Pop! Pop! Pop!
Two longswords and a spear drove forward like lightning, catching the three writhing serpent heads off guard and slicing them clean off.
Before the heads hit the ground, Atalanta loosed arrows one after another.
Three shafts hit their targets precisely, carrying the three falling heads dozens of meters away and pinning each to a different tree trunk.
Then the explosive inscriptions on the arrowheads activated, blasting the three heads and the tree trunks behind them to powder.
The four-person coordination and attack flow was seamless.
That dragon-serpent monster with its three heads had not even had time to react before it ended up completely headless.
But just as everyone thought things had settled,
Lorne saw the flesh beginning to writhe and split at the severed necks.
His eyelid twitched as he shouted immediately.
"Careful. It is not dead yet!"
The twin brothers instinctively looked back, and to their astonishment saw that the dragon-serpent whose heads they cut off had already grown new ones.
And not three. Six!
'Cut off one head and grow two?
This was practically a copy of the nine-headed Hydra?'
Lorne felt a sinking feeling in his heart upon seeing this.
'Arcadia absolutely had a serious problem, and it most likely related to Typhon's divinity!'
"ROOOAR!"
At the same time, the dragon-serpent, having regained its senses and realizing it had died once just now, let all six newly grown heads jointly let out furious roars, opening their mouths and spewing dark green venom.
The twin brothers, through flexible footwork, successfully dodged the surging venom.
However, the massive quantity of venom that hit the ground instantly rose into dense green toxic fog.
The twins accidentally breathed in a mouthful and immediately felt their heads spinning, vision going dark, the swords in their hands almost impossible to hold steady.
The venom of the nine-headed Hydra was something even the future Heracles at his peak and the immortal sage Chiron could not withstand.
This three-headed dragon-serpent's venom was equally ferocious.
At this moment, Medea and Helen, who had moved out of danger, immediately waved their staves and began rapid sacred word chanting to assist.
Two fierce gales swept forward trying to disperse the accumulated toxic fog ahead.
However the effect was almost negligible.
That thick green fog was viscous and heavy, like ink adhering to objects, refusing to stop until it had extinguished all life force in everything around it.
"Bang! Bang!"
Accompanied by the crisp sound of shattering, two crystal bottles thrown from a distance smashed at the twin brothers' feet.
The grass-green medicine evaporated rapidly in the air and the toxic fog around the brothers thinned noticeably.
Their dazed and clouded minds gained a trace of clarity.
"Antidote! Here. Drink it!"
Following the voice through the fog, the two brothers instinctively raised their hands, caught the two medicine bottles thrown over, and with trembling hands poured them down.
However, the dark green toxic fog barely lightened at all.
The brothers were clear-headed for only a brief moment before growing dizzy again, their skin gradually turning green and black.
The antidotes Lorne acquired from the divine healer's cabin were standard general-purpose versions.
Against ordinary poisoning they were immediately effective.
But against venomous poison imbued with divinity, they fell somewhat short.
At the same time,
Lorne could vaguely see countless tiny dark-green particles surging madly into the twin brothers' bodies through air exchange, skin contact, and ether flow.
'Not just through breathing.
Skin contact and ether exchange also deepened the poisoning.'
"BANG!"
A thick black serpent tail swung out from the toxic fog and rudely slammed the disoriented twin brothers into the mud.
Six serpent heads roared and lunged down at the two men on the ground.
"Goddess Artemis, hear this plea. Strike down my enemy with injury!"
Solemn sacred words echoed across the open land as Atalanta leaned her body back in an exaggerated arc, loosed one golden and one silver arrow into the sky.
The arrows hummed and vibrated as they reached their apex, resonating with the stars and the moon above.
From one they became two, from two they became four, and in an instant transformed into countless thousands. A dense shower of light arrows fell like a meteor storm onto the six writhing serpent heads and the monster's massive body. The sound of flesh tearing rang out without pause.
Struck by this blow, the monster's attention was pulled toward the distant Atalanta.
The brothers collapsed on the ground temporarily escaped danger.
But with the toxins spreading through them they now had almost no ability to move, blood seeping from the corners of their eyes and mouths.
