"Good, Artemis, you're safe!"
As soon as Charlie brought Artemis, still wrapped in a blanket, inside the barrier, Hestia immediately approached her with an extraordinarily relieved expression. Without waiting long, she directly hugged her old friend tightly.
The two goddesses embraced in such a way that their bodies pressed against each other, creating an unavoidable fanservice scene for the men there.
The shy Bell immediately turned his face aside with a reddening face, Welf secretly adjusted his pants' position due to sudden discomfort, and Hermes didn't try at all to hide his interest toward Artemis, observing every curve of exposed skin from behind the blanket.
As for Charlie, he only glanced briefly with an unwavering stoic expression. He then turned around and approached Aishia who stood calmly on the side. Gently, he patted the spirit girl's head several times.
Aishia, who had deactivated her barrier after Antares was helpless, closed her eyes, her porcelain doll-beautiful face showing a rare peaceful expression while enjoying that caress.
"How long will you keep looking, Hermes? Don't make me gouge out your eyeballs."
A cold voice full of threat cut through the atmosphere. Artemis had released Hestia's embrace. Her face was still red from embarrassment, but her eyes radiated dangerous light, staring sharply at Hermes.
That threat wasn't a joke. Behind her incarnation that had appeared all this time as a sweet and obedient girl obsessed with Orion, Artemis's true personality—the Virgin Goddess who rejected romance and fiercely guarded her purity—now surfaced.
"Good grief~ you're so heartless, Artemis~ I preferred your incarnation." Hermes teased with an irresponsible smile.
"…"
Artemis's gaze grew colder.
"Hahahaha... I'm just joking."
Hermes finally shrugged, yielding under that soul-freezing gaze. He then shifted his attention to Charlie, who was still comforting Aishia.
"I really underestimated you, Charlie. Each of your abilities clearly isn't something possessed by mortal beings, especially the last one."
What he meant was clear: Charlie's resurrection from death after his body was destroyed by Artemis's Divine Arrow.
"If other gods find out, I'm worried your life will never be peaceful because you'll be constantly bothered by them."
This wasn't just empty words. For gods thirsting for sensation and entertainment in the lower world, a human who could 'come back to life' was an irresistible phenomenon. They would consider him the most interesting new toy, or a challenge that must be solved.
"Again with meddlesome gods?" Charlie let out a long sigh, sounding somewhat tired. "Honestly, can't these gods behave well just once?"
"Asking gods to behave well is worse than killing them." Hermes answered honestly, without the slightest shame admitting his species' basic nature. "For them, boredom is the most deadly poison in this world. So to prevent themselves from dying from it, they'll always find something or someone to bother."
"Hermes, Artemis, Hestia, and Hestia Familia members." Astraea's calm voice. She looked at them one by one with a serious expression. "Charlie isn't the type who seeks fame."
"Come on~ who in Orario doesn't know the renowned Solo Leveling?" Hermes interrupted, his hand moving dramatically. "He broke the leveling record! It's impossible for him to keep a low profile even if he wants to! He's already the center of public attention! Moreover, other gods and goddesses surely already know he has Spirits at his side."
He pointed toward Aishia beside Charlie.
"This is no different from heroes in ancient times. That alone is enough to attract attention."
"Okay. I'll be quiet."
Stared at sharply by Astraea who was starting to get annoyed, Hermes finally smiled wryly. He raised both hands in surrender.
(You yourself might not realize it, Astraea. Your care for Charlie has exceeded the average Familia Main Deity. This is like Loki being protective of her Familia members. Very interesting.) Hermes thought inwardly, his sharp eyes observing the Goddess of Justice's expression.
"Everyone. What Hermes said is true." Astraea looked at Charlie with a somewhat helpless gaze. "Therefore, we should keep Charlie's abilities we saw today secret so his problems don't become more complicated. Can you all promise not to tell anyone?"
The first person to respond was Artemis.
