The Hero Returns

Maybe Gyges heard Su-hyeun's muttering because it promptly shut its mouth up.

It meant to cut off any avenues that Su-hyeun might use to infiltrate its body.

Gyges wasn't completely stupid, after all. But then again, its intelligence shouldn't be low at all, considering the length of time it had lived so far.

It had realized that Su-hyeun found a way to defeat it. Even then...

"It's not like there are no other avenues left."

Squeeze—

Su-hyeun leaped toward Gyges' head, clenched his fist tightly, and then threw an almighty punch.

Ka-boom—!

Tumble, crumble—

Several of Gyges' teeth were shattered; the broken bits of teeth tumbled from its mouth, which now resembled a corncob missing several kernels.

Wasn't one of the worst pain imaginable supposed to be toothache?

Gyges' mouth shot wide open involuntarily as it screamed in pain, and that proved to be its biggest mistake.

Su-hyeun assumed a spear-throwing posture, his target inside the wide-open mouth.

Ku-rururu—

Lightning striking down from the heavens gathered in his hand. A moment later, arcs of electricity containing a far greater energy level than earlier morphed into a massive spear.

[Somersault cloud]

[Zeus's Thunder Glove]

[Grand Thunderbolt]

The spear looked as if it was made out of dozens of smaller Thunderbolts bunched up together.

Su-hyeun arched his back greatly before firing the Grand Thunderbolt straight into the wide-open mouth of Gyges.

FLASH—!

Rumble, ka-booooom—!

An intense flash of light, accompanied by a loud thunderclap, exploded from within Gyges' body.

Kya, gyaaaaaahk—!

Gyges screamed in pain.

Even gods had internal organs. The only thing they didn't experience was aging. That story wasn't different with the Predators.

Even more so, as Gyges, a member of the Giant race who also happened to be a Predator, was a creature quite close to being an actual god.

The pain of one's internal organs being scorched was not something anyone could endure, no matter how tough one's mind was.

"Screaming so soon? That won't do."

Pazzik, bzzzzik—

Su-hyeun summoned yet another Thunderbolt, which happened to be another ginormous one like the spear before it.

"I mean, there are still plenty more left, you know?"

This creature was a tenacious bastard. It got hit by numerous Thunderbolts already. Even now, it was shuddering away after being electrocuted, yet it still hadn't collapsed.

However, it didn't really matter in the end; Su-hyeun was planning to strike it with more Thunderbolts, anyway.

He powerfully flung the Thunderbolt he had in his grip.

RUMBLE—!

* * *

Ka-boom—!

A lightning bolt struck down.

For a moment there, the whole world was dyed in a rose-golden hue; then, the scorched-black corpses of Giants began tumbling down like rainfall.

Several of them were even turned into ashes after getting directly struck by lightning.

"Wasn't that...?" Athena urgently turned her head. "Father?"

Rumble, fwhooosh—

But that wasn't all.

Intense amber-colored flames quickly burned through the skies. Those flames acted as if they possessed ego and transformed into snakes that tightly wound all around the Giants.

They began screaming in torment as these flame snakes wrapped tightly around their torsos, but soon, they were burned to a crisp and stopped breathing altogether.

Most regular Titans also suffered the same result.

Athena knew only one god capable of creating flames of this high temperature over such a wide area.

"Apollo!"

"Athena."

Fwhoosh—

Apollo appeared right next to Athena.

He asked, "Where is Ares?"

"What have you been listening to earlier? The distance to the palace isn't that great, you know?"

"My bad. I had something important to talk to father about. I couldn't hear anything."

"Dammit. He traveled to Hell but has not returned yet. I fear something may have happened to—"

"Indeed, something did happen!"

Neiiiigh—!

A familiar voice reverberated around them.

The gazes of Athena and Apollo shifted simultaneously. The latter was even smiling faintly as a relieved expression formed on his face, "He's here."

"All troops—!"

Ares's loud voice rocked the surroundings. His voice might have come across as too simple-minded and straightforward just then, but even so, listening to him seemed to reinvigorate everyone almost immediately.

