Persephone's Tale - (3)
The chariot raced northward at breakneck speed. Before long, I spotted the Gigantes slaughtering the nymphs. Screams rang out as the nymphs fell one after another, while a single golden-haired goddess fought desperately to hold them back.
Crack!
I hadn't seen this goddess at the banquet on Olympus last time. Judging by the power I sensed from her, her appearance, and her combat experience, she couldn't have been born more than two hundred years ago. A very young goddess. Her divine energy felt strong enough to suggest powerful parents. It was on the level just below the Twelve Olympians.
The ghost horses thundered across the ground. Even from a fair distance, their incredible speed brought me there in moments. What I saw was a Gigante commander lifting the goddess by her throat, a sadistic grin plastered across its face.
The power radiating from the creature was just below Apollo or Ares—roughly on par with the Twelve Olympians. Three others of similar strength stood nearby. The Gigantes clinging to Mount Etna and tearing at Typhon's body were only lower gods. Still, their army numbered in the hundreds, perhaps thousands.
Quite the swarm of vermin.
I summoned the Bident and thrust it forward with all my might. The commander's head exploded instantly, spraying blood across the earth. I urged the ghost horses forward, scooped up the exhausted goddess with one arm, and placed her gently in the back of the chariot. This chariot of Hades was the safest place on any battlefield.
No answer came, but that was fine. The thick ichor flowing from her body made it clear she had sustained serious injuries.
The swarm of vermin had noticed their comrade's death and were rushing toward me. Mount Etna was no ordinary mountain. Any god with sufficient power could erase a mountain entirely. All the more so if the target was Typhon's body. The reason the seal holding him remained intact was due to the mountain's enormous size, Zeus's divine power, and the sealing formation the gods had created together. They had prepared multiple layers of countermeasures.
Judging from the mountain's current state...
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
Where was I? Right. The state of Mount Etna. Those hideous monsters, the Gigantes, clearly had the power to tear the mountain apart if given even a little time. But since I was interfering, the commander would send its forces to stop me. As for the ones on par with lower gods...
Three Gigantes far stronger than the rest surrounded my chariot. Even so, they were only on the level of Dionysus and Ares. With just those two, these creatures could be dealt with easily. Now that I had arrived, the situation was already as good as settled.
There was no need to rush. I would take my time killing them.
I drove the Bident deep into the ground and used my divine power to open a path to the Underworld. Crack— It seemed I was causing quite a bit of damage to the earth, which was Demeter's domain, but since the Gigantes had launched an assault, she would probably understand to some extent.
The Underworld was not simply an underground world. It was an entirely separate realm, completely detached from the world of the living. No matter how deep you dug, you could never reach it that way.
Unless I connected the two worlds with my own power, that was. A wave of translucent shades crawled up from the earth and latched onto the Gigantes. These were an army that did not stay dead. As long as the Underworld itself wasn't destroyed, they would keep resurrecting.
Even though their plan to swiftly seize Typhon while avoiding the eyes of Olympus had already failed, the three Gigantes before me still seemed to cling to hope.
A massive wooden club swung down toward my head. Oh. Not bad strength. I drew the sword at my waist—Styx's blade—and raised it. Claaaaang! No matter how hard they swung with both hands and gritted teeth, it was useless. They weren't Zeus or Poseidon, after all.
The other creatures noticed the smile on my lips and charged in a frenzy. They used gigantification, superhuman strength, rapid regeneration, and even bestowed earth divinity upon themselves.
Was it rude to smile on the battlefield? They seemed extremely angry. But...
Slice— Splurt!
It was simply too amusing to watch them cling to that vain hope of victory. They should have been running for their lives, yet they thought they could defeat me? Did they really believe I would lose to them just because I wasn't wearing the Helm of Invisibility, the Kynee?
In an all-out war, I might have been defeated. But this was merely a skirmish. The prophecy would not activate.
While I watched the shades finish off the remaining Gigantes, I sensed a god approaching at high speed. The one flying toward us from the sky was... Hermes?
Hermes, holding his Caduceus, quickly scanned the area before his eyes met mine. The messenger god approached with a slightly relieved expression.
Hermes continued scanning the surroundings and suddenly gasped as he looked at the peak of Mount Etna. I had blown part of it away during the fight...
I had tried to adjust my power so it wouldn't affect the seal on Typhon, but those creatures were quite strong, so it couldn't be helped.
Hermes frowned, deep in thought. Could this really not be the attack mentioned in the prophecy?
There could be additional attacks from Gaia, hidden ambushes, or remaining Gigante stragglers. It would be better if I personally repaired the seal. This place, Typhon's prison, was a vital strategic point. I needed to inspect the condition of Mount Etna and reinforce the seal with my own divine power...
The golden-haired goddess, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly interrupted. She looked at me with sparkling eyes.
The daughter of Demeter and Zeus?
After Hermes left, I turned to face the golden-haired goddess. The smile on her face seemed to say she would answer any question I had. It reminded me of someone...
The golden-haired goddess, who reminded me of a warm spring day, answered with a bright smile.
...? Why does she look so happy? Well, I suppose I do hold a high position...
A pet name? Why is she asking me to use her pet name? We only met today.
She pouted for a moment, then smiled brightly again.
For a moment, it felt as if someone had struck me in the head with a club. A very old memory from my previous life—one I had forgotten along with the mint—flooded back like a river bursting through a dam. In my previous life's knowledge... wasn't Persephone Hades's wife?
Eros, the god of love and son of Aphrodite and Ares. While practicing archery, he accidentally shot Hades with an arrow of love. The moment Hades saw Persephone, he fell for her and kidnapped her to the Underworld...
If that was the case, could Eros be practicing his archery somewhere nearby?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I spread my divine power to scan the surroundings for any presence. Shooo— I barely caught the arrow flying toward me from a short distance. Love, that hot and passionate emotion, could strike anyone, anywhere, without warning. That was why Eros's arrows were so fast and stealthy. But if you were already on guard, they weren't impossible to avoid. I quickly twisted my body to dodge the arrow coming from behind.
Shoooong—
Wait. If I dodge the arrow, then in that direction...
Thud.