At the same time, along with the destruction of the temple, the etheric dragon in mid-air that was currently locked in a fierce battle with Lorne looked as if it had been struck by lightning.
The divine light radiating from around its body decreased sharply.
Seeing this excellent opportunity, a cold sharpness flashed in Lorne's eyes.
He leaned his back further behind him, his body behaving exactly like a massive bow stretched to its absolute limit, while the Spear of Nation-Founding in his hand serving as the arrow atop the bowstring.
The next moment, a bloody light pierced through the vault of heaven, shooting into the etheric dragon's chest with lightning speed, striking straight onto that dark-red heart rising and falling within the chest cavity.
Its core having suffered such a severe wound, the etheric dragon let out a tragic screech.
Its body—composed of flesh, stones, and skeletal remains—decomposed rapidly, its massive body falling uncontrollably toward the ground.
Above the fissure, that Typhon temple, which had originally already been on the verge of shattering, was struck straight by the massive body of the falling dragon, instantly collapsing with a thunderous roar.
Densely packed shattered stones and bones carried a violent impact as they shot aggressively out in all directions, exactly like a sudden meteor shower.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Accompanied by smoke and dust filling the ground along with bursts of rumbled explosions, a petite figure cradled the Underworld Moon staff, lunging left and right across the continuously collapsing and falling stones, attempting to escape from within that temple that was about to fully break apart.
However, due to the successive fierce battles and the rush forward all along the way, whether it was her magical power or her physical endurance, both had already approached their limits.
A single moment of careless misstep instantly caused her to drop swaying down toward the abyss.
Looking at a massively falling boulder smashing head-on toward her face, Medea couldn't help but close her eyes in terror, grief-strickenly waiting for the end of her fate.
Bang!
Right at this moment, a dull explosion rang out from above, and the falling boulder was blown to pieces by a single strike.
A figure enveloped entirely in golden light maneuvered and leaped among the falling stones, fast as rapid lightning.
And the instant his searching gaze locked onto Medea, he kicked aggressively down onto the shattered stones beneath his feet without a second thought.
Borrowing the counter-force to accelerate his descent, his open arms firmly hugged that little witch who had closed her eyes to wait for death.
Feeling the warm arms,
Medea opened her trembling eyes.
Seeing that familiar face before her, she couldn't help but throw her arms around his neck all at once, cheering with a surging mind.
"Senior Brother!"
"Mm, hold onto me tightly..."
Lorne let out a muffled groan as a pair of radiant, golden wings of light unfurled behind his back.
Pulling the two of them close, he beat his wings and shot into the sky.
Weaving deftly through the rain of falling debris, he landed steadily at the edge of the fissure.
Only after they had escaped the danger did Medea, somewhat bashfully, loosen her embrace.
It was then that she noticed countless luminous cracks had spread from Lorne's arm all the way to his neck, making him resemble a masterpiece of porcelain teetering on the brink of shattering.
At that moment, the girl finally understood why her senior brother had let out that muffled groan earlier.
It had most likely been because of the pain.
"Shh!"
Lorne raised his index finger before his lips, quietly making a gesture for silence.
Understanding the intent,
Medea nodded, jumped out from his embrace, and stood obediently behind her senior brother, not saying a single word regarding what she had just witnessed.
At this time, upon the battlefield.
Along with the fall of the etheric dragon and the collapse of the Typhon temple, the magical beasts driven by Typhon's authority fell into a state of complete chaos.
Coupled with the lack of blessing from the temple, their combat effectiveness and endurance decreased further sharply.
The subjugators took advantage of this fine opportunity to assemble spontaneously.
Utilizing the coordination of their forces to display the advantages of group combat, they gradually pulled the situation back, starting to clear the magical beasts that were still putting up a stubborn resistance on the field in an orderly manner.
Seeing that the situation had already received effective control,
Lorne just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief when his pupils shrank violently, his gaze landing onto that bronze javelin pinned into a tree trunk a hundred meters away.
'Wrong. Where is the corpse? Where is Hippomenes?'
As he thought, an explosion of thunder rang out within Lorne's mind, his expression turning rigid.
'He isn't dead yet!'
~~
Rustle, rustle...
