Chapter 214
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Heroes Set Out
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Shortly after Dianes entered meditation, the darkness and monsters shrouding Acrocorinth vanished as well.
The sky, where not even moonlight had been visible, gradually brightened with Helios's sun rising, and on the land that had swarmed only with monsters moments before, bird songs rang out and devotees emerged to offer their prayers.
"Ha... haha. Unbelievable... No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't budge an inch, but just by holing up like that, it's lifted?"
Despoina didn't know whether to rejoice or grieve that the disaster she couldn't grasp eluded her grasp had been resolved so easily.
"...That's the thing about Dianes's bloodline."
"Gasp. R-Really? My goodness, does that mean...?"
"Exactly. It wasn't Demeter or Gaia who intervened..."
Meanwhile, Heracles listened to Atalanta recount the full story of the incident and the secret tied to Dianes's bloodline, and he couldn't close his mouth.
He had already recognized long ago that Dianes outranked him in standing.
But while he had inwardly envied how the man kept getting entangled with the gods in uncanny ways, to think his very origins were not just extraordinary, but staggeringly so.
"I swear by Zeus, it's true?"
"I swear by Zeus. Though Eris and Nemesis have declared him their brother to the gods of Olympus, so it's certain."
My goodness.
Heracles struggled to contain his shock.
The beings of fresh existence, the Protogenoi.
Modern Greeks didn't even know they existed, and among the gods, only a handful had ever met them face-to-face—gods among gods.
For such a being to have brought forth and released into the world one of their own.
If this became known, it would be a massive event—no, it would spark outright war.
Kings would scramble to mix his blood into their royal lines by any means necessary.
Countless mystics and sorcerers would go bloodshot-eyed digging into everything related to his lineage.
"Hahaha..."
Suddenly stunned, Heracles could only shake his head.
Now, at last, everything began to make sense.
"That power, that knowledge, even that depth of experience. Yeah, it all adds up now."
No matter that he hailed from Hyperborea. He had to be around Heracles's own age, at most.
Yet that profound wisdom and knowledge, and above all, those deep eyes reminiscent of his mentor Chiron—they were utterly unlike those of a peer.
No matter how he pondered, that face and age couldn't produce such traces of seasoned maturity, leaving even Heracles, along with Jason and Actaeon who followed Dianes, feeling perplexed.
If the Protogenoi had wrought all this, then nothing would be impossible.
"What do we do now?"
"Who knows. The one leading this journey, Dianes himself, has gone and shut himself away..."
As Heracles and Atalanta, suddenly left without direction, discussed their next move, a small figure sidled up behind them.
"Um, heroes?"
"Oh? Ah, we'd forgotten about you. Despoina. Or should I say Lady Despoina?"
A petite build with a compact, lovely appearance.
Despoina, the mage and high priestess with a faintly shadowed aura.
She clearly harbored affection for Heracles and bowed deeply to both of them in turn.
"Thank you! Thanks to you, both I and this temple are safe! Please grant us the honor of hosting our temple's saviors!"
Despoina invited them with utmost courtesy, as befitting both a goddess and a mage—unprecedented politeness.
"Hahaha! Then we'll impose on you for a bit?"
"Perfect timing, I wanted a bath anyway. We'll stay till Dianes comes out."
"An honor! This way!"
For those saved, repaying their rescuers was only natural.
Moreover, no one would pass up an invitation to the famed high temple of Aphrodite.
Despoina, the high priestess here, hurried inside and introduced the two as the temple's benefactors, recounting all that had transpired.
-Welcome! Heroes who guarded our temple!
Then, the thousand beautiful priestesses boasting the pride of Acrocorinth's temple lined up on both sides and expressed their gratitude to Heracles and Atalanta in unison.
"Ehehehe! Th-This is nothing!"
"As expected of a great hero! To single-handedly repel that massive horde of monsters and remain so humble!"
"Will you grant us the honor of serving the great hero?"
Beauties, beauties, beauties.
Wherever he looked, his eyes dazzled amid the stunning women, and Heracles grinned broadly as he followed them somewhere.
However, Atalanta was no less busy than Heracles.
Numerous priestesses who admired her rushed over, bombarding her with questions.
"Lady Atalanta! Is it true you've become a hero who awakened her Aura?"
"They say you're lovers with the Hero of Black and Blue, Dianes. Any plans for children?"
"I heard the Heroic War was actually started by Theseus out of jealousy because you were stolen by Dianes. Is that true?"
Since time immemorial in Greece, heroes were objects of admiration and worship simply for existing.
Bathed in the adoring gazes of countless beautiful girls, Atalanta felt something filling a void within her.
'What is this feeling?'
Her chest swelled stuffily, her lips curving upward of their own accord.
This elation that might make her strut unwittingly if she wasn't careful—Atalanta clung to her reason.
Thus, the two heroes parted ways and began to savor the supreme hospitality of Aphrodite's temple.
"Here! Acrocorinth temple's famed grand bathhouse! Fed by hot springs bubbling from the mountaintop, it's a miracle cure for skin care, fatigue, muscle aches, menstrual pains, and Aura depletion!"
