Chapter 10 - Apollo Vs Python

(3rd POV)

In a purple flash, Apollo appeared in Delphi, near the magnificent Mount Parnassus.

"Magic really is a great help." Apollo said with his golden eyes naturally going to the magnificent Mount Parnassus in front of him and the structures perched atop the mountain.

The houses built were all noble and had beautiful architecture, but at the top of the mountain there was a temple, it would be a great understatement to call this temple beautiful.

But even though the temple is theoretically Gaia's, and Delphi is the property of Mother Earth herself, Apollo, since he appeared in this place, has not felt any divine power even in the temple of Gaia.

"This is weird." He said, with great suspicion in his eyes.

Temples of the Gods have always been filled with divine power, almost as a sign that the temple belongs to a god.

But there was not the slightest trace of Gaia's divine power at Delphi.

This made it even stranger, as Delphi seemed very important to Mother Earth.

However, even the curious Apollo wasn't here to explore Delphi, he was here to fight.

"There's no point in thinking about it for now, let's resolve the pending matter first." Apollo said, releasing his divine power, as he looked at a cave below Mount Parnassus.

Apollo's divine power spread throughout Delphi.

That was his invitation to a certain pet of Hera.

•••

Inside the temple that was once Gaia's, the Sword Maiden felt a divine power spreading across Delphi.

But instead of feeling the pressure of a divine power that was far greater than her own existence, she strangely felt the gentle warmth of the sun.

In fact, all the people of Delphi felt the pleasant warmth of the sun.

"So, it has finally started." She muttered with a sigh.

Although the warmth of the sun seemed to bless the people of Delphi, there was only one place where the divine power was concentrated to be tyrannical.

•••

Inside a cave below Mount Parnassus, a serpent slithered out of the cave.

Its body was enormous, and its scales were purple with gray pigmentation that gave the feeling of being invulnerable. The fangs in its mouth oozed acid which dripped onto the floor, melting the moment the green liquid touched it.

This serpent was Python, a creation of Gaia to be the protector of Delphi.

Python had felt the pressure of a divine power, this divine power was centered in her cave, it was not just any pressure, as Python could feel anger along with incredible heat.

{I've felt this divine power before.} Python thought, exiting the cave completely and lifting her massive body that easily measured 190 m.

The moment her enormous body rose, her eyes turned to a young god standing a considerable distance away from her cave.

Python tilted her head, finally remembering that this divine power was the same as the one she felt two years ago with the birth of the new Sun God.

Upon remembering this, her expression turned into hatred.

{This is the spawn of that bitch Goddess.}

Of all the beings on earth, the one Python hated most was Leto.

After all, it was Leto's fault that Python was tortured by Hera for not being able to kill her.

And it wasn't a simple torture, as Hera used Zeus' lightning bolt to torture her.

As the wife of Zeus, Hera had the right to use his divine relic called the Thunderbolt of Zeus.

Remembering the pain she felt, the expression of hatred in her eyes disappeared and a cruel smile formed on her lips.

Then she went back to sliding across the floor towards Apollo.

Obviously, Apollo noticed the huge serpent coming towards him.

But instead of anger, strangely, a smile appeared on his lips.

"Finally." With those words, a bow formed in his hand.

The golden arch was much more built and firm than before.

And with his other hand, he formed a glowing golden arrow.

Placing the arrow on the string he pulled back, but did not fire.

Python glided through the trees and then, just inches from Apollo, she lifted her massive body.

And she looked with disdain at the young God who drew the bowstring toward her.

"So you're one of that bitch's sons." Her voice carried the highest tone of mockery and malice.

Apollo's eyes narrow at Python's words.

Taking a deep breath, he coldly looked at Python, who was mockingly looking at the arrow aimed at her.

"I have to admit, it is surprising to hear an animal speak." His expression was cold, but there was a teasing smile on his lips.

Apollo's words were a simple provocation, but this simple provocation caused hatred to flash in Python's eyes as acid dripped from her fangs.

