Episode 49/Chapter 5: The Goddess of warfare Athena (5)
TL: Tsubak
ED: SlowAsLightning
Rasgrid and the Valkyries search the village for centaurs that may be hiding and gathered the villagers in one place.
There weren't many survivors as the centaurs had massacred them too cruelly. Naturally, the majority of them were injured so most of them were barely alive.
The maiden that had her neck slit by Orion was healed by Adenmaha so it didn't seem like her life was at stake, but she couldn't get a hold of herself.
'Are you going to wake her up forcefully?'
Tae Ho shook his head at Cuchulainn's question. They didn't have much time but it would be meaningless if they woke her up forcefully but couldn't receive Apollo's divine message. At least, they had to treat her so she was able to receive the divine message.
"We healed her external injuries but it seems like her mental power has been drained quite a lot. I will treat her however I can so wait a moment."
Adenmaha spoke quickly and activated a new mystical magic. Actually, she could just use a piece of a golden apple but they didn't know when they would be able to return to Asgard. Adenmaha wanted to save the golden apples as much as she could.
Tae Ho noticed Adenmaha's will and didn't urge her. It was because he judged that there would be no need to use a piece of a golden apple if Adenmaha had spoken like that.
'It seems like you trust in her more than you do so for me.'
'That's obvious.'
Tae Ho gave out a serious answer at Cuchulainn's joking remark and looked at a distant place. Patroclus was approaching.
"Idun's he…huk! Isn't that man Orion?!"
Patroclus was surprised and yelled. It seemed like he had received quite a shock as he wasn't able to take off his eyes from Orion's corpse and head.
'It seems like he was quite famous.'
'He said he was a son of Poseidon.'
The son of the sea Poseidon was a strong God that ranked at the higher ranks even among the 12 Olympians. It was obvious for his son to be famous.
But Cuchulainn's opinion about the matter was different.
'I told you before but the Gods of Olympus have lots of children. How can all of them be famous? And i'm just saying but I'm also a son of a God. The God of light Lugh is my father. That's the reason I'm called the prince of light.'
'Indeed. Being a son of a God isn't everything.'
'What did you say?'
Tae Ho exchanged jokes with Cuchulainn like usual but he was quite surprised inwardly.
No, he thought that it was obvious.
Because Cuchulainn was an existence that was called as the greatest hero of Erin only that he showed himself as the dumb town brother. He felt like they should at least give him the title of a son of a God.
In the other hand, Patroclus seemed to have recovered from his shock and spoke bitterly.
"Did Artemis-nim really turn her back…That Orion is a hero of Artemis-nim. His temperament is really bad but his skill with the bow is really amazing."
Tae Ho brought up the bow of Orion as Patroclus finished speaking.
And Patroclus started to explain even though Tae Ho didn't ask.
"Tri star! It's the bow of Orion. It's a magical bow that can fire three arrows at once. It will become an overwhelming weapon in the hands of a great archer."
'I should give it to captain Siri.'
She already had Tristan's bow Palenote but it was better the more options she had.
"More than that, Idun's hero- no, warrior. What are you planning to do now? Won't it be better to hide ourselves?"
"Is it because of additional attacks?"
"That's right. There's a possibility the attack was from an advance party. If their main troop is somewhere close, it will become troublesome."
'Well, we have to take precautions as we don't have information about our surroundings.'
Cuchulainn also agreed to Patroclus' words.
Looking that Orion, that was one famous even among the heroes of Artemis, was in this place it wasn't probable that they had another troop somewhere else but there was always the possibility.
"We can't stay here for long. Patroclus, is there a way to save the people that are alive?"
Tae Ho glanced below the cliff quickly and asked. It was because he saw dozens of grey words, that meant they weren't allies nor foes.
Patroclus frowned but he spoke quickly as he already had thought of an answer.
"I'm planning to make them flee to a close village. What Artemis aimed for should have been the shrine of Apollo-nim and the maidens rather than the village and its people. I already told this to the Valkyries so the evacuation will start soon."
If the Valkyries were Rasgrid, Gandur and Ingrid he could just trust and leave it to them.
Tae Ho put away his worry towards the villagers and turned to look at Adenmaha whowas still healing the maiden, but he couldn't do so. It was because loud footsteps was being heard below the cliff.
