Half an hour later, a golden whistling arrow shot violently into the sky from Sicily, climbing high into the air and exploding with a piercing shriek.
The moment the signal appeared, the expressions of rose stationed in the distant sea, Apollo, Athena, Hestia, and the others, as well as the hunting nymphs near the coast, all changed at once.
Something had happened!
Almost simultaneously, the main gods and the lesser gods turned into streaks of light, tore through the night sky, and rushed toward the scene at full speed.
The moment they arrived, a thick stench of blood assaulted their senses.
Vegetation lay crushed and broken, the surroundings in utter chaos.
Artemis knelt at the center of a massive crater, her face deathly pale.
"What happened?"
Athena's heart sank as she was the first to speak.
Artemis turned her head..
At this moment, a smear of blood stained her beautiful cheek.
When her eyes fell upon the gathered gods, she finally snapped back to her senses and spoke, still shaken.
"Something suddenly emerged from the sea and attacked us.
Lorne tried to help me and was accidentally injured."
Seeing that his sister was unharmed, Apollo first felt a wave of relief.
But when his gaze shifted to the familiar head resting in her arms, his expression darkened again.
In the end, considering the situation and what had happened, the god of light suppressed his anger.
His eyes swept across the surroundings, growing increasingly grim.
—Divinity of the sea!
At that moment, the hunting nymphs responsible for defense began chattering anxiously.
They had received the signal in advance and were dispatched to investigate the nearshore area.
Yet they never expected that something would still slip past their defenses without a sound, land on Sicily, and launch an attack on Artemis and her group.
Listening to the nymphs fill in details one after another, Apollo's expression worsened.
Breaking through the hunting nymphs' defense, evading the perception of several chief gods, and possessing such pure and dense sea divinity…
The attacker's identity was practically obvious.
Even if it was not that ruler of Oceanus himself, it was certainly inseparable from the sea gods!
At this moment, Hestia, who had arrived slightly later, hurried forward and anxiously checked on her subordinate.
"How are you? Are you badly hurt?"
Cradled in Artemis's arms, Lorne opened his eyes, forcing out a weak smile.
"I'm fine. Please check on that nymph first. She was the first to discover the intruder, and her injuries are much more serious…"
The hunting nymphs followed the trail of blood and the wreckage on the ground, quickly finding another injured figure behind the bushes.
"Aura?"
Seeing the familiar face covered in blood, the nymphs rushed forward, lifting their companion and trying to wake her.
However, even after administering potions and channeling divine power, although Aura regained consciousness, her pupils were unfocused, and she kept muttering incoherent words.
Clearly, this was not merely a physical injury, her mind itself seemed damaged.
"Let me try…"
At this time, Apollo stepped forward gracefully, wearing a warm and approachable smile..
A strand of gentle white light gathered at his fingertips as he lightly touched Aura's forehead.
Where light reached, darkness and confusion were meant to disperse.
"Tell me, who did this?"
As he leaned closer, Apollo asked softly, eager to identify the one who dared attack his sister.
Yet the instant Aura saw Apollo's face, the chaos and haze in her eyes were replaced by bloodshot madness.
"Pfft!"
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Not only did the anxious god of light fail to get an answer, he was suddenly lunged at by Aura, who bit down hard on his arm.
"Wngh—!"
Caught completely off guard, Apollo's pupils shrank violently.
Abandoning all decorum, he flung the female nymph away.
Amid sharp pain, the nymph bared her silver teeth savagely, tearing a chunk of flesh from Apollo's arm before throwing her head back and swallowing the bloody meat like a beast.
At the same time, everyone finally heard a few clear words spill from Aura's mouth.
"Die… all of you die!"
The deranged nymph, blood smeared across her lips and hatred clenched between her teeth, lunged once more at Apollo.
Because he was the only man nearby.
At this moment, Lorne, still lying in Artemis's arms, cast a sidelong glance at his brother-in-law, who was struggling with the nymphs and Muses to restrain Aura, a pleased curve quietly lifting the corner of his lips.
—Frenzy.
This was the first time he had used his Dionysian authority in real combat.
And judging by the results, everything had gone exactly as he had envisioned.
—By exploiting the half-dreaming, half-waking mental influence of "Frenzy," he had made Aura experience a nightmare of being violated and humiliated within her mind.
Her sanity collapsed just as it had in the original course of history, burying his and Artemis's secret deep beneath the flood of her broken psyche.
Of course, to vent his crazy girlfriend's anger, this blame naturally had to be pinned on Poseidon.
After all, that sea god was a repeat offender in this regard.
With this, Artemis had a perfectly legitimate excuse, using her own attack and Aura's humiliation as justification, to avenge herself for nearly being defiled by that sea god's son.
All of this was known to Artemis, who had personally participated in planning the scheme.
At the height of her excitement, she had even grabbed the nymph attendant roughly a few times, leaving obvious redness and bruises behind.
The remaining arrangements were even simpler.
Sea divinity was not only something Lorne possessed himself, but Aura, who had offended Artemis, was also of sea god lineage.
Thus, the chaotic scene and her injuries were partly Lorne's doing, and partly the result of her own self-harm under the effects of "Frenzy."
Once Aura's mind completely collapsed, the traces of "Frenzy" faded away...like wine digested and absorbed after entering the body, then broken down and excreted without leaving a trace.
And so, even under the watchful eyes of Apollo, Athena, and Hestia, none of the three main gods detected anything amiss, directing their suspicions squarely toward Poseidon.
It was just that, during this process, something unexpected occurred.
After all the turmoil, Aura not only lost her sanity but, as history had dictated, also developed an intense hostility toward the opposite sex.
And at the scene, aside from the motionless Lorne, the only remaining male was Apollo.
Thus, the unsuspecting god of light lost a chunk of flesh the moment he approached the frenzied nymph.
As for this incident…
Lorne could only say, it was purely an accident… right?
Moments later, the rampaging Aura was knocked unconscious and restrained and the god of light, Apollo clutched his freshly scabbed wound, his face livid as he growled through clenched teeth.
"…Poseidon…!"
His fist tightened unconsciously as the god of light grabbed his hunting bow, casting a chilling gaze toward the vast Oceanus Sea, his teeth clenching audibly.
—Right now, he really wanted to eat some fish.
(End of Chapter)