Atalanta's beautiful strike was not only seen by Ares and Athena watching from the mountain but also caught the eye of Prince Meleager of Calydon.
To encourage the Heroes, he quickly shouted:
"Everyone, put in more effort! This boar has already been wounded by Atalanta!"
Upon hearing this news, the Argo Heroes, knowing Atalanta's strength, all thought, "As expected of Atalanta." However, other chauvinistic fools thought, "To think a woman got the first hit." Regardless, Meleager's news ignited everyone's fighting spirit. These hunters and warriors, fearless of death, angrily surrounded the Calydonian Boar, throwing everything they could at it.
Unfortunately, what they threw could not penetrate the hard bristles on the boar's back. Therefore, no matter how angry they were, they could only rage ineffectually.
Perhaps finally unable to bear it, with a great roar, an Arcadian warrior, whose name is not convenient to disclose, jumped out with a large axe in hand. He raised his sharp axe and swung it at the Calydonian Boar's forehead. He had seen through it: with their strength, they couldn't break the boar's defense with ranged throwing weapons.
However, the next moment, the Calydonian Boar merely sneezed, and this warrior was ignited by the fierce flames it released. Then, with a casual sweep of its tusks, the boar took his life.
"All you mortals, get out of my way!"
At this moment, seeing how much more powerful Atalanta was compared to these mortals, Jason also became arrogant. He pushed away a hunter blocking his path and then, holding a short spear, walked out proudly.
"Let me show you the strength of the captain of the Argo Heroes!"
After speaking, he let out a "Ha!" and aimed at a weak spot on the Calydonian Boar's back, then fiercely threw his short spear.
This spear throw was indeed very impressive compared to the earlier hunters. Jason, after all, was also a student taught by Chiron. His strength might be a bit weaker than the top-tier Heroes of Greece, but he was much stronger than ordinary mortals.
However, the short spear he threw still did not penetrate the Calydonian Boar's body. The spear only scraped a streak of sparks off the hard bristles on the boar's back, then bounced off and struck a hunting dog that was desperately biting the boar's front leg.
The hunting dog was pierced through the body by the short spear and seemed to be stunned for a moment. Then it whimpered and jumped up, rolled twice on the ground, and then immediately foamed at the mouth and died.
The air in the entire hunting ground suddenly fell silent. Jason felt dozens of unfriendly gazes fall upon him, scaring him into trembling.
The hunter he had pushed away earlier had already rushed out, taking a swift stride to pick up the hunting dog that had been killed by the short spear, wailing:
"My dog! My dog!"
Meleager also paused for two seconds. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, immediately drew the two javelins from his back, and threw them at the Calydonian Boar, forcing the boar to move, while shouting:
"Don't just stand there! This boar won't wait for us to finish arguing before attacking!"
Upon hearing the Prince of Calydon's words, the Heroes came to their senses, suppressed their anger towards Jason, and continued to attack the boar. Jason, however, remained frozen in place, not daring to go forward. At this moment, Medea, disguised as Atalanta's Page, suddenly walked up. She patted Jason's back, then handed him a long spear and said:
"Captain, you should take this and go play somewhere else. Don't cause more trouble for everyone."
Jason looked left and right, noticing that everyone on the Argo was fighting heroically, and they were all more useful than him. Even Orpheus, who couldn't lift with his hands or carry with his shoulders, could play a few battle songs on that huge, oddly shaped hunting flute for the surrounding hunters, boosting everyone's morale. Only he, with his first move, hadn't harmed the boar at all, but instead had killed a teammate's hunting dog.
Jason realized that he truly couldn't be of use in this hunting ground. His combat strength was inferior to Atalanta's, and his support abilities were not as good as Orpheus's or Medea's magical skills. The only position he was good at, commanding, had been taken by the local expert, Meleager.
After realizing this fact, the yellow-haired youth, disheartened, took the long spear and hid to the side. Some hunters nearby, seeing his cowardly behavior, couldn't help but mock:
"Is this all the Heroes on the Argo amount to?"
His words, if left unsaid, would have been fine, but once spoken, they aroused the dissatisfaction of the little witch Medea nearby. She angrily retorted:
"What do you mean by that? So far, only Sister Atalanta from our ship has wounded the Calydonian Boar. All talk and no action, can you do it? Keyboard warrior, bah!"
Actually, Medea didn't know what a "keyboard warrior" was. She simply knew it was a derogatory term used to describe useless people who only talked and didn't act. Of course, this term was also learned from Ares.
Upon hearing Medea's scolding, these hunters also became angry. They shouted at Medea:
"You, attendent, who permitted you to speak here? Do you have the right?"
"attendent?"
Medea gnashed her teeth and pulled out some magical items from her person, ready to inflict a satisfying curse on these hunters, making them unable to live or die in their next life. However, at that moment, she suddenly heard Atalanta and Orpheus's exclamations:
"Medea! Watch out!"
Medea heard the exclamation and turned her head, only to see the Calydonian Boar, having somehow broken through the hunters' encirclement, charging towards her, spewing flames from its nostrils.
Out of the corner of her eye, she simultaneously noticed the malicious smiles on the faces of those hunters. It was obvious that those scoundrels had deliberately distracted her, wanting her to be hit by the Calydonian Boar.
Seeing this, the little witch's anger immediately surged. She let out a soft cry of "Despicable!" but did not retreat.
Facing the colossal beast charging with rolling dust, the slender girl, thin as a reed, clenched her fists at her waist, stomped her feet on the ground, and in the shimmering magical light, shook the earth.
A brilliant starlight shone from Medea's body, swirling around her fists. In a trance, Medea seemed to hear the voice of her Senior Brother, Ares:
"Medea, use that."
"Okay, Senior Brother."
Medea mumbled in response, then took a deep breath. She stood with her feet apart, as if countless roots had grown from beneath her feet, firmly anchoring her in place. Then, Medea settled her qi in her Dantian and raised one arm high.
Facing the charging Calydonian Boar, the tiny witch fiercely chopped down with a hand-blade, striking the center of the boar's forehead.
"Ares—Twin Slash!"v