Type-Moon, I heard that after death, you can ascend to the Throne of Heroes?

Athena said making Artemis tilt her head, completely unable to understand.

However, she was not speaking to Artemis, but to the goddess of justice Themis standing beside her.

Athena turned her head to look at Themis and said, "Witness it with me, Themis, just like that day in the pure white court... the most beautiful moment."

The goddess of wisdom loves heroes. In fact, to be more precise, she loves the moment when heroes move forward step by step in the seemingly desperate abyss, never give up, look for that glimmer of hope, and finally leap up.

Standing at the highest point facing the most beautiful sunshine, that dazzling moment.

Hearing this, the goddess of justice Themis, who was covered with a white cloth, suddenly smiled faintly, and then replied faintly: "Really... But, I don't seem to be able to see."

Athena's smile froze instantly. She glanced at Themis unhappily, then ignored her and looked at Artemis, saying, "Want to bet?"

"...Bet!" Finally, the Moon Goddess looked up and gave an answer.

......

......

I made a mistake from which I could not return.

I angered the noble god and hunted her messenger...

In ancient Greek mythology, deer were regarded as the most sacred animals by Artemis herself, and the golden-horned deer were Artemis's favorite messenger.

One of the twelve trials of Hercules was to hunt the golden-horned deer.

When Hercules' arrow pierced the bronze hoof of the Golden Horned Deer and he was preparing to return home carrying the huge body of the Golden Horned Deer, he was greeted by Artemis, the goddess of the moon, and Apollo, the god of the sun. Finally, Athena secretly found Zeus, and Hercules successfully brought the Golden Horned Deer back home and let it go that night.

So actually that day,

When the excited Actaeon chased the golden-horned deer all the way to the sanctuary of Artemis, he saw Artemis who had just emerged from the bath and was comforting the golden-horned deer.

And looking at himself with great anger.

Actaeon was first completely attracted by the beauty of Artemis who had just emerged from the bath, and then when he came to his senses, he knew that he was finished.

After guessing Artemis's identity, the frightened Actaeon actually wanted to kneel down and beg for forgiveness on the spot, but Artemis at that time did not give him such a chance at all.

Both his gaze at that time and the harm he caused to the golden-horned deer had made Artemis completely furious.

So she cursed Actaeon and drove him back with her arrows.

Actaeon ran for a long time. At first, he did not notice the changes in his body. Instead, he was grateful that he had survived the hands of the gods.

After running for a long time, he became tired and thirsty and stopped beside a spring.

Just as he was about to drink the sweet spring water, he finally discovered that his hands had turned into bronze hooves, and there was a monster reflected in the spring water.

He was so frightened that he wanted to scream in fear, but the sound he made was so unfamiliar to him. He touched his body in panic, and it took him a long time to finally realize that he had turned into a monster and understood the punishment from God.

So from that day on, Actaeon, who dared not return to the human world, lived in this ancient forest.

And because he was an excellent hunter, he was never discovered by people who came to the mountains until more than half a month later, when Artemis held this hunting sacrifice.

With Actaeon's excellent hunting skills and the fact that all the hunters thought it was just an ordinary hunt at the beginning.

Even overnight, it might be impossible to find him.

So the reason why he was exposed so quickly was that Actaeon appeared on his own initiative... He didn't know what had happened, but after he found Meleager, his friend, in the crowd, he could no longer control his emotions and appeared before him excitedly.

He wanted to seek help from Meleager, and opened his mouth with tears in his eyes, wanting to tell Meleager what had happened, but since he could not speak human words and could only make the roar of a monster, so what greeted him in the end was naturally Meleager's arrow.

There were also hunters who heard the noise and ran over to surround and kill the enemies.

Under such circumstances, he finally heard the truth from the crowd.

Artemis initiated a hunting sacrifice, and the prey was obviously him who had turned into a monster!

Since you like hunting so much, you can become the prey yourself and eventually die in the hunting... There is no doubt that this is the punishment that Artemis gave to Actaeon. For this reason, Artemis even deliberately preserved Actaeon's consciousness.

However, because of this, although many hunters were injured, there were no casualties.

