"Ding-dang~!"
And with the crisp sound of gold coins falling to the ground, the two goddesses' auras became stern, and like arrows released from their bows, they dashed toward their respective hunting grounds.
Watching the two figures disappearing into the distance, galloping through the dense forest, streams, and valleys, and cleanly striking down prey, big and small, Luo En shook his head, sat at the starting point of Mount Crete, patted the head of the Golden Hound beside him, and murmured with a wealth of emotion,
"Ah, women..."
During the wait time for the judge, as seconds and minutes passed, the competition between the two goddesses grew increasingly fierce.
One was a combat genius, the other the sovereign of the forests, even without using divine power, they could easily rampage through the entire Crete mountains with their formidable physical prowess.
And with the arrival of these two fierce stars, the beasts and Magic Beasts of the Crete Mountains were utterly misfortunate, systematically getting cleaned out.
The bigger the size, the more their focused care.
After all, the result of the competition was measured not by quantity, but by weight.
So, sister Athena, you must understand my earnest intentions...
At this moment, Luo En, watching from afar atop a mountain, looked at Athena, who was on a killing spree, and silently thought to himself,
Even though he needed to present an image of being a fair and impartial judge, he was clear about which sister he needed to cling to more closely for support.
Therefore, even though he couldn't openly take sides, in order to justify his actions in the future, he needed to show his stance a little.
In fact, choosing a competition rule based on weight rather than quantity was the convenience he provided for Athena.
If it were a contest of the number of prey, obviously, Artemis, adept at archery, would have the advantage.
But if one had to suppress divine power and consider whose prey weighed more, the Spear, with more powerful lethality against larger prey, would clearly have the upper hand.
The saying, "Three arrows are inferior to one blade, and three blades to one spear," was similar in principle.
These advantageous conditions he had created were the greatest help Luo En could offer Athena under fair and reasonable circumstances.
For the sake of continuing to receive offerings at the temple, he had indeed made a serious effort.
Now, he just hoped that the Goddess of Wisdom could understand his painstaking effort and, whether she won or lost, not to place the blame on him in the end.
Time flew by; the sun sloped westward.
The competition was drawing to a close, and the battle between the two goddesses was entering an intense stage, to the point where they started using some tricks within the rules, in order to win.
Should he take that risk?
Just as Luo En wavered, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the way Athena's hand loosely gripped the Spear of Victory, and with a flicker in his gaze, he solemnly announced,
"This contest, Goddess Artemis wins!"
With the competition's results settled, Artemis's face blossomed with a satisfied smile, her eyes turning to a certain "fair and impartial" judge, her gaze brimming with strands of approval and admiration.
On the contrary, Athena's complexion was not so pleasant.
However, in full view of everyone, the Goddess of Wisdom still maintained her dignity and coldly conceded to the winner's prize.
"You've won, and may use any hunting ground on Crete Island as you wish for the next three months."
Thereupon, Athena turned her head toward the side of the judge and let out a cold snort.
"During this time, all her travels and hunting will be accompanied by you!"
Having said that, the overzealous Goddess of Wisdom threw a cold glare at someone and walked away without looking back, heading toward the back of the valley, apparently ready to cease intervening in their affairs.
"Could you gather the prey for me? I'll go check on..."
Seeing the situation turning sour, Luo En first offered Artemis an apologetic smile and then hurriedly chased after Athena.
And as the victor, the Goddess of the Hunt graciously expressed understanding and contentedly stayed behind to clean up the aftermath of the hunt.
A quarter of an hour later, Luo En, after both chasing and rushing, finally found the Goddess of Wisdom by the pool behind the valley, who seemed to be brooding.
Hearing movement behind her, Athena, with a displeased expression, turned and snorted coldly.
"Why did you follow? Shouldn't you be at Artemis's side?"
"I am just fulfilling your orders to accompany her, not as if she owns me entirely."
Luo En rolled his eyes, equally annoyed in his retort.
"Of course, if you actually plan on doing that, I have nothing to say."
"Despite being the one who determined the outcome, you still have the nerve to argue!"
Hearing these words, Athena couldn't help but laugh in irritation, her gaze growing colder.
"That's not quite right..." Luo En, however, spoke softly, a meaningful smile creeping across his face, "this is precisely the result you wanted."