Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest-Chapter 358: Facing the Hundred-Handed Ones

Adam turned to Garduck, whose breathing stabilised, then spoke in a solemn tone. "There is no turning back from now on. We either succeed or die."

Garduck pushed himself off the floor, his eyes narrowing. "Nothing has changed. I’m right behind you."

Adam walked to the gates of Tartus, grinning. "We started this together. We’ll end it together."

"Together."

With Garduck covering his back, he slammed the colossal gates wide open.

Instantly, a rush of suffocating air, heavy and whispering words of suffering, ruffled his hair. He narrowed his eyes on the desolate chain of burgundy mountains covering the horizon like the dried spine of a cosmic creature.

At their feet, golden chains dug into several thousand-meter-tall limbs. They coiled from dripping wounds to pull their grimacing faces against the stone’s icy walls—the heads of creatures that had once ruled the cosmos: the Titans.

He counted five before the laments of criminals, long erased from human memories, distracted him. Though he had seen his fair share of horror in the abyss, he recoiled. No matter what perverse punishment Ifrit could come up with, the things he saw were a thousand, a million times more horrible.

Fighting the urge to leave this hole of proliferating despair, he finally saw the first hurdle on their way... rather the quaking ground alerted him of their approach.

An icy shudder ran down his spine as three pale mountains of muscle locked their fifty heads and pointed their hundred arms at him. He found them ugly yet also majestic—just like Nídhögg. But the time wasn’t for awe. ’Negotiations. A bitter fight if it fails.’

He stomped the ground, the splinters flying and reverberating through Tartarus. Then, his voice boomed, confident and regal. "I come not to fight you, proud sons of Gaia. If you still have a sliver of intelligence after eons of guarding this hole Zeus threw you in, listen to me!"

Garduck gripped his sword, shuddering yet observing the Hecatonchires pause. So those were the original demons of legends? The same ones whose raw might tilted the Titanomachy’s scales in the Olympians’ favor? His heart drummed in his ears. The evolution he longed to reach stood before his eyes, but he was still... too weak to talk to them as Adam did.

Remaining silent, he observed one of the Hecatonchires’ mouths part, his voice a rumble that sent gales crashing before him. "A mortal dares speak about our intelligence? Cottus acknowledges your guts. But guts won’t get you anywhere, not in Tartarus."

The second one crossed his hundred arms over his chest in a disturbing spectacle. "The gates are still wide open. Flee, flee mortals before you can’t anymore, before despair takes over your life. I, Briareus, will close my eyes only this once—only because your words pleased me."

The last one snorted at his brothers, then sat where he stood. "You speak words of reason, mortal. Anyone but us would have lost their minds in this place. Approach. Gyge will hear you out." His lips cracked into an ominous smile. "But be warned: you’ll join the damned if I don’t like your blabbering."

Adam walked toward them, his hands tight on his weapons and his eyes narrowed. He thought about shifting to his draconic form to add a layer of intimidation to his words, but... ’I’ll look like a slightly bigger ant in front of three elephants.’

Once close enough, he exchanged a glance with the trembling Garduck before they nodded. Words were useless—only actions could save them now. And if there was something they excelled at, it was to upturn gods’ expectations.

He glared at Gyge’s central head fearlessly. "Whether you like what I say or not doesn’t matter. You either accept the truth or veil your eyes with lies."

Gyge’s arms twitched, but Adam raised his palm and continued. "I know your story very well. You were potential threats to Uranus’ galactic dominion. Fearing your strength, he imprisoned you in Tartarus. Now, please tell me who freed you?"

They all frowned, the simple mention of their father’s name causing their blood to boil.

Cottus leaned over him, the dark sky fading into his shadow. "There is a thin line between guts and folly, mortal. I suggest you weigh your next words with utmost care."

Briareus sighed. "You should have left when you could... I’m not interested in hearing our own story. But I’ll entertain you in your last moments. Zeus freed us."

"Hahaha!" The threats made Adam laugh—half nervously, half in pure amusement. "You still don’t see it, don’t you? Where are you now?"

The Hecatonchires froze, their faces contorting into 150 ugly grimaces.

But he didn’t give them time to recover. "Did Uranus chain you? No. You were hidden from the world. Now comes the interesting question: how did your situation change before and after Zeus overthrew the Titans?"

He let his words linger before his voice grew somber. "You became guardians? Fancy titles, a diversion. Can you leave as you please? No, because Zeus bound you by a fake sense of duty to the very place you longed to leave. You never ceased to be prisoners, not during Uranus’ era nor Zeus’. That’s the truth."

A heavy silence descended over the Hecatonchires, only broken by their tensing fists and gritted teeth. The mortal’s words held some truth...

Gyge reacted after several minutes. He shrugged, a predatory glint flashing in his many eyes. "What if Zeus played us? Will you imitate him in offering us to partake in one of those grand wars only to cast us back in Tartarus after we outlived our use?"

He threw his heads back and laughed. "Hahaha! Unlike the few Titans, Zeus has dozens upon dozens of gods serving him. There is nothing we can do to shake his cosmic hold. He’s far too comfortably seated on his throne. You’ve wasted your time, mortal, and your life."

He rose to his feet, and his brothers took a step forward, surrounding Adam and Garduck like pale walls of flesh.

Yet, he smirked. "Who said only Zeus has an army? I’ll surpass him today and raise individuals as powerful as him. Blood will still coat Olympus’ walls, and godly heads will rain down the sky."

His grip tightened on his blade, two chaotic pools swirling in his eyes and plasma flickering through his cracks. "You can be a part of it and claim true freedom or oppose me in vain."

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AN: I added more chars on the app since I feel like no one joins Discord to see them. ;’(

Anyway, I can’t put Mab and a few others for some reason. I’ll add more later.