Ch.27Ep.27: Underworld Messenger

“Haha… I took a good hit there.”

Cthuga muttered as he rose from the debris.

Right. Since I wasn’t planning to invade the Underworld, I might have underestimated their forces.

Of course, Hades’ legion, Das Pluto, has the characteristic of weakening when they leave the Underworld.

The saying that one cannot face Hades within the confines of the Underworld originated from this fact.

And Cthuga, who had just allowed that attack, could now realize what this unpleasant space was.

“Summoning the soil of the dead… So that’s why the stench of Olympus was so strong.”

This is dangerous. Much more dangerous than I thought.

Even Hades himself didn’t use Kynee in this way.

That’s because its invisibility ability was already overpowered.

Rather than boosting the legion’s power, it draws out an individual’s superior strength.

This was the driving force that allowed Olympus to withstand the battle against Yog-Sothoth, the strongest of the Outer Gods.

Without Kynee, Hades is like a toothless tiger.

If we were to invade the Underworld right now, the Olympians would surely hide in Erebos.

According to Yog-Sothoth’s investigation…

‘Erebos is a place we cannot enter. If we go in there…’

It’s said one could fall into a place where fragments of “Chaos,” the true origin of Olympus, drift about.

For Olympus, Chaos holds a position similar to the Blind Idiot God for the Outer Gods.

Even though Yog-Sothoth has enough power to succeed the Blind Idiot God…

The current conclusion is that he cannot oppose the power of Chaos.

“If they sent up a death messenger, they must be desperate too. The longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us.”

Whoosh.

As Cthuga rose, the dust covering his body burst into flames and turned to ashes.

Just as he revealed his snow-white fangs and prepared to leap…

“Finally here…”

“Underworld messenger Elysse, greeting Radios Magnum, representative of the Lord of the Underworld.”

Representative of the Lord of the Underworld.

This was the title Hades gave him when he handed over the divine weapon Kynee.

It means he holds the same position as Hades in his absence.

In conclusion, it means Elysse is a woman who must completely obey Radios’s commands.

“The enemy is Cthuga. You probably know from Hades, but he’s called a Great Old One.”

“I can feel the power of a demigod. It’s fortunate I ambushed him; if I had faced him head-on, I couldn’t guarantee victory.”

Simultaneously, Elysse pulled out a bottle containing a snow-white liquid from her chest.

“This is a recovery potion. It won’t fully restore you, but it should help recover your strength.”

“Thank you, and… I’ll follow soon.”

“Accepting the representative’s order, I will proceed to eliminate Cthuga.”

As a red killing intent formed in Elysse’s golden eyes…

Cthuga, who had been blown far away by the surprise attack, landed right in front of her.

“To think I’d take a hit from some messenger nobody.”

“Did you know? I’m the second strongest among those messengers.”

“That’s why Hades is failing. Having only such underlings under his command.”

“Provocations won’t work on me. I’m merely a servant who receives and carries out orders.”

As Elysse said this and stepped forward forcefully…

A dark yet bright magical energy began to rise from her entire body.

Cthuga frowned as if the scent disgusted him, but…

For Radios, inhaling that scent felt as soothing as taking a painkiller.

This was because he too had undergone changes by forming deep connections with the Underworld.

He had now reached a level where it would be awkward to call him completely human.

But the problem was that even though he was growing stronger like this…

He couldn’t be confident about defeating that bastard Namgung Ihyun.

‘He must have changed from three years ago too.’

Perhaps he had obtained the Order of a demigod even faster than Patrick and was growing exponentially.

Cthuga is strong.

The problem was how Namgung Ihyun would use such a powerful Cthuga.

‘There’s no way he’d use a being with such power merely as an explosive.’

Of course, the summoning itself causes an explosion.

But if he came down to Kadinant on his own, there would be no explosion, right?

‘Would he use such a strategy when a power like that could face death?’

Of course, he knew well that Namgung Ihyun didn’t value life.

But could he be so certain there was no way to prevent Cthuga’s summoning?

“No… that woman… wanted to experiment…”

By summoning Cthuga, she could gauge the current power of the Guardian Spirits.

The only information she could gain by sacrificing Cthuga would be that, which means…

“That bitch Namgung Ihyun… has already surpassed the Great Old One level.”

There was no other reason for Cthuga to be here unless one thought that way.

“What… are you looking at?”

He wanted to grab her by the collar and interrogate her right now.

What was her purpose that made her so indifferent to this indiscriminate slaughter?

Because he harbored these doubts, his whole body tingled with anticipation.

In front of him, Elysse and Cthuga were engaged in fierce combat.

Cthuga, who had allowed an unexpected blow, seemed to be pushed back at first but was gradually cornering Elysse.