Amidst the tangled bushes thick with mist, a disheveled figure traversed at extreme speed, his left hand clutching his chest where granulation tissue continuously wriggled as he stumbled and ran out from the boundless mountains of Arcadia.
Due to being too hurried, that white robe draped beneath his armor was ripped with multiple holes by the slanting branches along the path, hanging tattered over his body, the elegant and composed grace of the past completely gone.
Only after activating the [Extreme Speed] talent of Hermes's blood descendants to escape a full distance of several dozen miles in a single breath, did Hippomenes dare to halt his footsteps, looking back toward his rear with a racing heart.
'What a close call!'
'To think even the awakened Head of Typhon wasn't his match; that fellow is too terrifying!'
The moment Hippomenes thought of that thrilling instant where he was pierced through the heart by a single spear and pinned dead to a tree, he couldn't help but feel a lingering dread, and bursts of phantom pain couldn't help but transmit from his already healed chest and heart.
That's right, he had indeed died once.
But fortunately, a certain object prepared in advance allowed him to pick his life back up.
Hippomenes spread his palm open, looking at that fresh-red chip the size of a pigeon's egg in his palm that was dim in color and covered in fractures, his eyes filled entirely with post-event terror and good fortune.
—The Eleusinian Stone, a unique substance refined from life that could bestow the power of rebirth upon the user.
And the powder scraped from this object was precisely the [Medicine] that Lord King had consumed.
All along, pursuing an immortal life that didn't die had been the ultimate goal and eternal topic of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
They had been exerting efforts for it continuously, yet had remained entirely without finding the method.
Yet this miracle had ultimately been accomplished in the hands of an infidel like him; it was simply an irony.
What made one even more amused was that those fools of the Eleusinian Mysteries continuously praised life, yet little did they know that the price for stepping into eternity was precisely the desecration of life!
Because only life could be exchanged for life...
These were all truths imparted to him by that [Great Existence].
And in order to create this key to eternity, he opened the gates of the abyss and awakened that [Great Existence], forging a temple for it and borrowing its strength to activate the beast tide, completing the harvest of life.
By a rough calculation, the humans who died directly or indirectly atop this matter numbered at least a thousand, right?
Looking at that fracture-covered Eleusinian Stone in his palm, Hippomenes raised his hand to crush it into dust, scattering it toward the earth.
While secretly thinking it a pity, he shook his head with a sneer.
It seemed those fools of the Eleusinian Mysteries had even given such a blood-stained object a noble and elegant alias.
What was it called again—
[The Philosopher's Stone]?
~~
At this time, Lorne arrived before the tree, pulling out that bronze javelin stained with bloodstains and shredded meat, leaned his body down to pick up a dark-red chip from the ground, amd examined it with a furrowed brow.
"The Philosopher's Stone!"
An Eleusinian follower who scrambled closer looked filled with complete shock upon seeing this.
Hearing this, Lorne felt the rich life aura remaining upon this dark-red chip, his eyes showing a thoughtful look.
The Philosopher's Stone—this was a mythical substance, the long-standing "Holy Grail" in the eyes of Western alchemists, believed to be capable of turning ordinary base metals into precious metals (such as gold), or manufacturing an elixir of eternal life.
Therefore, the titles given to it included "The Stone of the Philosophers, the Stone from Heaven, the Touchstone, the Raw Material of Gold and Silver, the Red Elixir, the Fifth Element," and so forth.
Within various legends and mythologies, this object would often appear in different forms, including solid, liquid, or powder, and was believed to be the color of fresh blood, though most appeared with an appearance resembling a ruby.
Due to the unyielding pursuit of this substance by alchemists, it was also bestowed with titles like the Great Miracle, the Great Creation, and so on.
At certain times, these titles were simultaneously used to address those creators of the Philosopher's Stone, using it to visually represent that they resided at the absolute peak of alchemy.
Not only could it create various miracles in alchemy, it could even change the laws of nature, causing the dead to resurrect.
Thinking up to this point,
Lorne turned his head to look at the Eleusinian follower beside him, asking with solemn severity.
"You know of this object?"
"Of course! Creating the Philosopher's Stone to thereby obtain an ageless life that doesn't die is precisely the ultimate goal pursued by our Cult of Eleusis.
