Chapter Summaries

Atalanta used Dark Eclipse Shot to break the Original Demon Boar’s divine markings, leaving it vulnerable but still rampaging. As it charged toward her, Samael stepped between them with his shield raised.

• The Original Demon Boar charged through the heroes, killing and injuring several while its markings deflected their attacks and let it recover by devouring another boar.
• Samael, Caenis, Castor, and Pollux held the creature back while Atalanta prepared a curse-bearing shot.
• Atalanta fired Dark Eclipse Shot, shattering the boar’s divine markings and wounding it with black flames.
• The wounded boar charged toward Atalanta, and Samael cut between them, raising his Gorgon-emblem shield.

After the Calydonian Boar fell, Atalanta accepted Samael’s request to touch her tail, and the heroes celebrated their victory. Two relatives of Calydon’s royal family then tried to claim the spoils, provoking the heroes into attacking them.

• Samael used Medusa's Shield to repel the boar, and Atalanta's arrow killed it by piercing its brain.
• Atalanta worried over Samael, then agreed that he could touch her tail once they returned.
• Atalanta began claiming the boar’s pelt and heart as her trophy.
• Two members of Calydon's Demigod Family emerged and claimed the boar and its spoils, while Samael rallied the heroes against them.
• The two men attacked several heroes, and the enraged group overwhelmed them with weapons.

Prince Meleager returned to Calydon with the demon boars defeated, and the city celebrated while secretly settling the deaths of the Queen’s two brothers. Samael admitted to Athena that he had helped kill them, then Athena threatened to expose him to Themis.

• Prince Meleager led the hunting party into Calydon with the demon boar corpses, and the people cheered the hunters and mourned the dead.
• The King and Prince Meleager held a sacrifice to Artemis, and Meleager distributed demon boar meat during the citywide feast while the Queen stayed away ill.
• Samael sat outside the city and spoke with Athena, who accused him of arranging the deaths of Meleager’s two uncles.
• Samael admitted the killing and reasoned that the royal family could not afford to punish the heroes who had taken part in the hunt.
• Samael revealed that Meleager would present the dead uncles as martyrs and compensate their family, and Athena threatened to ask Themis how instigating a crime should be punished.

After escaping Samael, the owl flew over Calydon as the royal family settled into the aftermath of the hunt. Zeus discovered that Meleager had survived the fate he expected and rushed to the Caucasus Mountains to learn why.

• Samael abandoned his attempt to roast the owl and headed toward Atalanta’s ritual, eager to see Artemis and claim his chance to pet the cat.
• The owl escaped and flew past a giant figure on Calydon’s city wall as the feast continued.
• Prince Meleager visited his sleeping mother, and the King of Calydon considered handing the kingdom to his son.
• Zeus found Meleager’s bright thread in the loom of fate and realized he had escaped his expected death.
• Zeus transformed into lightning and raced toward the Caucasus Mountains to investigate what had disrupted Fate Weaving.

After Atalanta left following the previous night’s embarrassing encounter with Samael, Circe and Caenis also prepared to depart. Circe gave Samael a parchment from Atalanta, and he read the word “Arcadia.”

• Circe noticed a handprint on Samael’s cheek, and he sent her out of her room so he could bathe and sleep.
• Samael recalled how the Divine Beast’s Pelt had intensified Atalanta’s instincts and how she had slapped him after coming to her senses.
• Atalanta tried to suppress her lingering thoughts about Samael while taking repeated cold showers.
• Circe told Samael that Atalanta had left in a large carriage, then asked to return to Athens with Caenis.
• As Circe and Caenis departed, Circe gave Samael a parchment Atalanta had left, and he read “Arcadia.”

Samael left Calydon City and traveled toward Arcadia with Heracles, who sought Athena’s help to escape his curse and trials. The pair approached a city where they planned to replenish supplies before crossing the wilderness.