Actaeon, who was hiding in panic, had turned into a monster and his whole body was strengthened. Although he had hidden far away and in the dark, he still heard what Meleager said and even saw him holding up his sword and pointing it at everyone.

Prepare to conquer your own scene.

At this moment, the hunters lit the torches again.

Their flames lit up the silent ancient forest at night and gradually shortened the space in which Actaeon could move.

In the dark, Actaeon licked his own bleeding body.

Watching the flames that represented the driving away of darkness and wild beasts getting closer and closer to him, Actaeon couldn't help but reveal deep despair in his eyes.

He knew he was going to die.

And...he will die at the hands of his best friend.

Actaeon didn't want to die, so just as he was about to go deeper into the forest, he suddenly remembered what Meleager had just said.

Nuoyan also participated in this hunting sacrifice.

Thinking of him, Actaeon couldn't help but think of the words that Promise had always said... He would eventually die gloriously on the road to becoming a hero.

It seems that I can't die gloriously on the road to becoming a hero, but instead I will become a monster that the hero fights...

At this moment, Actaeon realized more than ever that he had become a monster.

He looked down at his deer body and bronze hooves.

At this moment, despair finally overwhelmed him completely. He lowered his head and gave up resisting.

After a while, a sudden scream was heard and he was discovered.

Meleager came and was stunned when he saw the huge monster sitting there with its scarlet eyes closed, as if waiting to die.

Then they quickly gathered people and tied him up with ropes from a distance.

Because they had just witnessed the monster's extraordinary power, no one dared to approach him easily.

Just as Actaeon was preparing to quietly welcome his death, his deer ears suddenly moved slightly. He opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked into the depths of the forest in confusion.

He heard a familiar sound of a harp... It was the same sound of a harp that he often heard when the Centaur sage Chiron was teaching in the Pilwen Cave.

The strings of the Centaur Chiron's harp are soft and melodious, the melodies of Apollo's son Orpheus' harp are majestic and magnificent, but only the sound of Promise's harp is ethereal and changeable, and the sound is melodious like bells in the wind, and sometimes like the sound of an ancient harp, loose, deep, distant and cleansing to the heart.

That weak fellow couldn't draw the bow for archery, couldn't hold the sword steadily, and encountered obstacles everywhere in martial arts. But in art, he was like being embraced and passionately kissed by the goddess of art. He learned the arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting faster than the last one!

Actaeon realized that it was the sound of the piano of Promise, so his mind couldn't help but recall those good times when he was studying, which were worth remembering.

Actaeon naturally wanted to meet him, and at the same time...

Since I have turned into a monster, why not let him... become a true hero who kills the monster under the witness of the goddess Artemis!

What Nuoyan didn't know was that when he was studying under Chiron, he not only left a deep impression on his fellow students, but also indirectly influenced them.

After all, in the eyes of Chiron and others, although Nuoyan is weak, he has been working hard, and his dream of becoming a hero is not empty talk. He is not even afraid of death.

When such a thought came to his mind, Actaeon could no longer hold back, and he struggled hard, using all his strength.

This sudden change caught everyone, who were gradually relaxing, off guard.

Therefore, Actaeon easily broke free from the restraints, rushed out of the encirclement again, and ran towards the depths of the ancient forest, and this time Atalanta followed him steadily.

She did what she had just said, and this time she would not get lost.

Atalanta was very fast. Even in the ancient Greek Age of Gods, few people could outrun her. This is why there is the story of Atalanta and the golden apple.

But facing Actaeon who had transformed into a giant deer, Atalanta had to use up almost all her strength just to chase him, so she was unable to draw her bow to effectively block him.

After running at full speed for about ten minutes, Atalanta, who had a sensitive hearing, finally heard the sound of the harp.

Why is there piano sound here?

As soon as this thought came to Atalanta's mind, she recalled the harp she saw on Nuoyan during the hunting sacrifice.

At that time, Atalanta thought that if it was Nuoyan who played the piano, it would definitely sound very nice...

Damn!

Atalanta gritted her teeth, drew the bow in her hand while running, and shot at Actaeon with all her might with an extremely difficult move.

