Chapter 39 – Escape, to Tartarus (5)
After escaping from the island of Gaia, we headed to the underworld, Tartarus, with the help of the goddess Thetis.
“In the beginning there was Chaos, and there were four Old Gods born of Chaos, each saying his own name: Gaia and Nyx, Erebus and Tartarus.”
Above deck.
I continued to explain the history of the world I had heard from Metis to my younger sisters.
Because?
Because we are going to Tartarus.
“Is Tartarus a titan god like Gaia?”
“You could call it a titan, you could call it a titan’s origin.”
“Brother, didn’t you say that Tartarus is hell? So it’s not people, it’s a terrain… Isn’t it a world?”
“They say they are God, Terrain, and World. Just as Gaia is the land itself and the goddess of the land, they say that Tartarus is also Hell and a god at the same time.”
Tartarus was said to be the underworld and at the same time a god.
“The name of hell is Tartarus, and the god of hell is Tartarus. Just like we call the whole land Gaia.”
“Then Tartarus is…On our side?”
“That’s ambiguous. I don’t know if it’s him…Or she. Gaia-sama also said that it’s been a long time since she hasn’t seen the ‘reality’ of Tartarus.”
It is said that Tartarus is a world, but there is no one who rules it.
In the first place, it was not an environment in which someone could say, ‘I am the ruler of this place!’
Bottom of hell.
“If there is a prison with five floors underground, it would be like a six-story prison.”
“It’s the 5th floor, but the 6th floor?”
“It must be something that shouldn’t be known… Or a space that’s dangerous enough to be reluctant to even mention, or something like that.”
“It’s like that.”
It is said that Tartarus is a place where hellfire like lava flows and there is no life, where you cannot die in eternal thirst and pain and suffer for the rest of your life.
We’ll have to go in and see if it’s real or not.
“…It’s about time to go in.”
Shoot it
Suddenly, the ship arrived at the sea covered with white fog.
And we met.
“Who are you?”
A white-haired woman with no hint of complexion.
Her hair, eyebrows, and eyes were all white, so it gave me goosebumps.
But she is beautiful
“Are you Styx?”
“It’s quite a matter of recognizing me. That’s right. You…You’re the child of that rumor. And the women behind you…Are your concubines?”
“They are my sisters.”
“…Excuse me.”
Styx lightly bowed his head to Poseidon and his younger brothers.
“You misunderstood that the way you look at your brother is like the way you look at a lover. It must mean that you cherish and love your family that much. As a way of acknowledging my mistake and apologizing, I will ask you guys. That’s…”
“That’s up to me. The Goddess just wants us to open the way for us to go to the Underworld.”
“The underworld?”
Styx landed softly on the deck, barefoot.
“What happened to the underworld?”
“I’m going to go to Tartarus.”
“…The living go to Tartarus? Huh, if it were there, it would be possible not to be chased by Cronus. But-“
“I will rescue those trapped there.”
“…Hmm. I guess so.”
It seems that this woman is somewhat mistaken.
Do you really think we will run away from Kronos and live in Tartarus?
If so, you are mistaken.
“The children of Gaia who were imprisoned in Tartarus were imprisoned without any guilt. Those who guard the place are also Kronos’ servants. We will defeat them and save them.”
“I see. …But do you know what it means to open the way for you guys?”
Styx pointed to the sky.
“I can tell Cronus about this right now.”
“…Brother.”
Hades and his younger siblings immediately went into battle.
He immediately showed hostility towards Styx, despite the fact that he would have to fight Styx in the event that the ship was damaged and drowned in the River Styx.
“Goddess, please make a wise choice.”
Same for me.
“If I can defeat Cronus and win, I will not forget the grace the goddess gave me.”
“Ohhh. Are you trying to drag me into non-work activities in advance? Okay, by what means? I have a fox-like husband and rabbit-like children. What is the benefit of supporting you despite the threat to my family? Is it?”
From the point of discussing the benefits, we are already halfway there.
I was sure that the road to the underworld would open.
“Honor.”
“I’m already enjoying a lot of honor as a goddess. But honor?”
“‘By the River Styx.'”
As if taking an oath, I raised one hand and declared it.
“I, Zeus, promise to keep the promise I made on the river Styx, even if this life and strength is exhausted.”
“…Hoo.”
Styx’s eyes began to twinkle.
“For example?”
“Suppose there is a woman very beautiful, and I am anxious to commit her. And I swore on the River Styx to please her, and promised to do her any favor. Then the woman said, If you say, ‘Please don’t violate me,’ I’ll give it up. Why? It’s an oath made by the River Styx.”
