Chapter 20 - Wild Creatures

(Apollo POV)

Scarlet's hooves hit the ground, gently landing the carriage.

"Irrrrr!" Scarlet whinnied.

Then we arrived… somewhere I have no idea.

I thought, looking around, but there was just a dense forest.

Even though I have a pseudo-divinity about direction, that doesn't mean I know where I am precisely.

For example, if I want, I can go from an unknown place to Delos and Delphi, but I can't go to a place I've never visited.

A somewhat dysfunctional divinity, but that's why it's a pseudo-divinity and not a full-fledged divinity.

Although, I was the one who wanted to travel without any prior direction.

I thought, getting out of the carriage and walking towards Scarlet.

"Thanks, girl." I ran my hand over her mane.

"Irrrrrr!" Scarlet neighed happily.

I rubbed her mane for a few minutes until I sent her away.

"See you later, Scarlet." In a soft and gentle voice, I sent her back.

"Irrrrrr!" She licked my neck and began to trot, flying toward the sun, leaving fiery footprints in the air.

Wait! Does she really live in the Sun?

I questioned myself with a smile.

Well, I wouldn't be that surprised if it were, but it very well might not be.

Pushing this contradictory thought out of my mind for now, I turn towards the dense forest.

Let's see what's in store for me.

If I remember correctly, when I was flying over, there was a village in this direction.

If I want to go in that direction, I'll have to go through this forest, or I could just fly over it with [Aggelos], but let's say that in this forest there's something that's catching my attention.

I thought, feeling some decent amounts of mana in this forest.

Hmm!

Creatures!?

It's quite likely, considering this is, well, a forest.

But it's very rare for creatures to have that amount of mana.

I thought, walking towards the forest curiously.

I was really interested in what normal humans were like, since my only notion of humans was my priestess and Sword Maiden, who we could say weren't the best example of normal.

Especially Pythia, this girl is more on the crazy aspect. Although, strangely, that was part of her charm.

But even though I am interested in seeing how humans live at this time, this forest was attracting my attention more than the human race.

With that thought, I stepped onto a light trail and began walking along it.

After a few minutes of walking along this trail that was beginning to disappear, I realized that there was something strange about the forest I was in.

And what was this strangeness?

Simple, a forest as dense as this one was silent.

As the brother of the goddess of hunting, I obviously knew a thing or two about forests and hunting.

And one of them was that silence was synonymous with a predator or someone hunting.

That wild mana was still felt in the forest.

As I walked through this forest, I started hearing hoof sounds.

Is that a horse's hoof sound?

Before I can identify this sound further, I hear something very familiar.

Vushhhhh!

The sound of an arrow against the wind enters my ears.

I instantly looked to the side seeing the arrow coming towards me.

I raise an eyebrow and move my hand where I simply grab the arrow.

"Please, I'm the God of Archery." I said, throwing the arrow on the ground that had poison on the tip.

Such a basic trick.

"Are you sure you're hunting with poison in your arrows?"

This spoils the meat, especially a strong poison like this.

Where did common sense go?

The only sounds I received in response were arrows against the wind.

I look up and see a small rain of arrows coated in poison.

"Sincerely!" I exclaim, bored, as I raise my hand.

A simple square screen forms in front of me, and the arrows hit and fall to the ground without even breaking the light screen.

A basic defensive technique, even though it is not at the same level as [Aggelos], it is still a functional technique.

I think they gave up...

Before I could complete that thought, the hoof sounds became louder, as if they were coming towards me.

It's a little surprising that they can dominate horses at this level, but it's a shame they're idiots for attacking me.

Although theoretically, I am the one who is invading their territory, at least I think it is their territory.

But that doesn't matter, as it's starting to get me excited.

When I thought about it with a smile, I saw a man walking through the bush, followed by 10 others, but instead of them riding horses, these men were the horses themselves.

The first one who was the most prominent was a large man.

This man appeared to be in his 30s, with a wild beard and disheveled hair, he wore no clothing on his upper half, while his lower half was literally that of a horse.

Centaurs?!

I thought, surprised but excited.

They galloped toward me, their hooves destroying the vegetation beneath them, and their looks were wild and almost primal.

The first, who was a man with disheveled black hair, used a spear made from the bones and sharp tusks of an animal. While the vast majority of them carried bows and swords.

A curious fact about centaurs is that they don't wear pants, so... how to say, well, their reproductive instrument was visible.

They were getting closer and closer to me; most of them were picking up arrows and putting them on their bows, while the black-haired Centaur was coming at full speed towards me.

"You know, it's not a good idea what you guys are going to do." I said, scratching my head.

Even though I said that, my response was just the black-haired centaur flexing his arm back, and already a few centimeters away from me, he tried to stab me with the spear, which also contained poison.

I let out a sigh.

And I dodged to the left, making the spear pass me by.

The centaur braced his paws and swung his spear, attacking me with even more force.

