Two glowing arrows shot out from deep within the forest, striking the Dragon Tooth Warriors carrying the Ark of the Covenant.
Dragon Tooth Warriors were, after all, very ordinary magical constructs. Skilled human soldiers could easily contend with them; they weren't much different from skeleton soldiers.
Thus, under the attack of the two magical energy arrows, they immediately scattered into a pile of bones, which then dissolved into specks of blue light and disappeared.
"Who's there?!"
Just as the Ark of the Covenant was about to be brought to him, the process was suddenly interrupted by a inexplicable attack. Jason instantly flew into a rage.
He turned to look in the direction the arrows had come from.
From within the forest, Lin Qi's group emerged warily from the shadows. Euryale sat on Asterios's shoulder, and Artemis stood in a tree, both slowly lowering their respective bows.
Hiss... Feels like there are quite a few people on the other side...
Although he had absolute confidence in Heracles's combat prowess, Jason still subtly shifted to place Medea in front of him.
Medea: (￢_￢)
Medea shot him a speechless look.
Lin Qi and the others observed the battlefield, couldn't help but click their tongues inwardly, and their expressions grew even more solemn.
Before them was a "clearing" pockmarked with pits and hollows. Fresh soil was scattered haphazardly across the entire battlefield, and the holes smashed out by some unknown weapon varied in size.
The larger ones were big enough to bury two adults without a problem, the smaller ones still sufficient to stuff a person into.
The ground was littered with trees and branches of all sizes and thicknesses. Looking closely, one could even see trees so thick it would take three or four people to encircle them, shattered into pieces by some terrifying force.
Coupled with the tree stumps exposed everywhere in the soil, it was enough proof that not long ago, this had been a densely wooded forest, only to be destroyed into a clearing by the Servants' battle.
Arrows of the same type were densely planted all over the place, likely the result of Atalante's Noble Phantasm.
Lifting their gaze further, they could see the god-like man still attacking frenziedly and rapidly like a bulldozer, targeting the two slender figures constantly leaping and hiding among the trees.
One could imagine that if they continued fighting like this, the area of this "clearing" would expand by several more circles.
"They're all here, the other side's entire group."
"By the way, are you feeling scared of them just because they have more people and you're not on the ship? My Master?"
"Who said that?! I have my peerless general, Heracles, by my side! Who can kill me? How could I possibly be scared!"Jason, whose thoughts had been seen through, stiffened his neck and retorted stubbornly in anger.
"Yes, yes, of course. So, can you come out from behind me now?"
"And you still call me your wife? What kind of husband hides behind his wife?" Medea sighed, feeling weary.
Orion: "..."
The stuffed bear looked at Artemis's back and felt somewhat offended.
"Ahem, I was just preventing you from being ambushed from behind by villains. You know, attacks from the back are far more dangerous than frontal ones." Jason coughed twice and reluctantly moved to stand beside Medea, aligning himself with her.
"Heracles, forget those two Archers for now! Return to the front and stand before me!" Feeling insecure, Jason called out to Heracles.
Hearing this, Heracles stopped his actions and flashed to a position in front of Jason.
This gave Jason an unparalleled sense of security.
The two Archers who had been scrambling under Heracles's assault also breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over to join Lin Qi's group.
"—You're finally here! If you had come any later, I would have run away!" (´;ω;`)
David looked at the group of allies with tears in his eyes, his hands trembling with excitement.
Well, maybe not entirely from excitement; more accurately, it was from the vibrations of blocking Heracles's attacks.
How immense was Heracles's brute force? Even in the Berserker class, having lost his reason, his status as the strongest in melee combat was written into his settings.
So, faced with David's antics, Atalante unusually did not expose or mock him.
After all, being able to hold out against Heracles for so long this time wasn't just due to the advantageous terrain of the forest; the key factor was David's performance.
Otherwise, with just Atalante, a single Archer, she would have been cut down by Heracles long ago.
"My apologies for the trouble I caused in France." Atalante looked at Lin Qi and bowed slightly in apology.
