If I were to sort out the situation.
Right now, there are signs of a civil war in the Kingdom of Palma.
It is a fight between the two women upon whom Hera and Aphrodite bestowed divine power, and the factions that support them.
Put small, it’s strife between fan clubs; put large, it’s near a religious war.
On top of that, in a situation where Poseidon is suspected of being a demon, if even Hera and Aphrodite turned out to be demons in disguise, it could escalate into a war between gods and demons.
Add to that Heracles, the enormous variable who could bounce any which way.
And of course, Frondier hates variables.
“So I came, but.”
Frondier set foot in a certain forest.
Right after Makia ended, Frondier immediately took leave.
For reference, the winner of Makia was, of course, Pielot. Glaukos, the only one who could be called a variable, lost early, so this result was expected.
Where Frondier stood now wasn’t a completely primeval forest; there was a path formed by the tread of human feet.
There was some distance from here to a small village, but not so far that one couldn’t make it.
“If Heracles were in a place like this, he would’ve been discovered long ago.”
Frondier had come here based on the last-sighting information of Heracles that Jenita had given him, but as expected, he couldn’t find Heracles easily.
He had already activated his sixth sense, yet he couldn’t feel a mighty aura worthy of being called Heracles. Well, if it were that level, he would be skilled at hiding his aura too.
‘Unlike the continent of Falind, records about Heracles in Agoris are clearer and kinder. He’s certainly on this continent. Everyone thinks so.’
Here, Heracles isn’t a mysterious figure whose existence is unknown.
He does exist. And even if someone were to find him, it would be surprising, but not to the degree that the world would flip upside down.
“Maybe coming only on that thought was too high an expectation.”
Even a “last sighting” was something from a few months ago.
If he isn’t residing here, he’ll be hard to find.
“......Can’t be helped.”
Frondier gave up.
He gave up on searching for Heracles.
Frondier looked around and confirmed that no one was there. He confirmed once more with his sixth sense.
And then,
Weaving, Heukcheon
Rank — Divine (Principal God Rank)
Chryselakatos, Iokeira
With both hands he made Artemis’s bow and arrow.
“If I can’t find him, I’ll make Heracles find me.”
He nocked the arrow and aimed at the sky.
A pair that becomes falling rain that unfailingly hits the marked target.
However, when there is no intended target and no aura is imbued, this arrow simply flies toward the sky like any other.
‘But you’ll recognize it, Heracles.’
A trajectory that to an ordinary eye is no different from any other arrow. No—its form is so small that it wouldn’t even be seen.
This arrow is “Artemis’s” arrow.
There’s no way Heracles wouldn’t recognize it. Including the Twelve Labors, the two share a very deep bond.
Whoosh!
Frondier released the bowstring, and the arrow shot skyward, flying far, far away.
While the arrow quietly hoisted up the net of the empty air, Frondier waited with his sixth sense for someone to approach.
While a quiet silence still lingered,
“Hmm, maybe it’s not around here. Or Heracles’s eyes have gotten dim.”
Just as Frondier said that and was about to move,
“Whose eyes did you say have gotten dim?”
When Frondier turned his back, a man standing on a tree branch was looking down at him.
‘......Oh.’
Frondier hid his thudding heart and looked at the man. To think the day would come when he would see Heracles in person.
He was slimmer than expected. No, in truth he had a very muscular, stalwart build, but it was a little different from the Heracles Frondier had imagined. A physique similar to Frondier’s own, only a bit thicker.
And young. No—he could even be called boyish. Is that because he is half-god?
“......Are you Heracles?”
“That name.”
Thud.
The man dropped down from the branch.
“Do not let it pass your lips recklessly. I fear it might spoil in your filthy mouth.”
“What is your name, a dairy product? For it to spoil that easily.”
The man’s eyes filled with fury. Soon those eyes moved to Chryselakatos.
“Why is a mere human holding that bow?”
“Ah, so you recognize it. I was worried you might have forgotten.”
Frondier ostentatiously held the bow out.
“I borrowed it for a moment to find you.”
Frondier mixed ninety percent lies into the truth as he spoke.
In other words, it was a lie.
“Borrowed......? Are you saying Lady Artemis gave you that bow and arrow?”
“No, I said I borrowed it.”
He hadn’t gotten permission.
“I wanted to know where you are. What you’re thinking right now. If you’re planning anything, what that is.”
Frondier sensed that the upcoming situation was going to become extremely chaotic.
If Heracles got involved in this situation, it would turn into absolute chaos.
He didn’t even hope for Heracles to become his ally.
He just needed him to stay still.
“What reason do I have to tell you that?”
“So that means you are thinking of doing something?”
“So then,”
Whoosh—
K-THOOM!!
When the man opened his palm and swept it forward, something crashed against the wall of Heukcheon Frondier had created.
‘......He just threw aura as if tossing a pebble.’
Aura that only a veteran warrior can barely exhale. They say that simply forming a weapon with one’s bare hands means one has reached the pinnacle of aura. Like Pascal, the teacher of Constel and a knight of the Imperial Palace.
And yet, to be able to grasp aura from the air as if it were a stone rolling nearby and hurl it.
‘A different league.’
Cold sweat ran down Frondier’s back.
