"Hehe, looks like it was an accident."
Seeing the spearhead shift toward her own lover, Artemis quickly stepped in to smooth things over, waving her hand to have the Nymphs release this unlucky fellow who had been blown up.
The moment he regained his freedom, Pan wisely refrained from continuing to dwell on the previous topic. Instead, he thick-skinnedly requested to join the ongoing feast.
Out of consideration for Hermes's reputation and the earlier accident, everyone could only nod in agreement and accept this goat-headed, human-bodied visitor.
However, since the Nymphs and Muses present were all appearance-oriented, they were naturally somewhat repelled by Pan's strange looks and kept a certain distance from him.
This left Pan, who had originally hoped to cozy up to these beautiful goddesses, feeling extremely depressed.
Fortunately, although he had no chance to get close to the beauties, after tasting the delicious food and mellow wine in the camp, Pan's gloomy mood was eased quite a bit.
After three rounds of wine and five courses of dishes.
With a few hints of intoxication rising, Pan looked at the youthful and beautiful Nymphs and Muses around him and could not help licking his lips; then his eyes rolled as he stood up from his seat.
Wearing a face full of smiles, he walked toward Artemis by the bonfire and began to curry favor with the Huntress Goddess.
"Goddess, I recently raised another batch of hunting dogs.
There are a few exceptionally fine ones among them. Since you're here, how about I give them to you as a gift?"
"Sure, where are they? Let me see!"
Hearing this, Artemis immediately perked up, her eyes lighting up.
Pan scratched his head at this and could not help smiling sheepishly.
"They're in my temple, which is rather far from here. Making you run all the way there would be too discourteous."
Then, he changed the subject and proposed with a foolish grin.
"How about this? You send someone to come with me, and together we'll drive those hunting dogs over to the camp for you to choose from."
As he spoke, those goat eyes, faintly glowing in the darkness, swept toward the group of Nymphs behind Artemis.
The Nymphs who were scanned by that gaze felt an inexplicable discomfort in their hearts and subconsciously cast pleading looks toward their own chief goddess.
However, the slightly tipsy Artemis had her mind completely occupied by the words "hunting dogs" and, without thinking, vaguely began to say, "Then…"
"I'll go." At the same time, Lorne stood up from his seat, blocking Pan's line of sight and volunteering himself.
At the same time, he kicked the golden hunting dog circling him and laughed as he scolded,
"Perfect timing. It's about time this noisy fellow found a companion, too."
Looking at the innocent dog whimpering on the ground, the Nymphs, who had been inexplicably tense, instantly felt the discomfort in their hearts dispel as they covered their mouths and laughed softly.
Artemis naturally agreed to her lover's request without hesitation.
She immediately nodded with a smile, and like a wife seeing her husband off, reached out to take Atalanta from Lorne's arms, watching him depart.
However, compared to the gods who were still immersed in joy, Pan's mood was anything but good.
The reason he was willing to offer up the hunting dogs he had painstakingly bred was to seize the opportunity to bring along a beautiful Nymph.
In the end, not only did he fail to get a beauty, but the bastard who had almost blown his skin off came along instead.
What a mood killer!
The half-man, half-goat shepherd god cursed inwardly, then glanced at the smiling, handsome male god behind him as a trace of anger immediately surged in his heart, and he abruptly sped up, his body darting swiftly through the dense forest.
'Hmph, if you want to take my hunting dogs from me, you'll have to have the ability to do so!'
Pan sneered inwardly as he struck the ground with his shepherd's staff, sending out invisible ripples.
The paths in the darkness seemed to grow rugged and difficult, the surrounding plants appearing sinister and twisted, like giant serpents writhing in the shadows.
The entire mountain forest seemed to transform into a living labyrinth.
After several turns, the footsteps behind him gradually disappeared, as if blocked by some invisible force and a cunning smile could not help but spread across Pan's face.
Within Arcadia, he was not only the shepherd god but also the ruler of nature, mountains, and the countryside.
He could, by his own will, turn this land into a maze that confused and imprisoned enemies, causing them to lose judgment in fear and expose themselves in disgrace.
'Since you made me lose face in front of those beautiful goddesses and ruined my good plan, I'll let you taste some suffering too.'
'When dawn comes, let's see how you can't even keep track of yourself, let alone bring back a few hunting dogs.