• Jason saw Samael off, asked him to tell Chiron that he had graduated, and revealed that he was returning to Iolcus.
• Jason arranged for Heracles to travel with Samael to Arcadia, and the two departed on their mounts.
• During their journey, Samael and Heracles grew familiar while working together to defeat bandits and magical beasts.
• Heracles told Samael that an oracle had identified a future King of Athens as the key to his salvation, and asked him to seek Athena’s advice.
• Samael agreed to help Heracles, then the two approached a city and concealed their mounts before entering.

Samael and Heracles rode toward Arcadia after learning that a monster was swallowing travelers in a gorge. As they entered the gorge, a band of armed women spotted them and began to suspect that someone was missing.

• Samael heard that Atalanta's father was seeking a husband for her and hurried Heracles out of the city toward Arcadia.
• At the city gate, an old soldier warned Samael and Heracles that more than ten travelers had disappeared on the road, but they ignored him and rode on their divine horses.
• Samael and Heracles reached the gloomy gorge and entered it after noticing signs of an ambush.
• Penthesilea reported seeing two travelers, though the red-haired leader saw only one and questioned her.
• The red-haired leader ordered the women to retreat when Penthesilea could not explain whether the travelers had split up.

Heracles and Samael fought the Amazons who had ambushed the road, and Samael defeated their leader after she tried to overpower him. He learned that the Amazon Queen was Hippolyta, leaving him to wonder why she had targeted him.

• Penthesilea argued that the Amazons should continue searching for a worthy man, but the red-haired leader ordered the group back to the valley.
• The leader spotted Samael, and Heracles emerged from the forest and defeated the seven Amazon warriors who charged him.
• The Amazon Queen told her sisters to hold Heracles back, then leaped down toward Samael and attacked with her greatsword and War God's Roar.
• Samael blocked the Queen's strike with Medusa's Shield, then exploited her hesitation to land a punch that knocked her unconscious.
• Samael asked the defeated Queen her name, and she identified herself as Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.

Samael and Heracles defeated Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons, who had been abducting men to breed warriors. Samael offered to free Hippolyta and her eight sisters if they released their captives, then asked whether he could help solve Amazon's declining population.

• Hippolyta explained that the Amazons had captured men for their Day of Procreation, and that she had stayed behind to find a strong hero for herself and her sisters.
• Heracles confirmed that Hippolyta's sisters were alive, while Samael released the magical ropes binding Hippolyta and warned her not to flee.
• Hippolyta offered herself as Samael's spoils of war in exchange for sparing her sisters.
• Samael offered to let all nine sisters go if Hippolyta swore to Goddess of Oaths Styx to release the captured men.
• Hippolyta admitted that the Amazons' raids had not increased their numbers and that their population was declining, and Samael offered to help solve the problem.

Samael proposed a system for the Amazons to invite Greek men to compete for partners, replacing raids with an organized Day of Procreation. Hippolyta accepted his advice and prepared to release the captured men as agreed, while Samael continued toward Arcadia.

• Samael explained how the Amazons could select Greek men through trials and arena contests during the Day of Procreation.
• Hippolyta questioned whether men would accept the harsh competition, and Heracles confirmed that Greek heroes would find it appealing.
• Samael advised Hippolyta on using a fixed island, extending the event, and timing it around women's menstrual cycles.
• Samael reminded Hippolyta to free the captured men, though he allowed her to keep any who willingly joined the Amazons.
• Hippolyta thanked Samael, then said she wanted to capture him to help her tribe, and he warned that doing so would make her an enemy of Greece.

Samael accepted Ares's war belt from Hippolyta, but a group of enraged Amazons attacked them before they could leave the canyon. To prevent Heracles from killing the Amazons, Hippolyta offered herself and her entire tribe as bargaining chips, and Samael led her and Heracles to safety.

