The Peak of Ten Thousand Years

"Huff, huff, huff, huff." The ragged, heavy breathing of a man filled the space. Sisyphus. A man trapped in hell, cursed by the gods to endure an infinite punishment. Swish, swish. Chronos sat demurely on the boulder, wrapping dried jerky in broad leaves. A mountain of jerky had already piled up—enough to last for years. Even though they had been snacking on it together as it accumulated, this much remained in reserve. It was only natural, given how much time had passed.

Once she finished her work, Chronos organized the jerky and tucked it into the storage area. Near the starting altar, there was even a house that had been built long ago and continuously maintained. It was made of wood, making it quite cozy. It was even a two-story structure. Chronos had wanted to live in the same house as Sisyphus, but even a thousand years after meeting her, he had adamantly refused. She didn't know the details, but he insisted that for a human, the fact that he had a fiancée was of the utmost importance. That was right. More than a thousand years had already passed.

"Huff, huff, huff." Sisyphus had not stopped his training for the last thousand years. It was to conquer the unknown goal: a cliff of unfathomable height. He had already gone on an expedition once. Sisyphus had climbed the rock face for about a month. The conclusion he reached then was that there was no way to know how far the cliff extended, and that he had to train to the absolute limit just to deal with the dangers at the summit.

For a thousand years, Chronos had helped him focus on his exercise. She cleaned the house and prepared food and water. It had been a joyful millennium for Chronos. Watching Sisyphus work out was her greatest happiness. It would have been even better if she could have joined him in the bath, though.

"Whew..." It seemed the final set was over. Chronos brought him some cool water. "Good work."

"......"

Sisyphus drank the water quietly. His hair and beard, which had been singed patchy five thousand years ago by a lava golem, had grown back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in abundance. She didn't particularly like that she couldn't see his expression clearly, but she had never said so.

"I'll go get the meat. Can you throw the rock?"

He could now throw the boulder far up the slope. There was no need to push it all the way to where the deer were; he could just throw it, and while it was falling, Chronos could go retrieve the meat.

"......"

However, Sisyphus, who would usually have answered immediately, was acting strange. "Sisyphus?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Thanatos, I'm sorry. Pente, I'm sorry."

Sisyphus muttered to himself, his eyes losing focus. Then, he jumped up and shouted at the sky. "Come out! Come out and fight me! You cowards!"

"Sisyphus."

Chronos dropped the water bottle and rushed to him. She hugged him and held onto his waist tightly. Should she say she clung to him? Even with both arms stretched out, she couldn't fully wrap them around his body. But she held on and didn't let go. She waited calmly. As she did, the rampaging Sisyphus gradually calmed down. His breathing settled.

"It's okay, Sisyphus."

"......"

Sisyphus sometimes lost his mind like this. He hadn't been in a sane state since he was first tortured by the Olympian gods and locked away here. Moreover, isolated for an eternity, his mind had been eaten away to the core. Even during the times Chronos had no choice but to watch, Sisyphus often lost his mind in this way. He never remembered it, though.

Stroke. Sisyphus's large hand came up to Chronos's face. "Beautiful lady with the eyes, I see hesitation on your face. Are you lost?"

...If she was lucky, he would treat her with this kind of kindness sometimes. Did Sisyphus originally have this side to him? Every time this happened, she felt a strange fluttering in her heart, though she didn't know why. The memories she received from the soul of her father, Chronos, were truly scant. Chronos was clumsy at everything, whether it was the world or humans.

"I know where the path is." She answered, knowing he wouldn't remember this conversation. "Because you'll show me."

She leaned against his body. The deep, masculine scent wafting from him was addictive. At first, she could rest her head on his chest, but now she barely reached his navel, which was a bit frustrating. Chronos supported the crumbling Sisyphus for hours.

Another thousand years passed. Sisyphus began a different kind of training. "Let's assume I've escaped. The moment I run into Zeus, I'll definitely be sent back."

"That really would be the case."

"I can't beat a real god as a human, but I must at least hone the skills to resist. With the resolve to take at least one down with me."

Whoosh, whoosh! He began to swing his fists. He taught himself what was called martial arts. He spent a hundred years just practicing footwork, and another hundred years just throwing kicks. Sisyphus had a good imagination. He repeated shadowboxing infinitely, recalling the magical beasts Pente had told him about in stories and the abilities of the Olympian gods he had endured while being tortured.

Another thousand years passed. This time, Sisyphus conducted a one-year cliff exploration. He climbed hundreds of kilometers, but eventually had to return. And then, he went back into training.

"Aeolus, Enarete, Salmoneus, Alcyone, Perieres, Cretheus, Athamas, Canace. Hooooooh!"

Sisyphus continued to shout names even during his training so he wouldn't forget important memories. His family, the people of his city, the heroes. The gods.

"Tonkatsu! Spicy stir-fried pork! Seasoned chicken!!"

Occasionally, there were words she couldn't understand. At those times, Chronos would worry a little.

Another thousand years passed.

"Huff, huff, huff!"

When three hundred more years had passed. "Chronos."

"Yes, Sisyphus."

Thud. Dropping the dumbbells made of twenty boulders, Sisyphus spoke. "No matter how strong a human becomes, there is a limit."

"Hmm... Is that so?"

