Fragments of memories from his past life spun rapidly within Natsu’s mind.
The tragedy awaiting the Artemis Familia was no longer just a fairy tale or fiction to him; it was a bloody reality that would soon unfold if he just stood by and did nothing.
Natsu knew exactly how that plot ended: a merciless massacre, blood soaking ancient grounds, and the goddess being swallowed alive by the despair known as Antares.
There was no time for hesitation.
Ignoring the noisy bustle of the Preblica market, Natsu stepped forward.
His strides were calm yet radiated an overwhelming determination.
The crowd around him seemed to part automatically, subconsciously responding to the tightly suppressed predatory aura beneath the young man’s exterior.
Just as Artemis turned to leave Aphrodite, Natsu closed the distance between them.
He stood tall, placing himself squarely in the middle of the two divine entities’ conversation.
“Hold on a minute,” Natsu interrupted with a firm voice, shattering the tension between the two goddesses.
Artemis stopped in her tracks, turning her head with a furrowed brow.
At the same time, Rethusa, the captain of the Familia, reacted instantly with the honed instincts of a veteran.
Her hand shot to her weapon, positioning her body as a living shield between Natsu and her goddess.
Her gaze sharpened, assessing this unfamiliar pink-haired youth who had somehow managed to slip this close without her noticing.
Completely ignoring Rethusa’s threatening posture, Natsu looked straight into Artemis’s clear green eyes.
“You’d better drop your plans of going to the Elsos Ruins,” he said bluntly.
“Especially if you’re only planning to go there with your current Familia members.
If you push through with it, you’re all just throwing your lives away.
Every single one of your children will be killed.”
Silence instantly froze the area around them.
The noise of the market seemed to evaporate into the wind.
Artemis’s green eyes widened, flashing a shock she couldn’t conceal.
Her calm and icy authority cracked in an instant.
The Elsos Ruins were an ancient secret, an absolute mission known only to her and a handful of other Gods.
Not a single mortal in this lower world was supposed to know where she was heading.
“Who are you?” Artemis demanded, her voice now brimming with high alert.
“How do you…
a human, know about the Elsos Ruins?”
Natsu didn’t even blink.
His expression hardened as he dropped a far worse reality on her.
“That’s not important.
What matters is what’s waiting for you there.
That monster…
Antares, he is already awake.
He is no longer asleep.
That monster is eating away at its own seal from the inside.”
Upon hearing the name ‘Antares,’ Artemis gasped.
Her beautiful face went pale.
Rethusa, who didn’t fully understand the situation, could only stare at her goddess with mounting confusion and concern, but Artemis was too consumed by the storm raging in her own mind.
Antares is awake?
Artemis’s inner voice screamed.
Her thoughts raced at lightning speed, calculating the probability and the scale of the threat this mysterious young man had just revealed.
If what he said was true—that the apocalyptic Black Scorpion had awakened and was devouring the power of the divine seal—then the situation had completely spiraled out of control.
Artemis perfectly understood the current hierarchy of power in Gekai.
She knew the limits of mortal children’s strength.
Even if she gathered all the strongest adventurers from Orario, the outcome would remain the same.
Ottar, the Boar of the Freya Familia who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the world at Level 7, wouldn’t stand a sliver of a chance against an unsealed Antares.
The dimensional gap between adventurers and that ancient god-devouring monster was absolute.
There was no weapon in this world capable of piercing its shell, and no hero could withstand its venom.
However, the despair born from that fact didn’t deter Artemis.
As the Goddess of the Hunt, symbolizing purity and resolve, her sense of responsibility far outweighed her fear.
If no one could stop it, then as the goddess tasked with overseeing the seal, she would have to handle it herself, regardless of the cost.
Artemis clenched her jaw.
The spark of determination flooded her green eyes once again.
“If what you say is true, Human, then that makes it an even more absolute reason for me to go there immediately,” Artemis declared in an indisputable tone, as stubborn as a rock battered by the waves.
“If Antares manages to completely destroy its seal, this world will be ruined.
I cannot and will not run away from my duty.”
Natsu let out a long sigh, roughly scratching the back of his pink hair.
He had expected this reaction.
The goddess before him possessed a stubbornness on par with Erza Scarlet when defending her principles.
Natsu knew that arguing this any further in the middle of a public street wouldn’t yield any results.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” Natsu replied in a relaxed tone that sharply contrasted the tension in the air, waving a hand dismissively as if shooing away a fly.
“I’m just here to tell you what I know.
Where I got the info doesn’t matter.
But you’ve been warned.
If you still want to commit suicide along with your Familia, that’s your business.”
Natsu spun around, preparing to walk away.
He had made his first intervention.
He would have to think his next steps through carefully; fighting an ancient monster of Antares’ caliber wasn’t something he could just blindly charge into, even with his current strength.
However, amidst the drama and tension that had just transpired, there was one entity who felt deeply insulted.
The Goddess Aphrodite.
From the moment Natsu stepped in and interrupted her conversation with Artemis, Aphrodite was treated as if she were thin air.
The rogue-like youth with the scaly white scarf hadn’t glanced at her even once.
Not a single look was directed at the beauty praised across all of heaven and earth.
The boy spoke to Artemis, intimidated Artemis, warned Artemis, and then turned to leave as if Aphrodite were nothing more than a worthless street ornament.
For a Goddess of Beauty accustomed to being the absolute center of adoration, worship, and attention, being ignored in such a manner was a massive insult that tore at her pride.
Aphrodite’s beautiful face flushed with suppressed anger.
Her green eyes glared daggers at Natsu’s retreating back.
Harmonia, standing behind Aphrodite, gulped nervously upon seeing her goddess’s shoulders trembling with emotion.
“How dare he…” Aphrodite whispered, her voice trembling as she gripped her dress tightly.
“How dare that lowly human ignore me as if I don’t exist?!”
Irritation and humiliation churned in Aphrodite’s chest.
Yet, her curiosity was also piqued.
How could some nobody from out of nowhere possess information about the Elsos Ruins and Antares?
Information that even she, a fellow goddess, had only heard through ancient rumors?
Aphrodite narrowed her eyes.
A dangerously cold smile curved onto her captivating lips.
If the boy refused to pay attention to her voluntarily, then she would force him to.
She would use her divine Charm—an absolute allure capable of subjugating the sanity of any mortal—to teach this disrespectful boy an unforgettable lesson.
She would make him fall to his knees and worship her, and once his mind was shattered by the goddess’s charm, Aphrodite would force him to spill exactly where he had obtained all those horrifying secrets.