"I, Python, will melt you in a sea of acid, you little shit." Her deep voice sounded almost like a rumble throughout Delphi.

Apollo, ignoring Python's threat, just let the smile on his lips widen.

"Python, the pet of Hera, I, Apollo, the God of the Sun and light, son of the Titaness Leto, brother of Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, today I will claim her life." Apollo with a smile pulled the bowstring even tighter.

A smile full of mockery!

That's what formed on Python's lips.

"Claim my life!? Boy, my skin is one of the toughest things in the world, and you intend to hurt me with that little stick on your bow?"

Python didn't feel threatened in the slightest.

After all, compared to how long Python lived her life, Apollo was nothing more than a newborn baby in her eyes.

Python was created by none other than Gaia, and Apollo came from a simple Titaness, who possessed the divinity of motherhood.

Comparing the two was absurd, or at least it should be.

Apollo just smiled and let go of the bowstring.

The incandescent arrow traveled through the air, heading straight for Python, who stood with her huge body raised high and mockingly stared at the arrow.

She refused to move an inch, Python would show this little God what kind of insect he was.

At least that was her intention, because in the next moment, he felt her body tremble.

Your instincts tell you to move immediately.

Python didn't understand, since it was just an arrow, even though it was built with divine power, she was sure she wouldn't die, in fact, she doubted her skin would even be scratched.

That was her thought until she did the basic thing, which was to look in the direction the arrow was going.

At the exact moment she did so, the arrow was mere inches away from her.

Python moved her body causing the arrow that was heading towards her... eye to collide with her body a little below her head.

The arrow that Python didn't even imagine would scratch her skin ended up piercing and sticking slightly into her skin, but it didn't go very deep and didn't cause her pain.

However, her flesh was being slightly burned by the incandescent arrow, even though it didn't hurt, it was still uncomfortable. But the embarrassment was the worst thing that could have happened to her.

{I had to dodge a blow from a newborn baby, or otherwise, I would lose my eye.} She thought angrily.

Apollo, seeing Python's features change to anger, couldn't help but smile, his intention with that initial arrow was not to win, but to humiliate Python.

"Hahaha! So, it seems like, in the legendary serpent's eyes, Python doesn't share the so-called "invulnerability" of its skin."

"Damn, you're just a bastard born of a bitch named Leto." Python screamed in anger.

"Your breath stinks, shut your mouth." Apollo said, with a cold tone of voice.

Python's anger and hatred reached new levels, so she opened her mouth. And a sphere of acid began to form.

In the next instant, this sphere of acid explodes, shooting several beams of acid.

Apollo looked stoically at the acid beams, and his hand moved gently but quickly, creating 4 golden arrows between his fingers.

The 4 arrows were shot simultaneously, and soon after, he created 3 more and fired.

Then, the 7 arrows collided with the multiple acid beams, coming toward him.

The acids and arrows collided, causing a collapse, while the remains of the acids simply fell next to Apollo without even touching him.

Apollo moved his hand creating another arrow, but before he could put it on the bow, Python swung her tail, it's almost like a spear, the tail goes towards the young god.

The pressure in the air was so much that he heard an almost deafening hum.

Within milliseconds, the tail was mere inches away from Apollo, who just smiled.

His knees flex along with the muscles in his feet.

Just as the tip of the tail was about to hit Apollo, a murmur came out of his mouth.

"[Flash Steps]." With that murmur, Apollo disappears from that place, leaving a trail of light particles.

Python quickly turns around only to see Apollo standing a good distance away from her, firing two arrows toward her eyes.

Python moves her tail hitting the two arrows, one of them ricochets and the other pierces superficially into her skin.

She ignored this slight annoyance. But Python couldn't understand that one second her tail was hitting this worm, and the next he was on the other side shooting arrows at her.

It was so fast that she couldn't even follow it with her eyes.

It was as if Apollo had made a fool of her.

