Chapter 76
"He's a spy consumed by madness! Kill him!"
"Uaaah! Huaah!"
Clang! Clash!
This place suddenly turned into a battlefield with swords and spears flying.
The man whose eyes had turned red rushed at the soldiers, using his muscles to their fullest and cutting down one soldier.
Splash-
Red blood sprayed inside the once-peaceful room, and furniture scattered around was being destroyed.
Philatos couldn't exactly grasp what was happening.
The only certain things were that the man's condition was somehow strange and that the soldiers seemed accustomed to this situation.
"Uaaah!"
"Ugh. Such strength!"
"Priest! The guy..."
He quickly moved to help the soldiers.
Philatos swiftly circled behind the madman, drew his sword from his waist, and raised it high.
He struck down hard on the crazed man's shoulder with his well-practiced swordsmanship.
The sharp blade, well-honed on a whetstone, flashed with a cold light.
"Hup!"
Slash-
The muscular man's arm was severed by Philatos's great strength, famous even in Sparta, causing a fountain of blood.
However, the man consumed by madness didn't yield and instead rushed forward.
Philatos tried to retrieve his sword and swing again, but the madman was too close.
He was surprised by the unusually strong power of this monstrous person.
"Ugh!"
He barely blocked the madman's attack with his sword, but that was all.
How could someone with one arm cut off use such strong force?
As he gritted his teeth, wondering if he was about to meet Thanatos...
"Huaah! Ah..."
Thud.
Suddenly, the madman's movements stopped, and he collapsed powerlessly.
Then, a priest who had been extending his hand from a distance spoke.
"He can't resist the power of God Hypnos forever."
So he was a priest of Hypnos, the god of sleep.
The madman was dragged away by soldiers, but Philatos was still being watched cautiously.
"Tch. It's been a while since the last one.. Well, it was about time..."
The middle-aged priest held out the mysterious stone to him.
"Are you the last one? Quickly place your hand on the stone. If you're sane, nothing will happen."
"Hmm... Alright. I'm in my right mind.."
Whoosh-
A white light, the same as those who passed before. Not the red light that was evidence of madness.
Philatos sighed in relief, and the soldiers relaxed their guard.
"From now on, I'll guide these people. You can go about your business now."
"Yes, Priest."
"Then we'll take our leave."
Only three people passed this strange test.
They followed the middle-aged priest, who dismissed all the soldiers and was now guiding the three alone.
What was this strange test, and what was that madman?
Why did the gods make those who want to become heroes undergo such a test?
***
The place they arrived at was a room in the deepest part of the temple.
The faces of the three who had passed through strict security to get here were not looking good.
"Now, everyone look at this parchment."
"What is this?"
"It's the third test. Read the parchment carefully and swear by the River Styx that you'll abide by everything written there."
"Wh-What?! The River Styx?!"
"Is this really necessary?"
An oath on the River Styx is an immutable law that can never be broken.
But there were too many restrictions written on this parchment.
"Prohibition of disclosure about everything you'll see and hear from now on, including indirect methods like writing or drawing..."
"Once signed, you must follow the control until you take your first steps as a hero? And..."
"I-I can't do this! How can you expect us to do this?"
One of the three who passed the test waved his hands and expressed his refusal.
Another also turned pale after looking at too many prohibition clauses.
"I see, two have refused. Then swear that you won't reveal anything about the tests you've taken in Thebes so far, and you can leave."
"...Understood. I swear by the River Styx that I will not reveal anything I've seen or heard in this 'test' to anyone..."
"I too..."
The two left the way they came, but Philatos didn't give up.
He couldn't give up after coming all the way from Sparta to become a hero.
"I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by everything written on this parchment."
"Oh ho... So there was one hero after all. Well, not yet, but..."
"Now that I've sworn, can you tell me about the process so far?"
The middle-aged male priest nodded at his question.
"I can't tell you everything... but the stone you saw earlier is imbued with the power of God Dionysus."
"The power of the god of madness...?"
"Of course, it doesn't drive sane people mad, but it's an object that makes those already consumed by madness unable to resist."
"So that's why you used the term spy. Some other god..."
"You know about the snake monsters that appeared all over Greece before, right? Think of them as spies sent by that side."
Philatos knew about the snake monsters, the Gigas.
He couldn't not know about the powerful monsters that destroyed temples and killed heroes and demigods all over Greece.
But monsters using humans driven mad as spies?
Surely he had been caught up in a complex battle between gods.
"Damn... I shouldn't get involved in the affairs of gods... But it can't be helped. Now that it's come to this..."
"Heh heh. You've thought well. Finally, one person after nearly a month."
The middle-aged priest opened the inner door of the room.
Stone stairs leading downward appeared before them, with torches hung at regular intervals on both walls.
"Follow me this way."
"It looks like a place for some kind of ritual."
"You'll see if you follow me, haha."
Trudge. Trudge.
And so, when Philatos reached somewhere underground, before his eyes...!
Whoosh-
A space, no, a rift appeared where an ominous current was clearly swirling.
