Chapter 92: Reality Marble: Heaven's Prison
A heavy rustling sound echoed from the distance, causing Artemis's expression to turn slightly guarded. Securing the child in her arms, Artemis drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it on her bow.
"They're Goblins and Lizardmen."
Lucian's gaze remained indifferent as he turned his palm upward, summoning several flying swords into the air.
"Go."
The flying swords locked onto the distant monsters and shot forward like arrows, indiscriminately slaughtering the horde. Although thousands of years of evolution on the surface had severely degraded the monsters—causing even their Magic Stones to shrink significantly—this display of power still managed to leave Artemis thoroughly amazed.
"Is this also magic?" Artemis asked.
"It is Flying Sword Magic." Lucian chuckled softly as the flying swords quickly returned, hovering obediently in the air.
Even after completing their slaughter, the blades gleamed with a cold light, utterly devoid of any bloodstains.
"They operate by remotely transmitting magic through inscribed spell formulas, so they can technically be considered magic items." "Don't forget," he added, "I am a member of the Hephaestus Familia."
"That is incredible." Artemis offered her praise. "It is a highly efficient and safe method of hunting." "However, manipulating them cannot be easy, can it?"
"Magic control can be trained, just like combat techniques." Lucian replied calmly. "Relying too heavily on raw stat values ultimately limits human creativity."
Just as I thought... I truly have encountered a remarkable child. Artemis thought to herself.
By noon, the pair arrived at a riverbank and took a temporary rest. Lucian pulled a prepared meal from his spatial storage and casually prepared a bottle of milk. Artemis first took a tentative sip herself before gently feeding it to the infant.
"What is this child's name?" Lucian asked.
"Lante." Artemis replied. "She was abandoned in the mountains. As a virgin goddess, I naturally cannot produce milk, so I generally rely on a mother bear's milk to feed her."
Lucian fell utterly silent. Artemis seemed a bit too serious—so strait-laced that she was genuinely lacking in basic common sense. It was no wonder those chaotic, amusement-seeking deities loved to provoke her. If he wasn't worried about being deeply despised, even Lucian would have been tempted to tease her. Heaven's Head of the Disciplinary Committee truly lived up to her reputation.
After finishing lunch, the two resumed their journey, arriving at the ruins just before nightfall.
"We have arrived."
Crossing a stone bridge, they dismounted before a massive, sprawling ruin. Lucian retracted the mental energy fueling his Annihilation Maker, dismissing the horses as they both stared ahead at the ruins.
The grand gates were tightly shut, deeply engraved with beautiful, intricate patterns. Artemis pressed her palm against the stone doors. Radiant light flowed across the surface as the gates, seemingly recognizing their master's aura, slowly rumbled open.
"Let's go."
Artemis took the lead, stepping inside. Lucian followed closely behind, and they soon found themselves deep within the ruins.
Along the lengthy corridor, the stone walls on either side depicted the grueling battles fought by the Spirits back then... It had been a tragically brutal war, and in the end, they still failed to destroy Antares, settling for sealing it away instead. Recalling the faces of her beloved children, a profound sadness pooled in the depths of Artemis's eyes.
Lucian did not disturb her, quietly trailing behind. The relatively short path took them over ten minutes to walk before they finally reached their destination. Pushing open another set of massive doors, Artemis led Lucian into the chamber.
What met their eyes was a colossal black monster resembling a gigantic scorpion, its immense body heavily bound by thick chains. Red runic lines traced across its form, though their glow was visibly dim.
Artemis approached cautiously, immediately inspecting the seals on the chains.
"The seal's degradation is severe." Artemis's expression turned grim. "I fear it will not hold for much longer."
"Indeed. It can last for another sixteen years at most before the seal is completely broken." Lucian nodded in agreement.
Artemis paused, giving Lucian a highly subtle look. Even now, she was constantly taken aback by his myriad of miraculous feats. However, even someone as capable as Lucian likely couldn't repair a divine seal. And in her current mortal vessel, she lacked the power necessary to undertake such a monumental task herself.
"This is extremely troublesome." Artemis couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. After pondering for a moment, Artemis asked, "Is the Hephaestus Familia currently stationed in Orario?"
"Yes, we relocated to Orario not too long ago," Lucian replied with a nod.
"Could I ask you to escort me back to Orario?" Artemis requested. "The seal on Antares is of paramount importance. If it manages to break free, things will become disastrously complicated." "I plan to inform the Great Gods Ouranos and Zeus about this matter to see what solutions they might propose."
Whether they decided to send personnel to reinforce the seal or attempt to subjugate Antares altogether, a trip to Orario was absolutely necessary.
"There is no need for that." Lucian shook his head. "Even if you notify Orario, the one who will handle Antares is still going to be me."
"Huh?" Artemis froze for a moment before exclaiming in pure shock, "Wait... does that mean your objective here was Antares all along!?"
"Bingo." Lucian shifted his gaze toward Antares. "This monster is considerably stronger than I imagined."
In the original timeline, Antares was defeated by a Level 2 Bell Cranel. But from Lucian's perspective, even completely ignoring its anti-divine properties, Antares boasted a raw combat strength roughly equivalent to Level 8 or Level 9. One could argue that after devouring Artemis, Antares hadn't fully assimilated her. Between Artemis actively resisting from the inside and Antares forcibly wielding her Authority, the monster's physical vessel overloaded, plummeting its effective stats down to a mere Level 4. Even so, being defeated by a Level 2 Bell was still incredibly bizarre. It defied all logical sense.
"Can you... actually handle it?" Artemis asked, clearly hesitant.
"Not a problem."
Lucian lightly clapped his hands together, and in the very next instant, the world turned upside down.
"[Reality Marble: Heaven's Prison]."
As Lucian's incantation fell, massive chains tipped with jagged blades violently pierced straight into Antares's flesh. Countless chains continuously impaled the beast, simultaneously wrapping around its colossal body like constricting vipers.
A spine-chilling screech erupted into the air. The red runic lines across Antares's body ignited with blazing intensity as its massive, singular eye snapped wide open. Innumerable black tentacles thrashed wildly, surging forward to strike the two intruders.
Accompanied by a flurry of sharp metallic clangs, Antares's encroaching tentacles were effortlessly severed. Colossal gears ground inexorably in the sky above as a gargantuan magical formula bore down on Antares, systematically dismantling the beast piece by bloody piece.
The sheer visceral cruelty of the scene was overwhelming. Even the infant Lante seemed deeply frightened, bursting into loud, wailing tears.
Yet, even in its dying moments, Antares refused to yield. Its gigantic eye locked onto Artemis, unleashing a blinding beam of light directly at her. This was Antares's Light of Assimilation. Should that radiance envelop her, any God standing there would be rendered completely powerless to resist and instantly devoured.
However, a polished mirror suddenly materialized in mid-air, perfectly deflecting the lethal beam right back at its source.
Artemis stood in utter shock, watching as Antares was meticulously unraveled and erased, atom by atom, until not a single trace of the ancient horror remained.
"It is done." Lucian chuckled softly.
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