The King of the Underworld is Tired

Chapter 154: Gigantomachia – (2)

Flash! BOOM!  

The light from Zeus’s thunderbolt illuminated the battlefield. Gigantes roared as they hurled boulders and mountains, while the gods, each wielding their divine powers, charged into the fray.  

Not far away, Poseidon swung his trident, summoning the sea around him. The living, surging water lashed out at the Gigantes, striking them down.  

“Die!”  

“This cursed war ends today!”  

CRASH! WHOOSH!  

In an instant, the battle devolved into chaos, with everyone clashing in a frenzy, except in a few areas.  

The most striking sight was King Eurymedon wielding a torch as he faced Zeus, who struck with thunderbolts and his scythe. The torch, seemingly gifted by Gaia herself, remained intact even after clashing with the scythe. But no matter its origin, it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the king of the gods. Without outside interference, Zeus will surely win.

As Poseidon unleashed his power to sweep the battlefield, several Gigantes he had marked earlier closed in and surrounded him.  

The largest and most powerful among them stepped forward and declared:  

"Poseidon, ruler of the sea! I am Polybotes!"

“Your name doesn’t interest me.”  

Elsewhere, Apollo shot arrows that gleamed like sunlight, and Hephaestus transformed into a fiery giant, burning the Gigantes to ash. One by one, the gods found their respective opponents. With the Gigantes holding a numerical advantage, the Olympians would surely lose if the Twelve Olympians and other deities could not turn the tide.  

“HYAAH—UGH!”  

BOOM! THUD!  

Heracles, wielding a special iron club forged by Hephaestus, shattered the mountains the Gigantes hurled at him. Proving his divine might, Heracles rampaged across the battlefield, ferocious and unstoppable. Even as a mortal, his strength rivaled that of the gods; now, as the god of strength and struggle, he stood second to none except the Big Three.  

Laughing savagely, he charged back into the fray, covering in the flash of fallen monsters as if it were his armor.  

“That... that guy’s strength...!”  

“He’s not even one of the Twelve Olympians! How is he so powerful?”  

The snake-like monsters that dared to stand in his way were torn apart or exploded, leaving no trace of their defiance.  

As for me, my role in this battle was clear.  

Rather than taking down countless enemies, I would sow confusion, lower morale, and assassinate their commanders.  

Having made up my mind, I concealed myself using Kynee and slashed with my bident.  

Squelch—Splatter!

The sickening sound of flesh being pierced echoed as Gigantes fell, riddled with holes.  

Staying in one spot would reveal my location. I needed to move faster—like Hermes, the god of speed himself.  

Whoosh!

I twisted my body just in time to dodge a spear hurled by Hera. The spear flew with terrifying speed, skewering monsters and tearing through the air as it went.  

While Kynee allowed me to conceal my existence from any being below the Titan lineage, in a chaotic battlefield like this, it also had its drawbacks.  

After wreaking havoc for some time, I began to draw the attention of the Gigantes.  

“RAARGH!”  

“King of the Underworld! Where are you hiding?”  

“If there are dying brothers, throw rocks at their location!”  

Dodging their thrown boulders and fists, I retaliated with precise thrusts of my bident. Blood splattered as the battlefield turned red, and I spotted a Gigantes commander—a being nearly equal in power to the Twelve Olympians.  

“Heh. Invisible King of the Underworld, do you wish to claim my head?”  

I felt no need to respond. Cutting through the Gigantes that surrounded him, I thrust my bident straight at his neck.  

The Gigantes, though grievously wounded, clutched the weapon and rasped, “I... am... Alcyoneus! Mark my words... you will... regret this!”  

Even as he clutched his bleeding neck, his eyes, burning with hatred toward the gods, scanned the battlefield, locking onto my location.  

His regenerative abilities were extraordinary, far beyond that of other Gigantes. Despite being filled with the power of the Underworld, he remained conscious.  

Although he gripped my bident, I wasn’t in danger. His body was succumbing to my energy, and he was already as good as dead.  

But then—  

“NOW!”  

RUMBLE... CRASH! BOOM!  

Was it a trap?  

Alcyoneus roared, using his life as bait, and the Gigantes hurled a mountain in my direction.  

A mountain crashing directly overhead. Destroying it with full power would alert the enemy to my position, and the gods and monsters fighting nearby could get caught in the crossfire.  

Hmm. Guess I’ll just break through in a straight line.  

* * *

As I broke through the mountain hurled above my head, the expanded battlefield welcomed me.

I could see high ranking gods and commanding Gigantes leaving the plain, each seeking their respective opponent rather than engaging in a chaotic melee.

