The Story of Typhon - (5)
The sensation of Kynee settling over my head was as familiar as slipping into an old coat. The world faded from my presence, and I stepped into that other space where I simply ceased to exist for everyone else.
“Y-you bastard! Where did you run off to!”
The ground exploded where I had been standing a heartbeat earlier. Typhon’s fist, wrapped in a howling gale, smashed into empty air.
I was already gone.
[Zeus, let’s follow the plan Athena laid out.]
[Fine. I’ll send the clouds when I see an opening.]
The slash I’d landed on him earlier had made one thing crystal clear. Even with Scythe in my hands, I could wound the monster, but I couldn’t take his head in a single blow. No matter how weakened he was, Typhon was still the beast who had nearly conquered all of Olympus. His body was so absurdly tough that even Zeus’s world-rending thunderbolts only made him flinch in pain.
Rumble—!
“Take this, Typhon!”
“Kwaaaaaah!”
When I had first infiltrated the occupied Olympus wearing Kynee and retrieved Scythe, my original plan had been to cut off his head myself. But the moment I reached the battlefield and asked the other gods to create an opening, only Athena offered a different opinion.
[Uncle, the only one who can truly sever that monster’s neck is Lord Zeus.]
[Even though I hold an adamantine scythe in my hand?]
[Yes. Please reveal yourself to him on purpose for a moment. Typhon possesses great power, but he is still a young monster who has never experienced real war.]
My strength alone wasn’t enough to deliver a fatal wound even with an adamantine Scythe. A war of attrition risked letting him escape. And Zeus, the only one capable of decapitating him in one strike, was the opponent Typhon feared most. Therefore, we would draw the monster’s attention toward me, the invisible assassin, while secretly passing Scythe to Zeus. By the time Typhon was warily searching for the unseen killer, the weapon would already be in my brother’s grasp.
That was the strategy devised by the Goddess of War and Wisdom.
“Hades! You cowardly rat! Kwaaaah!”
Whoooosh—!
A storm more ferocious than any before tore across Mount Olympus. The desperate thrashing of a monster who knew the strongest weapon was being wielded by an invisible assassin stalking him. Naturally, the intensity of his vigilance toward Zeus weakened.
“I was fighting Ares, wasn’t I? Don’t take your eyes off me, Typhon!”
The God of War, who could unleash his full power only in the heat of violent battle, charged back into the fray. Ares, who had been sent flying into the mountainside moments ago, now rushed straight at Typhon.
“Behold the flames of Olympus’s forge!”
Hephaestus, God of the Forge and Fire, raised his hammer high. The earth around him erupted in roaring flames. With Demeter’s silent permission, the inferno swelled until it reached the clouds themselves.
Typhon answered with another colossal whirlwind. The clash birthed a towering storm of fire that connected heaven and earth.
Kwooong—!
[Now, Zeus. I’m handing over Scythe.]
[I’ll send the rainbow clouds. Drop it there, brother.]
With Typhon’s vision obscured by the blazing storm, the moment had come. A strange, multicolored cloud rolled in thickly. I quietly placed the scythe I held into its depths.
* * *
“Kwaaaaaaaaah!”
The countless serpents that formed Typhon’s hair thrashed wildly, spitting lightning and venom in every direction. Even he knew the tide of battle was slowly turning against him. If only those damned Moirai and the humans who had dared deceive him hadn’t existed!
“Monster! Poseidon is right here!”
Boom! Crash!
Once again, Poseidon’s trident, infused with blue divine power, slammed straight into Typhon’s face. But the one he truly needed to fear was elsewhere.
“Hades! The so-called Lord of the Underworld is nothing but a sneaky little rat!”
An invisible assassin wielding the ultimate weapon, Scythe, was stalking him from the shadows. Scythe was the supreme blade that had wounded him even before he fell into the trap. The moment a gap appeared, that adamantine blue edge would fly for his throat.
Even while fighting the other gods, Typhon kept his senses locked on the unseen killer. Then something registered in his perception.
A sinister strike coming from behind. It was him!
Slice—!
Splat!
The ominous slash split his back open, spilling golden ichor. Yet a smile bloomed on Typhon’s lips. An assassin was only terrifying while invisible. That last attack had revealed his position.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
Storm winds coiled around Typhon’s foot as he kicked violently toward where the slash had come from. The ground split apart with a deafening roar, triggering a small earthquake.
“Heh… Got you, you bastard!”
“Cough…”
On the ground lay Hades, Kynee knocked from his head. He seemed heavily injured, ichor pouring from his mouth as he lay there.
Typhon smiled in triumph and searched for Scythe. If he could just seize the scythe Hades had been carrying, there would be nothing left to fear. This time he would sever the tendons of every god’s limbs and bury them in the earth!
But Scythe was nowhere in sight. Even with his transcendent divine vision, he scanned every inch around Hades.
“Khh…”
What entered Typhon’s bewildered eyes was Hades’s cold, mocking smile. At the same moment, he felt an overwhelming presence behind him.
Zeus!
“You put up a decent fight, but this is the end, Typhon!”
Come to think of it, his thunderbolts had stopped flying some time ago—
Schunk—!
