"How did he do it?" Hermes couldn't stay calm witnessing the scene before him. "That's heaven's strongest arrow! Even if Charlie intercepted it with his body, sacrificing himself as a living shield, that's still far from enough! That arrow should have been unaffected and continued shooting toward its target, destroying everything!"
Even as a god who had witnessed many things, Hermes was truly shaken this time. He knew how terrifying Artemis's arrow's power was, capable of threatening even the gods.
That's why he was truly shocked that Charlie, in an incomprehensible way, somehow had neutralized that arrow just by sacrificing himself.
"Charlie... Foolish... So foolish..." Astraea clenched her hands tightly in front of her chest that felt painfully piercing. "You always refused to be called a hero, yet you acted otherwise. If saving the world doesn't deserve to be called heroic, then what does that word actually mean?"
"He really did it..." Artemis was stunned, her eyes unable to shift from the point where her arrow vanished.
Initially, she considered the youth named Charlie nothing more than additional help, a supporter invited by Astraea. The one she truly relied on in this major incident was Bell, her chosen hero.
Who would have thought, before Bell could do anything, Charlie had taken all the spotlight with his unexpected heroic yet tragic action.
Naturally, Artemis began doubting her own judgment. A thought that had never crossed her mind before crept into her consciousness, shaking her conviction.
(If that person... if Charlie tried to pull Orion's Spear, would he succeed in pulling it out? Would he be a more worthy hero?)
That idea never got its answer.
"Good grief! Who exactly is he?" Hestia exclaimed, reacting dramatically, both hands on her cheeks. "Teleportation and flying alone are already god-realm powers! What's more outrageous, he managed to intercept Artemis's arrow! Even among the gods, not many dare or can do that directly, right? Hera, what kind of monster have you raised!"
Since even gods and goddesses showed such tremendous shocked responses, there was no need to mention how tremendous the psychological impact experienced by Bell, Welf, and Lili, whose power was only that of Low Class Adventurers.
"..."
Welf could only be stunned with his mouth wide open, his brain refusing to process the fact that someone could intercept a god's power with their body.
"...!!!"
Bell was filled with sadness and frustration at his own helplessness that could only watch.
Meanwhile, Lili truly lost all strength in her legs. She collapsed and sat on the ground with her body trembling violently. To think she tried to rob from someone that terrifying? She was grateful she didn't succeed.
"..."
Amid all this shock, only two people remained calm.
Aishia continued maintaining the barrier from Antares's increasingly fierce continuous attacks, and Est in the form of the Holy Sword still embedded in the ground, showing not a bit of emotional fluctuation.
They both knew that even if Charlie's body was destroyed, even if Charlie died, it wasn't the end. He still had eleven lives remaining.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
In the silent outer space, among asteroids of various sizes floating without definite purpose, a deep red flame suddenly ignited in the middle of the airless void.
Not an ordinary fire. Its color was deep red, like blood illuminated by the setting sun, or like embers from the earth's deepest core.
That flame was very small and weak at first, flickering as if even a slight wind breeze could extinguish it forever.
However, the opposite occurred.
As if doused with gasoline, that deep red flame suddenly grew at an astonishing speed. From a spark to the size of a fist, then enlarging like a ball, and continued expanding.
In the swirling blazing fire, a terrifying yet amazing phenomenon occurred.
White bone structure began hardening from nothingness, assembling a spine and skull within seconds. Immediately after, clumps of red muscle and flesh tissue grew spreading, covering that skeleton with extraordinary precision. Blood vessels pulsed, flowing life back into the newly created vessel. Skin began forming, wrapping the entire anatomy until the human figure was completely intact.
As that deep red flame slowly faded and was absorbed inside, Charlie opened his eyes in the middle of outer space's silence—alive again, as if the recent death was only a brief dream.
(So this is what it feels like to be resurrected from death through Heracles's Noble Phantasm, God Hand? With this, my remaining lives are eleven.)
