King of Underworld

Chapter 115 Goddess of the Night, Nyx – (2)

“Oh my, isn’t it uncomfortable to bow your head that low?”

At her gentle voice, I slowly lifted my head to meet the gaze of the goddess in front of me.

Her hair was as black as mine, her eyes just as dark, and she bore black wings like those of Thanatos.

The goddess, clad in impeccably beautiful black garments, appeared almost like an artificial statue exuding perfection.

It was as if she embodied the very essence of a lifeless creation, claiming, “This is what beauty looks like.”

Whoosh—

“Go ahead, you may lift your head. After all, aren’t you my descendant, in a way?”

“Understood, Lady Nyx.”

The goddess of night stared at me with curious eyes, while beside her, the Hecatoncheires brothers kept their heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.

“Hmph… My children spoke highly of you. They said you sought my aid, or rather, our aid, to protect yourselves from Gaia’s threat.”

“……”

“Was Gaia so terrifying to you? Haha… how cute, and quite pitiable.”

Her voice, as she covered her mouth slightly, held a tone that was hard to interpret. Was it mockery? Or simply a genuine sentiment?

This was the perspective of the primordial goddess of night, equal to Uranus.

“Yes, to speak honestly, Gaia is indeed fearsome.”

“Oh my?! Such a joke…”

“Gaia created the Gigantes in retaliation for our imprisonment of the Titans in Tartarus, and she also birthed the mighty Typhon. Though we wish to defeat these monsters and earn Gaia’s acknowledgment, we must consider the possibility that she may remain hostile toward us.”

Lady Nyx, the goddess of the night, is said to be far less merciful than Gaia when angered.

The primordial night is a force of annihilation and death. Nyx’s other name is the Mother of Death. After all, her son Thanatos is the god of death…

I glanced subtly at the goddess’s dark eyes.

Though she had playfully spoken to me, her expression remained unchanging, her black eyes emotionless.

“…Is that all?”

“……”

“If all you are relying on is the pleas of my children and my personal goodwill, then I cannot offer you my assistance.”

Of course, she would say that. The conditions I had presented were far too lacking to convince a Protogenoi to intervene.

However, there was one thing I could offer that might hold some weight.

“If you help us, I will ensure that among all the Protogenoi, your name, Lady Nyx, will be the most revered.”

“Hm?”

“My temple in the underworld houses nearly every god. I will place your statue in the most prominent spot, and those who know the grace of the goddess of the night will praise your name daily.”

Normally, mortal worship would not be enough to sway a Protogenoi.

However, unlike other primordial deities like Tartarus or Erebus, who existed only in their isolated domains, Gaia and Nyx had more frequent contact with humanity.

Surely, Lady Nyx would have a greater interest in mortals compared to those who dwelled solely in Tartarus or embodied pure darkness.

After contemplating my words, the dark goddess spoke again.

“Ah, humans. The noisy mortals who disrupt what should be silent nights.”

“What…?!”

“But how about this instead? What if you wiped out all those noisy humans in the mortal realm… Then, perhaps, peaceful nights would return, and I might be inclined to help you. Of course, you would not be able to spare even those who worship you.”

Was she serious?

* * *

I stared at Lady Nyx, trying to read her expression, but it was impossible.

No emotions or reactions were discernible. I couldn’t understand the intentions of this primordial deity, who was the embodiment of a natural force.

Why would she say such a thing? Was this a test aimed at me?

But there was no reason to test me by using humans.

Could she truly desire peaceful nights and wish to wipe out all the noisy mortals?

“Why are you silent? This should be an easy task for you.”

“……”

“Those pitiful creatures can be remade, can they not? You already caused a great flood once and wiped them out.”

It was true. Any of the twelve Olympians could easily annihilate humanity.

Compared to Gaia’s threats, exterminating humans would indeed be a small price to pay…

And remaking them… well, that was also true.

If you leave one human alive and tell them to toss a stone over their shoulder, a new generation could be created.

In the first place, we created humans to give birth to heroes capable of defeating the Gigantes.

Although I’m known as the most merciful among the gods in the eyes of mortals,

I, too, am an immortal. My family, my siblings, are far more important than humanity.

However…

“Mighty Pluto! We seek your mercy!”

“Please, may our son who perished on the battlefield find happiness in the underworld…”

“Thanks to the mint you sent us, blessed by the god of mercy…”

“O Pluto, please protect me…”

I didn’t want to betray the trust of those who continued to pray to me, singing songs of my mercy and justice.

The priests who had stayed at my temple even in the face of the maddened King Oedipus, my followers who sought my mercy.

The judges who invoked my name and authority to deliver fair judgments. The terminally ill patients who prayed for peace after death…

It wasn’t because I wanted to uphold the title of the god of mercy that humans had bestowed upon me.

It wasn’t because I wanted to appear as a hypocrite, favoring mortals over my family on Olympus for the sake of worship.

“I’m sorry. But I cannot wipe out humanity again.”