"Are you all ready to fight?!"

"Waah..."

"Waaaaah—!"

The gods all cheered loudly at Ares's rallying cry.

Their God of War, Ares, had finally returned. His entrance to this stage meant something on a completely different level to simply boosting their morale.

The roar of their God of War was enough to push the crowd's strength to their limits. It not only eliminated their fear but also significantly pushed their abilities to their extremes.

This was the reason why Ares had been leading all wars waged by Olympus until now.

"Man, what a noisy entrance that was."

Fwhooooosh—!

Ka-baaaang—!

It was right at that moment that an arrow flying through the sky pierced straight past the torsos of several Giants.

This arrow kept going and eventually reached the gigantic life form looming over the protective barrier cast over Olympus, resulting in a comparatively small arrow wound.

That was fired by none other than Hercules himself.

He grunted, "Didn't even budge, huh?"

He did hear about it already, but now that he had actually seen it, Uranus's actual size was enough to make him agog.

If they were dealing with a huge monster, then he wouldn't have been all that bothered. To someone as strong as Hercules, enemies having big bodies simply meant he would have a bigger target to land his attacks, after all.

But even then, a limit still existed to such a mindset.

"Just how big is he, anyway?" Hercules wondered.

The only thing visible beyond the penetrated barrier was simply the skin of Uranus. His eyes seemed to be closed for now, as if he was in a deep slumber.

"What took you so long? And where is Lord Hades?" Athena asked Ares as if she was interrogating him.

He climbed down from his heavenly steed and, while equipping himself with his spear and shield, replied to her, "It was a trap."

"A trap?"

"Our uncle was nowhere to be found. Before we could reach Hell, they must've done something to him."

"Then what—?"

"Gyges was waiting for us, along with an army of innumerable Titans and Giants."

"Gyges was there?"

Gyges was a Predator ranked among the Ten Great Evils and a Giant that tormented Olympus since ancient times.

The tale of Ares and Poseidon working together to hunt down that creature—but ultimately returning with neither a victory nor defeat—was rather infamous in the long war history of Olympus.

"And I was wondering why I couldn't find that creature recently...What happened to Gyges then? Have you killed it?"

"No, but we left it up to him."

"Left it up to him? Who are you even talking ab—?" Athena abruptly recalled Su-hyeun just then, who was said to have left with Ares and Hercules earlier. Now that she took another look, he was nowhere to be found. "Could it be...?"

"It wasn't my decision. What can I do when he volunteered for it? Especially in our current situation, too."

"Even if that's the case—!"

"No need to worry, Athena. At the very least, he won't lose."

"Are you sure about this?"

"That man, he was already stronger than me a few days ago, but the current him I saw before leaving... Well..."

"Hurry up and out with it. Can't you see our urgent situation?"

Ares, clearly not too keen on providing a further explanation, roughly scratched his head and let out a groan before finally opening his mouth, "He's gotten even stronger now."

"Even more?"

"I know it's hard to believe, and it certainly is a kick to my pride. But I've seen it with my own eyes, so I have to believe it. In any case," Ares hurriedly changed the subject, "Right now, the situation here is far more urgent than that side."

"Well," Athena stared at the barrier that was almost at its breaking point, "That is indeed true."

Crack, craaack—

SHATTER—!

Finally, the barrier protecting Olympus completely shattered to pieces. Meaning, Giants now had far more room to invade this land.

But quite different from how it was like earlier, the Giants were a lot less enthusiastic about stepping into Olympus.

Pazzzik, bzzzzz—

Some kind of an electro-magnetic field had been created all around Olympus.

A ridiculously high-voltage current powerful enough to scorch anyone that got too close prevented the Giants from invading.

This was the power of Zeus, the head god of Olympus, also referred to as the God of the Sky and Thunder.

However, the true problem for Olympus wasn't the Giants.

"How troublesome," Zeus frowned deeply as he flew above the clouds and then looked up at the sky. No, wait—that was not a sky but a face of a certain creature. "Just how far have you fallen?"

