I Became Artemis’ Boyfriend

Vast plains stretch below the Mountain of the Gods.

Three thousand cavalry, and ten thousand demons.

In this place, two masses of armies glare at each other, standing in opposition.

The rows of the Demon army are disorganized, lacking any semblance of order.

In contrast, Athena’s cavalry stands neatly arranged in a perfect square.

It provides a striking contrast.

“Whoa~ whoa. I’m here. Doesn’t look like there are any ambushes.”

Artemis has just returned, pulling an umacart.

Athena takes the reins, regaining command of the umacart.

Artemis, who appears to be in high spirits after having used the Sky Drive, leans casually against the railing of the umacart as she looks down at me.

“What?”

She wiggles her finger at me, who stands there tense.

“Hey, get on.”

It was an embarrassing situation, with me being the only one with my feet on the ground.

I can’t express how long I’ve been waiting to hear those words.

Hoooohhh~

Athena, who had been moving back and forth encouraging the troops, returns to the center and signals the advance with a horn.

Our cavalry, maintaining a distance of two hundred steps from the enemy forces, slowly moves forward one hundred steps.

It’s about twenty meters.

It’s closer than expected, allowing a clear view of the intimidating faces of the demons.

Phruhuh, phruhuh.

The smell of the demons carried by the wind disgusts the horses, which anxiously shake their heads from side to side.

“Kikhehahaa!!”

“Krowaaaah!!”

The demons perceive the horses’ reactions as provocations.

They brandish their claws and short swords, issuing threats.

A situation where any spark could ignite the conflict.

However, not a single one steps forward beyond the front line of the ranks.

Everyone feels the signal that stepping forward will be the opening gun of the war.

“Hm?”

“What is that?”

The commotion among the demons gradually subsides before the soldiers part to either side.

A single demon, wearing a shabby helmet, limps forward towards us.

One of Athena’s priests tries to intercept, but Athena raises her hand to stop the action.

That’s because the limping demon was dragging someone who appeared to be near death.

It was obvious from a glance that he was captured and that his body was covered in bruises from demon abuse.

Around his neck hung a collar filled with blades and thorns, gripped tightly by an ogre from the enemy side.

The intention was clear: to strangle him to death the moment he attempted to escape.

With a thump…

The knight, his hands bound behind his back, collapses in the middle, unable to hold on any longer.

“Khekekekeke!”

Spittle dribbling, the limping demon grabs his golden hair and yanks it harshly to the back.

“Allen!”

“Priest Allen!”

“Master Allen!”

The heavy stillness of Athena’s troops instantly wavers as they recognize his familiar face.

Among people of this world, there is no one who doesn’t know this fifty-year-old priest with golden moustache.

Ten years ago, by digging tunnels beneath the trenches at the mountain ridge of the Mountain of the Gods, he established a cooperative system between armies to counterattack the demons.

He was the originator of guerrilla tunnel warfare.

Afterward, as the left arm of Ares, he continued to build illustrious accomplishments.

His nickname, “Mole Allen,” was well-known.

One of the few Ares priests who earned respect from both the Ares army and the Athena army.

He had been captured by the demons after losing in the battle of the Mountain of the Gods.

“A, Lady Athena! The prisoner exchange agreement!”

“Calm down!”

An Athena female priest urgently requested.

Maintaining the composed army, Athena awaits the words that would follow, delivered with a contemptuous smirk from the limping demon.

Hopeful for the prisoner exchange.

However, that hope was betrayed.

The limping demon pressed the sharp tip of an arrow against Allen’s back.

“You wanna live? Tell ’em to retreat.”

“Ugh.. you dogs.”

“Khekeke! Last one! Tell ’em to move out of the way!”

The limping demon delivered an ultimatum that brooked no compromise, gripping the arrow backwards.

But Allen spat the blood pooled in his mouth right onto the demon’s face.

“Khekekekeke!”

The demon, laughing wickedly, pulled his arm back.

The sharp arrowhead pierced Allen’s back.

Puck! Phuck! Phssh! Phuck!

“…Gahk!”

The piercing began on Allen’s back, refusing to give in.