Since that's how it is!

With that thought, I used [Solar Construction] to create a claymore in my right hand.

Without thinking much, I swing my sword towards the spear.

Unsurprisingly, the red-hot blade slices through the spear as if it were tofu.

But instead of the centaur backing away, he simply flexes his arm and punches me.

"Die!" Saliva flies from his mouth, and his savage expression increases even more.

"Oh! You know how to speak." I said, surprised, blocking his punch with my arm.

Pushing the punch with the same arm that I defended, I quickly flexed my left arm and threw a quick and accurate punch at his face.

My punch breaks his nose with some teeth as freebies.

Drawing back my fist, which was covered in blood, I only thought of one thing.

It's still far from what I wanted.

I was trying to create a style of boxing, but I still only had an idea of the path I would take in that style of boxing.

With that thought, the black-haired centaur shook his face, regaining his consciousness, and regardless of his broken face, he tried to throw another punch at me while releasing his wild mana.

This time I simply swung the Claymore, severing his left arm.

Even though the wound was partially cauterized by the claymore's flames, blood still dripped onto the ground.

"Ahhhhh!" A hoarse scream left his mouth, along with the thud of his severed arm falling to the ground.

"Shootmmmmmm!" The centaur shouts to his pack as he moves away from me, forming a trail of blood.

I ignore him and turn to the side, seeing countless arrows coming towards me.

This is surprising, each of them shoots 3 to 4 arrows.

A little surprised by their effectiveness, I cross my arms and, with a forward thrust, swing my arm, releasing a slash towards the arrows.

The flames on my claymore explode, and an incandescent half-moon slash is released from it.

The huge flaming cut goes towards the arrows, and in the exact second that the incandescent cut touches countless arrows, they simply evaporate.

And to make matters worse (for them) the cut continues towards them.

Even though these Centaurs have a primitive look and a savage appearance, they recognize the danger in front of them.

The centaurs, turning as quickly as possible, began to gallop towards the forest; however, it was too late, as the flaming slash destroyed their bodies. Those who were lucky only came out with their lower parts intact.

Obviously, the forest starts to catch fire, and the climate has become completely dry.

But with a wave of my hand, the flames in the forest go out.

It doesn't take a genius to see that it's not a good idea to use fire in a dense forest. Even though I've already used it.

When I thought of this, some centaurs who were not in front of my strike charged towards me holding very crude swords while circulating their mana in their bodies, causing the blades to be covered in mana.

Mana manipulation?!

From what Sword Maiden told me, to use this, you need to have good control over mana.

And without meaning to offend, centaurs don't seem to fit very well in that regard.

Maybe it's some kind of race ability?

I thought, raising my sword and defending myself from the first cut, while in the second cut that came to my right, I pushed this centaur that was holding me and swung my sword to the right.

The incandescent blade pierces his chest, causing his inertia to come to an instant halt.

Stepping back, I easily dodged the various cuts that came towards me while swinging my sword.

Each cut was a dead centaur.

Meanwhile, I see from the corner of my eyes that same black-haired centaur whose arms I had cut off galloping madly into the dense forest.

Abandoning your troops isn't a very honorable thing to do.

I think, raising my blade, which pierces the jaw of the centaur in front of me.

The last three pulled back, but their eyes were still on me.

The youngest of them looks at a robust centaur and opens his mouth, saying:

"His meat looks great, but he's too strong." His voice was too husky for someone his age.

"Yes, although the women who belong to us have less meat, they are easier to educate than this strange man, in addition to being more useful." The burly centaur said, moving further away.

Women!? These women were probably hunted by them.

The strange thing is that he called me a strange man, so they don't know that I am a God.

But that "women who belong to us" thing is bothering me a little.

I guess I'll have to meddle a little more.

I flex my arm back, and in the next instant, I throw my sword as if it were a spear.

My blade explodes the head of the robust centaur, making the other two instantly have the idea of running away, simply turning and galloping into the forest in the same direction as the armless centaur.

I raised my hand up, and above me, photons of light came together and formed a single sphere of light, which was more than necessary.

Then, using [Heaven's Wrath], the single sphere fired bursts of light beam, precisely hitting the other 2 centaurs who died with their bodies full of holes without giving them time to even realize they had died.

The youngest centaur only gained injuries all over his body while the blasts of light passed through it, creating more and more injuries but none fatal.

And in a matter of seconds, the sphere finally disappears, and the youngest centaur disappears into the depths of the forest, leaving a trail of blood.

"I think that was enough." I murmured, walking in the direction where the young centaur and the black-haired one had escaped.

Why did I let the youngest one get away?

Well, I need a guide.

I thought, following the blood on the floor and the footprints.

Even though he is half-man, they are still animals.

And a wounded animal tends to join its bunch.

My footsteps sounded deeper into the forest as I followed the footprints and blood on the ground, probably intruding on something that was none of my business.