The Hero Returns

* * *

Olympus was thrown into utter chaos upon the death of Poseidon, the God of Oceans.

A brother to Zeus and Hades, and one of the Three Deities that represented Olympus, had fallen in battle.

"Just what has happened? Can you tell me?" Su-hyeun asked Apollo who was currently sitting opposite him.

The Sun God was sipping from a wine flute. He had already knocked back dozens of shots by now. Even then, his expression remained cloudy.

"My honored uncle, Poseidon, has passed on."

"Yes, I...have heard that. But how did he—?"

"We'll soon find out. Athena has brought us the details, after all," Apollo replied casually and then took another swig of the wine.

Gulp—

His cheeks had become slightly flushed now, indicating that he must be feeling the effects of the booze.

The pungent odor of alcohol wafted around, so the drink must have been quite strong.

"Would you like a glass yourself?"

"Do you require a drinking buddy, so to speak?'

"I'll be grateful if you're willing."

"In that case, pour me a glass, please."

Su-hyeun received a flute of wine from Apollo. When he brought the beverage closer to his face, a strong stench of booze stung his senses. He then took a small sip, only for a rather powerful alcoholic taste to hit his palate. He also picked up that uniquely sweet yet sour taste of wine, but it still couldn't disguise the fact that this was one strong alcohol, indeed.

When Su-hyeun's face scrunched up from just a single sip, Apollo began smirking deeply, "If you're not a fan of wine, then you don't have to force yourself to drink. This particular wine has been brewed specifically to knock out even the gods, after all—it's far stronger than you think."

"Still, it's not totally undrinkable."

"It's fine to stop there. Booze is supposed to be drunk by people who know how to enjoy it. Otherwise, it's just a waste of good booze to let someone drink it when he doesn't know how to appreciate the taste or the atmosphere."

"I'll be fine."

"Is that so? Hmm, if the one in question says so."

Trickle...

Apollo poured more booze into his flute. He had emptied the glass several times now, yet there was no sign of him stopping anytime soon.

"My uncle, Poseidon...His personality was completely the opposite of mine, you see? I love to be free, unshackled, whatever, but him? He was a totally stuck-up dude. Very old-fashioned."

Su-hyeun quietly listened to Apollo's rambling. He sipped the wine every now, but he chose to remain silent.

Despite Apollo's claim that he and his uncle were not that close, the thing was, the lifespan of the gods was on a completely different scale compared to regular mortals who could live up to, at best, a century.

Gods were near-immortal existences that could live for hundreds of millions of years. The sheer scale of the memories they would get to accumulate in that length of time, as well as the resulting reminiscence and longing, was not something Su-hyeun could even imagine properly.

"He even shoved my head in the ocean this one time, telling me to cool down for a while. The water was so bloody cold back then, you know? I'm telling you, he was so damn strict."

"Sounds like you don't have a lot of fond memories of him."

When Su-hyeun finally replied for the first time in hours, Apollo pondered a little and then nodded in agreement, "Hmm? Ha, I guess so."

For sure, most of all the grumble-like rambling coming out of the Sun God so far was meant to badmouth Poseidon. The God of the Oceans was way too strict and stuck-up, hence, the constant bickering between uncle and nephew.

That was why Apollo used to badmouth Poseidon behind his back. Sure, it might have happened when the Sun God was still an immature punk, but even then, none of those memories were especially nice to recall.

So how come...?

"Why do I miss him so much already? Is it because I know that I'll never see his face ever again?"

"It sounds like you did have a good relationship with him."

"But all he did was nag whenever he saw me, though," Apollo retorted, his face deep pink as if he was quite drunk.

He put the flute down and then wordlessly took in the sight outside his temple.

In the far-off distance, a large wolf emitting moonlight could be seen running across the sky. Apollo recognized who that was despite the great distance and muttered softly, "Artemis..."

It was the twin sister of Apollo, Artemis.

However, it wouldn't be just her this time. The 12 top gods who had been temporarily absent from Olympus were gathering for a meeting—well, that number should be only 11 now.