As if popping countless balloons with a needle, again and again.

Neck, shoulders, upper arms, spine, waist.

Every vital point, every bone, every flesh gets pierced without discrimination.

Not until Allen is dead.

Until the demon feels relieved after stabbing repeatedly.

Phuck! Phuck! Phuck!

Every time the arrow is pulled out, the barbs at its tip tear at the surrounding flesh.

To the demon, the action was as natural as checking whether the meat was cooked by stabbing it with a fork.

“Please! Stop! Stop!”

In that moment, Allen kneels before the demon.

The sight shocks us into silence.

“Khulkh… Kuk… Ha.. Ha… M, I will speak! Please spare my life!”

This was Allen’s surrender under torment.

A despicable sight of a war hero surrendering to demons.

“Khehehehehe!!”

The demon jubilates, finally having forced Allen to submit. Dropping the arrow to the ground, he stretches his arm out, pointing at us with his fingers.

He was signaling to speak again.

That Allen wanted to live.

To move out of the way.

To retreat.

The limping demon strongly desired to defile the honor of human-side hero Allen, who had tormented them for decades.

“Grgh…”

Allen, who had fallen, struggles to rise, regaining his balance.

The blood flowing down his thighs and calves reddens his bare feet.

“Kulkh… Kulkh! I am Allen!”

And to his comrades, no more than ten paces away, he screams.

“The enemy is right in front! Do not fear!”

He hobbles closer to us.

“Do not fall back!”

He chases away any semblance of fear.

“Do not flee!!!”

His wail resonates through the end of our army.

His unwavering gaze, devoid of any flaws, burns like a flame even in the face of death, fiercely consumed in the final battle.

“Graaaah!”

The limping demon draws his dagger, recognizing he’s been tricked.

“Hmph! Don’t underestimate Ares’s left arm, Mole Allenaaaaa!!!”

Even with his hands tied behind his back, Allen was a true warrior.

Pushing the approaching demon back with his shoulder, he kicks the demon in the stomach with his leg, knocking him down.

And he delivers the final announcement to us.

“Charge! Trample on me and go!”

However, not even Athena, experienced in warfare, could issue any order in the face of this overwhelming scene.

She can only curse this situation where she cannot help the dying Allen within arm’s reach.

“Well! I will lead the vanguard! Today, I shall be the commander of the strongest knight order of the continent!”

Allen turns his back to us.

He charges towards ten thousand demons.

The ogre holding his collar chain tries to reel him in, alarmed, but it’s futile.

Because Allen isn’t fleeing in the opposite direction; he’s coming closer and closer to them!

“Wroooaaaarrgh!!!”

Unarmed.

His hands are bound.

He rushes forward with his rasping voice, spitting blood, charging naked into the enemy ranks.

Like one mounted on a warhorse,

Like one turned into a spear, he charges boldly ahead.

“Yraaaaaaagh!!!!!!!”

“Phuuhk! Phzhik!”

Dozens of spears eventually pierce Allen’s entire body.

Spitting blood, Allen falls to his knees.

“Just… forward…”

Summoning his last ounce of strength, he tries but fails to raise his left arm, dropping it due to exhaustion.

As the demons pull their spears back, the life of Allen, who endured such torment, finally comes to an end.

Thud.

He falls face-first, his left arm stretched forward, pointing with his forefinger to the front.

It is directly at the center of the Demon army!

He was a guide till the very last moments of his life, showing us the path we had to take.

Whoosh.

The flapping sound of a flag changes direction.

What was heading north now turns south.

The wind, which had been denying us passage, turns to propel us forward.

Thus, Athena, who stood at the foremost line, turns back to view her army.

“Listen up!”

Her powerful roar penetrates effortlessly to the ears of the last soldier at the rear end.

Her subordinates, with eyes filled with tears, listen attentively without a single waver.

The mocking laughter of the demons doesn’t reach their ears.

“Priest Allen of Ares has shown us the way.”

“That’s right!!”

All hearts unite, with one voice responding.

Simultaneously, the cavalry formation disrupted by Allen’s appearance is reorganized.