"Tsk!" She hissed and raised her tail making an even faster attack.

Without wasting any time, he used [Flash Steps] again.

Apollo instantly moved to the side leaving a trail of light particles.

Python's tail hit the ground where Apollo previously stood.

Before she had time to turn around, Apollo reappeared, braking with his foot, flexing and jumping as he turned upside down and fired two arrows again.

Python sensed danger, and turned, trying to avoid the arrows, however, one of the arrows hit one of her eyes just in time, burning her eyeball.

The pain took over her along with anger.

Worst of all, she could feel the arrow slowly burning the inside of her eye socket.

Meanwhile, Apollo landed softly on the ground.

{Fuuu! This must hurt.} He thought, making the bow disappear, seeing that it was time to take this battle to a new level. {Even though I have the advantage because of [Flash Steps], I still have to be careful with her strikes, that tail has enough power to really screw me over.}

Apollo possessed confidence in his new technique called [Flash Steps], which basically was a technique that imitated the speed of light, making Apollo move almost instantly faster than the eye can track, going from point A to point B almost instantly. However, this technique has some weaknesses, which was the simple situation that he could only get from point A to B, in addition to the fact that it was almost impossible to make a turn, not to mention the large amount of divine power that Apollo spent on this technique. Which wasn't a big problem for Apollo.

Python let out a roar, not of pain but of rage, the purest rage was in her roar.

And over her mouth, a solid sphere of acid began to form.

The acid appeared to solidify into several layers, and the layers compacted on top of each other.

Apollo could feel that this blow would be quite powerful. He took into consideration that he could use [Flash Steps] to dodge that blow considering the distance between them.

But he didn't, Apollo simply flexed his arm and raised his hand.

His divine power became even denser. And on the palm of his hand, a sphere began to form.

A golden orb with Incandescent flames formed in his hand. The orb grew until it was the same size as a basketball.

The atmosphere around the sphere began to dry out, the trees instantly caught fire.

Python didn't care what happened in front of her and with blinding fury, she threw the sphere of compressed acid.

"[Scorching Sun]." Apollo said, launching the incandescent orb towards the acid sphere.

[Scorching Sun] is a move that creates a miniature Sun. The amount of divine power that is used is absurd, but by using solar energy as a base, the consumption of divine power can be balanced.

{Let's see which burns more, your acid or my sun.} With that thought, the acid sphere and the miniature sun collided.

A slight stalemate occurs between blows, but in the next moment the sphere of acid evaporates and the [Scorching Sun] heads towards Python.

"What…"

Before she can express her surprise, Python is hit by Apollo's sun.

And a solar flare occurred, engulfing her body in flames.

Their screams of agony echo throughout Delphi.

Python could feel her body being consumed by flames. And that feeling wasn't one of the most pleasant things in the world.

But fortunately or unfortunately, Python screamed along with the flames that began to die out.

And her body is revealed.

Her 'invulnerable' skin was largely consumed by the flames, especially her face, which was the focus of the flame explosion.

She was raw and the same flesh was completely charred, and the single eyeball had evaporated along with much of her face.

And being in this state, Python's body falls to the ground lifeless.

Apollo looked at Python without a hint of mercy.

His breathing was a little heavy, but it wasn't a big deal.

"So... it's over." He muttered with a smile.

Then Apollo started walking towards her.

{I didn't even need to use my secret trump card.} He thought, seeing Python lying lifeless on the ground.

But there was a slight doubt in the air, at least for him.

"That was easy."

And as if in retribution for the flag Apollo just raised, sizzling sounds come from Python's dead body.

The scales that remained on her back began to shatter and an overwhelming power was emitted into the atmosphere.

With a loud cracking sound being emitted by Delphi, a hand comes out from inside the huge Serpent, breaking the skin and scales on the Python's back.

"Me and my big mouth." Apollo said with an embarrassed smile, seeing a hand resting on the serpent's scales and pushing a body out of the Python's corpse.

And like a snake, she shed her skin.