The Greece Antagonist

Atop the Sea of Okeanos, howling gales shredded the clouds from all directions, while enormous waves surged forward, covering the sky and the earth alike.

Underneath the dark billows, several giant sea beasts resembling gray mackerel sharks, their crescent-shaped caudal fins stirring the water, pulled streams into rope-like forms, dragging the sailfish-shaped warships on the sea surface. With the assistance of the wind and waves, they surged forward at breakneck speed.

"Southwest star position, 800 meters away, fire at a 45-degree angle upwards, now!"

At Acting Captain Andrew's command, the six remaining Atlantis Golden Guards, still capable of fighting, immediately drew their bows and released a volley of arrows toward the target in mid-air.

They're like relentless ghosts!

Sensing the piercing sound of arrows cutting through the air behind him, Luo En's brows knotted in frustration. He cursed under his breath and, by adjusting the intensity of the magic power output, he controlled the Icarus wings on his back to change altitude and angle, nimbly evading the incoming arrows.

However, just as he executed his evasive maneuver, the two demigods at the ship's bow cooperatively placed two golden-bronze arrows etched with delicate wave patterns and a faint glimmer of starlight on their bowstrings, drawing the bronze longbows to their full extent.

A familiar and intense sense of crisis boiled over in Luo En's heart, causing an instinctive shiver down his spine.

Orichalcum secret arrows! Again?!

Almost at the moment this thought flashed through Luo En's mind, the air behind him emitted a mournful whistle, as the icy edges blocked his ascending and descending space from above and below, bringing an immediate crisis.

Using the first volley of the Golden Guard's arrows to force the target to reveal his weaknesses, and then allowing the demigod experts to seize the moment, they fired a second, truly fatal volley of orichalcum arrows, known for their superior armor-piercing capabilities.

One must admit, through the trial of this pursuit, the Atlantean Guard had grown rapidly, forming an increasingly cohesive teamwork strategy.

But their opponent had not been standing still either.

At the critical juncture, Luo En suddenly cut off the supply of magic power to one side of the Icarus wings, and with a sudden change in the airflow, spun his body in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the orichalcum secret arrows' pincer attack from above and below.

My turn!

At the same time, Luo En's eyes narrowed as he pulled the ancient bronze longsword forming in front of him from the magic circle diagram and hurled it with a fierce toss.

"Hiss!"

The longsword emitted a piercing whistle as it cleaved through the air.

The two demigods instinctively unleashed their divine power, erecting a sea-blue light barrier at the bow to repel the incoming longsword.

"Crack!"

Upon impact, a clear sound of fracture followed.

What is this…

Captain Dakres suddenly raised his head, to his shock seeing the bronze longsword, now covered in cracks, had been traced with layers of Hermes script using Divine Blood, indicating one meaning—Burst!

At the same time, dazzling streams of light burst forth from the cracks of the bronze longsword, and thousands of sword fragments shot out, transforming into a close-range, unstoppable metal torrent.

"Pop, pop, pop, pop!"

At the moment of contact, the sea-blue light shield shrouding the ship completely shattered to pieces.

Dammit!

Caught off guard, the two demigods' pupils contracted in panic, and they hastily erected a second barrier to protect the nearest few.

"Boom!"

The warships and the sea beasts towing them were instantly perforated by the violent metal torrent, vanishing amidst a stunning explosion and blaze of light.

Phew, finally shook them off.

Seeing he had destroyed the greatest threat to disengagement and successfully increased the distance from those pursuing Atlantean Guards, Luo En breathed a sigh of relief.

"Crack…"

However, before he could catch his breath, a crisp cracking sound echoed in his ears.

He paused mid-air, his body stiffening as he twisted his head to look behind him.

There, radiating cracks were spreading across the pair of Icarus wings.

Clearly, after enduring a series of high-pressure changes and high-intensity magic power conversions, they had reached their limit. The wings could no longer bear the strain and were on the verge of destruction.

As expected from a product of the friendship pool, with this kind of quality, no wonder it's a blight, it's a trap!

At this very moment, Luo En felt a tearful helplessness.

And as he gradually lost control over the winds, he had to abandon his plan to directly traverse the Sea of Okeanos and look for a nearby island to make an emergency landing.

Luckily, when there's a will, there's a way. Just as the Icarus wings were about to utterly disintegrate, a lush, verdant island came into view.

At the center of the island stood several dilapidated marble buildings, resembling an ancient temple, with an obscure energy pulsating and diffusing through the ley lines.

Among the collapsed pillars and damaged sculptures in the square, there were evidently dozens of figures busily bustling about.

A temple? With people?

Luo En's gaze sharpened, and a sense of caution instinctively arose in his heart. However, under the circumstances, he had no choice but to fold his wings and plummet into a relatively desolate thicket within the island's forest.

Meanwhile, on the marble square:

What's that?!

A burly, bald man with a face full of bristling muscles and a short, spry man in a felt hat sensed the tremors beneath their feet, and simultaneously looked up, their eyes converging toward the southwest side of the island.

