The King of the Underworld is Tired

Chapter 124: The Second Task – Slaying the Hydra (3)

Chapter 124: The Second Task – Slaying the Hydra (3)Heracles dodged the Hydra’s relentless attacks, which kept regenerating and drawing nearer.

His mind raced,

The venomous serpent, which had endless regenerative power...

...was finally slain by Heracles, who possessed endless strength.

* * *

Heracles sat down on the ground, slowly taking off the Nemean Lion’s skin.

The most troublesome part of slaying the Hydra was its deadly poison.

Even Heracles had to be mindful of its venom throughout the two-day battle.

He looked at the green poison that had stained the lion's hide and shook his head.

If it weren’t for the training he had undergone with the goddess Megaera in the underworld, he might have died here.

“Hah…”

Neither Bellerophon nor Cadmus had ever been able to wound him, but the power of the gods could so easily inflict harm upon him...

It was thanks to his experience of learning techniques, desperately defending, and dodging attacks like the other heroes...

The sparring sessions with the goddess had elevated Heracles’ abilities by several levels, and this was the result.

As he caught his breath and inspected his body, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.

When he turned his head, he saw a group of soldiers, terrified as they looked at the torn-up ground and the aftermath of the battle.

“Gasp… Gasp!”

“What in the world…!”

“Hm? Soldiers? Who sent you?”

Stammering, the soldiers replied to his question.

"U-uh... We serve the King of Argos… We came after the citizens reported hearing loud noises in the area..."

"Ah, that commotion earlier was because I was dealing with the Hydra, Chrysaor, and Lamia."

"Wha-what?!"

"I beat the Hydra to death with a club, and if you keep walking that way, you'll find the corpses of Chrysaor and Lamia."

The soldiers of Argos were dumbfounded by his words.

What kind of nonsense was this madman spouting? Not just the venom-spewing Hydra, but also the golden sword-wielding Chrysaor, and even Lamia, infamous near Athens?

However, the overwhelming signs of an intense battle and the sweat on his forehead, his enormous muscles that looked capable of slaying monsters, and the Nemean Lion's skin stained with green venom led the soldiers to feel a mix of skepticism and belief.

"Hey, isn't that green fluid on the ground proof that the Hydra rampaged here?"

"Is that… are those the torn remains of the Hydra? Did a divine punishment strike here?"

"Oh my god… aren't you Heracles, who wiped out the Nemean lions? I have a relative who's a priestess of Hera..."

"What am I looking at… is the Hydra truly dead?"

"And that golden sword at your waist—is it really Chrysaor’s...?"

"Anyway, I’m busy, so I’ll be going now."

Ignoring their reverent mutterings about him being a great hero or a manifestation of the gods, Heracles picked up the Nemean Lion's skin and began to move.

"Do you even know what a god is? Do you think it's merely a perfect being with great strength and immortality?"

Even though he was this strong, and the feats he'd already accomplished should have been more than enough.

"A god is a being that exists to maintain the balance of the world. No matter how many great deeds you achieve, as long as you hold onto such simple thoughts… you will never become a god."

Why did the lord of the underworld tell him he could never become a god?

His overwhelming strength alone should have been enough to make him worthy of divinity, shouldn't it?

The great hero still did not know.

* * *

So, in the end, Heracles had killed the Hydra.

And, as a bonus, Chrysaor, wielder of the golden sword, and Lamia, who had been devouring children near Athens.

"Hades, I brought Lamia."

"Thank you, Thanatos."

Thus, Lamia arrived in the underworld and, naturally, met me.

Lamia trembled in fear, kneeling and bowing on the floor of the audience chamber.

From a brief glance at her eyes, I could feel many emotions: anger, fear, resentment toward the gods, and sorrow… As expected, her hatred was so deep that even the waters of Lethe couldn't wash it away.

"Raise your head, Queen of Libya."

"Q-Queen?! Haha… Am I still a queen?"

"Look at your body. Do you still have the lower half of a snake?"

The curse of Hera was lifted with Lamia's death.

To be precise… while the curse remained on her corpse, her soul in the underworld was freed from the form of the half-human, half-serpent monster.

"I devoured over a hundred children… Haha… What punishment will you give me? Tartarus…?"

"I know that you became that way because of Hera’s divine punishment."

"……"

"I also know that you led a blood-stained life after receiving Hera’s curse as a result of your love affair with Zeus. And I’ll take into consideration the fact that, as a mere human, you couldn’t possibly have refused Zeus."

The price of her affair with Zeus was Hera’s curse.

She had lived a pitiful life, stealing children from other women and devouring them, seducing men only to kill them.

But I couldn’t show her complete mercy.

"The number of children you devoured is far too great. Even though it was due to Hera’s curse, you still need to atone for your sins."

"…Hehe…"

"Since it wasn’t your will but a curse that drove you, I’ll grant you the blessing of forgetfulness and erase your memories."

With a gesture from the goddess of oblivion, Lamia’s eyes turned vacant.

Still, since she committed so many sins, she had to pay the price. Maybe, after several hundred years of atonement, she would be allowed to reincarnate…

As Lamia departed, the goddess Lethe approached me.

"As for Chrysaor, as I mentioned…"

"Yes, the goddess Medusa is meeting him. Just like Pegasus, he seems to be following his mother well."

"Soon we’ll send him to the Hero Training Grounds. He may no longer wield the golden sword that flew through the skies, but even without it, his body should be more than enough for the heroes."

Monsters often didn’t rest in peace, even in death.

The Nemean Lion and the Chimera were already in the training grounds of the underworld… Bellerophon despised it, but it was a necessary task.

Chrysaor would soon meet the same fate.

"Hades, at this point, shouldn’t we put a stop to Heracles' trials?"

"…?"

"Even among the gods of Olympus, opinions are divided. He’s already slain two of Typhon’s children. Isn’t it time to acknowledge him as the hero of prophecy?"

"And how is Hera reacting?"

"I heard from Hermes, who came to the underworld, that Hera was furious. Watching Zeus's illegitimate child complete her trials and slay monsters in front of her made her seethe with anger."

Now 

that the theory of Heracles being the hero of prophecy was gaining traction, it would be even harder for Hera to kill him.

I had already decreed that he wasn’t to be killed, so she’d likely just keep throwing him difficult tasks.

However, I heard that Gaia herself had appeared before Heracles to block his path when he went to slay the Hydra.

There’s a chance she might continue to interfere with him.

"It’s too late now… Even if a Gigantes escapes the gods’ sight, with Heracles around…"

Should I kidnap a Gigantes and throw it at him, perhaps?