Almost every fellow follower knows of it, though the person capable of creating this miracle is the only one in the entire Mysteries."
"Who?"
"Lord Hierophant!"
The Eleusinian follower answered subconsciously, his eyes displaying worship.
However, Lorne's face turned somewhat unsightly.
If this fragment left behind at the scene truly originated from the Philosopher's Stone, didn't that explain that Hippomenes was in collusion with the Cult of Eleusis?
The generation of the [Beast Disaster] was related to the Eleusinian Mysteries?
Just as Lorne felt alert in his heart, preparing to have the crowd present guard against the accompanying Eleusinian followers, the Hermetic mages who had originally been fighting side-by-side with the subjugators had their bodies go rigid.
Raising their double-serpent staffs like stringed puppets, they chanted in unison.
"The form of the stars. The form of the void. The form of the god. The form of myself..."
An ancient star map emerged within the vault of heaven, and rows of brilliant starlight dropped toward that damage-ridden battlefield.
Seeing this situation, Lorne faintly perceived that something was wrong and immediately let out a violent, solemn shout.
"Knock them unconscious!"
However, it was already too late.
A crowd of hollow-eyed Hermetic followers chanted out their final high-pitched syllables.
"...With my blood, I offer myself as a sacrifice. Remains, bestow life upon you!"
Along with the final tone dropping down, dozens of Hermetic followers gathered in a circle blew apart with a thunderous roar, their bodies turning into clouds of blood mist.
Immediately following that, the crimson blood mist inked the ground, outlining rows of red-and-black textures corresponding to celestial alignments.
The corpse-filled battlefield behaved exactly like a swamp where mire aggregated, the foul traces spreading toward the surroundings.
Shredded flesh and bones pieced and fused together with one another, turning into stark white, ferociously distorted figures that scrambled up from the piles of corpses.
They looked exactly like soul-reaping messengers originating from hell, carrying a stench of corruption and death.
Facing this sudden anomaly, many people froze on the spot.
"Get out of the way!"
Lorne shouted aggressively as he stepped forward.
The sweeping Spear of Nation-Founding wrapped a fierce stream of etheric light as it washed forward.
Several dozen white, human-shaped monsters that had just finished aggregating, along with the surrounding vegetation, were instantly blown into debris.
However, this battlefield that had been defiled with fresh blood by the Hermetic followers had currently turned into an active flesh-and-blood factory, continuously creating various distorted lives.
Its effect was quite similar to the Typhon temple that had bred the magical embryos previously.
Roar, roar, roar, roar!
Low roars rose and fell one after another.
Ferocious human outlines rushed out from the dense forest, from the thick fog, from the boulders, from the mud pits, and from within the caves in succession, appearing virtually infinite.
These things possessed a human-like appearance, but their pitch-black eye sockets were completely hollow, their distorted faces left with only three holes that could barely be addressed as eyes and a mouth.
At the same time, upon those stark white bodies, there was no skin tissue whatsoever.
Accumulations resembling muscle fibers interwoven and layered over one another without a shred of aesthetic appeal, their deformed bodies exactly like a glob of white wax melted by fire, while various organs and bones originated partly from humans and partly from magical beasts.
The moment they were born, they impatiently joined the ranks of the magical beasts, unfolding a strangling assault against the humans on the field.
"Homunculus..."
The High Priestess of the Temple of Artemis looked at the crowd of distorted, crawling, bizarre white lives before her, unable to help but murmur out a certain unfamiliar term.
A homunculus, also addressed as an "artificial lifeform," was a type of man-made creature put forward by the alchemist faction of the Hermetic sect.
It symbolized the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm, born naturally possessing a certain mindset and a virtually immortal body, capable of serving humanity.
However, because this kind of concept transgressed human boundaries and offended the authority of the gods, even the most radical alchemists within the Hermetic sect didn't dare to attempt it easily.
Therefore, an object like a "homunculus" was usually merely regarded as a rumor.
In order to unite all forces that could be united to work together against the Beast Disaster, the Temple of Artemis had also turned a blind eye to some of the small movements of the Hermetic sect.
However, when the facts were laid out right before her eyes, the High Priestess discovered that she had severely underestimated the madness of that crowd of Hermetic followers.