Typhon’s vision flipped upside down, then went completely black.
* * *
Thud!
“Hoo…”
Zeus, gripping Scythe, had severed Typhon’s head in a single stroke. At the same moment, the violent storm that had been raging across the mountain simply stopped.
Typhon’s massive body collapsed, no longer moving. His severed head tumbled pathetically across the dirt, rolling through the dust.
Yes. We had won.
Gaia’s ultimate weapon, the one meant to conquer Olympus, had finally been defeated by the combined forces of the gods. If Typhon had charged straight into the Underworld, freed the Titans from Tartarus, and fought alongside them, we might have lost. His one fatal mistake was trusting only in his own power and acting arrogantly.
“Cough…!”
Ugh… Deliberately taking that hit really hurt. Look at all this ichor pouring from my mouth. His strength really was monstrous.
I picked up Scythe, which had fallen beside Typhon’s severed head. Had Zeus dropped it because the neck was too tough? I gave the head a light kick to make sure he was truly finished. The fierce eyes had closed. He seemed to have fallen into a temporary state of suspended animation.
[To create a definite opening, it would be best if you took a direct hit. If you also remove Kynee at that moment, Typhon will definitely be fooled…]
Athena. You weren’t getting revenge for all the work I made you do during the great flood, were you? Did I push you too hard back then?
“Hades! Are you okay?!”
I’m perfectly fine, so stop sniffling, Hestia. We gods are immortal beings. You know that better than anyone. For a veteran who survived the war against the Titans, your heart is far too soft… Though you certainly don’t hold back once the fighting starts.
“This was truly dangerous. I never imagined Lady Gaia would create something like this.”
“What are we going to do about Mount Olympus collapsing?”
“We’ll just have to rebuild it. The nymphs and lesser gods are going to suffer.”
One by one, the gods who had been catching their breath and treating their wounds began to gather. As they came together, the golden fluid of ichor flowing from their bodies made the surrounding air glow with divine radiance.
Ares in particular seemed badly hurt…
Now that Typhon had been defeated, it was time for cleanup.
“Brother Hades, I will definitely repay you for coming to Olympus’s aid.”
“Hmph. Of course I expect compensation, Zeus.”
“…You too, Poseidon.”
“My arrows, bright as the sun’s rays, couldn’t pierce him…”
“I nearly ended up being hunted by my own prey.”
“The earth that is like my own child… has been completely ruined. I’m sorry. There was no other way.”
“Lady Demeter, I will do my best to restore nature.”
“Pan, put off reviving nature for now and follow me. Let’s check if any of his remnants remain.”
“Understood, Lord Hades.”
I moved out with Pan, who came hopping along on his goat legs, to search the vicinity for any remaining forces. There had been that monster called Delphyne who served Typhon. We needed to deal with her properly while we had the chance.
With his head cut off, Typhon was combat-incapable anyway. Leaving him here should be fine. There were plenty of gods present; they could handle anything that might happen.
Soon, small animals dispatched by Pan’s command scattered in every direction to search for monsters. After pressing his ear to the ground for a moment and listening to the whispers of the forest and fields, Pan called out to me.
“Um… There seems to be an unfamiliar creature in one of the caves?”
Found it.
* * *
Following Pan to a nearby cave, I could indeed sense a monstrous presence. It was weaker than the power Delphyne had radiated the other day, so it seemed some remnants had survived after all.
“This is the cave.”
As we entered the cave Pan pointed to, a single dog greeted us.
A black hound lay sprawled lazily on the floor, letting out a long yawn. A fierce, monstrous glow flickered in its eyes, and I could faintly sense Typhon’s aura. It was clearly one of his bloodline.
Perhaps sensing hostility from us, it immediately stood up and began to growl. It was actually a little cute.
But… it had three heads?
“Hmm, it seems to be a weak monster. I shall take care of it.”
Pan reached out his hand. The grass near the cave naturally twisted together, forming sharp spears. The plant-based lances looked ready to pierce straight through the three-headed dog, but—
Grrrrr!
Arrr…
Oh? It caught the spear Pan threw and bit it apart with its teeth? Not bad, considering it was a casual attack thrown while underestimating a small monster.
“Ha… This damn monster…”
Pan glanced at me sheepishly, then concentrated green divine power in his hand. He probably felt he had lost face in front of me.
“It’s fine. I’ll handle it myself.”
“Eh? There’s no need for you to dirty your hands, Lord Hades…”
There was no need to use Scythe on such a weak monster. I drew the sword of Styx and approached. The dog, which had been chewing on the grass spear, flinched and looked at me.
All three heads quickly examined my appearance and the sword, then—
Kiiing!
Whine!
Yelp!
It immediately rolled over onto its back…?
“That… appears to be an act of surrender,” Pan said, staring at the monster in disbelief.
Since Pan was a god of nature and could understand the speech of beasts and monsters to some degree, his translation was probably reliable. Still, I was stunned that a creature of Typhon’s bloodline would behave this way. The monster slowly crept closer, tongue lolling out, tail wagging furiously.
Huff huff! Haaack! Kiiing!
“It says… ‘It is an honor to meet such a noble being… I will do anything, so please spare me…’”
What the hell…?