Chapter 27: Nightmare

The grand and majestic Mount Olympus in the heavens.

A woman stands blocking my path.

A woman with long, green hair, wearing only a single shoulder pauldron.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and maidens.

She bowed her head deeply to me and apologized.

“The tragedy that befell your three siblings… and the attempt to exterminate humans… I truly regret it.”

“Move.”

I clenched my blood-soaked fists and tried to pass.

But she threw her hunting spear at me, blocking my way.

Then, with a sorrowful expression, she spoke again.

“I don’t know if this will be any comfort… but not all gods agreed to exterminate humans.”

“Then don’t interfere and move.”

Artemis aimed her golden bow at me.

A bow that would hit its mark even if it were at the edge of the universe.

Khryselakatos.

The bowstring was drawn back, and her golden arrow, ‘Iokheira,’ was aimed at me.

“Absolutely not.”

“…….”

“Because I am a god.”

God is not a position.

Not a ruler responsible for watching over and governing humans.

Just a ‘species’ so powerful that humans are no match for them.

Humans love each other.

Even if villains appear and they hate them, they ultimately think based on their own species, humans.

A very natural love for one’s own kind.

And it’s the same for gods.

Artemis is ultimately a god, loves gods, and stops me for the sake of her own species.

In the end, I silently took a stance and began an unwanted battle.

“I will stop you here.”

A golden arrow fired from her bow.

No matter where I dodged, it changed its trajectory in mid-air and pursued me relentlessly.

If it missed once, it became two.

If it missed twice, it became four.

If it missed three times, it became eight.

It continued to multiply, aiming at me, the target, from various directions.

I dodged the hundreds of multiplied arrows and observed.

Then, I glanced at Artemis.

“Ugh…!”

I rushed towards Artemis with all my might.

Like a huntress, she tried to dodge with great speed, but I caught up to her.

And with my large hand, I grabbed her neck.

And hugged her tightly.

“St… stop….”

-Thwack, thwack, thwack -!!

Hundreds of multiplied golden arrows, using my back as a target.

I became no different from a hedgehog.

But the arrows that pierced my back and protruded from the front riddled Artemis’s body.

It was literally a suicide attack, but… I regenerated, emitting steam at over 8000 degrees, enduring the brain-melting pain.

Artemis, tattered and barely breathing.

Driven by an unceasing rage, I reached out and grabbed her abdomen.

I clenched her magnificent abs, a sexually attractive feature, and….

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah -!!”

I pulled with force.

Her rectus abdominis and her internal organs came out with my hand.

It was a cruel act, drenching me in blood, but gods have strong life force, so it couldn’t be helped.

Then, I threw the lump of meat, now empty inside like a doll without stuffing, onto the ground.

“…….”

A body stained with blood.

The goddess who apologized, now in a gruesome state.

Am I really doing the right thing? Doubt washed over me.

Yet, I gathered her bow and arrows and threw them into this space.

I might need them later, and it would be troublesome if other gods picked them up, so I’m taking everything.

Just as I was about to stand up, a large spear flew in and pierced my cleanly regenerated shoulder.

A spear that flew in from behind, pierced my body, and then impaled the ground.

It scattered flames everywhere and descended below the heavens….

“Vengeance in blood.”

A voice from behind.

He identified himself as Ares, the god of war, and rambled on.

“Your sins are too deep. Shall I list them one by one?”

As I lay on the ground, struck by the spear.

I looked through the hole in the ground where the spear had pierced my shoulder.

Ares’s spear had shattered the ground and descended, piercing through the space of the heavens.

“First, an insignificant mortal like you dared to kill gods. An unforgivable act.”

And that spear fell into the world where humans live.

Even from afar, like a satellite image, a sea of fire was visible.

Surely, countless people who had barely survived must have died.

“And… and, you killed my son!”

I stood up and looked at Ares.

And I gasped for breath…

“What about the people who died from that attack just now? You’re saying you’re not guilty of killing people who barely survived?”

Ares pondered for a moment at my words.

