Rise of the Eromancer

"You said you wanted to handle this yourself, so…

…how about it?"

"I did say that, but… I didn't expect for there to be so many."

Clio was at an absolute loss. She wanted to step back, but doing so would put her even closer to the three-headed dogs behind her. She turned to look at Rhys—only to find him casually sitting on the ground, placing the torch beside him like he had all the time in the world.

"Well..." Rhys looked up at her before shrugging. "...Have at it, Princess."

"That—"

Before Clio could even finish her sentence, all the cerberus stopped growling. It might have been a relief if not for the fact that there was only one reason for a dog to stop growling.

They were ready to attack.

"Rhys...?" Clio gulped as she looked at him, but Rhys simply shrugged again, unconcerned, as the beasts of the Underworld lunged toward them.

The only thing she could do now... was fight back.

"Ugh. These are the times I wish you never gave me power!" she roared, complaining even as she braced herself for battle.

***

Meanwhile, in the center of the glade where champions and heroes previously gathered, Artemis stood, watching. She had lost count of how many times she'd presided over this event. Gathering, sending, repeating—it had become routine.

And like any routine, she expected today to be no different.

She was wrong.

She had seen her fair share of faces—handsome champions, breathtaking heroes. Their beauty could set mortal worlds ablaze, and yet among the gods, such charm was commonplace, insignificant.

Today should have been no different.

But then… she saw him.

Someone in the crowd who eyes were different, whose eyes felt like they were looking at her direction.

No—actually looking at her.

And as his gaze met hers, the other champions around him seemed to lose their luster. Like flowers burning to ash, their once-imposing presence withered into complete insignificance. Their beauty, their charm—all of it, reduced to nothing.

They truly became nothing in the presence of this man.

She had never felt like this before.

Not even for her fellow gods.

For the first time in a long time, she checked the names of the champions.

With a snap of her fingers, an ethereal screen materialized before her, listing every participant in the hunt. Her eyes scanned the names rapidly, fingers swiping until she found him—as if his name had already been carved into her memory.

Rhys of Wilder.

Her green lashes fluttered as she frowned. "Wilder? I've never heard of that city before. Which realm did he come from?"

Her eyes continued to observe until something caught them, "She's… from my brother's realm?"

She expanded his profile, reading his feats—and her frown deepened.

"Singlehandedly defeated a hydra. Killed the minotaur. Became a king…" She paused, her fingers hovering over the display. "All in a single year?"

Her eyes flicked back to him. She checked the screen again. Opened it. Closed it. Reopened it. But the details didn't change.

Such a feat should only be possible for a demi-god. But even then, most demi-gods would probably have a hard time replicating what he had done—she could only think of one other who would have done it at the time Rhys had done it.

"Whose champion are you, Rhys of Wilder?" she muttered.

Her fingers swiped to uncover more information—but before she could read further, a rustling noise echoed from afar.

It was faint, but Artemis's keen senses noticed the shadow first.

Large. Almost a hill.

"Those are…"

Artemis could see farther than any mortal, than any god, even. Her divine sight allowed her to glimpse an ant on a mountain miles away.

And what she saw now made her breath hitch.

A pile of cerberus corpses.

And they were being dragged by the very man who had caught her eye.

The carcasses were bound together by a thin, silken thread—one that did not snap under the weight. That alone spoke volumes about the strength of the material.

But what truly shocked her was the strength of the man hauling them.

How many champions could accomplish such a feat?

Herakles came to mind. But he was a special case.

Just where had this mortal come from?

She quickly reopened the list, this time searching for his sponsor.

As soon as she saw the name, her eyes widened.

"What?" The word slipped out as she snapped her gaze back to Rhys. Suddenly, the threads made sense.

Arachnea.

He was sponsored by the goddess of spiders.

Arachnea, who had spent millennia refusing to mingle with the gods. Arachnea, whose hatred for the pantheon was legendary. And yet now—now—she had chosen to sponsor a champion?

Why had she not been informed? Especially since he had emerged from Apollo's realm?

Come to think of it, it had been Apollo who suggested this sudden hunting event.

Her gaze sharpened as she watched Rhys approach with his monstrous haul.

Was this Rhys of Wilder a champion planted by her twin?

Artemis's confusion grew larger the closer Rhys approached—and for gods like her, there was really only one sure way to get the information she wanted.

Ask.

She was about to open her mouth when Rhys drew near, but he beat her to it as he asked,

"Where do you want these, Ma'am?"

"...Ma'am?" Artemis blinked a couple of times as she watched Rhys let go of the thread he was holding, causing the mountain of cerberus corpses to collapse behind him. She could care less about all the dead cerberus, however, as her eyes remained completely locked onto Rhys.

"You can just leave them there, Rhys of Wilder—rather, I have a question to ask."

"Oh?" Rhys patted his hands clean as he stood up straight in front of her. "What is it, Ma'am?"

"Who sponsored you to be part of the Tournament of Champions?" Artemis no longer wasted time and asked, "And what is your relationship with Apollo?"

Rhys had nothing to hide, and he believed that doing so in front of the gods would be useless anyhow, considering his experience with Hades, Arachnea, and Apollo. And so, he answered her questions without hesitation.

"I was sponsored by Arachnea, Ma'am." Rhys almost saluted as he felt an aura similar to Ayesha's from Artemis. "As for my relationship with Apollo, he took interest in me."

"I could see why." Artemis wasn't satisfied with Rhys's answer, but she could only take them as truth for now as she finally focused her attention on the cerberus corpses. "You've hunted these yourself—such a feat has never been done before."

"Oh, I didn't kill these dogs, Ma'am." Rhys then pointed at Clio. "She did."

"Huh?" Artemis quickly looked at Clio in shock, but not because she was the one who killed the pack of cerberus. Of course, that was something to be shocked about—truly—as she said, such a feat had never been done before.

But Artemis was more shocked about something else.

It was the fact that she had not even noticed Clio before Rhys pointed at her.

Was… she actually so engrossed with Rhys that she couldn't even see anyone else?

What… sort of feeling was this?

And why does she feel… hot?