Chapter 10: The Tale of Tartarus - (1)

Tartarus. The deepest hell of the Underworld, the realm of the abyss. The deepest and most secretive place in the Underworld, where even the dwelling of Nyx, the goddess of night, exists.

It's also the space where the Titan gods who were defeated by us Olympian gods are imprisoned. And now I'm about to head there.

If you ask why I need to go to this prison that even gods avoid due to its thick fog...

First, Tartarus is close to the Underworld, my jurisdiction, and it's where extremely dangerous criminals are confined. Although the three Hecatoncheires brothers guard it as gatekeepers, I also have a duty to check it periodically.

If the Titan gods escape from that hell, the primary responsibility would fall on the three brothers, but the secondary responsibility would be mine for not responding quickly enough.

With the Styx sword at my waist and wearing light cowhide sandals, I left the bedroom. The Underworld fortress was always bustling with administrators and lesser gods working hard for the people.

"Let's postpone the assignment of newly arrived souls for now, it's still..."

"Lord Moros will temporarily take over the work... Oh, Lord Hades!"

"I'm glad that many are refusing reincarnation and choosing to stay here."

"I'll go ahead and wait, let's meet for a meal in the living world sometime."

"If we could avoid Lethe's blessing, that is, haha!"

Administrators with parchment scrolls in one hand, giving orders to souls with the other. A senior soldier explaining shift rules to new soul soldiers. Young souls playing pranks, passing through buildings with their translucent bodies. The spirit of an old human talking to neighbors while waiting for reincarnation.

This is the everyday scene of the Underworld I rule.

More and more souls notice me as I walk slowly, observing the people. Administrators and lesser gods tried to follow me to assist, but I waved them off, intending to go alone. Just then, I saw a familiar face.

"Hades, where are you going?"

With extremely tired, blank eyes and a weak voice. This goddess with silver hair reaching her waist and form-fitting clothes that suit her well is Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness.

Usually, she would be staring blankly at the riverbank of the River of Forgetfulness, so why has she come here? It's been a long time since the great flood ended, so there isn't much work for her to help with.

"That look, are you wondering why I came all the way here...?"

Her voice, inducing sleepiness, lingers in my ears. Isn't her soft, drawn-out voice itself encroaching on the domain of Hypnos, the god of sleep?

She trudges over and looks up at me with blank eyes, as if asking why I'm not leaving quickly.

"Yawn... It looks like you're going to Tartarus, let me come along."

No matter how I look at her, she seems more like the goddess of sleep than the goddess of forgetfulness. As it would be lonely to walk to Tartarus alone anyway, I nodded.

Tartarus is the very bottom of the Underworld that humans fear. The path leading there is guarded by numerous soul soldiers I've deployed.

"We greet Lord Hades."

"Glory to the Lord of the Underworld."

Souls wearing translucent armor and holding spears bow their heads to me and Goddess Lethe. I offered cursory encouragement to the guards working hard to protect the path to Tartarus today as well.

"May glory be with Goddess Lethe as well."

"Yeah... Yeah... Good job..."

We passed by the hearths that Hestia came down to the Underworld to make herself, heading towards an increasingly dark place. The path going down gradually narrowed, and a chilly air began to surround us.

***

After passing through a stuffy space for a while, finally, a wide path appeared, and then a bronze fortress shrouded in mist came into view in an open space. As we approached, the massive bronze gates made by Poseidon himself and the endlessly stretching thick bronze walls greeted me.

The three Hecatoncheires brothers guarding this place... are over there.

Giant gods, each with 50 heads and 100 hands, look this way. When 300 eyes of the three brothers combined look this way, it gives an indescribable feeling.

"Hey, Hades. It's been a while."

"Hmm? Hades has come. You must be busy with Underworld affairs..."

"Have you finally married Lethe beside you?"

Numerous heads attached to the bodies of the three giants greet me and Goddess Lethe. I greeted them back cheerfully, meeting them after a long time.

