Chapter 555 - Kronos (5) (1/2)

“That’s…?” Hercules looked at the nine-layer shield in astonishment.

Yeon-woo nodded. “It’s Aegis.”

Hercules’ expression hardened for a moment. “Why did it go to you?”

“I don’t know, but Athena is in danger.” Yeon-woo’s eyes narrowed. Aegis could withstand and block anything and represented the war goddess Athena. The fact that it was damaged so severely meant… ‘She must have lost a lot of her divine powers. She’s in serious danger.’

Yeon-woo had once owned Aegis, and the shield had likely sought him out because of this. Yeon-woo looked closely to see if there were any other marks, but he couldn’t find anything else.

“Boo!”

Sss. Boo oozed out as a black mist from the shadows. The Arch Lich was already several meters in height, and he emanated so much power that it overwhelmed and dominated his surroundings whenever he materialized. 「As…you…command.」Boo’s bony finger touched Aegis lightly. A magic field rolled out like a wave along Aegis’ surface. 「Checking for traces. Searching for thoughts. Restoring memories…」 Boo moved his hand in the air as though he were flipping through a book before he moved his jaws slowly to speak. 「Ath…ena…currently…Erebus…not…there…she…is…Tar-Tartarus…is…here. Danger…she…is…in.」

“What?”

“Here…!” Everyone was astonished.

Yeon-woo asked with a stiff expression, “Where? Do you know where she is?”

Whoosh! Aegis began to glow once more. Boo raised his hand and stared into empty space. Bam! Aegis began to change its shape and turned into a wounded owl—the animal that represented Athena’s eyes.

Flap. The owl stared at Yeon-woo, flapped its wings, and flew into the sky. It was definitely heading to Athena. Yeon-woo spread his Sky Wings and followed the owl. The rest of the party followed behind him.

***

Boom. Boom. Boom.

『The shield has been poisoned by the Hydra, so it couldn’t have gone too far. We need to find it, no matter what!』

『Persephone commanded us to capture Athena alive. We can’t let her escape!』

On a hillside in a corner of Tartarus, one of the eight great gods of the Gigantes, Syceus, grimaced as he led his forces to pursue Athena. 『Damn it, putting us through all this trouble. Silly bitch.』

Unlike the other Gigantes who were fighting the Titans at the Temple of the King of the Underworld, he had been given the pathetic task of hunting down someone. However, Mother Earth’s orders were more solemn than those of any oracle. If they managed to capture Athena, the Gigantes would have a huge advantage.

『They probably won’t mind if I have a little bit of fun with Athena before handing her over.』 Syceus licked his dry lips.

Athena had been born from the king of gods Zeus’ head, and she had grown up to be a leader of her generation. Her wisdom had driven the Gigantes into crisis several times in the past, and her majesty had broken their will. Syceus was among those whom she had humiliated in the past.

However, the situation had completely changed. Syceus, had always been secretly infatuated with Athena, and he was overjoyed that he’d have the opportunity to destroy her majesty. As lustful thoughts crowded in his brain, he smiled.

『We’ve found traces of holy power here!』 One of Syceus’ subordinates urgently shouted.

『Where?』 Fearing that he might lose the fleeting trail, Syceus hurried to his subordinate, followed by his troops.

“Wow, sister. It must be great to be so popular, right?” A man watching the Gigantes from a distance murmured quietly to himself before climbing down a tree and looking in a crevice. Athena was inside, breathing raggedly as she applied pressure to the wound on her side to staunch the bleeding.

“Will you…shut your fucking trap, Ares?” Although her swearing was energetic, Athena’s complexion was not very good. Syceus had wounded her with a sword coated in Hydra’s venom, which was so toxic that even gods and demons were afraid of it. Even in her ordinary divine state, the best she would have been able to do was contain the venom, and now that she had lost much of her power in Erebus, she could barely suppress it.

If she used up all her remaining holy power in this manner…she would soon meet her end. Athena found it difficult to even swear at the playful Ares. She was fortunate that the trap she set up managed to divert her pursuers, but it would probably not take long for them to catch on. She needed to find a solution before they did that. ‘I transferred ownership of Aegis using the Tower’s system, but…it may not be enough.’

Did Aegis find Yeon-woo? If he was in Tartarus like she was, her plan would work. Otherwise, Aegis would just wander around pointlessly. Even though Athena used the Tower’s system, she was in Typhon’s holy territory, so it probably wasn’t possible for Aegis to leave Tartarus. If Aegis found Yeon-woo, she hoped that he would use Aegis in her stead. ‘This is all I can do for you now.’

As she thought of Yeon-woo, Athena closed her eyes. Whenever she thought of him, she felt an ache in her heart. She hadn’t sent Aegis as a request for help. She had only wanted to leave a keepsake out of regret for the things that had happened in the past.