Became the Weapon Monopolist of the Gods-Chapter 59: Artemis, goddess of the moon (1)

The Golden-Horned Deer of Ceryneia was a symbol of luck.

It was said that capturing the deer would grant wishes or bring good fortune, and so many tried to capture this deer.

It was a legendary divine creature, so rare that simply seeing it was considered a sign of good luck.

However, this was merely a disguise.

The Golden-Horned Deer of Ceryneia was not an animal, but a servant of Artemis.

She was a beautiful fairy from the Pleiades, one of the seven sisters who were highly favored and protected by Artemis.

The one who disguised her as a deer and spread rumors that it was a lucky creature was none other than Artemis, the goddess of the moon.

According to myth, Artemis disguised Taygete as a deer to hide her from Zeus.

Zeus, who had seen Taygete by chance, became infatuated with her beauty.

Artemis, having already experienced Zeus taking her own servant as a lover, was desperate to protect Taygete.

Artemis, the goddess of the moon and chastity, had servants who were ‘virgin goddesses’ who had sworn oaths of purity.

So, Artemis disguised Taygete as a deer, but she was not content with just that. She even added horns, further disguising her as a male deer.

That was why Taygete, a female deer, had horns.

"Even with all this, Zeus will still find her."

Despite Artemis’ efforts, Zeus eventually found Taygete and took her as his lover.

It was truly impressive how determined he was.

Anyway, the deer’s true identity was Taygete, Artemis’ servant.

If someone were to harm her while attempting to capture her, Heracles would have to face Artemis' wrath.

The task itself was a trap set by Hera.

Of course, if left alone, Heracles would likely succeed in capturing Taygete without harming her.

‘The problem is that the time frame is a year.’

Taygete, originally a nymph from the local mountains, could jump over lakes and rivers, was incredibly fast, and could even shoot fire.

A year was a timeframe only Heracles could manage.

But for me, I didn’t have the luxury of waiting a year.

Since I wasn’t going to live forever in Greek mythology, I needed to complete Heracles’ Twelve Labors as soon as possible.

‘That means I’ll have to meet Artemis.’

To capture Taygete, I had to meet her mistress, the goddess Artemis.

She was the one who held the key to shortening the one-year time limit.

Heracles dipped his arrows in Hydra’s venom, creating poisoned arrows.

The venom of the Hydra was so potent that even the slightest contact was deadly and irredeemable.

With Jeanne around, it was manageable, but according to the myth, the only person who could cure the Hydra’s poison was Oinone, the nymph.

It was said that even gods couldn’t cure it once they were poisoned.

It wasn’t an exaggeration. Heracles even used these poisoned arrows to threaten Poseidon, the god of the sea.

Later, the reason for Heracles’ death was also because of these poisoned arrows.

‘There’s no need to mention it.’

Heracles dying from the poisoned arrow was part of the fate Moira had decreed.

It was none of my concern.

Did Heracles sense my gaze?

He carefully placed the poisoned arrows into his quiver and asked me.

“Don’t you need some?”

“I’ll put mine in here.”

I opened the vial that contained the essence and carefully applied it to the Hydra’s venomous fangs.

The drops of venom that had been gathered on the fangs of the Hydra dripped into the vial, one by one.

I watched as the transparent Hydra venom collected in the glass vial, my eyes gleaming.

‘This is fate.’

It was a rare opportunity to acquire the essence of the Hydra’s venom.

The only person who had ever obtained it was Heracles.

Now, I had it too.

I didn’t know what I’d use it for, but it would definitely come in handy at some point.

When a calamity-level gate opened in Korea, the Hydra’s venom would become a powerful weapon to deal with it.

If it was a poison that could even kill Heracles, anything beyond the gate would likely struggle to withstand it.

There wasn’t much of it, so I’d probably have only one or two uses, but...

‘Even that much is valuable.’

Those one or two chances would almost certainly result in immediate death.

I had obtained a powerful trump card.

Having received the Hydra’s venom, I carefully closed the vial and stored it in a regular slot.

I hoped I wouldn’t need to use it.

That being said...

“Are you already leaving?”

“I have received a task, so I must move.”

Heracles immediately prepared to head to Mount Ceryneia, where the Golden-Horned Deer awaited.

The problem was that Mount Ceryneia was quite far from Mycenae.

It was a three-day journey on foot.

However, when I looked at Heracles’ preparations, they were surprisingly simple.

He looked like he was about to go for a casual outing.

