A Slightly Different Tale of Thebes - (2)
"He's a madman! Kill him!"
"Uaaah! Hwaah!"
Clang! Clang!
This place had suddenly transformed into a battlefield filled with swords and knives.
A man, his eyes red, charged at the soldiers, using his muscles to easily cut down one of them.
Swoosh—
Red blood splattered across the once peaceful room, shattering the furniture scattered around.
Philatos could not grasp the exact situation.
One thing was certain: the man's condition was strange, and the soldiers seemed accustomed to such chaos.
"Uaaah!"
"Ugh. So strong!"
"Priest! The fiend..."
He quickly moved to assist the soldiers.
Swiftly circling behind the madman, Philatos drew his sword from his waist and raised it high.
Following the sword techniques he had trained in, he struck down fiercely on the madman's shoulder.
The well-honed blade gleamed sharply, emitting a cold light.
"Ha!"
Swoosh—
With a strength famous even in Sparta, the muscular man's arm was severed, spraying blood everywhere.
However, the madman did not falter; instead, he charged forward.
As Philatos attempted to retrieve his sword to swing again, the madman was already too close.
Philatos was astonished by the bizarre strength of the lunatic.
"Ugh!"
He barely managed to block the madman's attack with his sword, but that was all.
Could a man with one arm severed possess such strength?
He gritted his teeth, wondering if he would have to meet Thanatos like this...
"Hwaah! Ah..."
Thud.
Suddenly, the madman's movements halted, and he collapsed weakly.
And from a short distance away, a priest extended his hand.
"You cannot withstand the power of the god Hypnos forever."
So he was a priest of the god of sleep, Hypnos.
The madman was dragged away by the soldiers, but Philatos was still on guard.
"Tsk. He hasn’t come for a while... I suppose it’s about time..."
The middle-aged priest presented a mysterious stone to him.
"Are you the last one? Place your hand on the stone quickly; if you are sane, nothing will happen."
"Um... I understand. I am sober..."
Fwoosh—
A white light, the same as those who had passed before him.
It was not the red light of madness.
Philatos felt a small sense of relief, and the soldiers relaxed their guard.
"From now on, I will guide these people. You may go about your business."
"Yes, Priest."
"Then we shall take our leave."
Only three had passed this strange trial.
They followed the middle-aged priest, who was now guiding just the three of them, leaving the soldiers behind.
What on earth was this strange trial, and who was the madman?
Why did the gods make those who wished to become heroes undergo such tests?
They arrived in a room deep within the temple.
The faces of the three, having gone through strict security to reach this place, were not very pleasant.
"Now, everyone, look at this parchment."
"What is this?"
"This is the third trial. You must read the parchment carefully and swear by the River Styx to uphold everything written there."
"Wha... what?! The River Styx?!"
"Is this really necessary?"
Swearing by the River Styx was an unbreakable law.
Yet, the restrictions written on this parchment were far too many.
"From now on, you are forbidden to speak of anything you see or hear, and even indirect communication through writing or drawing is impossible..."
"If you sign once, you must abide by the rules until you take your first step as a hero? And..."
"No, I cannot do this! How am I supposed to manage this?"
One of the three who passed the trial waved his hands, expressing his refusal.
The other, upon seeing the numerous prohibitions, turned pale.
"Well, two have refused. Then you must swear not to disclose anything about the trials received in Thebes."
"... I understand. I swear by the River Styx that I will not reveal anything I see or hear in this 'trial'..."
"I too..."
The two left the way they had come, but Philatos did not give up.
He had walked a long way from Sparta to become a hero; he could not give up now.
"I swear by the River Styx to uphold the contents written on this parchment."
"Oh... So there was still one hero among you. Though not yet..."
"But now that I have sworn, can you not tell me about the processes until now?"
At his question, the middle-aged priest nodded.
"I cannot tell you everything, but... the stone you saw earlier is imbued with the power of the god Dionysus."
"The power of the god of madness...?"
"Of course, it does not drive a sane person mad; it is an object that makes those already consumed by madness unable to endure."
"That’s why you used the term 'spy.' What, is there another god involved...?"
"You must know about the serpent monster that appeared throughout Greece, right? You can think of it as a spy sent from there."
He was indeed aware of the serpent monster, Gigas.
There was no way he could be ignorant of the powerful monsters that destroyed temples and killed heroes or demigods across Greece.
But to think that a monster could drive humans into madness and use them as spies?
He was surely caught up in a complex struggle among the gods.
"Damn... I shouldn’t get involved in the affairs of the gods... But it can't be helped. Since it has come to this..."
"Haha. You’ve thought well. Finally, one has emerged after nearly a month."
The middle-aged priest opened the door deeper into the room.
Stone stairs leading downwards appeared before them, with torches hanging at regular intervals along the walls.
"Follow me this way."
"It seems like a place for some kind of ritual."
"Just follow me, and you’ll see, haha."
Thud.
Thud.
Thus, Philatos arrived somewhere underground...!
Goooh—
Before him was a space where an unusual current swirled, or rather, a crack had appeared.
