The King of the Underworld is Tired

Chapter 158: Gigantomachia – Aftermath

The day before the Olympian gods marched into the Plains of Phlegra:  

It was decided that humanity should be warned. As such, oracles were delivered to every temple:  

> "Tomorrow, no one should approach the area near the Plains of Phlegra.  

> Gigantes, horrifying monsters, will overrun the land.  

> To be caught in the gods' war is to court death."  

The sudden proclamation stirred much debate among humans.  

Why had the gods, uncharacteristically, issued a warning about the Plains of Phlegra? Why did they describe the event as a "war"?

“Are they saying those things called Gigantes will swarm the Plains of Phlegra?”  

“Perhaps the gods intend to exterminate them, just as Apollo once slew the great serpent Python.”  

“Hm. If we look back through history, those with the lower bodies of serpents and the upper bodies of humans were said to rival even the gods in strength.”  

“They say that back then, the gods subdued the Gigantes, who were destroying temples.”  

“There are records of Ares and Athena themselves descending near Athens… and that the creature King Cadmus fought in his later years also took the form of a serpent.”  

“Wait! Isn’t there a record of King Cadmus capturing a Gigantes?”  

Even the great hero who founded Thebes barely managed to capture a single Gigantes.  

By that logic...  

Does defeating a Gigantes make one a great hero?  

No, even just participating in an expedition to slay these monsters could cement one’s fame as a hero!

“If those creatures are such formidable foes that the gods themselves are confronting them, imagine the renown if someone were to slay one and offer it as a sacrifice…”

“Hah. But wouldn’t it be too dangerous?”  

“Why not gather heroes from Thebes? Post notices and spread the word across all of Greece!”  

“But isn’t the event set to happen tomorrow…”  

“That’s why we must act quickly! Hurry!”  

“There’s someone outside claiming to be the King of Athens!”  

“How could someone from Athens get here so fast? No, wait. The King of Athens is the hero who defeated the Minotaur, isn’t he? Hmm.”

  

"It seems the effort to summon heroes near Thrace has borne fruit..."

“Where’s glory? Where can I find it?”  

"Prince Meleager? Aren’t you on your honeymoon? What brings you here?"

"Ah, I happened to be traveling near Thrace with Atalanta. I thought she'd appreciate the hide of that Gigantes monster as a honeymoon gift."

With monsters now scarce, countless heroes, eager to make names for themselves, converged near Thrace.  

Though those too far away couldn’t arrive in time, there were enough to form an expedition.

Near renowned cities like Athens and Thebes, there were no villains or monsters left to fight.  

All the creatures that could bring glory had been wiped out. Heroes, fresh from their training in the Underworld, were left twiddling their thumbs.  

Compared to their training in the Underworld or the expedition of the Argo, the world of the living had become too peaceful.  

This drove them to wander Greece in search of monsters, leading them to the little-frequented Plains of Phlegra, where rumors of human disappearances often circulated.  

All of this stemmed from a burning desire to achieve glory and become a great hero.

Of course…  

“Hm. I recognize quite a few familiar faces here.”  

"I don’t see Jason this time. Where’s Castor, though?"

“Who cares! Anyway, with this many of us, we can take down any monster—unless it’s a goddess like Megaera!”  

It was unfortunate for the few Gigantes who barely managed to escape the plains.

The heroes were, surprisingly, very rational.

After all, they had trained and fought against those stronger than themselves countless times.  

“The gods did call this a war. It could be something like Typhon or Python.”

“Let’s keep our distance. There could be a battle beyond anything we can imagine.”

“We don’t want to get caught up in it, so let’s hide out somewhere…”  

Thus, the heroes quietly armed themselves and took positions behind multiple mountains, waiting.  

Just as the oracle foretold, divine powers of unimaginable scale were unleashed.  

Boom! Crack! Whoosh!

The heavens split, the earth trembled, and even mountains were seen flying through the air.  

Though they stayed far enough away to avoid the brunt of the chaos, and luck was on their side, the heroes couldn’t help but question:  

“Are we really supposed to be involved in this?”

“…This looks like a job for Heracles.”  

Their morale began to waver.  

No matter how strong they had become among humans, they couldn’t even fathom the scale of what was unfolding in the Plains of Phlegra.

They started thinking it might be best to leave—until a wounded Gigas stumbled into their midst.

“Grrk! Cough… Urgh!”  

The creature, with the lower body of a serpent and the upper body of a human, was bloodied and fleeing from something.

To the heroes, however, it looked like the perfect prey.  

“Couldn’t we take this one down?”