When Zeus asked that question, those huge eyes that had been closed until now opened.

SPLIT—

"It is not I who has fallen but you and your group."

Giii-wuuuoong—!

The entirety of Olympus shook around.

Uranus's voice streamed past the listeners' ears and began overturning the insides of their heads. The solid ground of Olympus vibrated faintly, triggering the expressions of the gods facing off against that humongous creature to stiffen up.

"My children, dying in most wretched manners. We were ostracized and imprisoned just because we looked different from you. So, how can any of you understand our resentment?"

"Well, that couldn't be helped," Zeus shook his head. "You are all monsters, after all."

"And who gave you and your kind the right to judge us? You may call yourselves gods, but to our eyes, you are the true monsters."

Uranus's voice echoed throughout the land and the sky above. Many low-ranked gods were sweating buckets, while a few even blacked out completely.

Such was the effect that Uranus, one of The Three Destroyers—the strongest and mightiest Predators in all of the dimensions out there—had on them.

"Do you really have to do this?"

"This universe has already reached a crossroad, anyway."

Gu-gugugu—

That gigantic mass of flesh displayed hints of movement. Uranus, who had been a mere spectator of this battle from some distance away, had finally begun moving.

"As such, I can no longer patiently wait."

Gu-oooooh—!

Uranus's figure crushed the atmosphere as he approached closer to Olympus. It was like watching a huge world quivering and writhing.

"If that's your decision, grandfather, then..."

Crunch—! Pazzzzzik—!

Zeus gestured with his hand, generating countless Thunderbolts in the process. The electrical current instantly surrounded the entire perimeter of Olympus. The sharp tips of the Thunderbolts then began pointing at every single Giant that had shown up today.

As for Zeus himself, he stepped on clouds and grasped a huge spear emitting an amber hue.

[Ten Thousand Lightning Bolts Opening the Heaven]

Rumble, kwa-boooom—!

Countless lightning bolts had engraved the sky.

"Today, we shall witness the end of our long history."

And every single one of them suddenly pointed at Uranus before firing at their new target simultaneously.

KA-BOOM! BABABABABANG—!

FLASH—!

All those countless lightning bolts struck Uranus, forcing that gargantuan figure back. The Predator that seemed impossible to push back no matter what was actually being pushed back.

Then, Ares roared loudly at the gods who were dazedly watching this scene unfold, "All of you, wake up, now—!"

His roar snapped the gods back to their senses.

"No matter how big our enemy is physically, he is not invincible! We have Zeus on our side!"

"T—that's right!"

"You don't fight a battle with your size alone!"

"I can't even guess how big he is, but as long as Lord Zeus is with us—!"

"We can win!"

Their morale was greatly boosted. The best piece of news to these gods, who had been stuck in despair at the prospect of fighting Uranus, was the presence of Zeus itself.

That gargantuan life form seemed impossible to surmount, yet Zeus had begun fighting such a creature now.

Uranus's opponents weren't the other gods. Indeed, one of the Five Godly Sages, Zeus, was facing off against that humongous Predator in their place right now.

"Entrust me with their command. As for you, Ares, you must provide cover to father."

Athena was better than Ares in terms of commanding an army. The latter had become a God of War through his individual combat prowess that relied on a minimal level of strategy. Still, the former earned her title as the Goddess of War by employing the most optimal strategy that relied on only the minimum needed combat strength.

Now that the morale of the gods had been appropriately stoked, it would be a wiser decision to let Athena take over the overall command.

"To think that I get to fight against one of the Three Destroyers. This is kind of getting exciting, don't you think?" Ares replied, but his expression said something else.

Normally, he would be obsessed with the prospect of having a good fight, but even someone like him couldn't help but get nervous at the mere mention of the name Uranus.

"Apollo!"

"Yeah?"

"You and Hercules will join me to provide cover for our father!" Ares roared, his gaze locked on Uranus and his father Zeus, who was currently pouring out tens of thousands of lightning spears.

Claaack—!

"Let us go and hunt down one of the Three Destroyers, shall we?"