บท 332: Antares

"Everyone, here we will face a great battle!"

The next dawn, when the sun hadn't even risen, everyone woke up, and on their expression, they all showed a determination that they were ready for the next battle.

Artemis took the leadership role of this group, but the air was heavy with unspoken words. Even Hermes and Hestia, usually so quick-witted and talkative, remained silent, their hearts heavy with the knowledge that this would be the last time they would see Artemis.

As a deity, Artemis would definitely be reincarnated, but for how long?

The deity was immortal, but what about Isao?

Hestia and Hermes were also troubled by the thought of parting from Isao. His presence had become a part of their lives, and the prospect of losing him was daunting. Yet, as deities, they were powerless to intervene, forced to watch over him from a distance.

Yet, this was how a being from the lower world.

Their lives might be limited, but even so, they shone brightly like a blooming flower, beautiful yet fleeting.

Holding the divine arrow in his hand, Isao stared at Artemis' back and didn't say anything.

"What's wrong?"

Ryuu felt that the moods of the deities were kind of strange, but it was hard to ask Isao, so she moved closer to Daphne and Cassandra.

"Just believe in Isao-kun."

Cassandra's was simple. She had a blind trust toward Isao since, as she had been following him, she had never had a nightmare that had haunted her in the past.

"Um, just believe in him."

Daphne also nodded.

"....."

Ryuu fell in silence and looked at the two helplessly. While it was true that she felt that they were right since she also knew how reliable Isao was, she felt like... she also needed to support him.

Unlike others, Isao had many burdens, ambitions, and also problems.

To solve all of that, he had been alone, and he even hardly asked for help, which made Ryuu vexed and sad, thinking that she couldn't be his help. However, she also knew how rash and idiot she was except for fighting; what could she do?

Except for fighting and using her magic to fight his enemy, Ryuu knew that she could do nothing.

Still, everyone's focus quickly turned toward Artemis, who passionately made her declaration to fight against the monster who would wreak havoc on this world.

"As you already know, this ruin has become a den of monsters. Antares is still concentrating on its power and waiting. There is no doubt we'll face great difficulties before we achieve our goal.

"But never surrender! Never fear! Defeat isn't an option!"

Everyone held their weapons, prepared their potions, and stood as they listened to Artemis' words.

"Here is how this goes!"

Artemis looked at the group of Hermes Familia members and said, "The Hermes Familia will act as a decoy! Just lure your enemies out and avoid any danger."

"Understood!"

Every member of the Hermes Familia said.

"Falgar." Artemis looked at the vice-captain of the Hermes Familia, a lion beast-man who acted as a vanguard within Hermes Familia.

"Yes."

"You lead the cohort."

"Understood."

As Artemis got her answer, she looked at Isao and his group. "We enter the ruin while the enemy's attention is drawn to the feint attack! That's when we will defeat Antares!"

"We?"

Unlike other members of the Hermes Familia, Asfi would join Isao's group, so she was surprised by Artemis' decision.

"The gate cannot be opened without my divine power. I will go, too."

While they felt that it was too dangerous, considering Artemis had hardly the power to do anything in the lower world, they knew that this was her decision and they could only follow her.

Naturally, hearing that decision, Hestia and Hermes decided to follow as this might be the last time they would meet Artemis, so they wished to watch it through, but when they were about to start everything, suddenly Artemis held her chest, seemingly to be in the intense pain.

"Ugh!"

Artemis held her chest tightly as she fell, but fortunately, Isao quickly caught her.

"Artemis!"

"Antares..."

While Artemis was in pain, she forced herself to look up, and her expression quickly turned to horror. Others also followed her gaze, and they also had a similar expression.

Yet, Isao frowned when he saw Artemis' arm turned hazy, seen through, seemingly about to disappear from this world.

"W-What is that?!"

"Huh?! Huh?! Huh?!"

"No way... are we going to die?"

No one could imagine that something like that could happen.

In the sky that was still dark as the sun hadn't risen, a light gathered and formed into a crescent moon. When this moon was formed, everyone could feel the fearsome energy that came from it, and even if they were blind, they could tell that it was something dangerous.

"Don't tell me...?"

"No way is that...?!"

Unlike the others who were confused, Hestia and Hermes, who were familiar with Artemis, were dumbfounded since they knew well what that crescent moon in the sky was about.

Soon, everyone quickly realized that this wasn't a crescent moon; instead, it was a divine power of Artemis.

Bow.

The crescent moon that appeared in the sky soon turned into a bow, along with a large arrow that could pierce through anything and destroy a city with just a shot. As they wondered what to do, the string of the bow was pulled, and the arrow was shot.

"Protect yourselves!"

Along with Artemis' shout, everyone started to make a formation, and those vanguards with shields stood in front of everyone, protecting them from the impact.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!

The castle that sealed the Antares was destroyed instantly.

The earth shook, the air roared, and the impact blew off everything.

Yet, more importantly—

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The scream of terror echoed within the space, causing everyone to shudder.

At that moment, the calamity escaped from its seal and was about to bring fear, malice, and despair to everyone in this world.

No one expected this situation.

Whether it was Artemis and Hermes, they knew that they had messed up. The seal that had kept Antares in a bay was broken, and it had devoured Artemis' power.

A monster that was capable of using the power of deity was born.

With a body that reached hundreds of meters, standing overlooking them, a monster with the body of a scorpion stared at them menacingly. It had several eyes and a black metallic body that gave it an absolute defense.

Run away! Run away! Run away!

When this monster appeared, this was the natural reaction of their bodies. This was impossible to defeat, and they could only leave as soon as possible to preserve their lives, yet they couldn't. Their bodies couldn't move, and all of them were rooted in a place, especially when Antares stared in their direction.

However, because of that, they also realized something within that monster's chest, a familiar figure that made all of them widen their eyes in disbelief.

"T-That's....?!"

"Don't tell me...!"

"Why is Artemis-sama there?!"

The leader of this quest, Artemis, was trapped within the crystal in Antares' chest. Her eyes were fully closed, losing consciousness.

Everyone subconsciously looked at Artemis, who was by their sides, holding her chest painfully in Isao's arms.

Why was Artemis there?

However, Artemis ignored them as she was in deep confusion.

"Why?"

How could it escape?

Why did it appear there?

Many questions appeared on her mind, but soon, Artemis saw his tall figure in front of her.

"Ryuu, take care of Artemis."

"Ah, um."

Ryuu nodded and held Artemis in Isao's place.

Isao stood in front of everyone, facing this monster without fear, and looked at Artemis, who was trapped within its chest.

Taking a deep breath, could he do it?

There was no need to question that since he had to do and it was impossible to watch his woman die and be devoured by this abominable monster, but as he watched this monster, he saw a new possibility that he had never thought of and his eyes full of excitement due to finding the solution of his problem.