What the hell is that?!
At the same time, by the campfire.
Hestia and Artemis, who had just been getting along suspiciously well, saw the overwhelming tidal wave on the sea rapidly approaching Sicily.
Both of them abruptly stood up, their expressions changing at once.
As the raging tide drew closer, the nine Muses who had been picking up seashells along the shore immediately rose into the air together and lifted their heads in song.
"Aa—Aaa—Aaaa—"
The high, single-syllable divine words, driven by divine power, transformed into a resounding sacred hymn.
Rings of golden ripples shot straight toward the oncoming hundred-meter wave, attempting to intercept it.
But after only a brief moment of contact, the golden ripples were swallowed whole by the deafening roar of the sea.
Not only did the wave show no sign of slowing down, it grew even more violent and ferocious, like a giant roaring in rage.
Seeing tens of thousands of tons of seawater about to crash down on them, the nine Muses, caught completely off guard, went pale.
"Buzz!"
At that instant, the sky blazed with sudden brilliance as scorching pillar of light shot upward, enveloping the entire island of Sicily.
It was Lord Apollo!
Seeing the handsome figure rising into the air like a blazing sun, the nine Muses couldn't help but cry out in excitement and admiration.
Under the gaze of that flock of beauties, Apollo deliberately put on a show.
He nodded gracefully, drew the golden longsword at his waist with his right hand, and pointed it toward the heavens.
His left hand swept along the blade as golden-red aether gathered wildly in the sky, scorching light coiling and spreading across the sword, forming a dazzling band of radiance like a solar corona.
—Light, manifested once more!
With authority surging and divine halos upon him, the God of Light and Prophecy casually swung his arm.
A corona-forged blade over a hundred meters long swept through the air.
In an instant, the sky-filling tidal wave was sliced cleanly in two.
Superheated water vaporized and surged upward, rapidly spreading into a vast expanse of white mist.
Refracted light arced through the sky, forming a magnificent rainbow that made the God of Light and Prophecy appear even more tall, radiant, and heroic.
At that moment, two crisp rounds of applause rang out simultaneously from within the forest.
Lorne and Athena looked at each other.
"That was really flashy…"
"I think so too…"
They praised Apollo sincerely, yet their eyes were filled with shameless gloating.
What perfect timing, just hung out the bait, and someone immediately took it.
And not just one.
Two of them at once…
Tsk tsk.
Where does this completely unprovoked competitive instinct even come from?
Lorne looked up at the flamboyantly show-off God of Light and Prophecy in midair, shaking his head with the air of someone who'd been there before.
Still, he felt puzzled.
"By the way, why are all the Muses at the seaside?
Weren't Artemis' hunting nymphs supposed to be guarding the perimeter?"
"Probably because they heard that there are some unusual shells along Sicily's coast, ones that let you hear the sound of the tides, and can also be taken back as materials for recording songs?"
"..."
Lorne glanced sideways at the utterly nonchalant Athena.
His gaze was… complicated, as he silently muttered in his heart.
'If I ever get screwed over without realizing it, you'll definitely be the one responsible.'
"...Die!"
Just as the two of them squatted in the forest in perfect tacit understanding, using the dazzling Apollo as a human shield, a violent, hoarse roar rose from beneath the near-shore waters.
A half-man, half-serpent male monster charged toward the coast.
He had a massive serpentine tail stretching over a hundred meters, hair writhing like sea serpents, and a pair of crab-claw pincers harder than refined steel.
In a flash faster than lightning, those colossal claws swept toward the God of Light in midair.
Not Poseidon?
Seeing the unexpected figure, surprise flickered in Lorne's eyes.
"The Father of Sea Monsters—
Phorcys. He embodies the wrath of the sea, an extension of Poseidon's divine authority."
Athena, standing to the side, gave a low-voiced explanation, a faint trace of regret appearing on her face.
"Looks like the real target didn't bite…"
Phorcys?
The husband of the demon goddess Ceto?
Lorne listened quietly, understanding the situation.
According to legend, whenever Poseidon is enraged, sea monsters emerge from the depths.
When he swings his trident, he can effortlessly stir up towering waves, summon storms and tsunamis capable of sinking continents and shattering heaven and earth, pulverizing all things in their path—even triggering earthquakes.
Yet when he drives his chariot across the sea, the waves calm, and dolphins follow in his wake.
Though Phorcys is often depicted as a monster, as the product of the divine union between the ancient sea god Pontus and the earth mother Gaia, he is in fact one of the primordial sea gods of Greek mythology.
At the same time, as a symbol of the sea's rage, Phorcys perfectly corresponds to one manifestation of Poseidon's wrath and divine authority.
Which meant that the Sea God had most likely already subdued this mindless divine monster couple in secret and incorporated them into his subordinate divine system.
Otherwise, mobilizing such a massive tide of beasts to besiege Crete would not have been so easy.
But this place was not Crete.
Even without counting Hestia, who was purely here to spectate and cook, the number of Olympian gods directly participating in combat was already three, not to mention the large number of accompanying subordinate gods.
Now, the situation had reversed.
Attack and defense had switched, my friend.
Watching the furious Father of Sea Monsters crash straight into the firing line of the Sicily hunting party, Lorne couldn't help feeling a touch of schadenfreude.
And as Apollo ahead had already exchanged real blows with the Father of Sea Monsters, divine power colliding violently over the sea's surface, Athena shook her head.
How could a friendly spar like this possibly be enough?
When you go out hunting, there has to be blood.
"Let's go. We'll help out.
Even if we didn't hook the real one, eating some shrimp instead of fish will do."
With that said, the scheming Goddess of Wisdom grabbed Lorne and pulled him onto her chariot, clearly preparing to go "help" the God of Light and Prophecy.
Watching Little Medusa excitedly shove the reins into his hands, the Hearth Goddess's subordinate, who had already switched allegiances once again, could only laugh helplessly.
Having just finished serving the Huntress Goddess Artemis, he now had no choice but to drive the heavenly horses and serve Athena instead.
As they watched the chariot streak across the sky, the two figures standing close together upon it, Artemis and Hestia in the camp couldn't help exchanging glances.
"Auntie, we'll be right back. Have the food ready!"
Amidst a burst of laughter tinged with delight, Athena, successful in yet another home theft, stood side by side with Lorne, spear and shield in hand, as they charged toward the raging battlefield at sea.
"Damn it! Stop right there!"
The first to snap back to her senses, Artemis immediately let out an indignant accusation against that shameless owl, while blowing a sharp whistle to summon her golden chariot and accompanying hunting nymphs, launching into hot pursuit.
As the two hunting parties drifted further away, the Hearth Goddess, left behind to guard the camp and cook, gazed at the empty camp and the still-burning fire before her, lost in deep thought.
Something felt… off.
(The chapter ends)