Hero and Dog

"Master, watch your step. The Underworld is full of loose stones; don't go tripping!"

The left head of Cerberus said fawningly, exuding that same sleazy vibe as Jason.

"Hey! Hey! You lot with no eyes, get lost! Can't you see you're blocking the way?"

Its right head roared at a few passing souls, acting quite irritable and scaring them into a hasty retreat.

"Master, would you like some water? Oh, wait, no—you're a living being! You can't drink the water of the Underworld, or you'll be stuck here forever.

No, no, you still have to spread the legend of our loving bond so we can get a raise; you absolutely cannot stay here!

Master, if you're hungry, you'll just have to endure it a little longer. I'll lead the way for you."

The middle head seemed to be the most intelligent; it was surprisingly sensible.

Cerberus truly is a miraculous creature! Each of its three heads has a completely different personality.

If it gets bored, it can even chat with itself. No wonder it has been able to guard the gates of the Underworld for so many years.

"Cerberus! How could you be like this? Why are you so cold to me, Hermes, yet so good to my little Thaumas?" Hermes looked unhappy, crossing his arms and pouting as if he were sulking.

"Stupid dog!" the left head cursed.

"Grrr—!" the right head barked wildly.

"You piece of trash, how dare you compare yourself to a pay raise!" the middle head sneered.

"Ah, how could you guys be like this! We've been friends for so long, after all! You're really breaking my heart~" Hermes touched his chest with both hands, acting as if he were in unbearable agony, looking deeply wronged.

"Don't hold me back, I have to bite him to death today!"

"It's clearly you, Old Left, you stupid head, who's too scared to move. Otherwise, I would've gone for it long ago."

"Just shut up, Hermes. If it weren't for the left head being a coward and me holding them back, Old Right would have bitten you already! And you two idiots, stop jerking the body around!"

Cerberus began to argue with itself. If this kept up, it might end up biting itself before it even got a chance to bite Hermes.

Thaumas watched this scene in amazement. So, all three heads of Cerberus were this full of character; no wonder they could get into a fight over a single honey cake.

Indeed, these customs are the crystallization of the wisdom of our predecessors. Perhaps someone had tried giving them all honey cakes, but it must have failed in the end.

After all, when it comes to Cerberus, if one had to choose between being full for every meal or being full right now, "full right now" would likely win by a two-vote majority.

"By the way, Master, where are you headed now?"

"Mm-hmm, I'd like to ask that too."

"As long as it's not to see Lord Hades, I can lead the way."

Walking on the soil of the Underworld, Cerberus asked curiously.

"I am going to find the Goddess Nyx to ask for a favor," Thaumas replied slowly.

But as soon as Thaumas finished speaking, "Master, I suddenly have a stomachache. It must be from eating too many honey cakes. I have to go."

"Nyx—?!!"

"This, this... Master Thaumas, Lady Nyx is far too noble; we aren't worthy to go there. Let's just skip that.

Right, the feeling of Old Left's diarrhea is so intense it's affecting me too. Anyway, since Hermes is here to guide you, we'll see you later! I need to take care of Old Left and head to the restroom!"

As it spoke, Cerberus turned and bolted, vanishing in a flash toward the gates of the Underworld, where it used its paws to slam the door shut with a heavy thud.

"Good thing I'm quick-witted!"

"Glad I asked him!"

"Lucky we ran fast!"

Then, the three heads of Cerberus stared at each other for a moment, seeing the deep terror in each other's eyes, and sighed in relief at their narrow escape.

Thaumas, however, was completely bewildered. It was just a mention of seeking out the Goddess Nyx, wasn't it?

What kind of unspeakable thing had Cerberus done to be this terrified?

"Lord Hermes, do you know why Cerberus is so afraid?"

Thaumas decided to ask.

"Oh, that? I don't know the specifics myself. Cerberus never wanted to reveal it to me.

However, there was one time I confused them with my lyre, and I managed to learn a bit of the reason.

