The Tale of Otus and Ephialtes - (2)
The heavy thud and boom echoed louder and louder from the outskirts of Olympus. If the sound carried all the way up to the divine palace floating above the clouds, it couldn’t possibly be something happening only on the ground… Would Hephaestus swinging his hammer with near full strength produce a noise like this? The other gods were gradually growing agitated.
“Who in the world is approaching Olympus?”
“But this kind of sound…”
“Ah! Everyone, look over there!”
One nameless lower god pointed a trembling finger toward the ground. There, two colossal giants were stacking mountains, filling in the sea to create a path straight toward Olympus. Every time they hurled enormous boulders or mounds of earth, the resulting crash became the source of that deafening rumble.
“Who would dare approach Olympus…”
“Those giants don’t look like gods. Lord Zeus will handle them, right?”
“Lord Zeus doesn’t even need to step in. If I just—”
“Wait! The prophecy! There was a prophecy!”
While the gods were growling with murderous intent at the insolent giants who had the audacity to climb Olympus without knowing their place, someone mentioned a prophecy. Hermes came flapping toward us on the winged sandals, speaking urgently.
“The prophecy says that no god or mortal can kill those two brothers!”
“What?!”
“Then are we supposed to just sit here and watch?”
“Who the hell are those two anyway?”
Can’t be killed… Well, they’ve already come this far. I might as well hear what they have to say. They don’t seem to have good intentions, but for some reason I sense a strangely familiar power from them.
“Olympus never gets a single peaceful day…”
“Compared to this place where all sorts of incidents keep happening, the quiet Underworld doesn’t sound so bad~”
Those were Hestia and Aphrodite speaking in turn. Aphrodite sent me a flirtatious smile as if she had zero interest in the matter. Well, she is one of the Twelve Olympians after all…
Before long, the culprits behind the noise finally revealed themselves on Olympus. Two enormous giants. Their faces looked no older than early teens, yet their bodies were grotesquely massive, as if dozens of humans had been fused together.
“Oh, so this is Olympus? Where is Hera, who will become my wife?”
“Artemis! Your husband is here!”
Are these guys insane?
“Hey, you’re really pretty. Are you Hera?”
“Hmm… I’m not Lady Hera, and you’re not my type either?”
One of the giants pointed at Aphrodite and spoke. The Goddess of Beauty parried it with effortless grace.
“Then where is Artemis? Her husband has arrived, yet she doesn’t even show her face.”
“Maybe if you smash Olympus a little, she’ll come out?”
Are these guys seriously insane?
As if to prove that many of the Olympian gods shared my exact thought, someone immediately took action.
“You crazy bastards! From the looks of it you’re just brats. Do you think Olympus is your playground?!”
“Hm? What’s this little squirt saying?”
“Who are you?”
The one clad in armor and pointing a treasured sword at the giants was the God of War.
“I am Ares! Since I can’t kill you, I’ll just beat you until you wish you were dead!”
“What can you do with that toothpick?”
“Shut up! I’ll show you the terror of war!”
Ares charged in, but… those giants looked quite strong. Probably around the top tier of the Twelve Olympians?
Thwack—Clang!
“Gwaaah!”
Ares’s sword, swung with great momentum, shattered, and he was sent flying. Since death is inevitable in war, and there was a prophecy that gods could not kill them, Ares’s defeat was perhaps only natural.
“Ow ow. That actually stung a bit.”
“Still just a toothpick though.”
Of course, they themselves possessed tremendous power. Unable to be killed by gods or mortals… and their baseline strength was at the highest level among the Twelve Olympians. Giant brothers…
“Whose bloodline are you from? What are your names?”
At my question, their gazes turned this way.
“I am Otus! The one who will become Artemis’s husband!”
“I am Ephialtes! We came from Thessaly!”
Thessaly? To think such powerful giants emerged from a mortal kingdom. They clearly seemed to carry divine blood…
“Thessaly…?”
“What the hell are these things?”
“Saying he’ll take Lady Hera as his wife—what is this nonsense…”
The gods stirred uneasily. Perhaps they feared that these two, backed by both an invincible prophecy and overwhelming power, might actually steal Hera and Artemis away.
“Aaaargh! Let go of me, you bastard!”
“You’re too noisy, so stay there.”
“….? You’re going to trap me here?”
When Otus and Ephialtes worked together to grab Ares and toss him into a massive bronze jar, the gods’ agitation grew even worse. It wasn’t like these guys were Typhon; there was no need to panic this much.
“Why is Olympus like this these days… Hades, did you put some kind of curse on us?”
“What are you even saying…”
Demeter wore a bored expression as she expressed her usual disdain for the Underworld. It seemed like she was mostly joking, but it was true that all sorts of things had been happening on Olympus lately.
