Chapter 73

Chapter 73 – Love Fight (?)

Under the warm sunlight that might turn into a deadly laser beam at any moment.

A brown beauty with healthy legs aimed sharply at my side and lunged at me.

-Swish!

Though I hadn’t bet anything, the air screamed as if surprised by the flying kick drawing a graceful curve.

Following its trajectory, a small whirlwind blew and pressured me.

“Hoo!”

-Boom!

As I counterattacked head-on with a reverse kick, the air collided before our feet even met, causing a small explosion.

“Wow... At this rate, Theseus might be able to handle a one-on-one fight.”

“Hmph...!”

I properly attended combat and martial arts class for the first time in almost a week.

Originally, the class should have been held in Ares’s Colosseum, but due to the exploits of Hercules and me, the class was moved to Athena’s tactical field.

Except for the basic framework, the heroes attending this class had their own martial arts or techniques they had learned and mastered so far, so instead of military-style training, they paired off freely to spar and discuss.

As soon as I showed my face in the class, especially the martial arts class, after just a week, Hercules and Theseus rushed over, thinking it was the perfect opportunity.

But even faster than them, like a gust of wind, Atalanta snatched the lead and dragged me away, while they were busy exchanging blows nearby.

Seeing Atalanta’s fierce momentum, they were convinced that they would not fare well if they tried to stop her from dragging me by the wrist, so they stepped back.

‘Honestly, it was my fault.’

For the past week, I had set everything else aside and holed up in the workshop with Hestosias, engrossed in making a gayageum.

Even so, I was so distracted by that one thing that I couldn’t properly talk to Atalanta or Neri.

To be honest, as soon as the class started, seeing Atalanta charging at me with sparks in her eyes, I was debating whether to slam my head down or beg for forgiveness.

As expected, Atalanta was slowly making the Twelve Divine Demons technique her own, pulling it from my imagination.

The high kick that came at me earlier, the punches and hand strikes targeting the circulation points of the energy channels and dantian, which would naturally be difficult to develop in a land without inner strength.

The form was still that of Greek martial arts, but the outline of the Twelve Divine Demons technique was gradually becoming visible.

Unconsciously, I was also using the Twelve Divine Demons technique, slowly adjusting Atalanta’s Greek-style technique.

“Hiyah!”

Atalanta, after having her attacks blocked several times, quickly lowered her stance and lunged at my lower body.

A grappling stance reminiscent of a hunting leopard, akin to Greek wrestling pankration.

The ancient Greek pankration, displaying flexibility and practicality beyond modern mixed martial arts, seemed quite powerful even to me.

Especially since the opponent using that technique was Atalanta, I was chilled by the force with which she wrapped around my waist in an instant.

“Well then.”

For a moment, I flinched at the soft curves and smooth body felt through the thin fabric as her arms tightly bound my waist.

“Heh...”

Like a leopard satisfied after catching its prey by the neck, Atalanta’s chuckle and smile left me stiffly smiling back, unable to do anything.

Though her smile was as content as that of a predator.

Her eyes burned fiercely, reminiscent of an angry goddess.

Atalanta knew too.

If I set my mind to it, I could easily break free from such a simple wrestling hold.

However, if I were to escape that way, those ruby eyes seemed to say that pankration joint locks or takedowns would be made to look like mere lover’s play.

‘...It’s my karma.’

Even for someone like me, who has never had a proper relationship, I could instinctively tell that if I avoided this, I’d suffer greatly later.

In the first place, the reason Atalanta suddenly engaged me in combat without a word was likely because I had not shown my face to her properly for the past week, holed up in Hestosias’s workshop.

It was as if she was trying to confront me directly and release the bitterness in her heart, just like lovers quarreling in a morning drama.

Yet, this martial artist’s affliction led me to respond to her with the same techniques, as I recognized the familiar martial arts flowing from her, albeit awkwardly.

From Atalanta’s perspective, it would seem like I was teasing her after neglecting her for a week.

“Hyaaaah!!”

Therefore.

I decided to just take Atalanta’s incoming attack with my body since I thought it would be a good way to endure it...

“Huh...?”

With a swish, a soft feminine body wrapped around me, and as my view flipped, I realized something had gone terribly wrong.

Danger.

This is really dangerous.

I always told my younger juniors in the martial world to be wary of the elderly, women, and children.

The girl, an extraordinary one far surpassing any late-stage practitioner, even mastering the essence of the Crazy Wind Spear technique, not just skimming it.

To allow an attack.

Her healthy, tanned skin entangled my sight and entire body in confusion.

As her beautiful hands and legs ensnare my neck and limbs like a noose, my instincts screamed an emergency alert, urging me to bow my head and beg.

“Uh, uh, Atalanta. I’m sorry for...”

“Hmph!”

Despite my belated attempt at an apology, which I should have done much earlier due to a foreboding feeling, this beautiful young hero cutely snorted.

And began to twist my neck and shoulder joints.

