Chapter 550
Everything was shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
Even the moon had lost its light, hidden behind the clouds.
Dududududu!
And then—
A pack of wolves cut through the night.
Quietly and swiftly.
Artemis approached in the direction where Jinhyuk was.
“Move faster.”
“Grrr!”
The largest wolf at the front picked up speed.
Tap. Tat! … Tat!
The wolves began scaling the cliff in an instant, spurring themselves on even harder.
‘This is going to be close. Maybe a few minutes at best…’
Heimdall was monitoring the entire area. Even with Hermes running interference, there wasn’t much time left.
If they wanted the advantage of a surprise attack, they needed to strike as quickly as possible.
Strength filled Artemis’s eyes.
At that moment—
‘Finally…!’
She spotted a familiar mansion up ahead.
The gaudy decorations and massive size made it unmistakable—this was the lodging given to the Veteran Corporation by the Norse side.
Except for a few torches, there were no lights.
Naturally, no sign of movement.
Everyone must be fast asleep by now, exhausted from the fierce debates.
And even if it wasn’t just fatigue, as long as Artemis’s unique ability was active, her enemies wouldn’t sense a thing.
[Due to the unique ability ‘Hunt of the Moon’, the ‘Mana Loss’ effect is active.]
[Time remaining 0H : 2M : 33S]
The greatest virtue of a perfect hunter:
Make sure the prey never realizes it’s being hunted.
In that sense, Artemis’s unique ability could be called the strongest.
‘Annoying. There are so many barriers that it’s hard to pinpoint their location.’
Breaking through them was easy, but doing it undetected was a different story.
Ssshh.
She drew an arrow on her pure white bow.
After confirming where Jinhyuk was sleeping, Artemis narrowed her gaze.
A spot that would deliver a fatal wound while prolonging the pain as much as possible.
If she pierced a lung, it would slowly fill with fluid, making him feel every nerve as he died.
Artemis aimed for the bed.
Vwooom!
The arrow sliced through the air.
Thud!
Smashing through the window, the arrow struck the center of the bed.
…A direct hit.
Blood spurted as the bed folded in half.
The floor was instantly covered in sticky red.
“Finish it.”
Artemis gave the order to the wolves at her side.
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
“Grrr!”
“Raooo!”
The giant gray-maned wolves charged at once.
But—
One wolf at the front was suddenly lifted into the air.
“Yipe!”
Behemoth, whose arms were bigger than a wolf’s whole body, had picked it up in one hand.
Manifestation.
Or rather, a half-man, half-beast form.
“Well now. Cute puppies sneaking in at night?”
Behemoth chuckled.
By contrast, wrinkles formed on Artemis’s beautiful face.
“So you knew we were coming?”
“He says sleeping comfortably in someone else’s bedroom isn’t his thing.”
“Pretty cheeky for an ancient being. But for all that attitude, you couldn’t even protect your master.”
The bed was pierced clean through.
Anyone sleeping in it would obviously be finished.
But—
A voice rang out from the supposedly dead target.
“Man, I don’t know whose bed that was, but it’s totaled. If I’d actually slept there, I’d be toast.”
Jinhyuk appeared beside the bed in pajamas, holding a cute character pillow and wearing fluffy slippers.
“You…!”
Artemis’s eyes widened in shock.
She’d seen blood spurt out—so how could he be standing there just fine?
But that didn’t matter right now.
All that mattered was that damned guy was still alive, and she needed to kill him.
“How dare you… You know you killed my one and only brother!”
In the blink of an eye, dozens of arrows appeared.
Fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip!
Incredible speed.
Each arrow was strong enough to topple pillars.
Jinhyuk drew two daggers.
The barriers shattered and the real fight began.
Rumble!
Blue energy blazed.
With no intention of hiding it, he unleashed his magic in full.
“If you start a mess like this during a ceasefire summit, Heimdall and the other chief gods won’t be happy… Can you handle the aftermath?”
“Who cares about them? I plan to kill all of you tonight—no exceptions!”
Artemis shouted, full of confidence.
She must have prepared a few more tricks up her sleeve to make up for Uriel’s absence.
‘Still, her archery skills are terrifying as always.’
Jinhyuk whistled, glancing at the arrows embedded in the wall.
Just then—
Crack!
The arrows shattered and returned to Artemis’s quiver.
Infinite Arrows.
Any arrow that hits its target returns to her.
“Hang on. Well, stuff like this…”
Jinhyuk ducked low to avoid another volley.
Thud! Thud!
Again and again.
“You can shoot all you want.”
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
Three more shots.
“It’s useless.”
“You’re quite nimble, dodging like that. Fine. I’ll match you.”
The arrows shrank to half their original size.