"And so, everyone is here," Apollo stood up from his spot. The flush was noticeably gone from his face now. He roused up his power to get rid of his drunkenness that he had deliberately left untouched until now. "Well then, I shall get going now. Ah, by the way. I'm guessing you'll also be on your way?"

"Yes, that's right. I've stayed here for too long.'

Su-hyeun had been staying in Olympus for a few days now. A part of it was down to the sudden commotion that came to visit this place, preventing him from finding an opportune moment to say goodbye, but he wanted to get some new information before leaving as well.

This was Olympus, a place where various gods gathered. No other place would be as convenient to acquire information from—at least that was what he figured.

The topic Su-hyeun was most interested in right now was related to the Three Destroyers, more specifically, Shiva.

Su-hyeun sought out information regarding that particular Predator for the past few days, but in the end, he didn't get to hear any solid intel. Most of the residents here were in a state of chaos and confusion due to Poseidon's death.

And this was the reason why Su-hyeun had been acting as Apollo's drinking buddy since yesterday.

"Is that so? In that case, have a safe trip, alright? And don't forget to come by and say hello next time."

"Will do."

"I should get going and attend that meeting now. Alright, then...Hmm?"

Clack, step—

Sounds of heavy armor could be heard echoing within Apollo's temple. When they turned their heads in that direction, they spotted a beautiful woman sporting bob-cut black hair with a helm tucked under her arm, striding gallantly toward them.

"Athena?'

She was none other than the Goddess of Wisdom and War, Athena.

Rather unlike her refined, beautiful facial features, her physique definitely warranted the description of being "stunningly athletic." Even her eyes gleamed sharply, exuding a strong fighting spirit even though she wasn't doing anything particular.

The goddess responsible for delivering the news of Poseidon's death had come seeking out Apollo for some reason.

"It's already time for the meeting, Apollo. You twins are proving to be the tardiest."

"Well, I was waiting for my sister. Besides all that, did you come all the way here to fetch me?"

"That is one of my reasons." Athena's gaze shifted over to Su-hyeun next. "However, I bring a message from my father, as he wishes our guest to accompany us."

"Wait, me too?" Su-hyeun asked back at this unexpected development.

Athena nodded once, and with a dignified demeanor, she handed over a carefully folded letter to Su-hyeun, "Father has asked me to pass this on to you."

"Huh?" Su-hyeun accepted the letter as a confused expression formed on his face, and when he unfurled the letter that had been carefully folded three times...

[The 201st floor's trial will now commence.]

[Please attend the meeting taking place in Olympus.]

The moment he saw the contents of the letter, those two messages popped up in Su-hyeun's head.

The next trial, just like that?

The content of the letter was just as simple as the system messages.

[Please aid us.]

He didn't recognize the alphabets, but probably thanks to the system's intervention, he had no trouble reading these foreign words.

What exactly did he need to help with, though?

For sure, the author of this letter had to be Zeus. Only he in the entire Olympus knew about the system and the Tower of Trials, after all.

So, then, a new trial had commenced already. If Su-hyeun chose to leave Olympus now, this trial would surely end in failure. However, if he went directly to the Tower's 201st floor from here, then he could get another trial, instead.

"Well, I wasn't thinking of stopping, anyway," he thought.

Su-hyeun was planning to challenge the 201st floor's trial as soon as he returned, but now, it seemed that Olympus itself had become the stage for his next trial. With this, he no longer had a reason to leave.

Shuffle—

"Very well, I'll accompany you," said Su-hyeun as he folded the letter once and shoved it inside his pocket.

The trial had already commenced.

* * *

The Palace of Olympus was even quieter compared to earlier.

It was the same story on the road here, too—gods were grieving over Poseidon's death, and they were also scared.

The matter of his passing was the biggest "incident" ever to take place since the founding of Olympus.

"He's quite late, that Apollo."

"Makes sense. He might have gotten scolded often, but in truth, he spent more time with Honored Uncle Poseidon than anyone else."