“Prophecies have many loopholes… It should be easy for you, Hades, right?”
Aphrodite sidled up to me and acted coquettish. It was a bit annoying… but since she was a valuable worker in the Underworld, I decided to tolerate it for now.
Many gods were panicking, but the Twelve Olympians themselves showed little disturbance. Even Ares, who had just been stuffed into the bronze jar, only glanced my way with an expression that seemed to say this is ridiculous. He would probably break out of it on his own soon enough. Trapping the God of War in a mere oversized bronze jar—it was obvious they were showing off their power.
Their strength ranked at the top among Olympian gods. Yet even with that immense power, they had still been scratched by Ares’s sword. As young giants, they had zero combat experience, and while the prophecy said they could not be killed, it said nothing about subduing them. On the other hand, the gods present here were veterans who had survived wars against the Titan gods, the Gigantes, and Typhon. And of course, both I and Zeus, the King of Olympus, were here as well.
“Wahahaha! Hurry up and bring Hera and Artemis!”
“If you don’t want to end up like the guy we just put in the jar, get moving!”
They were so loud my ears hurt. I should just step in myself and subdue them roughly. Throwing them into the prison of the Underworld where they cannot gather strength for a while would be perfect.
Of the two giant brothers, Otus was the one with ambition. He wanted to climb Olympus, defeat all the gods, and take the beautiful Goddess of the Hunt as his wife.
“Otus, then I’ll take Hera as my wife!”
“If we combine our strength, the gods will be no problem at all!”
Since his twin brother Ephialtes possessed equal power, their success would be all but guaranteed. And so they stacked Mount Ossa and Mount Pelion to build a path to the Olympian palace… and eventually succeeded in setting foot above the clouds.
“Aaaargh! Let go of me, you bastard!”
“You’re too noisy, so stay there.”
Otus had trapped the insolent little god who dared challenge him inside a jar. Thinking of the beautiful Artemis who would soon become his wife, he roared.
“Wahahaha! Hurry up and bring Hera and Artemis!”
At that moment, the male god who had asked for their identities quietly rose from his seat. The gloomy-looking deity let out a deep sigh.
“The Lord of the Underworld is stepping forward himself… Are those guys headed straight for Tartarus?”
“What kind of lunatics cause a ruckus on Olympus…”
“You giants over there! You’d better apologize right now while you still can!”
As he slowly stood up, the flustered gods regained their composure. Who was this guy? His twin brother Ephialtes seemed curious as well and asked for his identity.
“And who are you?”
The black-haired male god, looking thoroughly annoyed, made a lazy gesture in the air. What appeared with it was a two-pronged spear. But did he really think he could face us with nothing but that little toothpick?
Otus sneered and raised a massive fist. While he closed the distance, the black-haired god simply stared at them with a bored expression. He made no move to respond.
“Hmph. Whoever you are, you won’t walk away unscathed after taking my punch.”
Otus’s iron-like fist tore through the air. A giant large enough to pick up Ares with one hand had thrown a full-powered strike; the resulting shockwave was terrifying.
Whooooooosh!
Only the whoosh rang out. The fist aimed at its target touched nothing. Then came a burning pain in his wrist.
“Aaaargh!”
“Otus!”
When had he dodged my fist? I didn’t see anything—when did he stab that thing into my wrist? The same look of annoyance still on his face, a sinister aura slowly spread from his body. It was bright daylight on Olympus, closer to the sun than the surface world, yet somehow the surroundings began to darken.
Otus had always taken pride in his overwhelming strength, but this time fear flooded in. This was on a completely different level from that Ares guy who had charged earlier. Could this be Zeus?
“You seem to carry divine blood… Does your father not manage his children at all?”
“No! Otus… gah!”
Ephialtes, who had noticed his brother’s pierced wrist, charged in a frenzy, but… in an instant he was stabbed by the spear, blood pouring from his ankle as he collapsed.
“You’re first. Off to prison with you.”
The sharp two-pronged spear—the Bident—drew close to Otus’s eye. Too fast. He couldn’t react. His body… wouldn’t move.
“Wait! Just a moment, Brother Hades!”
“Zeus?”
Someone’s voice rang out, and the Bident stopped right before his pupil.
“Ahem. Ahem. These are honored guests who have come to Olympus. We should treat them properly.”
Thanks to the golden-haired, dignified male god intervening, Otus avoided being blinded. Zeus and Hades… so this was one of the three chief gods?
The King of the Gods, who had stopped Hades from swinging the Bident just moments ago, looked at them with a faint smile.
“So, you’ve come to take Hera and Artemis?”
Yet for some reason, Otus found that smile utterly chilling.