A rift emitting a black light opened wide enough for a few people to pass through, as if the very space had shattered and led somewhere.
"Wha... what is this?! I’ve never seen anything like this before...! Is it the power of the god Olympus?"
"This is a door to the underworld. If you enter here, you will receive training to become a hero."
"The... the underworld?!"
The underworld, or the realm of the dead.
Wasn't that a place only the deceased could go?
To think they would train heroes here.
The reason for such a thing being created beneath the temple of Pluto...
As he hesitated, the priest's advice reached his ears.
"Since you have sworn by the River Styx, which comes with a non-disclosure agreement, I will not force you."
"Um!"
"If you are indeed worthy of becoming a hero, you will pass through this; if not, you will give up."
Even with his pride pricked, Philatos found it hard to take a step back.
How could a living person cross into the realm of the dead?
"But if you eat the food of the underworld, you can never return to the living world, right?"
"Of course, the food you will eat is brought from the living world at regular intervals."
"There must be plenty of food brought from the living world over there."
If he wished to walk the path of a hero, did he really have to train in the underworld?
Perhaps he should look for another way...
"... Have all others gone through such a process?"
"Of course. Those who have come this far have either given up or are training inside."
"To think the god Pluto would personally train heroes, what is this..."
The priest, appearing calm, spoke again to the astonished Philatos.
"That means the gods are taking a keen interest. The choice is yours."
"To the underworld... Hmm..."
There was no possibility that this priest was deceiving him.
What Pluto's followers feared most was judgment in the underworld.
Believing that the sins of the living would be fairly paid for in the underworld, Pluto's followers rarely committed crimes.
After contemplating for a long time, he slowly stepped forward.
A step toward becoming a hero.
"... I will go to the underworld. I will surely become a hero and slay that Gigas!"
"Oh. I wish you good fortune."
The strange rift in space drew closer, and he gritted his teeth as he took a step forward.
Swoosh—
Having passed through the rift, Philatos could not help but be greatly surprised by the scenery of the underworld.
"This is... the underworld?!"
It felt different from what he had imagined.
He had prepared himself for a dark and eerie space of death, but instead, he found a vast plain and rocky canyons all around, with even some light shining through.
Green grass grew on the ground like a meadow, and there were even trees in this space.
It felt far too uncharacteristic of the underworld, and he opened his mouth in a daze.
"Did I die and come to Elysium...?!"
"Of course not! Haha! The real Elysium cannot even be compared to this."
As he turned his head at the sudden voice from beside him, he saw a translucent centaur.
Clearly a deceased spirit, he looked down at Philatos with a hearty laugh.
"Hmm?! W-Who are you?"
"I am Chiron. From now on, I will be your teacher, the centaur."
"The wise Chiron?!"
Chiron's reputation had endured even after his death.
Now Philatos understood why heroes were trained in the underworld.
"But is this really the underworld? Why does it look so similar to the living world...?"
"That’s because the spring goddess and other gods were concerned that the living could not adapt to the underworld. Just don’t cross beyond that barrier you see over there."
"The goddess Persephone... I see."
Indeed, beyond that barrier, the scenery of the underworld was filled with darkness.
He instinctively sensed that if he crossed that boundary, he would meet death.
The space permitted for those aspiring to be heroes from the living world was only around this canyon.
But even this much space was sufficient.
To think the wise Chiron would teach him directly, he was glad he had come to Thebes!
However... that feeling was shattered in an instant.
Whoosh— Bang!
"Ugh!"
A figure flying from afar crashed into a rock, spraying blood.
The one who had just flown was another aspiring hero, it seemed.
Philatos quickly turned his head to see...
"Uaaah!"
"No, I heard they weakened after death, but why are they so strong!"
"Think a little! Are we the god Apollo?!"
"Uaaah! Just die already!"
Kyaaaah!!!
"Use some strength! Aren't you a demigod?!"
"I’ve been using all my strength since earlier... Ugh!"
"Damn it! Protoss is down!"
Crash— Bang!
A massive, incomprehensibly powerful translucent serpent monster was charging at the aspiring heroes, swatting them away with its tail.
Just a light tap sent people flying, and shields shattered, creating chaos.
Clang! Thud!
"Damn it! Shoot arrows and aim for its eyes!"
"Just die, damn it!"
Yet, the heroes charged forward, gritting their teeth.
But there was no sign that their attacks were effective against the monster.
"Ah. That’s Python. The god Hades lent it to train heroes."
"Wait, is that the Python that the god Apollo personally killed?"
"Is there another Python besides that one?"
Hearing that he had to face a monster so powerful that even a god would take action left him dumbfounded, but Chiron instead questioned him back.
"Do we have to face such a monster?"
"...? Did you not come to the underworld because you wanted to become a hero?"
"But..."
It was true that he had stepped into the underworld with overflowing courage.
But... but...
"Oh, by the way, you won’t die easily in the underworld thanks to the grace of the god Pluto, so don’t worry."
"... You mean we can’t even die?"
He wanted to return to the living world once more.