Antares The Monster Of Elsos

-Flap! -Flap!

"We're almost there. I can't wait to get off this dragon," Lilly groaned.

They had been flying for 7 days and were close to the destination. As they flew, Enki groaned, crossing another thought outside his mind.

"Are you still not happy about flying? Seriously?" Lilly turned back to Enki.

"Hehe, yeah I've been thinking maybe I build a wingsuit, a glider of sorts because I can't fight while flying or I risk falling to the ground. I have some ideas, but I don't have the time to practise them."

Enki said being vague, his "idea" was a shot in the dark, but if it was possible, then flying would become easy.

As they flew, Artemis, who was previously interested in Enki's development to fly, looked down through the thick trees as she saw a mother and daughter running away from an army of scorpion-like monsters.

'He's spreading,' she didn't hesitate and took hold of the dragon and flew down.

"G-goddess, what are you doing!?" Bell shouted as they nose-dived, the mother and child running and arriving at a clearing. The monster scorpions followed right behind them.

"Guys, wait up!" Enki shouted as he handed the leash to Lilly.

"Are those monsters!?" Lilly said as Enki dived off the dragon.

"It appears so," Hermes said, as he drove the dragon down alongside Lilly.

Artemis hopped off the dragon, pulling out her dagger she landed in front of the family and charged ahead. She dodged the scorpion monster's sting and stabbed them in the eyes.

"Artemis move back!" Enki shouted, descending.

'What is he?' Artemis was calm and moved back, confused.

Enki glared at the swarm as a pulsing, red wave blasted down. The swarm screeched, frozen in place, their cries continued before dying out, each of them falling unconscious.

As Enki landed, he clapped his hands and slammed into the ground.

-Boom! -Crack! -Shunk!

Multiple earth spikes shot through the scorpions, killing them. Enki stood up, his legs feeling numb, and he looked back into the forest, seeing another swarm heading towards him.#

"Can you do that again?" Artemis ran to his side.

"Easily," Enki smirked before using King's aura. His will shot forward, the scorpions twitched before falling.

"Hang on!" Bell shouted, jumping off his dragon and reeling his spear.

"Wait, hold on!" Before Enki could stop, he threw the spear.

-BOOM!

The godly weapon glowed and destroyed everything in its path: the monsters, the ground, and trees.

"Well shit, that's a divine weapon alright," Enki muttered.

"You know what it is?" Artemis turned to him, surprise written on her face.

Enki forgot she was beside him, but it didn't matter. "Am I wrong about a weapon that can only choose a person pure of heart? If that's not a legendary weapon of divine weapon, then what is it?"

"You are correct. Perhaps Hermes didn't need to praise it so highly." She said, covering her mouth in thought.

Soon the mother and daughter called out to them.

"T-thank you very much for saving us." The mother said.

"No problem," Enki nodded, focusing more on the monster cores.

It was then Lilly, Hermes and Hestia landed next to them and Bell came back after picking up the spear.

"Can you tell us what happened? How did these monsters get here?" Enki asked the mother.

"Maybe because we're outside Orario?" Bell commented.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. They appeared suddenly and began attacking our villages," the mother said, looking down at her daughter. "Thank you for saving us."

"Bell," Hermes came in, wrapping his arms around him, "that spear is dangerous, so try not to use it much."

"Yeah, but this spear-"

"Besides, we do not want to be discovered," Hermes said, looking in the vast distance.

"Discovered by what?" Enki pushed on.

"Enki," Hestia said. Noticing the shift in Hermes, she looked to Artemis, who had walked away from them.

"Am I missing something?" Lilly said, looking around.

"How about you tell us the truth now, Hermes? The fact Bell is holding a divine weapon that we need to use to "contain" a monster isn't very assuring." Enki pushed further.

Hermes glanced at him for a moment, then at Bell and Hestia, who stood in a mix of emotions, worry, curiosity, and confusion. And suspicion hailing from Hestia.

"Perhaps when night comes, it's always best to tell a story before bed, isn't it?" Hermes answered.

"... fine," Enki sighed and walked away.

"What a divine weapon," Lilly asked.

"A weapon crafted by the gods than can kill gods. Dangerous and powerful and what we need for this quest were on." Enki said, walking away.

...

"Good luck and be safe on your travels," Artemis waved to the family as they walked away.

