The moon goddess was gone, the sailors were gone, and now it was just Night alone.
Fortunately Artemis didn't deceive him and really did leave the divine deer behind.
When he returned to the shore, he came face to face with the legendary Ceryneian Hind.
Up close, it was exactly as the myths described.
Red in color, larger than any horse or ox, with golden antlers and bronze hooves.
The other description, that it could run faster than an arrow loosed from a bow, would have to wait until he rode it himself.
This was a mount only the goddess herself had ever ridden.
No second person had ever sat on its back.
Since Artemis had left in such a hurry, she had casually handed the task of sending Night off to the Ceryneian Hind.
The divine deer, which understood everything, walked up to him and lowered its head and front knee, as though inviting him to climb on.
Night: "..."
Okay, he could spend a full year boasting to Telephus about this afterward.
The deer that had given Heracles himself endless grief, the one he could never catch no matter how long he chased it, was now calmly inviting him to get on.
Agamemnon had killed a sacred deer and been forced by Artemis to sacrifice his own daughter just to pass through the storm.
Night had the feeling that arriving on this divine steed was going to make certain people's faces go very green.
Though what did any of that have to do with "Griffith Lista"?
He swung himself onto the deer's back.
It rose to its feet, then launched into the sky at a full sprint across empty air.
In an instant, blazing speed, the ultimate divine velocity unfolded before his eyes.
Even with the leg talent inherited from Achilles, he could not even process it.
In the space of a few breaths,
The divine deer carried him straight across the sea and into the clouds.
Then a few more breaths, a cry from the Ceryneian Hind, and it dove from the sky and landed on solid ground.
Boom!!
Dust exploded in all directions.
Free of the goddess, the divine beast was running wild with total abandon.
Fuck!!
Night had both arms wrapped tight around its neck by sheer instinct.
He had some understanding now of why Heracles chased this thing for a whole year without catching it.
To be honest, Heracles was not exactly known for his speed.
How he managed to chase this creature for an entire year without losing it was a genuine mystery.
Night was seriously starting to wonder.
From that isolated island at least three or four days of sailing away from Troy, they crossed the sea and reached land in the space of a few breaths.
He took a brief look at the familiar surroundings.
This was the port he had left from.
...!!!!
He was already at Troy?!
It's fucking absurd.
Although it was nowhere near the speed of Hermes's divine sandals, which could reach any point in the Greek world with a single thought, it was still terrifying.
Compared to this divine deer, the divine horse he inherited from Achilles was like an ordinary animal you could find anywhere.
Then, guided by his memory, the deer made its way toward the camp where the Greek alliance was stationed.
Because Night arrived on the divine deer and moved far faster than the sailors who had sailed back, the news of him becoming Artemis's follower had not yet had time to spread back to the Troy front.
And when a herald came to Odysseus, nervously and with some stuttering, to report that the hero Griffith Lista had appeared at the outer perimeter of the camp,
Because Achilles and Agamemnon had already fallen out, the soldiers originally stationed at the outermost line under Achilles had all been replaced with Odysseus's men.
After hearing the report, Odysseus paused for just a moment.
This fast?
Scheming as ever, his first reaction was suspicion.
Based on the departure time shown in the letter from Mysia, someone named Griffith should still be out at sea, not arriving at the allied camp for another four or five days at least.
How could he already be here?
Was this someone in disguise?
But regardless, this involved a hero, and with something like this it was naturally better to...
He pivoted immediately.
Let Agamemnon decide for himself.
This scoundrel passed the problem along.
Odysseus immediately ordered the herald to bring the news to Agamemnon, while keeping his own suspicions to himself.
Either way it was none of his business.
Even if it turned out to be a trap, Agamemnon would be the one getting played.
Best-case scenario, Agamemnon got himself killed, and everyone could happily pack up and go home.
On Agamemnon's end, after hearing the report, he simply said he understood.
He neither ordered anyone to go greet the visitor nor told them to turn the person away.
The herald did not dare say another word and could only wait in silence.
And so Night was left standing outside for a considerable stretch of time.
Even when no one showed up to receive him, he was remarkably calm about it, not angry, just finding it a little strange.
'I arrived on Artemis's divine deer. With that unmistakable mount, are these Greeks actually blind? How do they not see it?'
Leaving him standing out here like this was slapping Artemis across the face.
Surely Agamemnon and the others had not gotten so comfortable so quickly after the lesson they already learned about offending the goddess.
After waiting a while longer with still no one coming, the corner of his mouth curved into something dangerous and gleefully unbothered.
'Even for my goddess's sake, I have no choice but to make a scene here.'
What a rare opportunity to stir things up with good reason.
If he didn't flip the Greek alliance upside down, he wouldn't deserve to call himself a devotee of the moon goddess.
And so,
Night leaned down slightly and murmured something close to the divine deer's ear.
The deer nodded, then began walking calmly toward the interior of the camp.
The soldiers at the gate were startled and instinctively moved to block the way.
"Please wait, hero. Without orders..."
The soldier tried to continue.
"Stand aside!! Soldier!
Open your eyes and look at what stands before you. This is the beloved divine deer of the great goddess Artemis, sovereign of the moon!
I am willing to wait outside and endure any discourtesy or humiliation.
But anyone who attempts to block or harm this deer, I will treat as my mortal enemy, and I will not rest until it is settled!
Choose your death like a fool or your life like someone with sense!
If you draw your weapons here, I will take it as a sign of blasphemy against my goddess. For warriors who have abandoned their faith, the blade in my hand will show no mercy!"
....
His voice carried an overwhelming pressure, with even a trace of the draconic bloodline of Rome stirring to life within it.
Never mind that he had no actual sword in hand.
When that fearsome authority combined with a voice that had been blessed by the god of music and now carried a penetrating quality like an arrow flying through air, the words hit the camp like a shockwave.
Even the atmosphere trembled, as though the words had sounded directly in the ears of countless people at once.
A great many people inside the camp heard it clearly in that moment.
Including Odysseus, who had been sitting back with his hands clasped, intending to watch the drama play out from a safe distance.
His head snapped up sharply, and he looked toward the camp's outer edge with something close to alarm.
The information packed into that voice reached him all at once, and he immediately understood and could no longer sit still.
Wait,
What was going on here?
Griffith did not come alone?
A divine deer. What divine deer... and one connected to the moon goddess, at that.
There was only one possibility.
The moment that possibility crossed his mind, Odysseus's expression shifted immediately.
The herald didn't tell him the other party arrived riding Artemis's beloved divine deer.
Damn it.
He had been played.
.
.
.
(End of the Chapter)