After Ares returned, Hecate was finally freed from the hell of playing his clone.
Ares helped Hecate remove all the authorities and divine natures of the Gods of Disobedience that were loaded onto his clone, leaving only a few of Veleslana's avatars as backup. At the same time, Ares also gave Hecate the grimoire, the Prometheus Scripture, that he had brought back from the God Slayer World.
Seeing these good things, the Moon Goddess, whose spirit had been tormented for a year, finally felt better. She sent Ares out of her room, planning to rest for a few days, and then continue to study the divine natures of those otherworldly gods, as well as the secret method recorded in the grimoire that could seize the authorities and divine natures of gods.
As for Ares, he first focused his energy on Heracles.
However, he did not switch back to Iolaus's alt account. Heracles had already tracked down the red hind and was aiming his bow, preparing to wound its leg to prevent it from running. This was a critical moment for the hunt, and Ares could not switch back to his alt account to scare Heracles, which would lead to the failure of his hunting activity.
So, he directly activated his War God clone, which was nestled on Olympus, and descended from the clouds to the sky above the area where Heracles was, observing the situation below from the clouds.
Near the city of Annoe, on the banks of the Ladon River adjacent to Mount Artemis, the mighty hero drew his bow and arrow, holding his breath and concentrating, having already aimed at the red divine beast resting on the snow not far away.
Whoosh!
Heracles's finger released the bowstring, and the bronze arrow instantly transformed into a streak of light, accurately striking the hind leg of the red hind, causing the divine beast to let out a mournful cry.
And after successfully striking, Heracles immediately threw down his bow and arrow, and his burly body, trailing an afterimage, lunged out from the side with incredible speed, pinning the red hind beneath him.
The red divine beast kicked its four legs mournfully. Even with Artemis's blessing, its strength exceeded that of mortal beings, but in front of Heracles, it was like a fish on a chopping board, only able to be slaughtered by him.
Soon, Heracles tied up the red hind's four legs with a rope, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and prepared to walk back.
However, just as he returned to the riverbank and instructed the now unconscious tool, Iolaus, to put away his bow and arrow, two figures suddenly appeared on the bank of the river.
The woman in front was slender and beautiful, wearing a white form-fitting long dress, with moon-white long hair, and a pouting expression on her beautiful face. Behind her was a man with golden hair, a handsome face, and a long robe, who was the Moon GoddessArtemis, and her brother, the God of Light Apollo.
These two gods stood in front of Heracles and Iolaus. Artemis angrily shouted at Heracles:
"Hey, mortal, how can you harm a creature I released? And you even want to steal it from me! Is there any reason in this?"
Heracles stopped upon hearing this, turned around, looked up and down at Artemis and Apollo, and then slowly spoke:
"Are you perhaps the owner of this red hind, the great Artemis?"
"That's me," Artemis frowned, "What, you're a mortal, can't you see the divine light surrounding my body?"
Heracles rubbed his head upon hearing this, feeling a bit confused. As someone with a divine body and immense power, the divine aura on Artemis naturally couldn't affect Heracles. From the goddess's face, he only saw some anger and a lot of foolishness.
This made Heracles feel his worldview was being challenged. After all, in the mouths of Artemis's followers on Earth, their goddess was a cold, noble, and distant ice goddess, completely different from the naive and sweet person in front of him.
Heracles pondered for a moment, then honestly replied, "Forgive my frankness, Goddess, I cannot see a trace of divine light on you."
"What?" Artemis asked, hands on her hips, "Then in your eyes, what kind of person am I?"
Probably the kind of girl next door who could be foolishly tricked into bed in a few minutes...
Of course, Heracles didn't dare to say that. Although he had beaten Poseidon earlier, that was because Poseidon's interpersonal relationships on Olympus were basically at rock bottom, and other gods wouldn't help him if he got beaten; they would only clap and cheer from the sidelines.
But Artemis could basically be considered one of the few darlings on Olympus. Firstly, her brother Apollo was a staunch sister-complex. Secondly, the gods who were on good terms with Apollo and herself would also come to help them, including Heracles's teacher, Ares.
Even for his teacher's sake, Heracles didn't dare to easily offend this Moon Goddess.
So he held it in for a long time before finally managing to blurt out, "You seem much more approachable than I imagined."
"Hmph." Hearing Heracles's barely a compliment, the anger on Artemis's face softened slightly. She said softly, "Alright, you pass. You can go, but the deer must stay."
"How can that be?" Heracles immediately explained helplessly, "Goddess, I have accepted Eurystheus's task to complete these tasks to cleanse my sins. This is a divine oracle from Zeus, and I am not joking with you. I must bring this red hind before Eurystheus, but I can guarantee that as soon as I take it to Eurystheus, I will release it immediately."
"What does Zeus's divine oracle have to do with me, Artemis?" Artemis continued to stubbornly block him, "You greedy mortals want everything! Give me back my deer!"
"Alas, I'm sorry, I must have this deer." Heracles sighed, then drew a divine sword from behind him. This divine sword was named Mamiadois, and it was also a weapon made by the God of Fire Hephaestus. Heracles had only recently obtained it on his way to chase the red hind.
This sword was later passed down to future generations and appeared in the legends of King Arthur. It was even explicitly stated that the power of this divine sword was stronger than King Arthur's Sword in the Stone, but this divine sword eventually fell into King Arthur's hands.
Now, this divine sword was in the hands of its original owner, Heracles, and its power was naturally even greater. Heracles held the divine sword, and the magic on the divine sword directly transformed into visible light wrapped around the blade. He looked at the two gods opposite him and said earnestly:
"If you are unwilling, then I will have no choice but to forcibly take it away."
"You—" Artemis's almond eyes widened, and she had already taken out her bow and arrow, ready to fight Heracles directly. Apollo, who had been standing silently beside her, also quietly took out his golden bow. But at this moment, Ares, who was in the sky, finally descended.
"Everyone, calm down." Ares, as the God of War, stood between Heracles and the two gods, raising his hands and persuading, "This must be a misunderstanding. Don't fight. Let's talk."