• Hippolyta promised to keep answering Samael's questions and gave him Ares's war belt as payment for future lessons.
• A golden stream struck the canyon, and an Amazon accused Samael and Hippolyta of being despicable outsiders who had taken the Queen hostage.
• Hippolyta revealed that a final group of Amazons had been waiting at the harbor, and they attacked her and Samael despite her attempts to explain.
• Samael and Hippolyta took cover behind Medusa's Shield as the enraged Amazons continued their assault.
• Hippolyta begged Samael not to slaughter her sisters and offered herself and the entire Amazon tribe in exchange for their safety.
• Samael shook the mountain to distract the Amazons, then escaped with Hippolyta on Pegasus as Heracles ran after them along the cliff.

Samael and Heracles escaped the pursuing Amazons after Heracles killed their leader with an empowered arrow, while the Amazons regrouped and divided their forces. At a distant resting place, Samael identified Hera as the force behind the attack and began explaining her persecution of Heracles.

• Samael handed Hippolyta the reins, joined Heracles on the Harpy Horse, and empowered his shot against the Amazon leader.
• Heracles's arrow shattered the woman's divine barrier and struck her, causing her body to break into crystalline dust as the pursuing Amazons lost track of their targets.
• The Amazons recovered their memories, realized they had advanced deep into Greece, and sent four leaders away with the main force while Penthesilea and three sisters continued the pursuit.
• Samael, Heracles, and Hippolyta rested hundreds of miles away, where Heracles suggested they separate and Samael persuaded him to stay.
• Samael identified Hera as Heracles's enemy and explained how she had delayed his birth and arranged for Eurystheus to be born first.

Samael comforted Heracles by reminding him that Hera and fate had driven his suffering, then urged him to stop yielding and consider Sparta as a refuge. As the group neared Arcadia, Heracles took the name Alcaeus, suggesting he was ready to begin again.

• Heracles recalled how Hera had persecuted him throughout his life and gained confidence that Athena might help him escape his fate.
• Samael claimed kinship with Heracles and encouraged him to seek refuge in Sparta, but Heracles feared that his loved ones would suffer because of him.
• Heracles recounted the deaths of his family, friends, and companions, and said he had to atone for killing his wife and children.
• Samael told Heracles that their deaths were not his fault and urged him to make Hera feel pain rather than submit to her.
• As the group approached Arcadia, Samael asked Heracles to use another name, and Heracles chose his childhood name, Alcaeus.

Hera demanded that Zeus punish Heracles for injuring her, but Zeus forbade her from attacking him again and ordered her to leave his trials to Eurystheus. Zeus then encouraged Ares to challenge Athens through his daughters, while Metis confronted him over the threat to Athena; the chapter ended with Zeus spotting someone sneaking into Aphrodite’s bedchamber.

• Hera showed Zeus the injury Heracles had caused and demanded that he execute Heracles.
• Zeus reminded Hera of their agreement, forbade her from attacking Heracles again, and ordered her to leave his trials to Eurystheus.
• After wrecking her temple, Hera flew toward the Sea of Oceanus, while Zeus asked Ares about his failed contest with Athena.
• Zeus suggested that Ares use mortals to compete for Athens, and Ares offered his Amazon daughters for the task.
• Metis rebuked Zeus for moving against Athena, and Zeus promised that their daughter would not be harmed.
• Zeus saw a sneaky figure slip into Aphrodite’s bedchamber and silently despaired.

Aphrodite persuaded Ares that Zeus was using him and the Amazons as expendable tools in an attack on Athens. Ares resolved to make the campaign a show, while Aphrodite secretly pursued revenge against Zeus and Hera.

• Aphrodite questioned whether the Amazons could conquer Athens and warned Ares that defeat could cost him their faith.
• Aphrodite pointed out that Zeus had withheld allied forces and authority from Ares, suggesting the king was using him to limit humanity and keep his children competing.
• Ares admitted he feared disappointing Zeus but began to doubt the attack after Aphrodite urged him to protect his own future.
• Aphrodite promised she wanted Ares to become king, and he vowed to make her Queen of Gods.
• Ares decided the Amazons would merely go through the motions against Athens, while Aphrodite privately resolved to take revenge on Zeus and Hera.

