Just as the prince in his desperate situation closed his eyes to await death, a frantic cry came from the distant horizon, a soul-piercing wail so heart-wrenching that it could make any being reluctant to cause its source further pain.
The boar's ferocious gaze wavered, turning dazed for a moment before quickly regaining clarity.
But when its bloodshot pupils caught sight of the swan-drawn chariot racing across the sky like a meteor, the boar flinched, and its ferocity also faded.
Without hesitation, it abandoned the half-dead Adonis and charged into the dense forest.
At that moment, the prince, having narrowly escaped death, stared dumbfounded at the boar vanishing into the distance.
Why did this monster feel so… human?
As the handsome prince grappled with his confusion, a beautiful figure leapt from the swan chariot, her bare feet treading over the divinely sprouted vines, leaving bloodied footprints from the thorns.
She rushed to his side, frantically pulling his head into her embrace, anxiously asking over and over.
"..Adonis, my beloved, are you okay? Where are you hurt? Is it serious? Let me see!"
Aphrodite checked her lover repeatedly, her heart gripped by lingering fear.
Thankfully, when she had bestowed upon Adonis the divine power of spring plants, she had, as a precaution, infused it with a drop of her own divine blood.
This allowed her to sense his condition at all times, ensuring that her hero-obsessed lover wouldn't meet with disaster.
As she feared, her worries had come true.
A little later, and her beloved would have died in her arms.
The three Graces, seeing the situation, tactfully refrained from disturbing their mistress as she comforted her young lover.
Instead, they followed the traces and scents left at the scene to pursue the culprit behind this vicious attack.
After a period of worry and fear, confirming her lover was still alive, Aphrodite finally calmed slightly.
But seeing Adonis's multiple fractures, she felt both heartache and rage.
"..Who? Who did this!"
By normal reasoning, even a magical beast in the wild shouldn't be able to inflict such severe harm on a god.
Likewise, Adonis sensed something unusual, frowning with a puzzled expression."..It was a magical boar, its body glowing with strange red light, like blood.."
Red light? Blood-like red light?
Aphrodite pondered for a moment, then suddenly seemed to realize something, her beautiful face turning ashen.
Not long after, the three Graces returned empty-handed, awkwardly reporting to their mistress.
"..We almost caught up, but it jumped into the water and disappeared."
"..Didn't you search?"
Aphrodite asked, somewhat displeased.
"..We did, but it seemed to connect to an underground river with countless branching streams. We couldn't tell where it went."
The three Graces explained in low voices, then added with strange expressions.
"..That pig didn't just swim, it seemed to know how to dive.."
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow, a cold smile creeping across her beautiful face "..Pigs don't dive, but some things do!"
The three Graces exchanged glances, seemingly realizing something, and cautiously sought confirmation from their mistress.
"..You mean.."
Aphrodite didn't answer directly.
She gently lifted the injured Adonis onto the swan chariot, signaled for her entourage to take him away, then raised her head, her expression dark as she gazed at the sacred mountain standing in the distant clouds.
The grinding of her silver teeth echoed with a sharp clatter.
"..Let's go. We're heading back to Olympus!"
Seeing their mistress's grim expression, the three Graces couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.
This time, she was truly furious.
At the same time, in a deep pool nestled among the mountains, a massive splash erupted, rising several meters high.
A robust magical boar leapt onto the shore, panting heavily, its eyes filled with scarlet bloodshot veins.
The dense blood-red aura and savage ferocity seemed ready to burst from its body.
The ferocious beast gazed at its reflection in the water, a glimmer of clarity seemingly awakened as it opened its mouth, biting at its pigskin, attempting to tear it off.
However, the intense pain and the unyielding adhesion forced it to let go with a low whimper.
As expected, it couldn't do it alone, it had to hurry to the coast!
Beneath the pigskin, Lorne bit his tongue, struggling to maintain a shred of clarity, and charged toward the agreed meeting point.
But as he pushed his speed to the limit, the beastly instincts of the magical boar and the war god's killing impulse continued to build within his mind, gradually clouding his consciousness.
Though the early stages of the plan had gone smoothly, he hadn't expected Aphrodite to return so quickly.
Almost the instant Adonis was in danger, she had rushed to the scene.
Fortunately, after the goddess of love arrived, she was preoccupied with tending to her half-dead beloved, leaving only the three Graces to pursue him.
This gave him the chance to follow his prearranged escape route, diving into the water and using the complex underground river system, along with his sea-blessed protection, to make a clean getaway.
Even so, shaking off the three Graces had cost him a significant amount of time.
By the time those terrifying presences finally faded, and he emerged from the water, the three-hour duration of his transformation was nearly depleted.
Now, he could only hope that everything had gone smoothly on Artemis's end and that he could meet the hunting goddess in time.
While thinking this, Lorne charged toward the coast where the ferry was hidden.
As time ticked by, the scarlet bloodshot veins gradually spread across the beast's eyes.
Finally, as Lorne struggled to distinguish whether he was man or beast, a shimmering, shallow beach came into view.
A tall, athletic girl in hunting attire was pacing back and forth on the pristine white sand.
As the distance closed, a relieved smile spread across the beautiful girl's face as she opened her arms, quickly stepping forward to meet him.
Lorne sniffed the air, unable to resist quickening his pace.
Because she smelled so good..
The massive magical boar burst out of the dense forest like a heavy tank, its scarlet blood aura soaring like blazing flames, its two sharp tusks glinting with a chilling light.
Seeing the figure charging toward her, the hunting goddess on the beach beamed with a radiant smile.
Her outstretched arms shifted, one dropped to her side, while the other rose high.
Then..
"..Bang!"
A deafening crash echoed across the beach as the mountain-like beast collapsed to the ground.
A massive swelling, steaming with heat, rapidly formed on the boar's head.
(Chapter End)
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