At the same time, on the Mount Olympus—
In the grand temple illuminated by the sacred flame, as the sea god Poseidon was quarreling (arguing fiercely) with the goddess of wisdom Athena, his heart suddenly clenched violently, a sharp pain radiated from his chest, and a strong sense of foreboding surged into his mind.
Something had happened...
Poseidon's face changed drastically as he instinctively stood up from his seat, preparing to leave.
However, just as he made a move, Athena abruptly stood up and coldly snorted.
"You want to leave before we're done talking?"
As she spoke, the violet eyes of the goddess of wisdom flickered with a sharp gleam.
Something is wrong!
Most likely it's Atlantis's backup plan!
Although she didn't know the specifics, judging by her uncle's reaction, it definitely wasn't anything good.
Since that's the case, there's even more reason not to let him leave and clean up the mess!
Seeing Athena confront him, Poseidon immediately became annoyed and shouted.
"We'll deal with this later! I'm tired!"
"You come and go as you please. Do you have any respect for Father?
Do you really think Olympus's grand council chamber is your Atlantis's sea temple?"
Athena showed no mercy in her sarcastic retort and each word hit him right in the gut.
Seeing his niece's completely unreasonable attitude, the anxious Poseidon was instantly enraged.
But just as he was about to explode, two scrutinizing gazes descended from the golden throne above, quietly landing on him.
In that moment, a chill ran up Poseidon's spine, silencing him.
The boiling divine blood in his veins cooled instantly.
What Athena said wasn't wrong—this was Olympus.
Although he would eventually bring it under his control, now was not the time.
He had to endure for now.
Poseidon took a deep breath and steeled himself.
"Fine, fine, fine! Isn't it just 17 harbors, 25 villages, and over 300 boats, big and small? I admit I failed to manage my domain well. I'll compensate Crete for the damages!"
As he spoke, the sea god clutched his aching chest and tried to turn and leave.
However, before he could take a step, Athena's figure blocked his path, gently correcting him.
"No, it's 170 harbors, 250 villages, and over 3000 boats, big and small—tens of thousands injured or dead, and an entire Minoan fleet..."
"Hiss—!"
Hearing such unreasonable numbers, Poseidon drew in a sharp breath, his face turning ashen.
"It's ten times more?!"
"That was the price for the first beast tide. But your beast tide came three times. I just got back and confirmed the full damage to Crete."
Athena shrugged with a serious and innocent expression, stating her case clearly.
Three times, and you increased the price tenfold?!
And why didn't you mention this before, only now bringing it up?
This was daylight robbery, wasn't it?
Poseidon's clenched teeth creaked audibly.
His expression darkened, and divine power surged around him in spiraling currents like a typhoon brewing at sea as a dark blue trident appeared in his hand.
"You're playing with me?!"
"Father above—you're not only trying to renege on your debt, but you even want to commit violence!"
Under the immense pressure of the sea god's divine authority, Athena didn't flinch.
She countered aggressively, immediately summoning her gleaming Spear of Victory and Aegis Shield, firmly blocking the golden throne and protecting the just-judging King of Olympus behind her.
"..."
At that moment, whether it was Poseidon, clutching his trident in the hall, or Zeus, the king of gods, sitting on the throne with dark circles under his eyes, both involuntarily twitched their lips and fell into silence.
'No, why are you involving me into this mess.?'
But Athena had introduced him a a just king of gods, so, Zeus couldn't do anything.
The fully-armed goddess of wisdom stood ready with shield and spear, righteously delivering her final ultimatum.
"If we don't get a clear explanation today—this isn't over!"
"..."
Poseidon, who was silenced once more by the scene, looked depressed, his eyes filled with deep frustration.
Who's the unreasonable one here, really?
~~
In front of the house at No. 7, Third Street, Knossos City.
Hestia, having finished tidying up the house, sat lazily on the steps with her chin resting on one hand, basking in the sun.
Her drowsy eyes occasionally glanced toward the city gate.
However, until sunset, among the many passersby, she still didn't see the figure she was waiting for.
"Tch, looks like they're off playing wild again tonight..."
Hestia sighed, walked into the house gloomily, and began preparing a single-person dinner...
By now, she was already used to this kind of thing.
After all, hunting required both patience and skill.
Whether it was trekking through mountains or tracking prey, it usually took a lot of time.
So basically, once those two left, they were gone for days on end.
It seemed like, this time, they would most likely spend a few more days in the forest.
Since her niece Athena had previously left her a special message, asking her not to get involved in Artemis and Lorne's activities—
The obedient goddess of the hearth had no choice but to accept and stay at home quietly.
Anyway, it was just one more month.
Artemis wouldn't be playing for long—she'd be leaving soon.
While muttering this to herself and finding comfort in her thoughts, Hestia poured all her unspent energy into tonight's meal.
~~
The moon set, the stars faded, the golden crow rose in the east, day and night continued to cycle.