They checked on the family before letting go on their own, even supplying them with some of their food, which, thanks to Enki, they had enough to spare.

"Well, the sun is setting, so let's stay here for the night and then move out tomorrow," Hermes said.

"I'm going to gather firewood," Enki said, walking away.

"I-I'll come with you," Bell said.

"Nope, I'm good."

As night fell, everyone gathered by a campfire, each eating some beef soup and bread,

"Mn~ Delicious as always Enki! Truly a blessed chef," Hermes said, taking another mouthful.

"Uh-huh," Enki said, not caring.

Artemis glanced at him before looking back down at her bowl. 'He's frustrated. I can understand. The sooner this is dealt with, the better.'

She sighed her action drew a bell to ask her why she wasn't eating. She answered she wasn't hungry and tried to feed Bell instead.

But Hestia impeded lecturing her friend that Bell can feed himself. She didn't compete by feeding him herself.

But as they all finished eating, they addressed their situation.

"So Hermes the monsters the quest." Enki started.

"I've seen scorpion-type monsters before, but none like those," Lilly said. "They didn't seem natural."

Hermes sighed, picking up a stick and playing with the fire. "It all began when monsters' sightings increased abruptly. Several familias came to search, but none returned." He paused, letting the words sink in.

"They all died," Enki said, peering into the fire.

"Mn, in the distant Elsos, the ruin had a lock to prevent erosion and corruption from spreading. It was a circle that covered the entire ruins."

"An alchemy circle?" Lilly asked, earning a nod from Hermes.

"It locked a monster deep within, Antares," Artemis said, the venom in her voice escaping when she spoke the monster's name.

"What is Antares?" Bell asked.

To that Hermes stifled a laugh, looking at Enki. "what is human greed? Antares is the answer to that question. The people of Elsos lived by the rules of alchemy."

Hermes began drawing everyone's attention, especially Enki's.

"Alchemy is a wonderful thing. To create what you want with the right necessities, the exact exchange, but some were not satisfied with that rule. They dreamed of things beyond their limitations."

"They yearned for divinity for Arcanum. For us, it's the power to alter and shape the surrounding reality without heading to the rule of equivalent exchange. The specific people of Elsos saw it as an insult that why were we excused from the rule, so they experimented."

Enki swallowed a ball of saliva, his mind piecing the information before it all came together.

"They did what alchemists do best they experimented. One alchemist created frightening discoveries that resulted in the loss of life of all the inhabitants of Elsos. He played with life using vast quantities of sacrifices to create a tool that could do the same things as us gods."

Enki looked down. He knew where this was going, but it didn't make it any easier for him to sit through.

"A gem the name of which only a few know that can escape the laws set and rival our arcanum. A philosopher stone, a small red gem with the souls of countless lives. And that action set the cracks for Antares."

"While one alchemist sought the power to defy the gods, the brother went for the power to create life, a love story that ends in nothing but tragedy and heartache, alchemy can not bring the dead back to life, but this alchemist challenged that rule and saw the "truth" he shouldn't have."

"The truth as in the truth?" Hestia asked and Hermes nodded his head.

Enki's eyes widened, but he said nothing.

"Despite paying the price, he left knowing that never should've been his, so he experimented with life like his brother creating something new out of the existing, in hopes he could bring back his love as something better, but he was wrong, all his creations but one failed a monster that didn't deserve the title of monster."

"Because it did not hail from a dungeon, it birthed from nothingness. No soul, no emotion incomplete. It only knew violence and hunger to consume and spread like a disease. To be whole. It was a hollow thing, a chimera. Locked in a cage, it could not escape."

"Where one brother failed, the other succeeded and took all life in the city, including his brother's unknowingly leaving the Antares unattended. He vanished, disappearing from history." Hermes said with a sigh.

"And over the years it grew stronger and stronger until it broke past its lock," Artemis said in a raspy voice.

"Orario took it seriously and sent me ahead to investigate the sudden rise in monsters," Hermes said, "it then I met Artemis who had the same goal."

"But it didn't matter if we sent reinforcements because the only thing that can kill it is that spear. That's why you've been chosen, Bell." Artemis stared firmly into his eyes.

Enki had been silent, resting his head on his palms. Everyone had been quiet. They all glanced at each other and Enki could not take so much information.

"Ah alright now I think we should sleep no, no need to worry so long as we have that spear everything will be alright!"