A rift emitting black light, as if space itself had shattered and connected somewhere, was open wide enough for several people to pass through.
"Wh-What is this?! I've never seen anything like this in my life...! Is this the power of an Olympian god?"
"It's a gate to the underworld. If you enter here, you can receive lessons to become a hero."
"The... The... The underworld?!"
The underworld. Or the realm of the dead.
Wasn't that place, Pluto's domain, only accessible to the dead?
To think they're raising heroes there. So this is why such a thing was created under Pluto's temple...
As he hesitated, the priest's advice reached his ears.
"You've sworn an oath on the River Styx with a non-disclosure clause, so I won't force you."
"Hmm!"
"If you're destined to be a hero, you'll pass through this. If not, you'll give up."
Philatos couldn't easily take a step despite the words that pricked his pride.
How could a living person cross into the underworld?
"But if you eat food from the underworld, you can't return to the world of the living, right?"
"Of course, the food you'll eat is brought from the living world at regular intervals."
"I guess there's a pile of food from the living world on the other side."
Is it really necessary to train in the underworld to walk the path of a hero?
Maybe he should look for another way...
"...Did everyone else go through this process too?"
"Of course. Some who came this far gave up, and some are training inside."
"For Pluto to personally raise heroes in his domain, what is this..."
The priest spoke again calmly to the astonished Philatos.
"Doesn't it mean the gods are that interested? The choice is yours."
"To the underworld... hmm..."
There's no possibility that this priest is deceiving him.
What Pluto's followers fear most is judgment in the underworld.
Pluto's followers, who believe that the sins of the living world are fairly punished in the underworld, rarely commit crimes.
After pondering for a long time, he slowly walks forward.
A step towards becoming a hero.
"...I'll go to the underworld. I will surely become a hero and kill those Gigas!"
"Oh ho. I wish you good fortune."
As the strange spatial rift gradually drew closer, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
***
Whoosh-
Philatos, having passed through the rift, couldn't help but be greatly surprised by the scenery of the underworld.
"Is this... the underworld?!"
It felt different from the underworld he had imagined.
He had stepped in prepared for a dark and gloomy space of death,
but instead, rocky ravines and vast plains spread out in all directions, and there was even some light shining.
Green grass grew on the ground like a meadow, and there were even trees.
Feeling that it was too unlike the underworld, he spoke as if entranced.
"Have I died and come to Elysium...?!"
"Of course not! Haha! The real Elysium is incomparable to this place."
Turning his head at the sudden voice from beside him, he saw a semi-transparent centaur.
Clearly a dead soul, he was looking down at Philatos with a hearty laugh.
"Hm?! Y-You are?"
"I am Chiron. I'll be your teacher from now on, a centaur."
"The wise Chiron?!"
Chiron's reputation was still strong even after his death.
Philatos finally realized why they were raising heroes in the underworld.
"But is this really the underworld? Why does it look similar to the living world...?"
"That's because various gods, including the goddess of spring, used their power out of concern that the living wouldn't adapt to the underworld. Just don't cross beyond the barrier you see over there."
"Goddess Persephone... I see."
Indeed, beyond that visible space, the scenery of the underworld filled with complete darkness could be seen.
He could instinctively sense it. If he crossed that boundary, he would meet death.
The space allowed for hero aspirants from the living world was only around this ravine.
But this much space was enough.
To think the wise Chiron would teach directly, I'm glad I came to Thebes!
However... that sentiment was instantly shattered.
Whoosh- Crash!
"Gaaack!"
A human figure flew from far away and crashed into a rock, splattering blood.
The person who just flew seemed to be a fellow hero aspirant like him.
Hastily turning his head, what Philatos saw was...
"Arrrgh!"
"No, I heard they were weakened after death, but why are they so strong!"
"Think a bit! Are we God Apollo or something?"
"Uaaah! Just die already!"
Roaaar!!!
"Use some strength! Aren't you a demigod?"
"I've been giving it my all since... Gack!"
"Damn! Protos is down!"
Crack- Crash!
An enormously large and indescribably powerful...
Semi-transparent snake monster was casually swatting away hero aspirants rushing in from all directions with its tail.
It was just lightly touching them, but people were flying, shields were breaking, it was utter chaos.
Clang! Ting!
"Damn it all! Shoot arrows at its eyes!"
"Just die already, damn it!"
Despite this, the heroes were gritting their teeth and charging in.
But there was no sign of their attacks having any effect on the monster.
"Ah. That's the serpent king Python. Lord Hades lent it to train the heroes."
"Wait, is that the same Python that God Apollo himself killed?"
"Is there another Python besides that one?"
Philatos, dumbfounded at the idea of having to face a monster that even a god had to personally kill, asked a question,
but Chiron merely questioned back.
"Do we have to face such a monster?"
"...? Didn't you come to the underworld wanting to become a hero?"
"But..."
It's true that he stepped into the underworld with abundant courage.
But... but...
"Oh, by the way, thanks to Pluto's grace, you don't die easily in the underworld, so don't worry."
"...You're saying we can't even die?"
He wanted to go back to the world of the living.