Published at 15th of April 2023 7:18 am

Chapter 417: "..."

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"He… Hermes!"

In a room that seemed to be made out of clouds; in which every step created a trail of smoke that withered into an almost beautiful hum, Apollo's hair lit up in a blazing flame-- instantly changing the once peaceful interior into that of a cage of fire; the previously white clouds, reflecting Apollo's rage.

"What is it, my dear brother!?"

And this blazing flame grew even wilder as a certain voice echoed through the room; Apollo quickly waved his hand towards this voice, leaving a torrent of flames-- this torrent, however, hit none as the owner of the voice disappeared,

"That's not nice," only to whisper into his ear. Apollo once again waved his hand, but once again, Hermes backed away.

"If you wanted something from me, this is not the way to receive it," Hermes then let out a small sigh as he wagged his finger, "What is it? Do you have a message to send? Perhaps one of your disgusting poems to one of your mortal lovers? How discreet do you want me to be? Discreet to the point that your twin sister wouldn't know?"

"Poems!?" Apollo's hair blazed even further, "You dare feign ignorance!? You stole my cattle again!"

"...Cattle? You have a cow? Why do you have a cow on Mt. Olympus? No... why do you have cows in your room?" Hermes then said as he squinted his eyes, "I don't see any cows… maybe you roasted them?"

"Of course there aren't any cows here since you stole them!"

"...Now that's a serious accusation, brother."

"You're literally mounted on one right now!" Apollo then pointed towards the cow that Hermes was suddenly riding out of nowhere.

"Hm…" Hermes placed his hand on his chin, "Now where did this little fella--"

And before he could finish his words, Hermes moved his head to the side, avoiding the flaming arrow that threatened to take his head off.

"That's dangerous, brother," Hermes sighed, "You know the King doesn't want us playing with--"

"I will let your body be scorched by eternal fire and no one will find your ashes!" Apollo roared, "Just give me back my cattle and--"

"What is going on here!?"

And as soon as another voice roared throughout the room, Hermes quickly got off of the cow, while Apollo's fiery hair returned back to its normal golden brilliance; waving his hands off the embers that were still lingering on them.

"A… Athena," Apollo slightly took in a small gulp as he hid his hands. But after he made sure there were no more flickers of fire around his hand, he quickly pointed towards Hermes, "This cattle thief once again took my possessions, cows I have been taking care of since their infancy! Please, give my stolen cattle the justice they deserve!"

"...Cows?" Athena, who was wearing a full set of armor and even a helmet that only showed his eyes, slowly took a few steps inside Apollo's room, "You mean those cows?"

"Wha--" Apollo quickly looked towards where Athena was pointing, only to see more than a dozen cows chewing on the floor of clouds.

"Let's just leave this accuser, sister," Hermes let out a sigh as he patted Athena's shoulders a couple of times, "You even dare bother Athena, who was probably just busy polishing her weapons for this!?"

Hermes raised his voice as he pointed at Apollo, "You don't even have any evi--"

*Baaah!*

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Wait… I don't have a goat!" Apollo then bellowed, "Isn't this evidence enough to--"

"Silence!"

Hermes and Apollo then quickly shut their mouths as the sound of Athena tapping her spear 3 times on the floor echoed through their ears.

"You are gods! You should act befitting to your status!"

"O… Of course, Athena," Apollo bowed, "But my cows are--"

"Why do you even have cows in your private chambers?" Athena's glare was enough to once again make Apollo shut his mouth, "One could only think of the rumors that would travel the air with this kind of… unique behavior."

"Pft."

"And you!"

Hermes was about to burst out in laughter, but before he could do so, Athena pointed the tip of her spear between his eyes.

"Y… yes?"

"Give me back my shield."

"...What shield?" Hermes slowly backed away as the tip of Athena's spear slowly threatened to make a hole in his head, "You… you mean that shield?"

Athena then looked to where Hermes was pointing, only to see Aegis being used as a plate by one of the cows.

"Apollo preaches about me being a thief when he is the one who--"

"H… Hermes!"

***

"..." Apollo's eyes grew wide as it was filled with fire; his sight nothing but the fiery barrage of arrows that he let loose-- and yet his minuscule opponent seemed to avoid each and every arrow he fired and continue to fire.

A small irritation was slowly spreading throughout his entire body as the little one truly reminded him of how nimble Hermes was. The young man said he was the son of Hermes-- but that couldn't be any too far from the truth. Such a lie was easily discernible even for an untrained eye.

After all, no Olympian will ever give birth to one with such a small figure!