This insane joint lock identifies the flow of energy almost in the course of thought and twists it from the root.

Theoretically, it was nearly invincible, but it required insane senses to capture the flow of energy and the reflex speed of a beast to even mimic it.

Even I only mastered it after overcoming countless life-and-death situations.

Failure meant death.

But how much did Atalanta actually steal from my imagery?

She was now demonstrating the insane Joint Lock technique that had terrified the entire martial world and made masters tremble in fear.

‘Oh Asura, Hera, Hermes, damn it, someone, anyone!!’

Why on earth does this Crazy Fighter Demon, who died hundreds of years ago, want to torment me now?

No, what kind of grudge does my mental world, my imagery, my damn realization hold against me to bestow such monstrous techniques upon a legendary female hero from mythology...?

“Huh? Your mind’s wandering?”

“Aaaaaaah!!”

The trio of terror—muscles screaming, bones wailing, and vital energy fainting—pulled me back into reality from my thoughts.

...It was all my karma.

Since when?

Atalanta found herself suddenly using strange techniques she had never learned, without even realizing it.

A peculiar martial art that used all limbs, neither pankration nor boxing.

Unlike the clumsy, reflexive movements, these were undeniably martial arts, practical and demonstrating power beyond imagination.

In the one-on-five fight that started with the Aphrodite gang’s provocation, and in the endless fights with the deputy leader and her faction over the past week, the strange martial art had shown its increasing power.

Although its origin was unknown, Atalanta focused even more on the extremely powerful martial arts and was putting all her effort into honing it.

However, she never thought they would be effective against Dianes.

Even Hercules, with all his strength, had never landed a solid blow on Dianes in combat.

That’s why, when Dianes finally returned to class after a week and emerged from Hephaestus’s workshop without a word, Atalanta requested a sparring match, both to vent her frustrations and to test her skills.

But deep down, she was already fuming at the thought that she wouldn’t be able to land even a single hit on that handsome yet infuriating face of his.

And as expected, the martial arts she had honed through all sorts of real battles and training during the week Dianes was holed up in the workshop did not work on him at all.

Strangely enough, he counterattacked with movements similar to hers, no, with martial arts of much higher perfection.

Seeing this, Atalanta was once again entranced... no, she was about to flare up again.

She wanted to release the anger and disappointment that piled up in her chest through this duel, just like lovers in a quarrel.

Because that was the way and means of heroes.

However, the opponent was a being so distant that such conversations and means did not work.

‘Ha...’

Even if she fell in love, even if she were a princess of some kingdom, even if she were an exceptionally talented fighter.

He was beyond a gap that she could never bridge, no matter how much she clung to him.

Realizing this once again, Atalanta, filled with indescribable disappointment and frustration, charged at Dianes with a reckless heart.

As if reading her mind, Dianes easily opened his arms.

‘Eeeeek!!’

Seeing him purposely humoring her like calming a child, Atalanta’s anger flared even more.

Using a Pankration Joint Lock, which she normally wouldn’t, knowing it wouldn’t work on Dianes.

Her main technique, the Joint Lock, would instantly break necks and twist limbs, so Asclepius had warned her not to use it during sparring unless she intended to kill.

But in a desperate move, she applied the technique to Dianes, thinking he would somehow block it...

But what in the world?

The technique worked far better than she imagined.

“Aaaargh! Tap tap! Tap!”

Dianes, pinned beneath her, screaming in pain.

The lover she thought was beyond her reach was now beneath her, pleading for mercy...

‘Oh my...?’

An insurmountable wall, a lover so far away.

A lover who was both an object of affection and a hero, a goal and admiration, the black hero.

That strong, beautiful, and seemingly great Dianes was struggling for mercy in her hands.

His hair, like the night sky, shook within her arms, and his beautiful onyx eyes, soaked in tears, begged her for mercy.

At that sight, an inexplicable pleasure suddenly tingled down her spine, and her heart began to race.

The sadistic pleasure and excitement rising from seeing the fragile side of the lover she thought she could never surpass.

Feeling like she was getting addicted to it, Atalanta began to bind Dianes even more.

But it was only for a moment, as Dianes, catching his breath, showed signs of slowly escaping from her grasp.

‘No..!’

Just a little longer.

I wanted to savor this feeling just a bit longer.

Was this how Bellerophon felt when he reined in the wild and beautiful Pegasus?

Atalanta put all her strength into holding onto the black divine beast that tried to escape her grasp.

And then, as she clung to his neck and chest, she felt something strange under her hands and legs.

Before Atalanta could even register her surprise, her body swiftly shifted its position, wrapping both legs around the core of the flow, around Dianes’s chest.

And as she twisted and applied pressure with all her might to the spot where she felt that tingling sensation...

“!??!?!?!”

It was a success.

Dianes, who had been trying to escape her embrace, instantly succumbed and surrendered his body to her again.

‘...Hehe.’

At this moment.

This unpredictable lover was completely Atalanta’s.