The centaurs gathered around and gradually came back to their senses.
Several of them raised sword-shields and spears-lances, stepped out from the ranks, spread their four hooves, grinned ferociously and charged forward, intending to skewer this road-blocking guy into a sieve in one go and then hurry to enjoy those beautiful females who had intruded into Arcadia.
'I knew it… these four-legged trash have nothing to do with me…'
Watching the several centaurs charging toward him with weapons raised, the newly appointed certain wine god mentally cleared his own name while stepping forward with the infant still cradled in his arms.
"Moo!"
The moment the two sides collided, a brilliant golden light erupted in the enemy formation, transforming into the phantom of a golden bull that raised its head and let out an angry low roar.
The surging, blasting divine power smashed into the charging centaurs ahead, sending blood spraying everywhere.
Bones shattered, and tendons tore. They all turned into twisted projectiles of flesh and were sent flying backward.
Crimson blood sprayed along the way.
Several centaurs fell into deep craters, issuing dying screams and wails.
However, this not only failed to instill fear in the remaining centaurs but instead ignited the ferocity buried deep in their bones.
"Kill him! Kill them all!"
The centaur wearing the golden helmet raised his giant axe, and a golden divine aura unique to gods burst from his body as he roared and led the charge.
The remaining hundred-plus centaurs all grabbed their weapons, shouted excitedly and followed closely behind.
The ground trembled with thunder-like rumbles.
The collective charge of the centaurs surged toward the solitary thin figure in the center like a tidal wave.
Facing this scene of galloping horses, Lorne's infant in the swaddling showed no fear at all.
Instead, she poked her little head out, widened her tawny eyes, and curiously looked forward while making giggling laughter sounds.
"Not bad guts. Looks like you'll be quite a handful in the future!"
Lorne reached out and gently scraped the bridge of the little girl's nose with a teasing smile.
He then secured the swaddling firmly in front of his chest, freed both hands and plunged into the enemy ranks like a tiger into a flock of sheep.
Wherever he passed, the surrounding centaurs were either sent flying by terrifying raw power with their internal organs ruptured or had their weapons snatched away by exquisite redirection techniques only to be split apart in return or were forcibly toppled bare-handed and trampled to death under their own comrades' hooves…
In an instant, the centaur tribe, which had thought this would be just an ordinary raid, was thrown into complete chaos with men and horses tumbling and heavy casualties.
Looking at the blood splattering everywhere around him, the little infant in Lorne's arms laughed even more joyfully, and a flush of excitement even appeared on her face as if she greatly enjoyed this thrilling and unrestrained battle scene.
"Die!"
Seeing his subordinates being slaughtered, the centaur leader wearing the golden helmet could finally endure no more and swung his giant axe, cleaving one unlucky centaur blocking his way in half, then brought the axe blade straight down toward Lorne's head.
But just as this powerful, heavy strike was about to split open the enemy's skull, it suddenly halted in mid-air, completely motionless.
"That's it?"
Lorne slightly raised his head, glanced at the axe handle clamped in his hand, sneered, and shook his head.
Understanding the mockery in that expression, the centaur leader instantly flew into a rage and let out a low roar, pushing the divinity in his bloodline to the limit, swearing to split open this annoying two-legged sheep's skull.
However, the expected resistance from the front suddenly vanished.
The centaur leader, who had overexerted himself, immediately smashed his axe into the ground, staggered forward and tumbled headfirst into a deep pit.
But before that dizzy head could lift itself from the dirt, a foot came crashing down mercilessly, snapping the centaur leader's neck.
The fracture and suffocation made the monster feel the shadow of death. It began to struggle frantically.
In response, Lorne gave a faint smile, casually picked up the bronze giant axe the centaur leader had dropped beside him and swung it forward.
"Puff!"
Accompanied by a spray of hot blood, a large ferocious head rolled into the deep pit.
Its gradually dilating pupils stared at the night sky in terror and lifelessness.
After dealing with this centaur leader who could barely be considered a threat, Lorne tossed aside the bloodstained giant axe, looked at the field of centaur corpses around him and could not help but sneer and shake his head.
"With only this much ability, you still wanted to raid the camp ahead? Truly, lust overrides all sense of danger. Do you even know that group of women—I wouldn't dare provoke them either."
After one last glance at this herd of four-legged beasts, Lorne casually snapped his fingers.
The divinity from the [Bull] pulsed outward.
The churning earth swallowed the corpses and blood on the ground, burying them deep below.
Their flesh and blood would become food for insects and ants and nourishment for next year's plants—a different form of returning to nature.
After simply cleaning up the scene, Lorne patted the dust off his body and walked toward the camp in the secluded valley.
~~
"Why did it take you so long?"
As soon as he sat down, Artemis, who was full of worry, immediately leaned over and asked about the reason.
"I ran into a bit of trouble…"
Lorne did not hide anything and recounted how he had been attacked by the centaurs.
"Those filthy beasts!"
Hearing that those four-legged creatures actually dared to have designs on them, the goddesses immediately became furious and wished they could dig up the corpses and whip them once more.
Artemis's pretty face was filled with killing intent, and she declared that first thing tomorrow morning, she would go reduce the centaur population in the Arcadia region.
The Nymphs and Muses beside her all raised their hands in full agreement.
Looking at the group of goddesses around him who were radiating a murderous aura, Lorne could not help but silently mourn for those unfortunate centaurs for a few seconds.
