Chapter 99
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: The Aesthetic of Indra's Net
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Soaking in the cool stream, I slowly counted to one hundred with my heart pounding just like when you're boiling ramen.
-Woof woof!
Thirty seconds in, the first hunting dog to spot me came charging up to the creek's edge and barked ferociously.
-Squeee!
"Over here! The prey's here!!"
Fifty seconds in, a female hunter who seemed to be the dog's owner came running up, blowing a whistle to alert everyone to my position.
"Kyahahaha! Hunt! It's hunt time!"
"The night of the hunt guided by the goddess!"
"Offer up the prey! Death to the foolish man!"
"Blessings to the goddess, death to the man!"
Seventy seconds in, the female hunters swarmed like a pack of end-of-the-world biker thugs, surrounding me.
Torchlight, bows, and spears in hand, they hurled abuse at me—the picture-perfect image of fanatical zealots. It was almost comical.
And then, one hundred seconds.
-Step... step... step!
Amid the frenzied shouts of the mad female hunters, a small set of footsteps rang out.
As those steps drew nearer, the hunters' frenzy quieted down. And atop the massive rock right in front of me,
she appeared.
"Greetings to the Goddess of the Crescent Moon. How's the shoulder feeling?"
"...You cursed insolent wretch."
"Wow, you're even prettier today? Definitely beats that nightgown look from before."
"What? You dare spout such nonsense looking at this armor?"
"The harder and thicker a stone's shell, the softer and sweeter the flesh inside. Makes me look forward to the end of tonight even more."
Back in my Heavenly Demon days, as the leader of a million demons, even a single word from me had to carry refinement and dignity.
Oppressed by the Guixian Scholar, tormented by the Four Heavenly Kings, even the head maid glaring at me.
No matter how much of a demonic sage I was, there were times when I couldn't ignore the room's vibe.
But then I realized that these polite, refined words could be twisted just right to flip the script on someone's outfit without a single curse word.
From that point on, instead of cutting back on swearing, I honed my vocabulary and phrasing—gem-like rhetoric that grew ever more layered the more you chewed on it.
By the late stages of the Great War of Righteousness and Evil, I even drove the Shaolin abbot—holding out at Mount Song as their final bastion in a desperate last stand—to personally break his vow against killing.
A gentlemanly tone, not a single curse mixed in, but the content so infuriating the more you pondered it. The magic of the Heavenly Demon's silver tongue.
The key was to unpack vulgar terms and insults as much as possible while letting the other side naturally absorb and comprehend them on a level they could grasp.
"But for armor, there's an awful lot of skin showing. Does 'hunting men' mean luring them in with that face and those thighs? If so, hunt me a little, why don't you."
"Y-You blasphemous fiend...!"
Just like that.
It was gratifying as the one dishing it out—every jab landing with a juicy reaction.
And living with Ares, Nemesis, and Eris taught me one thing:
Surprisingly, gods were weak to direct defiance, sarcasm, and verbal sparring.
Ares said it was because no one ever talked back to them so bluntly to their face.
Teasing Artemis like this with my three-inch tongue was thanks to Ares's advice after learning I'd crossed her.
She'd shoot arrows and hurl curses at men and women alike at the drop of a hat, so she was vulnerable to these lewd provocations.
-Grind!
"That hurts. Teeth okay?"
"...."
The goddess's sacred teeth grinding away pathetically only deepened my smile, while the surrounding huntresses paled and glared at me like I was insane.
The God of War lived up to his name. Provocation potential was top-tier.
"Come on, I was just complimenting you. Why grind your teeth like that?"
The first time we met, she was the Moon Goddess so beautiful I'd forgotten she was aiming a headshot at me.
But tonight, she was fully geared up, dead serious.
Her signature silver bow infused with moonlight, and radiant silver arrows gleaming brightly.
The silver gauntlets on her hands and arms were artistic masterpieces adorned with platinum and silver, blending with her snow-white skin to shine like a saintess's hands.
The silver tiara radiating protective power accentuated her silky black hair like fine silk thread, while the silver hunting garb—flawless white skin wrapped without a speck of dust, gold dust embroidery like talismans boosting Artemis's divine power and highlighting her soft skin.
And the silver belt crossing her outfit accentuated her slender waist even more, her figure a goddess's perfection—curves dipping where they should, swelling flawlessly where they ought.
Above all, that fiercely twisted face still captivated my gaze.
Eyes that could slice like blades, having carved me up hundreds of times over; a sharp, perfectly curved nose; plump pink lips glistening sweetly without a hint of rouge; skin like flawless white jade.