If Frondier hadn’t blocked with Heukcheon, he would have been blown back and slammed into a tree. If it were an ordinary human, their upper body would have been blown off on the spot.
“I asked what reason I have to answer that.”
The man blazed as if he would charge at once.
He seemed uninterested in the fact that Frondier had blocked with Heukcheon. As if whether it was blocked or he failed to block and died, neither would stir any feeling in him.
“I intend to stop a war.”
“......A war?”
“Yeah. The atmosphere roiling around this continent lately isn’t normal.”
“Hmph. You mean the civil war in the Kingdom of Palma. Such a trifle is petty to me.”
That much, yes.
But that isn’t the war to worry about right now.
“I didn’t come to fight you. I only need to confirm that you’re not involved.”
“......Hoh.”
The man lifted his chin and looked down at Frondier.
No intention to fight. Perhaps he saw those words as a posture of servility toward himself; scorn mixed into his eyes toward Frondier.
“Fine, if you say so I’ll answer you. But before that,”
Tap!
A sound rang,
“Let’s fix your manners first.”
The voice sounded right by his ear.
“Hrk!”
Frondier slipped past the fist and the gust slamming in hard,
CRACK!
The far edge of the ground where he had dodged dented in.
By the pressure of the swing alone.
“You should use honorifics when you speak to a god! Monkey!”
KABOOM!
The next blow—Frondier blocked the fist flying straight for his torso with Heukcheon.
Frondier shouted,
“I always talk casually to gods!”
“Ha! You speak as if you’d met other gods!”
Of course he had.
Among humans, he has probably met the most.
Bang! BOOM! BOOOM!
Fists slammed into Frondier’s Heukcheon one after another. Each time, Frondier’s mana was shaved off in chunks.
Heukcheon itself is originally a liquid, fundamentally unlike other armor. Even if it “breaks,” that doesn’t render it unusable. A momentary gap opens, and soon it moves again to protect Frondier and attack the enemy.
So what’s expended isn’t Heukcheon’s durability, but Frondier’s mana.
“Hm, a strange substance. It doesn’t seem to be of this world.”
The man quickly drew one correct answer.
Frondier still kept a relaxed face, but cold sweat trickled down his back.
‘At this rate I might disobey Mother’s order.’
Come back without a single ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) wound.
This is the strongest order given to Frondier now. While he’s in Agoris, it takes precedence over anything else.
A few minor wounds are fine, but if he gets a scar, it’ll be a disaster.
There’s already a high chance this fight is being watched via shared view, so he’s already walking a tightrope on the line.
‘So I’ve turned the whole of Heukcheon to defense, but this might be dangerous.’
He had no intention of fighting Heracles. That was true.
But at the same time, Frondier wanted to know to what extent Heracles’s power reached.
He had never once faced a half-god.
Is that, in fact, more threatening than a god, more than a demon?
Is it the god itself merely draped over a human body?
However, the major premise absolutely necessary to know that—
‘Do I even have the strength to verify that?’
Swish-swish-swish!
Frondier leapt far back while firing several shots of Heukcheon.
Tatatat!
The man didn’t even think to block and simply kept walking forward.
‘An absurd body.’
Among the enemies Frondier had seen so far, the most physically perfect man was Renzo.
Even that Renzo tried to avoid Heukcheon’s attacks. Of course, even when he was actually hit, his body didn’t get marred.
‘So you’re saying this body is superior to that Renzo’s?’
Or is he even more thickheaded than Renzo?
He is a god, though?
“What is this, it pierces through aura.”
The man muttered as if it were nothing impressive.
“Even at a considerable distance from the user’s body, it shows an extremely fast response. I thought it was telekinesis, but it doesn’t seem so. Well, I’ve never seen a lunatic try to control a liquid with telekinesis.”
As he said, telekinesis can’t handle liquids. It’s very difficult to perceive them as a single entity. If it’s just a tiny droplet, maybe; but as the volume increases, the calculations multiply exponentially.
A mage who could do such a thing would be Ospreet, perhaps. Of course, she herself wouldn’t do it because it’s inefficient.
“You handle it as if it were your own limbs!”
KABOOM!
The man swung his arm once more. Aura washed over Frondier again. This time it had the shape of a wave.
For the man, using aura seemed to be an idea close to playing in water.
“You do have skill enough to be impertinent. But this is as far as that goes—”
The man, as if amused, stepped forward.
At that moment, Frondier’s eyes, who had continued only defending with Heukcheon, flashed.
He had no intention of fighting Heracles.
That was no lie.
That is why Frondier still hadn’t made any weapon with Weaving, and had only been blocking Heracles’s attacks.
Had Frondier made even something like Gram, from that moment on it would no longer be jokes or play.
The man was still treating Frondier with a sense of play.
Therefore.
“──Menosorpo.”
Menosorpo
Weaving in Midair
Rank — Unique
Craft
Wave
“Huh?”
The magic circle expanded, and in front of the man’s eyes, a mana crystal that had been hidden as a fake until now was revealed.
It had been there from the beginning. It had only been there as a fake until just now.
If Heracles still wanted to keep playing tricks,
Then Frondier could play a trick too.
“Will o’ the Wisp.”
Pop!
“What—”
KRAAAAA—!!!
In a moment of complete carelessness, a blue-white flash suddenly erupted right in front of his eyes.
“Guaaah!!”
