A suffocating darkness enveloped the Elsos Mountains, a desolate region where the forest shadows resembled endless rows of gravestones.
In the middle of that isolated valley, a building stood as a silent witness to the unfolding tragedy.
*RUMBLE!*
A tremendous tremor spread from the earth's belly, collapsing stone pillars and toppling the structure of a building that had stood for centuries. Dust flew everywhere, merging with the hot air that began creeping up from the cracked fissures in the ground.
In the central courtyard surrounded by tree roots, a statue of a goddess holding a bow stood frozen in the position of releasing an arrow, as if lamenting the destruction before her eyes.
Not far from there, a horrifying sight unfolded. Red light emanating from blazing flames illuminated the depths of a deep cave, where an ancient monster named Antares began rising from its slumber.
The creature resembled a giant scorpion with a shell as hard as steel and eyes radiating pure hatred. Its every movement made the earth cry out, collapsing rocks and destroying the remaining structures still standing.
Among the blazing flames and falling ruins, warriors who had tried to defeat Antares lay helpless. Their blood stained the ground, mixing with dust and ash.
This tragedy reached its peak as members of Artemis Familia fell one by one in futile attempts to survive.
The warriors' bodies lay scattered across the glowing red earth, surrounded by debris and remnants of their broken weapons.
A banner bearing the symbol of a bow and crescent moon—the emblem of Artemis Familia—fell to the ground, slowly burning from the scorching heat. Its torn fabric fluttered weakly, becoming a gravestone for those who had fallen.
In the midst of this massacre, Goddess Artemis could only stand frozen in suffocating helplessness.
Her beautiful face was now deathly pale, illuminated by firelight that reflected the horror in her wide eyes. She was forced to witness each life of her loyal followers extinguished, unable to look away.
A crystal teardrop slowly flowed down her cheek, carrying with it all the unspeakable grief and despair as she watched Antares's shadow grow larger, engulfing the entire place.
"ROARRRRR!!!"
Antares released a roar that shook the sky.
*SWISH!*
From atop the ruins, a beam of dense purple light exploded skyward, splitting the black clouds and sending a signal of anguish from Elsos to every corner of the world.
That light was the final message of destruction, leaving the mountains in an eerie silence after the storm of death had passed.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
The Holy Moon Festival was drawing near, bringing a thick atmosphere of celebration throughout Orario.
The city's residents began busily decorating building facades and streets with various moon, bow, and arrow-shaped ornaments—symbols of reverence for the Moon Goddess, Artemis.
Even the frequency of adventurers entering the Dungeon gradually decreased. This could be seen in the morning when the number of adventurers heading to Babel Tower was not as many as usual. They didn't want to miss the rare Holy Moon Festival.
In the courtyard of Empyrean Citadel, contrary to the city's bustle, it was busy in the morning after everyone had breakfast.
In a shaded corner, Astraea along with Aishia and Est basked in the sunlight containing vitamin D that was good for health, though it had no effect on them since one was a goddess and the other two were spirits.
They simply enjoyed the warmth and tranquility.
Kei occupied most of the courtyard area for his intense training session. He was no longer merely shooting stationary targets with his Flare-chan rifle.
Before him, several Golems created from Charlie's Earth Spirit Arts moved closer. Kei was forced to keep moving, seeking the right shooting position while avoiding counterattacks.
These Golems moved slowly, but each strike of their earthen hands carried destructive force capable of crushing ordinary human bones.
On the other side, Charlie occupied only a small portion of the courtyard, but around him were many weapons planted in the ground. From swords, spears, axes, daggers, maces, bows and arrows, scythes, sickles, and so on, forming a circle.
"Since I'm not making progress replicating Infinity through Hundred Gauntlets, today my focus is getting accustomed to using Nine Lives," Charlie murmured in a low voice.
Nine Lives was the manifestation of Heracles's extraordinary combat technique that he perfected when conquering the Lernaean Hydra.
Originally, Nine Lives was the bow and arrow used by Heracles to kill the Hydra, a nine-headed monster that continuously regenerated. He created an attack method that could destroy all nine heads simultaneously before they could regenerate.
Though it originated from a bow, Heracles was able to adapt this technique to various other weapons (swords, spears, axes) or even bare hands. This technique drew out the maximum potential of whatever weapon was used.
Now, Charlie inherited the Nine Lives of the Great Greek Hero.
"Let's begin."
He randomly grabbed the nearest weapon, a wooden spear with an iron tip. Its grip felt cold and steady in his grasp. He pointed it at a humanoid dummy made of Mithril metal that he had crafted last night.
In an instant, the aura around Charlie changed. He took a low stance, then in one breath, he unleashed the attack.
"Nine Lives — Shooting the Hundred Heads!"
Not a single thrusting motion. As the spear shot forward, it seemed to split into nine real shadows, each targeting a different vital point on the metal dummy—head, neck, heart, both shoulders, waist, and both knees. Nine lines of attack were born in one breath, striking almost simultaneously.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Nine metallic bangs almost merged into one echoed loudly. The sturdy Mithril dummy trembled violently in place, leaving dents and deep gouges at the nine points of impact. Thin smoke rose from the impact points, as if the metal had just received concentrated lethal attacks.
Charlie didn't stop; he immediately released the spear, grabbed a large axe nearby, and swung it again with the same insane attack rhythm.
Meanwhile, Astraea watching from the terrace as Charlie switched weapons and continued executing Nine Lives, surprise was clearly visible on her beautiful face.
Her red lips parted slightly, and her blue eyes, usually calm, widened observing every movement too fast for ordinary eyes to catch.
"Nine attacks in the blink of an eye? This is the first time I've seen Charlie use that. That's a very powerful close-range combat technique," she murmured to herself, her voice almost carried away by the morning wind.
"How many more secrets are you hiding? Truly, you're like a mystery box that makes people curious about you."
A small, complex smile—a mixture of admiration and wonder—bloomed on the Goddess of Justice's face.
Astraea could only sigh in amazement at Charlie's display of power. Her slender fingers unconsciously pressed the edge of the wooden terrace.
She had known the young man possessed unusual potential since their meeting outside Orario. However, witnessing it now felt like observing the tip of an iceberg whose shape she had only guessed at until now.
The longer she knew him, the more remarkable Charlie was compared to all mortal beings she had ever seen.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
In the courtyard, dust flew and the sound of metallic bangs continued to echo.
Charlie remained focused on honing Nine Lives, while Kei continued pushing his limits in combat simulation against the Golems.
Both were so immersed in their ambition to become stronger, enjoying the moment of tranquility at Empyrean Citadel under Astraea's gentle watch.
However, beyond Orario's walls and the festive Holy Moon Festival preparations, they were unaware that this silence was merely a brief pause before the storm. A world-level danger was approaching.