Chapter 30: Sisyphus... The Tale of Thanatos - (1)

In the peaceful realm of the living.

Sisyphus, a demigod born between Aeolus, the god of winds, and a human woman named Enarete.

King Sisyphus, founder of Corinth, was known for his cunning and cleverness.

Among the many tales that demonstrate Sisyphus's wisdom,

One particularly stands out involving Autolycus, a demigod son of Hermes, god of messengers and thieves.

Autolycus regularly used his divine-granted abilities to steal without detection.

When Sisyphus's cattle were stolen by him...

"Look here, my name is engraved beneath these hooves. These are clearly my cattle, and you're the thief."

"S-Shut up! Your men must have secretly engraved that!"

Sisyphus had succeeded in exposing Autolycus's theft by cleverly engraving his name on the cattle's hooves beforehand.

Though Autolycus had used his powers to change the stolen cattle's gender and color, he couldn't deny such clear evidence.

Confident in his wit and wisdom, King Sisyphus would soon make a fatal mistake...

"Are you the river god Asopus?"

"What business does the King of Corinth have with me?"

"I know where your missing daughter, Aegina, has gone."

"What? You know where my daughter is?"

"If you provide clear spring water for Corinth, I'll tell you."

Asopus, convinced by the confident Sisyphus,

Created a spring flowing through the city with a simple gesture to find his missing daughter.

"Your daughter was kidnapped by Zeus."

"Th-This cursed... Is this true?!"

"Indeed. Follow this mountain path, and you'll find Zeus with your daughter."

The river god hurriedly followed Sisyphus's directions.

And soon...

"F-Father... sob..."

"Lord Zeus! How could you do this! Aaaargh!!!"

"Ahem. I'll be taking my leave now."

He found Zeus, who had forcibly violated his daughter Aegina, and his daughter crying in despair.

Though he raged at the fleeing Zeus, it was already too late.

But this wasn't the end.

Zeus had discovered Sisyphus's involvement.

Naturally, Zeus flew into a hypocritical rage.

"How dare a mere human meddle in the affairs of gods! Tell Hades we have a serious criminal - send Thanatos!"

With the King of Gods acting like this, Olympus's future remains very dark indeed…

***

This is the dark Underworld.

Here dwells Thanatos, the god of death, exhausted from constantly controlling his many avatars sent to the world of the living.

The aged god with black wings was actually pleased about this untimely assignment.

"Thanatos. Zeus has contacted us about bringing in some serious criminal to the Underworld."

"Is there truly such a grave offender, Hades?"

"Well... He's requested we send you to Olympus briefly... Please attend to this matter."

"Olympus? It's been so long since I've visited - I'm truly grateful."

"Still, you must return quickly. I'm not even sure if this human truly committed any crime..."

Thanatos rarely had reason to visit Olympus.

Always busy, he was never invited to the feasts of the Olympian gods,

And since its inhabitants were immortal, he had no souls to harvest there.

This was a brief vacation, tacitly approved by Hades who pitied his endless labor.

He could rest a bit while capturing this criminal in Olympus.

Thanatos, silently thanking the Lord of the Underworld who occasionally looked at him with concern,

Ascended to Olympus in his true form, not as an avatar.

"Thanatos! Finally, you're here! Look at that man! How dare a mere human interfere with divine affairs!"

He found Zeus pointing furiously at the mortal realm below.

If a human had meddled in divine affairs...

Perhaps they'd stolen offerings or interfered with the gods' decisions?

Following Zeus's direction, Thanatos observed the human in question.

There sat Sisyphus, founder of Corinth, leisurely drinking wine in his palace.

"But what makes this such a serious crime..."

"Ah, I know something about this human, Thanatos."

Thanatos's question to Zeus was interrupted by another god.

It was Hermes, holding his caduceus.

Usually cheerful, today he wore a sullen expression as he spoke to Thanatos.

"He outsmarted my son, overconfident in his abilities. The power of theft I granted... Tch. He must have upset Father again somehow."

