The two soldiers at the gate were subdued by the pressure and instinctively stepped back, opening the way.
They did not dare actually commit sacrilege against the gods.
That kind of accusation was genuinely lethal.
Even if the hero before them did not kill them personally, angering the gods would bring divine punishment raining down, and they would come to a wretched end regardless.
When Night rode the divine deer into the Greek camp openly and without hesitation,
Countless soldiers were alarmed by the commotion at the gate and instinctively raised their weapons toward him.
If Odysseus had been there, he would have been screaming at these idiots to read the situation.
"Is that so? I made myself very clear. Anyone who raises a weapon at the divine deer, I treat as having committed blasphemy against my goddess.
It seems you have all made a very foolish choice."
Let's cause a proper scene, Ceryneian Hind!
For the honor of our beloved goddess, run wild!
He leaned close to the deer's ear.
The terrible spectacle of the Calydonian Boar that the goddess of the hunt had once unleashed upon those who failed to honor her—apparently, the lesson had been forgotten.
Night had not deliberately provoked anything, but allowing the Ceryneian Hind, who was essentially Artemis's personal mount and nearly a symbol of the moon goddess herself, to be left standing outside like an afterthought for so long
Did anyone actually think the Ceryneian Hind had no temper of its own?
When it heard Night say he wanted it to help show these disrespectful Greek soldiers what it meant to slight the goddess,
The Ceryneian Hind agreed without the slightest hesitation.
It knew its owner very well.
When it returned home, she would find out what happened today sooner or later, and at that point she might bring down an even more terrifying divine punishment herself.
To defend the honor of its beloved owner, the Ceryneian Hind launched into its divine speed and began tearing through the camp in every direction.
Boom!
With those terrifying golden antlers, guided by Night's subtle but deliberate steering, it crashed through the Greek alliance's defensive lines, fences, and fortifications one after another, demolishing the outer defenses with total abandon.
It was like driving a racing car.
No, an ultra-premium bumper car.
Night, deliberately steering the deer toward every solid-looking structure it could hit, was having the time of his life.
In the space of a breath, a crimson lightning bolt laced with gold flickered and surged through the camp.
The enormous commotion quickly drew the attention of many heroes within the Greek alliance.
The first to arrive was Diomedes, king of Argos, one of the few purely human heroes on this battlefield.
But his strength was anything but weak.
He could be ranked comfortably in the top three of the entire Greek alliance.
When Diomedes arrived with spear and shield and took in the chaotic scene, his face fell, and he immediately started asking the soldiers nearby what had happened.
Had the Trojans broken through?
Many of the soldiers didn't understand it either, only that a red lightning bolt had been crashing through the camp without stopping.
Their faces showed real fear.
Anything that had gotten in its path had been shattered completely.
A red lightning bolt?
Boom!!
Right on cue, another massive crash, and an arrow tower was knocked down by the Ceryneian Hind.
Diomedes caught a glimpse of the bolt of lightning veering off in another direction.
His brow knitted.
Although he didn't understand what was happening, his battle instinct took over, and he gave chase.
After an indeterminate number of near misses, seeing a flash of lightning about to pass right beside him, he seized the moment, let out a roar, tried to close in, and was sent flying on impact.
Thud, thud!!
Diomedes rolled across the ground several times before hauling himself back to his feet.
And because his body had briefly blocked the way, the crimson lightning was forced to a halt.
Night: ...Okay, stop the damn deer.
The Ceryneian Hind was not described in mythology as being particularly powerful in combat, but speed is force, and stopping the Ceryneian Hind at full sprint required sheer physical power that had no business being in a normal human.
Was Heracles himself somehow back from the dead?!
He looked in surprise at Diomedes, who had already gotten up.
Most importantly, the man was alive and appeared barely injured.
There was someone with real ability here.
Other soldiers who had been in the deer's way earlier had been turned into paste even from a glancing hit.
And now Diomedes had finally gotten a clear look at what the crimson lightning actually was.
The moment those unmistakable golden antlers came into view, the killing intent that had been surging in Diomedes immediately went cold.
His eyes filled with uncertainty, and then he noticed that on the divine deer's back there was actually a... man?!
"The Ceryneian... Hind?!"
The beloved divine deer of the pure goddess Artemis, and it was carrying a man on its back?
The discovery was so staggering that Diomedes's mind went completely blank for a moment.
Impossible.
Every Greek knew Artemis despised men above all things.
How could she let another man ride her beloved mount?
But the Ceryneian Hind belonged only to Artemis in all the world.
There was no faking it.
So, what exactly was going on?
Diomedes raised his voice.
"I am Diomedes, king of Argos!
Hero who rides the goddess's divine deer, command the Ceryneian Hind to stop running! Otherwise, even with Artemis's protection over you, I will have no choice but to subdue you by force!
I have no wish to take your lives. But if you resist to the end, I will capture you with the weapons in my hands!"
...
Diomedes's words made Odysseus, who had just arrived at this part of the camp, turn a color that looked very much like he had eaten something terrible.
His face went green.
Wait.
He had also come to talk the other party into stopping, but was this how you talked someone down?
This arrogant, overconfident idiot!
What was that underdeveloped little brain of his actually thinking?
The last person who admitted in front of the moon goddess that he intended to act against the divine deer and had already done so was Heracles.
And if Apollo had not stepped in to hold her back, the moon goddess would have already put an arrow through him.
Threatening Artemis to her face... did this guy have any idea how petty and fiercely protective that willful goddess could be?
And Night, when he heard the name Diomedes, immediately came to the realization.
So it was him.
That purely human hero, fierce and without peer!
The only man without a drop of divine blood who had achieved a more terrifying record in battle than any of the demigods.
Because of his exceptional fighting talent, he had earned the favor of Athena, goddess of wisdom, who held partial dominion over war.
Under Athena's blessing, as a mortal he had successfully wounded Aeneas, the goddess of love Aphrodite, and the god of war Ares.
If Apollo had not eventually arrived and used his divine authority to force this man back,
Without the accumulated exhaustion of fighting one after another, Diomedes might have actually tried to kill a god.
A purely mortal hero who came within reach of slaying a god.
A man with no divine blood who was more terrifying than demigods who had it.
Of course, a mortal here was not counting distant ancestral lineages.
In Greece, whose family line did not have some divine connection buried back somewhere?
But with so many generations between, the divine blood was essentially undetectable, and naturally it bore no comparison to those who were direct divine descendants.
.
.
.
(End of the Chapter)