As they watched the beast slowly being devoured by the Earth itself, Athena shouted in panic, not wanting the corpse of her brother to disappear without a trace and without a proper burial. "Quick, carry it and don't let it touch the ground!" she ordered the huntresses, who tried to comply. However, Hera stopped them from going further.
Athena gazed at Hera with a confused and angry look. "But we are going to—" she started, but stopped midway under Hera's stern gaze. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in frustration.
"Did you really think this is your brother?" Hera questioned, looking at both Athena and Artemis, who avoided her gaze. She smirked confidently before continuing, "I thought so." She explained to the others, "This thing was created by Gaia and Odin using the body of Dionysus." She watched the beast's corpse with interest, anticipating Gaia and Odin's next move.
Artemis also watched in frustration, but sighed, knowing there was little she could do. Hera was much stronger than she appeared. Athena understood this too; they were outmatched and outgunned.
Diana then remembered something she had forgotten and took it out of her inventory. "I got these from the corpse after digging through the beast," she said, showing them three Tarot cards.
They looked at the cards with keen interest. Hera then said in a curious tone, "The Fool, The World, and The Moon." She identified and named the Tarot cards, thinking about their meaning. She took all three cards from Diana's hands to inspect them further for any hidden magic.
Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, didn't know much about Tarot cards as this kind of thing was beyond her realm of expertise. However, she still offered some insight. "The Fool's journey is just an illusion full of fantasy, even at the end he does not know it?" she said casually, still unsure of the purpose of these Tarot cards being here or inside the body of Dionysus.
Artemis, on the other hand, kept muttering about the Moon repeatedly, but the others ignored her. Diana then offered her own interpretation, "The World represents Gaia, while The Moon and The Fool also represent someone, but I don't know who." She shrugged after saying her piece, hoping not to be left out if new information emerged in the future.
Hippolyta also shared her thoughts about the Tarot cards with the group. "The Fool and The World being together means it's the beginning of the end, but I don't know what The Moon's meaning is or who it represents," she said in a casual tone, trying to sound knowledgeable, though deep down she didn't really understand the Tarot cards' meanings.
Hera, hearing all of this, laughed in contempt, causing the others to frown and look at her with confused expressions. "There's no deeper meaning behind it," she said as she started to calm down, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's all theatrics. There is no other reason; Odin and Gaia just want to look wise, that's all," she added with a smirk, her voice filled with mockery toward Gaia and Odin.
The others exchanged helpless smiles, except for Artemis, who remained serious. Hera then looked at the Tarot cards again and attempted to destroy them by burning them, but she failed miserably, which made her frown. "Can't burn it?" she questioned before trying another approach. "How about this?" She used her telekinesis to crumple the cards, but just like when she tried to burn them, the Tarot cards remained undamaged. "Strange," she muttered, scrutinizing the cards again to see if there was any magic activation preventing them from taking damage, but she saw nothing.
"I already tried to stab that thing, Queen Mother, and it wouldn't even budge," Diana said with a smile as she watched Hera try to destroy the Tarot cards to no avail.
"Hmph," Hera huffed before handing the Tarot cards back to Diana without a care for their potential importance to Gaia, as she disliked the Titaness.
Diana accepted the Tarot cards, considering them her loot or spoils of battle, but she did not put them in her inventory and just held them for a while.
They then turned their attention back to the beast's corpse, which was almost on the verge of merging with the ground beneath them. After watching for a while, it completed its merge.
Suddenly, the ground shook, making some of the huntresses lose their balance, and causing PTSD in others. However, some of the huntresses shouted, "Protect the Goddesses at all costs!" The huntresses followed the orders of the veterans, even though the Goddesses could protect themselves; they still insisted. The Goddesses, too, got ready for the fight.
Vines started emerging from the ground in different parts of the field. The huntresses surrounded the Goddesses in a circle, awaiting an enemy attack. Different kinds and colors of flowers bloomed from the vines, creating a scene that was more aesthetically pleasing than threatening. The huntresses and Goddesses watched the flowers intently while scanning the vicinity vigilantly. When nothing out of the ordinary happened, the huntresses released sighs of relief. Athena, in particular, approached some of the flowers out of curiosity.
"They just look like ordinary flowers," said Athena as she inspected them. The others followed suit, even Artemis, who had been muttering to herself. She joined in and began examining the blooming flowers. The braver huntresses smelled them to ensure they were indeed just ordinary flowers. After taking a whiff, they found them to be simple, albeit diverse, blossoms. "The smell is not bad," Diana said with a smile after sniffing the flowers for a good minute before putting one down.
"Of course, it smells good; it's made by Gaia's power," Hera said, rolling her eyes with contempt, especially at the mention of Gaia. However, she still appreciated the beauty of each flower as she touched them one by one. "Now what the hell is up with these flowers? They have to be for something important," she thought inwardly while looking at the flowers with vigilant eyes. She didn't have to wait long, as the petals of the flowers soon started to fall.
The petals drifted randomly, but when they touched the corpses of the fallen huntresses, they began to glow brightly. Even the petals that touched the ground started glowing brightly. The huntresses and Goddesses tensed as they witnessed this, readying themselves for whatever or whoever might come next. Diana and Atalanta exchanged wary glances, while Hera's expression turned from curiosity to wariness, though she remained confident that she could handle whatever emerged.
Artemis, however, had a bad feeling about the situation. "Huntresses, get ready to fight!" she shouted with confidence, her eyes fixed on the glowing petals. The huntresses began surrounding the Goddesses, prepared to protect them at all costs.
Unexpectedly, the corpses touched by the petals started moving, twitching from time to time. The huntresses tensed up, anticipating a possible battle with the reanimated bodies of their fallen comrades. Artemis, her eyes filled with sadness, watched the twitching corpses while clenching her hands.
Just as Artemis was about to order a pre-emptive attack on the twitching corpses, Athena interrupted her. "Artemis, do not attack," she said firmly.
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No MC for a long ass time is mistake, I should have make an Omake about the MC doing random shit in between and still 2 more chapters to go and you will be free from this suffering.