—
Thanks to Rayx2108 for being the beta reader and quality supervisor of this chapter
–
Antares roared, this time with a fury like never before. The earth shook, the walls of the ruins creaked, and the air seemed to fill with a piercing, skin-tingling vibration.
In front of them, the monstrous scorpion twisted its pincers violently, reacting to the new intruder that slowly descended from the sky like a living sun.
Bell's group, still formed after leaving the shelter, felt fear creep like poison into their hearts.
Hermes clenched his jaw, cold sweat sliding down his forehead.
"Asfi…" he murmured, his voice low but tense, "wasn't there enough trouble already?"
Asfi's pale face spoke volumes. She looked between Antares and the dragon, analyzing every muscle in their bodies, every spark of energy they radiated… and she didn't like what she saw.
"We're going to die," Lulune muttered, her ears twitching.
Laurier, Tabitha, and Meryl, the rescued women, gripped their weapons nervously. Even Artemis's lips tightened, her hand resting on her sheathed dagger.
From their perspective, the situation was clear: not only did they have to face the horror of Antares… now there was also a dragon.
It was a battle that seemed impossible.
Hermes took a deep breath, trying to calm the chaos he felt growing in his chest.
"Okay, listen," he said, in his most authoritarian tone, trying to impose some order. "We regroup. We defend our positions. We don't attack the dragon unless it attacks us first."
"What part of 'giant fire dragon' don't you see!?" Lulune blurted out, almost hysterical.
"Silence!" Hermes growled.
Artemis stared at Bell intently. Something inside her told her there was more than they could see… but for now, they had to survive.
In front of them, Yharon landed.
The ground shook gently under his weight. His wings closed slowly, and his withering gaze focused completely on Antares.
He didn't utter a word. He didn't roar. He just existed there, like an unstoppable force... waiting.
Bell, for the first time since it all began, allowed a slight smile to cross his face.
They were not alone.
The battle for life, for Artemis's memory, and for hope itself… was just beginning.
Bell began to walk forward, straight towards the golden beast.
"What are you doing?!" Hermes shouted, reaching out as if he could stop him.
"Come back, idiot!" Lulune squealed, not daring to move from her spot.
Asfi, tense, was about to run after him… but something in Bell's calmness stopped her. It was as if the boy was completely sure of every step he took.
"He's crazy!" Asfi muttered, glancing at the others.
Ignoring the shouts and warnings, Bell continued on his way until he reached Yharon's side. The enormous dragon lowered its head slightly at the sight, letting out a deep breath that stirred Bell's white hair.
As casual as could be, Bell reached out and stroked Yharon's glowing flank. His fur burned like the sun, but it didn't scorch his palm.
Then, with a nimble leap, he launched himself onto the dragon's back, sitting between its enormous folded wings.
The silence that fell over Hermes' group was absolute.
Nobody could even process it.
Bell himself, the boy who until recently was a simple adventurer, was now riding a dragon as if it were his personal steed.
Hestia watched the scene with a proud smile, while Artemis, although still holding her breast, let out a sigh of relief.
Bell stared ahead, locking eyes with Antares, who was writhing in fury, its tentacles whipping through the air.
"Come on, buddy," Bell said quietly, just enough for Yharon to hear.
The dragon let out a thunderous roar that shook the very souls of those who heard it, and in a burst of golden fire, it charged towards Antares.
Engulfed in flames like a living meteor, Yharon soared low through the air, while Bell, firmly on his back, prepared to fight the greatest battle of his life.
Engulfed in golden flames, it rammed straight into Antares's massive body, impacting with a thunderous crash that shook the entire underground coliseum. The monstrous scorpion let out a piercing screech as it was pushed slightly backward, legs screeching against the cracked floor.
Without pausing, Yharon flapped his fiery wings and rapidly flew away in a fluid motion, dodging a brutal pincer attempt from Antares.
Bell, just as Yharon began to retreat, flexed his legs and jumped from the dragon's back with all the strength accumulated in his body.
As he soared through the air, Bell held firmly the spear Artemis had entrusted to him, his silent, glowing companion in the darkness.
His gaze fixed on the target: Antares's enormous, grotesque, pulsating eye, located where the stinger should be on a normal scorpion.
