SDM 12

Chapter 12. The First Anniversary, and…

The world was broadly divided into three lands.

There was the heavenly palace where the Twelve Gods resided. Beneath it stood the enormous Mount Olympus, overlooking the continent as though it were watching over the world.

The western continent, where numerous polis kingdoms had flourished—including Olympus, the great city-states of Athens and Mycenae, and Sparta, famous for its warrior tribes—was called Greece.

Facing it across the sea was the eastern continent, dominated by the great Trojan Empire.

To the south lay the island of Crete.

There were countless islands scattered throughout this region surrounding the Mediterranean, but if one had to name the three most representative areas, they were these.

The Twelve Gods of Olympus ruled over all civilization.

However, to the north of Olympus…

Something was breathing in the unexplored wilderness, a place where human hands had yet to reach.

“I, Thanatos, daughter of Nyx, goddess of the cold night, and the reaper who heralds the end, offer my greetings to the great Mother of Wisdom.”

A storm raged as lightning crashed down from the dark clouds.

It was truly the end of the world.

Thanatos politely bowed her head at the edge of a cliff.

Then—

RUMBLE!

The earth shook, and the ground rose.

It almost looked as though an enormous mountain itself had begun to move.

The gigantic mountain, which vaguely resembled a woman lying on her side, opened its mouth.

—It has been three hundred years since we last met, my lovely niece Thanatos. Have you been well?

“Have you also been in good health, Aunt?”

Thanatos nodded.

The entire world trembled.

The one Thanatos had come to visit was none other than Gaia, the great mother goddess of the earth and the first primordial god.

—Judging by your face, it seems you haven’t been at peace.

Thanatos bit her lip.

Thinking about Hades’ atrocities made her emotions rise, but she had to restrain herself in the presence of the Mother Goddess.

—What is it that you wish to ask of me?

Gaia asked generously, as though she already understood Thanatos’ feelings.

“The atrocities committed by the Twelve Gods of Olympus have gone too far. Their arrogance reaches the heavens, while humans perish amid suffering and injustice. I cannot even collect all of their souls.”

—Zeus.

The trees along the mountain range rustled, scattering their leaves.

—It has been a long time since Zeus and his siblings seized the heavenly palace. Originally, the great forces of nature were meant to flow according to the natural order.

As Gaia sighed, a powerful gust of wind swept across the land.

—In the beginning, there was Chaos. From it, my siblings and I were born, and we created the world. As the daughter of Nyx, you know this well, Thanatos.

“A god is a guardian who governs the laws of nature and ensures that the order of things proceeds correctly.”

—It is fortunate that you still understand what is right. But that doesn’t seem to be the only reason. I can sense the same anger within you. What is the true reason you came to see me?

As befitted a primordial god, Gaia possessed extraordinary insight.

Thanatos slowly opened her mouth.

“They have wronged a friend of mine. They placed the blame for their own mistakes upon him.”

—You, who pronounce the end of all things, came all the way to me, the Mother Goddess, for the sake of another?

Who is this friend?

“His name is Sisyphus.”

—A human?

“…Yes.”

Gaia gave a faint laugh at the unexpected answer.

—I understand. I, too, have a personal grudge against Zeus.

“You mean because of the Titans?”

The Olympian gods had waged war against the previous generation of gods, the Giants known as the Titans, in order to seize their current thrones.

They were all Gaia’s sons and daughters.

—Zeus not only beheaded my son Cronus, he tore his soul apart and imprisoned it in Tartarus. And that isn’t all. He imprisoned or drove away all the Titans.

Rumble.

The earth trembled.

—Olympus has abandoned its duty. I must issue a prophecy.

Rumble!

A storm swept across the land.

Gaia solemnly declared:

—The Titans shall rise once more. Flames shall bloom throughout the Palace of Olympus.

The prophecies of the Mother Goddess would always come true.

As she watched the heavens and earth seemingly being remade before her eyes, Thanatos thought of the one human who had shown her kindness when no one else had.

Just wait a little longer, Sisyphus.

I cleared the sixth floor and entered the seventh.

The more I did this, the better I became at it.

My confidence was growing, too.

Watching the rising sun, I happily drank a cup of water.

It tasted like heaven.

“Wilson, you know what?”

🙂 ?

“It’s already been a whole year since we met.”

🙂 !

“Congratulations, you bastard.”

I’m not sure whether it was really something to celebrate.

Still, Wilson and I happily exchanged a high five.

A cold sensation traveled through my hand.

When I first met him, his surface had been completely smooth.

But after all the rolling and rolling we’d done together, his surface was now covered in scratches here and there.

They were the marks of our history together.

“Do you think we’ll be able to get out once we reach the summit?”

Honestly, given the structure of this malicious prison, I thought the chances were low.

In the original myth of Sisyphus, the rock he pushed to the summit simply rolled back down the other side.

But once we reached the top, there had to be some kind of opening that would allow us to break through.

If doing it once didn’t work, I’d try twice.

If twice didn’t work, I’d try ten times.

There had to be some kind of special achievement at the very least.

🙂

Wilson was cheering me on.

For some reason, I had the baseless confidence that I could accomplish anything as long as I was with him.

“Then let’s go, Wilson.”

🙂

[You have entered the 7th Floor: Rocky Mountain.]

Rattle, rattle, rattle…

Everything around us was pitch-black granite.

