Chapter 134
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: Red Meteor
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While intensifying her training in preparation for this great battle, Atalanta felt something changing within her.
Every time she swung her fists or stomped the ground, a strange sensation would start from her lower abdomen, envelop her heart, and spread throughout her body along her blood vessels.
Whenever she unleashed her martial arts following the flow of this energy spreading through her, its power became far greater.
To the point where glimpses of that single punch Dianes had shown—which could shatter even a mountain—flashed in her own fists.
She was growing stronger by the day, and gradually, her confidence began to build.
She was certain that even if she faced off against Dianes, she wouldn't lose as easily as she had on ordinary training days.
However, when she reunited with her lover and mentor after just over a month and saw him walking out of the forest, the emotion that rose in Atalanta's chest wasn't joy, but overwhelming dread.
Her senses, which had grown unrecognizably sharper over the past month, and her newly awakened intuition fueled by the strange energy from her lower abdomen.
Every sense she possessed was screaming in warning.
It felt just like a house-sized tsunami or a massive storm approaching.
No matter how mighty a warrior she was, no matter that she was a child of a great god, it reminded her that she was merely a powerless mortal in the face of such a colossal disaster.
Dianes, her lover, her mentor who had taught her—that was the kind of existence he was.
"That's why a mere landslide is nothing at all!"
The warrior who cleaved through the landslide with both fists roared and charged at her enemy.
Watching her, her opponent smiled.
It wasn't a sneer mocking an ignorant upstart, nor a chuckle at his lover's futile playfulness.
If anything, it was like the joy of a mentor thrilled by their disciple's growth, or a father's cheering tears at his daughter's progress.
"Hahhh!"
"Hooo...!"
The thoughts flashed in an instant, and the distance between them shrank to zero in a heartbeat.
Atalanta and Dianes were now close enough to hear each other's ragged breaths.
Can I do it?
Can I really pull this off?
I have to.
Just charge in without thinking.
What's the point of hesitating and overthinking before rushing in!
Crushing the stray thoughts in her mind, Atalanta's attack landed true.
"Urraaaah!"
-Thump!
The fist she had pulled back as if to launch it at any moment was a feint.
Just before Dianes' fist could reach her, she twisted her upper body, grabbed his waist with her full weight and power, and shoved forward.
A relentless, powerful tackle like an enraged bull—her signature pankration technique.
"!?"
"Heh, looks like it's not just your body that's improved."
But Atalanta couldn't hide her shock at the sight of Dianes, who barely budged from the impact—like crashing into a massive log—and didn't move a single step.
Her leg strength, unrivaled even in the forest, bolstered by the energy surging from her lower abdomen, had sent even the next strongest female warrior, Pesileny, flying with one hit.
Yet despite her all-out tackle, Dianes showed no sign of damage, just laughing in surprise.
However, she had anticipated even this much.
She hadn't expected him to stand completely unmoved, of course, but a true warrior had to account for every variable.
-Snap!
"Now!!"
She immediately shifted her stance, wrapping around Dianes' limbs with the fluid grace of a serpent.
And at that exact moment, her prepared warriors sprang into action.
This wasn't an arena for a duel—it was a battlefield. Facing the greatest foe of her life, not her beloved lover, Atalanta had mobilized everything at her disposal.
-Swoooosh!
Arrows sliced through the sky in an instant, but they weren't aimed at Dianes.
"Atalanta, are you trying to pull off a suicide attack or something?"
"Heh! Just watch!"
Dianes furrowed his brow, wondering if she was baiting him into mutual destruction.
But Atalanta ignored the incoming arrows, twisting her body to keep the pressure on him.
"Hngh!"
"Where do you think you're going!"
She flipped her body in a flash, swinging her leg toward his jaw.
Of course, Dianes dodged it effortlessly, but that was exactly what Atalanta had planned.
-Rumble rumble rumble!
Just as the arrows, throwing stones, and nets blotted out the sky and rained down on Dianes, Atalanta barely slipped away.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hah!"
Like performing acrobatics, she tumbled and flipped repeatedly, narrowly escaping the bombardment zone.
But Dianes, bound in her grip, took the full barrage head-on...
-Rumble rumble rumble!
As she tumbled away repeatedly to evade, feeling slightly dizzy, Atalanta heard a fierce ricocheting sound near her ear.
"Captain! You okay?!"
"Hey, I don't think sis is the problem right now?"
"What? Pesileny, what do you—"
"No, she's right."
