Chapter 81: The Story of Bellerophon – (4)

Chapter 81: The Story of Bellerophon – (4)Bellerophon rode Pegasus swiftly in search of the Chimera.

The trail left by the monster was consistent.

“Damn it… that beast…”

The direction was toward the city of Lycia, the very place from which he had received the request.

The ground, where the Chimera seemed to have passed, was hideously gouged out by the creature’s sharp claws.

Grass and trees along the path had withered due to the venom dripping from the snake head's fangs.

Whirr!

He hastened Pegasus towards the vicinity of Lycia.

But as he approached the city, he began to hear screams of people and the sounds of buildings collapsing.

Even though he pushed Pegasus to its limits, was he already too late? Which direction should he go?

“Aaaah!”

“A monster! It’s a monster! Goddess Athena!”

“Hurry, this way!”

The temple of Athena, built on the outskirts of the city, was engulfed in flames.

The statue imitating the beautiful goddess of wisdom lay broken in half, sprawled across the floor.

People fleeing and heavily armed soldiers surrounding the temple ran frantically, creating chaos.

Whoosh-!

“That crazy beast!”

“Goddess Athena… it’s our fault we couldn’t protect the temple…”

“It’s spewing flames from inside the temple now… Arrows didn’t work on it!”

“We need to get inside somehow, but it’s not easy!”

“Damn it, the flames just won’t stop…!”

Once again, fierce flames erupted from the center of the temple.

Bellerophon maneuvered Pegasus around the burning temple, but the monster was nowhere to be seen.

It was clear that the Chimera was inside. However, to enter the narrow temple, he’d have to dismount Pegasus.

But without Pegasus, Bellerophon would be an ordinary human. Could he possibly defeat that monster?

Could he pierce its throat with his spear, avoiding that iron-like hide, without Pegasus?

* * *

As Bellerophon hovered on his celestial steed, many people soon took notice of him.

Those exposed to the monster’s threat desperately sought a lifeline of salvation.

“Hey, are you aided by the gods? That monster hasn’t come out of the temple since earlier!”

“A horse with wings…? Have the gods sent us a messenger?”

“...You up there, please help Lycia!”

The hero clenched his teeth as he looked at the people covered in ash and disfigured by burns.

Then he heard the urgent voice of King Iobates.

Among the many soldiers surrounding the temple, King Iobates could be seen.

“Bellerophon! You truly are loved by the gods!”

“Your Majesty Iobates?! How did you come here…”

“The temple in the land I rule is in danger, what king would not deal with it personally?”

Though King Iobates was the one who, believing his son-in-law’s letter, had sent Bellerophon to his death.

However, as soon as he saw Bellerophon riding the winged horse, he realized his mistake and called out to him.

“Bellerophon! Come over here for a moment!”

“Yes? Understood!”

The king handed over a letter to Bellerophon, who had dismounted Pegasus for a moment, and spoke.

His eyes were full of guilt and regret.

“No… This is…!”

“Yes, the letter from my son-in-law actually said… you had tried to seduce his wife and thus should be killed…”

“Did you order me to kill the Chimera… because of this misunderstanding? I…”

“…How could a hero, blessed by the gods, covet another man’s wife? Now I realize my mistake. I am truly sorry…”

King Iobates approached Bellerophon and placed his hand on his shoulder.

The old king’s eyes met those of the hero.

“Though I’ve wronged you greatly… could I ask you to deal with that monster?”

“…!”

“…Please. You are the only hero here.”

Seeing the king bow his head in a plea to a commoner, the surrounding soldiers were stunned.

Bellerophon, who was biting his lips hard enough to draw blood, knelt on one knee before the king and shouted.

“Of course! The gods have granted me Pegasus to slay that beast… I shall fulfill my task!”

No matter how filled with a sense of duty he was when he took it on, he was still a hero.

Seeing the goddess’s temple in flames and people dying stirred his heart deeply.

And the final blow was seeing a king lay aside his pride to protect his people.

Without waiting for the king’s reply, he grabbed the spear weighted with lead and entered the burning temple.

Step, step.

Facing that monster without Pegasus, with nothing but a spear tipped with lead.

He would surely die. Likely a painful death as his entire body was consumed by flames.

But a hero is…

“Bellerophon!”

“Please… be safe…”

“May the blessing of Athena be upon you!”

A hero does not retreat, even in the face of certain death.

* * *

Bellerophon pushed through the flames, entering the temple.

All he could see was a sea of fire.

The lion-headed beast seemed to be rampaging, with scorching heat pressing in on him from all directions.

