Persephone's Story - (2)
Near Mount Etna, a group of beautiful nymphs and goddesses were playing ball.
Among them was a goddess born from the union of Demeter, the goddess of the earth, and Zeus, the king of the gods.
"Hahaha! Throw it here!"
"Kore, it's cheating to catch it with flowers!"
"So what? You all can use your powers too!"
The goddess, appearing to be in her early twenties with shining golden hair and stunning beauty, spoke.
"Ha... I feel like my mother sees me as too weak."
"Is it the goddess of the earth?"
Her formal name was Persephone.
She was affectionately called Kore.
"Yes! Just a little play outside and it’s 'watch out for monsters, watch out for the Gigantes'... Ugh!"
"Lady Demeter really loves you, Kore."
As the goddess of spring and seeds, she was playing with many nymphs when...
Suddenly, she tilted her head, showing a puzzled expression.
"Hmm? Can’t you all hear that sound?"
"The sound of birds?"
"I can hear the cool stream flowing in the forest..."
While the other nymphs and lesser gods did not notice,
she, the child of Zeus and Demeter, could sense it.
A strong vibration, as if echoing from beneath the ground...
Kuaang! Phwahak—
Suddenly, monsters with the lower body of a snake and the upper body of a human emerged from the ground.
They were the Gigantes, the foes of the gods.
"Kyaaa! Monsters suddenly appeared!"
"G-Gigantes?!"
"Oh my... Zeus!"
The nymphs were startled by the appearance of the large and hideous monsters.
But it was too early to panic,
as the Gigantes were not just one or two.
Phwah.
Kugugu...
The nymphs tried to flee in every direction but soon had to stop.
Because the Gigantes were already surrounding them.
"Kuhahaha! Are they creations of the gods? They look quite delicious."
"That blonde one seems to be a goddess, let’s capture her!"
"Remember our goal is to dig up our brother beneath the mountain!"
"Then brothers! Let’s kill all witnesses and tear apart Mount Etna!"
The nymphs froze in fear at the sinister conversation of the snake-human monsters.
Who among them could stand against such powerful monsters, each comparable to a lesser god or human hero...
"Ugh!"
Pashsss—
"Cough! Cough! Is it poison?!"
"What is this? Cough... Is it a power? Let’s take down that goddess first..."
"Cough...! The plants are binding us..."
Could only a god do this?
As the yellow powder spread from Persephone's sharply opened eyes, the Gigantes could not hold back their coughing.
Then, flowers and plants rapidly grew from the ground, binding them.
"... Kore!"
"Zeus! Please help!"
This was the power of the goddess of spring.
Though her strength was not suited for battle,
as the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, Persephone held a considerable divine status.
"Cough... Was there a goddess who could control poison and plants?"
"Hah, there’s only one!"
"It’s not poison, it’s pollen! You monsters!"
However, the Gigantes gathered here were not to be underestimated.
No matter how high Persephone's divine status was, being second only to the Twelve Olympians,
there were hundreds of Gigantes appearing here...
"Peloreos! Let’s overturn Mount Etna before Olympus notices."
"Thoas, you worry too much."
"Kuh! Olympus? If they come, I’ll kill them all!"
"We should be careful since Zeus might see. Pallas."
Four commanding Gigantes comparable to or slightly weaker than the Twelve Olympians.
Persephone would not escape unscathed.
Kuaaaang!
While many Gigantes were digging up Mount Etna, the remaining ones surrounded Persephone and the nymphs.
The monsters approached slowly, perhaps intending to toy with them, laughing as they came closer.
"Kuhuh. I want to hear your screams."
"W-What should we do... Kyaaa!"
"Help! Lady Demeter! Aah!"
The surrounding nymphs were gradually being eaten or torn apart by the Gigantes.
No matter how much Persephone tried to fight back, she was alone, and the monsters were overwhelmingly numerous.
"I’ll take care of that goddess."
"Pallas. Are you having all the fun by yourself?"
"Uhaha! If you’re unhappy, come at me too."
"Ha... Tch..."
Persephone gritted her teeth, forcing out her dwindling divine power.
Even if she grew plants to hinder them, scattered pollen, or struck with her divine power,
that Gigantes named Pallas was far too strong.
Certainly comparable to the Twelve Olympians.
Three other commanding Gigantes remained aside from that monster.
Even if her mother, Demeter, came directly... she could not defeat these monsters.
Sss—
The Gigantes in front of her slowly approached, loosening their hands.
The snake-like lower body moved creepily, pressing against the goddess.
"Have you already given up? Goddess?"
"My father is Zeus, and my mother is the goddess Demeter! You will all die miserably! I, Persephone, assure you!"
"Huh? What’s that, a curse?"
Even a curse that could destroy a city with a single word was useless.
The daughter of Zeus and Demeter felt helpless for the first time in her life.
The monster had already come close, grabbing her neck and lifting her up.
"Ugh..."
But she could not resist at all.
Her divine power was completely exhausted, and the ichor flowing from her wounds filled the ground.
Thud thud thud—
Born from a golden lineage, having lived a life without regrets,
to be captured by such a hideous monster.
"You seem like a young god, so curse your fate."
Hoo—
As she closed her eyes tightly to endure the pain that was about to come, she felt a strange sensation at her side,
a thick male hand gently pulling her.