He wasn’t seriously considering it.

It was like wondering if throwing a cigarette butt on the ground, while a bad act, is a crime.

He considered it a trivial transgression.

“Am I not a god? The lives of gods are far more precious than those of humans who cannot even live for 100 years.”

“Ha… hahaha!”

I laughed at his appearance.

Whenever I felt guilty, like with Artemis, gods who deserved to die always appeared.

I folded my fingers one by one, forming a fist filled with rage.

I raised the completed fist and looked at Ares.

Ares, seeing my fighting spirit, smirked.

“From now on, I will descend to the lower world and destroy everything precious to you.”

As he whistled, screams of humans echoed from the lower world.

His spear was moving automatically, killing people.

Unstoppable anger welled up, and I rushed towards Ares.

I fought him for a long time, narrowly escaping death countless times, and….

-Whack!

I slammed my fist down like a hammer, throwing Ares to the ground.

I panted and slowly approached him.

“Kuhuhu, that old man Yahweh… he should have cut off Cain’s lineage long ago.”

Chewing on my anger, I approached him.

But Ares, perhaps due to resentment for killing his son, didn’t stop his curses against me.

“Even if you kill me, countless gods will avenge me.”

I grabbed the fallen Ares by the neck and lifted him.

“An endless cycle of revenge will follow… surely, the end of your story will not be beautiful. I swear on my name, kuhuhu….”

Ares, held up by his neck, laughed gleefully.

“I will kill them all.”

“The gods? A mere human? Fine, let’s say it’s possible.”

Ares’s fiery eyes sparkled as he asked me:

“What will be left after that?”

“Nothing.”

The gods will disappear from the world.

If I disappear too, that will be the end of my story.

Like the last page of a comic book stamped with “-END-“.

A beautiful sight, like a movie with “-THE END-” appearing on screen.

“Now, die.”

I threw Ares to the ground like a dog on a hot day.

And I stomped on his waist to immobilize him, then shoved my hand into his mouth.

I grabbed his maxilla above the jawbone and… pulled it up with force.

“Kuaaaaaaa… Aaaack…!”

Ares couldn’t even scream.

And in my hand was his skull, excluding the jawbone, along with his spine, which had been pulled out.

Disgust washed over me at this grotesque sight.

Disgust turned into guilt, and guilt turned into anger.

Because a god who knew how to love his son had killed hundreds before my very eyes.

Because a being who knew what love was had intentionally tormented me.

An endlessly repeating cycle.

Like a rapidly regenerating snake endlessly eating its own tail.

Anger continued to drive me forward.

After trampling over the flesh of countless gods, I arrived at a place.

There, a giant hero sat on a rock.

It was Hercules.

“There’s no need for long words between us.”

Short black hair and eyes, like an athlete.

A lean, muscular body similar to mine, with no body fat.

A giant physique, easily 3m tall.

A monster wearing a magnificent lion skin and carrying a bow and club.

I faced Hercules.

The hero knew that I had already killed many gods and reached this place.

Without hesitation, he prepared to fight and extended his weapon, an olivewood club.

“Humans indeed deserve to be exterminated.”

And the battle with Hercules began.

Zeus, whom all the Olympian gods combined could barely face.

Hercules, the god of strength, whose physical abilities surpassed even Zeus.

He was a tough opponent for me, still growing, but I defeated him.

The experience of desperately fighting not to die since my weak days.

The techniques I constantly developed because I was weak.

The obsession with victory, biting and striking testicles.

These were things Hercules, who lived secluded in the Olympian region of the heavens, among his own kind, didn’t possess.

After fighting for a long time, his club broke, and Hercules charged like an enraged bull.

We exchanged blows countless times.

And I grabbed Hercules’s long, golden hair.

Wasn’t it black just a moment ago?

“Kuhuhu… I saw your brothers fighting down below.”

He was smiling, even though I had him by the hair.

“Kukuk, a large, battle-scarred… wolf-like man. He must be your brother, right?”

Hercules spoke, his blue eyes sparkling.