They never expected to go down right here before even reaching Arcadia.
If their companions and family back home learned of this outcome, they would be laughed at endlessly.
The increasingly hazy brothers looked at each other with bitter smiles, their expressions full of resigned lamentation.
Seeing the dragon-serpent's several heads, after venting in all directions without result, refocus their attention on the nearest target, both brothers helplessly closed their eyes and prepared to wait for death.
"Pop!"
A hurled javelin screaming through the air struck the dragon-serpent squarely in the heart, blasting a large hole through its chest.
"HMM!"
At the same time, a vast ringing sound came from the starry sky.
Several golden streams of light like falling meteors split across the heavens and fell one after another toward the two brothers lying immobile on the ground.
"CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!"
The crisp sounds of metal components connecting rang out one after another.
As the last impact sound ended, two dazzling bursts of golden radiance exploded from within the dark green thick fog.
The dragon-serpent monster, stung by the intense light, let out a low growl, its eyes hurting as it stumbled backward.
And two figures wrapped in golden light slowly rose from the ground, looking with astonishment at the two suits of armor on their bodies, completely golden in color and magnificently crafted.
"These golden saint cloths were brought specifically from the
War God Mountain to preserve your lives."
Lorne walked over from outside the toxic fog and casually tossed four or five bottles of antidote to the twin brothers to one side.
The two, still carrying considerable residual poison in their bodies, hurriedly caught the bottles, gulped down the antidotes in quick succession, and felt considerably better, turning grateful eyes toward the person who just saved their lives.
They had heard of [saint cloths], an extraordinarily precious type of God-forged equipment.
Among the large graduating classes each year from Athens Academy, Greece's highest institution of learning, only the most outstanding one or two earned the right to receive this reward.
And they were generally bronze or silver in color.
Golden saint cloths of this kind had almost never been seen by anyone.
Furthermore, according to legend, silver and above saint cloths generally had a master-recognition function.
If given to one person to use, the current user generally needed to die before they could be passed to the next.
Although through last night's conversation they knew the person before them was a teacher and students from the Athens Academy, entrusting something this valuable to them clearly came with no small degree of responsibility and pressure.
"Can you move? Will you walk out yourselves or have them help you?"
Lorne walked over and asked casually.
Saint cloths could not detoxify and their poison resistance was only average.
Their greatest function right now was filtering toxic air and magical power, allowing the user to form an internal ether circulation and make the body its own small universe.
But because of the sudden turn of events, getting these items sent over from the War God Mountain in advance had taken Lorne considerable time, which resulted in a significant accumulation of toxins in the twin brothers' bodies.
The two brothers looked at each other, then simultaneously raised their hands.
"Antidote. Three more bottles each!"
The answer went without saying.
Lorne said nothing further, tossing six more antidote bottles to the brothers beside him.
The two immediately drank their respective antidotes completely clean, clearing out most of the remaining toxins in their bodies.
After all, this dragon-serpent only possessed Typhon-like divinity.
It was not a true direct bloodline descendant of Typhon like the nine-headed Hydra.
"Everyone together. Finish it!"
The two brothers turned their dark gazes toward the dragon-serpent monster that had already healed its flesh and was climbing back up from the ground, immediately picking up their weapons without ceremony and charging forward in combined force.
At the same time, Lorne locked his gaze on the exposed reverse scale beneath the monster's neck.
Left hand holding a bronze shield, right hand drawing a spear from his back, he followed close behind.
In the moment of approach, the dragon-serpent let out a low roar.
Six ferocious heads covered in dark green scales lunged forward with savage biting force.
The three, having prepared for this, each leapt upward and evaded those rows of sharp venomous fangs.
"BOOM!"
The dragon-serpent's heads plowed forward, carving dozens of meters of furrows in the ground.
Sand, stones and dead wood were ground to dust under the terrifying biting force. Venom dripping from its jaw beds to the ground sizzled and hissed.
"We will help too!"
From outside the perimeter,
Helen, Medea and Atalanta immediately launched ranged suppression with archery and magic. Arrows and spell projectiles rained down, blood splashing in all directions.