At this time, Lorne looked at the "white waves" composed of artificial lives inside his vision, as well as the magical beasts that automatically identified them as their own kind, his eyes narrowing slightly.
It seemed Arcadia's [Beast Disaster] was very likely related to the Hermetic sect's [Artificial Lifeform Experiment].
And it absolutely could not be separated from Hippomenes!
On one hand, when that traitor activated the Typhon temple and awakened that etheric dragon, the prayers he chanted seemed similar to the holy words of the Hermetic sect.
On the other hand, Hippomenes claimed to be a blood descendant of Hermes, and the main god worshipped by the Hermetic sect, Hermes Trismegistus, had Hermes as his prototype.
Although from the dumbfounded reactions and tragic ends of that crowd of Hermetic followers, they were mostly kept in the dark as well, merely discarded pawns.
But the forbidden artificial life experiment, forging a flesh-and-blood temple for the Monster Progenitor Typhon, and activating the beast tide to find a way to awaken it... each of these massive troubles, if pursued afterward, would absolutely give Hermes, the leader of this sect, a heavy dose of trouble to swallow!
Furthermore, counting that [Philosopher's Stone] just now, the Cult of Eleusis was likely mixed into it as well.
Strictly calculated,
Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, along with Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, could not be separated from it either.
How long has it been since the Divine War ended, yet you guys had already poked out such a massive basket of trouble?
Lorne cursed silently, looking toward the battlefield that had plunged into a deadlock once again.
Because these artificial lives created through the collective sacrifice of the Hermetic followers were products that discarded the human appearance to pursue extreme destructiveness and combat capability, the crowd found them exceptionally troublesome to handle.
On one hand, the limbs of these monsters could turn into sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, possessing savage instincts and combat talents akin to slaughter weapons;
On the other hand, their life force was extremely tenacious.
Whether cutting through their necks or hacking off their limbs, it was difficult to kill them.
Injured individuals could even absorb the flesh and blood of surrounding corpses to repair their own damage.
Only destroying the core could deliver a fatal blow.
But the number of these ghostly things was a full several hundred or thousand, and they were still continuously being bred from this activated land with the passage of time.
Under the ebb and flow, the subjugators handled it with increasing strain.
Lorne furrowed his brow as he scanned the surroundings, decisively etherealizing the Spear in his hand.
"Its source is light, its might is flame; judgment by the sword, execution by the fire!"
A solemn low murmur echoed across the damage-ridden battlefield.
Upon the golden wheel manifesting behind Lorne's back, the pointer turned to the slot for the [White Horse] in succession.
"—I command you to manifest the light anew!"
Accompanied by the chanting of the holy words, the majestic [White Horse] leaped out from behind him, galloping with raised hooves across the sky, exactly like a blazing sun illuminating the pitch-black night sky.
Immediately following that, the galloping [White Horse] crashed into the massive magical array generated in the air above, and sharp, blazing-white light swords manifested from within it before dropping down as densely as a sudden meteor shower.
Puff, puff, puff, puff!
Instantly, the sounds of puncturing were endless.
One by one, the swarming artificial lifeforms had their spiritual cores precisely hit by the dense rain of light swords, pinned dead to the ground as they collapsed in sheets like wheat swept by a scythe.
And due to the destruction of the cores, one by one the combat weapons that had lost their support had their wax-like muscle tissues gradually dissolve, turning into pools of stains that seeped underground.
The threat was cleanly eliminated by more than half in an instant and the crowd couldn't help but look collectively toward that figure bearing golden wings, with astonishment and awe within their eyes.
Seeing the gazes of the crowd aggregated upon his body, in order to avoid repeating the mistake of the Hermetic mages' collective sacrifice, Lorne immediately spoke with solemn voice.
"Listen up. Spies are very likely mixed among the followers of the Cult of Eleusis present.
The Cult of Dionysus and the Temple of Artemis, split up your personnel and watch them closely.
The moment anyone is discovered making anomalous movements, execute them on the spot!"
However, the moment these words left his mouth, the Eleusinian followers who had just gone through a fierce battle with the magical beasts felt indignantly aggrieved.
"Suspecting us?"
"On what grounds?"
"Wanting us to listen to your manipulation? No way!"
