Genichi stood at the edge of the battlefield, his gaze fixed on Antares.
He didn't rush to attack. He was waiting for an opportunity, for the scorpion to expose a weakness.
With his current strength, killing Antares wouldn't be difficult.
Unleashing the power stored in the Boosted Gear and combining it with the Arrow of Orion would be enough to tear the ancient scorpion apart.
The difficult part was getting Artemis out unharmed.
Her true body was sealed inside a crystal beneath Antares's armor. If he simply destroyed the monster with brute force, the crystal might be caught in the blast, taking her with it.
He couldn't let that happen. What he needed was divine authority. He needed Artemis alive, a goddess willing to share her authority with him.
A corpse would be useless.
So he needed to trick it.
He had to make Antares open its armor and expose the sealing crystal.
Once the crystal was exposed, he could pull it out of the monster's body and free Artemis unharmed.
That was why he had sent the Astraea Familia into battle. He wasn't expecting them to defeat Antares. He wanted them to make it lower its guard.
If he attacked personally, Antares would recognize the threat and fight with everything it had. It would devote all its strength to offense and defense, never carelessly exposing the crystal beneath its armor.
But against these "weak" adventurers, it wouldn't be nearly so cautious.
It would see humans who posed no threat, enemies it could crush with ease. It would feel no need to keep the secret beneath its armor hidden.
That was exactly what Genichi wanted.
The battle had been raging for nearly a minute or two.
The Astraea Familia fought with everything they had. Blades, arrows, and spells rained down on Antares, but they did little more than tickle it.
None inflicted any meaningful damage.
If Genichi hadn't temporarily raised their levels with Ninefold Magic and the Miracle Mallet, they would probably have suffered casualties already.
Even with those enhancements, they were no match for Antares.
The scorpion was simply too powerful. Despite their increased levels, they could barely keep it occupied, much less pose a real threat.
Antares swung one enormous pincer, sending Kaguya crashing into a wall.
Her katana flew from her hand and landed among the rubble some distance away, its blade quivering.
Gritting her teeth, she climbed out of the debris, retrieved her weapon, and charged again.
Alise took a blow from its tail and flew more than ten meters, rolling several times across the floor before coming to a stop.
A deep gash had opened along her arm. Blood streamed from the wound.
The others were faring little better. Some were sent flying, others knocked to the ground, their attacks repeatedly interrupted.
Wounds covered their bodies. Blood soaked their clothes, and dust and gore smeared their faces.
Yet no one retreated.
No one hesitated.
They had experienced death. They knew what it felt like, and they knew Genichi could bring them back.
There was no fear in them, only the will to fight.
Watching these humans struggle like insects, Antares grew increasingly dismissive.
At first, it had remained wary. It had expected Genichi to intervene, expected a difficult fight.
Instead, these adventurers still amounted to nothing.
It didn't even need to take them seriously. A casual swing of its pincers or flick of its tail was enough to send them sprawling.
Little by little, its vigilance faded.
It no longer felt threatened.
At last, it released the seal on its chest armor.
The dark red plates slid apart, revealing a layer of clear crystal beneath.
The crystal shone silver-white, casting a soft glow through the darkness like a full moon.
Artemis's true body was sealed at its center.
She lay curled up, her arms wrapped around her knees, her long hair floating around her as though she were asleep.
Her eyes were closed. Her face looked peaceful, though a faint crease remained between her brows.
Her body glowed softly. Silver-white light seeped from her, passing into the crystal before spreading throughout Antares's body.
It was her divine power.
The monster was consuming it little by little.
At the same time, light kindled on its tail once more.
It was invoking the moon goddess's authority through the Artemis sealed inside the crystal, preparing another barrage.
The silver-white orb above its stinger grew larger and brighter, radiating an increasingly terrifying pressure.
If this attack struck, the Astraea Familia would suffer far worse than injuries.
But this was the moment Genichi had been waiting for.
"Now!"
His voice thundered through the hall.
He vanished from where he stood, darting into the shadows.