The dragon-serpent raised its necks and roared, forcing through the intense pain to open its mouths and spray massive quantities of dark green venom toward the mountain road.
The magic shields Medea and Helen instinctively erected were instantly melted through by the green rain of droplets.
The sinister, rotting stench closed in rapidly.
The three serving as artillery on the mountain road seemed to see the dark green rain droplets transform in midair into the shape of a raging dragon.
This was... primal divinity!
It was forcing out primal divinity-tempered venom.
No wonder there was no defense against it!'
"It is going all out!"
Atalanta bellowed the warning while pulling Helen and Medea out of the range of the venom spray.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle!"
Like the sound of water drops falling into boiling oil, the sounds rose one after another.
Plants struck by the venom rain rapidly rotted and dissolved until they shriveled into scattered wisps of ash.
"Pop! Pop! Pop!"
Before it could continue its counterattack, three of the serpent heads were hit with tearing, heart-rending agony.
The monster struggled to look down, only to see three small figures holding longswords and a spear swinging their divinity-inscribed weapons at its heads.
'So hard!'
Seeing their two longswords wedged in the dragon-serpent's necks, the twin brothers' expressions shifted slightly.
And Lorne looked at the bronze spear in his hand, severely corroded by the venomous blood and now only half its original length, then at the single serpent head that fell, feeling rather helpless.
After the heads regenerated, not only did this thing's defensive power increase dramatically but so did its venom's potency.
"Get clear!"
Accompanied by a shout from the distance, Atalanta, Medea and Helen, having regrouped, launched another round of ranged suppression.
But this time, whether arrows or magic, everything was deflected by the scales on the dragon-serpent's body that had turned black and hard, and the surging patterns of divinity light, leaving not the slightest mark or damage.
The twin brothers took the opportunity to draw their own swords.
Using their natural agility, their figures wove and flashed as they struck over ten rapid slashes, but the dragon-serpent merely kept stepping back under the impact force.
As the dust settled it seemed to only have a few more gashes, which immediately began healing.
Even more troubling was the severed neck from before starting to writhe with flesh once more, very quickly growing two more serpent heads.
Now it was a seven-headed serpent.
However, after absorbing over ten powerful hits in a row, the dragon-serpent seemed to be struggling somewhat.
The divinity patterns on its body surface gradually dimmed and its life force began to wane.
But before they could feel pleased about this, the monster lowered its heads and bit up tons of soil, swallowing it directly.
Only a few seconds later, the divinity patterns on its body gradually began to brighten again.
'Good heavens. Earth divinity could be used like that?'
Watching the giant serpent monster successfully recover by eating dirt, everyone felt their worldview had taken a serious hit.
'Could this thing actually be beaten?' The twin brothers could not help wavering.
"Buy me some time. I will break through the divinity protection on its body!"
Atalanta's shout came from the distance, and immediately she took her position at a vantage point with a clear line of sight, slowly drawing back the bowstring, murmuring and chanting.
"We are going in!"
The twin brothers erupted with blazing fighting spirit and took flanking positions, sweeping past the two front legs the dragon-serpent used to support its body.
Bang! Bang!
With dull impact sounds, the divinity patterns flickering on the monster's body surface shook violently.
Its body stumbled backward and toppled several massive trees.
Then the brothers exchanged a nod of perfect understanding, resonated the divinity within their bodies, and stepped forward in synchronized rhythm.
The two sword masters flashed and shifted, striking at the monster's joints, eyeballs, heart and other vital points at lightning speed, their sword strikes flowing like water in an unbroken chain.
Flesh flew. Blood splattered.
At this point, they were no longer pursuing a single killing blow.
Instead they were dragging out the dragon-serpent's movements as much as possible, forcing it to expend divinity on regeneration.
With the final sword strike delivered, the two brothers in perfect mental and physical sync felt a sudden inspiration, raising their longswords high in response to the blinking stars commanding the sky.
"Tremble before us!"
"Revere us!"
"Radiant presence in the heavens above, guiding stars!"
"We have descended here!"
"Twin God Anthem!"
The two charging figures alternated their chanting and then in unison let out the final verse.
Two golden whirlwinds enveloped their bodies and swept forward together, their sharp blades sweeping in a single instant and dismembering the dragon-serpent's lower body into a ground full of shredded flesh.
