King of Underworld

Chapter 67: Persephone’s Story – (2)

Near Mount Etna, a group of beautiful nymphs and goddesses were playing ball.

Among them was a goddess born from the union of Demeter, the goddess of the earth, and Zeus, the king of the gods.

“Kya-haha! Throw it over here!”

“Kore-nim, catching it with flowers is cheating!”

“So what? You guys should use your powers too!”

A goddess who appeared to be in her early twenties, with shining golden hair and a beautiful appearance, spoke.

“It feels like my mother sees me as too weak.”

“The Goddess of the Earth?”

Her formal name was Persephone.

Her nickname was Kore.

“Yes! Even if I go out to play just a little, she warns me to be careful of monsters, to beware of the Gigantes… Ugh!”

“Demeter-nim really loves you, Kore-nim.”

As the goddess of spring and seeds, she was playing with many nymphs when…

Suddenly, she tilted her head, showing a puzzled expression.

“Hmm? Doesn’t anyone else hear that?”

“The sound of birds chirping?”

“I hear the cool stream flowing in the forest, but…”

While the other nymphs and lower-ranked gods didn’t notice anything,

She, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, could sense it.

A strong vibration, as if it were echoing from beneath the ground…

Kuaaang! Puhwaaak-

Suddenly, from beneath the ground a little distance away, monsters with the lower bodies of snakes and the upper bodies of humans appeared.

They were the Gigantes, adversaries of the gods.

“Kyaaah! Monsters, out of nowhere!”

“Gi…Gigantes?!”

“Oh my… Zeus!”

The nymphs were shocked by the appearance of these large and hideous monsters.

But it was too early to panic,

For the Gigantes emerging from the ground were not just one or two.

Puhwak. Kugugugu…

The nymphs tried to flee in every direction, but soon had to stop in their tracks.

Before they knew it, Gigantes were surrounding them from all sides, watching them.

“Kehahaha! Are these the creations of the gods? They look quite tasty.”

“That blonde one seems to be a goddess. Let’s capture her!”

“Don’t forget, our main goal is to free our brothers buried under the mountain!”

“Then, brothers! Let’s kill all witnesses and dig up Mount Etna!”

Frightened by the gruesome conversation of these snake-human hybrid monsters, the nymphs froze in fear.

To stand against these powerful monsters, each of which could rival a lower god or human hero…

“Eiyat!”

Pasasass-

Cough! Cough! Is that poison?!

“What is this? Cough… Is it her power? Knock that goddess down first…”

“Grrk…! The plants are binding us…”

Only a god could do that, right?

As yellow powder spread from Persephone’s hands, the Gigantes couldn’t stop themselves from bursting into coughs.

Following that, flowers and plants rapidly grew from the ground, binding them.

“…Kore-nim!”

“Zeus! Please help us!”

This was the power of the Goddess of Spring.

Her strength, which governed spring and seeds, wasn’t suited for combat, but…

As the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, Persephone’s divinity was quite high.

Cough… Is there a goddess who controls poison and plants?

“Ha, but she’s just one!”

“It’s not poison, it’s pollen! You monsters!”

However, the Gigantes gathered here were not to be taken lightly either.

No matter how much Persephone’s divinity rivaled that of the twelve Olympian gods,

There were hundreds of Gigantes here…

“Peloreos! Before Olympus notices, let’s tear up Mount Etna.”

“Thoas, you worry too much.”

“Khh! Olympus? If they come, I’ll kill them all!”

“We must be cautious, Pallas. Zeus might be watching.”

There were four commanding Gigantes, each comparable to or slightly inferior to the twelve Olympian gods.

Persephone would not escape unscathed.

* * *

Kuaaaang!

While many Gigantes were digging up Mount Etna, the remaining ones surrounded Persephone and the nymphs.

The monsters approached slowly, with mocking smiles, as if they were planning to toy with them.

“Khrhrhr. I want to hear your screams.”

“Wha… What should we do… Kyaaah!”

“Please save us! Demeter-nim! Aaaagh!”

The nymphs around her were gradually being devoured or torn apart by the Gigantes.

No matter how much Persephone resisted, she was alone, and the monsters were overwhelmingly numerous.

“I’ll take care of that goddess.”

“Pallas, are you planning to have all the fun yourself?”

“Hahaha! If you’re unhappy about it, why don’t you come at me too?”

“Sigh… Damn it…”

Persephone gritted her teeth as she forcibly drew upon her dwindling divine power.

Even as she made plants grow to obstruct them, scattered pollen, or struck them with her divine energy,

Pallas, that Gigantes, was too strong.

He was certainly formidable enough to be compared to the twelve Olympian gods.

In addition to him, there were three other commanding Gigantes.

Even if her mother, Demeter, came here personally… She wouldn’t be able to defeat all these monsters.

Shhhk—

The Gigantes before her loosened his hands and slowly approached her.

The snake-like lower half of his body moved in a creepy manner, pressing the goddess.

“Have you already given up, goddess?”

“My father is Zeus, and my mother is the goddess Demeter! You will all die miserably! I, Persephone, swear it!”

“Huh? What is that, a curse?”

Even a curse that could destroy an entire city with a single word was of no use.

For the first time in her life, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter felt utterly powerless.

The monster, now right in front of her, grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.

“Nngh…”

But she couldn’t resist at all.

She had exhausted all her divine power, and her wounds were bleeding so much that the ichor was covering the ground beneath her.

Thud-thud-thud-thud—

The goddess who had been born with a coveted golden lineage, who had lived a life without regrets,

Was now facing her doom at the hands of such a grotesque monster.

“You seem like a young god, so curse your fate.”