In reality, that doesn’t happen very often, but it also means that it has a very powerful effect.
It is like a proposal in modern society to give the right to create a personal seal and all rights related to it. No no
“Swear by the River Styx. That’s a… Nice feeling.”
Neither Zeus nor Gaia nor Rhea.
The absolute covenant, the promise of the gods spread throughout the land, is fulfilled under the name of ‘Styx’.
Could Cronus have given Styx this kind of honor?
Never.
‘This is an issue that has already been discussed and decided with Metis.’
* * *
I once talked to Metis and talked about the River Styx.
So, before the vommelier test with the five sisters in Crete.
I often visited Métis and had a good time like a wild goose couple, and Métis congratulated me on my return and hugged me.
“So you want your sisters to do it with you?”
“Because the more flesh you mix, the stronger you become.”
“Even if it’s not that, isn’t it because you’re so cool? I’ll make love with Goddess Leia like I do… Any woman will feel envious. Whoops.”
Fortunately, Metis was not negative about our relationship.
“There is no helper as sure as family. Congratulations, Jupiter. After you have sex with your sisters, they will never betray you for the rest of your life.”
“Why?”
“Even if you have sex with anyone in Greece, there will be no other man who will have sex as full of love and pleasure as you.”
Rather positive.
“Kuh… If there’s one thing I’ve done best in my life, it’s meeting you, Metis. I love you, Metis.”
“Blood, words only.”
“If only I could open my heart and show you, would I want to do that right now? That I want to be with you for the rest of my life is not a lie.”
“How are you going to check your heart? If you write it down on paper, they’ll tear it up, and if you tell someone else, they’ll blackmail you into changing your words.”
“Wouldn’t it be okay to swear by a river?”
“If I speak to the river, I have to listen to everything? Where in the world is there such a thing?”
“…No?”
Shock!
The oath on the River Styx did not exist.
“Then shall we make one of these later?”
“That’s good. A promise of truth that even the main god cannot break. If you break the promise… A promise that’s so sure that the authority of a titan god will fall to a level inferior to that of a worm.”
…Based on that memory, I discussed this with Metis while thinking about how to seduce Styx, who was on his way to Tartarus.
“Metis, do you remember what we said last time? Swearing an oath on the river. Let’s propose it to Styx and ask him to open the way. What if even Cronus said that if he swore on the river Styx, he would have to keep it?”
“…It’s a pity that there is no Metis River.”
The River Styx is not the realm of Thetis.
So, in order to go to Tartarus, I needed Styx’s help, and I decided to use my oath on the Styx River now.
Viva, future knowledge.
Viva, modern cheat.
“Shall we try it? I swear by the River Styx. As long as you don’t let another man into your bedroom, I will love you.”
“…You are also a Greek man. You will never say that you love only me. You can’t say that you love only one woman while swearing by the River Styx, right?”
“I’m really sorry about that.”
I couldn’t bear to say yes to Metis’ argument.
Did Zeus swear to love only one woman?
It is not Zeus, but something wearing the mask of Zeus.
And I am Zeus
“I’m really sorry.”
“…Puu, you don’t have to be so sorry. Because I can speak for you.”
Metis kissed me on the cheek and whispered.
“I swear by the River Styx, I will live my life loving only you. If I break that rule, I will fall into an eternal sleep from which I will never wake up again. Of course, the titan’s blood flowing through my body will wake me up again, but since it is eternal sleep, it will last a very long time. You will fall asleep.”
“…You’re such a lovely woman. Metis, you.”
Metis leaned over me and smiled Bessie.
“Promise me. By the river Styx, Jupiter’s… Zeus’s victory.”
That’s how I came up with a way to appease Metis and Styx.
* * *
And again now.
“That’s a very good oath. But that’s not enough. I have to ask you one more favor.”
Styx pointed to her sisters behind me.
“If you guys win against Cronus, one of you will have to rule Tartarus and the Underworld.”
“That…!”
“There may be occasions when they appear in between, but you will spend most of your life underground. As the owner of the underground and the king of the underworld.
“I’ll do it.”
Standing in front of Styx, she had black hair.
“Hades?”
Maybe.
“If my brother rules the ground, I will rule the underworld.”
Destiny seems to be predetermined.
“After Kronos is thrown into Tartarus, someone needs to monitor it, right? As the King of the Underworld.”
Hades whispered very softly next to me in a voice only I could hear.
“…The king of the earth and the king of the underworld.