Just as the indignantly shouting Eleusinian followers wanted to demand an explanation for their innocence, a golden ram's horn accompanied by a low voice was thrown into the embrace of the leader.
"Is this enough?"
Feeling the unique life divinity hidden within it, the leader's face changed.
As if holding a hot potato, he hurriedly handed that golden ram's horn over to Lorne ahead, then turned his head, and roared at the indignantly clamoring congregation.
"Shut up! Everyone obey this Lord's command, stay obediently on the spot, and do not make any movements!
Otherwise, you will be stripped of your names from the religious order without exception!"
Several sharp-eyed followers saw the full appearance of that golden ram's horn, and they shifted their attitudes one after another, assisting the leader to maintain order.
The Horn of Plenty—the source sacred gear of Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, and Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld.
With this object appearing in the hands of the person before them, even if he wasn't a member of the Cult of Eleusis, he was bound to share a deep relationship with those two Ladies.
Seeing the chaotic scene brought under control, Lorne's heavy mood eased by a few fractions.
Although he couldn't clarify for the time being how much the Hermetic sect and the Cult of Eleusis were mixed into this Beast Disaster, and whether the three main gods behind the scenes, Hermes, Demeter, and Persephone, were aware parties, stabilizing the situation first and cleaning up the mess of the Arcadian mountain range remained the top priority.
However, before he could finish smoothing out his breath, a succession of exploding thunder cracks came from the distance.
Low, dark clouds covered the sky, and a boundless pitch-black spread everywhere.
The entire world looked as if it were immersed within a piece of eternal dead silence.
And the focus of all anomalies was aggressively the Arcadian royal capital.
'Hippomenes? Dammit!'
Seeing that one wave had barely flattened before another rose,
Lorne looked through the water light aggregated across his palm at the light-shaped fractures that had already crawled onto one side of his cheek, instantly feeling a massive headache.
At this time, the Gemini brothers flashed out from within the crowd, speaking with solemn severity.
"You go first, leave this place to us!"
The crowd nodded in unison, agreeing one after another to stay behind to cover the rear, jointly putting an end to the Beast Disaster.
They had originally come to eliminate this plague.
If they went back entirely without achievement, how could they hold their heads up high before that crowd of mortals?
Looking around at the crowd of exhausted yet highly high-spirited figures, Lorne nodded slightly.
His hollowed right hand took out that massive golden cup from the magic array, pouring the dark-red wine fluid toward the ground as he murmured silently under his breath.
"—The powerful and forceful flame of light is the strongest among all origins; I conscientiously offer it with poetry and wine!"
In a flash, a cluster of burning, leaping golden-colored flame ignited upon the ground.
Exactly like a bright lamp dispelling the cold and illuminating the darkness, it caused warmth to rise in people's hearts, negative emotions swept entirely clean as endless courage erupted out from within their bodies.
At the same time, under the illumination of this light, the crowd looked as if they had drunk a cup of fine wine deeply, their bloodlines throbbing because of it as their dried divine power generated anew once again.
Seeing this situation, the saint Polymnus faintly realized something in a daze.
The gaze he directed toward Lorne was filled entirely with burning passion and devotion.
Carrying endless heroism, he turned around to meet the beast tide surging aggressively out from behind the fissure, singing out loud.
"Our blood runs thicker than water!"
"Our bloodlines are linked together!"
The followers of the Cult of Dionysus responded out loud, stepping forward together to unfold a new round of interceptive combat.
"Helen, we entrust her to you!"
The Gemini brothers dropped a low request, leading the divine-blooded warriors assembled beside them as they charged toward the battlefield.
Lorne watched the backs of the two individuals, nodding with gravity. Promptly dragging Atalanta along, he opened the golden wings behind his back, vibrating his wings to fly toward the dark cloud-shrouded Arcadian royal capital.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Wherever they passed along the way, the earth cracked open layer by layer.
An undercurrent of dark red flowed out as if seeping from the abyss that connected straight to the Underworld, flooding houses, flooding streets, gradually aggregating into pools and springs large and small.
Within the red-colored clay soils floating with ghostly blue phosphorus fire, hundreds of stark white skeletons scrambled up from the mud, their hollow eyes filled with an icy and tyrannical aura.
The entirety of Arcadia looked as if it were sinking toward the Underworld.
(End of this chapter)