Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 353 The End of the Legend of the Female Hunter
Now that he had the ability to remove the curse, the great hero naturally reached out and stroked the lion's head.

With a single touch, the powerful lion rolled to the ground and reverted to its human form. It was a handsome young man who looked at his palm in astonishment and delight.

The great hero touched another lion and the other lion cubs, and the once-cursed huntress and her young children were restored to their former appearance.

Only then did the great hero finally meet the female hunter he had never met before. She was indeed as beautiful and tall as people imagined, with bright and piercing eyes.

The hunter bowed to the great hero in gratitude.

"Thank you, Hercules. Without you, my husband and I don't know how many more years it would have taken to regain our true identities and appearances."

"I accept your thanks, but please grant me one request: please have an archery contest with me."

The great hero readily accepted the hunter's gratitude, but also made a request.

He had heard the story of this hunter long ago. It was said that she had been taught archery by the Queen of the Hunts, Artemis, and thus she was able to hit the bullseye every time. In the end, she successfully killed the Calydon boar with her archery skills.

Such a person naturally harbored the intention to compete with him.

The huntress readily agreed, and the three decided to find a place to have a proper duel. However, to take care of her child, the huntress needed to tidy up her lodgings before going to challenge the great hero later.

So the great hero went to a nearby town to wait for the hunter's family.

Before the great hero even reached the city, he encountered an old woman on a small road. The old woman looked very pitiful and kept crying.

The great hero softened and asked in a kind voice.

"Grandpa, are you in some trouble? If your son is being unfilial, please tell me and I'll teach him a lesson for you. If you're lacking food or clothing, I have some money here."

The elderly woman with white hair wiped away her tears and choked out.

“I wasn’t bullied. My sons are all well, and I have enough clothes and food. But I’m just a destitute old woman who was bullied and no one can help me. When I think about this, I can’t help but cry.”

The great hero asked in confusion.

"Who exactly bullied you? Tell me."

The old woman looked up at the great hero in front of her and said sadly.

“To tell you the truth, I used to be a respectable and well-known person, with quite a lot of land. But recently, two rude men have been causing trouble in my house. So I filed a complaint with the judge, and fortunately, the judge was kind and fair, and punished them by making me do 100 days of hard labor. But after only a few days of their service, the judge’s son listened to their complaint, felt that the sentence was too harsh, and changed the document, removing their hard labor.”

“Young man, people laugh at me now, saying I’m old and useless, which is why I get bullied. I’m so angry, that’s why I’m hiding here and crying silently.”

The old woman beat her chest and stamped her feet, her voice full of complaints.

Then she asked the great hero.

"Young man, you are an honest and fair person. Tell me, shouldn't you be punished for doing something wrong?"

"Of course, if you do something wrong, you should be punished."

"Did I do something wrong?"

The great hero felt that a hundred days of hard labor was not too much, so he said.

“Since they caused trouble in your house, they deserve to be punished. One hundred days of hard labor is not too long, as long as they know their mistakes and repent in the future. Old man, where are they? I will go and bring those two over to continue your hard labor.”

The old woman gazed at the great hero before her for a long time.

After making the great hero feel extremely uncomfortable, she slowly nodded, revealed a satisfied smile, and covered her mouth while laughing.

"Hehe, young man, you are truly honest and kind, willing to talk to this old woman for so long. Well, I am not a bad person, it's just that two young people made a mistake. You are right, as long as they know their mistake and correct it, that's fine. I don't ask for anything, I don't want them to serve for me for a hundred days in a row, I just want them to serve for me for half a day."

"Do you still need my help?"

"Oh dear, no need."

The old woman waved her hand and said with a smile.

“I just heard someone tell me that the judge’s son still thinks the verdict should be upheld, so my old lady can rest assured.”

The great hero vaguely sensed something was amiss and wanted to ask a few more questions, but the old woman strolled slowly into the jungle. Left with no other option, the great hero continued walking towards the city, but the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him, as if some kind of illusion had been broken.

"not good!"

He suddenly shouted and turned to run back.

When he hurriedly crossed the jungle and arrived at the hunter's family, he saw that the hunter's upper body was human and the lower body was a four-legged lion.

"How pitiful, great hero! The goddess of nature, Cybri, still refuses to forgive us, turning us into this half-man, half-lion form."

The female hunter said helplessly.

At this moment, the great hero's suspicions were confirmed. The old woman he had just encountered was none other than the nature goddess Cybele. It was his momentary carelessness that had led to the huntress's punishment once again.

He tried to remove the curse from the hunter family again, but found that his hands were no longer effective, as if the half-human, half-lion appearance was their true form.

The great hero felt deeply ashamed; the invincible hero felt he had let down the two people in front of him.

The female hunter comforted him.

"It's alright, great hero. You're much better off now than you were before."

As she spoke, she reached out her hand.

Those hands, once so powerful, have become lion's claws and can no longer hold a bow.

After handing a magnificent arrow to the great hero, the hunter spoke earnestly.

"This is a precious arrow given to me by the goddess Artemis as a reward for my service to her. I have treasured it all this time, and even after transforming into a lion, I couldn't bear to part with it. Now I can no longer draw the bow, and I only hope that you will make good use of it."

He took the magnificent arrow, a golden arrow that seemed to be made of gold. Exquisite and beautiful, it was more like a work of art than a weapon. No wonder the female hunter had kept it as a treasure.

Neither of them mentioned the promised contest again. Until their parting, the two most skilled archers in the entire Greek world never had the chance to compete, a regrettable missed opportunity.

After that, the hunter's family quietly disappeared.

Later, the great hero would occasionally hear some rumors.

Legend has it that the hunter and her husband traveled to a faraway land and had many offspring who were also half-lion, half-human. These offspring then married mortals. Therefore, in that faraway land, one can see humans with lion ears, lion tails, and lion claws—these are their descendants.

Of course, all of this happened later.

At this moment, the great hero felt only a deep sense of powerlessness.

Even someone as powerful as him sometimes has to admit that there are some forces that are difficult for him to resist.

"Gods..."

He spoke sadly, yet he had to force himself to keep going and complete his mission.

This trouble reached its peak when he encountered that rampaging white bull.

That mighty, powerful white bull wreaked havoc on the earth, punishing mortals for its master. When the great hero arrived, the white bull was lying on the ground, resting leisurely.

The great hero did not intend to kill it, so he tried to subdue the mad bull with force.

His hands gripped the bull's horns tightly. When the bull was awakened by the great hero, it frantically tried to break free, its immense strength enough to split the earth. But even such power could not withstand the great hero's monstrous strength.

The great hero rode on its back, attempting to forcefully tame the bull.

After a fierce battle, the bull, panting heavily, had no choice but to surrender, bellowing sadly as it turned to the enemy on its back.

So the great hero rode the bull that could walk on water, preparing to cross the sea and return to the king to claim his reward.

However, when the bull came to sea, the sea immediately became angry, with surging waves and tides, turbulent and unsettling, displaying the power of its master.

Finally, the sea vaguely revealed a majestic face, its lips opening and closing.

"Demigod, this is a feud between me and that king, it has nothing to do with you, so leave now!"