Their weight and magical density dropped, too.
Fwoosh…!
The lighter arrows disappeared from view.
He could track the trajectory before, but now he couldn’t see a thing.
…Fssh!
Thud!
An arrow grazed his cheek and slammed into the wall behind.
“Heh. So you bleed red too. Now this is getting interesting.”
For the first time, a twisted smile appeared on Artemis’s lips.
This was just the beginning—hundreds, thousands of arrows would soon be aimed at his heart.
Jinhyuk rapidly circulated his stored mana through his veins.
Gurgle, gurgle!
‘It’s impossible to react to them all.’
In that case—
He’d have to forcefully enhance his body.
[Unique Holy Spear ‘Phase 2’ is activated!]
[Unique Ability ‘Right Arm of Tomb Grave’ is activated!]
Jinhyuk’s body began to change.
His form, sharp as a leopard, was now completely different from before.
⁕⁕⁕
At the same time.
Odin, at the center of Yggdrasil, recognized what was happening.
“Olympus dares…?”
Odin’s eyes widened.
“Have they lost their minds?”
“To start a war again at a peace summit—what are they thinking?”
“I don’t get it either.”
The other deities voiced their shock.
It was only natural.
This meeting was supposed to acknowledge their defeat and prevent further damage.
“Heimdall, what’s the situation?”
“Yes. Hermes’s interference delayed our intel. Artemis has attacked the Veteran Corporation’s Kang Jinhyuk’s residence with wolves. Athena and her personal troops have hit the Valkyrie’s position. Multiple simultaneous assaults are underway across several strongholds.”
Odin’s forehead bulged with veins.
Targeting Jinhyuk, the benefactor of the Norse, was a grave insult.
“Send reinforcements and strike the enemy’s base. Notify the Administrators that the truce is over.”
“Are you going personally?”
“Of course. They tried to harm my guest in my own house and bared their fangs at us.”
Odin summoned Gungnir.
[Stronghold ‘Ragnarok’s Blessing’ is activated!]
[Attack and defense increased by 10%!]
[Various penalties are applied to hostile forces!]
[All beings in the stronghold are now openly hostile to traitors!]
Tremendous magic resonated with Yggdrasil.
At that moment—
Vwooom!
The sky split and blue lightning appeared.
The king of Olympus, and one of the mightiest chief gods.
Zeus’s ‘Astrapē’.
“That’s…! Everyone, get down!”
Odin swung Gungnir at the incoming lightning.
Two legendary relics collided.
Colossal powers that held up entire myths met at a single point.
Crash, crash, crash, crash, crash!
An unimaginable shockwave erupted.
“Ugh!”
“Aaagh!”
Even the chief gods, stacking every defensive skill, could barely endure it.
It had happened so close—the force felt even greater.
Odin stared at Zeus above the clouds.
“Zeus. Are you still clueless enough to come at us?”
“Don’t get cocky because of one win, Odin. Before you claimed that single victory, you lost Yggdrasil after hundreds of defeats.”
“Yeah, and you were shattered by that one loss.”
Neither side backed down an inch.
Their pride filled the space, stretched to the limit.
“…Seems there’s no point talking anymore.”
“It’s the first time we’ve agreed. We can’t share the same sky—let’s settle this now.”
There was no turning back.
If the last fight was about weighing gains, from now on it would be a brutal battle for the fate of a myth.
⁕⁕⁕
…Tap.
…Crash!
The arrow split in half.
Another miss.
Ever since Jinhyuk’s transformation, none of the arrows could even graze him.
She thought her speed was unbeatable, but her prey wasn’t lagging behind the goddess of the hunt—not even under the moonlight.
“Damn!”
Artemis clicked her tongue and raised her bow.
[Lv??? ‘Wave of the Moon’ is activated!]
Silver arrows cloaked in moonlight shot upward.
In the air, they split into dozens of shards and rained down.
It looked impossible to dodge.
Yet Jinhyuk didn’t show a trace of fear.
There was no need to be afraid.
He could predict it perfectly.
“Of the twelve chief gods, your pattern’s the simplest. Whenever you’re cornered, you use that.”
“Ha! You talk big when you’re about to die. Enjoy your last few seconds—soon you’ll be a pincushion.”
“We’ll see.”
It was true—there was a limit to how much he could deflect, even with Phase 2’s speed boost.
But Artemis’s ‘Wave of the Moon’ had a fatal weakness.
If you could read her arm angle and the force of her draw when she shot—
‘It’s not hard to predict where the arrows will fall.’
And with the wind direction and humidity, he had all the info he needed.
Using ‘Heavenly Demon Divine Art’, Jinhyuk dashed forward with ‘Heavenly Demon Sovereign Steps’.