The Story of Life - (4)

As Zeus finished his tale, he vanished in a flash of light.

Only then did I call the gods who had been waiting outside my office.

[Now that Zeus has left, everyone may come in.]

Both Zeus and I were aware that many were curious about our conversation, but we paid it no mind.

I had blocked the sound from reaching outside using divine power.

"Hades, is it possible that even after the great flood ends, our work will only increase...?"

"Could it be that Zeus has given us more tasks...?"

I calmly explained to them, who wore tense expressions.

Zeus had sworn by the River Styx that he would never again sweep the earth without consulting the underworld.

And during the flood, he had promised to send the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and her attendants to assist the underworld.

"Phew... That's a relief."

"I was already worried about the workload, but with Goddess Athena..."

The underworld became lively again.

Sighs of relief escaped from various corners, and the gods dispersed with slightly brighter faces.

Three days until the great flood.

On the day of the great flood.

The king of the gods, Zeus, called upon Boreas, the god of the north wind, with a solemn voice.

"Boreas, from now on, do not stir the winds and stay in Aeolus's cave for nine days. I will not listen to any objections."

"... I shall obey your command."

Boreas entered the cave of Aeolus, the wind god who contained the winds, halting his duties.

Thus, the storm clouds that would fill the sky would not scatter.

Next, Notus, the god of the south wind, stood before Zeus.

He was the god symbolizing the summer south wind and rain, always appearing drenched.

"Notus! Until I say stop, feel free to pour down rain. Let the summer be completely submerged."

With his wet body and wings dripping with water, Notus obeyed Zeus's command and touched the clouds in the sky.

Soon, with a loud roar of thunder, heavy rain began to pour down upon the earth.

Swoosh—

Having received Hera's command in advance, Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, drew water from the Milky Way to add moisture to the clouds.

The day the storm clouds dry will be when Hera's command is lifted.

"Hermes! Inform Poseidon that the time has come. Athena! Go down to the underworld with the selected attendants and assist Hades."

Hermes, the messenger god dressed as a light traveler with the caduceus, a staff entwined with two snakes, flew swiftly to the sea.

He was the son of Zeus and also the god of thieves and travelers.

"For the next nine days, if any god helps the lives on earth out of personal feelings, it would be wise to prepare for the consequences!"

Boom, rumble!!

Finally, Zeus's powerful shout echoed through the Olympus palace along with the thunder.

The various gods who heard the shout trembled and dared not act recklessly.

The king of the gods had decided to punish humanity; who would dare to stop him?

Receiving a visit from Hermes, Zeus's messenger, Poseidon raised a massive wave that overturned the earth.

The human villages along the coast sank to the ocean floor in an instant.

Next, he summoned all the river gods.

The command given by the great sea god to the river gods was simple.

"Open all the floodgates and let the water flow as it pleases."

Among them were river gods who cared for humans, but they could not defy Poseidon's command and opened the floodgates.

The lives near the rivers were quickly sucked into the deep waters.

When Poseidon's trident struck the earth, the tremendous force opened all waterways wide.

A terrifying flood covered the entire world.

In the sudden disaster, human villages, temples, orchards, and fields became unrecognizable.

Desperate to survive the wrath of the gods, humans crawled up to the mountain tops.

"Zeus, oh Zeus! Why are you doing this!"

"I do not want to meet Hades yet! What have I done wrong!"

"I have offered sacrifices to Poseidon for so long..."

"Ugh. Gulp, I am still..."

Humans who escaped the danger of drowning felt a moment of relief but soon had to scream in a world turned to sea.

Only the sea nymphs, the Nereids, smiled amidst the flood.

No human could endure the great flood that lasted for nine days.

When there was no land left in the world, the underworld was busier than ever.

An unimaginable number of souls surged through the five rivers, the boundary between the underworld and the living, into Hades's fortress.

"Hades! The area where the souls are gathered is no longer..."

"Let me see... next to Elysium, I will take action immediately, so for now, receive them elsewhere."

"The ferryman Charon's boat has sunk, and souls have fallen into the Acheron River!"

"Send a messenger to the goddess Lethe to rescue the souls and have her assist..."

In my office, I, Hades, felt as if I needed three bodies to manage everything.

With one hand, I was reviewing reports coming from various parts of the underworld on parchment.

With another hand, I was busy exercising my powers throughout the underworld to judge and assign souls.

My eyes were busy surveying the entire underworld,

And my mouth was drying out as I responded to the reports from the messengers when I finally heard the news I had been waiting for.