"Tae Ho master!"
[Waiting to be complimented]
[She's holding it back]
[Nidhogg]
Green words appeared above Nidhogg's head, who was smiling brightly. Tae Ho also smiled back and then opened his arms and embraced Nidhogg.
"That was a cool roll."
"Hehehe. I practiced a lot with Adenmaha."
Nidhogg boasted while smiling like a fool. Her forehead and head was filled with dirt so it seemed like she had rolled forward.
Tae Ho thought of Nidhogg curling herself and rolling forward and then smiled like a dad.
It was at that moment. Tae Ho took a step back and checked Nidhogg because of a doubt that surged up. There was a lot of dirt in her Valkyrie outfit, that was made as the same set as Adenmaha's.
He could understand the part in her head and back. But why was she also dirty in her sides, thighs and butt?
'Um, she can't roll well yet. She fell sideways while rolling.'
Adenmaha was the one that resolved his doubt. She had chosen to speak with mystical magic perhaps due to consideration of Nidhogg.
Tae Ho thought of Nidhogg falling while rolling and Cuchulainn said with a proud voice after he also imagined the same thing.
'That's cuter so it's fine.'
Was it really fine? Nidhogg had such poor reflexes that she fell alone because she tripped on plain ground so wasn't it too much falling while rolling forward?
Tae Ho thought about it for a moment but he left the matter at hand. It was because the effects of the roll were certain.
"This was the captain of the enemy? He's uselessly handsome."
"Tae Ho, it seems like there are no more enemies in the village."
Bracky and Siri, who climbed the cliff after Nidhogg, said. Bracky's body was completely bloody compared to the clean Siri but it seemed like it belonged to the centaurs as you couldn't see any wounds in him.
"Ah, I wanted to ask something to the two of you."
Tae Ho thought of the doubt he had before fighting Orion as it didn't seem like the maiden would wake anytime soon.
It was if the two of them had also received quests like him.
"Quest? Uh…..I did hear the voice of a strange man but it was different to when I absorbed runes."
"I don't think we received a new ability or we got more powerful. There was nothing like that. Our fatigue did recover but……ah, it feels like my recovery ability got stronger."
The two of them gave their answers. They had heard Apollo's voice to rescue his shrine but it didn't seem like they received rewards like Tae Ho.
Patroclus said.
"Even if it's the same quest, you will receive different rewards depending on the contribution. However…. I feel like the reward the others received is too small compared to you. Normally, your abilities will be improved no matter how small."
Even Patroclus' strength had improved a bit even though he only fought against the centaurs.
Siri put on a thinking expression and then nodded.
"It's obvious for Bracky and I to not receive Olympus' strength properly as we are warriors of Valhalla. Master Ragnar has also said something similar before."
The only ones that could use Asgard's strength, the saga, were the warriors of Asgard.
WIth the same logic, the only ones that could take on the quests of Olympus were the warriors of Olympus.
"In other words, you are the special case Tae Ho?"
"Probably. I think that's the reason why he's able to receive the power of another world. In addition, he isn't even from Asgard."
Siri answered Bracky's question.
Cuchulainn smiled bitterly.
'How marvelous. Perhaps, that may be the reason why you could receive the power of Erin and become its successor.'
Cuchulainn had thought that he was able to use the powers of Erin without difficulty because he had become Erin's successor but perhaps, it may be the opposite of that.
Nidhogg put on an expression as she didn't understand what they were speaking about but then smiled brightly and said.
"Tae Ho master is special. He's the only one in the world."
'Nidhogg is the only one. Tell her that this oppa loves her.'
Tae Ho ignored Cuchulainn's words and stroke her head. Adenmaha spoke at that moment.
"Master, it seems like she's about to wake up."
The maiden in front of her eyes was more urgent than her own constitution.
As everyone focused on the maiden, she let out a weak groan and opened her eyes slowly. It was a girl with long black hair and black eyes.
The maiden blinked a few times while still being in Adenmaha's embrace and then smacked her lips and turned to look at the group.
"Idun's hero. I'm a maiden that serves Apollo-nim, Sybilla. Apollo has told me about you. Thank you for rescuing the villagers and the shrine."