"Lady Atalanta, your limbs and shoulders are all knotted up. Lie here. This is Eresydra. Even a goddess's divine form would melt under her masterful massage!"
"How would you like your meal? Fresh boar and plump fish just arrived. Say the word, and the head chef will show off his skills!"
"Lovers with Lord Dianes, and looking beyond that, I see. Then follow me. As one who follows Aphrodite's divine work, I'll teach you every secret to capturing your lover's heart and bearing his seed."
For the three days Dianes remained in meditation.
Atalanta and Heracles reveled in a paradise-like bliss.
Atalanta, the acknowledged lover, received from Aphrodite's devotees tremendous(?) secrets unknown to any other regarding sex and love.
Heracles, basking in long-forgotten fame and acclaim for his exploits, indulged in supreme pleasures bestowed by beautiful priestesses, and time flew like an arrow.
In light attire provided by the Aphrodite temple, Heracles headed to the laboratory where Dianes had entered meditation.
"Hey, bear-boy."
There was already a visitor ahead of him.
"Boar-girl. What brings you out instead of rolling with the priestesses?"
"They looked exhausted, so I stepped out for some air and a break."
Despite Atalanta's blunt jabs, Heracles shrugged and stood beside her.
"How many days has it been now?"
"About three? Four?"
"When's Dianes coming out..."
Atalanta had thought he'd emerge in a day or two at most, so she'd spent the first couple days resting her weary body in comfort.
Dianes always shrugged off impossible tasks or colossal ordeals with a scoff.
She'd assumed this time too, he'd brush it off in a day or two—but three days had passed with no word.
Peering through the peephole in the door he'd made himself out of worry, all she saw was a hazy shadow shrouded in dim darkness.
What if something had gone wrong? What if he was in danger?
Atalanta couldn't sit still with worry.
"Tch, the porcupine huntress acting all soft like this. Aphrodite's power is truly fearsome."
"Tsk, still snapping at me every chance? Karyklo's mom said it: love's like an accident."
"Accident = one headbutt to knock out."
"Guhhrgh..."
Atalanta ground her teeth at Heracles dredging up their first meeting mishap every time she let her guard down to tease her.
But knowing this rough great hero meant to comfort her as a fellow disciple, she smirked and let it slide.
"Ugh~ Honestly, I'm loving it right now? But I think we need to go."
"What?"
"Lady Despoina just told me. Arcadia's in an uproar right now."
"What?"
With that, Heracles handed Atalanta a scroll he held.
Snatching it and unfurling it hastily, she read down the contents, then facepalmed in disbelief.
"Am I reading this right? He dragged in Thespiai's forces by offering up his own people and territory?"
The missive's contents were shocking beyond belief.
How could a king of a nation, citing lack of troops, sell out his land and subjects to an enemy state and let their soldiers into his capital?
"But the real shocker isn't that."
According to the part Heracles pointed to.
Atalanta's warrior band waiting in the Heroes' Forest as Dianes had summoned, along with Dianes's Pesacaines, had crossed the Taygetus Mountains two days ago and arrived at the camp under Peleus's command.
Yet at the same time, two ominous figures had arrived in Tegea.
The twin giants known as the Aloadae: Otus and Ephialtes.
"Sons of Poseidon. Giants who grew nine finger-widths a day."
"I've heard of them too—conquered Naxos and Boeotia alone and rule as lords? They're supposedly just a bit over ten years old..."
The question was why such heavyweights had suddenly entered Arcadia.
That too was written in the missive.
"Seems King Iasos, abandoned by the Olympians, shopped around for other gods to worship. Among them were the War Goddesses, the gods' sore spot—and those twins' patron deities just happened to be them. And the shrine Dianes toppled was..."
"The one those twins spread for the War Goddesses?"
"Their god was insulted, so they're here to atone for it and protect their believer Iasos... or so they claim. Ridiculous."
From Naxos to Arcadia was a full month's journey at least.
When had they even established the War Goddesses' worship in Arcadia for them to intervene like this?
"Just a pretext, plain and simple."
"Yeah. But with opponents like that, the ones in Tegea now won't hold."
Twin giants who grew nine finger-widths daily from birth.
Their monstrous strength and feats were legendary, well-known to both.
Yet true to Poseidon's blood, their reckless tempers and arrogant dispositions made them likely foes in the Heroes' Forest, so they'd been wary—but to clash like this.
"We need to head there now."
"Obviously! But..."
Furious at her father's folly and the villains eyeing her land and comrades, Atalanta shot to her feet.
Yet even then, what held her back was Dianes, still refusing to emerge.
"..."
"Want me to go alone?"
Heracles, knowing full well how much Atalanta thought of Dianes, asked carefully.
But Atalanta shook her head and turned away.
"Dianes will be fine. I have things I need to do now..."
Ignoring her warriors' peril just to wait for Dianes would disappoint him.
"Let's go. Before anyone gets hurt... or dies. Let's show those twins what for."
"Kuhhahaha. That's the spirit! Let's move!"
Queen armed with steely resolve and fury, and hero thrilled at a powerful foe appearing just as his body itched for action—they flashed fierce eyes and departed Acrocorinth.