"Charlie saved me. Since he desires it, and if that's best for him, I don't mind." Her voice was firm, still with traces of embarrassment, but colored with genuine gratitude.
Hestia, Bell, Welf, and Lili also quickly nodded in agreement.
"Of course!"
"We won't talk!"
"We owe him!"
After all, in this incident, their role was mostly just as spectators. Keeping secrets was the smallest thing they could do.
"What about you, Hermes?" Astraea asked the unreliable god.
"Fine, fine, I'll keep it secret. Satisfied? Haaah..." Hermes let out a long sigh once again, pretending to be very burdened, but finally yielded.
Meanwhile, Charlie, who was the core of the discussion, hadn't said a single word since the discussion about him began. He just listened with a neutral expression, as if they were talking about someone else.
"Before we leave, I must end Antares."
"Oh, right! That monster isn't dead yet!"
After Charlie's reminder, Hermes and the others just realized. They turned toward Antares. Though lying helpless and cursed, the giant scorpion monster still showed signs of life.
Anyway, it was an ancient monster. Its vitality was very strong. Even without Artemis's Arcanum support, Antares wouldn't die easily.
*TAP-TAP-TAP!*
Charlie walked closer with calm steps, stopping about twenty meters in front of Antares.
"To honor your achievement of devouring a goddess, I will give you a spectacular end."
After saying that, he raised the Holy Sword before his chest vertically, both hands holding its hilt reverently. Then, he began chanting an incantation.
"Through The Cycle Of Rebirth And A Parting Gift…"
*ZING!*
The Holy Sword answered his call. Dazzling bright light, pure white and golden, radiated from its blade. Anyone who saw it could feel how sacred and pure it was, as if untouched by the slightest stain.
"I Bring The Ultimate End With Transformation Of Clear Sky..."
*BUZZ!*
Wind began blowing around Charlie, spinning and strengthening, bringing terrifying roaring pressure.
Hestia Familia watching from afar felt breathless; cold sweat poured as if death was whispering in their ears.
"I Deal The Ultimate Strike."
"That Which Can Cleave Even Dragons..."
At that moment, the entire world seemed to lose its color. The Elsos Ruins, sky, people, everything turned into shades of black, white, and gray. Only Charlie's Holy Sword still radiated bright light, becoming the only source of color in the suddenly monochrome universe.
"Tensei (Sky Clear)."
That was Wezaemon's Ultimate Attack, imitated and perfected by Charlie in his hands, becoming far stronger than the original. A vertical slash that ignored the concept of defense, an inevitable 'end'.
*SWOOSH!*
There was no tremendous explosion initially. Only a thin white light line that shot vertically from the Holy Sword, extending upward until disappearing from view, and downward penetrating the ground.
That line passed through Antares's body.
And then, only then did its effect become visible.
Antares was split perfectly into two symmetrical parts from head to tail. But that wasn't the end. That dividing line continued extending, crossing the entire Elsos Ruins. Walls, pillars, floors, ceilings—everything was split with perfect and smooth cuts.
A giant chasm, only a few centimeters wide but unfathomably deep, stretched for almost one kilometer before them, splitting the ancient ruins in two.
*RUMBLE!*
A tremendous tremor only then struck. The ground shook violently as if hit by a full-strength earthquake. Small cracks spread from the main chasm. The rumbling sound of collapsing stones began to be heard from all directions.
"Oh no! This place will collapse!" Hermes shouted, coming back to his senses from his awe.
"Quick! We must leave!" Hestia hugged Bell's arm in panic as the ceiling began falling.
Charlie turned toward them, his Holy Sword already lowered. "Let's return to Orario."
Before the Elsos Ruins truly collapsed and buried them all, Charlie triggered Hundred Gauntlets. He manipulated spatial causality to produce a mass teleportation effect.
Before the ruins rained down on where they stood, they had all vanished from that place, safely teleported back to Orario.
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