King of Underworld

Chapter 76 A Slightly Different Story of Thebes – (2)

“He’s a spy consumed by madness! Kill him!”

“Argh! Hyaaa!”

Clang! Clang!

In an instant, the room turned into a chaotic battlefield filled with spears and swords.

The muscular man, his eyes bloodshot, charged at the soldiers and used his strength to cut down one of them.

Slash—

Blood splattered across the previously calm room, and furniture was smashed to pieces.

Philatos couldn’t fully grasp what was happening.

The only thing he knew for sure was that the man had lost his mind, and the soldiers seemed used to dealing with such situations.

“Uraaaah!”

“Damn it! He’s too strong!”

“Priest! We need to…!”

Philatos quickly moved to assist the soldiers.

He slipped behind the madman, drew the sword from his waist, and raised it high.

Following the sword techniques he had trained in, he aimed a fierce strike at the man’s shoulder.

The blade gleamed sharply as it swung down with a chilling flash.

“Hah!”

Splat—

Thanks to his brute strength, well-known even in Sparta, Philatos severed the man’s arm, causing a fountain of blood to gush out.

However, despite losing an arm, the crazed man lunged forward, undeterred.

Philatos tried to ready his sword for another strike, but the man was already too close.

He was taken aback by the incredible strength the madman still possessed.

“Ugh!”

Philatos barely managed to block the attack, but that was all.

How could a man with one arm still be this strong?

Just as Philatos braced himself, thinking he might meet Thanatos, the god of death…

“Hyaa! Ugh…”

Thud.

Suddenly, the madman froze in place and collapsed, limp.

A priest, standing a short distance away with an outstretched hand, spoke up.

“He couldn’t resist the power of Hypnos, god of sleep.”

So, he was a priest of Hypnos.

The madman was dragged away by the soldiers, but Philatos still felt uneasy under the watchful eyes of the others.

“Tsk. It’s been a while since the last one… but it was about time.”

The middle-aged priest approached Philatos, holding out the same mysterious stone.

“Are you the last one? Go ahead, place your hand on the stone. If you’re sane, nothing will happen.”

“Hm… Fine. I’m perfectly sane.”

Flash—

Like the others who had passed before him, the stone glowed with a soft white light—nothing like the red glow of madness.

Philatos let out a small sigh of relief, and the soldiers lowered their guard.

“I’ll take them from here. You may return to your duties now.”

“Yes, Priest.”

“Then, we’ll take our leave.”

Only three had passed this strange test.

With the soldiers dismissed, the middle-aged priest led the three of them deeper into the temple.

What was the purpose of this strange test? And what exactly was that madman?

Why were the gods subjecting would-be heroes to such trials?

* * *

The room they were led to was located deep within the temple, guarded by an unusually high level of security.

None of the three seemed comfortable as they followed the priest inside.

“Alright, take a look at this parchment.”

“And what is this?”

“This is your third test. Read it carefully, and swear by the River Styx to abide by everything written here.”

“W-what?! The River Styx?!”

“Is that really necessary?”

Swearing by the River Styx was a binding oath that could never be broken.

But the conditions written on the parchment were overwhelming.

“You’re forbidden from disclosing anything you see or hear from now on, whether in writing, speech, or even indirectly…”

“Once you sign, you must follow orders until you’re recognized as a hero? And… there’s more…”

“I… I can’t do this! How can anyone agree to this?”

One of the three immediately threw up his hands and refused.

The other also turned pale as he read through the endless list of prohibitions.

“Alright, two of you are refusing. Then swear by the River Styx that you won’t reveal anything about the tests you’ve taken so far and leave.”

“…I understand. I swear by the River Styx that I won’t disclose anything about what I’ve seen or heard during these trials.”

“Me as well…”

The two left the way they had come, but Philatos wasn’t ready to give up.

He had traveled all the way from Sparta to become a hero—he couldn’t quit now.

“I swear by the River Styx to abide by the terms written on this parchment.”

“Oh… So, we have at least one potential hero. Though you’re not quite a hero yet…”

“Now that I’ve made the oath, can you at least explain what’s been going on?”

The middle-aged priest nodded in response to Philatos’ question.

“I can’t tell you everything… but that stone you touched earlier contains the power of Dionysus.”

“The god of madness?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t cause madness—it reveals those already consumed by it.”

“So, that’s why you called him a spy. Was he sent by another god?”

“You’ve heard of the serpent monsters, the Gigantes, that ravaged Greece recently, right? Think of him as a spy sent from that side.”

Philatos nodded in recognition.

He was well aware of the Gigantes, powerful monsters that had destroyed temples and killed heroes and demigods across Greece.

But the idea that these monsters could use madness to turn humans into spies…?

Surely, this was some sort of divine conflict.

“Damn it… I know we mortals shouldn’t get involved in the affairs of the gods, but… It’s too late now.”

“Haha. You’re a wise man. It’s been almost a month since we found someone willing to continue.”

The priest opened a door at the far end of the room.

A stone staircase leading downward was revealed, with torches lining the walls at regular intervals.

“Follow me.”

“This feels like the entrance to some kind of ritual.”

