It Started With Devils & Artefacts

"Hi" Regular Speech

'Hi' Thought

"(Hi)" Marcus's mechanically synthesised voice

' "Hi" ' Marcus talking into someone's mind

" 'Hi' " Marcus reading someone's mind

[Hi] Quinella/Aurora talking

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[The moment Master left the chemical room chamber he was already in the ranking of the Top 10 World Strongest Beings.]

[This list, I may add, was created to measure a being's sheer raw strength and not their versatility or abilities.]

[At that point Master's strength was around 85% that of the Red Dragon Emperor at its peak.]

Quinella explained to the group who were watching the battle between Marcus and Superman. Or well, the end of it.

The moon was gone and countless large asteroids slammed into the planet below. Ending nations, starting another ice age. The consequences of such sparing are immeasurable. That's why they should only be done inside a simulation like this.

[At his spar with Satan Leviathan, Master started showing his adaptability by unlocking Psionic powers. Thus unlocking his third energy. I was measuring his power at that moment, which went up]

The artificial intelligence explained as she showed the statistics of Marcus' progress.

"His power went up to 95% of the Red Dragon Emperor? What kind of progress is this!?" Serafall asked Quinella. The Leviathan could not comprehend the rate of progress.

[His body adapted and became a perfect vessel for psionic power. That moment, mastering this new energy and the abilities it gives became child's play for him.] 

Quinella pulled up another statistic, showing the rate of how quickly he mastered the flow of this power.

All of them just gulped down seeing this…

[After the short spar with Serafall, Master entered the simulation and started to get a hang of this new power.]

[Telekinesis, levitation, psionic blasts… all in less than 10 minutes of acquiring this power.]

The silver-haired assistant showed images of what he can do and what kind of damage he could do to a city.

[Now the part where he got even more powerful.] 

Quinella showed the part where Superman was manifested and Marcus got punched by the spandex-wearing hero.

"This is where Master got punched and nearly lethally wounded. How could you allow that?" Latia asked with quite an annoyed look as she saw her boyfriend with a broken neck and spine!

[My protocol doesn't allow me to hurt him in any sense of the word… but, if there is a profit to my Master and Creator with 0% chance of death possibility, I can allow him to get hurt.]

"There was 0% chance of Superman winning?" Serafall asked with some disbelief in her voice. The guy is so powerful yet there was zero chance for him to win!?

[While death percentage and victory percentage are two different things. Yes, he had no chance of winning. Because he was Superman. A physical brawler. Our Master needed to face one of these so that his physical parameters could increase.] 

Everyone instantly got a realising look. They realised that if some sort of range fighter, like Serafall, were to appear before Marcus, then this individual energy would most likely be sealed off… and their Master would just get the bare minimum of benefits.

That's why, what Marcus faced could be considered his 'weakness'. That's why Quinella goaded him to face Superman in the most direct possible battle. A fistfight. Their Master normally would never face anyone in such… barbaric things.

That's why it was Superman. An icon, someone he quite dislikes as well. Those pure hero types can be quite annoying. The Artificial Intelligence made sure their Master is facing someone he would get his hands dirty on. So this specific opponent met several criteria.

[After the hit. His body started to adapt, when his spine and neck healed, his power went up to 200% that of Ddraig's prime!. Then he fused the three types of energies on the fly! Magic, Psionic and Touki. That power-up which shook the whole world, raised his overall power by 400% that of the Heavenly Dragon!]

Everyone just stared at the statistic with utter bafflement, the gap in between them was less than a few minutes! It was like 2 minutes or something! How can someone grow so strong in such a simple period!

[The fight itself slowly raised his overall parameters, not just raw power! By the time he went to space, his body adapted to the space environment, meaning, he can now go to space as it is! His resistance went up against the space laws and he is borderline immune to the concept of the Power of Destruction…] 

Venelana gulped down hearing that. What kind of nonsense is this!?

She can accept that he can make insane stuff! But now he is even more durable than most of the Gods!?