Aphrodite recalled how Zeus and Hera had wronged her and sent Golden Apples to a praying descendant of Poseidon. In Arcadia, Samael explained that he had entered the marriage contest to give the hunt leader freedom to choose, while Hippolyta continued to follow him and ask about the breeding plan.

• Aphrodite remembered cursing Zeus and Hera for forcing her into marriage and decided she needed to build Ares's power so she could control her own fate.
• Aphrodite heard a descendant of Poseidon pray to her and sent three Golden Apples to a mortal altar, deliberately forming them from Earth Authority to spite Hera.
• In Arcadia, Heracles questioned Samael about the marriage contest and suggested he pursue Helen or Hippolyta instead.
• Samael explained that the hunt leader had sworn herself to Artemis and that he wanted to win the contest so she could choose freely.
• Hippolyta praised Samael and invited him to the Amazons, then stayed to ask about the breeding plan until Samael pleaded with her to stop following him during the contest.

Atalanta struggled with life as a princess and longed to escape her gilded confinement. Samael arrived to enter the marriage contest, intending to win so he could restore her freedom, and the chapter ended with Atalanta embracing him before warning him to stop touching her tail.

• Atalanta discarded her finery and, finding no hunting clothes, gazed at the Calydonian Boar hide and longed to run free in the wilderness.
• Samael climbed through Atalanta's window, startling her; she drove him into hiding and told the maids outside that a mouse had entered her room.
• Atalanta asked why Samael had come, and he admitted he planned to enter the marriage contest.
• Samael told Atalanta he wanted to win the title to give her freedom, not to marry her or claim Arcadia's throne.
• Atalanta embraced Samael gratefully, then warned him that touching her tail was a challenge to a lion.

Samael persuaded Atalanta to let him help her lose the race, then prepared for the marriage contest. Before the competition began, Atalanta confronted King Iasos about forcing her to marry and entered the arena determined to end her obedience to him.

• Samael convinced Atalanta to accept his plan to throw the race, and she agreed to meet him at the contest the next day.
• Samael returned to the palace and learned from Heracles that Hippolyta had gone out for a walk.
• King Iasos welcomed the contestants and expected Atalanta to choose a powerful hero who could inherit the throne and continue the royal bloodline.
• Atalanta told King Iasos she did not want to marry, but he insisted that she fulfill her duty to the royal family.
• Atalanta said she would honor her promise one last time, rejected King Iasos's authority over her future, and entered the arena in her hunter's clothes.

Atalanta and Samael raced through Arcadia’s deadly mountain course, where most contestants were eliminated by its dangers and traps. After giving Samael a ten-minute head start, Atalanta began overtaking the remaining racers and was closing in on the second-place contestant when a golden fruit rolled to her feet.

• Atalanta took an early lead, and Samael sprinted after her as the contestants raced out of the capital.
• The racers faced dangerous terrain, magical beasts, and hidden traps, and more than seventy percent were eliminated halfway through the course.
• Atalanta slowed to meet Samael and gave him ten minutes to run ahead before she resumed the chase.
• Atalanta overtook the racers in front of her and approached the second-place contestant.
• A golden fruit rolled to Atalanta’s feet, releasing an alluring fragrance just as she was about to pass the contestant.

Samael intervened in Hippomenes and Atalanta’s race, repeatedly stopping Atalanta from chasing the Golden Apples and overtaking Hippomenes. Near the finish line, Samael struck Hippomenes down, leaving the race’s outcome unresolved.

• Hippomenes used a Golden Apple to slow Atalanta, but she wounded herself to keep chasing him.
• Samael seized a Golden Apple before Atalanta could reach it and confronted Hippomenes, who fled toward the finish line.
• Samael outran Hippomenes across a mountain stream, while Atalanta pursued them on all fours.
• Hippomenes threw a third Golden Apple off the course, but Samael grabbed it and carried Atalanta back onto the route.
• Samael carried Atalanta past Hippomenes, then turned and punched him into a deep pit near the finish line.