“It looks strong, but that’s exactly what would make it a worthy challenge.”

“Finally, a real fight!”

“There’s no way it’s stronger than a dragon, a war god, or Lady Megaera, right?”

“All right, let’s kill it!”  

The desperate Gigas, fleeing the battlefield, found itself face-to-face with a group of insane humans.  

How dare these mere mortals, creations of the gods, challenge him? Were they wishing for death?

Wham!

The Gigas yanked a tree from the ground and swung it at the insolent humans, intending to kill them in one blow…  

“Whew! This one’s pretty fast. Be careful!”

“It’s blind in one eye. Use its blind spot!”

“Let’s pluck out the other eye, too!”  

Strangely enough, not a single one of his attacks landed.  

* * *

BOOM! ZOOM! CRASH.

The heroes and the Gigas fought for quite some time.  

Even though the Gigas was wounded and exhausted, they were still not easy prey for mere humans, as one might expect from such formidable creatures.  

But this was only from the perspective of the heroes…  

The perspective of the Gigas, who believed only gods could be their match, was quite different.

“GRAAAAAH! To think I would fall to mere creations of the gods... I…!”

“Shut up! You're weaker than a dragon that never sleeps!”

“Hah… If Heracles were here, he’d snap you in half!”

“Huff, huff… You’re strong enough, I’ll give you that. But I’ve fought plenty of opponents on your level…”

And so, the Gigas, pierced all over by arrows and spears, met his end in a fit of rage.  

To think, I—a creation of Gaia herself—was not slain by a god, but by these mere humans…

“Hah… Huff. Hey, Meleager, you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

“Careful, man. You’ve got Atalanta waiting for you back home.”

“Why don’t you check on Theseus over there? Didn’t he just take a nasty hit?”

Of course, the heroes were also battered and exhausted.  

But even so, their faces were filled with the exhilaration of having slain such a powerful monster.

“Ha… Haha! We killed it!”

“Nobody died to that thing, right? Good! No one’s going to get scolded by Chiron later!”

“Python? Chimera? It feels like this one was even stronger than those.”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“So… who’s taking the hide? Theseus? Meleager? Idas?”

After dividing the spoils, the heroes once again retreated into the mountains to search for their next target.  

Before long, they spotted another wounded Gigas fleeing in the distance.

“There’s another one!”

“Stop right there, you scum! I, Idas, will take your head!”

“We need to skin that serpent hide, so let’s aim for the human parts!”

“For glory! For glory!”

“What… What kind of lunatics…?!”

By the time their hunt through the mountains was over, three Gigantes corpses lay before the heroes.

“Shall we offer them as sacrifices to Ares?”

“When I return to Athens, I plan to dedicate my share to the temple of Athena.”

“Then I’ll make my offering to Pluto right here. Hey! Any followers of Pluto, join me!”

“What about offering some to Zeus as well…”

The conditions for a prayer to reach a god vary greatly.  

The worshiper’s faith, their sincerity, whether the god is watching the mortal realm, the amount and quality of the offering…  

Of course, offering the corpse of a Gigantes, an enemy of the gods, was among the highest-quality sacrifices.

Naturally, even I—Hades, busy cleaning up the aftermath on the Plains of Phlegra—received their prayer.  

When I focused my attention at Styx’s suggestion, I saw it:

“O Pluto, hear us! We have slain these creatures called Gigantes as per your divine oracle!”

“These monsters have been sent to your realm…”

I saw heroes offering the corpses of Gigantes to me in prayer.

Their serpentine lower halves had been skinned, and the bodies were burned as sacrifices.

Even Zeus seemed to have noticed that humans had slain the Gigantes, his expression turning complicated.  

The other gods were no different. They all appeared somewhat startled by the fact that humans had managed to defeat several Gigantes.

“Well, the god of strength and combat is one thing, but were the other mortals always this capable?”

“Have humans grown too powerful?”

“I mean, Heracles is one thing, but…”

A mix of emotions stirred within me.  

It was admirable that they had grown strong enough to protect themselves, and I was aware of their tireless efforts in the Underworld’s training grounds.  

But had they grown too strong?  

If th

e mortals used their strength to oppress others, as gods once did to them…  

Most of the heroes are demigods. Would this lead to a sense of superiority over other humans?  

I hoped their pride as monster-slayers wouldn’t turn into arrogance.  

Perhaps I should deliver an oracle reminding them that humility is a virtue. For now, I’ll ask the goddess of justice to keep an eye on them.  

“Hmm… So humans have grown this strong…”  

What is Zeus mumbling about over there?