Escape, to Tartarus (2)
Escape, to Tartarus (2)
The King of the Gods wasn't just a fancy title. It was backed by real power.
"Die, you rat-like bastard!"
Cronus's attacks struck with the speed of light.
I couldn't even try to land a hit on him; I was too busy dodging.
"Haaaat!"
Still, I hunted for gaps in his offense and counterattacked.
Swinging the Scythe required wide, sweeping motions. The cave was relatively narrow, and that limited how freely he could wield the massive blade compared to an open field.
So the opening came right after each swing—the moment he pulled the Scythe back!
"Die!"
I thrust my sword forward.
The blade aimed squarely at Cronus's eyes.
"Fool!"
Cronus sneered at me and opened his mouth wide.
"No way—"
Crunch!
Cronus bit down on my sword blade.
Good heavens. He just bit a steel sword with his teeth?
So this was the power of a Chief God?
"Khuk!"
Twisting the blade to wedge it deeper was impossible. Yanking it free from between his teeth was equally hard.
I realized at once how badly I'd misjudged.
"Did you think you bastards were the first to try this?!"
Cronus released his grip on the shaft with one hand and lunged forward, seizing me by the collar.
"Kheukk...!"
"I prepared this for scum like you! Farewell!"
Whirrr.
Between the Scythe's blade and the handle, a circular gem flashed.
The jewel split open vertically down its center, resembling a grotesque eye—and something else—as it gaped wide and began radiating a menacing light.
"Die!"
The Scythe's eye was staring straight at me.
If this kept up, that beam would pierce my throat and kill me!
"Not so fast!"
"Keuk?!"
A spear coiled around my waist like a serpent and struck the Scythe.
The spear tip precisely struck the flat of the blade, momentarily knocking the Scythe's aim off course.
Fwing!
Something like a laser beam grazed my hair.
The stench of burning protein stung my nose and made my whole body crawl.
Without Poseidon's help, I would have died right there.
But because Poseidon was helping, and because I trusted her, I could slip inside the Scythe's effective range.
And Poseidon wasn't the only one I trusted.
"Brother!"
I grabbed the hand reaching out beside me.
A short javelin landed in my grip. I dropped my sword instantly, raised the javelin with one hand, and drove it down as if planting a flag into the stone floor.
"Chew on this instead!"
"Keuk!!"
Cronus jerked his head back to dodge the sharpened javelin.
The blade aimed at his face scraped across his cheek and lodged into his collarbone.
Clang!
Was that sound a human body, or a bronze statue?
I had clearly struck with the blade, yet Cronus hadn't received a single scratch.
The javelin didn't penetrate; it slid downward instead.
"Khahaha! You—"
"Now!"
Using the downward momentum, I drove the javelin harder.
Rrrrip!
It scraped the skin but sliced the clothes quite well.
The blade slid from the collarbone down the chest, raking the abdomen until it reached the groin.
"Aaargh!!"
Cronus recoiled in horror and leaped far backward.
Thanks to that, my javelin only stabbed the innocent floor, but once again I bought us time.
"Hehaha! Well done, Hades!"
I grabbed Hades, who had handed me the javelin, and ran.
Poseidon had already retreated the moment she altered the Scythe's trajectory. Since Hades's footsteps were comparatively slower, I had no choice but to seize her by the waist and run while practically carrying her.
Am I complaining she's a bit lighter than I expected?
That's the sound of me approaching the Underworld.
"Brother, I'm sorry..."
"Sorry? I'm fine with this."
I sprinted toward the pit in the underground passage, Hades held snug against me.
Poseidon was already waiting at the pit. I set Hades down, then wrapped one arm tightly around both their waists.
"You swine! How dare you aim for my genitals?!"
"You're the son of a bitch who famously sliced off his own father's cock!"
"You bastard!"
Cronus swept the Scythe horizontally.
A lethal arc, shimmering with death's aura, came flying toward us. Swiftly, I hugged the two tighter and dropped into the pit as if pulling my legs inside a doorway.
"So mad your aim's off?! Makes sense—if you can't get it in the hole, you just splash it everywhere anyway!"
"You dog! How dare you spout such drivel at the father who begot you!"
"Rhea gave birth to me, not you!"
"You, you...!"
Against a keyboard warrior raised in the cesspool of verbal abuse, who could ever win a trash-talk battle?
I raised my middle finger at Cronus and plunged into the pit.
"If you're that eager, follow me!"
I threw myself into the hole with the two of them clutched in my arms.
Just like that time I fled carrying Rhea, I slid down the tunnel like a children's slide.
"I won't let you escape!"
This time, Cronus boldly jumped in after us.
The space wasn't wide enough to wield the Scythe, but even empty-handed, Cronus was a menace.
"Brother, we're almost there!"
"Yeah?! Huff, keep your eyes ahead!"
I couldn't see below because I was shielding the two of them.
But nestled in my arms, they could look beneath us.
So any upcoming 'obstacles'—they could warn me!
"Now!"
"Uwooo!"
At Hades's signal, I slammed my back against the floor to throw myself upward.
Lifting off while already on a steep slope made me briefly feel airborne. When I landed again, pain shot through my lower back and entire body.