"Athena has come with him."

"As for the being behind them, is he the guest who has been allowed to attend this meeting?"

"Allowing an outsider god into Olympus wasn't enough, and now, he's even attending our meeting?"

"He's supposed to have felled Kali, so as far as his combat strength is concerned, he is most certainly qualified."

"But simply because he's strong...?"

When Su-hyeun stepped inside the conference venue, he noticed that several gods had already settled down while keeping some distance between each other. The seat of honor was in the center of the venue, and the gods were chatting away among themselves.

Four spots were unoccupied right now: the seat of honor, another spot belonging to Poseidon, and the last two belonging to Apollo and Athena.

"With this, everyone is here."

Step, step—

Heavy footsteps could be felt reverberating within the conference venue. At the same time, all the gods in the venue stood up. The main god of Olympus and the rightful owner of the seat of honor, Zeus, had made his entrance.

"No need to stand. All of you, take a seat," Zeus spoke in a dignified tone and manner, which was different from when he was speaking privately to Su-hyeun.

The gods all sat back down again with his permission. Apollo and Athena too walked over to their assigned seats, leaving only Su-hyeun on his feet.

"I shall yield the...newly emptied spot to our guest. Since it's only temporary, there are no objections, I presume?" Zeus asked, and the other 10 gods of Olympus nodded in unison.

A few of them weren't too keen on Su-hyeun taking up Poseidon's seat, but that didn't mean they could voice their objections out in the open. In this place, Zeus's words were basically the law.

Du-ruruk—

And so, Su-hyeun settled down on the empty chair. Ares was sitting across from him. He discreetly waved his hand at Su-hyeun. Just as Su-hyeun nodded in acknowledgment, Zeus spoke, "Athena."

"Yes, father."

"Let us begin."

"Understood," Athena replied and stood up.

She was the one who brought the news of Poseidon's death, and she was also the one who argued for this meeting to be convened in the first place.

"I believe that everyone gathered here today has already received the news of Lord Poseidon's tragic passing. Normally, his funeral should have been prioritized over holding a conference like this, but..."

A meeting had to be convened even before the funeral. That was something even Su-hyeun thought was odd.

"There is a good reason for doing so."

"Athena, this reason needs to be good enough to convince us all. If Lord Poseidon's funeral was delayed due to an insignificant reason, then all the gods present today will be greatly enraged," a woman spoke with a gentle smile despite the obvious sorrow visible in her expression.

It was Goddess Hestia. She was the Goddess of Family and Order and was known to possess quite a gentle disposition. But she was also the sister of Poseidon, and as such, she was grieving just as badly as everyone else.

"I, too, am saddened by the Honored Uncle's passing. No, let me clarify myself. I feel incredibly frustrated and angry, as I was the one who witnessed his murder with my own eyes."

Grit—

Athena gritted her teeth in anguish and continued, "It's war."

War?

The only one taken aback by her words was Su-hyeun, while the other gods became puzzled rather than surprised.

"When you say 'war,' haven't we been waging that already?" asked Ares in a disinterested voice.

The other gods nodded in agreement at his question. None of what Athena said just now seemed particularly special or surprising to them.

"It's already been many hundreds of millions of years since this war against the Giants began. I have been standing in the frontlines to combat those accursed Giant bastards for a long time, too. So, this doesn't sound like a good reason, now does it?"

"Do you really consider those skirmishes war?" Athena asked, prompting Ares to think about it for a moment.

He then shook his head, "No. Rather than war, it's more like they were trying to pick a fight with us."

"Correct. Just picking fights. We, the gods, and those hostile Giants—these two sides have been pointing weapons in each other's direction for a very long time, true, but none of us have truly risked our lives to fight until now. For instance," Athena turned her attention over to Zeus before continuing, "It has been a really long time since father was required to participate in the battle."

"What is it that you wish to say, Athena?"

"He has finally made a move."

All the gods tensed up when she said that.

"One of the Three Destroyers, Uranus."

Sure enough, that one name they had been worried about was finally brought up.