Typhon's Story - (1)
Morpheus said that while he had ascended to the surface to deliver dreams to the living, he spotted an ibis lying on the ground. Its entire body was drenched in blood. The moment he found the sight strange, the ibis transformed into the god Hermes.
"Morpheus... I must see Lord Hades at once..."
"What in the world—?! Lord Hermes?"
Thus Morpheus hurriedly brought him down to the Underworld, where he was now receiving treatment. "Something urgent must have happened on Olympus!"
Hermes was the messenger of the gods and the herald who conveyed Zeus's commands. Born to Maia, daughter of Atlas, and Zeus, he was one of the Twelve Olympians. As was typical of messengers, Hermes was extraordinarily fast. While Iris could cross vast distances like the gap between the Underworld and Olympus by riding rainbows, few gods could match Hermes when he fled at full speed.
Yet a god renowned for such speed lay collapsed at the entrance to the Underworld, covered in blood? Moreover, as one of the Twelve Olympians, his divine status was so high that few would dare lay a hand on him.
Suppressing my rising unease, I entered the room where Hermes lay.
"Lord Hades..."
"...What happened to you, Hermes?"
The young god who had always breathed life into Olympus with his cheerful smile and witty antics was now in a wretched state. His handsome, mischievous face was smeared with blood, and not a single limb remained unscathed. Even as attendants frantically changed his bandages and lesser gods poured their divine power into him to restore his strength, blood continued to seep out.
Hermes glanced at me with his one uncovered eye, and tears welled up in it.
"A monster... There was a monster..."
"Tell me everything. Does Zeus know about this?"
Even a nymph or lesser god dwelling in nature would be unable to utter a single word with injuries this severe. Only because he was one of the Twelve who sat upon Olympus's golden thrones could he still speak.
"...It was an ordinary banquet on Olympus... when a monster calling itself Typhon struck the hall with a single blow..."
From his halting account, I pieced together what had happened. During a banquet held as usual among the Olympian gods, an enormous hand had slammed down upon the hall. Zeus had been gravely wounded by the sudden strike and hurled his thunderbolt, but the monster merely flinched. The creature that introduced itself as Typhon had the form of a Gigante—upper body of a human, lower body of a serpent. Heat comparable to Hephaestus's flames poured from its eyes, and storms raged across its entire body. It was a terrifying sight.
The other gods had been struck down or fled in an instant. Zeus had remained until the end, swinging the Scythe in resistance, but ultimately...
"It was bad enough that he had to use the Scythe?"
"Yes... Neither Lord Poseidon's Triaina nor Father's Astraphe could even scratch it..."
The Scythe. The adamantine sickle Father Cronus had used to castrate Uranus. Gaia herself had forged that weapon. For its hide to be so tough that the Scythe was required...
Yet Typhon... The name stirred a sense of unease. I knew it from somewhere. Though countless ages had passed and oblivion had eroded my memories of my previous life, the intense or important ones occasionally resurfaced. If I could recall it this clearly, then in myth it must have been an extraordinarily powerful monster.
"Father... Lord Zeus was caught in its grasp... He told me to go to the Underworld and ask for help..."
"Keep talking."
"That monster laughed and struck my legs... Please, Uncle, help Olympus!"
Hermes, the fastest of Olympus, had tried to flee on the spot, but had been caught in the storm that enveloped the mountain. Typhon had let the other gods escape without a second glance, yet sneered at Hermes and struck his legs. A single blow had left the messenger god's legs hideously twisted. To escape the monster's notice, he had transformed into a small ibis and fled.
Having forced himself to remain conscious just to deliver the news of Olympus's plight, Hermes lost consciousness shortly after finishing his tale. It was only natural.
"Hades... Are you going to help Olympus?"
Styx looked at me, her face filled with worry. Unlike when the Gigantes had invaded the Underworld, this time we would be fighting on Olympus. In the sea, Poseidon and I in the Underworld were truly invincible. But what about Zeus in the sky?
"A monster that defeated Olympus single-handedly... This time it's truly dangerous..."
The answer lay in the absolute 'god' who ruled the world itself. In the heavens, even if all the Twelve Olympians except Poseidon and me gathered, none could stand against Zeus. Yet the King of the Gods, the chief deity of Olympus, had fought in his own domain—the sky—wielding the Scythe, his strongest weapon, and still lost. Anyone who failed to grasp the monster's power after hearing this was clearly the god of folly.
"If we can at least rescue Zeus, we still have a chance."
"Even so..."
"Even if things turn dangerous, I can at least extract myself, so don't worry too much."
