Chapter 100
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Five Arrows
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-KABOOM!!
The ground crumbled, the stream dried up, and trees and rocks shattered, flying off in every direction.
In the midst of the pitch-black smoke billowing thickly from all sides, I savored the sight of my handiwork with a refreshing sense of satisfaction.
"Now that's more like it."
Pure destruction. Absolute dominance.
This was the essence of demonic power—the raw force wielded by true fiends.
The creek that had risen to my chest when I sat with legs outstretched had vanished without a trace.
The surrounding area was a devastated wasteland, as if the earth itself had been flipped upside down by the erupted soil.
Naturally, the arrows and spears flying toward me were buried in it, leaving no trace of their form. So, of course, those who had launched them wouldn't have fared any better.
Or so I thought...
"Figures. Being a goddess means your followers get divine protection, huh?"
-WHOOSH!
I swept away the dust and smoke obscuring my vision with a burst of qi, sending the choking haze skyward.
There, revealed like a fishbowl encircling me, stood a wall of moonlight.
"Ah... I recognize that magic."
Beyond it, the huntresses—now pale as ghosts, their earlier frenzy gone—glared at me through gritted teeth, while Artemis extended her arms toward them.
She must have panicked when the explosion that humiliated her went off and thrown up the barrier to shield her huntresses.
"Having a bunch of heads doesn't mean quality. Look at them—swarming like a school of fish, then cowering behind one measly appetizer blast."
Exactly 70 seconds.
That's how long it took them to teleport in, spot me, and surround me.
In that time, my personal guard battalion could have devoured a peak master and looted the corpse.
And yet, with all their fancy gear, tracking hounds, and hunting dogs, they dawdled before attacking me—only to freak out at one firecracker pop and hide behind their goddess.
"Girl Scouts level, at best."
"...You truly intend to die here today. No one dares insult my huntresses beneath the crescent moon."
"And yet the one saying that doesn't exactly pamper her followers, does she?"
I sneered coldly at what seemed like nothing more than pretense or self-satisfaction.
But I knew that beautiful psychopath had slaughtered countless men and women alike in horrific ways.
"In the end, you ruthlessly discard anyone who doesn't stroke your ego. Isn't that what you call devotion?"
-SHHHH!
Darkness rose in response to my will, wrapping around my body and instantly transforming into clothing.
"Hmm, not bad. Pretty good for a first try, right?"
Long pants hugging my lower body, leather shoes reminiscent of dress shoes, and a silk cloak draped over my shoulders—it all closely resembled the style I'd favored in my past life.
Though my upper body would probably rip open the moment I got wild. Heracles, Chiron, these Greek dudes were always stripping their tops off anyway, so I didn't bother making one.
"Not like I've got anything to be shy about. What do you think?"
My chiseled six-pack, toned forearms, and broad shoulders.
This was a perfect physique—I'd have to choose between entertainment or athletics back on Earth.
As I struck a pose, the trembling Artemis pointed at me accusingly and shouted.
"So that's it... I see the source of your arrogance now. You're backed by a god!"
"A god's help?"
Suddenly acting like she'd cracked some grand mystery, Artemis bellowed excitedly.
"No use hiding it! Stealing my power so insolently at Passos, conjuring clothes just now—it's all thanks to a god's aid! No wonder a filthy, worthless man like you could wield my divine power like that..."
What nonsense is this?
Magic power, demonic qi, divine power—it was all my energy, my skill.
"No, that's my master's Five Aggregates Plague Art—"
"You might have fooled Brother Apollo and that idiot Ares, but divine power is wielded only by noble gods! Don't spout such nonsense! Who is it? Hermes? Ares? No—it's Stepmother Hera, using your filthy hero blood to humiliate me!"
Her thick skull had already concluded I was Hera's pawn, mocking her.
Funny thing was, it wasn't entirely wrong.
But her insistence on lording over me even now was just pathetic.
"Think what you want. I'm done talking."
"You dare borrow a god's might to affront an Olympian deity, surviving by sheer luck so far. But that luck ends today. The hunt permitted by Zeus resumes!"
-FWIP!
Signaling the fight's restart, Artemis drew her bow with fluid motions like flowing water.
In an instant, arrows flew toward my head, heart, and... that unspeakable spot.
"You bitch, I'm gonna dismember you and feed you to the dogs?!"
So that's where Atalanta learned to shamelessly target a man's jewels on the first clash—from you!?
As a man—no, as a human—I shuddered at the audacity of aiming there without hesitation.
I tried to snatch them mid-flight like last time, but the momentum and killing intent in these arrows were leagues beyond before.
Whether buffed by top-tier gear or not, each one carried force surpassing even Shaolin's abbot's finger strikes.
In other words...
They were barely at Shaolin abbot level.
"Affliction Hard to Dry."
-KRAK!
Unlike the silver divine blades I'd borrowed at Passos, these ten pitch-black ones summoned by Reverse Heaven demonic qi exuded a totally different aura.
They dwarfed the crude, unrefined silver blades—incomparable, evoking the claws of ferocious beasts, terrifying weapons in their own right.
-CLANG!
The silver arrows shattered before even grazing me.
But that was just a feint.
"The prey's caught in the trap!"
-WHOOSH!
The arrows, rippling with silver divine power, shifted form the instant I smashed them, weaving the fragments into a massive net that enveloped me.
"Oh...! Now that's educational!"
-SLASH!
But against those beast claws, it was worth less than an old woman's embroidery.
I shredded the net and coiled power in my legs when—
"Kyaha!"
"Shanang! Hunt!"
"You dare mock us!"
"Insulter of Artemis's name!"
"""Offer his blood and flesh as sacrifice!"""
