King of Underworld

"Lord Hades! Please help! A monster that is part snake, part human...!"

This is... a prayer from one of my followers. And not just any follower, but a devout priest.

I focus on the devotee's vision as I follow the plea, and I see something.

A fleeting glimpse of a creature with a snake's lower body and a human's upper body... a Gigantes! Have we finally caught their trail?

"Goddess Styx, it seems a Gigantes has appeared in the mortal world. I must descend into a human body for a moment..." "...! I'll notify Olympus immediately!"

The goddess Styx quickly put down her nectar and moved with urgency. I, too, swiftly left the banquet hall.

"What on earth...!" "A Gigantes?!"

The distance from the underworld to Thebes is too great.

Since my follower has enough faith to receive me... the quickest way to assess the situation is to descend into that human's body.

"Ha ha... If I eat just one human, it won't even be noticeable..." "Hold on, we need to use them as sacrifices for the descent."

A dark cave near the mountains, not far from Thebes. Muscle-bound creatures with the lower body of snakes and the upper body of humans were licking their lips at the humans dragged into the cave.

The ten or so gigantic creatures, each with a build like several grown men combined, were, as Hades suspected, the Gigantes, adversaries of the gods.

"Mommy..." "The god Apollo will help us from the heavens..." "Artemis, please answer our prayers."

Dozens of people were trembling in a corner of the cave. They were ordinary civilians kidnapped by the Gigantes near Thebes.

Among them was Penedeeia, a female priest from the temple of Hades. She had ventured outside Thebes, believing no one would dare harm the priests of the underworld.

"There was a reason why people went missing near Thebes..."

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

"Ha ha ha! Do you think the gods on Olympus can see inside this cave?!" "Wait quietly, and I'll kill you painlessly!"

The Gigantes mocked the people as they cried in despair. The gods did not answer their desperate prayers.

This is because not all prayers reach the gods.

Prayers not made at the shrine of the god, those not accompanied by many offerings, and prayers from nymphs, demigods, or official priests are not easily heard by the gods.

"Is that ritual over there the reason we were kidnapped?"

While the other creatures had the faces of men, the monster in the center of the cave was different.

A beautiful female figure was chanting spells while standing on a magic circle made of blood.

"This should be enough sacrifices to summon him..." "Encelados, the preparations are complete." "Good. Push the humans in!"

One of the half-man, half-snake monsters called over another creature carrying a massive club. He was likely the leader of these creatures.

"You, come here." "Aaah!"

With a brutish hand, he grabbed a woman by the hair and threw her. The female monster reached out, grabbed the woman's heart, and tore it out, splattering it on the ground.

"Aah! No, I don't want to die!"

Thud.

"Stop screaming."

Trying to escape is useless. Resisting is futile.

All the humans brought here will become sacrifices in this grotesque ritual.

The next chosen sacrifice shouted.

"Do you think the gods will stand by? I'll see your end in the underworld!" "How frightening. Ha ha ha! I'd love for Athena to come down!"

The leader of the Gigantes laughed, and the cave echoed with laughter. These beings, who did not fear even the gods, filled the humans with terror.

"Heh. Once we defeat the Olympian gods, Athena will be my wife." "Of course, Encelados, you'll achieve it. But first, we must call him..." "Silence! Do you dare command me, trusting your defeated husband?"

When the female monster hastened the ritual, the leader monster rebuked her. Hades's priest, Penedeeia, closed her eyes and prayed more earnestly than ever.

"Lord Hades! Please help! A monster that is part snake, part human...!"

"Hey, bring that woman in black." "Yes!"

Her turn was next. The Gigantes grabbed the priest by her long hair. As Penedeeia bit her lip until it bled, she clasped her hands and murmured.

"Please... I pray earnestly. These terrible monsters..."

Her endless prayers continued, and in the moment that felt like an eternity,

"Do not worry any longer, for I have arrived."

Salvation had come to the mortal.

The woman praying with her head down suddenly looked up and met the gaze of the Gigantes in front of her.

