*SWISH!*
While forcibly squeezing Artemis's Arcanum trapped inside its body, Antares spun its giant stinger. In an instant, a series of pure energy beams resembling lasers shot from the stinger's tip, splitting the air with a deadly whistling sound.
*WHOOSH!*
Facing the annihilation beam capable of erasing his existence into nothingness, Charlie stood with calmness. Thanks to Six Eyes, his perception exceeded human limits; that series of lightning-fast lasers appeared like slowed-down frame-by-frame movements in his eyes.
His feet moved almost soundlessly. His body shifted, not with crude jumps, but with precise smooth slides, like a leaf avoiding raindrops. The first beam shot by, just a few millimeters from his shoulder, striking the ground behind him and vaporizing stone into a boiling crater.
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
Gloomy that the attack missed, Antares released a barrage of continuous beams. Each shot was a deadly aim capable of ending the battle. But Charlie was no longer in the same place.
No matter how crazily Antares fired its energy, it couldn't aim accurately because Charlie kept moving at hypersonic speeds that blurred vision.
Letting the enemy continue attacking wasn't his style. Charlie decided to immediately counterattack.
*PU-CHI!*
He appeared suddenly beside the giant scorpion's leg that was like a pillar. The Holy Sword in his hand, which had once conquered the Demon King in another world.
*PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!*
His figure blinked from one point to another like fragmented lightning. Each blink was followed by clean air cuts and split sections. In three movements too fast to follow, three of Antares's steel-hard legs were cut easily like butter under a hot knife.
"RAWRRRRR!!!"
Waves of tremendous pain shook Antares's massive body. It released an ear-splitting wailing shriek as colorful blood spurted heavily, soaking the ruins' floor.
However, not a single drop touched Charlie. He was already standing several meters away, his sword still clean, his clothes unstained. His movements were so fast the blood didn't have time to hit him.
"Charlie-san is winning!"
Inside the barrier, Bell cheered joyfully seeing that dominance.
"Not yet." Hermes interrupted in a heavy tone, revealing a terrifying fact. "How could a monster that devoured a goddess, and absorbed her Arcanum, be defeated so easily?"
The next second, Hermes's warning proved true. Under the watch of Astraea, Hestia, Artemis, Hermes, Welf, and Lili, they all witnessed the wounds on Antares's body begin to close. The severed flesh grew back at an unreasonable speed; the monster regenerated in the blink of an eye.
"Oi oi oi, you must be joking!" Welf grabbed his red hair feeling frustrated. "That monster can even regenerate?! That's not fair! How can anyone defeat that?"
Unlike the panic on Hestia Familia's side, Charlie only felt melancholic.
"Regeneration, huh... This is nostalgic~ Reminds me of the battle against Fafnir before."
Without hesitation, he used original magic awakened through Grimoire: Aithra Athanatos. This magic was the antithesis of all forms of regeneration abilities, a power that left permanent curse wounds impossible to heal.
*ZING!*
Dense deep red light manifested, enveloping the Holy Sword blade in Charlie's hand, giving a suffocating bloodthirsty aura.
*WHOOSH!*
In less than 0.1 seconds, Charlie seemed to teleport—though it was only pure high-speed acceleration. He was suddenly in front of Antares before the monster reacted.
"Nine Lives."
This was the second Noble Phantasm he inherited from the Great Hero Heracles.
*SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!*
*SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!*
*SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!*
In a single moment, Charlie launched nine simultaneous slashes so fast they appeared to overlap into one giant attack.
*BAM!*
The shockwave from that attack exploded tremendously, striking the walls of the Elsos Ruins far behind Antares, carving nine deep, smoking slash marks into the hard stone surface.
"RAWRRRRR!!!"
After the situation calmed, what remained of Antares was only a battered figure, unable to act or regenerate its body due to Aithra Athanatos. But it wasn't dead yet. With enough time, it would eventually heal by squeezing Artemis's Arcanum. But for now, it could no longer protect the crystal from which it gained its power.
"So weak."
Those words slipped from Charlie's lips, sounding almost like a disappointed complaint. The Holy Sword in his hand was lowered, its tip touching the ground with a light touch.
