Chapter 143
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: King of the Demonic Beasts
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Zeus, the great king of the gods—I'm too lazy to bother introducing him anymore.
But what does that king character have to do with this massive quest I've been forcibly stuck with?
The moment I felt a flicker of confusion, the queen of the gods, sharp as a ghost, let out a deep sigh.
"It only makes sense to explain it to you. The divine duty you now carry in your heart, inherited from the ancient Night Mother—Zeus has coveted that authority since ancient times."
"This one?"
When I inherited the divine duty from Hera, one thing became clear to me naturally.
Why Hera had so many monstrous subordinates.
The Lord of Fate Whom All Fear.
A truly profound and enigmatic name for a divine authority.
True to that name, Hera had gathered under her wing gods and monsters who appeared as villains or antagonists in myths, or those who inspired dread by their innate natures.
How the queen of the gods, whose domain was marriage and family morals, ended up leading a horde of boss monsters was still a hot topic of casual debate in the Hero's Forest.
"It was the divine duty my dear mentor and beloved friend Nyx bestowed upon me, to shelter the gods who embodied ancient mysteries."
However, a duty will wither and vanish if the bearer does not fulfill it.
The duties of family and marriage that Hera shouldered upon ascending to queenship were incompatible with the arcane priestess duties of her virginal youth among the ancient gods.
And ever since Typhon's rampage heightened fear of the heteromorphic gods across Greece, Zeus's born heroes and deities had driven countless divine beasts and magical creatures back into Tartarus's abyss.
Even Hera, the most powerful mage I'd ever seen, could no longer bear this authority.
"Loyal and steadfast guardian Argus; Chimera, ever cheerful if a bit reckless; Carchinos, who loved napping in warm seawater. Python, who coiled atop Carchinos chattering away.
Valiant Prince Rasalas of Nemean; wise advisor Hydra of Lerna; clever Orthrus, who ran a ranch with Geryon; steadfast gatekeeper Cerberus of the underworld; witty Sphinx, lover of riddles.
All of them were like my own children—poor gods reduced to monsters by the world's hand."
"Uh..."
Hera reminisced wistfully, naming each one, while I stared in shock at the list of boss monsters.
This had to be what they meant by "worlds apart."
'This... is a mother's heart?'
No, seriously—why was she reciting myth-grade boss monsters that could wipe out two or three kingdoms if dropped in central Greece, like they were kindergarten kids?
'I wonder if I looked like this in my past life, casually blasting Twelve Demon Arts everywhere.'
No wonder the Four Heavenly Kings and bishops screamed when I wielded the manger sword in one hand and the Mad Wind Spear in the other. And back then, I had enveloped myself in Reverse Heaven Art with qi.
"The fate of those who lose their protectors, of beings who must yield to weakened providence, is invariably tragic."
Amid my dazed thoughts, Hera's bitter voice snapped me back to reality.
The hundred-eyed Argus, slain by Hermes while carrying out her command; the giant serpent Python, felled by arrows from Apollo and Artemis.
They fell fulfilling their duties as her faithful servants, becoming part of her authority.
But the remaining heteromorphic gods of today were gradually losing their divinity, degenerating into monsters.
"Chimera, with the weakest innate divinity, fell to beast first and died at Bellerophon's hands. But now even the mightiest are weakening, losing their spirits..."
"Ah..."
The divine duty Hera once held—and now I had inherited—was providence itself: protecting those who bore that fate, sustaining their breath, and ensuring their very existence.
But its master could no longer manage it amid other grave duties, and the king of gods kept unleashing monster-slayers and heroes left and right.
Thus, the sages and guardians of heteromorphs degenerated into beasts and monsters—objects of terror to humans, foes to heroes.
"But why would the king of gods covet such an authority?"
Zeus was already patron of countless heroes and father to Heracles, hailed even as the god of heroes in modern Greece.
Why would such a god seek dominion over monsters' providence?
"He claims pity for my struggle with a duty too heavy to bear.
But I know his true intentions differ."
Of course.
Over a thousand years of philandering and empty promises!
Hera shook her head wearily, utterly fed up.
"Gaining authority over both heroes and monsters—mutual adversaries—would let him rule this Greece even more perfectly."
"Huh, it's not that simple..."
There was a guy like that in the martial world long ago.
A madman experimenting to shatter realms by harnessing the explosive clash of cold and fire qi, rivaling imperial gunpowder.
Under the hypothesis that mutual antagonism yields greater power, he tried mastering both Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin Arts—but failed to withstand the clash, his dantian exploded, and he became a cripple.
I myself had coughed blood trying to contain Artemis's divine power in my body at Passos.
Yet if one body held two such opposing massive authorities, even the mightiest being would face devastating backlash from their conceptual clash.
"I told him the exact same thing. Fell on deaf ears."
The greatest flaw Hera saw in Zeus was his overconfidence and greed for power.
His deeds with that power were just and fair, but his endless lust for greater strength to achieve them was, as queen, deeply worrying.
"Perhaps the wounds from Typhon scarred him deeply. Even so, it's unacceptable."
"Right. And whether Zeus could even manage this authority properly is doubtful."
Could the god-king embodying current Greek order and morals truly govern the blood of his enemies—beasts and monsters—through this providence?
I wouldn't be surprised if he raised them as exp fodder for his sons.
And for Hera, their former patron, that was utterly intolerable.
"But my own authority had reached its limit, so I planned to end the suffering of those poor children—and deal with that detestable great hero in the process... Then you caught my eye."
So Heracles's Twelve Labors were one of the queen's countermeasures against Zeus's monsters?
Talk about divine-scale inheritance dispute.
"I learned it watching this Hero's Forest. Just as heroes unite under a strong center to conquer eras, so must the children of ancient mysteries."
And that center matched the three omens I did.
"So my task is to confront those monsters?"
"Precisely: to liberate the powers and souls of divine beasts bound to fallen flesh, restore them to pure spirits, and gather them anew."
The authority I now held was barren and weakened, like a nation without people.
My role was to fill that vessel with the souls it once nurtured, revive it, and reshape those who exist under it.
'In a way, it's telling me to return to my true calling(?).'
A massive boon for me.
I hadn't grasped it yet, but if Hera's words held true, even the beasts that had Zeus and Heracles scrambling would be mine.
Imagine it.
Monsters so iconic they'd build cities of lawsuits for copyright and likeness rights—now my subordinates.
With Nesneria's entangled prophecy and Olympus's beasts looming, I'd resolved to build my forces—then the queen of gods hands me a huge gift.
"Hmm? Still dissatisfied?"
"Oh, no, not at all. It's an honor."
Honestly, more than an honor.
It was like wishes granted on a silver platter, gold nuggets raining from the sky.
But trying not to show it, Hera misread my feigned reluctance as worry.
"Yes, even so—a grave duty, facing the most dangerous beings. It could feel burdensome..."
"No, it's fine."
Of course, I kept my face looking uneasy.
The goddess seemed truly apologetic, like something extra might come.
"Very well. What devotee would follow a goddess who offers no blessing to a young god bearing such a heavy task?"
Resolved, Hera rose again, placed her hand on my head, and declared.
In the name of the protector of all families and marriages, I bless thee. The lovers who receive your love and their households shall be guarded by Hera's name, untouched by any calamity.
"...?!"
Stunned by the queen's unexpected blessing, my eyes went wide—Hera gazed at me with a mischievous smile.
"Surprised? Other gods and children see me as marriage's guardian, but you see me as a mage."
She'd meant to startle me a bit, but my strong reaction pleased the queen of gods immensely.