King of Underworld

Chapter 151

Gigantomachia - The Omen

Today was no different from any other busy day. Life in the Underworld followed its monotonous cycle. Amidst this peace, a visitor came to see me.

It was Hypnos, the god of sleep, who brings slumber to all beings in the world.

"Hades, have you heard the news?"

"And what news would that be?"

"There's talk that the goddess Thetis has been meeting a mortal."

Hypnos chuckled, clearly entertained by the gossip, and I glanced at him for a moment before responding.

“She’s held contests in the mortal world to find a husband, but none have met her standards thus far, correct?”

Indeed, Thetis desired marriage, but for a goddess as beautiful as she, no mere mortal or even demigod could hope to meet her expectations. And with Zeus’s forceful demands, it was all the more unlikely.

"Naturally! After all, they’re only mortals and demigods. But who would’ve thought? Apparently, there’s finally someone who fits her demanding standards!”

“...?”

"During a recent hunting contest, a human hero managed to capture more than half of the released prey, securing the victory."

"That alone wouldn’t have been enough to capture the goddess’s interest."

Thetis, considered the most beautiful among the Nereids, was rumored to surpass even Poseidon's queen, Amphitrite, in beauty. With such a high standard of beauty among the gods, it’s hard to imagine any mortal meeting her gaze.

"True, winning granted him an audience with the goddess, but do you know what he did when he met her? He asked her to bestow even greater challenges upon him! Ha! Can you believe it?"

“...?!”

"Instead of being swayed by her beauty, he asked for more feats to prove his valor. Thetis, naturally intrigued, set him a task to hunt sea monsters. And he accomplished it all, only to return and ask for even greater challenges! Hah!”

Wait a moment. This reminds me of the heroes who recently hunted the Calydonian boar. Could he be one of the heroes trained here in the Underworld, madly driven by quests and feats?

“After several such feats, Thetis, with no more challenges to assign, said something rather interesting to him. Care to guess?”

"And how do you know all this? Have you been neglecting your duties and wandering the mortal realm?”

“Ahem! I’m not Thanatos—I’d never! I heard this from another god, of course. Anyway, they reportedly had this exchange.”

I listened closely to Hypnos’s ramblings, curious as to how exactly he had won the goddess’s heart.

"I have slain a monster descended from Ceto, as you instructed. Please, assign me another task!"

“There are no more challenges left for you.”

“What?”

“There is but one great feat—one even the mightiest heroes rarely achieve.”

“Anything! Name it! Could it involve slaying a dragon, perhaps?”

“To marry me, the goddess Thetis, and make me your wife. Only the greatest heroes have ever accomplished such a feat, so take pride in it.”

This wedding in Thebes was no ordinary marriage of convenience. It symbolized an alliance between the three nations, drawing the attention of certain gods and many neighboring countries.

The King of the Underworld, feared enough to be addressed by his title alone. The heroes trained at the temple of Pluto in Thebes were already famed throughout Greece for their extraordinary prowess.

Even the mightiest of heroes, Hercules, whose whereabouts had recently become a mystery, was once rumored to have trained in Thebes, wasn’t he?

"Oh, there’s Princess Atalanta! They say she’s fierce, but she’s stunning!”

“Even if she’s not Aphrodite, she rivals the divine beauties...”

Princess Atalanta of Arcadia, celebrated as a master archer, was now marrying Prince Meleager of Calydon, a javelin expert. This union made many of the royalty and heroes think the era was shifting.

Rumor had it that the King of Thebes himself suggested the couple wed in Thebes. Perhaps it was an excuse to solidify an alliance between the two nations?

Thebes was already a major trading power, reaping great benefits from its mint production. With a three-nation alliance, it would gain a secure ally.

Fanfares sound

“Prince Meleager of Calydon enters!”

“The master of the javelin! Prince of Calydon!”

“Woooaaaa!!!”

After the ceremony, the blind prophet Tiresias, stroking his long beard, approached the newlywed couple. For siding with Zeus in an argument with Hera, he had lost his sight but gained prophetic vision and long life, arriving in Thebes as if foreseeing this wedding of heroes.

Recognizing him immediately, Meleager and Atalanta eagerly asked him for guidance.

“Prophet Tiresias, what do you think of my marriage to Atalanta?”

“Hmm...”

Everyone watched Greece’s most famous mortal prophet, waiting for his words. What would he say?

After a moment, Tiresias cleared his throat and spoke calmly.

“I foresee you having children and raising them well. Your future looks very bright.”

“Oh... Thank you, Prophet Tiresias!”

“We’re truly grateful!”

Receiving their thanks, Tiresias once again set off on his wandering path. But perhaps due to his prophetic intuition, he felt that their future wouldn’t be as smooth as it seemed.

In a fleeting memory of a vision, he recalled Meleager, who had once died at his mother’s hand after slaying his uncles, and Atalanta, who had been transformed into a lioness by an angered goddess after marriage...

Yet, as he now glimpsed them holding their child happily in their arms, he dismissed it as nothing more than a long-forgotten dream.

But if not, perhaps it was the intervention of a god?

‘Ah... Could some merciful deity be looking out for these heroes?’

The world turns by the deeds of heroes.

This is, indeed, the age of heroes.