Chapter 10 The Story of Tartarus – (1)

 

Tartarus.

 

The hell of the lowest layer of the underworld, the abyssal world.

 

The deepest and most secret place underground, where even the goddess of night, Nyx, resides.

 

It is also the space where the Titan gods defeated by us Olympian gods are imprisoned.

 

And now, I was heading there.

 

If one asked why I was going to this mist-filled prison, avoided even by the gods…

 

Firstly, Tartarus was close to my domain, the underworld, and it was a place where very dangerous felons were imprisoned.

 

Even though the three Hecatoncheires brothers guarded it, I had a duty to periodically inspect it as well.

 

If the Titan gods escaped from that hell, the primary responsibility would fall on the three brothers,

 

But the secondary responsibility would be on me for not responding quickly enough.

 

I left my bedroom, wearing the Styx Sword on my waist and light leather sandals.

 

In the fortress of the underworld, the diligent officials and lower gods were always busily moving around for the people.

 

“Let’s postpone the assignment of the new souls that arrived today, for now…”

 

“Lord Moros is temporarily taking over the duties… Oh, Lord Hades!”

 

“I’m glad there are so many who refuse reincarnation and wish to stay here.”

 

“I will go ahead and wait, let’s meet for a meal in the mortal world sometime.”

 

“If you can avoid the blessing of Lady Lethe, that is, hahaha!”

 

Officials, with a parchment scroll in one hand, giving orders to souls with the other.

 

Senior soldiers explaining shift rules to new soul soldiers.

 

Child souls playing pranks by passing through buildings with their translucent bodies.

 

Old human souls chatting with neighbors while waiting for reincarnation.

 

This was the everyday scenery of the underworld I ruled.

 

As I walked slowly, observing the people, more and more souls noticed me.

 

Officials and lower gods tried to accompany me, but I waved them off and was about to go alone when I saw a familiar face.

 

“Hades, where are you going?”

 

Her eyes were unfocused, and her voice sounded weak as if she were extremely tired.

 

This goddess with long silver hair down to her waist and a form-fitting outfit was Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness.

 

She usually blankly stared at the riverbanks of the River of Forgetfulness, so what brought her here?

 

It had been a long time since the great flood ended, so there wasn’t much work to help with either.

 

“Are you wondering why I came all the way here?”

 

Her voice, inducing drowsiness, lingered in my ears.

 

Her soft and drawn-out voice itself seemed to encroach upon the domain of Hypnos, the god of sleep.

 

She trudged over and looked up at me with her unfocused eyes.

 

As if wondering why I hadn’t departed yet.

 

“Yawn… It seems you’re going to Tartarus, so let me come along.”

 

She seemed more like the goddess of sleep than the goddess of forgetfulness.

 

It was a lonely walk to Tartarus, so I nodded.

 

Tartarus was the very bottom of the underworld that humans feared.

 

The path to it was guarded by numerous soul soldiers I had stationed.

 

“Greetings, Lord Hades.”

 

“Glory to the Lord of the Underworld.”

 

The souls in translucent armor with spears bowed to me and the goddess Lethe.

 

I adequately encouraged the guards who were working hard to guard the path to Tartarus today.

 

“May glory also be with the goddess Lethe.”

 

“Mm. Thanks…”

 

Passing by the hearths personally made by Hestia in the underworld, we headed towards the increasingly dark areas.

 

The path downwards became narrower, and a cold air began to seep in.

 

* * *

 

After passing through a stifling space for a while, a wide path finally appeared, leading to a bronze fortress shrouded in mist.

 

As we approached, the gigantic bronze door and endlessly thick bronze walls, made by Poseidon himself, greeted us.

 

The three Hecatoncheires brothers guarding this place… there they were.

 

Each having fifty heads and a hundred hands, the gigantic beings stared at us.

 

The collective gaze of 300 eyes from the three brothers gave me an indescribable feeling.

 

“Hey, Hades. It’s been a while.”

 

“Hmm? Hades is here. You must be busy with the underworld’s affairs…”

 

“Have you finally married Lethe who is beside you?”

 

The numerous heads on the giants’ bodies greeted me and the goddess Lethe.

 

I greeted them warmly as it had been a long time since we met.