Quinella continued explaining as everyone looked at the screen. Showing the dust somewhat spread out around the place where the moon was. Marcus was floating there. With a missing arm and leg. There was no superman left at all. He was turned into space dust from that pinpoint blast.

What was quite shocking for these ladies, except Quinella, was how rapidly Marcus is regaining his missing limbs.

Right in front of their eyes. the bones and the flesh recovered at a rapid- near instantaneous pace! And before they knew it, he already had his limbs back.

Now he was collecting his missing rings, which was also quite insane. It is crazy how they managed to survive the explosion of the moon…

~~~~~~Later~~~~~~

Marcus was sitting on his chair, looking at the holographic windows of what his Diamond Core Heart Network all over his country has recorded for him. And of course, directly streaming back to him.

Artemis was here. He knew that she was looking for him. The teen inventor didn't need to listen to any sort of news or anything like that to know that she would come after him.

She is a Greek Goddess with an ego the size of the moon which he blew up, after all. Still, it was kind of hard to get over the fact that he now has this much power. He even beat Superman…

Anyway, he knew she would come. It was just a matter of time. And it appears it took her nearly half a year to do that.

According to the huntress's chatter, which was picked up by his surveillance system. They were all over the place… like, checking out the whole Volga river basin. The whole of the Dnieper river basin. The Ural Mountain range… in a nutshell, most of Eastern Europe…

What truly brought a smile to his face was, he knew they were all going to check the biggest places on the map first. Leaving the smaller ones for the last.

Marcus checked the images he got of the trio main huntresses. His eyes stayed on them for a bit.

"You know…I've always wanted to have a lion. Quite the majestic animal. The King of the jungle, the only known feline family which lives in groups. Quite the fascinating animal." 

He had a pair of beauty with him as only one of them—because the other was a holographic projection—slightly twitched, hearing what he'd just said. 

"Especially, when one of them is half a beautiful huntress."

The black-haired teen's girlfriend looked on with quite a bit of a perplexed look as she saw the group of females walking on his lands.

"Atalanta. This huntress has been serving under Artemis for as long as I can remember. What do you have in mind for her?"

[Their entry into our lands is happening at quite an annoying time. We are only days away from our invasion!] Quinella said with a pissed look. If it was her, she would have already sent out those newly created border drones.

"Come now. Their arrival here helped us find a crucial mistake we have with our neutral magic security."

[Yes. I suppose that is true. If this is accurate then Heaven, and most likely Norse, knows that we exist here.] The silver-haired assistant said with a disappointed look. She was disappointed in herself—that she didn't pick this up earlier.

"It's irrelevant now. It was crucial in the early stages. Now it's pointless. Hmm… we are going to do this. Most of the huntresses are spread out throughout the nation." With a hand wave, a map of his country appeared on a separate holographic window.

Everyone could see that the huntresses had descended from the North.

"From the looks of it. They have spread into three groups. Hippolyta leading in the west towards the sea. Atalanta leading in the east towards mainland Europe. Leaving the third group under Artemis in the direction of the centre of the nation. 

While Artemis is closest to us. We will capture the other groups first. And goad Artemis with them." Marcus said the last part with a sadistic smile.

"Any reasons why? She wants you to fight her in a skills alone battle. There is no way she could beat you as you are right now." Latia said with a slightly frustrated look. She is smart enough to understand what is going on.

Beings like Artemis have a way to pull a man's pride. Simply enough, Marcus wants to prove to her… well some of his sadism is mixed in with it, but he wants to prove that he is superior to her and that she should be under him, and by this point, in all types of the sense.

Yes, this time Artemis is not getting away. No, this time Marcus is keeping her to himself. But, first things first. He is going to make her understand that she should not have come here to look for him!

"Wait for nighttime. and then bring my pet to me." Marcus said seriously to his assistant.

[Of course. I will help you tame this pet as well. Lion or not she will serve you well.] Quinella said simply with crossed arms. What she said sounded like an already done thing. Even though the huntress was not even retrieved yet.

Latia didn't even have a chance to ask how they were going to capture one of the greatest huntresses in the known world and history…

"And Latia, Artemis will be getting her duel or whatever skill competition she wants. That's of course after I have captured all of her Huntresses." Marcus explained to the blonde with a smile.

She could only nod. Now the devil girl was wondering how this Goddess is going to affect the overall situation, the hierarchy of this place.

The Astaroth Pillar knows pretty well that Artemis is not leaving this place after she gets captured. And if the Greek Pantheon complains… Well, then most likely there will be fewer Pantheons in the world... 