"Even as her father, if a daughter like you came teary-eyed begging, I couldn't say no."
"...What!?"
If a father, he'd scoop her up, carry her on his back, raise her with endless affection. As a man, he'd stake his life for a shot. As a woman, he'd devote his life to serving her. She wore the demonic allure of the moon.
With that beauty, that charm, the Goddess of Chastity?
She was a walking carnivorous plant, ensnaring every bug in sight.
Whether my praise finally pierced her heart or not, the goddess's mouth flapped silently.
I delivered the finishing blow.
"Making a goddess beloved by the King of Gods trek all this way. Those beautiful feet and delicate limbs must be weary. Good thing the hot spring's spacious—room for a dozen or so. Care to join?"
How about it? Come soak together?
As I grinned and patted the spot beside me invitingly, the snow-white goddess evolved into a crimson one.
Stripping away the flowery words and courtesies, it boiled down to:
She couldn't handle me alone, so she whined to her brother and daddy, and even dragged her posse all the way out here for this mess—yet calls herself the Goddess of Chastity while strutting around like a man-eater.
So quit playing hard to get and let's roll in the hay.
...Something like that.
Yeah, classy lewd jabs and provocations—sophisticated enough to piss her off deeply whether she got it or not.
Watching the moon goddess evolve in real-time from flapping whitebait to furious goldfish as she mulled my words? The booze tasted even better.
Unfortunately, that nostalgic buzz was fatigue calling—I needed to shake it off soon.
"Y-You... yoooouuu!!"
-Swooooosh!!
Moonlight divine energy filled my entire field of vision.
Responding to its master's rage, the thick, boiling-silver-melt-like energy was a razor-sharp blade, a throat-piercing spear, or a hunter's bow in its own right.
I know not what gives you such arrogance.
But the highest councilor of Olympus has granted me divine authority.
Last time, I held back my bow at Chiron's defense and my father's command.
But tonight, for your prior rudeness and blasphemy,
and the crime of stealing and humiliating my hunters—that debt shall be paid with your life!
As Artemis swept her hand like commanding an army, unleashing her divine power, the growling silver energy scattered and possessed the female hunters and dogs.
"Ah, aahhh! Lady Artemis's blessing!"
"Haaang~ Y-You, this feels too good. This power, this vitality!"
"We'll repay the goddess with the prey's blood!"
-Woof woof woof!
-Awooooo!
Like dusted with moon powder, their bodies began glowing with faint moonlight, and the female hunters and dogs fell into berserker ecstasy, raising weapons and howling.
My hunters! Oath-keepers of eternal chastity!
Quench your thirst with the blood of this insolent beast who shamed me and you!
"For Artemis!!"
"Die! You filthy man!"
-Swoooosh!
With the goddess's shout, arrows and spears came flying at me from all sides.
Was the title of "hunters sworn to hunt eternally with the goddess" mere pretense? Not at all.
Countless feints disrupted my vision, hundreds of killing shots targeted every vital point from every direction.
And infused with Artemis's power, the glowing moonlight attacks even read my movements, subtly shifting trajectories—homing missiles to boot.
"...So what? I see it all anyway."
Still lounging comfortably in the creek, watching the onslaught like it was a moon-viewing party, I slowly raised my hand and unleashed my energy.
-Whoooosh...
"That's right, good dogs. Now follow my will. Aren't I a true demonic master at the pinnacle of extremity now?"
The demonic energy of the Asura Heaven-Reversing Art—my secondary core art after the Ghostless Divine Art—blazed fiercely.
"Guess I'll start light too. Honoring the aesthetic of Indra's Net, let's kick things off artistically."
The smile on my face reflected in the water was fiendishly ecstatic, even by my own standards.
Perfect timing, perfect prey charging right at me just right.
How could a demon not rejoice?
I clenched my high-raised, demonic-energy-wreathed fist hard.
The energy condensed in my hand and wailed.
-Kwaaaaaang!!
The demonic energy roiled in my iron grip, strong enough to yank down the heavens, shockwaves scattering everywhere, the atmosphere churning like dragons ascending.
[Th-This!]
The ecstasy-mad faces of the hunters slowly stiffened, and Artemis blanched at the familiar yet far more vicious energy.
Four Demon Ghost Flame - Affliction Heart Explosion
The beautiful moonlight explosion that had devoured the Moon Goddess on that full-moon night in Pasos.
Perfectly mirrored by this abyssal cataclysm, sweeping everything away.