Watching this scene from the sidelines, Lorne gave a satisfied nod.
'Excellent. Gemini has been lit up.
The twelve zodiac palaces finally have their first active member.'
At the same time, Atalanta launched her final chant.
"Shadow of burning flame, arrow behind the moon, receive the curse of Artemis. Dark Sky Eclipse Shot!"
The huntress drew her bow to a full moon, and a blazing black arrow tore through the long sky.
To a sound like shattering glass, the golden divinity patterns collapsed as the arrow drove deep into the six heads of the dragon-serpent monster, splashing red-black blood and filth.
"Pop pop pop pop!"
The moment the arrow drove into the monster's flesh, swelling red-black flames spread outward in spike-like thorns, delivering brutal secondary damage.
"ARGH!"
The dragon-serpent let out an agonized scream.
The divinity patterns flickering on its body gradually collapsed and dimmed. Its magical power poured out unstoppably. Its crimson vertical pupils, venomous and terrified, fixed on Atalanta.
It was a curse.
The Hunting Goddess Artemis's curse!
The moon often carried multiple aspects of divinity.
Artemis was not only the forest goddess representing nature's abundance, she was also the plague and death goddess representing nature's severity.
And what the huntress Atalanta brought now was the darkness and punishment of the moon's dark side.
Once the mark was planted, no matter how powerful a magical beast, it became prey that could be killed and punished before the Hunting Goddess.
'I do not want to die! I want to live!'
The monster lost all reason, dragging its still-functional upper half, screaming as it charged.
The twin brothers swung their longswords and tore through its scales with surprising ease, driving into its flesh and causing it pain and damage.
But even so, the monster's vitality remained outrageously powerful.
That half-body peppered like a pincushion and covered in wounds dragged its injuries and continuously falling body parts, charging ferociously in the direction where the huntress stood.
Atalanta bit her lower lip with her teeth.
Even with tearing pain signals coming from all over her body, she stubbornly raised her longbow, drew the bowstring full, and squared off against the magical beast charging toward her.
Stopping the beast outbreak of Arcadia from continuing to spread was the purpose of her journey here.
And it was the duty she as a hunter had to fulfill.
"ROAR!"
The dragon-serpent raised the one head still with any vitality left, eyes red with blood, and struggling desperately to spray venom at the small thing that had dealt it such devastating damage.
"Hiss!"
But the moment the monster opened its mouth, everything around them seemed to slow.
A bizarre grey-black arc of light flashed past. The space gave off a violent sense of warping and tearing.
"BANG!"
That ferocious head snapped off at the neck and slid to the ground, slamming into the mud.
"That finally takes care of it."
Lorne shook his head and stomped the last head with its eyes gradually going dark under his foot, crushing it.
"Teacher..." Atalanta murmured at the figure standing before her, then could hold on no longer and pitched forward.
Lorne's outstretched arm caught his fallen little cat and gently took her in, then turned to look at the others hurrying over.
"Clear up the contamination and bloodstains here. We need to leave as quickly as possible!"
Having just been through an intense battle and nearly lost their lives, the shaken group all gave quick nods.
Then the twin brothers used their longswords to blast large holes in the ground.
The magic users Medea and Helen stepped forward, using spells to move the carcasses into the holes for concentrated burning and burial, while also clearing away the surrounding toxins and bloodstains to prevent later arrivals from running into trouble because of their careless handling.
After simply cleaning up the scene, the six pressed on while maintaining alert status, heading toward Arcadia's royal city.
It was worth noting that the current six-person group included three descendants of the great God Zeus, two outstanding Athens Academy students, and one considerably more professional teacher.
With this luxurious lineup, they had come alarmingly close to a wipe against a single dragon-serpent monster that emerged from Arcadia.
Although it was unclear whether monsters of this level were numerous deep in the mountains, or whether this was a singular case.
But clearly, the [beast outbreak] problem had already become very serious, far exceeding their expectations.
They needed to link up with Arcadia's resistance forces as soon as possible, and ideally make direct contact with the king of Arcadia immediately.
(End of Chapter)