"Her-Heracles, what do you mean by this?"
Inside the palace of the Kingdom of Mycenae, Eurystheus, Heracles's brother and a loyal follower of Athena, looked at the huge snake head hanging before him, his face covered in cold sweat, and trembled as he asked,
"I told you to kill it! Not to bring it here to the palace!"
"Actually, I had already killed it, but it was resurrected from the Underworld by a certain deity."
Heracles spread his hands and said in a muffled voice,
"Then this deity asked me to bring it here, hoping you would grant him face and allow me to complete this task directly."
"What in the wor—"
"So you're the one who sent Heracles to kill me?"
Just as Eurystheus opened his mouth to refuse, Hydra suddenly spoke, asking in a terribly gloomy whisper.
"Gulp."
Eurystheus glanced at Hydra's tongue, which was almost as thick as his arm, and then his peripheral vision caught sight of the floor tiles sizzling with green smoke from its terrible venom. He couldn't help but swallow, and softly replied,
"Great Hydra, I think there might be some misunderstanding in this matter."
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding."
Hydra hissed, flicking its tongue, and whispered,
"I don't want to hear your sophistry, mortal. Your status means nothing to me. Just tell me directly: regarding Heracles, do you consider his task completed?"
"This…"
Eurystheus hesitated. Facing a fierce creature like Hydra, he really wanted to just give in and agree, but as soon as he thought of Athena's instructions, he began to waver.
If he were to compare Athena and Hydra, Athena was certainly much more powerful, but the problem was he couldn't afford to offend either side. So, for a moment, Eurystheus fell into a dilemma.
Seeing his expression, Hydra slammed its claw down forcefully. Its immense power directly shattered all the stone bricks in the palace of Mycenae. Then, it roared in anger,
"So, you're unwilling to agree? Very well, I'll just eat you directly, in the name of offending the deity behind me—"
"Eurystheus, agree to it."
Just as Hydra opened its massive maw, preparing to swallow Eurystheus, a heavenly voice suddenly echoed in his mind. Hearing the goddess's voice, Eurystheus felt a wave of relief and quickly shouted,
"I agree! I'll agree!"
"Tsk."
For some reason, Eurystheus actually detected a hint of disdain from the giant snake head before him. Its tongue flicked out, then retracted, and the snake head moved away from the mortal king.
"Then I shall take my leave first."
After speaking to Heracles, the nine-headed Hydra swayed its massive body and walked out of the palace of Mycenae. The palace guards and city residents dared not block its path.
It reached the city wall, climbed it like a gecko, and then its giant-dog-like body nimbly flipped over the wall of Mycenae, disappearing from the sight of the Heroes.
Seeing Hydra leave the Kingdom, Eurystheus couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Then, he looked at his brother with some anger, scolding him,
"Heracles, did you come here to atone for your sins? Or to intimidate our Kingdom with your brute strength and valor?"
"You misunderstand, Eurystheus, I absolutely did not mean that. If a deity hadn't intervened and saved Hydra, that snake would be dead by now."
Heracles said calmly,
"Come, quickly give me the next task. I believe you don't want me to stay in your Kingdom forever."
Hearing Heracles's words, Eurystheus's words faltered. As the King of Mycenae, he was quite annoyed by the feeling of being led by the nose when facing Heracles, but what Heracles said was indeed true. Having a hero who could destroy a Kingdom by himself stay in his country for too long would inevitably lead to complications.
So, he cleared his throat and, following Athena's divine oracle, issued Heracles's third task:
"I heard that on Mount Ceryneia, there is a beautiful hind with golden antlers and bronze hooves, living freely on the slopes of Arcadia. It was also one of the five hinds caught by the great goddess Artemis during her first hunt. I hope you can capture it for me."
"A hind caught and then released by goddess Artemis?" Heracles frowned upon hearing this. "This is clearly a divine beast favored by a goddess. What if Artemis refuses?"
"That's your problem to consider, not mine." Eurystheus revealed a slave-owner's smile, clearly delighted to make things difficult for the great hero Heracles. "I don't care what methods you use. As long as this hind appears in my palace, I will consider your task completed."
Heracles pondered for a moment, then replied, "Alright, since you yourself aren't afraid of the consequences of angering Artemis, then I won't worry about it either. I'll set off now."
With that, he didn't bother to bow or take his leave from Eurystheus, turning directly and walking out of the palace. The guards protecting Eurystheus at the palace entrance dared not stop him.
Outside the palace, Heracles found Iolaus, who was watching his horses and luggage for him. Iolaus, who was Ares in disguise, was indeed incredibly handsome. Heracles had seen countless wealthy merchants and nobles passing through the streets of the Kingdom of Mycenae turn their heads to gaze at him, likely considering how to trick this handsome youth into their homes to be a wine steward. However, upon seeing that Iolaus was Heracles's attendant, they immediately abandoned the idea.
What a joke! That terrifying Hydra had just left. That was a monster capable of contending with the gods, yet it had still been defeated by Heracles. In their eyes, Heracles could no longer be considered a human hero, but some higher-ranked, more terrifying monster in human skin than Hydra.
However, while they dared not provoke Heracles to his face, the rumors circulating behind his back were something Heracles couldn't control. After all, human words were fearsome, something even Athena and Zeus sometimes couldn't control.
Heracles had seen people looking at him with the eyes of a monster more than once outside the Kingdom of Mycenae. It was likely that with the completion of his two great feats, his reputation as a "monster" had already spread. And judging by the looks of the people on the street now, it was likely that salacious rumors about him would not be few in the future.
Although he himself knew that the soul of a wise and warlike deity resided in this handsome youth's body, others did not. How they would think and spread these rumors was only known to them.
While pondering such questions, Heracles approached Iolaus. He arrogantly handed his weapon to Iolaus, but at the same time, respectfully whispered his new task to the handsome youth before him.
"Artemis's hind… you don't need to fear this. Just go after it." Ares replied upon hearing this. "Artemis and her brother Apollo have a decent relationship with me. You just need to make sure you don't kill this hind. If she holds you accountable, I'll speak on your behalf."