What face will you have to report back to Lady Artemis?'
However, just as the half-man, half-goat god raised his head and sneered smugly, his gaze ahead instantly froze.
His body stiffened in place, his goat face wearing a look as if he had seen a ghost.
Under the bright moonlight, a figure leaning against a massive rock ahead lazily stretched, then turned back with a smile and asked,
"Rested enough? We can go now?"
"Oh, oh, yes…"
Pan nodded blankly, hurriedly passing by that figure and continuing to lead the way ahead.
'Damn it! What's going on?
When did this guy overtake me?'
This completely unexpected situation threw the shepherd god's mind into chaos, leaving him utterly baffled.
Soon after, however, even more frustration and anger surged up under the catalysis of alcohol.
Just some subordinate god who popped up from who knows where—how could he possibly break through my labyrinth so easily!
An accident! It must be an accident!
Carrying his resentment and doubt, Pan accelerated again, running and leaping through the mountains like a nimble goat.
At the same time, the shepherd's staff he kept striking against the ground, secretly awakening the will of the mountains and forests, causing plants and terrain to grow wildly and deform, turning into layers upon layers of forest labyrinths, which blocked out the moonlight from above, attempting to completely trap the pursuer behind him within this dark prison.
Now let's see how you—
After pulling ahead by some distance, Pan subconsciously turned his head, ready to admire his masterpiece, but the excitement and smugness on his face froze once again.
That guy was still there!
And he had already closed the distance to less than seven steps.
His proud forest labyrinth had failed to hinder him in the slightest.
How was that possible?
Looking at the bewildered little lamb ahead, Lorne chuckled mockingly to himself.
Of all things, he chose to use a labyrinth to trap him.
Back on Crete, he had been beaten plenty of times while Athena locked him in labyrinths.
Compared to that Goddess of Wisdom who could easily cut space apart and reshape the foundational structure,
Pan's Labyrinth, relying only on terrain factors to create minor obstacles and amplify human fear, was simply child's play.
Moreover, the [Bull] on his body carried part of the labyrinth authority of Crete.
As long as he ignored the environmental changes, followed the earth's qi and the goat stench emanating from Pan that could be smelled from far away, there was basically no way he could get lost.
"How much farther? You're not lost, are you?"
Hearing the teasing from behind, the still-unwilling-to-give-up Pan gritted his teeth and snorted coldly.
"Afraid you can't keep up!"
Immediately afterward, Pan tore off all pretense, pouring divine power into his legs.
With those unique goat hooves, he transformed into a gust of wind, racing through the forest at top speed.
He was the offspring of Hermes, the god of speed, and possessed the talent for speed from birth.
Especially in Arcadia, his home turf, Pan was confident that not many could easily catch up to his pace.
However, after glancing back several times, his heart gradually sank.
Because he suddenly felt an exaggeratedly thick divine power burst forth from that unknown subordinate god's body, and just like that, like a high-speed charging war chariot, the guy followed closely behind at a speed no less than his own.
Accompanied by dull earth-shaking rumbles, the distance between them continued to shrink.
Finally, when the other party caught up to him once more, Pan completely gave up and slowed his pace on his own initiative, forcing a flattering smile onto his face, and hurried to greet him.
"No rush, no rush. We're almost there."
"Where?"
Lorne ignored Pan's attempt at closeness and casually glanced around.
The latter cleared his throat and struck the ground with his shepherd's staff.
The dense forest around them shifted accordingly, and the mountain rock ahead cracked open, revealing a gap.
This moss-covered passage lined with luminescent plants led straight into the pitch-black belly of the mountain.
Seeing that this not-so-easy-to-deal-with subordinate god still had not moved, Pan quickly smiled awkwardly and bowed as he moved ahead.
"It's inside. I'll lead the way for you."
Lorne did not immediately step inside.
Instead, he sized up the goat-headed, human-bodied god with a half-smile.
This half-man, half-goat image with horns on the head and cloven hooves had a specific name in medieval Europe and later Christian culture.
—That is, demons, or incarnations of Satan.
—Lies and deception were often standard features of such creatures.
Lorne narrowed his eyes slightly and stepped forward to follow behind Pan. In the darkness, the corner of his lips lifted, outlining a playful arc.
Centaurs…
Pan…
Things were really getting more and more interesting.
(End of chapter)