The eye tried to follow Bell's movement, spinning horribly, but it was too slow.
Bell descended like an arrow of silver and fire, the spear ready to pierce.
The whole world seemed to hold its breath.
Every fiber of his being, every beat of his heart, throbbed in perfect synchrony with his destiny: to reach and destroy.
The roar of the wind surrounded their descent.
And, in that moment, there was only him, his spear… and the enemy that had to be defeated.
Bell hit Antares's giant eye directly.
The spear pierced the slimy surface with a sickening sound, causing the monster to let out a piercing scream that shook the entire coliseum.
Without stopping, Bell used the same momentum from his attack to propel himself back into the air just as Yharon, spun around in the flame-enveloped sky, returned for another lunge.
Bell landed cleanly on the golden dragon's back, holding on firmly as Yharon roared in fury and shot away from Antares in a flurry of fire and speed.
Hermes' entire group, along with Asfi, Lulune, Falgar, and the others, were completely paralyzed.
Mouths wide open, eyes wide open. No one was able to say a word.
Finally, one of them whispered in disbelief:
"That guy… wasn't he level 1?"
Hestia, with a smile between proud and resigned, answered while crossing her arms:
"He's actually level 2."
A murmur of surprise ran through the group.
"Level 2?!" someone blurted out.
"That's impossible!" said another.
"Even a level 3 or 4 couldn't do that cleanly…"
"The strength, the speed… The precision! That's something that far surpasses Level 2…"
Bewilderment, disbelief, and, little by little, a spark of respect began to invade them all.
Meanwhile, among them all, Laurier couldn't take his eyes off Bell.
Her eyes shone with pure admiration, seeing the image of Bell riding Yharon, heroically launching himself against the colossus that threatened the world.
In her mind, Bell wasn't just a strong adventurer.
He was a hero straight out of legend.
Hermes, still watching Bell riding on Yharon, frowned, his expression turning unusually stern.
Without taking his eyes off, he approached Hestia.
"Hey, Hestia…" he said in a low but firm voice. "That dragon… I'm sure it's the same one we saw when we ran into you and Bell in the forest. What's your relationship with it?"
Everyone present, hearing Hermes' tone, turned their curious eyes towards her.
Hestia, with a somewhat nervous smile, looked away while making a small hand gesture, like someone who wants to avoid an uncomfortable conversation.
"Uh… well… that doesn't matter now, does it? Look, Bell's doing a great job!"
She tried to change the subject in a casual tone, although an imaginary drop of sweat seemed to trickle down her forehead.
Hermes narrowed his eyes, obviously not satisfied with the evasion, but he didn't press the issue… for now.
After all, the priority was to kill Antares.
While Bell and Yharon kept Antares busy, skillfully dodging its attacks and attacking the monster with short bursts of fire and strikes, someone else decided to join the offensive.
Asfi, her face serious and focused, activated the winged sandals she was wearing. Her feet lit up slightly as they propelled her into the air, zipping across the open space of the room like an arrow.
From above, she pulled a pair of small glass spheres fhillher belt and, with expert movements, launched them directly toward Antares's front legs.
The explosions were immediate and precise. They weren't strong enough to seriously damage the colossal monster, but they were enough to stagger it and attract its attention.
Antares let out a roar of fury, spinning its massive pincers to try to catch the flying attacker, while Asfi spun away quickly in the air.
"Come on, don't let your guard down!" she shouted from above, as she threw another batch of explosives toward the tentacles connecting Antares to the ruins.
From below, Bell nodded slightly, understanding that this was his chance: Asfi was creating openings.
Yharon roared in response, spreading his wings and gaining height with a powerful leap, while Bell prepared for a new attack.
Bell, riding on Yharon's back, held tightly the spear Artemis had entrusted to him. Every time he attacked, his figure seemed to radiate a white light, as if his very existence were being propelled by the blessing of divine power.
With deadly precision, Bell hurled the spear again and again at Antares's colossal body. Each impact tore deep craters into the monster's hard carapace, sending rumbling sounds through the battlefield. The spear always returned to his hand, almost as if called by an invisible bond.
From the ground, Artemis watched the figure of her Orion. Her heart ached with love… and resignation. Every white flash that enveloped Bell made her smile and cry inside at the same time.
