The ruler of Mesopotamia's Netherworld—the non-god King of the Dead—set foot upon the shadowed soil of Greece.
Golden hair still blazed with brilliance. His bare upper body revealed muscles etched with crimson circuits, his golden battle skirt swaying as he moved.
The radiant Vimana cut through the boundless darkness of the Netherworld.
Peals of laughter rang out alongside it.
Gilgamesh—though not a god—was the Hero King who had once unified the vast plains of Mesopotamia and had even nearly brought the Aegean Sea under his dominion. The original source of countless heroes, the king among heroes, he already stood on equal footing with any major god.
Not to mention the essence that had been tempered and refined over a thousand years after he took control of the Netherworld, growing ever stronger through defiance of death itself.
Even Hades dared not take him lightly.
And so, as Zeus's command descended, as that rampant laughter echoed throughout the Greek Netherworld—
The gods beneath the earth all grew alert.
Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, raised his pole and held it protectively above his head. Thanatos, god of death, and Hypnos, god of sleep, both tightened their grip on their weapons.
Hades, Lord of the Dead, arrived on the scene at once.
...
At the same time—Rovi and Athena were rapidly approaching Tartarus.
In the primordial worldview of Greek myth, the world was born from Chaos, followed by the emergence of Earth—Gaia, the Abyss—Tartarus, and Desire—Eros.
Gaia, as the Earth itself, and Eros, as the instinct of propagation, need no explanation. As for Tartarus, the Abyss was defined as a "primordial atmospheric environment, like a great furnace."
In the earliest age, the planet's surface was entirely covered by the Abyss. Only once the environment stabilized did it gradually withdraw into the depths of the core.
And now, Rovi and Athena were once again setting foot within the Abyss's domain.
Descending from the surface through a fissure, rolling magma grew ever denser in their sight, like blood vessels filled with flowing blood, until it swallowed everything.
They finally reached the deepest layer.
There was no ground beneath their feet. They hung suspended in midair. In the world of the Abyss, there was no stable land on which to stand—only surging rivers of flame.
Athena clenched spear and shield in one hand and reached out to grasp Rovi's.
"Lord Rovi, hold on to me." The goddess turned her vermilion eyes toward him, faint light flickering within. Gauzy veils drifted soundlessly in the Abyssal wind.
Her voice was clear and steady. "The Abyss has no direction. If we don't do this, it's easy to get lost."
Rovi shot her a sidelong glance. He had reason to suspect the goddess had ulterior motives—but what she said was true.
The Abyss was a world formed of magma. Even space itself was in motion.
Even gods could lose their way here.
"Then let's go." Rovi's ear twitched. Riding the wind that swept past, he could faintly hear distant roars.
Those were probably the "Titans" spoken of by the gods.
"Leave it to me." Athena smiled as she raised her spear. "In the name of Athena—let the breath that circulates all things guide me to where war is certain to break out!"
Where there were giants, there would inevitably be war.
So to seek war was to seek the giants' direction. Without using such a method, finding a target in the ever-shifting Tartarus would be nearly impossible.
This was when the value of a "scout" truly showed.
Rovi nodded.
"Then let's move—end it quickly."
Deal with the giants, then let the giants deal with him.
"Are you in such a hurry, Lord Rovi?" Athena sounded a little reluctant.
"Isn't it good to end a war as soon as possible?"
"So confident?"
"Victory's already in hand. Of course I'm confident."
"Th-thank you… for your trust."
"?"
Can I say I only meant to get you to hurry and take me there, and it just slipped out? I was just being smooth. I don't mean anything else!
Rovi looked at the suddenly cheerful Athena and fell momentarily speechless.
"By the way," Athena went on, "I actually wanted to ask earlier—how did you return from the Imaginary Number Sea? Even for gods like us who govern natural Authorities, without anchors in the present world—without living believers—we can't find our way back."
Because I beat up your father and then he dragged me back down.
But Rovi couldn't say that.
"Don't want to talk about it? Mm, that's fine too."
Athena was uncharacteristically talkative. Though clad in armor, her posture dignified, the snow-white dress fluttering in the wind only made her seem more sacred.
Rovi, however, couldn't shake the feeling that she was plotting something against him…
Once a person becomes wary, it's hard to return to their former state of mind.
Athena didn't seem to mind at all. She yearned for wisdom, and she did feel admiration for those who carried it—but she was a virgin goddess. Unlike Artemis, who had been influenced by Enkidu, no matter how strong her longing, she understood that it could only ever remain longing.
So she simply cherished every moment spent with Rovi.
Doing her best to sense his presence.
That wasn't love—just instinctive attraction.
She was perfectly clear on that.
After all, she was the goddess of wisdom and war. What she sought was insight into all things and the courage to challenge everything. She wasn't a goddess of love; what she pursued wasn't the love humans longed for.
Yes—
Athena believed this firmly.
"We're here." The goddess of wisdom turned her gaze aside. Her suspended steps came to a halt, her grip tightening slightly on spear and shield, her voice turning sharp in an instant—
Like a cold blade flashing.
Rovi followed her line of sight.
The Titan' shadows loomed clearly ahead.
One towering silhouette after another stood within the abyssal world piled high with magma. Their bodies were like rock, Tartarus's molten lava flowing across them like living veins. They were hairless from head to toe, fangs jutting outward, golden light gleaming in their eyes.
There were no points of reference in the Abyss, but comparing them to Rovi himself made it obvious...
Even the smallest of those Titans stood over a hundred meters tall.
Their enormous size granted them immense strength, and their bodies carried dense Divinity.
Attributes bestowed upon them by the Titans, the gods of a previous era.
Like the Hydra that had reached the surface earlier and been defeated by Rovi, they were monsters—
Yet they were also gods.
Demonic, godlike existences.
So then…
Could they killhim?
Just like that Hydra before would be enough.
If not for Poseidon, Rovi would already have brushed against death.
"Please… don't disappoint me."
The moment Rovi and Athena arrived hand in hand, they drew the Titan' attention.
Countless golden eyes turned...
All at once.
Then—
They roared in unison!
Earth-shaking bellowing echoed through Tartarus, the deepest reaches of the Netherworld.
Wisdom and valor. Hero and Sage.
"Man and God."
"This battle, too, will be inscribed in eternal records."
Forged into a true monument to heroism!
"Come on, Titans!" Rovi raised his hand. His robes flared as the Gate of Babylon opened, brilliant swordlight surging forth.
In that instant, wind howled like a scream, and swords rang out like a dragon's cry!