The Greece Antagonist

Seeing his teammate vanquished in a single round, sentenced to suffer eternal divine punishment, Ixion frantically plucked at his bowstring, retreating in panic with an expression of sheer terror.

"Don't, don't come closer! You demon!"

Hearing the slightly off-tone voice and witnessing Ixion react like a little girl bullied by a burly man, Luo En shook his head in disbelief.

Indeed, in Greece, as long as one was fierce and brutal enough, even spirits would shy away in fear.

The golden bough in the garden swept forward, wrapped in a dense blood light, effortlessly striking down several arrows formed from the Netherworld's deathly aura.

As an ancestor of the centaur race, Ixion naturally possessed an innate talent for archery.

However, his skill was nothing compared to the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis, and the God of Light, Apollo, let alone another centaur sage like Chiron.
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Therefore, Luo En faced no pressure, easily advancing to Ixion's side and cleaving him in two with a sword, swiftly sending him to meet his cellmate Tantalus.

Meanwhile, Melinoe, repeatedly throwing fodder to buy time, finally staggered to the edge of the garden, excitedly looking towards the luminous high wall hidden in the Netherworld's mist.

"The barrier foundations, found them!"

Immediately after, the Goddess of Conspiracy swiftly raised her cursed blade in her right hand and thrust the sinuous purple blade into the "Labyrinth high wall" that had formed out of thin air before her.

In an instant, a humming sound of aether disintegration filled the air, and the invincible "Labyrinth high wall" was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, then crumbled into collapse.

A divine vibration, indescribable by words, struck, causing Luo En's body to tremble, and involuntarily, a sweet trace of blood rose to his throat.

At that moment, he finally realized what that cursed blade in Melinoe's hand was, his gaze intensifying.

"The Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction? Are you a disciple of Hecate?!"

As Circe had said in class years ago, Hecate, as the goddess mastering demon art, witchcraft, and magic, was skilled in various techniques of casting spells and dispelling them, and her authority.

In her three-faced incarnation's hands, she held items representing spell casting like the Mingyue staff, a dagger representing spell braking, and a torch symbolizing guidance among others.

The dagger, endowed with a part of Hecate's authority, was capable of not only destroying all barriers and anomalies constructed by magic power but was also powerful enough to demolish life forms born from magic, resetting them to their pre-magic state by splitting into basic aether factors.

Thus, that device was also known by the moniker "Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction."

However, since Aiaia's lineage primarily studied witchcraft and magical spellcasting, generally using the Mingyue staff, they were not familiar with the dagger adept at dispelling spells. Circe had only casually mentioned it to Luo En when they had nothing else to talk about.

Now, hearing the person behind him suddenly name the true nature of the artifact in his hand, Melinoe not only turned back in shock but also adopted an even more cautious expression.

"You know that old witch? Are you here specially to capture me back?"

This blunt statement, coupled with the fact that Hecate's legitimate artifact was currently in Melinoe's hands, immediately made Luo En realize that this Goddess of Conspiracy was most likely another direct disciple of Hecate—his "aunt"?

Tsk, what a tangled family affair indeed.

Luo En quietly muttered a complaint, his gaze flickering darkly.

Persephone, as the Queen of the Underworld's foster mother, was likely the mastermind behind the birth of Persephone's son, Zagreus;

Death God Thanatos, God of Sleep Hypnos, and Ferryman of the Underworld River Charon, born from the remnants of the Goddess of Night Nyx's divinity, were absolutely obedient to her;

The Furies and the three great judges of the Netherworld were all her recruited employees;

The enchantress Circe, guiding departed souls at sea, was her disciple, and Medea, set to ascend as the queen of the Elysian Fields in a future version, was her granddaughter;

Even Melinoe, the daughter of Persephone and Hades, was her student...

Goodness, what difference was there between this Netherworld and her own house?

However, as Luo En recalled a piece of information about Hecate he had accessed in the Temple of Memory, he felt suddenly disheartened.

"...She is the famed irresistible deity of the departed, an unequaled or unbeatable queen, the creator or manager of the Netherworld, as well as the goddess of demon art, enchantresses, curses, and witchcraft..."

The creator and manager of the Netherworld, this place really seemed to be hers...

No wonder Hades spent all day at home, keen on gardening and smitten with Persephone, barely making any significant presence.

With the Netherworld leaking like a sieve, even if the Underworld King wanted to assert control, he would have to get the group branded with "Hecate" among the Netherworld's deities to obey him.

And, judging by his own understanding of the Mingyue Goddess, she certainly wouldn't do things that had no significance.

Taking the Underworld King's daughter, Melinoe, as a disciple, was obviously not just a gesture of goodwill towards the nominal lord of the Underworld.

The most likely motive behind Hecate's action was to use the Netherworld princess Melinoe as a mediator and a hostage to keep Persephone and her husband docile, so as not to disrupt her plans.

At that moment, after a quick internal surge of information, Luo En slightly narrowed his eyes, gazing distantly at Melinoe before him.

"So, you took advantage of Hecate's inattention and sneaked out on your own? Stealing the golden bough from Persephone's garden, are you planning to escape to the mortal world aboard Charon's ferry?"

"...?"