Sybilla fixed her eyes on Tae Ho as she spoke. It seemed like she had heard something from Apollo like she had claimed.
Thanks to that, the conversation became fast. Tae Ho approached Sybilla and asked her.
"Sybilla, will I be able to speak with Apollo-nim? Or have a divine message."
"Apollo also wants to have a conversation with Idun's hero. Let's head to the shrine. If we go to the place that's meant to have divine messages, you will be able to speak with Apollo-nim."
There was no reason to decline. Adenmaha helped Sybilla up and the group headed to the shrine.
&
The inside of the shrine was a mess. Corpses were filling up the hall and it seemed like they all killed by Orion.
Adenmaha tried to walk a bit faster because of Sybilla, who was grieving while biting her lip.
When Sybilla reached the end of the shrine, she kneeled on the altar. She prayed for a moment and then a light entered from the ceiling and shone upon Sybilla's head.
"Idun's hero. Thank you for fulfilling my wish. I will certainly give you a reward at a later time."
Apollo's voice came out from Sybilla's mouth.
'He's just like Odin-nim.'
He would give him a reward when he recovered his strength.
But of course, Odin did grant him a reward. Only that things turned up like this before he could receive it.
Tae Ho smiled bitterly at Cuchulainn's remark and fixed his posture and said.
"Apollo, I want to know about the changes that occurred in Olympus."
"It's embarrassing to say this but not even I know about it perfectly. In addition, I can't speak for long because Sybilla's capacity isn't enough."
The divine message could only be maintained for a few more seconds.
"I received a sudden attack from by beloved sister Artemis and suffered an injury. Fortunately, my life isn't at stake as I hid myself in a place nobody knows but me. I'm so weakened I can't give you a proper reward."
It seemed like Artemis had really turned to become someone wanting to destroy the world.
"Idun's hero. Help me recover my strength. If you do so I will give you a big reward."
"Is there a way to do that?"
"You have to recover the strength of the sacred precincts. Hear the details from Sybilla later. I don't have more time to spend. I will give you a quest."
Sybilla flinched as soon as she finished speaking. At that moment, Apollo's divine power that was felt from her scattered like a lie.
Adenmaha hurriedly grabbed Sybilla who collapsed once again and looked towards the window of the shrine. And the group also did the same.
The light falling down from the ceiling.
Golden light, that represented the God of light Apollo, scattered like powder and started to fall down.
[Heroes, fulfill my wish.]
[Rescue the shrine of Delfos and recover my strength.]
Apollo's voice.
It was the start of a new quest.
&
The Goddess of the moon and hunt didn't hide her grief.
The warrior that killed Orion.
She decided not to think why he appeared in Olympus.
"Freya's hero."
He had said that he was the warrior of the most beautiful Goddess. That's why he was certainly a warrior of Freya.
Artemis gathered her underlings, fairies and heroes. She made cursed warriors to deal with Freya's warrior and handed the quest to them.
Kill Freya's warrior. Defeat him.
The heroes and the fairies started to move at Artemis' order.
&
The God of the sea Poseidon sensed that his son Orion had died. But he didn't show any reactions toward it.
It wasn't because Poseidon didn't care about him. He hadn't minded much when the past Orion had died by Artemis' and Apollo's hands but this was a special case.
Poseidon couldn't worry about him. He just sensed his death, he wasn't in a situation he could think any more than that.
Poseidon screamed soundlessly inside his sacred precincts deep in the sea. He curled up and tried to resist the voice that tried to take control over him.
&
The Goddess of warfare Athena looked at a distant place. She could still sense that Patroclus was alive but that was everything she could sense. She was too weak to do more than that.
Cold sweat dripped from her forehead. There was a big wound in her back inflicted by the God of war Ares, although it wasn't visible because it was covered by her armor.
It wasn't recovering. The pain didn't subside and continued.
"Asgard."
Athena spoke in a low voice. It was the only name of hope she could utter in this situation.
Athena's eyes, that were looking at a distant place, headed to the mountain of Olympus.
Athena could feel it.
Ares was approaching.
To kill her.
"Asgard."
Athena uttered the name of hope once again. She remembered Hera's end, she had evacuated several Gods including Athena herself.
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TL note: Thanks for reading~