Soon after, both men exchanged glances, and the leading burly, bald man spoke first in a deep voice.

"Skester, go take a look!"

"This, this isn't quite right, is it?"

The short, sturdy man with a felt hat looked at the stone materials, sculptures, and a few old items from the ruined temple being cut and carried around, and couldn't help but chuckle nervously while rubbing his hands together. His slender eyes revealed intense greed.

"Relax, you'll get your cut."

The bald strongman promised with a cold face, and seeing the middle-aged man not moving, he raised a finger impatiently.

"I'll add another ten percent at most, there are plenty of others willing to do it if you won't!"

"I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Noticing the bald strongman's growing irritation, the felt hat middle-aged man quickly nodded with a smile plastered on his face and then turned into a blur, heading toward the small island to the southwest where there was a disturbance.

Watching the other man grow more distant until he disappeared from view, the young man with a scarred face standing behind the bald strongman spoke up in dissatisfaction, the coarse cloth of his collar revealing a standard-issue bronze armor.

"Boss, we're the ones doing all the hard work, why does he get so much of the cut? I might just follow him and take care of that guy!"

"Shut up, idiot! Do you really think you're still in Celifos?"

The bald strongman glared at the scar-faced youth behind him, lowering his voice to a deep, cold hum.

"You think I don't want to? But with no one to guide us and without an accurate map of the Sea of Occhanos, are you sure you can make it to shore alive? What's the use of having a lot then? The key is being alive to spend it!"

Scolded by their leader, the hot-blooded scar-faced youth glanced at the several figures around him dressed like the felt hat middle-aged man and reluctantly hung his head in defeat, spitting a thick gob of phlegm onto the ground to vent his frustration.

"Pah! A bunch of trash from Arcadia, greedy thieves the moment they see money!"

Legend has it that the Divine Envoy Hermes was born in a cave in Arcadia and is widely regarded as the local guardian deity.

Perhaps influenced by this deity, the people of Arcadia are crafty, forming a heaven where thieves, merchants, and swindlers gather in droves.

Of course, those favored by Hermes tend to be blessed to some extent, making them agile, adept at hiding, and top-notch at navigating dangers and delivering messages.

And that "Skester," the felt hat middle-aged man, with Hermes' Divine Blood flowing through his veins, was among the best of them.

However, his greed was also notably infamous within the industry.

If it weren't for the high risk and reward of this mission, they would never have brought along someone so fixated on money.

Furthermore, keeping the peace among them was attributed to other factors.

For instance, as a fellow demigod and veteran, even the bald strongman wasn't confident that he could subdue Skester, the inheritor of Hermes' Extreme Speed, let alone his own greenhorn deputy.

In fact, they were not thieves but the strongest elite Celifos could assemble, bearing an important mission from the king that could not be compromised.

If they were to tear each other apart, it wouldn't bode well for anyone.

"Enough chit-chat, get back to work!"

The bald strongman steadied his thoughts and waved his hand to issue the order, prompting the dozen or so guards and laborers around him to hasten the pace of transporting the goods.

Watching the ancient stone slabs and sculptures engraved with cryptic script being loaded onto the ship, the strongman's mood, initially soured by the prospect of financial loss, began to ease considerably.

Even though this expedition didn't yield the [Divinity's Blood] that his majesty the king most desired, finding an abandoned temple on this desolate island was an unexpected bonus.

As long as they could safely transport these items and [that thing] ashore, it would compensate for the losses and mistakes of this venture, netting a fortune for everyone.

The bald strongman, while considering how to splurge back in town, couldn't help but glance a few times at the surrounding sculptures.

For some reason, he felt there was something odd about the statues on the island, as if...

——they were living people forcibly stuffed into stone shells.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and the bald strongman involuntarily shivered, subconsciously shrinking his neck and urging aloud.

"Hurry up! We must load everything we can onto the ship before it gets dark! Once Skester returns, we'll set sail immediately!"

Everyone glanced at the sun sinking toward the horizon and quickened their movements accordingly.

About a quarter of an hour later, the bald strongman pacing on the spot couldn't help but grow restless.

Strange, why has there been no word from Skester after so much time?

Could it be...

Almost instantly, the bald strongman extinguished the baseless speculation in his heart and reassured himself.

How could that be possible, Hermes' bloodline is best at running away; nearly no one can catch him if he wants to escape!

Surely something has just delayed him, let's wait a bit longer.

Soon, the bald strongman calmed down and continued to direct his subordinates to plunder the treasures of the abandoned temple on the island.

Meanwhile, in the dimly lit thicket.

A relative of Hermes, staring at the faintly flickering Burst Runes beneath his feet, felt beads of sweat roll down his forehead.

"Don't move, they'll explode."

A kindly reminder came, and from the deep pit ahead, the "corpse fallen from the sky," originally the focus of Skester's attention, slowly rose from the ground, dusting off the dirt and dead leaves before flashing him a slight smile, revealing a row of neat, white teeth.

"So, do you want to die? Or do you not wish to live?"

"..."

Confronted with the two choices, Skester wordlessly opened his mouth, his expression turning rigid.

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