The Villain of Ancient Greece

”Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

In the dense forest, gales howled as streams of compressed divine energy, a barrage of Hermes-engraved spell projectiles, and razor-sharp Orichalcum arrows rained down from every direction.

They sliced through the air with an eerie whine, falling like a meteor storm, triggering one explosion after another.

*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”

In the dead center of the firestorm, Lorne funneled a portion of his magic to vital points of his body, activating layered defensive formations.

The rest of his mana surged into his legs, helping him weave through the flying debris, spell shrapnel, and arrows with agile, eel-like movements, pushing his escape speed to its absolute limit.

Even though the two Atlantean demigods were seasoned veterans, who were vastly more experienced and had deeper divine energy reserves than Lorne, but facing the coquettish movement and the slippery posture comparable to that of a sea eel, they could only stare blankly and follow him behind.

But seasoned as they were, the two demigods quickly realized that their flashy barrage was useless and did not slow him in the slightest.

So they stopped wasting energy and instead copied Lorne’s tactic, going all in on speed.

However, only a few steps into the sprint—

Click. Click.

A chilling snap echoed under their feet.

Both demigods couldn’t help but stiffen instantly, glancing down to find identical rune-crystals carved with Hermes script at their boots.

Brilliant light surged as the runes cracked.

BOOM! BOOM!

Twin blasts erupted behind them as the hot shockwaves tearing through the forest.

Lorne raised the corners of his lips, outlining a trace of joy, but without pausing, he continued to run wildly towards the southwest of the island without looking back.

The explosions were nothing to real demigods, barely enough to singe their hair.

Even if it was unexpected, at best, the blasts could delay them for a second or two.

If he had seven times more traps, maybe they could do some real damage.

Unfortunately, those were the last rune stones he had.

Even so, Lorne sped up his speed to escape from the battle, he couldn’t help but felt a weird sense of gratitude toward that stupid bird teacher of his, who had pushed his body past every limit in their brutal training sessions.

Sure, the process had been torture, but there was no doubt that it left him with one hell of a survival kit.

In this vast sea of Titans, gods and monsters, he might not be the strongest demigod around, but no one, absolutely no one, was better at running for their life.

And as every seasoned survivor knows: you gotta stay alive to deal damage.

Keeping his senses sharp and attitude cheerful, Lorne ran like hell while trying to find humor in the madness.

Finally, after sprinting for a good quarter hour, he reached the dense forest where he had previously spotted several beehives.

At the same time, the two disheveled and dirt-smeared demigods, using their superior divine strength and reserves, finally closed the distance between the two sides, appearing on a distant hill about a hundred meters away, with bloodshot eyes locking onto Lorne’s figure like a pair of hunting hounds.

Just as they were about to go in for the kill, to finally shred this infuriating bastard who had humiliated them again and again—

They unexpectedly saw Lorne suddenly turn around, grinning, and waving at them.

Then, without a care in the world, he strolled into the forest like he had all the time in the world.

Seeing this, the two demigods’ expressions tightened.

They instinctively halted, wariness flaring in their eyes.

”He’s just ahead! Don’t let him escape!”

Behind them, several Gold-ranked soldiers, who had just caught up and did not see Lorne’s little performance, surged forward, only to be violently yanked back by the two demigods.

”Idiots! You trying to get yourselves killed?! There’s probably an ambush!”

Scowling, the demigods glared at the four burdens behind them like disappointed parents.

Time and time again, experience and lessons have proved that once these gold-level guards charged in without thinking, they just ended up as cannon fodder.

And these guy still don’t understand that.

Not to mention, with that guy’s deliberate gesture?

Wasn’t it just an obvious trap.

The two demigods went through a brainstorming session and looked at the dark dense forest, hesitating.

At the same time, Lorne, who had entered the dense forest, was worried for himself at first, and then he heaved a sigh of relief after confirming that the Atlantis Guards behind him did not catch up with him immediately.

Of course, he bluffed them.

There was no trap.

