"Wait a minute, something's happening below!"
The sudden outburst from Goddess Artemis shattered the silence.
Everyone, who had been drifting off, snapped awake and quickly turned their attention to the ground.
There, they saw a swarm of small, black scorpions moving in a dense mass toward a specific direction. Ahead of the swarm, two figures—a mother and her child—were fleeing in panic, their fear evident even from a distance.
"It looks like a mother and son are being chased by monsters. These creatures are unlike anything we've seen in the dungeon before!"
"Now isn't the time to analyze this," the Goddess of the Moon declared with a stern expression. "Yami, land the dragon quickly—we need to rescue them!"
She had already drawn her bow, ready to spring into action.
"There's no need, Goddess Artemis. Leave this to me."
"Eh?"
Yami's calm words left Artemis momentarily stunned.
Just as she was about to speak again, the clear sky above them suddenly darkened as thick clouds gathered overhead. Thunder rumbled within the clouds, and the air crackled with an overwhelming surge of magical energy that sent shivers down everyone's spine.
Even Hermes and Artemis, who had never seen Yami in action before, were left speechless.
"Is this the kind of magic an adventurer can wield?"
"Are you kidding? This is terrifying!"
Hermes, who had witnessed Yami's power during the War Game, realized with shock that what he had seen before was only the tip of the iceberg. The power Yami now displayed was beyond anything he could have imagined—on par with the gods themselves.
"Hephaestus, you've truly found a remarkable child!"
Goddess Hephaestus smiled at Hermes' praise, her gaze lingering on Yami, though she remained silent. She never doubted that bringing Yami into her familia was the best decision she had made in the mortal realm.
"It's coming!"
"Thunder Prison!"
With a low growl, Yami unleashed a storm of lightning. Thousands of bolts of thunder rained down, the dazzling white light blinding everyone momentarily. Before they could react, the thick bolts of lightning struck the ground, annihilating the black scorpions with pinpoint accuracy.
The monstrous power reduced the creatures to nothing, not even leaving behind fragments of their magic stones.
It was as if a divine prison had descended upon them—such was the might on display.
As the thunder dissipated, the scorched ground lay empty, the army of scorpions completely erased, leaving no trace they had ever existed.
"Incredible magic—truly astonishing," Goddess Artemis said with genuine admiration. "Mr. Yami, I believe that even without the 'Spear of Orion,' you could easily defeat Antares."
"That's a bit much, Goddess Artemis. I'm not that strong yet," Yami replied modestly. "Now that the crisis is over, let's continue on our way."
"Wait, shouldn't we land and ask those people what happened?" Artemis suggested.
Yami shook his head. "It's pointless. I have a pretty good idea of what's going on. They wouldn't know much about those scorpions, and stopping to question them wouldn't help us."
"But one thing is clear—Antares is growing stronger. If these lesser monsters are already appearing, we must hurry."
His words brought a renewed sense of urgency to the group.
As the flying dragon flapped its wings and they resumed their journey, the landscape below changed dramatically.
A desolate scene stretched as far as the eye could see, not due to natural erosion but from the influence of some malevolent force that had corrupted the land. The air was thick with decay.
The trees had turned a sickly purple-black, their forms twisted and grotesque. Yami scanned the area with his enhanced senses, and what he discovered sent a chill down his spine—there were no normal living creatures in this region.
The once vibrant forest was now lifeless.
"The forest is corrupted… This is the first time I've seen something like this," Yami murmured, his tone heavy.
He had only encountered such "corruption" in games from his previous life, where areas tainted by it were always associated with ominous events. Never did he expect to see it manifest in reality.
"We're close to Antares now," Goddess Artemis said gravely. "Beyond this forest lies the area where it dwells. If we can kill it, we can prevent the impending crisis."
Her voice trembled with emotion as memories of her fallen children flooded her mind. They had sacrificed themselves to allow her to escape, holding Antares to their deaths.
Even Artemis herself had been swallowed by the monster.
As she recalled the tragic scene, her body trembled, and her emotions began to unravel.
"Artemis…"
Goddess Hestia, witnessing her friend's pain, bit her lip, unsure of how to comfort her.
"The life force of the land has been drained," Hermes remarked, his usual playful demeanor replaced with seriousness. "This is a terrifying ancient monster. No wonder the great elves of the past could only seal it away and not destroy it entirely. And now, it possesses divine power as well!"
With the dual threats of its monstrous power and newfound divinity, the upcoming battle promised to be even more perilous than the one fought by the ancient elves.
Failure could mean the death of them all.
Now, their only hope rested on Yami.
"It's certainly troublesome," Yami admitted, "but it's too late to turn back now. The moment we entered this corrupted land, that thing became aware of us."
"And now, it has us in its sights," Yami said with a resigned sigh.
Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound cut through the sky.
For a long time, it echoed ominously around them.
"It's coming!"