Chapter 221
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 221
Chapter Title: Lightning and Earthquake
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-Boom!
"Urgh!"
In the end, Atalanta let out a groan as she was sent flying.
"Kuhahaha! How's that! Dare to rampage like some little girl, and this is what happens to you!"
"Sh-shut up...!"
The crimson aura that had evoked the image of a red meteor was noticeably fading before their eyes.
Her opponent was a giant of immense strength whose blows wouldn't land without an aura.
Even if she managed to land hits using her aura, they didn't lead to fatal wounds, making him an even trickier foe.
However, the only way Atalanta could stand against an Aloadae was with the power of her aura.
So, pouring everything she had into the fight, her aura and stamina began to run dry even faster than Ephialtes collapsing.
"That bastard. What makes him talk so smugly?"
"...Ephialtes. Have some shame."
Yet Ephialtes, who had been facing her, looked even more pathetic.
To the point where even his twin brother and Heracles might cover their faces in embarrassment.
No matter how exhausted Atalanta was now, her signature swift footwork and powerful martial arts had pushed Ephialtes around almost one-sidedly.
"Wh-what's wrong with me! In the end, I'm the one winning!"
"Just barely landing one hit on a girl after all this time, and only because you caught her when she was worn out? What's there to get so excited about, you pathetic loser? Step aside. Let your big brother show you how it's done."
"Huh? Are you getting distracted now?!!"
Unlike Atalanta, however, Heracles was still full of vigor.
Like a flash of light cutting through the air, he charged at Otus and once more manifested Zeus's lightning in his massive arm.
"Zeus!!"
-Kwarrrung!
"Gaaah!"
"T-tongue...!"
The lightning spear cleaved the earth, illuminating everything around it, sending Otus screaming and Ephialtes rolling away in shock.
Seizing the opening, Heracles dashed out to cover Atalanta, who had been surrounded, and grumbled as he asked,
"Hey, bear cub. How much time do you need?"
"Uh, well... five minutes?"
Heracles could feel his own strength starting to flag, just like Atalanta, who was barely standing while gasping for breath.
The power of the lightning that shattered rocks and parted seas still surged within him, but no matter what he tried, the protective force shielding the twins rendered even his superhuman strength and aura useless.
They were the most absurd opponents he had ever faced.
"Huff, huff... They're still young, born strong and raised tough, so they're mentally shaken by hits. Plus, they get riled up easily, making it simple to spot openings, but..."
"If they didn't, they'd just charge blindly no matter how much we beat them, and we'd all get swept away—Tegea, Jason, everyone."
Heracles nodded at Atalanta's assessment, catching his breath.
-Swaaaah!
At least the pouring rain cooled their overheated bodies and breathing, soothing their parched throats.
"Haha. You saw it yourself, so you know. Even I can't handle those guys alone."
Even as he said it, Heracles ground his teeth, never imagining he'd be the one uttering such words.
"We need something. Something more. Something different..."
'...He's right.'
Aura.
The mark of great heroes, a superhuman power attained by only two in Greek history.
Even with that power in hand, Greece was full of walls they still couldn't overcome.
Since ancient times, how many demigods had been born with divine blessings granting immense strength, and how many monsters had dominated the seas and lands?
The vague fear that had been unfathomable in the forest now manifested as reality, and that real wall pressed heavily on the aura warriors.
"Tch, that Dianes guy. If he said he'd teach us something, he could've done it quicker."
Even gazing at the brilliant aura shining in his hands, Heracles couldn't hold back his frustration, a sentiment Atalanta shared deeply.
Every time they trained their auras in various ways, they felt an indefinable wall—blocked, yet not quite.
So, growling all the while, they had shared insights among fellow aura warriors before asking Dianes first, but no real breakthroughs yet.
And in that time, the approaching wall had become even clearer today while facing the Aloadae.
Which only amplified Dianes's presence in their minds.
Surely, he knew the key to this frustration and the path beyond.
"For now, we need to deal with those guys right away. No way we'll win like this. We're going big—one shot."
"Y-you're saving me here..."
"Then lend me Dianes later. Got more than one or two things to ask."
"Clinging to someone else's lover."
-Hahaha!
Perhaps because they had fought back-to-back in fierce combat.
Before they knew it, the two got along surprisingly well.
"You!! You startled me!"
"Heracles, you brute!"
"Who's a brute?!!"
-Hraaaah!!
Heracles's eyes flashed at the Aloadae's taunt as he kicked off the ground.
Toward Zeus's great hero charged Poseidon's twins, shaking the earth itself.
-Kwarrrung!
-Kuuuung!
Lightning and earthquake.
The mightiest divine powers upholding Greece descended upon Tegea through the hands of their bloodline.
"...And that's the situation."
"Hmm..."
Jason explained the state of the battle, spreading out an Arcadia map from who-knows-where.
His ingenious strategy made me nod instinctively.
'Good thing I kept this guy around.'
The goddess's wings were magnificent; we arrived at the Tegea camp in the blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, Eris said she couldn't do spatial jumps with me, so I ended up clinging to the goddess of strife's back and flying here.
Whether from exhaustion or embarrassment, her face beet red, Eris dumped me almost the moment we reached Tegea's skies and vanished in a whirl.
Thanks to that, I got a bird's-eye view of the overall situation, and Jason's briefing narrowed the options to about three.
Atalanta's warrior band clashing head-on with Thespiae at the front lines.
Jason's Peisakaínes tangled in guerrilla skirmishes with Thespiae after fighting the Aloadae until this morning.
And the spotlight: Atalanta and Heracles facing off against the Aloadae.
"Iasos in Tegea is completely out of the picture?"
"Oh, that side? Ha!"
Jason snorted and shook his head at my question.
"Lost the people's support, army smashed. He's barely hunkered down with his guards and city forces.
Plus, every morning, we rotate condemnations for dragging Thespiae into this."
With a wicked grin, Jason showed me the denunciations and protests aimed at Iasos, set to rain on Tegea tomorrow morning.
"You planned this originally, right? Got all the materials from Peleus. No need to fabricate; just pasting them together works fine."
Kuhuhuhu...
By now, Tegea's walls were on the verge of rioting, Jason chuckled darkly.
"Ugh... Is that a hero? More like a schemer?"
"Hey now, scheming? Just utilizing resources right where they fit."
Eireneia recoiled at the unheroic tactic, but Jason brushed it off with a smirk.
Fair enough; in honor-obsessed Greece, info and opinion warfare weren't exactly revered.
But no matter what anyone said, I loved Jason's handling of it.
'Left the materials with Peleus to see what he'd do...'
Without any orders from me, he'd perfectly neutralized part of the enemy forces.
'I prepped the ingredients, but he painted exactly the picture I wanted.
That's an A+.'
Overall, solid passing grade.
Atalanta and Heracles's growth spiked moment by moment.
Even their tactical thinking, once boxed in by hero tropes, was shedding restraints and oozing venom.
And the warriors under them had grown into top-tier soldiers by this world's standards.
'Time to reward that effort.'
If there's one thing I realized watching Atalanta and Heracles, it's that this land, this era, burned too hot.
Mind and body, ideology and martial arts.
All freshly forged like molten iron in the myth-forging age brimming with inspiration.
Everyone here was used to kneading things their own way.
And heroes adapted best to that optimization and personalization.
For them, old Demonic Cult group training held no meaning.
It only showed human limits, achievements, and paths taken.
"Peisakaínes, assemble everyone."
Time to draw my sword again after so long.