Chapter 189: Heracles (14)
Originally attending in place of the Minoas family head, Teleos quickly captivated the nobles.
His overwhelming beauty and eloquence held an irresistible power that could enchant anyone.
“Haha, thank you all. But we need to look at this situation a little more seriously. Before my father fell ill, I assisted him in investigating the black market. And even there, Aresia, Penthesilea, and that boy Alcides were quite famous.”
“Hm? Is that such a serious problem? Now that we know their identities, can’t we just kill them? Especially since they’re from the black market—there wouldn’t even be any repercussions.”
“Sigh… It’s not that simple. According to my information, Aresia and Penthesilea are Archon-grade warriors, and that kid Alcides is the child of Amphitryon.”
—Hoo…
—That’s insane. But why would people like that be attacking us?
—Is there anyone among you who caused some kind of incident?
—No way. We can’t afford to fight the fish people on top of everything else.
The nobles gathered in the secret room showed visible panic at Teleos’s information.
No one had expected figures of that caliber to be their enemies.
Above all, this made it impossible to easily eliminate them.
As for the boy Alcides, if the intel was accurate, they could capture him and hand him over to that monster Amphitryon with some conditions to wrap things up.
But the sudden emergence of Archon-grade warriors was an entirely different issue.
From their experience, dealing with even one Archon-grade warrior required pouring the full strength of a family into it. And even then, stories of families collapsing weren’t surprising anymore.
The news that there were two such terrifying beings sent shivers down the nobles’ spines.
One wrong move, and their entire house could fall in their own generation.
Perhaps because of that, more and more nobles began seriously considering withdrawing after hearing Teleos’s information.
—This… if it goes wrong, I could ruin my family in my lifetime.
—I’m thinking the same. Should we pull out here?
—Yeah, we weren’t the ones who directly stirred up the black market folks. This is as dangerous as clashing head-on with the merfolk pirates.
—Maybe it’s best to step back at this point…
As that atmosphere spread through the secret room,
Teleos, with a subtle smile and a voice as sweet and seductive as a serpent’s temptation, gently soothed the nobles.
“Don’t worry. My family and I will take full responsibility for dealing with them. I’ve already received approval from the family head.”
Teleos looked at the nobles with a benevolent expression.
As if telling them to have no concerns at all.
“Oooh! As expected of Lord Teleos. Then there’s nothing to worry about. Just tell us what supplies you need. We’ll open our family warehouses to support you.”
“The same for me.”
“Me too.”
“Me as well. Right.”
“And me.”
The nobles, who had been at a loss, soon brightened up and sighed in relief.
Who would back out when someone was stepping up in their place?
Since they were still only suffering losses from the black market war, Teleos’s proposal was impossible to refuse.
In a way, the nobles’ behavior was no less ugly than the black market denizens they usually frowned upon and cursed, but none of the nobles present pointed that out.
After all, birds of a feather flock together—they were all cut from the same cloth.
And Teleos, watching those nobles, continued to smile and express gratitude.
He even went so far as to say their actions were perfectly justified.
Naturally, the more he did so, the higher the nobles’ favor toward him soared through the roof.
Eventually, the secret room emptied after the nobles had spent a long time noisily praising Teleos.
Left alone, Teleos kept his smile for a while longer before beginning to move somewhere.
Ziiing.
The door opened automatically upon recognizing Teleos’s mana, revealing a long hallway. He passed through it familiarly and arrived at a beautiful garden.
The garden was filled with flowers of every color, beautiful butterflies and bees fluttering about, and a sweet fragrance hung in the air.
After briefly admiring the lovely sight, Teleos followed the path deeper into the garden.
At the very center of the garden’s depths stood a fountain.
The fountain appeared long dried up, covered in piles of sand and dust, cracked in various places.
It was a sight that completely clashed with the vibrant, beautiful garden.
Yet Teleos approached the fountain and stroked the old, shabby thing as if it were something incredibly precious.
For a long time, he caressed the fountain with a somewhat dazed expression, until his subordinate Lysandros appeared behind him.
“Family Head, all preparations are complete.”
“Is that so? And Father?”
“He has lost all real power and is under house arrest.”
“Good, good. Treat Father comfortably. He’s my only blood relative now. More importantly, Lysandros—at last, we can fix this messed-up fountain.”
“Yes. Everything will proceed according to the Family Head’s will.”
“Right, that’s how it should be.”
Awakened from his somewhat dreamy state by the conversation with his subordinate, Teleos’s eyes soon burned with uncontainable excitement.
Then he began plucking flowers from the beautiful garden and smelling them.
Sssip, ha.
He inhaled deeply several times, as if taking a drug.
Sssip, ha.
Still unable to contain his excitement, he tore off petals and chewed them vigorously.
The petals he chewed looked exactly like animal shells.
***
Alcides, Aresia, and Penthesilea were overwhelming.
Even though they could no longer hide in the back like before, countless corpses piled up in front of them.
“Uhahahahaha, come on! More, more, more!!!”
Aresia, rampaging in the very center of the most enemies, was more dazzling than anyone.
Anyone brushed by her hand had bones shattered and flesh torn off as a matter of course.
Very few could block her sword or fist, and even those who did would have their internal organs shaken, vomiting blood in droves.
“Kyahahahaha!!!”
Uwaaaah! Mage! Mage! Hurry and stop that crazy bitch!!