Even with one eye crushed, he looked at me intently.

But I definitely didn’t crush Hercules’s eye when we fought in the heavens.

“Even if he doesn’t show the same growth as you, he’s strong enough. His sinews would make excellent weapons.”

A provocation that instantly dispelled my doubts.

I raised my fist and swung it like a hammer, hitting his head.

With a sickening crunch, the sound of his skull shattering echoed.

“A weapon made from Cain’s descendant. Excellent material, not a single part to waste, from entrails to eyes, bones, and sinews.”

Hercules provoked me, even as blood dripped from him.

But his actions were quite cowardly; he was crawling away on all fours.

I grabbed his ankle to stop him from escaping and dragged him back.

“Kuhuhu, your sister is as beautiful as Aphrodite.”

And I bit his Achilles tendon, tearing off a chunk.

Hercules screamed like a slaughtered pig.

However, his appearance was a bit strange.

He was slightly shorter than the Hercules I knew.

Blonde hair and blue eyes, not black hair and black eyes.

And wounds he didn’t have in the past.

I felt a sense of unease, but…

“Wouldn’t it be perfect to cut off his limbs and use him as a plaything?”

But the words coming out of his mouth were the same ones Hercules had said in the heavens.

The anger from his provocation left no room for minor concerns.

In the end, I was drunk on anger again and bit my own tongue, injuring it.

My tongue, half torn off.

The steam of regeneration rising from the wound.

I spewed the 8000-degree white steam held in my mouth at Hercules.

‘Your bloodline is a sin merely for being born.’

“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah -!!!”

His scream and voice echoed simultaneously.

Only then did I realize something was wrong.

It wasn’t the wreckage of the destroyed Olympian temple.

The base of Mount Olympus, shattered and filled with gravel and large rocks.

This was an environment created by the Constellations’ abilities.

The Hercules in front of me… was different from the Hercules I knew.

I woke up from the dream.

“Ugh… ah….”

Hercules, covered in hideous burns, rolled on the ground.

He wasn’t the god who had provoked me and committed sins.

Seeing that, my hands trembled.

‘Go kill him. Aren’t you resentful?’

A clear temptation whispered in my ear.

The Hercules lying there… is different from the gods I know.

An innocent god who has never directly harmed me.

‘You killed them all, right? Were there no innocent gods among them?’

There must have been.

‘So! Isn’t the problem that beings with emotions and humanity reign as gods?’

An excuse.

But the moment I deny this excuse in my mind.

I’m not a butcher who ‘unavoidably’ caused a massacre due to the aftermath of the war with the gods… I’m just… I………

‘This is a show to lure out Zeus, right? What are you hesitating for?’

Then a voice of salvation appeared in my mind.

That’s right, this was a show I agreed to in order to screw over Zeus.

And he hasn’t come down to this stage for his son yet.

‘It can’t be helped.’

If Zeus comes down himself, I can crush him in front of everyone.

It’s a way to check the number one ranked and definitely screw over Zeus, right…?

I tried my best to rationalize and looked at Hercules, who was exhausted, collapsed, and gasping for breath.

“S… sav…”

The hero, with only one eye remaining.

A horrific sight, with chunks of flesh bitten off from various parts of his body.

His bones were twisted in various directions, and his skin was shriveled and stuck from burns.

It was a horrific sight, but my body, drunk on anger, moved on its own, contrary to my will.

Still not fully awake from the dream, I stepped on a non-existent lump of meat.

And slowly walked into the nightmare.

I mounted Hercules and raised my fist.

“Don’t die.”

Until Zeus comes.

Wouldn’t it be okay to break him a little more?

If I unleash my violence a little more forcefully, wouldn’t this anger subside?

And….

‘I objected, so why…?’

‘Aren’t you the same? I didn’t ask to be born a god either!!’

‘Save me, I didn’t do anything wrong….’

Those who deserve to die and those who do not.

The hallucination of a pile of corpses, still remaining even after waking from the dream.

Perhaps I could wake up from this terrible nightmare, where they whisper like zombies.