At that same instant, his shadows surged toward Antares from every direction. They ignored the rest of its body, rushing straight for the open chest armor and the crystal beneath.
Like countless hands, they seized the crystal's edges and pulled.
Antares reacted immediately.
It realized it had been tricked.
The human standing on the sidelines had been waiting for this exact moment. The other adventurers' attacks had been meant to make it lower its guard all along.
Its chest plates snapped inward, trying to seal the crystal away again.
But the shadows wedged themselves into the gaps, preventing the armor from closing. The plates ground against them with a piercing screech.
Genichi was already in front of Antares.
He held the Arrow of Orion in his right hand. Golden light flowed along its shaft like a winding serpent.
The green jewel on his Boosted Gear blazed, and Demon King-class power surged through his body.
He thrust his left hand into the gap between the armor and the crystal.
His fingers touched its surface.
It was cold and smooth, with immense power pulsing beneath it.
He could feel Artemis's divine power within the crystal. It resisted him, rejected him, tried to force his hand away.
Genichi refused to let go.
His fingers tightened, his nails digging into the crystal.
Magical power gathered in his palm, forming an invisible force that pulled the crystal out of Antares's body.
It trembled, but remained stubbornly lodged in place, as though it had taken root inside the monster.
Antares drove its stinger at Genichi's back with terrifying speed.
His shadows were already waiting.
They rose into a solid wall behind him and caught the strike.
The stinger sank into the darkness as though plunging into a mire, unable to advance another inch.
"Come on!"
Genichi pulled harder.
At last, the crystal shifted.
A section of it slid free of Antares's body.
Inside, Artemis stirred faintly, as though responding to his call.
Her brow tightened, and her lips parted as if she wanted to say something.
Antares let out a furious roar. Its chest armor snapped inward again.
The shadows shattered, dissolving into black smoke.
But Genichi already had a firm grip on the crystal's edge. His fingers clamped down, nails biting into its surface as blood seeped between them.
The closing armor trapped his body. The crushing pressure nearly forced the breath from his lungs.
Still, he didn't let go.
He gritted his teeth and pulled with all his strength.
"Get… out!"
The crystal finally tore free.
It was roughly one and a half times a person's height, clear throughout and glowing silver-white in the darkness.
Artemis lay curled within it, her long hair floating around her peaceful face, as though she were lost in a dream that had lasted far too long.
Antares's shriek was deafening.
Its chest armor slammed shut, catching Genichi's arm. His bones creaked beneath the tremendous force.
He no longer had time to worry about that.
Clutching the crystal, he tore himself away and rolled.
His shadows surged around him, wrapping both him and the crystal in a solid protective shell that blocked the pursuing stinger.
"Catch!"
Genichi tossed the crystal to the others.
Then he rose and flexed the arm that had been crushed between the plates.
His sleeve was soaked with blood. Hideous wounds covered his arm, but they were already beginning to heal.
He turned to face Antares.
The scorpion thrashed wildly. Dark red fluid poured from the wound in its chest, where the crystal had torn away the surrounding flesh.
Fury and madness filled its eyes. The orb above its stinger had swelled to its limit and could erupt at any moment.
Genichi raised his hand.
The green jewel on the Boosted Gear lit up again.
"Boost!"
His magical power doubled.
"Boost!"
"Boost!"
"Boost!"
Three more consecutive doublings.
Power churned through his body, surging with an intensity that seemed ready to burst out of him.
The Arrow of Orion glowed in his hand.
Its light was no longer gold.
It was crimson, the color born from his power merging with the divine weapon.
The color of destruction.
Antares lashed its tail forward.
The orb split into countless beams of light that rained down on Genichi.
They filled his vision, illuminating the entire hall with blinding brilliance.
He didn't dodge.
He hurled the Arrow of Orion straight at Antares.
The instant its point pierced the shell, crimson light erupted from the arrow and swept through the monster's enormous body.
Antares's shriek cut off.
Its body went rigid.
Then it began to disintegrate.
Armor shattered. Flesh burst apart. Dark red fluid sprayed through the hall in a rain of blood.
(End of Chapter)
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