King of Underworld - Chapter 49



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The Tragedy of Oedipus – (Complete)

A familiar feeling, a changing perspective.

Black energy flows out in all directions, evidence that I have possessed a human body.

“Huh…? No way…!”

“Lord Hades…?”

The surrounding priests hurriedly bow their heads in this direction.

As we make our way through the crowd of people in the temple, what we see is the king of Thebes who has become mad.

“Ugh…”

Oedipus the King, who is clearly endowed with the power of Gaia.

He was clearly a hero who was praised for his wit and strategy, and as a saintly king who defeated the Sphinx.

Oedipus rushes at me as if he doesn’t recognize me as the day he descended into a human body.

No, it’s not that I didn’t recognize it… it’s more like I gave my mind over to madness.

“Whoa!”

Kwaaang!

I reached out my hand to him who was running towards me and unleashed my divine power.

Even though he has become a hero-level strong person who cannot be compared to humans,

It’s not enough to defeat a god possessed in a human body.

Kkudangtang!

Oedipus, who was hit by a wave-like divine force and rolled around on the ground, staggers to his feet.

Although it was a short moment, a confused look passed by him.

It’s not like it’s a curse from Dionysus, the god of madness.

Madness that can be brought to one’s senses by repeated strong shocks.

Kwaaaaang!!!

“Cough!”

But you burned the temple and massacred the people of Thebes?

To begin with, only a crazy person with severe mental unstableness would be able to do this.

Once again, Oedipus the King staggers to his feet.

“Have you come to your senses a little?”

“Ugh… Hades… God…”

The madman looked straight at me.

“…You are sad. I will listen to your circumstances.”

“flaw…”

The madness granted by Gaia only threw a small spark into the already piled firewood.

Reason briefly appeared in Oedipus’ eyes as he looked at me once more.

The madman, who was examining the surrounding dark divine power and my pupils alternately, slowly brought the sword to his arm.

Crunch.

“Kuaaaah!”

“Oedipus the King… took his own arm…”

“no?!”

“What is going on…!”

Oedipus knelt on one knee and gritted his teeth.

He cut off his own arm and looked straight at me, slightly relieved of the effects of madness.

Finally, the king of Thebes, with a clear gun in his eyes, bows his head.

“Pluto, god of mercy.”

But the emotions that came with the guns were so varied.

Sadness, anger, self-loathing, guilt, resentment, frustration…

“Please don’t have mercy on me… I’m a sinner… Hehehe… Hehe…”

A compendium of all negative emotions.

What on earth happened before Gaia’s curse?

But the mistakes he made were enough to send the living to the afterlife to be judged.

I focused my energy on my palms and moved my frozen body, walking towards him who was kneeling.

“It’ll be difficult to talk in your current state. Let’s talk again later.”

“I’m sorry… Mother.”

Danggang.

Boom. Roll.

The head of King Oedipus, who seemed to have given up everything and did not even resist, rolled on the floor.

It was an extremely absurd end for a sinner who had burned down the temple of Dionysus and killed countless citizens in a fit of madness.

He looked at the head rolling on the floor for a moment, then turned around and looked at the humans.

The citizens of Thebes cannot look me in the eye for fear of divine punishment.

“Pluto…”

“Have mercy…”

The priests of the temple quietly closed their eyes and clasped their hands.

A new priest is seen shedding tears of joy.

“…Not a single one of you has run away from the temple. I will remember your faith.”

After saying just one last word, he immediately moved his consciousness to the afterlife.

* * *

Let’s move our consciousness back to the afterlife,

I saw a lot of gods with hardened faces around me.

It seems like everyone has gathered after hearing about the situation in Thebes.

“Thanatos, summon King Oedipus immediately. And bring Minos, the judge, to me as well.”

“Hmm. Okay, I see.”

“Shall I bring you the fountain of memory?”

“Goddess Mnemosyne, I don’t think that will be necessary.”

When I think about the eyes of Oedipus that I saw in this world, I think that even if I cross the river of forgetfulness, my memories will remain.

Now is the time to hear his story.

A moment later, Thanatos roughly dragged Oedipus’ soul away.