“I need to help– Cough!”

Radios coughed up blood as he tried to forcibly use the Goblin Mask.

This was because flames from the Hwau skill were still falling from the sky.

Even when he had a goblin’s body, it was a concerning skill.

Now that he no longer had that body, the damage was gradually accumulating.

“…Damn it.”

To make matters worse, the maintenance time for the Sword of Judgment was running out.

If the Sword of Judgment were to be released here, the situation would become truly hopeless.

“One shot. I need to aim for one shot…”

After much deliberation, Radios thought of a clever move.

Zeus’s spear, Astrape.

A spear created for the god of thunder, imbued with the power of lightning.

What if he could infuse it with a different quality?

“…There might be a possibility.”

Radios knew well the destructive power of Astrape itself.

During the Titanomachy, Zeus’s rise to become the king of Olympus…

Was thanks to Astrape’s incredible performance.

Wooooong.

Even knowing it was an absurd gamble…

Radios drew out Astrape.

Just once. If he could create an opening just once…

“I can win, no. I can kill him.”

He gripped Astrape and gradually infused it with magical power.

As expected, there was a repulsive reaction.

But Radios didn’t stop his attempt even as pain enveloped his entire body.

He would accomplish what needed to be done.

With fierce determination, he entered a trance-like state and began to change Astrape’s nature.

Gradually, Astrape’s form began to transform.

***

“Kuk!”

“You’re quite interesting!!”

The collision of fist and scythe.

Elysse had dominated Cthuga in the beginning, leaving numerous wounds on his body.

However, as the damage from Hwau accumulated and her body slowed down…

Added to that, as Cthuga adapted to her attacks, she began to be pushed back little by little.

Eventually, the situation completely reversed, and she was barely able to block Cthuga’s attacks.

“Haaah!”

“Fast and sharp. But monotonous.”

Whoosh.

The scythe fell to split her head in half.

Cthuga simply took half a step back to avoid the attack.

Then he immediately grabbed the blade of the scythe.

“..!”

“That’s why there are many openings, youngster.”

Elysse was helplessly pulled close to Cthuga.

He concentrated magical power in his fist and struck hard.

THWAAANG!!

Cthuga’s beam-like punch hit Elysse directly in the side.

It was fortunate she instinctively twisted her body; otherwise…

“I was aiming for the heart, what a shame.”

“Indeed… you deserve to be called the Living Flame.”

“Deserve? You’re an interesting woman. All flames in this world belong to me.”

Whoosh.

As Cthuga stretched both arms to his sides, flames began to rise from his body.

It looked like he was transitioning from phase one to phase two.

Elysse looked at Cthuga with cold sweat and acknowledged:

“I seem to have been foolish.”

“Hmm?”

“From now on, I will terminate autonomous attack mode and activate extermination mode.”

“What are you—”

Cthuga stopped mid-sentence, feeling the hair on his body stand on end from the chilling killing intent.

The cause was the woman before him.

As if she had become a completely different person, the cold magical energy she emitted made even Cthuga’s heart tremble.

“Indeed. There was a reason Hades’s child sent you up with confidence.”

“Extermination target, Living Flame Cthuga. I will engage with full divine power.”

“Alright, let’s see— Kuk!”

In an instant, the vanished Elysse cleanly cut off Cthuga’s right arm.

But Cthuga was flame itself.

He regenerated his right arm with goblin-like speed and chased after Elysse, but…

“She disappeared?”

“That was just my afterimage.”

SWOOSH!!

Hearing a voice suddenly from behind, he hurriedly bent his waist.

The blade of the scythe, filled with killing intent, cut through Cthuga’s hair, but…

Elysse, not caring if her movements were reversed or her muscles torn, swung the scythe upward.

“You crazy—! ARGHHHH!!”

THUNK!

In the end, Cthuga couldn’t react to the reverse movement and had his jaw pierced by the scythe.

CRACK!

“URRRGHH!!!!”

Without hesitation, Elysse ripped off his jaw.

She casually shook off the dangling flesh and…

Cthuga glared at Elysse, his mood thoroughly ruined.

“You damned woman!!!”

Having allowed a fatal attack, Cthuga finally returned to his true form, emitting heat greater than the flames of hell.

[I’ll kill—]

Even Elysse, who had entered extermination mode, was startled—

‘Startled? She clearly showed no emotion after entering extermination mode?’

Something was strange.

After pushing him so hard, she deactivates extermination mode?

[Could it be?]

As Cthuga was about to turn his body, recalling another life form in this space…

That life form, Radios, curled up the corners of his mouth and…

“Gotcha.”

BANG!!

He pulled the trigger.