As someone accustomed to exceeding limits, he could estimate this experience wouldn't even give him a bit of Excelia to strengthen his status.
(Well, what did I expect? Although Antares is an ancient monster, its power even after being supported by a goddess's Arcanum doesn't compare to the three legendary monsters.)
The three legendary monsters he referred to were from an ancient event that occurred long ago, when primordial monsters managed to escape from the Dungeon when the gateway to the surface was still wide open, before Babel Tower was built.
At that time, primordial monsters of unimaginable power managed to escape, threatening the entire world's existence. Among them, the three greatest became eternal terrors, known as The Three Great Quests.
Leviathan: Ocean ruler eventually conquered by the combined forces of Zeus and Hera Familia for world trade routes.
Behemoth: Land giant successfully driven back and slaughtered by the same alliance.
One-Eyed Black Dragon: The true calamity. This dragon was not only undefeated but actually destroyed Zeus and Hera Familia's dominance until it collapsed, leaving permanent wounds on Orario's history. To this second, that dragon still lives and remains the ultimate goal for every High Class Adventurer.
(Besides, in the original timeline without me, Antares was defeated by a Level 2, Bell. Well, plot armor factor played a big role here. If not, Artemis Familia consisting of dozens of Level 2s and a Level 3 captain wouldn't have been annihilated by this monster.)
There was no more point in dragging out time, hoping to squeeze a bit of Excelia from this clearly unbalanced battle. His intention was clear: end everything now.
"Since I'm not the 'destined' one, my method is somewhat different from what you expected. For that, apologies for the inconvenience, Goddess Artemis."
He swung the Holy Sword in his hand, but this time not to split flesh. Through Hundred Gauntlets, he cut the causal chain connecting Antares's existence with the goddess power it had swallowed. In an instant, Antares lost access to squeeze Artemis's Arcanum.
*SZZT!*
A sound almost inaudible, like silk strands being split in the distance. Instantly, the remnants of light still trying to heal Antares's wounds extinguished completely. Connection severed. Now, Antares was truly isolated, no longer able to utilize a single drop of Arcanum from Artemis.
Charlie showed no signs of fatigue after deciding causality law like that. Without pause, Charlie extended his hand and lightly tapped the surface of the large crystal embedded in the monster's chest.
*CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!*
*BANG!*
The crystal shattered into pieces, exploding into fragments of light beautiful yet ephemeral. In the middle of the crumbling crystal debris, the figure of a stunning woman in an undressed condition was immediately revealed in open air.
With extraordinarily quick reflexes, Charlie waved his hand toward the Space-time Cache. A thick blanket appeared instantly, and with a deft movement, he wrapped Artemis's helpless body before people's gazes in the distance could catch details of the Moon Goddess's body.
Anyway, Artemis was a goddess, it wasn't proper for her to be seen in such an unseemly state by many eyes.
As for Charlie himself, he honestly admitted to having seen everything uncensored. But his mind didn't surge or panic. He wasn't Bell, not a beta protagonist who would blush, stammer, or tantrum just from seeing an undressed woman.
"You are..."
In Charlie's embrace, Artemis slowly opened her eyelids. Her consciousness returned along with Antares's destruction. However, upon realizing she was being held by a man in a very private state, the Virgin Goddess was enveloped in such extraordinary embarrassment her face reddened completely—she almost fainted from feeling so ashamed.
Honestly, Artemis's feelings right now were very complicated. The hero she had chosen herself, Orion, could only watch from afar from the beginning. Instead, this extra character dealt with all the disasters, stopped her own arrow, and pulled her out of darkness.
Whereas, Artemis had been mentally prepared for the greatest sacrifice: sacrificing herself to ensure Orion's victory, even though the consequence was she would be forced back to Heaven.
That was a tragic yet heroic choice she had accepted in her heart.
But now it turned out to be unnecessary.
All plans, all sacrifices she had prepared in her heart, became futile. And she was instead saved—in a very embarrassing state—by someone she didn't even consider important.
Her feelings were mixed: relieved to be safe, extremely embarrassed, slightly disappointed the heroic narrative she imagined collapsed, and great confusion toward the strange man now holding her.
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