'You said you could rob anyone, why did you have to provoke this pack of tigresses?'
The original patron god of a certain centaur tribe secretly shook his head and, without hesitation, gave up any idea of subduing this herd of beasts as an allied army.
If his wine god cult wanted to develop and grow smoothly, it definitely had to eliminate the dross and keep only the essence.
It could not accept just any garbage.
So he could not save them. Let them wait for death!
After inwardly issuing a death notice to that herd of beasts, Lorne immediately untied the swaddling clothes from his chest.
Instantly, a small head eagerly poked out, sniffed with her delicate nose, and crawled with all four limbs toward Artemis's embrace before burying herself headfirst into that deep cleavage and squirming around.
The Huntress Goddess, who was suddenly attacked, trembled all over.
She quickly pressed down on the infant's little head, her face flushed red, and opened her mouth to ask.
"Where did she come from?"
"Uh… I picked her up…"
Lorne hurriedly answered, explained the whole situation, and then cleared his throat to remind her.
"Looking at her, she seems hungry, right?"
"Mm probably…"
Artemis subconsciously nodded and gave a slightly reproachful glance at the little one who had left a large patch of drool on the front of her undergarment, then turned and issued orders to the surrounding Nymphs.
"Go find some mother's milk for this child."
Mother's milk?
For a moment, these Huntress Temple Nymphs, who had sworn to remain chaste, looked at each other, completely at a loss.
Where could they find such a thing nearby?
They could not produce any themselves.
"It doesn't have to be human. Any mother beast that is currently lactating will do."
As soon as Lorne gave the reminder, the Nymphs immediately understood and hurriedly split into several teams and set off to search the nearby mountains and forests.
It did not take long.
The Huntress Nymphs, who ruled domineeringly in the mountains and woods, soon dragged several mother beasts along with their young back to the camp.
There were mother bears, mountain goats, wild boars…
As soon as these trembling mother beasts were driven over the little one who smelled the milk scent immediately crawled out of Artemis's embrace, felt her way forward, and burrowed into the embrace of one of the mother beasts.
It was a mother lion with golden fur.
Not long ago, she had lost her cubs due to hunters' pursuit and had just experienced the pain of bereavement.
Whether because of this or because Artemis was present, the mother lion behaved extremely docile.
Not only did she not resist the approach of this human infant, but she even actively opened her belly to begin nursing.
The starving infant lay on the lion mother's soft belly, latched onto a nipple, and suckled hard at the sweet, rich milk.
Seeing that adorably silly appearance, the surrounding goddesses were overcome with maternal instincts, wishing they could hold her in their arms and show her affection.
However, after the little one had her fill of milk, she turned her head, looked around once, then burst into a string of giggling laughter.
With all four limbs working together, she crawled straight toward the "male mommy" in the crowd.
Lorne gave a wry smile, helplessly opened his arms, and gently lifted the infant.
"It looks like she really likes you."
Artemis sat down beside her lover, looked at the delicate, intelligent little face of the infant, smiled, reached out and gently wiped away the milk foam at the corner of the child's mouth.
Seemingly influenced by the goodwill released by the goddess, the little one widened her bright eyes, babbled incoherently, stretched out both hands, hugged several of Artemis's fingers to her chest, and only then peacefully fell into a deep sleep.
Seeing this, a wonderful warmth and throb rushed from the Goddess's fingertips straight into her heart. For a moment the she felt a surge of emotion and blinked, her sparkling eyes looking expectantly at her lover beside her.
"I like this child very much, too. How about… You help me adopt her on my behalf?"
She was a virgin goddess sworn to chastity.
Even though she had bravely broken through the shackles to taste the forbidden fruit with the one she loved, this relationship could ultimately never be exposed to the light of day.
It would be very difficult for her to ever bear children for the beloved man in front of her.
Rather than regret it bitterly in the years to come, it would be better to regard this heaven-sent child as her own and raise her together as the bond of their love.
Moreover, with such a little one fostered by her lover's side, she would have a perfectly legitimate reason to visit (meet secretly), do intimate things, and no one would easily suspect.
Hearing the implicit meaning in those words, Lorne immediately understood Artemis's intention and smiled, nodded took the initiative to hand the lucky little one over to the Huntress Goddess.
"Very well, Lady Artemis, then you can give her a name."
Artemis took the swaddling clothes, looked at the spirited little face in front of her, thought seriously for a moment and spoke with a smile.
"Atalanta. Let's call her Atalanta."
Immediately afterward, the goddess lightly kissed the infant's forehead as pulsing divine power flowed into the female infant's body, granting her the blessing of the Goddess of Hunt derived from nature.
When the ceremony ended, and the now much quieter infant returned to his arms, Lorne looked at the little girl in the swaddling clothes who was holding his finger, sleeping soundly, and could not help but laugh wryly.
Atalanta, the abandoned princess of Arcadia, the female hunter who swore chastity to Goddess Artemis, achieved great feats during the [Calydonian Boar Hunt], won many honors, and participated in the famous [Argonauts Expedition].
She was a female hero renowned throughout the world for her archery and speed.
It was said that Achilles's father, the great hero Peleus, once competed with her in arm-wrestling and lost to this beautiful huntress.
It actually turned out to be her?
Now this was really hitting the jackpot.
(End of chapter)