The bow in Atalanta's hand was a weapon blessed by the moon goddess Artemis, so it easily pierced through the fur of the giant deer. But even so, what Atalanta did not expect was that the monster still did not stop.

Finally, after a few minutes, Atalanta saw from afar Promise, a man in black, sitting on the stone of the pond, playing the harp with his eyes closed and humming a song.

Even though she saw him, Atalanta did not say a word to remind Nuoyan to run away until she realized that the monster was actually going towards Nuoyan.

Great goddess Artemis, please bestow your magnificent blessings upon your most loyal believers!

Atalanta knew that she could not go on like this, so she stopped, took a deep breath, then raised the bow in her hand and slowly pulled it open under the light of the full moon.

Silver magic was attached to her arrow, and Atalanta, with a determined look in her eyes, gave her all at this moment.

And just when she was about to shoot the arrow.

The beautiful figure that appeared in the moonlight came behind Atalanta, stretched out her white fingers, and lightly touched the arrow.

The power dissipated instantly. Atalanta put away the arrow, turned her head, opened her holy blue eyes wide, and looked at the goddess who came to her side with an incredible expression.

"Artemis..."

Just when Atalanta was so shocked that she was about to scream out subconsciously.

Artemis reached out and covered Atalanta's mouth, and put the index finger of her other hand to her lips, smiling softly, telling Atalanta not to make a sound.

Then he turned his head, and his sky-blue eyes looked at the scene in front of him with great interest.

While being shocked, Atalanta subconsciously followed Artemis' gaze and naturally took in the situation in front of her.

She found that the monster, which was running at full speed, suddenly stopped.

He walked carefully towards the young man sitting on the stone, as if afraid of making any noise and disturbing Nuoyan.

After a while, he finally came to Nuoyan.

Just as Atalanta was watching this scene and couldn't help but want to move again, Artemis reached out and held her again, so in the end Atalanta looked at the monster... and sat down quietly in front of Nuoyan.

Atalanta was stunned for a moment, looked at the monster, then looked at Nuoyan, and finally looked at the beautiful goddess beside her.

She hesitated, and finally put down the bow and arrow.

And the tense mood gradually relaxed with the appearance of the goddess.

Then the lingering, subtle and long sound of the piano once again entered her ears.

In the quiet ancient forest, the breeze blowing at night made the forest move slightly, and the rustling sound seemed to be accompanying him.

Atalanta raised her head and looked at Nuoyan, who was completely immersed in the state, playing the harp as if he knew nothing.

Look at the figure reflected in the clear pool water under the light.

Atalanta found herself having to admit that that was the promise at the moment, that the sound of his playing was not only beautiful, but it even... looked really good!

At least it's much more pleasing to the eye than those guys who only know how to ravage and be violent!

As time went by, the small animals in the forest that were frightened and ran away because of their sudden arrival appeared again at this moment.

Even the sharp-eyed Atalanta saw the figures of several nymphs.

Fireflies emitting faint light were flying in the air, and birds came following the sound, some even landing on Actaeon, who was sitting quietly next to Nuoyan.

It pecked at his body, probably curious about what kind of creature it was.

Even the golden-horned deer that was hiding in fear because of Actaeon couldn't help but walk out, came to the side of the goddess Artemis, and gently rubbed his goddess.

Atalanta looked at all this and suddenly thought of a legend.

That is the legend about Apollo, the god of light and the younger brother of Artemis, the goddess of the moon.

Apollo, the god of light, is also the god of music and the most handsome of all the male gods.

According to legend, he had a golden lyre, and whenever he played the lyre and sang, all living beings in the world would be attracted to him, stop all the disputes in their hands, come to him and listen to his lyre.

Thinking of this legend, Atalanta subconsciously looked at Nuoyan again.

After a long time, he shook his head.

What am I thinking? How can he be compared with the great Apollo!

Because of Artemis, the moon goddess, Atalanta naturally had great respect for Apollo.

She even received Apollo's blessing for this.

And at this moment, Nuoyan finally stopped playing.

Slowly opened his eyes.