“We are who?”

“Invincible! The strongest!”

“The enemy?”

“Pierce! Push! Kill!”

Abandoning personal glory, Athena’s cavalry becomes one for all.

Vowing for revenge for Allen and everyone.

“What is cavalry to us?”

“Cannot stop! Does not stop!”

Athena’s final question becomes a command.

With one roar, all act as one. Athena’s three-thousand heavy cavalry becomes a massive triangle.

The supreme breakthrough formation.

The triangular formation that breaches through the enemy line to the very rear.

If it fails, they’d be surrounded in the center of the enemy and annihilated, a dangerous tactical maneuver.

But they have no fear.

Of course not.

Before them stands none other than the Goddess of War, Athena, who tolerates no defeat and charges only towards victory.

Everyone secures their lances under the armpits.

I take my stance behind Athena, looking ahead.

Athena, once again facing the battlefield, lifts her spear high.

It gradually descends, aiming at the destination we must breach through.

“Charge!”

“Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!”

The sound of powerful hooves echoes as the three-thousand heavy cavalry charge in unison.

The coordinated hoof strikes of the warhorses sound, almost beautifully, like the chorus of three-thousand operatic singers.

It is here I begin to somewhat believe the mad saying, “War is art.”

“Do not stop under any circumstances!”

Even if a moment of hesitation causes you to lag behind out of fear, you’ll be speared by soldiers from your own rear.

The shame of dying by a comrade’s spear is beyond redemption.

Rather, a determination fills this battlefield to charge forward and spear the ally ahead!

“Graaahhhk!”

Facing them, the demons.

Their loud cries contrast with their poor-quality weapons.

Save for a few captured ones, they possess only rusted iron swords.

Bang!

Crack!

The two forces collide.

The cavalry’s lances, exceeding five meters, repeatedly pierce the demons.

Breaking through further, they trample them with the horses’ bulky bodies, causing the demons to fall like dominoes.

Only the bodies of the demons and the hoof prints of the horses remain on the ground.

“Gnnerhheerrrr!!”

“Hiiiiiiiing!!”

Athena’s chariot in the forefront bellows, cutting through the enemy.

As if scratching themselves, the biological machines disregard minor hindrances. The chariot assault, with wind and lightning horses as cover, forms a sturdy shield protecting all within.

“Ghaaahh!”

“Khaehk!”

The demons caught under the chariot’s wheels couldn’t even scream properly before closing their eyes.

“Oi!”

I shouted loudly into Artemis’s ears so it wouldn’t be drowned by the cries.

She flinched and leaned back as I got too close.

“What, why the hell are you shouting?!”

“I’m not contributing enough, am I?”

“Wha-! What are you doing here if you can’t fight?! ”

“For the atmosphere…”

“That damn atmosphere! Ark, you throw those oil jars, will you?!”

“Yes!”

I powerfully threw the oil jars from the chariot towards the demons on the side.

Artemis then ignites an arrow by scratching its tip on the chariot’s floor and, squinting one eye, accurately hits the oil jar.

With a bang!

The side of the demon army, untouched directly by the cavalry forces, begins to collapse from the flames.

Is this what the true power of firebombs is like?

Thud.

Thud.

At that moment, footsteps shaking the earth could be heard.

Several huge ogres, as large as five-story concrete buildings, blocked Athena’s path ahead.

The ogres throw logs and rocks at us.

It seems more like an obstruction strategy to hold back the cavalry rather than directly hitting us.

“Unreasonable.”

Artemis swiftly retrieves arrows from her quiver.

Three are precisely launched, hitting the incoming logs and rocks dead-on.

The ogres weren’t fazed by their failed attempts.

In a single vertical line, the ogres lined up in a row.

If weapons won’t work, they’ll stop the cavalry’s charge with sheer size and weight!

“Foolish ones. Haargh!”

Athena’s spear glows with a bluish light as it streaks forward.

The endless blue light pierces through the ogres, creating gaping holes in their abdomens.

The ogres, unable to respond, meet their ends instantly.

Only now do the demons realize fear and reluctantly step aside.