“Ugh…”

Black smoke, swirling ash, fleeing people, and raging flames made it hard for him to see…

Where was that monster… where could it be?

Deeper and deeper into the temple he went until he finally saw the Chimera staring at him with bloodshot eyes.

He immediately threw himself behind a marble column.

Whoosh-!

He took cover to avoid the flames the moment the Chimera spotted him.

But the environment was completely unfavorable to him.

Even without a direct hit, the extreme heat was unbearable, and the acrid air felt like it was burning his chest with every breath.

His divine steed, Pegasus, was outside, and there were no allies inside the temple.

A truly desperate situation, with his life hanging by a thread.

Whoosh-!

“Argh!”

He leaped once more, swallowing his frustration.

He couldn’t keep dodging forever. A precarious tightrope walk always had a fall at the end.

Already, his breathing was labored, and his back was burning.

Had he been grazed by the flames? The growling sound of the beast filled him with dread.

Grrrr-!

The Chimera was slowly approaching, searching for Bellerophon, who was hiding behind the column.

The beast's reflexes far outmatched Bellerophon’s.

Even if he threw the spear perfectly into its mouth, he wasn’t throwing from atop Pegasus...

The flames would surely consume the spear in midair.

There was only one way—he had to drive the spear directly into its mouth.

But doing so would mean being engulfed by the enraged beast's flames.

Grrr-!

Leaning against the hot marble column, hiding from the monster, Bellerophon closed his eyes tightly.

Since long ago, he had wanted to be a hero, and beyond that, to become a god. He even intended to go to Thebes, following the oracle that had spread around the world.

But because of the sin of accidentally killing his brother, he had to seek refuge in another kingdom.

There were rumors that those who went to Thebes were personally trained by the gods. They received blessings and weapons from the gods and went through intense training...

Even if only half of those rumors were true, anyone who passed the tests in Thebes would surely become a hero.

So did it mean that, since he didn’t go to Thebes, he couldn’t become a hero?

Thunk.

The sound of the Chimera's footsteps grew nearer.

If it found him and spewed flames here, he’d be as good as dead.

Images of the people dying in the flames, and King Iobates bowing his head to him, flashed through Bellerophon’s mind as he clenched his teeth.

And so did the dream he'd held deep in his heart for a long time—the ambition to perform extraordinary feats and become a god.

Suddenly, he stood up.

Growl!

Bellerophon didn’t wait for the approaching beast. He sprang up and charged at it.

The Chimera, having noticed him, opened its mouth, unleashing a torrent of flames, but he did not stop.

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“I will prove that I can be a hero even without going to Thebes! This Bellerophon will show it!!!”

His body was engulfed in flames. Hot. It was hot. Too hot!

His skin, hands, arms, and legs—all of him was burning.

The muscles he had trained melted, and the strength left the hand that gripped the spear.

His vision went dark—his eyes were melting. His legs screamed in pain.

But the hero did not let go of the spear in his hand until the end.

Thrust.

Rooaaar!!!

He drove it into the monster’s mouth, his target.

* * *

After a while, the monster’s pained roars that had echoed through the temple subsided, and the flames died down.

The soldiers surrounding the temple brought water to extinguish the remaining small fires and moved in.

While doing so, the soldiers at the front discovered something.

“This is!”

“Sire… Your Majesty! You must… see this!”

King Iobates, who had entered once it was safe, found two corpses in the middle of the temple.

The Chimera, with a spear lodged in its mouth, lay dead, black smoke rising from its maw...

And a charred figure, assumed to be Bellerophon, stood dead, the spear still thrust into the Chimera’s mouth.

Everyone fell silent at the tragic yet noble sight.

“He never let go of the spear in his hand…”

“Sire, it seems the lead attached to the spear melted from the flames and entered its stomach.”

“Molten lead inside its belly—even a monster couldn’t survive that…”

“He was truly a hero…”

From the looks of it, the lead on the spear had melted in the Chimera's flames, flowed down into its stomach, and killed it.

“Hmm… Gather Bellerophon's remains.”

“Yes, sir!”

Rustle-!

Bellerophon’s remains—or rather, the blackened silhouette that could hardly be called a body—

collapsed to ashes the moment the soldiers touched them.

Whirr…

Pegasus, who had entered unnoticed, let out a short, mournful sound, as if grieving his death.

King Iobates, gazing at the dead Chimera and Bellerophon for a long while, spoke in a heavy voice.

“…Erect a statue of the hero who saved Lycia, Bellerophon.”

“Yes, sir!”

“May Pluto’s blessing be upon the hero.”

“Goddess Athena…”

May he be rewarded in the afterlife.