The Phlegraean Plains were too narrow for the gods to freely fight in such entanglements. As the battlefield gradually expanded, more divine powers and attacks erupted, sweeping through the surroundings.

Whoosh! BOOM!  

Apollo’s beam of light pierced through an incoming boulder, and Artemis’ moonlight instilled madness into the Gigantes. On one side of the battlefield, Dionysus summoned grapevines, their sweet fragrance blanketing the area.

BZZZT... Whoooosh!

“Perish! This is the hellfire even Atlas feared!”  

"Aaaaah! For me, Clytios, to fall like this!!!"

Amidst the carnage, divine powers were unleashed in precise patterns, forming intricate geometric designs. These were the miracles of the goddess of magic herself, Hecate, who strode across the battlefield, incinerating any Gigantes in her path.  

Many dismissed magic as a mere imitation of divine power, the art of mortals trying to emulate gods. But no one dared to disregard Hecate, its creator and ultimate master.  

I can't just stay like this.  

Thud. Thud-thud.

Using divine power, I brushed off the dirt and debris covering my body and thrust my spear at the nearest Gigantes. 

Wait. The number of commanding Gigantes has already significantly decreased, and it seems like we're gradually gaining the upper hand...

Swoosh.

Rather than hiding in my Kyneē right now, it's better to massacre them with full force to crush their morale.  

"Black hair, a spear split into two! It's Hades!"

"Capture him before the King of the Underworld hides again!"

"He took off his Helm of Invisibility himself—what a fool!"

A long time ago, during the Titanomachy, there were people like this too... 

Many considered me merely an assassin, thinking it would be easy to kill me once they found me.  

Compared to the mighty powers of Poseidon's famed trident or Zeus' thunderbolts, renowned for their destructive force... 

The Helm of Invisibility, an assassin's tool for concealment, might indeed seem unimpressive.  

"Return to the Underworld, Hades!"

"For King Eurymedon!"

I waved my hand as I watched the Gigantes charge at me like beasts that had found prey.  

A simple summoning power. The destination: the Underworld.  

Neighhh!

A black chariot, etched with wailing spirits and the forms of sinners being judged, appeared with a furious roar.  

I climbed onto the freshly summoned chariot, urging the ghostly horses shrouded in ethereal flames. They launched forward, powerfully kicking the ground.  

It's true that compared to Zeus or Poseidon, I'm less adept at handling large numbers of enemies, but...  

The one thing they overlooked is this: 

In the past, many Titans thought that without the Helm of Invisibility, I was nothing...  

"Before you can scurry off and hide like a rat again, I'll kill you!"

"The glory of defeating one of the Three Supreme Gods will be mine!"

...And every single one of those who thought that ended up in Tartarus.  

* * *

The war of gods for dominion over the world.  

As mountains, rocks, and divine powers clashed and destroyed everything in sight—  

Hissss—!

"...?"

"Huh?"

Everyone, fighting fiercely to strike down their enemies, momentarily turned their heads.  

Beyond Zeus, battling the king of monsters with deafening thunderbolts at the heart of the battlefield, and Poseidon, sweeping away the Gigantes with surging waves...  

A spine-chilling aura was emanating from elsewhere.  

Crashhhh!

A black figure tore through the center of the battlefield.  

Its crimson energy was incomparable even to the god of war who drove a chariot wreathed in red flames.  

Like a meteor streaking across the night sky, massacring the Gigantes as it charged forward, there was no one who didn’t recognize the name of this god.  

"That's Lord Hades."

"He's finally taking things seriously, huh?"

The King of the Underworld, Hades, had begun to unleash his true power.  

Up until now, he had sown chaos by wearing the Helm of Invisibility, hunting down the commanders of the Gigantes. But now, as the tide of battle turned in Olympus’ favor, he showed the full might of one of the Three Supreme Gods, riding his chariot.  

From the ghostly horse-drawn chariot, Hades swung his bident in all directions, unleashing a jet-black beam of divine power that erased entire spaces.  

Wherever that black divine energy swept, even monsters capable of fighting with gods were obliterated without a trace.  n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Enemies charging forward to stop him were endlessly struck down.  

The battlefield clearly demonstrated Olympus' dominance.  

Unable to restrain all three of the Supreme Gods, the Underworld's ruler rampaged freely. Unlike the immortal divinities, Gigantes who can die, fell one by one.

Squelch.

Countless bodies of monsters collapsed onto the ground.  

And the flesh and fluids of the slain Gigantes...

Were seeping into the earth.