Since Zeus was an immortal god, the monster had likely subdued and imprisoned him somewhere. My task was clear: rescue Zeus and confront the monster called Typhon. Even if Zeus's mighty Astraphe had only caused it pain without leaving a single wound, I could at least distract it until Zeus could strike its neck with the Scythe.
"But... at least take the forces of the Underworld with you..."
"It would be meaningless sacrifice."
If Hermes had been caught in the storm surrounding Typhon's body, then overwhelming it with numbers would not work. Typhon would not even spare a glance for the Underworld's army. I forced myself to look away from Styx, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and left.
* * *
I returned to the citadel of the Underworld. More precisely, I returned to the audience chamber where my throne stood and took my seat. Why did these troublesome matters keep occurring? My schedule was always packed with work, and the moment the Underworld seemed even slightly quiet, problems erupted elsewhere.
With a sigh, I reached toward the side of the throne. My fingers brushed against an ordinary-looking, worn helmet. The Kynee. No living being had ever detected me while I wore it, but would it work against that monster as well? I had no choice but to trust the helmet forged by Arges, one of the three Cyclopes.
Gripping the Kynee tightly, I donned my weapons and armor. The sword of Styx hung at my waist, and black armor forged from the rivers of the Underworld enveloped my body. Once I was properly armed, Thanatos entered the audience chamber, his black wings fluttering.
In a grave tone, he spoke. "Hades, I heard Olympus is in crisis."
"Thanatos."
"The monster called Typhon possesses immortality. My authority does not work on it, just as it does not on us gods."
Had Thanatos seen Typhon? He sent his shades across the mortal world day and night, so it was plausible he had witnessed it.
"I only watched that enormous figure from afar. When I tried to use my authority to extract its soul, it turned its head toward me. Fortunately, it was focused on something else and did not pursue me..."
If it possessed immortality like ours, then Typhon was likely of divine blood. Perhaps a descendant of the Titans... Given its Gigante-like form, Gaia might have sent it. Perhaps she had dispatched it to finish us off after we repelled the Gigantes' first assault.
"Tsk. You're clearly determined to go right away. Be careful."
I passed Thanatos and left the citadel. For the first time in a long while, fully armed, I crossed the river of the Underworld and set foot upon the surface.
Thud.
The gloomy air of the Underworld was gone, replaced by the clear, fresh atmosphere of the mortal world. Though I found the sensation of the land blessed by Demeter pleasant, I had not come to sightsee. It was night in the mortal realm. With my transcendent divine sight, I could see Selene, the moon goddess, riding her silver chariot across the sky. One black horse and one white horse pulled the moon as they galloped busily.
Usually they did not fly so high, yet the horses showed no signs of trembling, as though afraid of something on the ground. It was likely Typhon's influence. Wearing the Kynee, I headed toward Mount Olympus.
* * *
The lofty Mount Olympus... had been half-destroyed. The divine palace among the clouds atop the mountain had also become a ruin filled with debris, as though some colossal being had trampled it. Though I sensed no divine presences, I could see a single monster resembling a Gigante.
A fierce gale poured from the body of the monster so enormous it could cover Mount Olympus. Whooooosh... A creature whose shoulders touched the sky and whose head brushed the stars roared in fury. Whenever it raged, the serpents attached to its hair spewed lightning and venom indiscriminately.
BOOOOM! Rumble...
When the monster slammed its fist down on Mount Olympus, an entire peak collapsed. "GRAAAAH! Moirai! How dare you deceive me?!"
The Moirai—the three Fates. What had they done?
"Lord Typhon! What exactly did they do?!"
"Delphyne! I was tricked by those old hags, the Moirai, on that insignificant mountain!"
A monster with a dragon's lower body and a human upper body addressed Typhon. It was likely one of Typhon's monstrous subordinates.
"They gave me fruit, claiming it would grant me immense power, but it is weakening me instead!"
"Those wretches...?"
So the three Fates on Mount Nysa had helped us. But if this was its weakened state, then facing it head-on offered no chance of victory. I needed to find Zeus first.
"Grr... It doesn't matter! The only one who posed any real danger to me is already trapped in the cave—Zeus!"
Judging by how it was spouting information while believing no one was around, it was clearly a monster that had only recently been born. No seasoned god or Titan who had experienced war would ever commit such a blunder... This only strengthened my suspicion that Gaia had recently created it, just like the Gigantes.
Did it not know about my Kynee? Or had it assumed I would not come to Olympus's aid? As I prepared to search for the cave where Zeus was imprisoned, I spotted a strange creature.
It was an animal I had never seen before, with the upper body of a goat and the lower body of a fish, trembling in fear as it hid in the undergrowth. I sighed as I passed the creature, which was undoubtedly one of the gods in disguise.