Apollo once again let an arrow loose.

"Until when are you going to run away, little bird?" Apollo then muttered, his voice once again whispering through Van's ears, "No, you are more akin to a mosquito!"

Even with his taunting words, Van still continued to dodge; soon, a frown crawled through Apollo's face. This Seraph absorbed Hermes and got his powers…

...To see a winged creature with this speed truly is blasphemy, "You… I suppose the masters would just have to make do with your corpse!"

A dozen arrows then once again floated around Apollo, not even waiting for a second to release them as they all shot straight towards Van; not giving him the chance to shorten the distance between them.

"..."

Of course, it wasn't only Apollo that was starting to get irritated. Van was waiting for Apollo to do something else so he would know what he is fully capable of… but they have been doing this for almost a full 5 minutes now.

He was also waiting to see if there would be any other activities from the two sun-sized ships, but they were just floating there… menacingly.

And so, with a short but deep sigh, Van finally decided to stop flying away. Of course, he had no choice but to stop in the first place as the barrage of fiery arrows was no more.

Instead, it would be more proper to call them a cage of fire… since no matter where his eyes traveled, there wasn't a single view where no arrow was threatening to turn him into ashes.

"A mosquito like you does not deserve such a power," Apollo then lightly scoffed as his arms slowly relaxed, "I was wrong. We would be lucky to even get a single feather from you, Seraph."

And as he said that, the barrage of arrows that surrounded Van all merged as they struck one another. However, instead of exploding, the arrows were just… gone. The expression in Apollo's face did not change, however, as soon, fire was once again reflected on his eyes as space itself seemed to boil.

And soon, a small orb of fire trickled; growing and growing until it resembled a small sun. And soon, this sun once again imploded and disappeared… only to return as a force that rippled throughout the expanse of space, destroying or pushing any asteroid within its vicinity.

"..." Apollo then took a couple of seconds to see if there were any signs of his opponent; but as his eyes caught nothing but darkness, he slowly turned around… only to see a trickle of golden lightning flash before his eyes.

"What the--"

And without even saying a single word, Van, who was now suddenly in front of Apollo, stretched his arm to the side, instantly materializing Aegis.

"That's--"

Apollo was about to say something, but before he could do so, Van suddenly disappeared, only to appear kilometers away in the distance… and once again, with a blink, he rushed towards Apollo.

Apollo seemed to want to say something again, but Van with Aegis in front of him was like a bullet, easily penetrating through Apollo's forehead, his minced brains and fractured bones of his skull erupting from the back of his head in a small explosion.

Van then stretched his wings as he stopped flying, pushing away all the blood and flesh that managed to float around him.

"..." The trickles of lightning around his body then slowly faded away as he looked towards Apollo.

That was right, all this time... Van was using his superspeed as minimal as possible, and instead, relying on the new set of wings that were attached to his body.

"Hm?" Van then squinted his eyes as he noticed that the huge hole in Apollo's head started to close. And soon, without even a quarter of a second, Apollo's words once again whispered through his ears.

"You… That shield, why do you have it?" Apollo's voice, cold enough to even freeze the fiery arrows he released, "Did you… kill Athena as well?"

"..." Van then furrowed his eyebrows as Apollo's hand was suddenly engulfed in a blazing fire, "...She's sort of my wife-- we're trying to have a child together."

"Wife!?" Apollo then roared, "You dare mock the chastity of the Goddess of War!?"

"..." Van should probably shut his mouth from now on. He already knew what Apollo's reaction was going to be, but for some reason, he couldn't help but want to mess with him.

"You… prepare to die!" Apollo's eyes then began to light up as he stretched his arms to the side; and as he did so, a hundred arrows once again appeared around him.

Van was about to rush towards him, but before he could do so… all of the arrows shot straight towards Apollo himself.

"...What?"

Apollo then let out a shrieking roar, his muscles constricting as the arrows of fire seemed to be being absorbed through his skin.

"..."

And soon, Apollo's body grew smaller and smaller. Only stopping as he resembled the size of a normal human, but still taller than most. His veins were lighting up like some sort of magma; his eyes, now resembled that of the sun.

The white garbs he had been wearing were also now burnt into oblivion, leaving him exposed… but wearing some sort of tight, slightly transparent dark suit.

"You…" Apollo then whispered as his hair slowly trickled, turning into fire, "You will--"

But before his hair was fully covered by the spreading fire… his now regular-size head suddenly exploded into pieces as Van once again bashed it with Aegis.

"..."

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