King of Underworld

Chapter 40 Ominous Signs – (2)

“Lord Hades! Please, help us! A monster, part snake and part human, is…!”

This was… the prayer of a devoted follower of mine.

And not just any follower, but a fervent plea from an official priest.

As I followed the prayer and focused on the follower’s vision, something came into view.

What flashed before me was a monster with the lower body of a snake and the upper body of a human… a Gigas!

Had I finally caught their trail?

“Goddess Styx, it seems a Gigas has appeared in the living world. I need to descend into a human body, so if you could give me a moment…”

“…! I’ll notify Olympus right away!”

The goddess Styx set down the nectar she was drinking and moved swiftly.

I, too, quickly left the banquet hall.

“A Gigas…!”

“A Gigas, really?!”

The distance from the Underworld to Thebes was too far to cover in time.

But my follower had enough faith to receive me…

The fastest way to assess the situation was to descend into that human’s body.

—

“Hehehe… No one will notice if I eat a few humans…”

“Hold back, we need them as sacrifices for the descent.”

A dark cave, nestled in the mountains not far from Thebes.

Muscular monsters with the lower bodies of snakes and the upper bodies of humans licked their lips as they gazed at the humans they had dragged into the cave.

There were about ten of these monsters, each with a body as large as several grown men combined.

Just as Hades had suspected, they were the Gigantes, enemies of the gods.

“M-Mom…”

“The god Apollo will help us from the heavens…”

“Lady Artemis, please answer our prayers.”

Dozens of people huddled together, trembling in a corner of the cave.

They were ordinary civilians kidnapped by the Gigantes from near Thebes.

Among them was Penedaea, a female priestess from the temple of Hades.

She had ventured outside Thebes, thinking no one would dare harm a priestess of the Underworld.

‘So this is why people have been disappearing around Thebes…’

She never imagined that monsters far surpassing humans would capture her.

“Hahaha! Do you think the gods on Olympus can peer into this cave from the heavens?!”

“Wait patiently, and I’ll grant you a painless death!”

The Gigantes laughed at the despairing humans who wept bitterly.

Their desperate prayers went unanswered by the gods.

Not every prayer was heard by the gods.

Prayers not offered at a proper temple or without ample sacrifices, or those not from nymphs, demigods, or official priests, were often ignored by the gods.

‘Are we being held captive for that ritual they’re performing?’

All the other monsters had male faces, but the one in the center of the cave was different.

Standing in the middle of a magical circle made of blood, she chanted spells—this beautiful, female-formed monster.

“The sacrifices should be enough to summon him…”

“Encelados, sir. The preparations are complete.”

“Is that so? Throw the humans in!”

One of the half-human, half-snake monsters called out to another who wielded a massive club.

He was likely the leader of these creatures.

“You, come here.”

“Ahhhh!”

A rough hand grabbed a woman by her hair, dragging her forward and throwing her down.

The female-formed monster extended her hand, gripped the woman’s heart, and tore it out, scattering it on the ground.

“Ugh… Aaaah!”

“No… I don’t want to die!”

*Squish.*

“Stop screaming.”

There was no point in trying to escape.

There was no point in resisting.

Every human brought here would only end up as a sacrifice in that grotesque ritual.

The next chosen sacrifice, a man, shouted defiantly.

“Do you think the gods will stand idly by? I’ll see your end in the Underworld!”

“How scary. Hahaha! I only wish the goddess Athena would show up!”

The leader of the Gigantes laughed, and the sound echoed through the cave.

These beings, who didn’t fear even the gods, laughed maniacally, driving the humans into deeper terror.

“Heh. When I defeat all the gods of Olympus, I’ll take Athena as my wife.”

“Of course, Lord Encelados. But first, we must summon him…”

“Silence! Do you dare order me around, trusting in your pathetic husband?”

The female-formed monster, urging the ritual forward, was quickly silenced by the leader of the monsters.

Penedaea, the priestess of Hades, closed her eyes and offered the most desperate prayer she had ever prayed.

“Lord Hades! Please, help us! A monster, part snake and part human, is…!”

“Hey, bring that woman in the black robe.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was her turn.

A Gigas grabbed the priestess’s long hair roughly.

Biting her lip until it bled, Penedaea clasped her hands together and whispered a prayer.

‘Please… I beg of you. These horrific monsters…’

Her desperate prayer continued, and as time stretched like an eternity…

‘Fear not, for I have come.’

Salvation arrived for the mortal.

