Hermes's expression turned solemn once more. "Looking at this situation, it's highly likely the seal is broken. If I recall correctly, the ancient monster sealed here is Scorpion Antares, isn't it? That's a troublesome fellow."
Scorpion Antares.
That was a "God's Assassin" bred personally by the Dungeon in the distant past, existing specifically to target gods.
Not only was it completely immune to divine power, but it also possessed terrifying abilities specifically effective against deities.
In that age of heroes, countless heroes had fallen to its venomous stinger.
Ultimately, it took the intervention of a Great Spirit to barely manage to seal it within these Ruins of Elsos deep within the Great Forest.
Now, the seal was broken, and this ancient nightmare was about to reappear in the human world.
"No matter what, let's fight our way out first, evacuate the citizens from the nearby villages, and then call the Guild for backup." Artemis's voice was cold and clear. She reached back and unsheathed the hunting short sword at her waist. With a flash of the blade, she accurately cleaved a lunging venomous scorpion into two.
"Scorpion Antares… I'm afraid only the Loki and Freya Familias can handle this," Hermes said, cowardly cowering behind Artemis, completely devoid of his previous mastermind demeanor.
Under the goddess's command, the two major Familias began a fighting retreat.
However, just as they were about to break out of the scorpion swarm's encirclement, a chill swept over them, causing everyone's movements to freeze.
A deafening rumble shook the earth as swaths of towering ancient trees collapsed with a violent crash, as if a behemoth was rampaging through the forest.
Under the cold moonlight, a terrifying silhouette slowly rose from the depths of the fallen forest, revealing itself to the crowd.
It was an ultra-massive black scorpion over ten meters long, like a moving hill, bringing with it a suffocating sense of oppression.
Its charcoal-black exoskeleton was covered with eerie, blood-red patterns that flowed like magma.
Right in the center of its torso, a massive crimson singular eye swept coldly over everything, entirely devoid of any emotion belonging to a living creature.
Its two giant pincers opened and closed, generating fierce winds that tore through the air, while six slender tentacles wrapped around its torso writhed like venomous snakes, their tips glinting with deadly, cold light.
The most chilling part was its high-raised tail stinger, flashing with an ominous, eerie purple glow.
This immense, fierce aura made the adventurers of the two Familias tremble all over, primal fear instantly occupying their minds.
In that moment, several adventurers who lost their focus were successfully ambushed by the ordinary venomous scorpions around them, letting out painful grunts. Had their companions not rescued them in time, they would likely have lost their lives to the scorpions' maws.
"Use your Magic Swords!" Seeing this scene, Asfi let out a sharp cry from the air.
She casually tossed out a few magic bombs to provide cover for her companions. Immediately, several members of the Hermes Familia pulled their respective Magic Swords from their packs.
Blizzards, flame slashes, lightning strikes… the radiance of various magics suddenly lit up, briefly repelling the surging tide of monsters.
"Antares… It actually came out." Artemis looked at the massive magic scorpion, gritting her silver teeth as she hurriedly ordered her children to retreat.
However, Antares clearly didn't intend to let them go.
A crimson light flashed within its massive singular eye, and a high-heat laser shot out instantly, accurately blasting the shield-bearers covering the rear.
The violent explosion disrupted the Artemis Familia's retreat rhythm.
Lante only felt a wave of dizziness as the blast's shockwave knocked her flat on the ground.
The venomous scorpions beside her instantly swarmed forward, their sharp giant pincers about to clamp down on her waist.
In this critical moment, several sharp arrows pierced through the wind, firmly pinning those scorpions to the ground.
Artemis's figure flashed like moonlight. She pulled Lante up, her short sword dancing as she slew several scorpions blocking their path, forcefully breaking through.
"Lady Artemis…" Lante sobered up a bit and immediately began Concurrent Chanting, preparing to release magic support.
Perhaps the magical fluctuations attracted Antares's attention. It suddenly leaped high into the air, its massive dark silhouette blotting out the moonlight, crashing down heavily toward Artemis's location.
Boom!
The earth shook violently and cracked open, sending a ring-shaped shockwave spreading out with Antares at the center.
Seeing this from where she was being carried mid-air by Asfi, Hermes's pupils violently contracted. As if recalling something, a look of horror appeared on his face, and he screamed hoarsely at the ground below, "Artemis, run! Its target is you!"
But the warning came too late.
Antares's massive body landed not far in front of Artemis.
Lante's magic bombardment blasted against its carapace without leaving even a single scratch.
Completely unharmed, Antares locked its massive singular eye onto the goddess before it. It parted its grotesque mandibles and spewed out a cloud of pitch-black, toxic fog.
Wherever the toxic fog passed, trees instantly withered and turned purple, the grass and vegetation on the ground were reduced to charred ash, and even the earth was stained with an ominous purple hue.
Without any hesitation, Artemis grabbed Lante and used all her strength to throw her out of the fog's range, right into the arms of Captain Rethusa, who had rushed up to rescue them.
"Lady Artemis!" Lante cried out in alarm.
However, as the Goddess of Hunting, Artemis was no pushover.
Using the surrounding large trees, she made a few agile leaps, her body carving a graceful arc in mid-air, narrowly dodging that patch of deadly toxic fog.
In mid-air, Artemis had nothing to leverage. She had just dodged the fatal toxic fog, but in doing so, she had exposed herself to the most dangerous position.
From the very beginning, Antares's target had been this virgin goddess who had descended to the mortal realm.
At that moment, the six slender tentacles wrapping around its torso transformed into six bolts of black lightning tearing through the night sky. They struck at Artemis in mid-air from all directions, weaving an inescapable web of death.
Artemis's eyes turned sharp. She forcefully twisted her body in the air, the short sword in her hand tracing a cold, clear arc to accurately parry the whipping strikes of two tentacles.
The clash between the blade and the tentacles rang out with a crisp sound like metal striking stone.
She even used the momentum to flip around, slicing off one of the tentacles with a single strike.
However, she was ultimately bound by her mortal vessel.
More tentacles coiled upwards. Like the toughest chains, they instantly bound her limbs.
An irresistible, immense force pulled her, rendering all her struggles in the air completely futile.
She was yanked violently toward Antares's mountain-like chest.
In the instant she was dragged away, Artemis finally remembered the abilities of this ancient monster.
At once, without hesitation, she detonated the Arcanum hidden deep within her vessel.
BOOM—!
Divine power, as bright as moonlight, holy and vast, erupted with a bang. It formed a pillar of light that pierced the heavens and the earth, instantly illuminating the entire forest as if it were day.
Wherever the pillar of light reached, hundreds of scorpion monsters in the vicinity wailed as they were purified, melted, and turned to ash.
Artemis had thrown caution to the wind.
Even if violating the rules by unleashing her Arcanum meant being forcibly returned to Heaven, she was absolutely unwilling to be captured by Antares.
In this shockwave of divine power, the members of the two major Familias were blown far away.
Fortunately, this power carried no malice. Instead, it acted like a gentle giant hand, sending them away from the dangerous core zone, while the endless tide of monsters was thoroughly wiped out by this single strike.
"Lady Artemis!" Lante and the others struggled up from the ground. Looking at the pillar of light piercing heaven and earth, their faces were filled with panic and anxiety.
"We're doomed…" Hermes, shielded behind Asfi, looked ashen. He stared fixedly at the center of the pillar of divine light.
Soon, the pillar of light slowly dissipated.
However, what appeared before everyone's eyes were not the purified remains of the monster. Instead, it was Antares's massive form, still completely unharmed.
And on its chest… the blue-haired goddess was gradually being covered and swallowed by a layer of eerie blue crystal.
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