Like the sea parting, a path opens up among the enemy ranks!

“We’ve broken through!”

“We’ve done it!!”

“Uuohooooh!!”

Athena’s triumphant cry surges like a wave through the entire formation.

The demons, now drenched in terror and with broken morale, are no longer foes.

They don’t even amount to a handful of dust standing in the way.

A refreshing wind envelops us as we emerge through the demons’ wall.

We’ve won.

Let the land of death learn from us if it wishes.

Take our strategies and tactics if you will.

In return, you’ll also inherit the bonus of fear and despair.

“Prepare for another charge! Prepare for the second wave!”

Athena’s cavalry swiftly turns their horses around and finishes preparing for another charge.

Replacing their broken lances, they unsheathe swords.

They charge again.

Dealing with the remnants is like eating cold rice porridge.

The merciless butchery of Athena’s troops toward demons attempting to flee back to the Mountain of the Gods continued.

It was a true massacre.

An overwhelming victory.

Raising her hand high, Athena signaled the end of the battle.

“Waaaaahhhh!!!”

“Hail Athena! Hail Artemis!”

The heavy cavalry now tosses their helmets, shouting in celebration.

“Ma, hooray! We won! We really won!!”

Even I, resonating with their joy, raised both hands high, singing of our victory.

This was my first taste of war.

It was terrifying.

In fact, even at this moment, my heart is still thumping, refusing to let go of its fear.

Still… everyone beside me—Athena, Artemis, and all the cavalry—are simply sharing the fear.

Yes, that’s right.

When we suffer together, it feels less daunting.

When we fight together, fear diminishes by half.

“Hooray! Hooray!”

“Waaaaaahhhh!!!”

“Huhuuh…”

Was Artemis moved by the cheers of so many people around?

She rubs the tip of her nose and grins slyly.

Then, Athena stands before us once more, raising her spear high.

The final knot of victory.

“Waaaaaahhh!!”

“Uooohaaaahhh!!!!!”

The cries of triumph echoed throughout the area surrounding the Mountain of the Gods.

And everyone silently made a vow.

To celebrate this victory with a feast of alcohol and meat for about three days.

And then,

The sky blinks dazzlingly white.

Kwaang!

A thunderclap rang out immediately afterwards.

Right above me.

“Ark! Get out of the way!!!”

Artemis, looking up at the strange sound, fired off a warning shout while quickly shooting an arrow upwards.

Kwaiz!

The arrow extending towards the sky countered the thunderbolt like a lightning rod.

However, as if anticipated, another ten thunderbolts rained down in rapid succession, directly overhead.

The sharp needles of lightning aim for my eyes.

Ah… Is this how I die?

“No!”

Athena envelops me as she raises her shield upward.

Her right hand snakes around my waist as if determined not to let go.

Kboom! Kboom! Kboom!

Indeed, the Aegis shield repels numerous streaks of lightning.

However, even Athena struggles against the continuous barrage.

“Sister!”

“Don’t come near! Artemi—”

Kboom! Kboom! Kboom! Kboom!

Her trembling legs gradually weaken.

The arm holding the shield starts to buckle.

“Athena! Don’t mind me! Escape! You’re not supposed to die for some random guy like me!”

Athena’s face grimaces in pain from enduring the lightning.

Yet, she never lets go of her smile.

“Kuh… Ark… Ark…”

“What?!”

“Does my smile resonate with you even now?”

“Of course! Your smile has always been beautiful! So now—”

“How nice of you.”

A painful, bitter smile spreads across Athena’s face.

Her hand, which had encircled my waist, gently loosens. With a careless flick, she pushes me away.

I tumble backward, my eyes unable to perceive anything else aside from Athena’s lips.

[Please take care of my mother.]

“Athenaaaahhh!!!”

Kboom!

Kboom!

Kboom!

The final volley of lightning mercilessly rains down, ignoring the presence of her daughter.

By the time I scramble to my feet, all is already over.

Inside the chariot…

Lies Athena, clutching the Aegis shield as she collapsed after enduring ten thunderbolts.

Puffs of black smoke rise from her body.

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