In the blink of an eye, seven days and seven nights passed.
Golden sunlight filtered through the morning mist and pierced the vast mountains of Crete.
In a forest that looked like it had been ravaged by a giant beast, a figure lying in the fallen leaves groaned in pain, struggling to open heavy eyelids and awaken from mental chaos.
However, just as physical sensation returned, the barely-awake figure nearly passed out again.
Pain!
Everything fucking hurts!
Every bone felt as if it had been crushed, every inch of muscle torn apart; his internal organs twitched and spasmed as if convulsing under unbearable pressure, sending out cries of anguish; bloody claw and bite marks cut into his tough skin, leaving behind a pitiful trail of scars.
It was as if some poor victim had just endured an inhuman torture session.
What… happened to me?
In a daze, Lorne shook his heavy, swelling head, trying to piece together the truth from some scattered fragments of memory.
Very quickly, as images and some bloody passionate scenes surfaced in his mind and stitched themselves into a coherent sequence, the once half-dead victim suddenly jolted upright, cold sweat instantly dripping from his forehead in thick beads.
He… seemed to have slept with Artemis?
No wait—Artemis seemed to have slept with him!
And in an extremely brutal way!
It was okay at first.
Focussing his body and mind in nothing but the pleasurable sensation of her delicate insides, he could endure, he could forget the tearing pain across his body.
However, as the time went on and on...hours and days...he broke down.
Just thinking about that mental image, of the panther-like goddess perched atop him, riding him again and again with wild abandon, Lorne shuddered involuntarily, feeling a chill down his spine.
Seven days and seven nights—she ravaged me for seven whole days and nights!
You owe me…
Just as the poor, innocent victim was about to voice his accusation against the barbaric goddess of the hunt, an icy sensation at his throat instantly silenced him.
He stiffly raised his head, following the line of a bronze arrow pressing against his neck, and met a face under the trees, cold as ice.
Relying on her superior physical resilience, the goddess of the hunt had apparently awakened before him.
At this moment, one of her hand covered the heaving waves of her chest, while the other had drawn a bronze arrow etched with runes from her quiver, its razor tip pointed directly at Lorne's throat.
In those silver eyes, there was no longer the blazing heat or frenzy from the past seven days, only a biting, bone-chilling cold.
"Gulp…"
Lorne struggled to move his throat, painfully swallowing his saliva, suppressing his thundering heart as his brain raced wildly in the deathly silence.
And in that calm, icy moment, he realized the horror of what had actually happened:
Well, he actually defiled the goddess of hunting, the goddess, who had once sworn eternal chastity, although it was she who did it, and being the weaker and wounded party, Lorne could only endure passively and not only that, even though he tried to stop it,
But, whether he slept with Artemis, or Artemis slept with him—none of that actually mattered.
What mattered was…
What kind of catastrophic consequences would come from defiling a virgin goddess?
And more importantly, as the involved party, how was he supposed to calm her wrath?
As for who did what first, who was on top or bottom, who was right or wrong, none of that was important.
You know other party is a God..you can't reason with gods...
If reasoning worked with these gods, King Minos wouldn't have ended up the way he did.
Not to mention, she was a virgin goddess.
And actually speaking, it was not anyone's fault.
No matter what kind of person she was, no matter how unstoppable she'd been, no matter how violently she had used him, at least, in this matter, Artemis was innocent...
She had never wanted this, so, even if she dealt with him unreasonably, he would not hold it against her.
Of course, that didn't mean that he would simply accept death.
Lorne was also an innocent party in this matter, sure, he ended up getting to fuck a beautiful chaste goddess, but he was a passive party, who was violently ravaged.
He didn't even feel the kind of pleasure and satifaction, from fucking a beautiful virgin goddess.
So, believe him, he really didn't want such a thing to happen.
Although, the moment he saw her moon goddess straddling naked on his crotch, he was basically controlled by his lower half, but after a few more hours..he just felt pain..
And, he still loved his life more.
So, Lorne would not accept death.
But what to do??
To be honest, if he mentally formed the image of the beautiful goddess of hunting, lying naked on the ground, with her closed, breathing heavily, her cunt, still leaking his semen and her cum, Lorne would have really admitted that he didn't regret what happened at all, but the thing was, he didn't see such scene at all.
Well..killing him was the reaction he expected..
So, if he wanted to keep his life—what should he say now?
Finally, as the arrowhead broke through his skin and a trickle of golden-red blood welled up, Lorne gritted his teeth, steeled himself, and closed his eyes heroically.
"Kill me. Before anyone else finds out what happened. If Athena asks, just say it was Orion's doing—you didn't make it in time to stop him…"
The moment those words left his mouth, Lorne didn't open his eyes, but he clearly felt it.
Clearly felt that that bronze arrow at his throat, and the hand holding it, visibly trembled.
(End of Chapter)