"Yeah. I can't become stronger than a hero or a god. I can't handle mana."

"Hmm..."

Chronos fully sympathized with Sisyphus's thoughts. The world he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had lived in was that kind of world. However, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sisyphus she had been watching was... '...Is that so?' It was a slightly different impression.

"But why do you say that?"

"I felt something. My body will probably need an immense amount of time to get any stronger than this. Any more than this, and the efficiency isn't there. Fred and Gilbert are telling me that."

"You named your muscles."

Bulge, bulge. Instead of Sisyphus, his muscles twitched and answered for him. "Let's depart tomorrow."

"Okay."

Chronos nodded with a bittersweet feeling. They prepared to depart. They packed jerky and water. The boulder was tied to Sisyphus's body with a net made of vines. Chronos planned to use her power to ensure the consumables, including the net, wouldn't rot. They had their final bath. It felt like a solemn ritual.

"Sisyphus."

"Why."

"Aren't you going to wash me today, too?"

Chronos presented her snow-white back to Sisyphus. Chronos loved bathing. She did it every day. She sometimes pestered Sisyphus to wash her, but he never gave in. It was their last day on the mountain. Feeling as if she were making an offering to a god, Sisyphus decided to show kindness for once. "If it's just a foot bath, I'll do it."

"Thank you. Then I'll cut your hair."

Having finished their grooming, the two decided to rest through the night. Sleep didn't come. Still, if they closed their eyes, they could get a rest similar to sleep. Sisyphus went into his house and lay down. He had a blanket made of magical wolf fur. The texture was terrible, but it was warm. He was resting with his eyes closed when click, he heard the sound of the house door opening. There was only one person who would come in.

Rustle. Chronos quietly crawled into Sisyphus's blanket and clung to his back. Usually, he would have kicked her out, but Sisyphus let it slide this time.

The next day, Sisyphus began to climb the cliff. He wore the boulder on his back like a backpack. As Sisyphus grew stronger, the boulder became that much heavier. Sisyphus didn't know it, but the composition of the boulder had now become the heaviest substance that could exist in the universe. It was good for training, but it was a bit of a nuisance now. 'At least it's smaller, so that's a relief.'

The boulder had become smaller as it grew heavier. The strange thing was that over the thousands of years, Chronos and the house had also shrunk. Magic was truly mysterious. It was a good thing, as it meant they could pack more food. He had even attached the house where Chronos would stay onto the boulder.

"Hup." —Crackle! Sisyphus shattered the cliff with his fingertips and hung his body. —Whoosh! He swung his arms and propelled himself upward. The height he climbed in one go was over hundreds of meters. —Crackle, whoosh! He repeated the process until it was tedious. Still, it wasn't boring. It was thanks to having someone to talk to. Sisyphus climbed the cliff endlessly, sharing small talk with Chronos. In an instant, he passed the point that had taken him a year to reach in the past. Now, it was a path he was traveling for the first time. How long it would take to reach the summit from here was an unknown.

When three years passed, the water ran out. When thirty years passed, the meat ran out. At the hundred-year mark, there was a crisis where he almost fell. Two hundred years passed. Three hundred years passed. About seven hundred years had passed since he began climbing the cliff.

"Chronos, is that thing up there... really that?"

"Wouldn't it be?"

"Crazy. So there really was an end."

A bright look appeared on Sisyphus's face. An exit. After enduring the pain of bones being ground, muscles bursting, the mind wearing thin, and vomiting blood. He had finally reached the summit where the exit leading to the outside was located.

Tap. Stretching out his last arm, Sisyphus climbed up. It wasn't the scenery he had expected. There was no magnificent door, nor was there a shimmering gate. Instead, there was a nest.

"...A dragon?"

It was a dragon's nest. The sleeping dragon opened its eyes. Sensing an intruder, the divine beast stood up, spread its wings, and revealed terrifying teeth. Its size was no different from a massive mountain, and a single flap of its wings whipped up a typhoon.

"Hey, Chronos."

"Yes."

"Was that the dangerous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thing you talked about?"

"Probably."

Sisyphus had speculated that it would be a fairy like her, since he heard it possessed divine power. A dragon. A fantasy species among magical beasts. It was a divine beast that even Pente had said she had never seen in person.

'The genre is different. Wasn't it the kind that lived in the North?'

Of course, there were dragons in Greece, too. But most were in the shape of snakes. Although myths are said to mix and derive as they are passed down, to think that dragons existed in ancient Greece as well. Sisyphus thought simply. The task was clear and simple. He would have to defeat that dragon for the exit to open.

"Sisyphus."

"Yeah."

"That child might be a being that even Zeus finds burdensome."

"What? To that extent? Then how do we..."

"It's because of its divine power."

Chronos looked straight into Sisyphus's eyes and said. "The divine power that the Colossal Dragon inherited from the great Titan is 'God-Slaying'."

"Is that the one Cronus obtained by subjugating Uranus?"

"I, of course, and no god can lay a hand on that dragon. That must be why Zeus sealed it here. Therefore."

Gently. Chronos's slender fingers grasped Sisyphus's thick hand. She calmly made him clench his fist.

"You, a human, can win."

"Keuh." The man armed with muscles snorted.

Thud, thud. He stepped forward and loosened his shoulders. "Let's give it a try."