 

But marriage? The goddess Lethe and I were not like that.

 

“It seems like it, seeing you two holding hands.”

 

“Didn’t Hades have Styx with him?”

 

“Hahaha! You look so affectionate.”

 

Holding hands? What were they talking about?

 

I had come down here with the goddess Lethe without holding hands.

 

As I listened to their words, I felt warmth in my left hand.

 

A soft and small goddess’s hand.

 

Looking to my side, the goddess Lethe, with her usual blank expression, subtly let go of my hand.

 

No, her face seemed to be slightly blushing…

 

“Please restrain your power of forgetfulness a bit more.”

 

“Click… Can’t I even hold hands?”

 

The goddess Lethe, who wielded the power of forgetfulness, would gradually erase the memories of living beings around her without doing anything.

 

Of course, there were clear limits. The more vigilant they were of her, and the stronger they were, the less her power affected them.

 

Still, it was possible for her to play a small prank and make me momentarily forget by catching me off guard.

 

As soon as I separated from her, I would remember everything again.

 

To think she had approached and held my hand, making me forget that fact. As expected, she was the granddaughter of Nyx, the primordial goddess.

 

I had to stay alert from now on. Who knows what prank she would play next.

 

As I circulated a slight amount of divine power, my head cleared, and Lethe’s power was quickly washed away.

 

“Always keeping Styx by your side, it’s too much…”

 

“I never did such a thing.”

 

She spoke in a dejected tone, but I shook my head at the goddess Lethe, who had the same blank expression as always.

 

And I never only kept the goddess Styx by my side.

 

Even if it was the Styx Sword.

 

“Hahaha! Not yet?”

 

“Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon all have found their partners, but why are you still…”

 

“Why not ask Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, to arrange a match for you?”

 

Zeus’s consort was, of course, Hera, the goddess of gods.

 

And Poseidon held a wedding with Amphitrite, a sea goddess.

 

I was also invited to the wedding held in the sea, where I could see thousands of sea creatures talking like humans.

 

There was even a seahorse crying because its father recently went to my underworld.

 

I later found him in the underworld and provided some convenience. Such was the weight of being the god of the underworld.

 

As the king of the underworld, it could be seen as a responsibility or a burden.

 

The increase in my subjects also meant an increase in the sorrow of the living.

 

The more wars, famines, and great floods occurred, the more powerful the underworld became, but I could not always rejoice in it.

 

“By the way, tell us what’s happening outside.”

 

“You said something about creating lives, right?”

 

“I wonder if Zeus, who saved us, is doing well.”

 

I appropriately conveyed the events that had occurred outside to them.

 

One might think it could be done through a messenger, but this was a sign of respect.

 

Respect for the three brothers who had contributed greatly in the war against the Titans.

 

If I, the lord of the underworld, came down here personally to talk, they would not feel neglected.

 

“What?! Extinguishing the human race?”

 

“Sigh… A great flood… Poseidon must have had a hard time.”

 

“Prometheus ended up being strongly targeted by Zeus, tsk tsk…”

 

“Indeed, his foresight ability was very helpful during the war…”

 

The three brothers, Kottos, Briareos, and Gyes, showed great interest in the outside stories I told them.

 

With the combined 150 heads murmuring and chattering, the surroundings quickly filled with noise.

 

At that moment, suddenly, a loud sound came from the door that divided Tartarus from the underworld.

 

Boom! Boom!

 

The sound of a prisoner in Tartarus banging on the bronze door!

 

The three brothers, the goddess Lethe, and I immediately stopped talking and became vigilant.

 

Inside Tartarus, a scorching storm raged endlessly, so intense that even gods feared it.

 

And it was a place filled with power that suppressed the divine power of the Titan gods, making it difficult to exert a certain level of power.

 

Moreover, while it was not difficult to enter from the outside,

 

Trying to get out from the inside would make the storm grow increasingly fierce.

 

Therefore, there were not many who could break through the increasingly strong storm and knock on the door.

 

Only the strongest among the Titan gods could do so.

 

For example…

 

“The voice just now must be my eldest son, Hades! Please… please get me out of here!”

 

My father, Cronus, the god of agriculture and time.