In her eyes, where there should have been pupils, only a deep darkness swirled.

"What? What’s with this creature's eyes... Ugh!"

A black shadow rose from the ground, piercing the Gigantes’s wrist and neck. An ignominious death, unfit for a creature that could challenge the gods.

"Powers? Even for an Olympian god, possessing a human body is...!" "To come here without divine artifacts or weapons!"

As he lightly swung his hand, a black line appeared, connecting the Gigantes that had been rushing towards him. The pitch-black divine power tore through the space, and the flesh of the monsters, tougher than steel.

Slash! Crash!

Now only remained... Encelados, blocking his path with a massive club, and the female monster behind him, frowning.

"Who are you, one of the twelve Olympian gods?" "The god of wealth, Pluto... no, Hades. Surely you've heard my name?"

"The Big Three!"

The bident only answers the call of Hades himself, not his incarnations. The Styx sword rests on the waist of my true form in the underworld. The divine artifact Kunee, made by the Cyclopes, is in the underworld's treasure vault.

The human body through which the prayer was channeled was a simple female priest, not a hero or demigod.

But the god who descended at this moment is Hades, the lord of the underworld.

"Damn vermin..."

The careless Gigantes stood no chance against him.

I managed to descend just in time.

Had I been a bit later, my priest’s head would have been crushed by the Gigantes.

"Pluto... Lord Hades!" "Lord of the Underworld..." "The richest of all, the lord of souls has come to the mortal world to save us..."

The humans murmured around me. Yet they seemed more relieved than afraid at the mention of Hades's name.

Of course, as they were about to be sacrificed in a horrid ritual...

I glanced at the humans kneeling, clasping their hands, and weeping, then turned my gaze back to the Gigantes holding the club.

The creature flinched when our eyes met, then ordered the female monster behind him.

"You're no problem. Once he arrives, it's over!"@@novelbin@@

But I had already assessed the situation when I descended here. I knew what this ritual was.

"The strange circle on the ground is similar to the trap you laid on Naxos Island." "...!" "The thick power of the earth, a prayer for descent, resembling the magic the goddess Hecate showed during the Titanomachy..."

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

From now on, the cave and mountain might collapse entirely.

"Hurry and proceed with the ritual!" "I won't stop you, take your time. I need to see with my own eyes who sides with you."

The two monsters warily watched me, but I had no intention of stopping the ritual.

The magic circle on the ground, crafted with numerous humans and infused with the power of the earth, was for summoning a god.

I must confirm here who sides with the Gigantes.

When the descent ritual succeeds, the aura it emits will alert the gods. Before long, the gods' attacks will overturn this mountain.

There’s no way Gaia wouldn’t know this.

Yet, the reason she attempts to summon someone is...

"A declaration of war from Gaia. A provocation and warning for the failed trap on Naxos Island." "What nonsense is this!" "By the way, who are you, the one behind him? Gigantes are all male. You're not a Gigantes."

The female monster flinched when I struck a nerve. She was a creature with a snake's lower body like the Gigantes, but she didn't feel like one. She was another monster with a similar appearance.

"I am Echidna, the wife of Typhon! I will kill all you hateful gods!"

Typhon’s wife, so that was it.

The motive is clear. Gaia must have told her about the bizarre ritual circle.

"Come to me! Great Titan, who exists everywhere and never disappears!"

Splat!

Echidna raised a dagger high and stabbed herself in the chest. Though she fell, a mighty divine power spread from her wound, shaking the cave.

Rumble—

A body growing stiff.

Time gradually slowing down.

Soon, Echidna, who had stabbed herself in the chest, stood up and looked at me.

This was a strategy even Gaia wouldn’t be pleased with, using poison to control poison...

The Mother Earth Goddess must truly want to drive us out.

"It’s been a while, my eldest son, Hades. Did you miss your father?"

To think they would bring the consciousness of Kronos, imprisoned in Tartarus, to the mortal world.