The deep psychological trauma he’d planted during the past few weeks of hellish chase had clearly worked and those mad dogs were now too paranoid to act rashly.

But as the saying goes: the clever outwit themselves.

After all, Lorne had been running for over half a month.

Every bit of gear, every stash of supplies, had been completely burned through.

He didn’t even have the time, let alone the materials, to set up a trap capable of killing demigods.

That last act? Pure bluff, a classic empty fortress ploy.

And thankfully… They Actually Bought It.

Wiping away the cold sweat on his brow, Lorne dashed up to two broadleaf trees whose names he couldn’t remember.

With practiced ease, he hurled stones to knock down the two beehives hanging from the branches.

Then, with a grimace, he endured the cloud of angry bees swarming around him as he squeezed out the wax from the hives.

Now that he had all the materials, Lorne retrieved his stash of bird feathers, along with the broken fragments of Icarus’ Wings, raised a finger and tapped the shimmering divine interface before him, activating the [Blessing of the Craftsman God].

At once, a radiant stream of silvery glyphs, like firelight given form, poured into the gathered materials.

The feathers, wax, and damaged relic began to melt and reform, as if a divine forge had ignited in midair.

Lorne rubbed his hands anxiously as he watched the process, heart pounding. But just moments later, he heard faint footsteps approaching from outside the forest.

Clearly, the Atlanteans were starting to lose patience.

His eye twitched as he took a deep breath, then suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs:

”Come on in already! Let’s settle this—right here, right now! I promise, I won’t run!”

And suddenly, the footsteps outside abruptly stopped again.

No one dared take another step forward.

Time slipped by, slow and heavy. It was impossible to tell if only a few seconds had passed… or several long hours.

Finally, the blazing light of the forge ritual faded.

The once-ruined Wings of Icarus had now fused seamlessly with the feathers and wax, emerging renewed and transformed.

Lorne exhaled in relief, casting a glance toward the still-silent edge of the forest and couldn’t help but mutter with a grin:

”I gave you a chance… but you guys just didn’t take it, huh?”

But just as Lorne was mentally dunking on his pursuers, something strange happened.

”VMMMMMMMM—!”

The very air around him began to hum, low and ominous.

Mana surged from all directions, converging in a massive current over the forest.

In the sky, countless tridents formed out of pale sea-blue light, each radiating a deadly, divine pressure.

The power they held could reduce the entire island to rubble.

They didn’t know if Lorne had set traps for them or not.

But smart people have smart tactics. And dumb people? Well, they have brute force.

If you stick your hand into a hole, there a very low chance to catch the rat inside, and a very hight chance that you would be bitten.

So why not just blow the whole damn hole to pieces?

At this moment, Lorne’s heart dropped.

He realised something was wrong as the sheer divine weight pressing down made his scalp tingle.

This was a ritual invocation infused with Poseidon’s divine might.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the newly reforged Wings of Icarus, slapped them onto his back, and pumped magic power in like mad.

WHOOOSH!

Just as the water-blue tridents began their deadly descent, Lorne, who finally completed the last step, immediately vibrated the Wings of Ikaros behind him and soared into the sky.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions shattered the forest, the island trembling into pieces beneath them.

In the midst of the carnage, one graceful figure shot up into the sky, riding the air currents toward the endless sea of Oceanus.

”DAMN IT! That bastard got away—AGAIN!!”

The two demigods, still glowing from the massive ritual spell they’d unleashed, stood seething with rage. Their eyes were bloodshot, their teeth clenched tight, yet all they could do was stomp their feet on the crumbling remains of the shattered island...however,

”Get on the ship!”

At this moment, a rough voice called out from the sea.

It was the other demigod vice-captain, who had previously gone to escort the wounded.

He now steered a spindle-shaped warship pulled by a team of enormous sea beasts, beckoning them toward the shoreline.

The people on the island were overjoyed and immediately jumped onto the warship.

The chase wasn’t over.

The hunt would continue.