Whoosh—

As Persephone squeezed her eyes shut to endure the pain she knew was coming,

She suddenly felt a strange sensation at her side.

A large male hand gently pulled her away.

‘Huh?’

Puhwak—

When Persephone cautiously opened her eyes,

She saw a Gigantes whose head had been crushed and killed…

“Are you alright?”

…and a dark-haired, dark-eyed male god, who had placed her in his chariot.

* * *

It didn’t take long for her to realize who this god was who had saved her from the brink of death.

The overwhelming aura that far surpassed that of her mother, Demeter, one of the twelve Olympian gods.

Perhaps… The power of this dark-haired god could even rival that of Zeus, the king of the gods.

There was only one such being that she knew of.

‘The lord of the underworld, Hades…’

As the surrounding monsters charged at the sight of their fallen comrade,

A two-pronged spear appeared in the god’s hand, tearing through the air.

Kuaaaang!!!

A black light emitting a chilling energy cut through the space,

And the Gigantes caught in its destructive black currents vanished as if they had evaporated.

Crack… Whooosh—

The terrifying traces of destruction etched into the earth,

And the sight of the clouds in the sky being split in half caused the Gigantes to tremble in fear.

“He… Heok!”

“Kyaaaah! What kind of god is that?!”

“This power…! Is he one of the twelve Olympians? Ares? Hephaestus?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! This guy is…”

With Persephone still behind him, Hades drove the chariot forward again.

The Gigantes, each of whom could easily match a lower god in power, were being effortlessly slaughtered.

The moment he swung his spear was invisible, and the attacks from the snake monsters couldn’t inflict any damage.

Whinny! Snort!!!

The ghostly horses pulling the chariot trampled over the lower bodies of the Gigantes,

And whenever a chillingly lethal black spear strike followed, a monster’s corpse was inevitably left sprawled out.

Crack-crack-crack! Puhwak—

“Urgh!”

“Eurytos! Let’s attack him together!”

“You create an opening, Thoas!”

The Gigantes were desperately trying to hold him off to create an opportunity to free Typhon’s body.

All three of the commanding Gigantes she had seen earlier rushed in, surrounding the chariot shrouded in black energy.

Just as the goddess of spring was about to warn of the danger,

A cold smile deepened on Hades’ lips.

Shhhk—

The two-pronged spear, the Bident, struck the earth.

A massive fissure spread out, temporarily linking the living world and the underworld.

The atmosphere grew heavy as black energy surged from the ground.

Emerging from the endless fissure were soldiers of the underworld.

Ghostly soldiers with translucent bodies wielded spears and swords as they continuously poured out.

“Damn it! It’s the god of the underworld, Hades!”

“Aaaagh! Die!”

“Even if he’s one of the Three Great Gods, he’s alone!”

“These dead men are crossing into the living world!”

Crash! Boom!

The Gigantes uprooted trees and swung their fists in resistance, but…

The soldiers of the underworld multiplied endlessly, their numbers unfathomable.

Since the beginning of humanity, the forces of the underworld had only continued to grow.

The army of translucent spirits, exuding the aura of death, successfully blocked the Gigantes who had been trying to free Typhon.

“Peloreos! If we take down Hades, we win! Stay focused!”

“For our mother, Gaia!”

A diagonal spear strike shot up into the sky, severing another Gigantes’ upper body.

There was no monster that could regenerate after having half its body completely blown away by the divine power of the underworld.

“Take—this!!!!”

Thoas, wielding a wooden club, brought it down on Hades’ head as he retrieved his spear atop the chariot.

The force of the blow was enough to shatter a mountain.

Claaang!

But the lord of the underworld lightly blocked it with a black longsword drawn from his waist with one hand,

The powerful clash erupting with a thunderous noise that devastated the surroundings.

Rumble. Boom!!!

Yet, even amidst this chaos, Persephone, who was riding behind Hades, remained unharmed without a single scratch.

And she realized that the lord of the underworld had not allowed even one effective hit against him.

‘He’s toying with monsters that are each comparable to the gods of Olympus…’

Zeus and Poseidon were included among the twelve Olympian gods, but they were grouped together with Hades as the Three Great Gods.

And there was a rumor that even if all twelve Olympians banded together, they wouldn’t be able to defeat even one of the Three Great Gods.

The stories she had laughed and talked about with the nymphs… were true.

Just as the battle began… she finally noticed the cold smile that had been playing on Hades’ lips the entire time,

One of the Gigantes commanders, who had been catching his breath, suddenly became agitated and charged.

“Damn it! Don’t underestimate us, Hades!”

“Wait…! Eurytos!! Don’t charge in recklessly…”

Shhk—Puhwak!

“Graaaah!”

But as the black longsword flashed, the arms of the charging Gigantes were severed.

Eurytos, who had boldly charged in, rolled on the ground, blood spurting like a fountain.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

“He’s even stronger than I thought…!”

Persephone had heard many rumors about Hades, the lord of the underworld.

They said that because he ruled the underworld, he must be hideous and terrifying… mostly ominous rumors.

Since she was a young goddess who had never even attended an Olympian banquet, the rumors were even more frightening.

Even the tales of him being a god of mercy among humans were things she dismissed as stories spun by those who had never seen him in person.

It wasn’t uncommon for humans to transform their fear into religious reverence…

But now Persephone realized that all of it was wrong.

The gentle touch that had saved her by holding her waist in the midst of danger.

The strength comparable to her father Zeus, and the meticulous care he showed in protecting her throughout the battle.

Finally, the face she had imagined to be monstrous…

Turned out to be cold and handsome, entirely unlike what one would expect from the lord of the underworld.

A small whisper escaped from Persephone’s lips, as if she were enchanted.

“He’s amazing…”