Over fifty huntresses launched themselves at me in unison.
Their earlier Tang army cowering was gone; they moved as one, thrusting silver spears with impressive sharpness.
"Ho?"
For a split second, I considered mowing down the ignorant pack in one go.
But no rush, and I had something to test anyway, so I shifted tactics slightly.
"Huuu..."
Calming my breath and mind, the demonic qi of vicious murder faded from my hands.
My legs rooted firmly to the earth like ancient trunks, feet light as dandelion seeds in spring breeze.
My arms supple as willow branches, hands unyielding as tempered steel.
"Let the power of all things dwell within me."
"Kyahaha! Eyes are mine—"
The spear charging straight at me was caught in both hands; like meshed gears, my body spun, driving my elbow squarely into the huntress's face.
-CRACK!
"Uh...?"
Bloodied teeth and flesh flew through the air.
Her lips shredded between my elbow and her own teeth, the vanguard lost balance and slammed into the ground.
"Gahk?! W-Wait?!"
"Dumb Girl Scouts."
In the heat of war, of battle, of life-or-death combat...
There was no pause button.
Like a hammer smashing an anvil, my raised foot stomped mercilessly on the loser's skull.
-THUD!
"Gaaahhh!!"
"...Oh. Tough skull."
The divine power dwelling in her body acted like rebounding qi, shielding vital points from lethal blows to some degree.
My head-crushing stomp hadn't caved it in.
"Guess I can go harder then."
"Wait!"
Yeah, no pauses, like I said.
-THUD! THUD! THUD!
I was finishing the coup de grâce when impatient fools rushed in.
"Stop that, you filthy bastard!"
"Attacking the fallen?!"
"Have you no honor?!"
Wow...
A chilling déjà vu, just like when I saw their goddess at Passos. I couldn't help but marvel.
Whining about good and evil, honor when it suits them—like immature righteous sect juniors.
"All down to bad upbringing."
Atalanta had charged ferociously at first, violence rampant, but after I hammered home the gap in power and human decency day after day...
She'd matured into a proper warrior woman, showing leadership by turning her hated foes—Ares and Aphrodite's daughters—and their fan club into her own legion.
"Time you lot learned human decency, like your juniors."
-WHOOSH!
My hand whipped out like a drawn bowstring, spinning wide; the spears and swords thrust at me were swept up and flung skyward.
"Huh!?"
"Agh!?"
"Eek?!"
By the time the three idiots clutched their empty hands and panicked...
My fists had already flowed into the next technique.
"Tuma Gong—Wave Empty Strike."
-CRASH!!
Strike the air. Shake it.
Every muscle in my body, the flow of power, the surrounding air currents.
A qi technique that's not quite qi—seizing and hurling everything.
If even one element misaligns, power drops by half. Mastering it demands insane proficiency.
But when it lands...
It manifests qi-like force without expending a drop.
Just like this.
"Grhh..."
"Guhk!"
"Kyak!"
-THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The massive shockwave swept forward, upheaving the earth; dozens of huntresses who took it head-on bled from eyes, nose, and mouth, collapsing one by one.
No matter how much divine power reinforced their bodies, it wasn't their own qi—they couldn't shield every inch.
Blocking all external shock would blind them, so that's a given.
No miracle could fully protect against full-body, internal-rattling assaults.
"Oh? Interesting."
Dusting off my hands, I eyed the fainted huntresses and those cautiously tightening their encirclement. I couldn't hide my surprise.
"Let's see—stimulating muscles for strength and stamina, boosting nerves for reflexes?
That's straight-up game buffs."
Like my qi or demonic qi enhancing body and reflexes, the indwelling divine power spread through their bodies, maxing out physical abilities.
Individually, their prowess hit super-peak at minimum; moving as one, nearing flower realm threat level.
"Divine power that doesn't mess with body, qi, or essence... so it can be used like this. Impressive."
And I'd flattened that horde without a speck of qi, so I couldn't help but rejoice at my blossomed body's potential.
Subduing divinely blessed huntresses barehanded, without qi.
This body replicated my enlightenment near-perfectly.
"Worth the effort."
Not just Reverse Heaven or Plague Arts.
Tuma Gong, basic taijutsu, reflexes, movement—all elevated sky-high post-marrow cleansing.
"Now for the final test."
-POP! POP! POP!
Amid the shrill explosions ringing in my ears, I slowly closed my eyes and regulated my breath.
-SHHHH...!
-WHOOOSH...!
Five arrows danced acrobatically like swallows, toying with me.
But every motion, every twisting target shift, the divine will controlling them...
All felt crystal-clear, like patterns in my palm.
"So marrow cleansing is this dramatic?"
-...FWIP!
-...SCREE!
The flashy arrows veered, swarming from all sides; I pressed the earth lightly, shaking it as I leaped.
-TAT!
Arms swaying languidly like willow in wind, hands sharp as arrowheads tore through the air.
Shaking like flower seeds on spring breeze, my feet kicked off nothing; sturdy legs like great trees spun my body.
And precisely as the arrows converged—everything froze.
-CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING!
Five metallic rings.
The five arrows and five divine powers clashing against my fists achieved nothing.
The arrows scattered instantly.
Unable to switch targets, they plunged into the ground and detonated, shaking the world.
-BOOM!
-KABOOM!
"Kyaaah!"
"Help!"
Descending slowly amid the blasts and screams, I opened my eyes.
Atop the devastated wasteland of silver dust and girls' cries trembled Artemis, glaring daggers at me.
"In the name of my god, I will kill you!!"
Her eyes ablaze with lunar divine light, the moon goddess leveled her spear at me.
Finally, time for the main course.