the Twelve Olympians, they couldn’t defeat that many Gigantes alone.

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

The Gigantes, who had introduced himself as Agrios under Eurymedon, leaped onto Otos’s back and strangled him.

Otos struggled desperately but eventually collapsed, and Ephialtes howled in agony.

“Indeed, giants can be killed, but Gigantes are more like monsters than gods.”

Zeus stood up briefly and quietly brought out his *Astraphe*.

A powerful force emanated from the blue lightning in his hand, and a destructive aura spread, but…

This was among the weaker bolts in his arsenal.

“Otos! Gah!”

“Just kill this one!”

“Crush him with your body!”

After a fierce battle, the number of Gigantes had dwindled to a few dozen. They threw rocks at Ephialtes.

They climbed on top of him, pinning him down, and struck his ankles to make him fall.

“No… this can’t be…”

“Ha ha ha!”

Thus, the Aloadae brothers who had challenged Olympus met their deaths.

Although they managed to take down hundreds of Gigantes, it was a futile end considering their strength.

* * *

After the battle on Naxos Island ended, Zeus stood up with his lightning bolt in hand.

He planned to massacre the exhausted Gigantes after their fight with the giant brothers.

“Now that it’s over, let’s clean up.”

“Throw it gently, so it doesn’t affect the sea too much.”

Crackle—Boom!

Lightning sparked from Zeus’s entire body, including his eyes.

The king of the gods who ruled the heavens raised his arm slightly…

Flash—BOOM!!

With a single strike, a lightning bolt descended upon Naxos Island.

But that single blow sank the entire island and massacred the Gigantes.

The island was completely torn apart, so there must have been many lives lost.

I wasn’t the god of prophecy, but I could already foresee Thanatos coming to complain to me again in the future.

“Zeus, I’ll return to the Underworld now.”

“Visit Olympus again next time, ha ha ha!”

“Hopefully, it won’t be for something like today.”

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

I should take her back to the Underworld.

“Hades!”

As the banquet wound down, Aphrodite, who had been watching me from a corner, met my gaze.

Was she smiling because she was looking forward to working in the Underworld?

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

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

“Indeed.”

Aphrodite, with an expectant look in her eyes, followed me.

But the murmuring around us didn’t sound good.

“Gasp! Hades is at it again…”

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

“Poor goddess Aphrodite…”

…Wasn’t that the goddess I assigned to a comfortable job in the Underworld, now shuddering at the thought?

* * *

“Hmm~ Hmm-hmm~”

As I entered the Underworld’s gate with the humming Aphrodite, I saw Thanatos’s avatar.

He had tied up two giant souls with a rope…

“How could we lose to mere monsters! Let us go!”

“Gasp! H-Hades?!”

So, Otos and Ephialtes, who had died at the hands of the Gigantes, had arrived in the Underworld.

I should tell Minos to put them to work in hard labor.

The two struggled when they recognized me with Aphrodite.

“Let us go, Hades!”

“Send us back to the land of the living!”

But there was no way.

Perhaps, when they were alive and protected by prophecy, but…

Now that they were dead and mere souls, did they think they could escape Thanatos’s grasp?

Thanatos’s avatar casually tossed the two giant souls, and they rolled onto the ground.

Even so, they continued their nonsense, demanding the return of Artemis and to be sent back to the living world.

At this rate, they would disrupt Charon’s work.

“Aphrodite, can you drain their spirits?”

“That’s easy~”

The goddess of beauty and love smiled sweetly.

Soon, the gaze of the goddess, filled with lust and desire, turned towards the giant souls.

“Let us out of here… Aah…”

“Damn you, Zeus! I’m sure Artemis… Uhh…”

This wasn’t the first time spirits had caused trouble in the Underworld,

but having the goddess of beauty and love control the dead would certainly improve everyone’s work.

Where should I assign this goddess?

To the Cocytus River, cold as ice, where souls hesitated?

Or perhaps to the banks of the Acheron River, where troublemakers like these gathered?

Maybe to the Phlegethon River, where souls hesitated to cross due to memories from the living world?

As I pondered, watching the goddess put her hand on her waist and raise her chin, Charon spoke to me.

The always weary ferryman of the Underworld grumbled.

“Ha. They don’t even have coins, do I still have to ferry them?”

“They’re major criminals, so they must face judgment. I’ll cover their drachma.”

“Tsk… Fine. Get on board, you scoundrels!”

The two giant souls, now completely out of their minds, boarded Charon’s boat one by one.

First,

Otos’s soul boarded…

Splash—Tilt.

Hmm? Was Charon’s boat always this fragile?

It was designed to hold many souls without a problem.

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

Apparently, Charon had the same thought,

and tried to balance the boat by placing them at opposite ends.

Next, Ephialtes’s soul got on the boat…

Creeeak—CRACK!!

What the…?