~~~

The sound of alarms spread through the barracks of S.P.B.A. The headquarters of Marcus' personal army was on full alert.

Several thousand armoured soldiers lined up perfectly in the main area. Not far from them, on the runway, the Starscream Jet Fighters were getting prepared for the launch. Next to them were the gunships getting prepared for their mission as well.

Their job is to carry the soldiers to the battlefield.

A few moments later polygons gathered in one place and Quinella appeared there.

[Gather up. Your first mission as soldiers of our Master is here! It's called Operation: Capture the lion. Your job is to capture one of Goddess Artemis' huntresses. This operation will be carried out…]

Artificial Intelligence created a holographic window with the map of the city where Atalanta is currently approaching with her squad. What the silver-haired assistant wants is for S.P.B.A. to hunt them down in the city.

The city will be in a lockdown state and it will become a hunting ground for the soldiers of Marcus Goldman. Quinella realised that she can use this nuisance to get some experience and data for their soldiers.

After giving instructions she disappeared and the soldiers' HUD were updated with instructions.

Before long, the soldiers boarded their gunships as the end of the runway moved up, the ceiling and changed into a purple translucent barrier, before disappearing completely.

Moments later, one after another, the Jet Fighters took off. 

Followed by the gunships, their destination is around 50 kilometres into the east.

~~~~~~With Atalanta's group~~~~~~

"Don't you think this is strange? when we approached the city there were cars, people on the streets, the shops were open… the moment we entered this place they started closing off, people disappeared and the traffic just stopped…" One of the huntresses said as she looked around. She was on edge just like the rest.

The Lion girl, with a narrowed gaze, looked around. She noticed this some time ago as well. The smell in the air changed… something is going on…

"Be on guard! The city has just turned into a hunting ground! It appears he has sent someone or something to hunt us down!" Atalanta said after realising what just happened.

The girls quickly formed into formation as they started looking around, they were extremely on edge. They waited for a bit, but nothing happened.

This has just annoyed them for some time. Nonetheless, they didn't drop their guard but they could not just stay here and do nothing. Slowly they started to advance. Their goal is to take a high point advantage and scout the town from there.

A town this size doesn't have many high points. All they have is nine to five stories flats, a water tower. A church which they won't be going to unless they want attention from the Heaven faction…

The rest are one to three-storey buildings. The town most likely doesn't even have 100 thousand people living here.

As they were advancing, Atalanta's ears twitched and she heard something. Surely enough everyone soon heard something similar to a booming sound.

They looked at the sky and saw a formation of planes fly over.

The moment the formation passed through it split up after passing the city.

"Is that the army?" One of the huntresses asked with disbelief. Did the guy have people in the national army and called for some help? Or was there something else going on?

"Don't be confused! Those are not regular planes! They emit magic! That brat most likely has people working for him! Be on guard! We don't even know the numbers he has!" Atalanta said with a sweaty forehead. 

Thankfully she can still sense her blessing from her Goddess. Meaning that their powers were not stripped from them!

After that period they heard more jet fighters fly over. They didn't even know if it was the same group or not. Nonetheless, they continued with their advance.

Until a light flashed… and one of the huntresses was hit by something!

"Ahhh!!!" 

Her whole body twitched and spasmed as it looked like she was hit by electricity!

Moments later, she collapsed on the ground!

"Quickly! Everyone, find cover!!!" Atalanta ordered with wide eyes as she, and the rest, split up to find some cover behind building roadside trees or just dunk on the ground behind a bush.

"Where did that come from!?" One of them asked with a panicked look. She didn't see anything slamming into the fellow huntress!

"It came from the water tower!" The lion girl said with a frowned look.

"But… that's on the other side of the city!" Another one said with awe and shock.