She knew this was the fulfillment of her wish. Bell would end the threat. And her, too. Gently stroking her chest, Artemis murmured softly, barely audible to herself.
"I'll wait for you… Orion… no matter how long it takes… our ten thousand years of love are just beginning."
Meanwhile, Bell, oblivious to her pain, continued to throw himself at Antares again, determined to fulfill the silent promise he had made.
Antares's roar shook the air, and in response, the coliseum's roofless sky lit up with flashes of light. Bell, firmly on Yharon's back, felt his danger sense blessing buzz urgently.
Without a command, Yharon spread his fire-enveloped wings and deftly dodged the arrows of light that began to rain down from above. Bell ducked, hugging the dragon's neck, as blasts of energy tore through the air around them.
But not everyone was so lucky.
Asfi, propelling herself with her winged sandals to avoid the bombardment, couldn't dodge in time. A bolt of light struck her right arm with a brutal blow, eliciting a short, sharp cry. The impact destabilized her, sending her tumbling uncontrollably to the ground.
With a strong impact against the ground and rolling through the rubble, Asfi ended up motionless for a few seconds, holding her injured arm with her face hardened by pain.
"Asfi!" Lulune shouted, running toward her through the shower of light.
Asfi gritted her teeth and, with Lulune's help, managed to take cover behind a piece of collapsed wall, holding her injured arm pressed against her chest. Although she was injured, her gaze remained bright, determined to keep fighting.
In one of its jumps, just as Bell was preparing another attack on Yharon's back, Antares' gigantic pincer moved with brutal speed, completely unexpected for its size.
Bell barely had time to open his eyes in surprise before the blow hit him full force.
"Bell!" Hestia shouted from below.
The impact was violent. Bell was thrown like a bullet, knocking Artemis's spear from his hand. His body arced through the air before slamming into the ruins, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. The dull sound of the impact echoed throughout the coliseum.
Yharon, for his part, roared with fury, but continued to fly nimbly, avoiding Antares's attacks. The fire dragon turned in the air, searching for his companion among the wreckage.
Amidst the dust and debris, as his aching body tried to react, Bell heard that familiar voice in his head:
[Divine Blessing of Weapon Recovery]: Your weapon always returns to you.
No sooner had it finished echoing in his mind than Bell felt a slight tug on his hand. Without fully understanding how, Artemis's spear, which he had lost when he was struck, streaked through the air and landed firmly back in his palm.
Bell's eyes widened in surprise, but his expression immediately hardened. He stood, wobbly at first, but steady. His body was bruised, his breathing labored… but his spirit still burned.
From above, Yharon roared as soon as he saw him rise, as if encouraging him to continue.
"Come on…" Bell muttered to himself, the white glow illuminating him again. "This isn't over yet."
Bell slowly sat up from the rubble, dusting his clothes as he held tightly to the spear Artemis had entrusted to him. His body, wounded but steady, began to glow a deep white, like a flame that refused to go out.
He looked up. Yharon was circling above them, his body ablaze, shielding Bell from the sky.
Bell took a deep breath. He took a couple of shaky steps forward, his stance firm, as if his entire existence depended on a single shot.
With a powerful voice, letting out all his determination, he shouted:
"ORION'S ARROW!"
Without wasting a second, in the same movement, he threw the spear with all his might.
The spear sliced through the air like lightning. Just then, Yharon roared from the sky, exhaling a torrent of fire tornadoes that engulfed the projectile, causing it to blaze like a star in freefall. The fire and light merged, giving the spear the appearance of a white and gold meteor.
The projectile of light and fire hit Antares directly.
A titanic explosion shook the entire coliseum of ruins. A blinding flash lit up every corner, followed by a shockwave that leveled everything in its path. The ground shook, stones flew, and a low roar seemed to penetrate to the very depths of the earth.
And then… Silence.
A heavy, almost unnatural peace descended upon the place.
The air was thick with dust and ash, and shapes were barely distinguishable amid the slowly fading glow. The entire group remained crouched or huddled behind debris, holding their breath, their hearts beating frantically.
Bell, still aching, instinctively reached out… and the spear, guided by his new blessing, returned to his palm, warm and vibrant.
