Atalanta herself wasn't sure exactly when she'd started to care so much about this guy. At first, it had just been irritation, a petty urge to get back at him, to disgust him a little.
But she'd grown up in the paradise of Arcadia; she never bothered hiding her true feelings.
If she liked something, she liked it. If she hated something, she hated it.
Once a hunter marks her prey, how could she ever let it escape?
Atalanta clung fiercely to Rovi's lips, savoring every breath they shared.
Honestly, even Rovi found himself moved by this unexpected turn. What man could remain indifferent, faced with such bold sincerity from a girl?
Instinctively, his hands reached out, settling gently on her slender waist, caressing her hair.
They stood just outside Athena's temple. If Rovi hadn't manifested Mystery in time to conceal their presence, a certain Goddess of Wisdom would already have stormed out.
After a long moment, their lips parted.
A faint, glistening strand snapped between them.
"I've marked you now—you're officially my prey!" Atalanta's cheeks flushed faintly, yet her stubborn little fangs were bared defiantly. "No matter where you run, you'll never escape!"
"I'll wait for you back in Arcadia's paradise. But if you dare not come back… I'll never forgive you!"
Her voice lingered in the air as the swift girl disappeared in an instant.
She didn't head towards the Argo's dock but instead set off directly for Arcadia.
Rovi lightly touched his still-moist lips, then turned, noticing a towering figure who'd appeared unnoticed at the end of the road.
"I just arrived; I saw nothing." Heracles raised his hands innocently.
"Even if you had, it's no big deal…" Rovi's brows twitched slightly. Despite saying that, he still felt somewhat... awkward.
I didn't even do anything. How did things end up like this?
"Planning to make a run for it?"
Heracles' face was dead serious.
"Run from what?" Rovi exhaled slowly. "Even if it makes me scum, I'd rather choose everything than abandon everything and regret it."
"I hate regrets."
"You're pretty greedy, Mr. Rovi!" Heracles remarked.
"Don't act like you're not." Rovi shot him a sidelong glance. "Trying to keep your humanity while playing the hero… You're no better!"
Heracles scratched his head and laughed. "Who doesn't get greedy in this world?"
"By the way, why are you here?" Rovi suddenly asked. "Weren't you watching the ship?"
"No need anymore." Heracles smiled broadly. "Someone emerged from it."
A hero had finally broken free from the trial Rovi had created using Hermes' power.
"That guy didn't disappoint me after all!" Heracles didn't seem surprised but looked extremely pleased.
Jason?
Even cornered heroes have their redeeming qualities, huh?
Escaping that trial surely marked him as a real hero now.
But Rovi had secretly added one more safeguard. If anyone who emerged reverted to their old ways, the trial would trigger again before they could cause harm—
And drag them back in once more.
When eradicating evil, leave nothing to chance.
"Since you're here, I'm not returning to the ship." Rovi said. "Take that guy with you."
"The Argo's adventures ultimately belong to you guys, not me." Hands dropping loosely at his sides, he glanced sidelong at the distant hollow sun. "This era is yours."
No matter how much he might wish to become a "hero," Rovi couldn't escape the shadow of his past.
He was one of the Three Kings of Uruk.
He was Uruk's Sage.
He was a shadow belonging to a bygone era.
Heracles remained silent. After a long pause, he took a deep breath and spoke—
"Heracles, disciple of Chiron, awaits the day his teacher returns!"
Rovi waved dismissively, turned, and walked back toward the temple.
Inside—Athena lifted her eyes, noticing Rovi returning.
"Let's go," he said.
The Goddess of Wisdom and War smiled.
She nodded gently.
...
The Argonauts' adventure had reached midway, with heroes plunged into trials he bestowed. When they emerged, forged anew through blood and fire, they'd grasp the true meaning of heroism.
Yet he had chosen a different path.
Parting ways with the Argo, he'd never belonged aboard. He wasn't a hero, merely a shadow cast by an era past.
An unacknowledged hero set forth toward the Abyss.
—Greek Myths.
...
"So this is the Abyss?" Half a day later, Rovi paused atop Thessaly's plains in central Greece, gazing downward.
"Yes, exactly—below is the Abyss." Athena, clad now in a snow-white gown beneath silver armor, carrying a spear and shield, confirmed calmly.
If the previous Athena was a wise prophetess and goddess overseeing arts, the woman standing now radiated the fierce aura of a valkyrie poised for battle.
She stood proud, eyes sharp and fierce.
Following Rovi's gaze—
Grass scattered across the endless wilderness beneath the sky. The sunlit earth looked sliced open, jagged fissures exposing colors of blood and fire. Even from a distance, Rovi could feel the terrifying heat spilling forth.
The Abyss—Tartarus—waited below.
"I hope it won't disappoint." Rovi stretched lightly, a faint smile crossing his lips.
"It won't," Athena smiled as well.
After all, the Goddess of Wisdom and War was naturally drawn to those who embodied courage!
Lava churned beneath the abyssal rift. Rovi and Athena leaped together, vanishing instantly into waves of radiant heat and blazing light.
...
"Someone entered the Abyss?" High above, Apollo, Helios's superior, who governed all radiant things and perceived every shift in creation beneath Helios himself, felt it immediately. "Athena and… that Sage?"
At that exact moment, Apollo received Zeus's command:
"Tell Hades, Lord of the Netherworld, to be prepared for guests."
"Tell him to properly receive the one who was once Uruk's Golden King, who now rules as…"
"King of Mesopotamia's Netherworld!"
BOOM!
Thunder roared.
At the edge of the Netherworld echoed a wildly arrogant laugh:
"Hmph—hahaha! How amusing! Such a grand welcome arranged just for this king's reunion with an old friend?"
"Mongrels!"
---
T/N: GILLY WILLY IS BACK