The King of the Underworld is Tired

Chapter 150: Interlude – A Story of Strange Heroes

(The Story of Theseus is related to the main story, but The Story of  Heracles is a side story unrelated to the main plot!)

The Hero Theseus

The hero, Theseus, was born of Aegeus (Aigeus), king of Athens, and Aethra (Aithra), princess of Troezen.

After spending a night with Aethra, Aegeus left a token hidden under a large rock and departed, telling her to send their son to him once he was born.

“Huff! Mother! Are you sure Father left this here?”

“Yes. There’s a token beneath it… but it seems like it’s still too much for you.”

Theseus was born to Aethra, and as a child, he attempted to lift the rock but failed.

In order to gain the strength needed to lift it, he headed to the hero training academy in Thebes.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

“Click. There goes Theseus, knocked flying by Python’s tail again.”

“Where did he break something today? Hopefully, it’s not his head.”

After going through rigorous training, battling all manner of monsters and dead heroes from the Underworld,

Theseus returned to Troezen as an adult. He looked at the rock again...

“Haa!”

Crash!

With his bare fist, he smashed the rock and retrieved the sword and sandals beneath it.

Naturally, Aethra told him that his father was the king of Athens, Aegeus.

Theseus set out to find his father in Athens.

Along the way, he encountered many monsters and villains, all of whom he defeated.

The first villain he met was Periphetes.

Periphetes lurked in the forest, killing travelers with a bronze club. Theseus seized the club from him and killed him with it.

The second villain was Sinis.

Sinis would tie people to two bent pine trees and then release the trees, tearing them apart.

Feigning vulnerability, Theseus allowed himself to be tied to a pine tree.

The moment Sinis released it, Theseus yanked the tree out of the ground with brute strength.

Crack... Boom!

“Hey.”

“H-Heek!”

“This makes for good training. I’d love for you to experience it yourself.”

And so Sinis met the same end he had given others.

The third villain was Sciron.

He robbed passersby and forced them to wash his feet at a cliff’s edge, only to kick them off the cliff afterward.

But Theseus beat Sciron and made him wash his feet, and once his feet were clean, Theseus kicked him off the cliff to his death.

He also dealt with Cercyon, a cruel king who challenged travelers to wrestling matches to the death,

and Procrustes, who would stretch or cut down travelers to fit the length of his bed.

He even killed Phaia, a vicious boar that roamed between Megara and Corinth, earning even greater fame.

He was acknowledged by King Aegeus, who had no children until then, and rose to the position of prince of Athens.

“Father, I’ll go kill the Minotaur in Crete.”

“Hmm…”

“If I return alive, I’ll sail back with a white sail; if I die, I’ll use a black sail.”

Afterward, Theseus easily killed the bull-headed monster, the Minotaur, in Crete and began his return journey with the princess Ariadne.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Though Dionysus tried to take Ariadne from him along the way,

the goddess of justice intervened, allowing Theseus to return safely with a white sail and marry Princess Ariadne.

* * *

Somewhat Strange Twelve Labors – (1)

The great hero, Heracles.

No one would deny that he was the greatest hero of Greece.

But even he had his struggles…

Especially with his 11th labor: retrieving the golden apples.

“Huff… If you were to fight the dragon Ladon, who guards the golden apple tree, neither of you would come out unscathed.”

“Then what should I do?”

“You’ll have to ask Atlas, who holds up the sky, to bring it for you.”

Having killed the eagle tormenting the prophetic Titan, Prometheus, in exchange for advice, Heracles headed to Atlas.

But Atlas, who supported the heavens, told him,

“Tch. You want the golden apples? My daughters, the Hesperides, guard the tree, so I could get them for you.”

“Then…”

“You hold up the sky for a bit, and I’ll fetch the golden apples.”

Heracles nodded and took Atlas’s place, holding up the heavens.

For the first time, he felt a weight that even his strength struggled with.

“Ghh!”

The weight of the heavens was heavy, even for Heracles. But… heavy? For someone who never struggled with weight, feeling strain meant… exercise!

After some time, Atlas returned with the golden apples, shocked at the scene before him.

The mortal son of Zeus had begun exercising, using the heavens as weights.

Thud, thud, thud…

“Huff… Huff… You’re… Huff… back? This is some… Huff… workout!”

“…Are my eyes damaged from one of Zeus’s lightning bolts?”