"Athena has come with the attendants from Olympus..."

"Send the attendants to the outside to the goddess Styx, and tell Athena to come here immediately, quickly!"

Soon, Athena, clad in full armor and holding a spear, opened the door to my office and saluted.

"I greet the lord of the underworld, my uncle Hades..."

"Now that you are here, sit down and start working quickly."

I glanced at Athena and then turned my gaze back to the mountain of parchment.

Of course, it was only natural to transfer half of the piled-up work to Athena.

"Um... what is this...?"

"You don't need the war goddess for this work, so hurry and take off that armor."

Athena, being the goddess of war, wisdom, and civilization, seemed to realize the future that awaited her.

With a weary smile, she began to remove her armor and sat down in front of me.

From outside the office, the sounds of various gods shouting and the busy movements of souls could be heard.

Fortunately, with the goddess of wisdom joining the battle against paperwork, we would surely achieve victory.

After a while, buried in the pile of parchment, Athena cautiously opened her mouth.

"Uncle, if you lend me your name, I have a way to navigate through this crisis."

"If the goddess of wisdom speaks, I shall not suffer a loss; proceed."

After Athena's suspicious statement, I saw her doing something, but I ignored it due to the heavy workload.

And after about four or five more times that Charon's boat was destroyed...

"Hades! The god of war, Ares, has come to see you in front of the Acheron River!"

When our eyes met, Athena gave me a wise smile from between the piles of parchment.

A moment later, a handsome, muscular god with a cheerful smile entered my office.

It was Ares, the god of war, son of Zeus and Hera.

"Uncle Hades! Where is the war I should partake in..."

"Good, as a god of war, you should be able to command well. From now on, you will lead the souls crossing the River Styx to this place."

"Uh...? What do you mean by that? Surely Athena over there..."

Listening to Ares's bewildered expression was quite a sight.

He had rushed here because Athena had sent him a message saying, [If you come to the underworld now, you can participate in a grand war.]

Moreover, Athena had even guaranteed that her words were true in my name.

So even though he had doubts, he came believing it...

With one god in need, I had no reason to accommodate his situation.

".... Athena! You tricked me again!"

"I only said that I could participate in the war of duties occurring in the underworld; is there a problem?"

As Ares screamed, he was suddenly grabbed by the hand of a lower god who appeared behind him and vanished.

To be precise, it was because I was glaring at him that he could not resist.

Finally, the long nine days of the great flood came to an end.

The gods belonging to the underworld could finally take a short rest, and just as everyone was about to drink nectar, a message came from Olympus again.

"The son of Prometheus, Deucalion, has survived the great flood and wishes to revive humanity, so Hades, please reincarnate the souls..."

Prometheus, who possessed the power of prophecy, had informed his son about the flood.

Thus, he was able to build an ark and save his life.

However... to say he would recreate humans right now?

Focusing my eyes and ears on the surface for a moment, I heard Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha talking.

"Um... dear, the oracle of Zeus says... if you wish to revive humanity, you must throw the bones of the great mother over your shoulder."

"Oh gods! We cannot commit the sin of impiety! Please withdraw the oracle..."

"Wait a moment. Could it be that the mother refers to the earth and the bones mean the rocks?"

"Ah...! That could be it!"

Seeing them hurriedly picking up stones from the ground, I immediately shouted to the gods.

Quickly select the souls to be reincarnated and send them to the surface.

"Damn it! Is the work still not finished?!"

"Hypnos! What will happen if the goddess Lethe has collapsed and you put her to sleep!"

"I didn't put her to sleep; she just collapsed from exhaustion!"

"Hurry and select the souls!"

The underworld, which was returning to peace, quickly turned into chaos.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Deucalion and his wife were throwing stones to create human forms.

"Uh...? When we threw the stones, they took on human shapes, but why aren't they moving?"

"Um, let's wait a bit. It seems the gods are busy as well."

"Souls, move quickly; it’s time for reincarnation!"

"Did we classify the sinners properly?"

"We will send them to the living world in order!"

Souls emerging from the underworld began to seep into human forms under the guidance of the gods.

Only then did Deucalion and Pyrrha breathe a sigh of relief and start throwing stones freely.

Thud.

Plop.

Thud.

The stones fell incessantly to the ground, successfully becoming humans, but...

The gods of the underworld were instead furious.

"Damn it! Throw a little slower!"

"What are they in such a hurry for, throwing stones?!"

The underworld is busy today as well.