The young adventurer did not let his guard down.
Little by little, the dust and smoke began to dissipate, carried by the wind that descended from the enormous roofless opening of the coliseum.
And then they saw it.
Antares was still there… but it was no longer the towering monstrosity they had faced. It was now a grotesque mass of charred and mangled flesh, barely held together by the cracked fragments of its once mighty scorpion carapace.
The beast's roar had disappeared. Only a faint sound remained, like agonized gasps.
Anatares wasn't dead.
But it couldn't move either.
And it was at that moment, among the broken remains of Antares's body, that Bell saw her:
The crystal.
It glowed softly, almost floating, embedded in the rubble of destroyed flesh.
Inside the glass... was the real Artemis.
Her figure, elegant and serene, trapped as if sleeping in an endless dream.
Bell felt his heart sink.
I knew what I had to do.
But that didn't make it hurt any less.
Bell clenched the spear in his hands, the weight of the decision crushing him more than any wound he could receive.
Before moving, he turned to look at where the other Artemis was—the one who had walked beside them, the one who had smiled and cried beside them.
She held his gaze… and gave him a sweet, melancholic smile.
A simple nod was his signal: "Do it."
Bell turned back to the crystal, where the real Artemis lay trapped.
His steps were heavy, but firm.
With both hands holding the spear she herself had entrusted to him—the "Arrow of Orion," the symbol of her future promise—Bell approached the crystal.
I could see Artemis's peaceful face, as if she were sleeping… As if she expected it.
Without hesitation, Bell raised his spear… and with a cry of pain and resolve, he stabbed Artemis's heart through the glass.
The impact was immediate.
An invisible force violently threw him backward.
Bell rolled on the ground, the spear still in his hand, as the glass cracked with a brittle, shuddering sound.
And then, on the other side, the Artemis who had accompanied the group also began to slowly disintegrate.
Fragments of light floated away from her body, like petals swept by a gentle breeze.
She looked at Bell one last time.
A sad, but loving smile appeared on her lips.
"I'll wait for you, Orion…" her voice whispered, barely audible in the wind.
And finally, it faded away, leaving behind only absolute silence and the sharp pain of goodbye.
The silence was heavy.
There were no explosions, no monsters attacking, no screams.
Only the dull echo of what had just happened.
Bell remained kneeling on the ground, still holding the spear that had pierced Artemis's heart.
His body was shaking, not from physical pain… but from something much deeper.
An invisible weight oppressed him, crushing his chest, robbing him of his breath.
The others—Hestia, Hermes, Asfi, Laurier, Lulune—watched in silence, unable to utter a word.
Their faces showed a mixture of respect, sadness… and some fear.
It wasn't fear of Bell, but of what that act had meant.
Kill a god.
Breaking a sacred taboo.
Taking a life that should have been eternal.
Hermes looked down, closing his eyes as if offering a silent prayer.
Asfi clenched her fists, not daring to come closer.
Lulune hugged Laurier, while she couldn't take her eyes off Bell, seeing him now as something more than a hero... as someone who carried impossible pain.
Hestia was the only one who stepped forward, her expression a mix of love, guilt, and compassion.
"Bell…" she whispered.
But Bell didn't answer.
I just stared at the spot where the Artemis of the group had vanished, where nothing remained.
The spear rested at his side, still glowing dimly with the light Artemis had left behind.
Deep in his chest, in the depths of his soul, he felt the emptiness left by the unfulfilled promise.
The promise of 10,000 years of love.
Bell gritted his teeth, lowering his head.
And although she tried to hold it back, a tear fell silently onto the dusty stone.
He had done the right thing.
I knew it.
But it didn't hurt any less.
…
Darkness.
That was the first thing Artemis felt.
Not the warm glow of Tenkai.
Not the welcoming embrace of the divine home that should have greeted her after her death.
Only an endless abyss, cold and silent, as if the universe itself had forgotten its existence.
"Where am I…?"
Her voice was barely a whisper, floating in the void, without echo or response.
Artemis looked around—if it could even be called "looking"—but there was nothing.
Neither earth, nor sky, nor stars.
Just a darkness so absolute it almost seemed to press against her skin.
She tried to move… but Artemis had no body.