'Huh?'
Phwah—
As Persephone slowly opened her eyes,
what she saw was a Gigantes with its head smashed and dead...
"Are you alright?"
It was a dark-haired, dark-eyed god who had placed her on his chariot.
It was soon clear who the god was that saved her from the brink of death.
A powerful aura that far surpassed her mother, the goddess of the earth and one of the Twelve Olympians.
Perhaps... a power that could be compared to Zeus, the king of the gods, belonged to this dark-haired god,
and she knew of only one such being.
'The lord of the underworld, Hades...'
As the surrounding monsters rushed in at the death of their companion,
two pronged spears that split the air appeared from the god's hand.
Kuaaaang!!!
A cold beam of black light shot across the space,
and the Gigantes caught in the destructive black current vanished as if they were evaporating.
Zzzzz...
Hoooom—
The terrible traces of destruction were etched into the earth,
and the Gigantes watched in horror as the clouds of the sky were split in half.
"Hah... Hah!"
"Kyaaa! What kind of god is that!"
"This power is...! Is it one of the Twelve Olympians? Ares? Hephaestus?"
"Nonsense! How could such a being..."
With Persephone on his back, Hades drove the chariot forward.
Each Gigantes, at least on par with a lower god, fell helplessly.
The moment he swung his spear was not even visible, and the attacks of the snake monsters inflicted no damage whatsoever.
Puhihihing! Purr—
The ghostly horses pulling the chariot charged, trampling the lower bodies of the Gigantes,
and following that, a black spear imbued with chilling killing intent flew, and without fail, the monster's corpse lay scattered.
Kwahzazazak! Phwah—
"Kuhh!"
"Euoritos! Let’s attack together!"
"You create an opening, Thoas!"
The Gigantes tried to hold him down to create a chance to pull Typhon out.
All three commanding Gigantes that Persephone had seen earlier rushed in to surround the chariot flowing with black current.
Just as the goddess of spring thought it was a crisis and was about to utter a warning,
a cold smile appeared on Hades' lips.
Swoosh—
The two-pronged spear, the trident, plunged into the earth.
A massive crack spread, temporarily connecting the living world and the underworld.
The atmosphere grew heavy as black energy erupted from the ground.
From the endless crack emerged soldiers of the underworld.
Ghostly soldiers with translucent bodies emerged, wielding spears and swords, continuously pouring out.
"Damn it! It’s the lord of the underworld, Hades!"
"Ugh! Die!"
"Even if you’re three gods, you’re alone!"
"Those who have already died are coming to the living world!"
Kwahziz! Kuwoong!
The Gigantes uprooted nearby trees and swung their fists in resistance...
but the soldiers of the underworld continued to swell in numbers, making it hard to count.
Since the dawn of humanity, the forces of the underworld had been growing.
The army of translucent corpses, exuding the aura of death, successfully blocked the Gigantes trying to pull out Typhon.
"Peloreos! If we take down Hades, we win! Stay focused!"
"For Mother Gaia!"
The spear swung diagonally soared into the sky, sending another Gigantes' upper body flying.
No monster could regenerate even after half of its body was blown away by the power of the underworld.
"Take—this!!!!"
As Thoas brought down a wooden club onto Hades' head while retrieving his spear from the chariot,
the force of this attack was enough to break mountains.
Zzzzz!
However, the lord of the underworld easily drew a black sword from his waist with one hand and blocked it,
and with the clash of immense power, a deafening sound erupted, devastating the surroundings.
Kuwoong.
Kuaquang!!!
Even in such chaos, Persephone, riding behind Hades, remained unharmed.
And she realized that the lord of the underworld had never allowed a single effective hit.
'He’s toying with monsters that are on par with the Olympian gods...'
The Twelve Olympians included Zeus and Poseidon, but they were bound together with Hades as the three gods.
And there was a rumor that even if all twelve gods of the golden throne attacked, they could not defeat one of the three gods.
The story she had laughed and chatted about with the nymphs was indeed true.
Right after the battle began... she finally noticed the corners of Hades' mouth, which had been curling into a cold smile.
Just as one of the commanding Gigantes, who had been catching his breath, rushed in excitedly.
"Damn it! Don’t underestimate us, Hades!"
"Wait...! Euoritos!! Don’t rush in..."
Swoosh— Phwah!
"Kyaaa!"
But as the black sword flashed, the arms of the rushing Gigantes were severed.
The bravely charging Euoritos fell to the ground, spilling his blood.
"Ugh... Ugh..."
"He’s stronger than I thought...!"
She had heard many rumors about Hades, the lord of the underworld.
They said he would look hideous and terrible since he ruled the underworld... it was a typical grim rumor.
She was a young goddess who had never even attended the banquets of Olympus, so she thought even more so.
Even if humans spoke of him as a god of mercy, they were just saying that because they had never seen him.
It was not uncommon for humans to transform their fear into faith...
But now, Persephone could see that all of that was wrong.
The gentleness that softly embraced her waist and saved her from danger.
The strength that could be compared to her father, Zeus, and the meticulous care that protected her throughout the battle.
Finally, the hideous appearance she had imagined...
was instead a cold and handsome face, uncharacteristic of the lord of the underworld.
A small whisper escaped Persephone's lips as if enchanted.
"He's handsome..."