Heracles was performing squats under the weight of the heavens, strengthening his legs.

For a mortal to bear the weight of the sky without being crushed was already reaching the domain of the gods, but using it for exercise?

Atlas gestured for Heracles to stop and, taking his place, lifted the sky once more.

Heracles looked at Atlas, slightly puzzled at how easily he resumed holding up the sky.

“…?”

Atlas looked at Heracles, who, even after receiving the golden apple, showed no sign of leaving and instead displayed a curious expression. Atlas chuckled softly.

The man may boast an inhuman strength, but in moments like this, he’s still just a mortal, he thought to himself.

“Why? Are you surprised I didn’t try to pass the burden of holding up the sky onto you?”

“To be honest, yes. Prometheus himself warned me you might, and even gave me a few tips…”

"Let me guess—he told you to claim you needed to get into a proper stance and reposition the lion skin on your shoulder so you could lift it again?"

“…How did you know?”

Atlas burst into laughter at Heracles’s stunned expression.

Prometheus must have gone numb from the daily torture of having his liver eaten, dulling his senses to pain!

“No matter how strong you may be for a mortal, you cannot hold the sky indefinitely. Only a Titan like me can bear such a burden.”

“……”

“At first, I resented Zeus for giving me this task. Since it wasn’t even the Titans’ sky, I thought of just tossing it aside…”

“…Then why didn’t you?”

“Because I realized that there’s a lot riding on my shoulders.”

Atlas’s gaze drifted as though seeing something far away.

For a moment, the grandeur of a Titan who once ruled the world emanated from him, pressing down on Heracles.

“Under this sky are my daughters, the Hesperides, Calypso, and countless mortal descendants.”

“Hmm…”

“So how could I ever abandon it? Beneath me flourish countless lives and descendants.”

The great god holding up the sky returned to his original stance, and, moved by his words, Heracles bowed his head in respect to the mighty Titan before taking the golden apple and departing.

* * *

An Odd Task Among the Twelve Labors - (2)

The Twelve Labors of Heracles.

The final task was to bring back Cerberus, the gatekeeper of the Underworld.

And so Heracles descended into the Underworld.

As he lingered by the Acheron River, he was spotted by Charon, the ferryman of the Acheron.

“A living man? I cannot ferry you to the Underworld.”

“I am Heracles, a mortal sent by Lady Hera to complete a task. Please, allow me passage.”

“Get lost, mortal.”

Usually, at this point, people would either give up or beg, but Heracles was different.

Flaring up in anger, he raised his club and pointed it at Charon.

“You refuse to ferry me across? Think again!”

“Oh?”

It was a frightening aura, as if he intended to pummel a god without a second thought.

However, Charon wasn’t the least bit intimidated. Though he spent his days rowing souls across the river…

He was, after all, the son of Erebos, the god of darkness, and Nyx, the goddess of night.

The son of primordial deities who existed long before even the three major gods of Olympus.

No matter how strong Heracles was, no threat could sway him.

After all, the gap between gods and mortals was vast.

Threats from a mortal—even a powerful one like Heracles—couldn’t faze a being of high divine status, let alone one descended from the primordial gods.

But…

“Fine, I’ll ferry you across!”

“…What?”

“Only, once we get there, give me a few good hits.”

“What?”

“This young one. You’re a bit slow on the uptake, aren’t you? I’m saying I want to take a break and need an excuse to do so. If I’m beaten up badly enough, I can claim my injuries and get some rest! With your strength, you could probably fool even Hades… that’ll do!”

“…Alright.”

“Haha! But if you break the deal, I’ll toss you into the Acheron!”

A heavy aura emanated from the shabby ferryman, and only then did Heracles realize he was dealing with a high-ranking deity, so he nodded in understanding.

“Here. Aim for my head.”

“…Like this?”

Crack.

“Ha! Isn’t this what those muscles of yours are for? Hit harder! Make it believable enough to fool Hades!”

“Ah, alright…”

Wham!

After receiving a mighty blow from a mortal, Charon collapsed with a bright smile.

He tossed aside his oar and closed his eyes, and soon a snore escaped him.

Snore… snore…

“…Unbelievable.”

Thus, Charon’s first break since the dawn of time…

was interrupted by Hades himself, who found him sprawled out, snoring between the Acheron and Cocytus rivers.

For the crime of daring to rest on the job—no, for the crime of allowing a living man into the Underworld—he was sentenced to a year in chains.