"The Divine Office of the Goddess of Conspiracy looks to be given to you by Hecate, doesn't it? Is she planning to train you as another of her lesser deities? Born from the night and not daring to act overtly, indeed, conspiracy originally was a part of her authority, now I see why that woman is so scheming."

"...!"

Upon hearing the exact assertion from the other side, Melinoe felt like a stripped bare little lamb, thoroughly scrutinized by the far more cunning and profound wolf in front of her.

The instinctive fear and the loud alarm bell in her heart compelled the princess of the Netherworld to swiftly turn around and dash towards the garden outside, which had its barrier dispelled.

Luo En, without a second thought, activated "Goat" to speedily pursue her.

This was an important pawn maintaining the delicate balance among the Queen of the Underworld, the Underworld King, and Hecate. Encountering her was rare, and not capturing her to thoroughly exploit her value would be a wasted opportunity.

However, just as Luo En, with his speed advantage, closed in within three steps behind Melinoe, the Goddess of Conspiracy suddenly twisted around, a smug cold smile spreading across her face.

"You've been fooled!"

Simultaneously, a familiar magic summoning array lit up under Melinoe's feet, and dazzling bands of light emerged behind her, resembling the tail feathers of a peacock spreading its fan, with hundreds of eye-like spots suddenly flashing intensely.

The abrupt aurora brightened the dim Netherworld as if it were daylight, causing a strong blinding effect.

Melinoe saw her constantly dominating opponent painfully close his eyes, his figure halting, his face overtaken by intense gratification.

In fact, using the "Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction" to tear open the restrictions, she summoned not three, but four spirits of the dead from the Netherworld!

The first three were merely cannon fodder to buy time and to lower her opponent's guard, but this last one was her reliance for turning defeat into victory.

—The "Eyes of Argos," a power derived from the hundred-eyed giant Argos himself.

Legend has it that this ancient giant had a hundred eyes on his head and never fully closed them even when asleep. He was a faithful servant of Hera, having accomplished the feat of hunting down the Mother of Serpents, Echidna, on his own, and was later tasked with watching over Zeus's lover, Io.

At that time, Io had been transformed into a cow, and to rescue her, the Divine Envoy Hermes played the shepherd's flute for the giant, spinning long and tedious tales to lull him to sleep. Once he succeeded in putting the giant to sleep, Hermes used a curved dagger to cut off his head, thus rescuing Io and fulfilling the task entrusted to him by Zeus.

Even Hermes had to be cautious when dealing with this formidable creature. After the death of Argos, his eyes were taken by Hera to adorn the tail feathers of a peacock, while his soul sank to the bottom of the Netherworld.

It was only by exploiting the boundary-breaking attribute of the "Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction" that Melinoe was barely able to summon the remnant soul of Argos, causing it to adhere to her, and at a critical moment, unexpectedly revealed the lethal move of the "Eyes of Argos" to successfully subdue the one who had beaten her repeatedly.

After suffering such great humiliation, did you really think I would let it go?! Idiot!

Melinoe coldly laughed and swung the "Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction" in her hand, unapologetically stabbing towards the small of the back of the person behind her.

She wasn't in a hurry to kill him yet, first planning to seal this guy's capability to cast spells, then capture him and deal with him slowly.

The self-confident Goddess of Conspiracy, with a triumphant smile on her face, excitedly anticipated the future she had envisioned.

"Snap!"

However, the arm she extended transmitted a bone-snapping pain, and the "Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction" that was supposed to stab her target's abdomen, ended up in the hands of her adversary.

Faced with the rapidly deteriorating situation, Melinoe's face dramatically changed, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"How did you..."

"I calculated your speed, catching up wasn't going to be easy; your intentions were too obvious, little sister," Luo En said, toying with the "Sigil of All-Encompassing Destruction" in his hand and smiling merrily as if looking at a foolish deer, while continuing to explain.

"Saying you're running and then attempting to counterattack me at such a moment? Still using a trick I'm tired of, truly adorably foolish..."

One of life's four grand illusions, that I could counterattack.

This illusion is truly harmful, I don't know how many have foolishly thrown their lives away in some valley, turning into easy money for others.

When battered and bruised, instead of thinking about how to save yourself, you dream of counterattacking. You check your mana, energy, or skill cooldowns, right, you can still cast these few skills, okay, you can do this. You also check the opponent's health bar; they aren't at full health either, yep, I can definitely counterattack. Thus, with killing intent, you foolishly charge towards the opposition.

But the problem is, if you can't outmaneuver the opposition at full health, what delusions of victory do you have when you're battered and bruised? Do you really think miracles will happen?

Unfortunately, reality is often harsh.

Seeing her last reliance also shattered, Melinoe sweated profusely from her forehead.

Suddenly, she seemed to see something, her face dramatically changing.

"Persephone..."

"Bang!"

However, before she could finish her sentence, a hand chop heavily struck the Netherworld princess's neck, and the strong divine power knocked her unconscious instantly.

"With that intelligence, you still think to deceive me, these are just my leftovers," Luo En disdainfully glanced at Melinoe lying on the ground, stretched out his hand to pick her up, ready to use her as his trump card for this trip to the Netherworld.

But just as he turned around, Luo En froze, staring at the graceful figure emerging from the dense woods behind him, swallowing his saliva dryly.

"You, how did you come back?"