Thanatos somewhat understood the messenger god's sour attitude.

Well, he must have done something wrong. And if Zeus said so, one bothersome human wasn't worth arguing about.

Besides, once brought to the Underworld, Hades or the three judges of Minos would handle the judgment.

So Thanatos spread his black wings and flew leisurely toward the palace of Corinth.

***

This is the palace of Corinth.

Sisyphus shared a secret conversation with his wife and queen, Merope.

"Surely Zeus will send Thanatos after me in vengeance."

"What...? Then... what should we do?"

"Listen carefully, wife. If I die, you must not perform any funeral rites. Understand?"

He was already preparing for Thanatos's arrival.

After warning his wife to prepare for contingencies...

Sisyphus hid behind the bedroom curtain with a large oak club, waiting for Thanatos.

Soon, the god of death entered the bedroom to take Sisyphus to the Underworld.

Sisyphus gripped his club tightly, ready to strike when Thanatos came close.

However...

'Does he think he can evade my senses? Is he mad enough to think he can fell me with a mere club?'

Thanatos couldn't have missed it.

Though Sisyphus was a demigod, he was ordinary except for his wisdom and cunning.

Meanwhile, Thanatos was no lesser deity, but the legitimate son of Nyx, goddess of night.

An elder god respected even by Hades, one of the Big Three, and older than him.

Death personified, with tremendous strength, Thanatos sneered at the foolish mortal.

Thump, thump.

Thanatos walked naturally into the foolish human's bedroom,

And Sisyphus, thinking this was his chance, leaped out swinging his oak club.

"Thanatos! Finally, you've appeared! Take this-"

Whoosh-

To the divine senses of the soul-harvesting god, the club moved painfully slow.

As Thanatos smirked at the foolish human gritting his teeth and swinging the club...

'Wait, if I let him hit me and fall, couldn't I get some rest?'

His thoughts suddenly took a different direction.

Thanatos, god of death, had never known rest since his birth as Nyx's son.

Since death occurs constantly in the mortal world, he had to collect souls every day.

His true form was here now, not an avatar,

If he pretended to fall to this fool's attack, he could rest.

But he worried if it was really okay to take even a brief break.

If he neglected his soul-harvesting duties, the burden would fall on his fellow Underworld gods.

'Ah... Yes, who would do this work if I rest? As an elder god of the Underworld, I should set an example...'

Memories of his fellow gods struggling with their duties flashed through his mind.

No matter how difficult his job was, the other gods too...

"Tsk tsk, Thanatos. Working hard harvesting souls again today. Heh heh heh..."

First there was Hypnos, who had helped a little before the Great Flood,

But once it started, he just pretended to comfort while actually mocking him...

"We're so lucky we're not Thanatos, right Moros?"

"Indeed, Ceres."

Ceres and Moros, death gods themselves but with smaller domains and thus relatively easier jobs.

"Lord Thanatos. I'm always grateful. If I were the god of death..."

And finally that smooth-talking Morpheus with his sly grin!

Come to think of it, these cursed ones never helped but mocked him for their easier lots!

Thanatos's face suddenly twisted in anger.

Then came the self-justification.

Since he's just a demigod, I can say I let my guard down.

If I rest just a bit before returning to work, no one can complain.

Yes, just one day... One day of rest! Just one!

"Gu-gah!"

"-ke! Huh...?"

Before the club even touched Thanatos's head...

He put on a very unconvincing act and collapsed to the floor.

Naturally, the poor human who suddenly gained the infamous reputation of felling a god,

Sisyphus froze in his club-swinging pose.

"....What's going on?"

Sisyphus stood frozen, looking back and forth between his club and the fallen Thanatos,

Before finally binding Thanatos and imprisoning him in the basement, though with an uneasy expression.

But King Sisyphus didn't realize what consequences this action would bring.

Imprisoning the 'true form' of Thanatos, death personified, would affect the very laws of the world.

And from the very next day,

The Underworld's soul management system began to fall into chaos.