"You think I'll let you go?!"
Cronus's roar thundered from behind.
I offered him my condolences in advance.
"Impact angle—"
"Wha—"
Crack.
Clunk.
Something caught, and Cronus's speed halted abruptly.
"Hehe. It's not like you'll be having more kids anyway. Do you really need those balls?"
"You... keuheok..."
Cronus began sliding down on his side.
One hand clutched his groin, and groans of agony echoed as he descended the tunnel.
"Wow... his balls are crushed, and he's still chasing us. Determined bastard."
The speed bumps I'd installed midway would have properly shattered his eggs.
I'd even shaped the bumps with deliberate malice: steel-cored nail spikes perfectly designed to break eggs. Even a glancing blow would have pulverized at least one of them.
"Keuuueeook..."
Despite his balls being cracked, Cronus endured the pain and kept coming.
To occupy the throne of a mythology's Chief God, I suppose that's what it takes.
As a fellow male, I almost felt respect.
I don't consider targeting the cock to be cowardly.
'It's the only weak point. I have no choice but to exploit it.'
Cronus's cock was physically vulnerable, sure, but it was an even clearer psychological and filial weak spot.
He'd usurped the throne by cutting off a cock, so a usurper is bound to be sensitive about someone targeting his own.
"I'll kill you... I'll slice it off each day as it regenerates and crush it...!"
Cronus's curse echoed from behind.
But after he'd snagged on the bump and shattered his balls once, he'd begun copying my body's twists and turns.
Afraid of smashing into another obstacle.
"Brother, I'm starting now!"
"Yeah. From here on... we drop!"
The moment we crossed a certain threshold, the slope angled sharply downward.
"Huff...!"
Poseidon took a deep breath and snapped her fingers. My back began to feel damp.
Swaaaash!!
Water burst forth from the entire passage.
The dirt tunnel that had been scraping painfully at our skin became a water slide thanks to Poseidon's power. I rode the surge, carried downward like water from a waterfall.
Swaaash!
The sliding speed gained momentum.
Since Cronus and I were similar in build, me clutching Hades and Poseidon meant I naturally plummeted faster.
"Kuaaaa!"
But Cronus's tenacity ignored gravity, acceleration, and everything else.
"I won't let you go!!!"
"What the fuck."
The bastard was tucking both feet together like he was winding up a dropkick.
The speed bumps—the Egg Breakers—he smashed with his bare feet as he passed them. And between his outstretched hands, an enormous energy began radiating.
"Khahahahaha!!"
I must still think too much like a human.
I had completely failed to anticipate the divine authority of a Titan god.
"Even falling is too slow for you!!"
"You madman!"
He's catching up.
Should I send the two of them down first?
Should I let them go and resign myself to a mutual kill?
"Brother. There is... a way to stop Cronus."
Hades reached upward, pointing to where Cronus was chasing us.
"Please forgive me, brother...!"
With those words, Hades kissed me on the lips.
What the—?
Smack.
And she was even trying to push her tongue in?
'Isn't this a Dead Kiss flag?!'
A kiss at a dire moment like this!!
In flag terms, it's when the goddess of the Underworld draws close and prophesies death—
'But Hades is meant to become the goddess of death herself.'
...?
"You... you insane...!!"
A horrified voice sounded from behind us.
"What insane act is this?! Between siblings—what in the world is—!"
"Limp dick. Shut up."
Poseidon also pressed her face to my collarbone and glared at Cronus.
"How would trash who only knows rape understand love?"
"Wha—what...!"
"O Goddess of Love...!"
Poseidon and Hades pressed their lips to my cheeks and began praying fervently.
""Please, save us from that Rape Fiend's cock...!!""
That instant.
Something—something pink—flared from deep within the cave.
"Khahah! It's useless!"
The moment Cronus's toes were about to touch me.
Thunk!
A pink arrow sliced past my forehead.
If the two of them hadn't been pressing their lips against my face, my brow would surely have been pierced.
And then.
"!!"
The pink arrow lodged right into Cronus's unfortunate spot.
In the beginning, Gaia was born and created the world.
But before Gaia, the universe was filled with Chaos.
From Chaos came Night, and Darkness, and also the Earth.
And an untouchable Hell was born.
Some called it Tartarus.
But a certain someone—someone who had lived since the most ancient times—called that hell by another name.
Love.
A bewitching curse that not even the Titans could escape.
"Hmm..."
The pink-haired woman placed a hand over her heart at the prayer directed toward her.
The sincerity had reached her.
This 'new form of love' glimpsed through his life had struck a chord within her.
It also worried her.
What would become of Greece, if that love—what the involved party would call pure love—were to spread?
Wouldn't it be even more chaotic than the predetermined future?
"...This could be fun?"
Sliiick.
The pink-haired woman lifted her bow.
"I'll help you this time. So go on—show me what you can do."
She shot the arrow toward the lowest place: the earth below.
"Show me what sex is. And furthermore..."
A heart-shaped arrowhead was fitted onto the shaft.
"This 'doing it right in the entrance' thing. Definitely."
Only the storm of pink Chaos swirled in the goddess's eyes.
"Sex."