There was no longer any madness in his eyes, but complex emotions were swirling around him.

“I will listen to your story carefully, and then consult with Minos, the judge of the underworld, and make a decision.”

“…..”

“Tell me frankly, everything about yourself. Even if you curse Zeus, it doesn’t matter to me.”

At those words, Oedipus’ mouth slowly opened.

“I killed my father, had sex with my mother and had children with her.”

His steps were groped out with a voice that sounded very hoarse.

The story of Oedipus, who was raised as a prince of Corinth, and who killed his father while riding in a chariot.

The Sphinx and Thebes, with his mother and wife, Jocasta.

And… the truth spoken by the prophet Tiresias.

Even the power granted by the one who called herself Gaia.

Having said this, Oedipus closed his mouth again.

If he had not burned the temple and killed people under Gaia’s influence, his sins would have been greatly reduced.

“Gaia has given you the wrong idea.”

“At first, I was definitely filled with resentment towards God, but at some point, my will also joined in.”

Did Oedipus also give in to madness?

Why? Of course, it won’t be easy to resist madness and come to your senses…

“…Did you resent Apollo for making the prophecy?”

“You just told me the future that was already set.”

“Then was it anger towards Ares who had placed a curse on the royal family of Thebes for generations?”

“If I had killed my child, I might have put that curse on him.”

“Then do you think Gaia is at fault for corrupting you?”

“I just changed the direction of the burning flame.”

Although he says this, it is not that he has no resentment towards God.

When he actually fell into madness, his hatred for Olympus erupted, such as by destroying temples.

However… his other desire is so great that he doesn’t even have time to blame the gods.

It’s time to check if my thoughts are right.

“So what do you wish for?”

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“I am a great traitor who killed my father and had relations with my mother. I wish you to punish me for destroying the temple and massacring the citizens of Thebes.”

Maybe he wanted to be punished.

Despite the terrible sin of having relations with his mother and killing his father, the three goddesses of vengeance did not torment him.

Perhaps the reason was that it was not intentional, but did that make Oedipus more miserable?

“You don’t say that you killed people because of the curse Gaia put on you.”

“…sorry.”

Only the terrible and cruel punishment that is given to those who commit all kinds of serious crimes…

Did he think that was the only way he could atone for his sins?

The human mind is more fragile and unstable than that of gods.

A person whose mind is driven to the limit ultimately chooses to destroy himself.

Often those who overcome it are called heroes among heroes…

Unfortunately, Oedipus was not able to do so.

Human emotions are complex, and sometimes we don’t even know what we want.

What’s more, a human who has been granted the madness of Gaia while in a state of mental breakdown…

“…Please punish me.”

* * *

“It will be difficult to decide on your punishment right away. I will hold off for the time being.”

It was not madness that made him turn his head,

Was he protesting to the gods to punish him for giving in to madness?

Oedipus went out under the strict watch of the soul guards.

He temporarily banished all the gods and summoned Minos, the just judge of the underworld.

His two brothers are too busy judging other souls to come, but Minos alone is enough to receive advice.

“Minos, do you have any comments?”

“The severity of the sin would seem to depend on how much Gaia’s curse has affected that human’s mind.”

“and?”

“Other than that, considering the blasphemies and tragic prophecies, the great contributions to Thebes, and the wrongs of killing humans…”

Minos is right.

At the time when humans were massacred and temples were burned,

The question of how much balance there was between Oedipus’ own intentions and the madness of the curse.

The judgment must be made as fairly as possible.

“Gaia must have tempted us to believe that everything was our gods’ fault.”

“But according to Oedipus’ words when he came to the underworld, from the middle onwards he also joined in the madness and became even more violent…”

“Even in madness, there must have been a ray of will, not even the whisper of Dionysus.”

“That’s probably why he used the expression that his own will was also involved.”

“If it weren’t for Gaia’s curse, wouldn’t it have ended with him gouging out his own eyes? He swore that if he found the traitor, he would gouge out his eyes.”

“Gaia’s curse pushed Oedipus, who was already mentally unstable, to make a wrong decision…”

After that, I consulted with Minos for a long time.