"So you know about what happened in the French Singularity?" Lin Qi was somewhat surprised. He hadn't seen Atalante speak at all back then, thinking her consciousness had been completely swallowed by her Madness Enhancement.
"Of course. The existence of Heroic Spirits is strange. Even though my summoning here wasn't much later than in France, I still obtained the memories from that time." Atalante, thinking Lin Qi was surprised she remembered the experience, explained.
"Let's not engage in small talk now." After listening, Lin Qi showed no intention to converse further, instead keeping his eyes fixed on Jason and his group's movements.
If this were a relaxed environment like when they first met Euryale and the others, then Lin Qi would chat with anyone for as long as they wanted.
But in this current atmosphere, Lin Qi found it hard to oblige.
Atalante also knew the seriousness of the situation. Seeing that Lin Qi had no desire to chat, she naturally didn't interject further.
Like Lin Qi, she promptly adopted a solemn expression and looked towards the enemy camp.
Jason noticed that everyone on the opposite side had suddenly, with shared hatred, turned their gazes towards him. He found it strange, his eyebrows furrowing in a thoughtful expression.
Atalante and the others shouldn't have met this group before, right? Why was there no break-in period at all, and they directly formed a unified front?
Even if they say 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' that doesn't make them real friends!
Who just entrusts their back to someone else the moment they meet? Normally, the situation should be a three-way standoff, shouldn't it?
Strange, truly strange...
Jason thought and thought, then turned his gaze to Lin Qi, who stood beside Asterios.
Lin Qi wasn't conspicuous among the group of Heroic Spirits, but Jason still felt he was the biggest reason this situation could occur.
'Forget it, no need to bother with such trivial matters.' Jason cut off his own train of thought.
Anyway, they just added a few more misfits and weaklings. The advantage is still mine!
"It's just as well you brought Euryale with you. Saves me the trouble of looking for you. Perhaps I should thank you for this?" A relaxed, mocking smile returned to Jason's face.
"Uwaaa—!!" Asterios let out a furious roar upon hearing this, glaring fiercely at Jason.
"Wah!" Jason was startled, his body instinctively taking a few steps back.
Only after stepping back did he realize what he had done, and he immediately became angry.
"What are you roaring so loudly for?!"
"Does roaring loudly make you powerful? In this world, you need to talk about influence, talk about background! Which faction are you from? What's your background?" Jason said, looking Asterios up and down, then put on an expression of sudden realization.
"Oh~, so it's the Minotaur. A monster, destined to be slain by a hero. No wonder you're making such a racket."
"Do you know who this is beside me? This is the greatest hero in all of Greek mythology! A great hero that even Theseus, the one who defeated you back then, cannot compare to!"
"And a monster actually thinks about protecting others? Heh, how laughable."
Faced with Jason's heart-stabbing mockery, Asterios's eyes instantly turned red. He let out an even louder roar at Jason, grinding his teeth together.
A grating friction sound escaped from between his teeth.
"Don't let him get to you, Asterios. No matter what, you are protecting me right now. Remember that!" Euryale frowned, couldn't help but glare at Jason, while comforting the Minotaur.
"That's right, Asterios. Right now, you are not a monster, but our companion! What others say is meaningless. What matters is who you believe yourself to be!" Lin Qi also spoke up.
What misdeeds Asterios committed in the myths, Lin Qi wasn't too clear about. But in this Singularity, Asterios was a simple, deeply trusted companion to Lin Qi.
Everything else, Lin Qi didn't care about, nor did it matter.
"You're a crew member I've acknowledged too, don't forget!" Drake, not to be outdone, laughed heartily and punched Asterios's shoulder.
"..."
Hearing these words, Asterios felt somewhat shy and didn't know how to respond.
"My name, is Asterios. I will protect, Euryale!" So instead, Asterios turned to look at Jason, glaring at him with a gaze far more resolute than before.
"Suit yourself. Heracles, take them out for me!" Jason waved his hand dismissively, then commanded Heracles to attack.
…