I heard that when Cerberus first arrived to guard the gates of the Underworld, being newly appointed, they naturally wanted to prove themselves.

But they blindly blocked the Goddess Nyx. Normally, that might have been fine—the Goddess Nyx is very magnanimous.

But they actually dared to bite off the hem of the Goddess Nyx's dress..." Hermes said teasingly, wanting to see what kind of expression Thaumas would make after hearing this.

"Hiss~ They must have had a miserable end."

Thaumas was deeply shocked by this stupid dog. No wonder it had been a security guard for so long despite its hard work; Cerberus's career path had clearly hit a dead end.

"More than that! I heard they were almost boiled into soup. It was only because the Goddess Nyx disliked the fishy smell of dog meat that she let them go," Hermes whispered, then thought for a moment and added:

"You mustn't say this to Cerberus, or if a dog is pushed too far, it really will bite you."

Thaumas nodded in deep agreement; no wonder Cerberus hadn't lunged to bite Hermes just now—it was clearly a lesson learned from past experience.

Forget it, since the creature was already a dog, there was no point in making things too difficult for it.

Although a bit dim-witted, Cerberus and its heads had at least successfully integrated into the Underworld's establishment, making them minor civil servants of sorts, and they were quite famous in the mortal realm to boot.

Come to think of it, the goddess Nyx was actually quite kind, finding a reason to let this silly dog off the hook.

Thaumas suddenly found himself looking forward to meeting this goddess.

According to legend, Goddess Nyx resided at the entrance of the Underworld, which facilitated her daily travels and work.

However, in reality, The palace of Goddess Nyx was located a bit further in, specifically behind the Gates of Hell.

Her palace was the dwelling of Thanatos, the god of death in Greek mythology; could one call it a mother and son living together?

It was situated at the bottom of a gloomy cave on the north shore of the Black Sea where sunlight never reached, belonging to the Underworld.

Flowing beside the palace was a tributary of the Lethe, one of the five rivers of the Underworld.

This was the magnificent palace now standing before Thaumas.

Compared to the palace of the sun god Helios—no, he was no longer the sun god now—

It was a complete study in extremes.

This palace was also supported by ornate columns, but they were inlaid with deep obsidian and dark sapphires.

The eaves were embedded with snow-white ivory, and the two doors, made of a mysterious material, were carved with beautiful patterns and figures, documenting the history of the world since the primordial god Chaos.

Chaos, He was the primordial creator god, the original order, the carrier of time and space itself, the beginning and the origin of the world.

At the dawn of the universe, Chaos was the first to be born alone, a boundless carrier filled with both darkness and light.

In Hesiod's Theogony, Chaos was the first god to be born.

Through asexual reproduction, he birthed the five great creator gods from within himself—the Earth goddess, the Abyss god, the Darkness god, the Night goddess, and the Love god—thereby beginning the creation of the world.

Yet in the Nasuverse, He was a super-massive mothership for interstellar travel, a celestial-type space-time fortress, a Dyson sphere (an artificial celestial body used to envelop a star to harvest its energy, essentially a natural nuclear fusion reactor powered by a star), and the oldest Machine God.

The reality of the Deus ex Machina had been depicted as the myths people were familiar with.

The ancient history depicted on the palace gates and walls made it appear all the more heavy and profound; the closer one got, the more one could feel a sense of oppression and suffocation.

It was evident that Hephaestus had also put great effort into crafting this temple.

Thus, Hermes stepped forward, raised his caduceus, and personally knocked on the palace gates for Thaumas.

Thaumas did not yet have enough status to have a god open the gates for him, especially when the goddess in question was Nyx.

That was why Hermes had to accompany Thaumas.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to get through the door.

After all, no matter how much a hero might shine, they were still only human.

PS:

I've finished reviewing the manuscript. I refuse to believe there are still so many typos in these three chapters, and as for the ones posted previously, I'll work overtime tonight to fix them.

There is one more chapter I need to revise, so I'll post it a bit later.