Was this a volcano?

The rocky mountain was uneven and covered in jagged terrain, so I had to move slowly.

If I let my guard down, Wilson could easily bounce around in every direction.

─KRAAASH!

“Ah! Hot, damn it!”

Lava suddenly erupted from an unexpected spot.

The soles of my feet became scorching hot.

[Warning: The plantar fascia has undergone injury-induced transformation.]

[Mana is being used to regenerate the skin.]

[Stamina has increased by 1.]

I considered making shoes and trying again, but decided against it.

The vines would probably be unable to withstand the heat anyway.

[Beware of Magical Beasts.]

The ominous warning sign was still there.

Still, since I’d already fought one on the sixth floor, I felt a little more confident.

I avoided the more severely uneven terrain and continued climbing.

“Is this some kind of first-anniversary gift? It feels like we’re making unusually smooth progress today, Wilson.”

🙂

One year.

To some people, a year might be nothing more than a brief period that passed in the blink of an eye.

Even I couldn’t remember how my first year as a lord had passed.

But the year I’d spent here felt almost like ten years.

All I could do was engage in the mindless task of pushing a heavy rock up a mountain.

Whether I exercised or built something, I had to do everything alone.

Any object I didn’t touch with my own hands would remain exactly where it was, no matter how much time passed.

It was a very strange sensation.

The suffocating feeling of hard breathing rising all the way to my throat.

I finally understood why the Chinese character for “person,” 人, looked like two people leaning against each other, and why the character 間, meaning “between,” was constructed the way it was.

Humans aren’t creatures that can live alone.

(:

If I hadn’t had Wilson, I might have gone insane a long time ago.

That was how increasingly restless I had become without even realizing it.

My arms supporting Wilson tensed even more.

It had been about twelve hours since entering the seventh floor.

I’d become fairly accustomed to this area and was climbing at a faster pace without any problems when—

Thud.

“Whoa.”

Wilson seemed to have caught on a large rock jutting out from the ground.

He wouldn’t move.

Just as I was about to turn him around and find another path—

─RUMBLE!!

“Whoa?”

A sudden earthquake startled me, and I crouched down instinctively.

I spread both arms wide to support Wilson in case he fell.

“What is this?”

Rumble.

Rumble.

The vibrations grew stronger.

It wasn’t impossible for me to encounter an unexpected trap.

I should have retreated several meters down the slope with Wilson while I still had the chance.

Maybe it was because today marked one year.

Maybe subconsciously, I had interpreted that not as an anniversary, but as a sign that I needed to hurry.

Or perhaps I had simply become too dependent on Wilson.

Whatever the reason, my judgment was delayed by about five seconds.

And that hesitation would have enormous consequences.

─Gooooo…

There was a simple reason for the trembling.

The rocky mound I’d collided with suddenly rose into the air, creating a gigantic shadow.

It was nearly ten meters tall.

A monster that poured crimson light from its eyes and dripped deadly lava from its limbs.

It descended upon me like a natural disaster.

Only then did I realize that, despite the “Beware of Magical Beasts” signs, I hadn’t encountered a single magical beast throughout the entire seventh floor.

But it was already too late.

“Damn it!”

I immediately turned around and ran down the slope.

I knew what that thing was.

Pente had once explained the different types of dangerous magical beasts to me.

A golem.

A magical beast created when the spirit of a rock became ferocious.

And this one was even more dangerous—a Lava Golem, born in a volcanic region.

It’s disaster-class…!

It was on the same level as the bicon that had once devastated our territory.

Something Pente had needed the help of other heroes to barely subdue.

How the hell does it make sense for a few snakes to show up and then suddenly have a disaster-class monster appear?!

It was completely unreasonable, but now that it had happened, all I could do was run.

However, after only a few steps, I felt something strange and stopped.

The golem showed absolutely no sign of chasing me.

And even stranger—

I couldn’t hear the sound of Wilson rolling down the mountain.

“Wilson?”

I raised my head and looked up the slope.

The golem’s enormous, rock-solid hand…

It had somehow picked up Wilson and was bringing him toward its chest.

“Wilson.”

I had a very bad feeling.

Something was wrong.

What purpose could this hidden golem’s trap possibly have?

The role of an obstacle was to prevent the rock from reaching the summit.

If that was the case, then the golem’s next action was obvious.

“Wilson.”

I ran back up the slope I’d just descended.

Toward the golem.

But before I could do anything—

─Crack.

The golem effortlessly tightened its grip.

─KRAAAANG!!

“WILSON!!!”

Something unbelievable happened.

Crack, crackle…

Wilson.

Fragments of what had once been Wilson fell to the ground.

Just moments ago…

He’d been happily talking with me.

We’d promised each other that we’d reach the summit together.

“Y—”

My vision turned completely red.

My head grew hot.

It felt as though my brain itself were boiling from the heat.

I didn’t even know what I was doing.

“You bastard!!!”

When I came to my senses, my fist was already clenched.

─Whoosh!

I kicked off the ground.

─BOOM!!!

And had already slammed my fist toward the golem.

─Gooooo?!

Fragments of stone exploded in every direction.

A hole was blown straight through the golem’s calf.

The creature staggered.

[You have realized the skill BOOM.]

[Combat against a Disaster-Class Magical Beast has begun.]

[You have inflicted 20 critical damage.]