"Most likely a Sacred Gear created for sniping people from the distance. We need to take it down! Split up and approach the tower separately. Use speed and buildings as covers!" Atalanta said seriously. She doesn't see any other way to take this thing down.

It's too far away even for her to even hit it.

'This brat. He is hunting us down. Once I get my hands on you!' The lion girl internally growled at the mocking she was receiving.

"On my mark, get set, go!" As the blond/green-haired huntress shouted, she started dashing. Forward towards the tower.

But, her eyes widened when she saw multiple flashes of light and screams of pain from her huntresses. They were all sniped down with ease!

What kind of accuracy is this!

Before long she jumped over a single store building and tried to take a turn to hide behind a five-storey flat. Atalanta had the idea to use this building to try and snipe the persons who were snipping her but…

With the sounds of jet engines, a robot… around 7 metres tall intercepted her!

It was massive compared to her size. It looked like it was the transformed form of the Jet fighter which flew over the city!

The huntress's eyes widened as she quickly turned around to make some distance. She pulled out her bow and wanted to shoot at this thing but the thing pointed its rifle at her.

'No good!'

Atalanta quickly hid behind the fences of the one storey building she just jumped over. It was a private house with quite a bit of garden and driveway…

But then, volleys of electrical balls slammed into the fences. Atalanta quickly started to run as the blasts destroyed the fences.

The huntress realised that this brat, or the brat's people, don't care about collateral damage…

Which is fine for her!

Her bow glowed silver as she pulled the string and an arrow manifested from pure divine energy. She then releases it towards the robot in midair.

The blast rapidly rushed toward the transformed jet fighter.

Upon collision, the blast exploded…

And pushed the robot back a little bit…there was not even a scratch on it...

"No...way! I put everything I could into Tauropolos at that moment!" Sweat started to pour down from her forehead, she realised how bad this situation was even when she had her full power!

That moment she saw three red laser dots on her body. Her eyes widened. And in the next moment, something slammed into her from all three directions…

A large amount of electricity entered her body. She quickly realised that she got shot from three different directions… meaning that most if not all the high places had snipers…

'Damn...you…'  Atalanta cursed internally as she collapsed on the ground.

Slowly her consciousness started to leave her. Nonetheless, her senses told her that someone was approaching her…. Then more and more sounds of footsteps, heavy steps… meaning heavily armoured...

'Military type gear… mostly likely some sort of metal boots…' The huntress thought to herself. she realised that the city already had soldiers deployed…

When? How? How many?

"This is Alpha-3, the lion is secured. Requesting transportation." Atalanta heard one of the soldiers speak through the radio, she assumed. She could not believe she was treated like some sort of... hunting prey…

Before long her consciousness was consumed by the darkness.

~~~

"..."

Atalanta eyes snapped open. She quickly looked around. It was a small room with no windows… only one side has bars and nothing else…

It took her a few moments to realise it. But she was in a cell. A prison… 

Next thing she realised was that her blessing was gone. Which means her powers were sealed off as well.

"We meet again." 

When she heard this, not so familiar, male voice, the lion girl felt her whole being just tingle. Her instincts were telling something…

'Strong… very strong…'

"You… you are that man!" Atalanta said with an angry snare.

"You have to be more specific." She saw this figure just walk into her cell. It was utterly weird because he walked through bars and walls… it's like they don't exist for him…

This however didn't mean anything to the huntress. She could not sense any power from him. And her fury was higher than her reason at the moment.

Atalanta didn't say anything, instead she lunged forward and tried to spin kick him…

Only for him to capture her leg extremely casually with his left hand and send her back flying a little bit.

That moment, she felt something coiling up around her, her hands went behind her back. She quickly realised that she is getting tied up!

Ropes manifested around her body. The problem with this was that she was roped up in quite a shameful way! This was mortifying for her!

"Release me this instant, you fiend!" Atalanta said with a furious look, she was embarrassed beyond belief!

