Seeing that throwing a tantrum was ineffective, Hestia realized her best friend was dead set this time.
She climbed up from the floor, wiped the tears from her face, tried hard to puff out her proud chest, and used all her strength to drop some harsh words.
"Fine, you just wait! Every underdog has their day! Don't look down on a broke goddess! I'll definitely find the best Familia members and make you eat your words!"
Seeing her puffed-up, angry appearance, Hephaestus sighed inwardly, but her face remained cold. "Very well. I'll be waiting."
Saying that, she turned and walked outside. Hestia could only follow unwillingly.
The two walked one after another, passing through the bustling Eighth District and entering the relatively older Seventh District.
Finally, Hephaestus stopped in front of a church that looked as if it had been abandoned long ago.
It was a stone building covered in ivy. The stained-glass windows were mostly shattered, the wooden doors were rotting, and the front was overgrown with weeds, exuding an aura of desolation and decay.
Hephaestus pulled a rusty key from her pocket and shoved it into Hestia's hand.
"This used to be a property belonging to my Familia. Although it's abandoned, it can at least shelter you from the wind and rain. Until you find Familia members and have the ability to move into a better place, just live here for now. Consider this a trial."
Hestia stared at the haunted-house-like abandoned church before her, then at the cold key in her hand, utterly dumbfounded.
She abruptly turned around, preparing to repeat her old trick and throw another tantrum so Hephaestus would at least lend her a decent place.
However, Hephaestus clearly anticipated this move and didn't give her a chance to speak.
She turned and walked away without looking back, her steps firm and swift, as if something terrifying were chasing her.
She was afraid that if she stayed a second longer, she would soften her heart.
As Hephaestus's figure disappeared around the corner of the street, the heavy wooden doors let out a long, drawn-out creak in the evening breeze and slowly closed.
Leaving Hestia all alone, standing forlornly in front of the weed-choked abandoned church, tightly clutching the key that unlocked her independent life, disheveled in the wind.
----
The Great Forest, Ruins of Elsos.
Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky. Wet, rotting leaves and moss-covered ruins wove together into a silent, dark green net.
The air was stagnant and heavy, carrying the scent of dirt and decaying plants, so quiet it made one's heart palpitate.
The Hermes Familia stood atop the canopy of a snapped giant tree, looking down at the depths of the ruins shrouded in shadows below.
"So this is it, the source of the monsters' abnormal breeding." Hermes pulled down the brim of his traveler's hat. On his face, which usually wore a cynical smile, only solemnity remained.
"Yes." Beside him, Asfi furrowed her brow tightly, her blue eyes flashing with vigilance. "According to the Guild's commission, several nearby villages have been attacked by monsters recently. Several Familias accepted the quest to investigate, but none have been heard from since."
On another thick branch, the Chienthrope girl Lulune crouched low, her ears twitching slightly, her voice deep. "Lord Hermes, do you have any leads?"
"The Great Forest is one of the Three Great Unexplored Regions, alongside the Dragon Valley and the Dungeon. It seals away many ancient monsters."
Asfi answered the question for Hermes. Her voice was calm but couldn't conceal her anxiety. "The abnormal breeding of monsters, to the point of affecting villages in the outside world… this is by no means a trivial matter."
"I hope it's not what I think it is." Hermes let out a bitter laugh. "Otherwise, with our current combat strength, we have no way of resolving this."
Of course, he knew what was sealed here.
The current situation looked remarkably like a precursor to an ancient seal shattering, allowing the imprisoned ancient monster to break free.
But they needed further investigation to understand the specific situation.
However, the monsters didn't seem to intend on giving them time to investigate.
The next moment, Asfi's expression changed drastically.
A faint yet dense rustling sound came from the depths of the forest in all directions, like countless tiny insects gnawing on dead leaves, rapidly converging into a scalp-numbing tide.
Without a moment's hesitation, her Talaria flashed with magic, and she shot into the sky.
When she reached a high altitude and clearly saw the scene below, her pupils violently contracted.
Without them realizing it, they had been surrounded.
A black tide was surging from the shadows of the forest. It was an army composed of thousands upon thousands of scorpion-type monsters.
They were pitch-black all over, their carapaces covered in bizarre red patterns that twisted like blood vessels, silently and completely encircling their current location.