“…?”

I simply didn’t want to act as whimsically toward mortals as the other gods did.

Perhaps this was the reason I was able to speak as I just had before a Protogenoi.

At least, I think so…

* * *

Just as I thought I had failed to convince the goddess of night to join our cause,

a restrained yet explosive laugh suddenly echoed.

“Puh… Puhuhut…! It was just a joke. Why are you reacting so seriously?”

“What…”

The oppressive aura that had surrounded me vanished in an instant, and before me, the primordial goddess was smiling.

Though her beautiful smile lightened the atmosphere around us, I couldn’t bring myself to laugh along.

Was it truly a joke? While the Olympian gods are known to be fickle, could it be the same with Gaia and the other primordial deities?

Was her suggestion to me just a fleeting whim?

“My children all said the same thing: that Hades, the lord of the underworld, is the most fair and merciful among the Olympian gods… and a god worth helping.”

“That’s far too generous an assessment.”

“They said you care deeply for mortals. I was merely curious. Don’t let it trouble you.”

Rustle—

The dark goddess plucked a feather from her black wings and handed it to me.

As I took the feather, charged with considerable divine power, into my hands, Lady Nyx, who had been smoothing her hair, continued speaking.

“Take that feather and seek out the god of the sky. He—no, she—will recognize it immediately.”

“Surely, you don’t mean…”

The god of the sky could only be Zeus. But when she said “she,” there was only one being that came to mind.

Uranus, who had been castrated by his son, Cronus, and was stripped of his masculinity, now considered a goddess.

A Protogenoi like Nyx, and my grandfather.

The once-ruler of the world before Cronus, now the deposed god of the sky.

“Yes, Uranus, who became a goddess. Explain everything to her… and bring back a token of her approval. If you do that, I will assist you.”

The reason Lady Nyx had given me her feather was so I could communicate with the exiled Uranus.

No one could predict what thoughts the god who had been castrated by Cronus might harbor toward us.

This was a test. A test of whether we Olympians could win over Uranus.

Given that we had overthrown Cronus, I thought perhaps we might succeed…

“Understood. I will persuade Uranus without fail.”

“Hoho… I’ll be waiting.”

It was one challenge after another.

To secure a token from another Protogenoi, no less the god of the sky, Uranus…

* * *

As Hades, now called the lord of the underworld and Gaia’s grandson, departed…

Nyx closed her eyes and sank into the darkness within her residence in the deepest part of Tartarus.

The battles for dominance over the world, the conflict with Gaia, the extinction of species… all of it was unrelated to her.

Just as the water flowing downstream pushes the river ahead of it, the changing of generations was a natural flow of the world.

However, Nyx had little interest in Gaia’s efforts to halt that change.

At least, that’s how she had felt until recently…

“Mother.”

“Eris? You’re here again. Last time it was Thanatos begging…”

“Please, just this once, listen to my son-in-law…”

“Mother… Are you there?”

“Keres. You, too? You who work so hard to harvest souls. What brings you here?”

“I’m here for the same reason Eris was yesterday. Please, just this once…”

Nyx’s children took turns trying to persuade her regularly.

Though she had no particular opinion of Hades, hearing everyone speak so highly of him piqued her curiosity.

Of all her children, not one was younger than Hades.

Had he earned the favor of every one of them? Gaia’s young grandson, no less?

Her curiosity aroused, Nyx switched places with her daughter Hemera, the goddess of day, and emerged to the sky.

From the dark night sky, the primordial goddess looked down below.

Selene, driving her moon chariot, wandered among the clouds… Further below, she saw mortals.

The life forms created by Zeus and the other Olympian gods.

Under the night sky, small mortals gathered their hands in prayer and supplication.

Nyx focused only on stories related to Hades, the ruler of the underworld.

“O mighty Pluto, today I praise the grace of the mint leaves you bestowed upon us…”

“O Lord Pluto, you who govern fairness and mercy…”

“Do not cry, my dear. Even if I enter the underworld and fall into Pluto’s embrace, do not worry. He is…”

She found many mortals praying to him.

Faithful belief. The fairness of the judgments handed down to the dead. The god of mercy and justice.

No one spoke ill of Hades.

Even though he ruled over the feared underworld… he was highly praised by the mortals.

Nyx’s secret hobby, one she had never shared with anyone, was observing the creatures under the night sky.

The god Pluto… or rather, Hades, as all these mortals spoke of him, truly cherished them, just as her children had said.

He was someone worth testing, at least once.

If he brought back Uranus’s token, she would gladly aid Olympus.

Of course…

“Mom, which god created the night sky?”

“Well… That’s thanks to Lady Nyx.”

“Lady Nyx? Is she stronger than Lord Zeus?”

“Oh… probably not. Zeus is the king of the gods, after all.”

“I will place your statue in the most prominent spot, and those who know the grace of the goddess of the night will praise your name daily.”

It wasn’t because mortals saw her as inferior to Gaia’s grandson.