“You’ll find out soon enough, haha.”

Step. Step.

Philatos followed the priest down the stairs, and when they reached the bottom…!

Whirl—

A strange current of dark energy swirled in front of them. It wasn’t just any space—it was a tear in the very fabric of reality.

A rift, large enough for several people to pass through, emitted an ominous black light, as if the space itself had shattered.

“W-what is this?! I’ve never seen anything like it! Is this the power of the Olympian gods?”

“This is a gate to the Underworld. If you enter, you’ll begin your training to become a hero.”

“The… Underworld?!”

The Underworld—Hades’ realm.

It was supposed to be a place only the dead could enter.

How could they train heroes in the Underworld? And why had such a portal been created beneath Pluto’s temple?

As Philatos hesitated, the priest offered some advice.

“You’ve sworn an oath by the River Styx, so I won’t force you. But if you have what it takes to become a hero, you’ll go through with it. If not, you’ll turn back.”

His pride wounded by the priest’s words, Philatos found himself unable to move.

How could a living person enter the Underworld?

“But… if I eat the food of the Underworld, won’t I be unable to return to the mortal world?”

“Of course. The food you’ll eat is brought from the mortal world at regular intervals.”

“So, there will be plenty of food from the mortal world on the other side.”

Should he really train in the Underworld to become a hero?

Maybe there was another way…

“…Did others go through this as well?”

“Naturally. Some gave up, while others are training in there right now.”

“The fact that Pluto himself is training heroes in his realm… This is…”

Still in shock, Philatos asked, only to be met with a calm response from the priest.

“This only shows how much the gods care about this matter. The choice is yours.”

“The Underworld… Hmm…”

Philatos knew the priest wasn’t lying.

Followers of Pluto feared one thing above all—judgment in the Underworld.

Believing that every sin committed in life would be punished fairly in death, Pluto’s followers rarely committed crimes.

After a long moment of contemplation, Philatos took a deep breath and stepped forward.

This was his first step toward becoming a hero.

“…I will enter the Underworld. I will become a hero and kill those Gigantes!”

“Well then. Good luck.”

As the strange rift loomed closer, Philatos gritted his teeth and stepped through.

* * *

Whoosh—

Passing through the rift, Philatos was utterly astonished by the sight of the Underworld.

“This is… the Underworld?!”

It wasn’t at all what he had imagined.

Expecting a dark, eerie place filled with death, he instead found himself in a vast canyon, bathed in light, with green grass and trees growing around him.

The area felt nothing like the Underworld, and he couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

“Am I dead? Is this the Elysian Fields…?”

“Of course not! Haha! The real Elysium is much grander than this.”

Startled by the voice, Philatos turned to see a semi-transparent centaur standing nearby.

Clearly a departed soul, the centaur looked down at him with a hearty laugh.

“Who… Who are you?”

“I’m Chiron. I’ll be your teacher from now on.”

“The wise Chiron?!”

Even after his death, Chiron’s reputation was still well-known.

Finally, Philatos understood why the Underworld was being used to train heroes.

“But… is this really the Underworld? It looks so much like the mortal world…”

“That’s because the goddess of spring and other deities worked together to make sure the living could adapt here. Just don’t cross the barrier over there.”

“Lady Persephone… I see.”

Beyond the visible boundary lay the true Underworld, a vast expanse of darkness.

Philatos instinctively knew that crossing that boundary would mean certain death.

For now, the hero candidates were restricted to this gorge.

But even this much space was enough.

Chiron himself was going to train them! Philatos was glad he had come to Thebes!

But that relief didn’t last long.

Whoosh—BOOM!

“Ugh!”

A figure was flung through the air, spewing blood, and slammed into a rock.

The person who had just been thrown seemed to be another hero candidate.

Philatos quickly turned his head, and what he saw was…

“Raaaaargh!”

“Aren’t they supposed to be weaker now that they’re dead?! Why are they so strong?!”

“Think, man! Do we look like Apollo?!”

“Uwaaah! Just die already!”

Hiss—

“Come on! You’re supposed to be a demigod!”

“I’m giving it all I’ve got—ugh!”

“Damn it! Protos is down!”

Crash—BOOM!

A colossal, translucent serpent monster thrashed about, knocking the hero candidates away with just a flick of its tail.

Even with only light movements, people were sent flying, shields shattered, and chaos reigned.

Clang! Ting!

“Damn it! Shoot it in the eye with an arrow!”

“Just die already, you monster!”

Despite their desperate efforts, none of the heroes’ attacks seemed to have any effect on the creature.

“Ah… that’s Python, the giant serpent. Lord Hades lent it to us for training the heroes.”

“Wait, you mean the Python that Apollo killed?!”

“Is there another Python?”

Hearing they had to face a monster that a god had to kill, Philatos was left speechless.

“Do we really have to fight that thing?”

“…Didn’t you come to the Underworld to become a hero?”

“But…”

He had taken that first step toward becoming a hero, filled with courage.

But… but…

“Oh, don’t worry. Thanks to Lord Pluto, you won’t die easily here.”

“…I can’t even die?!”

For the first time, Philatos wanted to return to the mortal world.