—

The woman, whose hair had been seized, suddenly lifted her head and stared at the Gigas before her.

Instead of human pupils, a deep darkness swirled in her eyes.

“Huh? This woman’s eyes… Gack!”

A black shadow shot up from the ground, piercing the Gigas’s wrist and neck in quick succession.

A death far too pitiful for a monster capable of challenging the gods.

“Divine power? Even if it’s an Olympian god, they can’t do much when possessing a human body…”

“No divine weapons or tools, and you still dare to come here!”

With a mere flick of her hand, she—no, he—drew a black line connecting the surrounding Gigantes who were charging at him.

The pitch-black divine power tore through the air and ripped apart the bodies of the monsters, which were tougher than steel.

*Rip! Boom!*

Now, only one remained… Encelados, who blocked the path of the female-formed monster with his massive club.

And behind him, the female-formed monster glared.

“Who are you? One of the Twelve Olympian Gods?”

“I am the god of wealth, Pluto… No, Hades. Surely you’ve heard my name?”

“…The Lord of the Underworld!”

The Bident only responded to the call of Hades himself, not his incarnate form.

The Styx sword rested on the waist of his true form in the Underworld.

The Kynee, a divine artifact crafted by the Cyclops, was locked away in the treasure vaults of the Underworld.

The human body he had descended into was not that of a hero or a demigod, but merely that of an ordinary female priestess.

However, the one who had now descended into this body was Hades, the Lord of the Underworld.

“You damned wretches…”

These careless Gigantes were no match for him.

—

I had successfully descended at a critical moment.

Had I been even slightly later, my priestess’s head would have been crushed by the Gigas’s hand.

“Plu… Lord Hades!”

“The Lord of the Underworld…”

“The wealthiest of all, the Lord of Souls, has come to save us…”

The humans around me murmured.

Though they spoke my name, Hades, they seemed more relieved than fearful.

It was only natural, given that they had nearly been sacrificed in that horrific ritual…

After a quick glance at the kneeling, weeping humans, I turned my gaze back to the Gigas holding the club.

The creature flinched as our eyes met, then barked an order at the female-formed monster behind him.

“Hmph. You’re no threat. Once he arrives!”

But by the time I descended, I had already grasped the situation.

I knew exactly what that ritual was.

“The strange formation on the ground resembles the trap you laid on the island of Naxos.”

“…!”

“A dark earth power, the feel of a summoning, a spell resembling the one Lady Hecate used during the Titanomachy…”

With a wave of my hand, I sent the humans away.

The cave and the mountain might collapse entirely at any moment.

“Hurry up and complete the ritual!”

“Take your time; I won’t stop you. I need to see for myself who is supporting you.”

Though the two monsters were on high alert, I had no intention of stopping the ritual.

The ritual circle on the ground, created by mixing countless humans and pouring in the earth’s divine power, was for summoning a god.

I had to confirm who was aiding the Gigantes, right here.

When the summoning ritual succeeded and the power burst forth, the gods would sense it.

It wouldn’t be long before the gods launched an assault on this mountain.

There’s no way Lady Gaia would be unaware of this.

Despite that, they were trying to summon someone…

“This is Lady Gaia’s declaration of war. A provocation and warning in response to the failure of the trap on Naxos.”

“What nonsense are you spouting, you wretch!”

“But more importantly, who are you? Gigantes are all male. You’re not a Gigas.”

The female-formed monster trembled as I struck the core of the issue.

Though she was a creature with the lower body of a snake, just like the Gigantes, she didn’t give off the same aura as they did.

She was likely a different type of monster that merely resembled them.

“I am Echidna, wife of

Typhon! I will kill every one of you detestable gods!”

Typhon’s wife, of course.

That explained her motive. Lady Gaia had probably taught her the strange ritual on the ground.

“Come to me! The great Titan, ever-present and eternal!”

*Shook!*

Echidna raised a dagger high and stabbed it into her own chest.

Though she fell, immense divine power surged from her wound and echoed throughout the cave.

*Kuuooohhh…*

My body stiffened.

Time seemed to slow.

Soon, Echidna, who had stabbed her own chest and collapsed, rose again and turned her gaze toward me.

This was a case of poison being countered by poison, a tactic even Lady Gaia would find distasteful…

It seemed the Earth Mother Goddess truly wished to drive us away.

“It’s been a while, my firstborn, Hades. Did you miss your father?”

They had dragged Cronus’s consciousness from Tartarus into the living world.