"Everyone on high alert!"
Receiving Asfi's warning, the members of the Hermes Familia instantly drew their weapons.
Almost at the same time, the horde of scorpion monsters moved.
They attacked from all directions, their arthropod limbs scraping against the ground, emitting teeth-grinding friction sounds.
"They're just monsters from the outside world! Watch me take them out!" A young human adventurer in the Familia shouted, full of confidence.
He was a Level 2 adventurer. In past missions outside, few monsters could block a strike from his spear.
He dashed out abruptly, the spear in his hand transforming into a streak of silver light, accurately piercing the skull of a black scorpion.
"See? Defeated in a single blow." He smiled and retracted his spear.
"Watch out!" Asfi's warning rang out from the sky.
The scorpion, which should have been thoroughly dead after having its vitals pierced, suddenly flipped its venomous stinger up. Gleaming with deadly, cold light, it thrust toward the adventurer's back like lightning.
In the nick of time, a blue figure descended from the sky.
With a swing of the short sword in Asfi's hand, a sharp beam of light cleaved the ambushing scorpion in half.
The severed scorpion fell to the ground, but no bodily fluids spilled from its wounds. Instead, they writhed as if alive, seeming to want to heal and reattach.
By now, the other members had also engaged the scorpion swarm.
They quickly discovered the terrifying aspect of these monsters—they possessed unbelievable regenerative abilities.
Ordinary swords and blades cutting into their bodies would result in the wounds closing at a visible rate. Even severed limbs would reattach themselves amidst their writhing.
The only way to kill them was to accurately strike the magic stone cores hidden beneath their hard carapaces.
However, under such a chaotic siege, doing so was incredibly difficult.
Boom!
A magic bomb exploded amidst the scorpion swarm. The shockwave sent several scorpions flying, but they quickly got back up, completely unharmed, and rejoined the siege once more.
"Lord Hermes!" Asfi shouted down loudly while continuously dropping bombs from the air. "We can't keep this up! We'll be dragged to death!"
"It's fine. It's within expectations." Despite being at a disadvantage, Hermes continued to hold the brim of his hat, his face wearing a confident smile as if everything were under his control.
But as time passed, fine beads of cold sweat began to seep from his forehead.
The encirclement was shrinking. The number of scorpions was not decreasing; in fact, enhanced species with larger bodies and even more hideous red patterns on their carapaces were beginning to appear.
And the reinforcements he had anticipated were still nowhere to be seen.
Boom!
Boom!
Asfi circled in the air like an untiring blue hummingbird.
She rained down magic items from her hands as if they were free. The explosive flames and shockwaves constantly blasted the scorpion swarm onto their backs, yet failed to stop them from surging forward fearlessly.
Just as the Hermes Familia's defensive line was on the verge of collapsing, a sharp whistling sound tore through the cacophony of the battlefield.
Whoosh—!
An arrow wrapped in piercing cold accurately pinned a scorpion—an enhanced species attempting a sneak attack—firmly to a massive ancient tree.
The immense force even left the tail of the arrow vibrating and humming incessantly.
Hearing the sound, Hermes looked over. Under the moonlight in the distance, a blue-haired goddess stood holding a longbow, her posture awe-inspiring.
Her arms moved so fast they were nothing but blurs. The sound of the bowstring being drawn and released, the sound of arrows tearing through the air, and the sound of arrows piercing monster flesh—the three noises practically blended into one, transforming into a highly efficient symphony of death.
Every arrow fired was like a precision bullet, harvesting the life of a scorpion.
Beside Artemis, her Familia members had already used their swords and shields to forcefully tear open a path through the black tide of scorpions, connecting with the Hermes Familia.
"Reinforcements are here! Asfi, it's time to retreat!" Hermes let out a long sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the Guild hadn't just issued this commission to their Familia alone. Otherwise, they really might have met their end here tonight.
Soon, under the cover of the Artemis Familia, the Hermes Familia carved out a path of blood and successfully rendezvoused with them.
"Sorry, we encountered a merchant caravan being attacked by monsters on the way. We're late," Artemis said to Hermes while continuing to draw her bow and loose arrows, supporting the defensive line.
"It's fine. You came at just the right time."
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