Considering the dead humans, the reputation of the living, the effects of the curse, and his attitude…

“Bring back Oedipus.”

It is time to make a judgment call.

* * *

I saw Oedipus being brought before me again.

He slowly opened his mouth to the king of Thebes, who remained silent.

“Your crimes are that you raped your mother, killed your father, and in a fit of madness you burned down the temple of Dionysus in Thebes and killed innocent citizens.”

Perhaps the most tragic figure in Theban history was Oedipus?

“If we were to judge only the crimes committed, it would be right to send them to Tartarus and do endless hard labor…”

Most of the crimes he committed were not his fault.

Even killing the citizens of Thebes and burning the temple was a regrettable act committed when one was out of one’s mind.

“I will take into account Gaia’s descent into madness, the prophecy that she would meet a tragic fate, and the fact that she was revered as a saintly king of Thebes until she realized the truth.”

He was at the mercy of the gods from beginning to end.

Due to the curse of Ares, a curse of misfortune came upon the royal family of Thebes…

He was abandoned by his biological father because of a tragic prophecy and raped his biological mother.

After realizing the truth, he was used by Gaia and fell further into the abyss.

“I hereby decree the punishment of being blessed with oblivion and piling up stones on the outskirts of the afterlife for 200 years with no memory of this world.”

A light punishment for a human who massacred dozens of humans, burned down a temple, and even killed a divine beast.

But I decided that this was about right.

“You cannot be reincarnated, and once your service is over, you will serve as a guard at the castle forever.”

“The blessing of oblivion… is it a mercy bestowed upon me?”

“Consider it a small compensation given by the gods to those who have suffered from it from the moment of birth until the end.”

He turned his head away from Oedipus, who was unable to continue speaking, and looked at the goddess Lethe.

“Please, Lady Lete.”

The verdict is in.

* * *

After Oedipus was blessed with oblivion and taken to the slave labor camp,

I was lost in thought for a moment.

“Hades, Dionysus of Olympus has asked you to punish Oedipus severely.”

“….”

“Hades…?”

As I slowly raised my head, a silver-haired goddess with a sad expression came into view.

“I’m not sure if the verdict I made is right.”

“Hades did his best. He gave the humans who were at the mercy of fate the appropriate punishment and mercy…”

“Well… I don’t know.”

Am I right in my judgment of Oedipus?

Were the punishments and rewards appropriate? Were there any injustices?

“Our gods… are not omnipotent as humans hope and believe.”

“yes that’s right.”

“Even Zeus doesn’t know everything, and even the three gods are ultimately swayed by emotions.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Athena is not always wise, and even Hephaestus sometimes swings his hammer wrong.”

God is not omnipotent.

Even Athena sometimes gets caught up in momentary emotions and forgets her wisdom.

Even Hephaestus sometimes makes mistakes.

“However, as the god of the underworld, such a thing cannot happen to me.”

When humans die, they go to the afterlife.

The perpetrator and the victim meet in the afterlife.

Both murderers and innocent victims come to the afterlife.

Those who commit sins by being used by others and those who die before God also come to the afterlife.

Those who commit the sin of blasphemy, those who are deceived by him and commit wrongdoings, and those who are unjustly sacrificed and resent the gods also come to the afterlife.

The afterlife is the final destination for all mortals and the place where their karma is evaluated.

That’s why I have to make the most fair and objective judgment.

It is a duty given to the god of the underworld who possesses great power.

“Why not? Isn’t it obvious that Hades is the primordial god, not Chaos?”

“but…”

“I sometimes make mistakes when I bestow the blessing of oblivion upon humans, but what if I make a little mistake?”

“The karma bestowed upon me is to judge mortals…”

“You’re doing well enough now. Minos also accepted the verdict and went back.”

Minos, renowned for his fairness, is not one who would be oppressed by my authority and not be able to speak the truth.

I know that fact very well.

“But still… I think I made the right decision…”

Hug.

“Stop… Stop talking. Just forget everything for a moment and be at peace.”

The goddess Lethe suddenly embraces me and manifests the power of oblivion.

The goddess’s warm heart is transmitted through my whole body.

I didn’t bother to resist.

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