But, that moment an immeasurable amount of pressure slammed into her. She knew that this was his power. It was intense...endless… even unfathomable…

'How is he this powerful! Why have we never heard about him before! Such a being should have been mentioned at least once somewhere!'

Atalanta's face turned completely pale. It's pointless to fight someone like this!

"I have heard that you trust your instincts more than reason. Then I only need to show you a fraction of my power so that you would understand." 

"J-Just because you are this strong it doesn't mean I am going to listen to you…" Atalanta had a hunch that this man wants her as a trophy. After all his men have hunted her down 'properly'...

And the ropes just prove the point that he wants her in that specific...way...

"You can say whatever you want, my cute lioness but you're going to be my pet either way." He said with absolute confidence which pissed her off even more!

"Grrr… you!!!" Atalanta tried to struggle anyway she could! First, she was roped this way! And now he calls her his pet!?

"Your Goddess will be mine full time. I haven't decided how she is going to serve me. It's either a full-time bed warmer or a sexy maid to be taken, in any place." He mentioned that off handily in a way as if Artemis was nothing in front of him.

"YOU! YOU think Olympus will just stand by and let this happen!?" Atalanta said with a furious tone. If her body was free she would have punched him many times by now…

"They would. Because they wouldn't exist anymore. Besides, it's the reason why you are all here anyway. No? The reason why you are all stalking me in my lands… Wanting to be hunted down, used, however I please." He said that with such belief that it was hard for her to refute. For a second she even believed it! But!

"NONSENSE!" 

This sounded so wrong on so many levels! They are here to hunt him down! Not the other way around!

"Please. I only see your actions this way. I already have ⅓ of your hunt chained up just like you. Soon I will capture Hippolyta and it is only going to leave Artemis as my greatest prey." The man said with a smile as one of his hands moved on top of her head and gently stroked her head. Enjoying the fluffy hair of hers.

"You will be such a great house cat." After saying that he just disappeared from the cell… burst into purple energy…

"He...he...he...wasn't even here in person!?" Disbelief washed her over…how did he do it? How did he chained her up!? What kind of magic is this!?

Seconds later, multiple screens appeared in her room. Showing… the hunt…

She saw Hippolyta at the beach with multiple huntresses looking for clues and her Goddess with several other huntresses in a forest…

That moment, Atalanta realised, with dread, that her Goddess was always under surveillance… meaning that he knows everything that they are doing…

They have been the prey all along…

'This is bad… Goddess… how can I tell you that this is a trap!?' 

~~~~~~Baltic Sea Coastline~~~~~~

Hippolyta was excited and somewhat annoyed that her future husband had not come after her. Doesn't he know that he beat her in a fair fight? She was his! 

So why with all of this!? To her understanding why he has not revealed himself is that he is hunting them now. Which amused her to a certain level.

Her future Husband wants to hunt the Goddess of Hunt… this is just fascinating that humans would even try such a thing!

"Lady Hippolyta. There is a resort town just south of here." One of the huntresses pointed at the distance. The redhead simply nodded at her.

"We can start with that one there." The Amazonian Queen said simply. Honestly, she just wants to go to the man who took her 'heart'. This whole game started to bore her.

The group of huntresses nodded at her and started to walk towards the town they saw there. Under the night sky, no one can see them in total darkness, while they can. The light from the moon, the very symbol of their goddess, shines on them. Allowing them to see just like its day time. Neither do they need a source of light or any assistance. Making them one of the best night hunters in the world.

Once they arrived at the city they saw the pier stretching into the sea… instead of walking there. They took the stairs up to the walkway which leads to Broadway. They can assume this place is packed during the daytime.

However… It was nighttime, but even then...

"This is strange…"

"Is there something wrong, Lady Hippolyta?"

"This place is far too quiet. It's late August and the temperatures in this place are still above 25 degrees in the daytime. The bars and restaurants still should be packed. But, this is far too quiet." The redhead said to the huntresses who started connecting dots and instantly got cautious.

But Hippolyta already knew… it was too late…

She felt the change in the air some time ago. To her, it didn't mean anything. But, it was foolish not to pay attention to that. Because now it made sense to her. The city was put to sleep.

It was so seamless… even amazing… because of how hard it was to pick this up. It was like paying attention to a small breeze changing its direction. Only extremely cautious and paranoid people would think much about it.

Even she picked this up because of her experience after living this long and hunting for centuries.

Before long, from all directions, armoured soldiers rushed dressed in blue and silver armour pointing futuristic rifles at them.

Multiple red laser dots pointed at them. They were surrounded and had the group of girls at gunpoint.

Then a familiar feeling washed over the group; they couldn't sense their blessing anymore.

Where the girls still thought of fighting… Hippolyta raised her hands.

"We surrender. I assume your leader is the very same person who beat me before? Yes? I can only see him capable of doing this." The redhead said very plainly.

"""Lady Hippolyta!?""" The girls looked with utter disbelief! Why did the Queen of the Amazons just give up!? She is a warrior and a Goddess herself!?

"Why do you all look so surprised? He beat me in a duel. My life belongs to him for half a year now." The Queen said so simply that the huntresses couldn't muster the fire to snap at the woman.

Even the army surrounding them was confused… They looked at each other. What should they do? The protocol isn't clear when a Goddess of War surrenders…

A Goddess of War should not surrender without fighting in the first place…

Nonetheless, the confusion was very short because they got new orders from HQ…

["Very well. We accept your surrender. Master will speak with you shortly."]

Hearing a distorted voice coming from one of them. The redhead huntress slowly nodded.

Finally… she can see him!