That thought crossed his mind as his consciousness fully recovered.
Charlie touched his skin's surface, feeling his chest and arms to check for any anomalies in that reconstruction process. That worry proved unnecessary; he confirmed everything functioned normally. The body that had just formed from that red flame was no different at all from his old body.
(Haaah... Fortunately, there's no one in outer space except me.)
Looking at his physical condition now completely naked without a single thread, Charlie felt very uncomfortable. Although there were no eyes watching in this void, he wasn't an exhibitionist who enjoyed showing off his body.
His clothes had been completely destroyed, becoming dust in his reckless action blocking the Divine Arrow earlier.
Charlie himself had placed his bracelet which was a spatial storage magic item (Space-Time Cache) near the Holy Sword. So, currently, he truly had nothing to wear.
(Let's go back. The main source of this incident hasn't been dealt with. It's not impossible for Antares to launch a second Divine Arrow. Before that happens, that monster must be defeated.)
Reluctant to face death for the second time in a short period, Charlie resolved to immediately return to the Elsos Ruins.
Considering the travel time flying manually would take more than one minute—and he didn't want to risk looking like a naked meteor falling from the sky—he triggered Hundred Gauntlets again. He manipulated spatial causality to perform instant teleportation.
*SWISH!*
In the blink of an eye, Charlie had moved locations, landing precisely at the point where he had previously embedded his sword inside the Elsos Ruins.
"Kyaaa!"
The heavy and sad atmosphere still enveloping the location instantly changed into screams of embarrassment and shock from several female voices. Charlie's sudden presence and in a completely naked state was a completely unexpected shock.
Hestia, whose face immediately turned bright red from her hair tips to her neck, spontaneously covered her eyes with both hands. She felt her eyes had just been defiled.
"What were you actually thinking! Why are you naked?! Pervert! Lewd! Indecent! Obscene!"
Astraea immediately turned her body 180 degrees, her shoulders rising and falling from gasping. Her cheeks that were usually pale from sadness now reddened bright like an apple.
"C-Charlie! This is truly inappropriate! Cover yourself immediately!"
Artemis gasped heavily. Her eyes, which had just been looking at the sky with guilt and admiration, now widened seeing that completely unexpected appearance before she immediately closed them tightly while turning her head away.
Lili hid her bright red face behind her hands and hair.
"Whistling~ You have quite large assets, Charlie. With capital like that, I don't think you'll ever disappoint any woman." Hermes actually chuckled amusedly, giving a naughty whistle while observing the situation casually.
"Charlie-san! Turns out what Aishia-san said was true! You didn't die!" Bell exclaimed in an overflowing joyful tone, as if a heavy burden on his shoulders had just been lifted.
"He can even rise from death... Is he really human? Or is he using a certain magic item like the Philosopher's Stone in legends?" Welf muttered to himself, his brain starting to work hard guessing the origin of Charlie's unreasonable power.
"This isn't my will, okay?!" Charlie quickly protested, his voice sounding frustrated yet also slightly embarrassed. His hands reflexively tried to cover himself as much as possible. "My clothes couldn't possibly remain intact after directly blocking the Divine Arrow! Everything around me, including clothes, was destroyed along with it!"
While speaking, he grabbed the Space-Time Cache, then accessed his storage space. A faint light flashed, and one set of clothes—a shirt, pants, coat, and boots—appeared in his hands.
With quick movements, Charlie began dressing while continuing to protest. "I just came back to life, the first thing you all do is accuse me of all sorts of things!"
After fully dressed and regaining his dignity, Charlie stepped forward. He pulled out the Holy Sword embedded in the ground, then directed its gleaming blade tip precisely toward Antares—the monster that had now locked its focus on him.
"Let's end all of this."
"RAWRRRRR!"
Antares roared loudly in response, an ancient cry that shook the entire room, signaling that the final act of this battle had begun.
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