While Eraynea—the pink-haired adjutant Dianes had once called headache-inducingly flashy—tilted her head in confusion,
Atalanta staggered to her feet and pointed at the enemy.
"Charge in the moment the bombardment ends. A second's delay, and we're done."
At the tip of her pointing finger, an unbelievable feat was unfolding that no one dared believe.
-Rumble rumble rumble!
A relentless barrage of arrows poured down like a fierce downpour.
Among them were special arrows crafted by the forest's mages and alchemists.
Explosive arrows that detonated on impact, net arrows that tangled in midair to form webs, lightning, frost, poison—elemental arrows designed for raw destruction.
Masterpieces among masterpieces, made with the intent to terrify Theseus' vanguard.
Yet the lone man's movements blocking this barrage—designed for an army—made their efforts futile, yet utterly mesmerizing to watch.
Like a bird spreading its wings, every sweep of his fluttering sleeves snapped arrows mid-flight, and nets shattered at his gestures, scattering into the air.
-Boom!
The explosive remnants painted the sky above the warriors—who flinched at the roar, fearing another landslide—and soared far into the distance.
"Ha..."
While the others stood dazed at the vanished arrow storm, wondering what had just happened,
Atalanta saw it.
Dianes precisely catching a fire arrow midair and hurling it back with a swing of his arm.
The ricocheting arrow altered the trajectory of incoming ones, igniting explosive arrows, which in turn set off more in a chain reaction.
"What makes Dianes terrifying is exactly that."
Overwhelming precision and split-second judgment that made flipping a mountain look trivial.
And the perfect body that executed it flawlessly—how many times had it led to her humiliating defeats?
"Arrows are done, right?"
"By the way, the mages are tapped out from those barriers and arrow blessings earlier."
At Eraynea's words, Atalanta glanced back at their lines, where archers with empty quivers were hurriedly carrying exhausted, groaning mages.
"Erenia, you?"
"This much? I'm fine."
Until recently, the mage Erenia and Atalanta would snarl at each other on sight.
Now partners who staunchly guarded each other's backs, the two raised their fists toward the remaining warriors.
"I'll take the lead! Charge!!"
"I'll bless you all, so don't worry about the Styx River!"
With the bold vows of their mightiest warrior and wisest mage, the warriors charged.
It's said that when lions hunt, the strongest, swiftest queen leads to seize the prey's throat, while the following females encircle and press it.
"Diiiianes!!"
"Yeah, I'm right here."
Even after single-handedly scattering that overwhelming arrow barrage and performing the acrobatics that shocked Atalanta,
not a drop of sweat marred Dianes' face.
Even as the charging warriors—who would daunt any brave soldier—bore down, he smiled leisurely, as if out for a stroll. Everyone was left slack-jawed.
"Heh, I figured my sis's lover wouldn't be your average lunatic!!"
"That pretty face packs some real heat! I like him!"
Some in Atalanta's forces were appalled, others awed, but Atalanta alone, at the forefront, grinned back at him with the exact same eyes, thrilled.
"Hahaha!"
That cheeky sea princess, or any other woman who coveted him—they could never share this moment that belonged only to him and her.
Her body was caked in dirt, her heart pounded as if about to burst, her loosened hair clung sweat-soaked to her skin.
Yet Atalanta was utterly happy in this instant.
Because those black eyes gazing at her brimmed with a pride and approval she had never seen before.
Realizing his everything was directed at her, that she had earned his recognition—this moment became a treasure beyond anything in the world.
"Diiiianes!"
She called to him.
With love, with fury.
She gazed at him.
With affection, with fighting spirit.
Each time, her feet sped faster, and a fiery red energy surged through her fists, spreading across her body.
"Ah...!"
The energy that always coursed through her, strengthening her body.
But the energy that always fizzled out at a certain point, as if blocked—now began to swell with momentum.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Aaaah!"
Like an enraged bull, like a wildfire riding the wind, it rampaged fiercely through her body, battering the wall that always blocked it.
One step, one step.
With every stride toward him, it hammered the wall more furiously.
And the moment she reached Dianes...
-Boom!
The wall blocking her shattered, and red energy blazed like flames across her entire body.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"Ha, hahahaha!"
Like a brilliant meteor, Atalanta hurtled toward Dianes.
Unable to hide his ecstasy at her sight, Dianes met her head-on.
-KABOOM!!
The black curtain and the red meteor collided.
The night's veil rippled in all directions, intertwining with the shooting red meteor in a deadlock, yielding not an inch.
The first time in Greek history.
A female warrior awakening her aura—the mark of true warriors, the symbol of a demigod.