“It’s quite a distance. Don’t you need to bring more things?”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll arrive today.”

“?”

Arriving in one day, despite it being a three-day journey?

I was puzzled, but when I stepped outside, I realized why.

“Good morning, Warrior Seo-jun.”

“Good morning, Iolas.”

“Hmm.”

Outside the building, Iolas’ chariot was parked.

But the two horses pulling the chariot were quite special.

“Grrrk, grrk.”

These weren’t horses; they were closer to monsters, boasting a terrifying size.

‘Alkyon, Akrios?’

These were the two divine horses that, in some texts, were said to have pulled Heracles’ chariot.

“They are horses blessed by Poseidon.”

Poseidon, known as the god of the sea, was also the ‘god of horses.’

He created horses and was the god who trained them.

The horses Iolas drove were divine horses blessed by Poseidon.

That was why Iolas could be called the greatest charioteer in Greece.

“Please, take a seat.”

“Ah, yes.”

I climbed onto the chariot at Iolas’ invitation, and he began driving.

Hee-hee-hee-hee!

Thundering hooves!

The two black horses, raising their front hooves, raced down the road at an incredible speed.

In an instant, the scenery whizzed by.

The chariot driven by Iolas, known as the greatest charioteer, was as fast as its title suggested.

No wonder Heracles had said we’d arrive today.

Boom! Thud!

However, the ride was extremely uncomfortable.

We arrived in Ceryneia that evening, having shortened the three-day journey to just half a day.

Of course, there were side effects.

My backside, repeatedly slammed against the stone-like seats, was screaming in pain.

It was amazing that Heracles and Iolas, who had endured this, looked perfectly fine.

Were they made of muscle, even in their behinds?

“Ow, this really hurts.”

I couldn’t get off for a while and had to rub my sore backside.

By the way...

“Heracles.”

“What is it?”

“Do you have a plan for finding the Golden-Horned Deer?”

Ceryneia was a vast mountain.

Finding a single deer in such a wide expanse was no easy task.

Without any clues, it would be like searching for the Yeti in the Himalayas — impossible to find.

“Well, we’ll have to search the entire mountain first.”

‘So, you came without any plan in mind.’

It seemed Heracles was planning to search and then figure things out.

I had a bad feeling that it might take half a year to find it.

Of course, I wasn’t going to wait that long.

“I’ll make a quick trip to the Artemis Temple.”

“To the Artemis Temple?”

“Artemis is the goddess of hunting. I’ll pray to her to help me catch the deer.”

“I hope the goddess answers your prayers.”

“I’ll try my best.”

In this world, ‘prayer’ was different from modern prayer.

Sometimes, a god would answer a prayer and manifest their presence.

I was determined to make Artemis answer my prayer.

I had already come up with a way to do it.

Late in the evening.

I went to the Artemis Temple and prayed at the altar set up before it.

The stars and moon in the sky, shining brightly as if about to fall, watched over my prayer.

Amidst their watch, I looked at the statue of Artemis, who wore a quiver of arrows.

And I spoke.

“I know that the Golden-Horned Deer of Ceryneia is the divine creature you released. Although it has horns, it is a female, not a male.”

Flicker—

The sound of the torchlight lighting up the altar was the only response to my question.

“I also know that she is Taygete, one of the Pleiades.”

Only silence followed, but I continued speaking.

“I know that Zeus is aware of her being Taygete.”

There was no answer.

For a while.

Just when I was wondering whether to leave, the world began to shimmer like ripples spreading through water.

The scenery changed.

The night sky filled with galaxies turned into ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) a bright, clear sky, and even during the day, the moon and stars were visible.

The altar turned into a vast field where deer were running freely.

Cheep-cheep─ Cheep-cheep─

Birds chirped and flew over the meadow.

One deer, grazing on the grass, looked at me as if inviting me to follow.

Where the deer led me, there was a small rock.

On the rock sat a woman, looking at a small bird resting on her hand.

Her hair, a deep green like the forest, and her eyes as blue as the sky, reflected nature itself.

She carried a quiver of arrows on her back and a bow in her hands, with a braid of hair adorned with the moon hanging from one side.

She was a beautiful woman, embodying the vastness of nature.

Cheep-cheep─

As the bird flew away, the woman turned her head to look at me.

Her cool blue eyes fixed on me.

“Is what you said true?”

“Yes, it is true.”

She was one of the Twelve Olympian Gods.

The goddess of the moon, hunting, and chastity.

Artemis.