But marriage? Goddess Lethe and I aren't in that kind of relationship.

"It seems right, seeing you holding hands."

"Didn't Hades have Styx?"

"Hahaha! Well, you look affectionate, and that's good."

Holding hands... What are they talking about? I should have come down here a bit apart from Goddess Lethe.

Hearing their words, I feel warmth in my left hand. A soft, small goddess's hand.

Looking to the side, Goddess Lethe releases her hand gently with her usual blank expression. No, her face seems to be turning slightly red...

"Please suppress your power of forgetfulness a bit more."

"Tch... Can't I just hold your hand...?"

Goddess Lethe, who handles the power of forgetfulness, slowly makes surrounding living beings forget even without doing anything. Of course, there are clear limits. The more wary of her one is, and the stronger one is, the less effective her power becomes.

Still, it's possible for her to play small pranks and make things temporarily forgotten when I let my guard down. Everything would be remembered again if I moved even a little away from her.

As expected of the granddaughter of Nyx, one of the primordial gods, to make me forget the fact that she had sneakily approached and held my hand.

I need to be more alert from now on. Who knows what kind of prank she'll play next.

As I circulate a small amount of divine power, my head clears, and Lethe's power is instantly swept away.

"It's too much, always keeping only Styx by your side..."

"I've never done such a thing, though?"

I shook my head at Goddess Lethe, who spoke in a sulky tone but with her usual blank face. And I've never kept only Goddess Styx by my side. The Styx sword, maybe, but not the goddess.

"Kekeke! Not yet, huh?"

"Hades, Zeus and Poseidon have all found their partners, why haven't you yet..."

"Why don't you ask Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, to set you up?"

Zeus's consort is naturally Hera, the queen of gods. And Poseidon held a wedding with Amphitrite, a goddess of the sea.

Of course, I was invited to the wedding held under the sea, where I could see thousands of sea creatures speaking like humans. There was even a seahorse crying because its father had recently gone to my Underworld.

I did find him later in the Underworld and gave him some conveniences, but is this the weight of being the god of the Underworld? It could be seen as the responsibility, or the burden placed on the king of the realm of the dead.

The increase in my subjects means an increase in the sorrow of the living beings in the world above. As wars, famines, and great floods occur, the power of the Underworld grows stronger, but I couldn't simply be happy about it.

"Anyway, tell us what's happening outside."

"Didn't they say they were creating life?"

"I wonder how Zeus, who saved us, is doing."

I appropriately conveyed the news of what had happened outside to them. One might think I could just send a messenger to inform them periodically, but this is a sign of respect.

Respect for the three brothers who made great contributions in the war against the Titan gods. If I, the lord of the Underworld, come down here personally to talk, they won't feel mistreated.

"What?! Exterminate the life called humans?"

"Hmm... A great flood... Poseidon must have had a hard time."

"Prometheus ended up getting on Zeus's bad side, tsk tsk..."

"That's right, his prophetic abilities were very helpful during the war..."

The three brothers, Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, show great interest in the outside story I told them. When about 150 heads start murmuring and talking at once, the surroundings are instantly filled with noise.

At that moment, suddenly, a loud sound came from the gate separating Tartarus and the Underworld.

Boom! Thud!

The sound of a prisoner in Tartarus pounding on the bronze gate! The three brothers, Lethe, and I immediately stopped talking and became alert.

Inside Tartarus, hot storms that even gods fear rage incessantly. And it's full of power that suppresses the divine power of the Titan gods, making it difficult to exert power beyond a certain level.

Moreover, while there's little resistance when entering from the outside, when trying to go out from the inside, the raging storm becomes increasingly fierce.

Therefore, not many can break through the increasingly strong storm as they get closer to the bronze gate and pound on it. It's only possible for the top ten strongest among the Titan gods.

For example...

"The voice I just heard must be my eldest son, Hades! Please... please get me out of here!"

My father, Kronus, the god of agriculture and time.