~~~

When Hippolyta opened her eyes she saw a grey ceiling…

She tried to recall what just happened…

"They still opened fire…" The Queen of The Amazons said with some bitterness.

"I do apologise. But, we don't take any chances."

That voice sends a very positive tingle through Hippolyta. The woman quickly looked at the source.

Her eyes went wide.

"Y-You… you are the one who won against me in battle!? yes?" She said, barely controlling herself and to not lick her lips.

"Calling it a battle is a stretch. I simply opened fire at you from behind." The man said with a baffled tone.

"It was a duel to me. The moment I asked for a duel It was so!" 

When she said that he could only look at her with a flabbergasted look. This was probably the only time he was this…taken aback.

"I see… you are not going to drop this are you?" He asked her while massaging his temples.

"Drop it? You earned the right to marry me!" She said plainly.

"I won't be marrying anyone anytime. I don't follow your culture if this is what you think." He said with a sigh.

"I understand… This means that I have to win your approval!" She said with a fire in her eyes.

Once again he massaged his temples.

"Very well. I will accept you as a maid. Prove yourself capable and maybe sometime later we can discuss this again."

"I accept, Lord Husband." She said that brightly, not fighting back any of his decisions...

He didn't say anything, just burst into the purple energy and disappeared.

~~~~~~Marcus~~~~~~

'Uhh… in the end I could not say no to a free meal. She is part of the collection.' I thought to myself as I leaned into the chair.

Messing with Atalanta was very satisfying. But Hippolyta? Now that was quite headache-inducing. Still though, once we get over the fact that she wants to be my wife because of some battle. We can see something useful.

She is a Goddess, a Queen, a powerful warrior, a beautiful woman, and a hot redhead.

A person of great historical value, a good piece for my collection.

"You look like you just went through a whole day of meetings just now," Latia asked me from the side. Assuming she heard me groan just a few moments ago.

"The Queen of Amazons wants me as her husband," I said plainly.

"..."

"..."

"I see… and how did you respond to that?" Latia asked with some nervousness.

"I said no, obviously." She sighed with relief. I could only roll my eyes at her. Did she believe I would marry, just like that? Goddess or no? Like hell. I am getting a Goddess as a maid soon anyway. Why would I marry one anyway?

"Seriously Latia. Why would I marry her? I am getting a Goddess as a maid soon." I said with a shrug as I got up from my chair. I put on my lab coat. It's time to meet the Moon Goddess in person.

"... I see… I suppose you want someone truly special for your wife." She said with some confidence.

"Yeah. Something like that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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