It was just consciousness, suspended in an endless void.
Her heart—or what was left of it—began to beat in anguish.
She knew she was dead.
She remembered Bell's gaze, his pain, his determination... the cold tip of the spear penetrating his crystallized heart.
She should have returned to Tenkai, like all the gods when they were killed in the mortal world.
So… why was I here?
An ancient and unknown fear began to invade her.
The gods, though powerful, were not invulnerable to the unknown.
And this place… this was not a place for divine beings.
"Orion…" she murmured sadly.
Had I unintentionally condemned him?
Artemis closed her eyes—or at least, she thought she did—and a single image illuminated the darkness.
Bell's smile, his bravery, his silent love.
Even here, trapped in this incomprehensible void, a small spark of warmth sprang up within her.
"No matter how long it takes…" she whispered tenderly, "I'll wait for you, Orion…"
The darkness did not respond.
But she couldn't extinguish the small light that Artemis protected in her heart.
Artemis continued to float in the vast darkness, trying to protect that tiny spark of hope inside her.
Until she felt it.
A presence.
Immense.
Huge.
Terror invaded her immediately, cold and paralyzing.
It wasn't just instinctive fear, it wasn't something I could rationalize.
It was as if her entire existence was being observed, analyzed, understood… and found to be insignificant.
She, a goddess, an eternal and immortal, felt like a simple mouse in front of an elephant.
No, even worse.
Like a speck of dust floating in front of an infinite mountain.
Artemis's thoughts became chaotic.
What was that?
Why couldn't I understand its form, its nature?
She tried to speak, but she couldn't even form words.
That presence was so immense that its mere existence oppressed space itself.
The void seemed to tremble before her, as if the universe wanted to recede and move away.
Artemis, for the first time in her eternal existence, understood what true terror was.
No fear of dying.
No fear of oblivion.
But fear of something that was so immeasurably superior… that its mere glance could erase its essence if it so desired.
Then, that presence began to approach.
It didn't walk.
It didn't fly.
It just…was, and every moment it was closer.
The spark of hope that Artemis had so hard protected began to flicker dangerously.
"Who… are you…?" shr managed to think, although her mind trembled just from trying to understand.
Suddenly, a sound.
It wasn't a word, not a whisper, but something echoed in the deep darkness.
Something that pierced her being, leaving an indelible mark.
"You won't die…"
That deep, distorted voice echoed in her soul, and for a moment, the terror dissolved, replaced by a strange feeling of… safety? She didn't understand it, but she couldn't deny it. Before she could process it, Artemis felt something pulling her away.
An invisible pull, as if everything around her was absorbing her, taking her somewhere else. Her body, her essence, everything was swept away into nothingness, an unstoppable current leading her to a destination she couldn't understand.
And then…
Nothing.
…
While Bell remained immersed in his thoughts, processing Artemis's death, Hestia remained silent by his side, watching with a mixture of concern and grief. The other members of the group also remained silent, letting the weight of events settle in the air.
Hermes, however, couldn't help but observe the scene more closely. His gaze shifted to the spear Bell still held, the same one Artemis had given him. Something wasn't right. He knew what was expected when a deity died: their divine objects were to return to Tenkai, to the realm of the gods. And yet, there was the spear, still in Bell's hands.
"This doesn't make sense…" Hermes thought, his mind beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together. If Artemis had died, the spear should have returned to Tenkai, to her, like any other divine artifact. But it hadn't. It remained in Bell's hands. Hermes felt a strange sense of unease. It was as if something was off, as if the universe itself was trying to send them a warning, even if he couldn't quite grasp it yet.
"Why is the arrow still here?" he wondered, not daring to express his thoughts out loud. He looked at Bell, who was still staring at the spear in his hands, seemingly oblivious to what was really happening.
At that moment, Hermes began to feel that Artemis's death, though physical, had left something incomplete. Bell's spear, the spear that had been a gift from Artemis, remained there, in his possession, as if it continued to connect his destiny to hers.
"Is there more to this?" Hermes continued to think, unable to shake off a feeling of unease. He knew he couldn't ignore that detail. Something strange was going on. And perhaps there was even more to it than met his eyes.
