Meanwhile, while Astellon was entwined with Hippolyta, Heracles decided that the soldiers who had accompanied them to the land of the Amazons would spend the day aboard their ship.
Remaining on the vessel, Heracles surveyed the bustling deck before stepping ashore for a brief stroll.
“Haa...”
As he wandered the perimeter, Heracles pondered his next trial, reflecting on how easily he would obtain the girdle thanks to Astellon's influence.
“...Are you Heracles?”
“Hm?”
Startled by a voice calling from behind, he turned to see who had spoken.
Standing there was a beautiful female warrior, her gaze fixed intently upon him.
“I am. And who might you be?”
Unfamiliar with her face, Heracles asked for her name.
She replied that she was one of the Amazon warriors, then continued...
“Heracles. Please, spend a day with me. Help me bear a daughter who resembles you.”
She had asked him to spend the night together.
Heracles was momentarily taken aback, but captivated by her beauty, he eventually agreed and led her away to a secluded spot.
***
Meanwhile, Hera watched the scene unfold from Olympus.
“I cannot stand the sight of it!”
To her, the romantic dalliances of mortals were usually beneath her notice, but there were exceptions.
One such exception was Astellon.
Unlike most, he approached the act of love with a genuine sincerity that she could respect. Most others, however, were far from it—and she viewed them with utter disdain.
This was especially true for the illegitimate children born of her husband Zeus’s endless infidelities.
Thus, the sight of Heracles following an Amazon warrior into the brush chilled Hera’s heart with irritation.
“As expected of that philanderer's spawn.”
Hera’s eyes narrowed into slits.
Then, her form began to shift.
Her hair changed, her gaze sharpened, and the very contours of her body transformed.
In an instant, she had become an Amazon warrior.
“Now then...”
A cruel twist curled the lips of the disguised goddess.
“Let us see how much you can endure.”
With those words, Hera descended to the mortal realm.
She approached a group of female warriors and cried out, “A hero from Greece has abducted one of the Queen's warriors!”
“What?”
“How dare he...!!”
Using her magic to weave the illusion that she had always been one of their own, Hera incited the women. Stirred by her lies, the warriors stormed toward the forest where Heracles was hidden.
Upon arriving, they discovered Heracles in an intimate embrace with a warrior and shrieked in fury.
“That bastard actually dared to...!”
“Die!”
They raised their bows, aiming their arrows directly at Heracles.
Panic-stricken, Heracles looked at the woman beside him—the one who had lured him to this spot.
“...You deceived me!”
“W-wait...!”
Convinced he had been trapped, Heracles reacted instinctively, swinging his massive club down upon her head.
The blow was crushing. The warrior collapsed in a heap, blood spraying across the grass. As the other warriors watched the blood soak the earth at Heracles' feet, the silence of the forest was shattered by screams of rage and murderous intent.
“He has murdered a soldier of the Queen! These Greek beasts dare insult us!”
Driven by Hera's manipulation, the Amazon warriors lost all reason.
A rain of arrows descended upon Heracles. He swung his club desperately to deflect the onslaught, but the situation spiraled rapidly toward catastrophe.
Meanwhile, inside the palace, Astellon had been resting after spending the night with Hippolyta. He was jolted awake by the sound of distant roars and the clashing of steel.
“What is happening? What is all this noise...!”
Hippolyta was equally alarmed, hurriedly donning her armor.
“My soldiers would never radiate such bloodlust. Astellon, hurry!”
Driven by the chaos, the two rushed from the palace toward the forest.
By the time Astellon and Hippolyta emerged, the shoreline was already engulfed in flames.
They saw Heracles fighting a desperate retreat toward the ship, using his club to shove back the swarming Amazons, while the soldiers of Eirene struggled to respond to the sudden, violent ambush.
“Heracles! Stop! This is a misunderstanding!”
“What are you doing?! Stop this at once!”
Astellon and Hippolyta screamed, but their voices were drowned out. The Amazon warriors, mourning their fallen comrade, and the soldiers of Eirene, fighting for their lives, could no longer hear them.
Hera, the architect of the slaughter, had already vanished into the crowd with a venomous smile, leaving behind nothing but uncontrollable hatred.
“Astellon, get on board first! We can’t die here!”
In the midst of the carnage, Heracles seized Astellon by the arm and hauled him onto the deck.
Hippolyta stood on the shore, screaming for her warriors to stand down, but the situation had devolved into total anarchy—arrows began to rain down even upon her.
“I’m sorry, Hippolyta...”
With no other choice, I was forced to set sail in haste with Heracles and the remaining soldiers.
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