The front-line soldiers, knights, and mercenaries were terrified by Aresia’s demonic appearance, often abandoning their weapons and fleeing.
Die! You monster!
[Fireball]
[Stormy Night]
[Frilled Lizard]
[Steel Club]
Despite the mages in the rear desperately unleashing spells, their magic was devoured by her in an instant.
Literally turned into a delicious meal for Aresia. And rather than harming her, the magic only filled her with more power.
“Hmm. It doesn’t taste as good as Master’s magic, but it’s enough for a meal in battle. Nice! Since you gave me such a gift, I’ll return the favor.”
[Hipotolos Pente (Υποδόλω Πένθε) — Banquet for the Master]
For the first time since reaching the Heros (hero) level, Aresia operated her mana at full power.
Normally, she would have held back due to collateral damage or Njord’s caution.
But right now, only enemies existed here. And above all, this was war.
In an instant, Aresia’s mana began spreading wide.
The mana she had engraved with the concept of [Adaptation] did not let the fleeing ones escape.
Mana granted physical force, as if it had hands and feet, swallowed mages, knights, and hunters indiscriminately.
Then it began draining their life force and mana.
Originally, with the concept of [Adaptation] she had realized, such a thing would have been impossible. But no matter what anyone said, she was a human taught by Njord.
And one of Njord’s teachings was the various forms of conceptualization.
For example, Aresia’s [Adaptation] literally swallowed, absorbed, and stole all kinds of things to make her even stronger by adapting to them.
So what would happen if she twisted and interpreted that concept however she pleased?
The answer appeared right here. Unfortunately for the enemies.
***
Along with Aresia’s mana, a somewhat red and sinister mist was invited onto the battlefield.
An utterly eerie mana mist began spreading wide.
The problem was that mana mist appearing suddenly in empty air with no prior signs was clearly bizarre. Normally, it was impossible for mana to transcend space and take form without any medium.
Yet producing only the result without any logical formula was also the power of the wild (ἄγριος — Agrios) that warriors had realized and created.
Just like the authority Atalanta realized in Calydon.
If one were to ask why it was called an “invitation,” it was because this technique itself had been created by Aresia while thinking of her master, Njord.
[Hipotolos Pente (Υποδόλω Πένθε) — Banquet for the Master]
This was the banquet and feast Aresia prepared for her master.
Normally, a banquet naturally involves inviting someone. And naturally, the guests invited to this banquet were conceptualized mana entities.
Once Aresia’s [Adaptation] had absorbed enough various things to serve as food, one of the conceptualized mana would be invited and arrive at the banquet.
In short, the fleeing, screaming things and their mana were the food, the dance, the entertainment.
Now the red mist, invited to this banquet, began chewing and swallowing the mana and life force of the living beings around it, as if slicing meat with a fork and knife.
From a certain perspective, the sight looked horrifying—like the taboo of cannibalism among humans.
Uwaaaaah!!!
I was wrong!!
Please spare me, Lord Teleos!!!
Those screaming for mercy in that horrific scene.
But their cries soon had to fall silent.
At some point, strength left their bodies, and the figure of the god of death appeared before them.
Along with it, they quickly turned into elderly people on the verge of death. Their forms were like dried-up corpses—withered old men that made anyone who saw them frown in disgust.
“Hmm… Aging this time? What a funny concept. I preferred the ‘Abyss’ I saw last time.”
Yet Aresia, the one who had created this horrific scene, calmly evaluated the people aging and dying in pain.
She even grumbled as if it were boring.
And shortly after.
The red mist, having finished its meal, politely bowed to the master who had invited it as a guest, then slowly faded away.
“Ehh, I used it for nothing. I prefer using my body. Sigh, can’t be helped. I’ll just have to ask Master to play with me.”
Hmph~ Hmm~
Aresia left the spot after lightly complaining.
What remained were only the corpses of the elderly and those who had vomited blood to death or had their limbs crushed.
It was the sole evidence of just how grotesque this battlefield had become.
***
In a forest a short distance from the plain where Aresia’s battle was raging.
Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.
A very faint sound that could only be heard if one concentrated.
Every time that sound rang out, hunters and assassins in the forest fell one by one.
Despite the terrifying scene, no human in this forest could even let out a breath.
Rustle! Thud.
The moment even the tiniest sound was heard, they lost their lives.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Arrows that never missed once, all piercing precisely between the brows—somehow more terrifying than bones breaking and flesh tearing.
……
Thus, in the forest where only the sounds of insects, leaves rustling in the wind, and arrows embedding somewhere could be heard.
“Uwaaaah! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please spare me!!! I’ll never, never, never appear in your sight again!!!”
At that moment, a hunter who could no longer bear the terror burst out crying and ran forward.
So desperate and terrified was he that he didn’t even notice his own urine soaking his pants as he bowed his head frantically in every direction.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.
Now in the forest, only one hunter’s desperate screams and the twang of bowstrings could be heard.
.
.
.
……
After a long while of bowing his head and wailing, the young hunter squeezed out dry tears with his eyes closed and body trembling.
At that moment, he realized the faint sound had stopped.
Only the wind and animal noises were coming into the forest now.
When the hunter, who had been keeping his eyes tightly shut, cautiously opened them.
He realized.
A massive tower stood right in front of him.
Gathering his courage to fully open his eyes, the young hunter understood what the tower was.
The corpses of his comrades and assassins, each with a single hole pierced precisely between the brows, stacked neatly like a tower.
Hiiiiik!
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