The silence surrounding the group was suddenly broken by a clear, recognizable voice that echoed in the air: "Hello? Is anyone here?"
Everyone stared in shock, looking around for the source of the voice. Artemis had died. Was this an illusion? An echo of something that no longer existed? They looked around, but there was no sign of the goddess. No trace of her, or her presence.
Until, suddenly, they realized.
The voice came from the spear.
The spear that Bell still held in his hands.
Hestia was the first to react, frowning and looking at Bell in disbelief. Hermes, who had been silently watching, was now also completely focused on the weapon. The situation was stranger than he had imagined.
"Artemis?" Hestia asked, unable to contain herself, her voice filled with disbelief.
The spear, with its silvery glow, seemed to be the center of attention, and it was then that, with an almost ethereal softness, Artemis's voice echoed again.
"It's me…" said the goddess's voice, like a whisper that seemed to come from everywhere and, at the same time, from nowhere in particular.
Bell, still not fully processing what had happened, clutched the spear in his hands. His heart pounded, a mixture of wonder and fear filling him. What did it all mean? Artemis was dead; why was she speaking through her spear?
"What's going on?" Bell thought, unable to grasp the magnitude of the situation.
But the answer came, or at least a glimpse of it, when Artemis's voice spoke once more, clearer, but also filled with something else… a sense of despair.
"Orion… I'm trapped," Artemis's voice broke slightly, struggling to find the right words, "This… this wasn't what I expected. What did you do? What happened?"
The goddess's presence was unmistakable, and now, somehow, she remained trapped within the spear. Something had changed. Something Bell didn't understand, but his intuition told him it wasn't simple.
Bell, still holding the spear, suddenly felt a gentle warmth run down his arm and into his chest. A surge of energy unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. A silver glow emerged around the spear, and clear words formed in his mind:
[Divine Blessing of the Moon Goddess]: The goddess Artemis has bonded with the "Arrow of Orion." Till death do us part.
Bell's heart pounded as a deep understanding dawned on him. His blessing—the strange ability the world itself had granted him—hadn't allowed Artemis to simply disappear.
Somehow, his ability had taken the goddess's essence, trapped her within the "Orion Arrow," sealing her existence to Bell's.
Now, Artemis was neither alive nor completely dead.
She was bound to him. To his soul, to his destiny… until the end of her days.
Bell slowly lowered his gaze to the spear, feeling not only its physical weight, but also the living presence of Artemis within it. Artemis, his Artemis, was still there.
However, that bond wasn't a victory. It was a reminder. A bond born of love… and tragedy.
As Bell continued to hold the spear, a trembling voice resounded from it again:
"What was that?…"
No one in the group had said anything. They were all too stunned, looking around, trying to understand where the voice was coming from.
But Bell, feeling it inside, understood.
Perhaps, in some inexplicable way, Artemis—now part of the spear—had been able to hear what her blessing had revealed to her. She had felt their new connection, even if she didn't yet understand exactly what had happened.
Bell clutched the spear a little tighter to his chest, his expression hardened by a mixture of pain and relief. Artemis was confused, lost… but she was alive. In a different way, impossible for any god or mortal.
Bell, in a low, calm voice, spoke towards the spear:
"Don't worry… you're safe. You're in the spear… the same one you gave me."
There was a brief silence. Artemis's voice faltered slightly, as if she still didn't fully understand:
"In… the spear?"
Bell nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see him. "Yes. Somehow… you're still here."
Artemis's confusion was still palpable, but her breathing, though barely perceptible through the bond, slowly began to calm.
The group still looked at them with a mixture of bewilderment and tension, not daring to interrupt.
Bell, holding the spear firmly, closed his eyes for a moment, determined to protect it… now more than ever.
Hermes was the first to break the heavy silence, shaking his head slightly as if clearing away all the confusion.
"The explanations can wait," he said firmly. "Now the important thing is to get out of here. Let's return to camp."
His voice brought some sense back to the group, who still seemed caught between surprise and doubt. Hestia nodded quickly, approaching Bell and placing a hand on his shoulder to encourage him to move.
Without another word, they all began to advance cautiously, leaving the half-collapsed ruins behind. Each step took them further away from that heavy place… and closer to new answers that, sooner or later, they would have to face.