Chapter 15: Apollo's Final Battle

Although he had successfully blocked Apollo's first volley of light arrows, the blue-haired deity wore a grim expression. He could clearly see that this was merely Apollo's opening attack, to be followed by a second and a third. If he lacked the means to counter this onslaught, he would either be forced to retreat from Apollo's territory or die right here on the battlefield.

Naturally, the blue deity had no desire to perish just yet. With a flick of his long blue hair, the wall of water that had intercepted the light arrows instantly froze into a solid wall of ice, and he began retreating rapidly.

However, Apollo had already locked onto him; how could he possibly let him escape? The moment the blue deity started to move, Apollo's sun chariot had already closed the distance, the Sun God gripping a radiant solar spear in his hand.

He paid not the slightest heed to the ice wall blocking his path, crashing straight through it. Yet every deity possessed unique and formidable abilities, and this blue deity's greatest mastery was not water or ice magic, but the art of the mirror.

The instant Apollo charged through, two identical projections of Apollo and his sun chariot materialized upon the ice wall. These reflections leaped straight out from the ice, immediately engaging the real Apollo in combat.

Apollo was well aware of this adversary's tricks. He knew these two figures were merely illusory projections, yet their combat prowess easily matched the upper tier of the seventh rank. While they were no match for him, they were entirely capable of buying some time.

Still, Apollo had no intention of wasting time fighting them. Raising his solar spear, four portals of light materialized behind his chariot, and four warriors clad in ancient Greek armor leaped out, pairing up to intercept the two projections.

Seizing this opportunity, Apollo vaulted over the remnants of the ice wall and confronted the blue deity directly. Yet this time, the blue deity showed none of the panic he had displayed earlier, for another presence stood waiting behind him.

That presence was none other than the emperor who had previously plotted against Li Mingxing and his companions before fleeing first. Catching sight of Apollo, the emperor smiled faintly and said, "Greetings, Lord Sun God."

Seeing the emperor's relaxed demeanor, a flash of hatred crossed Apollo's eyes. "Shaokang, this is none of your concern. You would do well to step aside; otherwise, your legendary talent for fleeing will prove utterly useless against me."

"I know you all look down upon me. So what if I run? Back then, that was how I survived, and in my book, surviving to the end is true skill," Shaokang replied indifferently, producing a miniature bronze tripod in his palm.

Initially, Apollo had paid little heed to Shaokang, but the sight of the bronze tripod finally caused his expression to shift. He could sense that the appearance of this artifact had instantly solidified the surrounding space, locking down all spatial magic.

Such a feat was well within the capability of ordinary deities—the first three deities had done something similar to counter the Goddess of the Forest. However, the reason Apollo's countenance changed was not merely because space had been frozen, but because his own power had been forcibly severed. He was now, in effect, fighting on enemy territory, a realization that caused him immense headache.

Apollo's power normally derived from the light of the sun; as long as the sun remained in the sky, his energy source would never be interrupted, allowing him to fight without the slightest regard for consumption. Now, however, his connection to that power had been forcibly cut off, dealing a heavy blow to his strength. He could no longer afford to squander energy on massive, sweeping techniques, and he was forced to seriously consider his own mortality, stripped as he was of his ability to heal freely under sunlight.

Witnessing Apollo's reaction, the blue deity burst into loud laughter. Though he still harbored some lingering fear of Apollo, with two deities present, he had nothing left to fear. Moreover, he didn't even need to risk his life fighting Apollo; he only needed to stall him until Chiyang arrived.

At the thought of this, confidence surged within the blue deity for the impending battle. Whipping his long blue hair once more, countless springs erupted from the ground beneath them.

The columns of spring water wove a tight web of entrapment around Apollo, robbing him of any room to maneuver. Having achieved this, the blue deity ceased his attacks, turning instead to converse idly with Shaokang.

Apollo understood all too well that they had already sent word to Chiyang. The moment Chiyang arrived, their mission would be complete, leaving Apollo with precious little time.

Glaring at the dozens of water pillars, Apollo's expression shifted repeatedly before he took a deep, sudden breath. A blinding flash of light exploded directly from his body—drawing entirely upon his own inner reserves, since he could no longer tap into the power of the sun.

The instant the brilliant light burst forth, the surrounding web of spring water instantly vanished, leaving the entire battlefield shrouded in thick, billowing steam.

Amidst the blinding steam, Shaokang suddenly roared out in warning, "Watch out! He has broken through my containment!"

Hearing this, the blue deity inwardly cursed Shaokang for his uselessness, just as he heard the thunderous sound of hooves approaching from behind. He hurriedly spun around, but saw nothing at all. Just as he was about to exhale in relief, a piercing agony tore through his back, and the tip of a spear burst violently from his chest.

The blue deity coughed up a mouthful of blue blood. At that exact moment, Apollo's voice echoed in his ear: "How is that? My speed is not bad, is it? Though even at my fastest, I cannot compare to Shaokang. The moment that little coward saw things turning sour, he tucked tail and ran."

Hearing those words, a look of utter despair flashed across the blue deity's eyes. Just as the light was fading from his vision entirely, a booming voice resounded nearby: "Apollo, your grandpa is here! Where do you think you're going?"

A surge of excitement flickered back into the blue deity's eyes. He recognized that voice; it belonged to Chiyang. With a desperate burst of adrenaline, he used both hands to tightly grip the solar spear impaling his chest.

However, Apollo simply released the spear that had pierced his opponent and turned away, preparing to leave. Fortunately, Chiyang had already arrived directly behind Apollo at that very moment, preventing the blue deity's sacrifice from being in vain.

Realizing Chiyang had arrived, the blue deity finally allowed himself a sigh of relief. He turned his head, intending to say something to Chiyang, when a sudden chill struck his neck, followed by a voice whispering in his ear: "Even if I die, I must drag at least two deities down to the grave with me."

Watching Apollo ruthlessly finish off the blue deity, Chiyang stood completely motionless. He could sense that Apollo's aura had reached its absolute peak; if he failed to break that momentum, even he would suffer severely in the ensuing duel.

Therefore, Chiyang simply stood quietly, watching as Apollo slowly calmed down. After waiting for roughly a minute, Apollo regained his composure, the crimson shade in his eyes fading back to their original color, while the glaring, sun-like radiance enveloping his body vanished completely.

At that moment, Apollo spoke up, "Are you really Chiyang? Aren't you always itching for a fight? Why didn't you strike just now when the opportunity was so perfect?"

"If I had struck just then, I would no longer be the God of War," Chiyang replied calmly, gently swinging the battleaxe in his hand.

Apollo understood Chiyang's mindset. The latter was simply looking for a worthy, powerful opponent to duel; a frenzied, mindless berserker offered no sport at all. But now that Apollo had regained his senses, would he truly engage Chiyang in a protracted battle?

With this thought in mind, Apollo offered Chiyang a faint smile and turned to mount his sun chariot, preparing to depart.

The very instant the sun chariot lurched forward, Chiyang closed the distance in a single stride and brought his axe down, cleaving the two white steeds pulling the chariot into four pieces.

With another powerful kick, he sent the sun chariot hurtling backward four or five paces. Recognizing that even if he reconstituted the chariot's horses with light, he would no longer be able to shake off Chiyang's offensive, Apollo vaulted down from the vehicle, gripping his solar spear as he prepared to fight Chiyang head-on.

Only after crossing blows with Chiyang did Apollo realize how profoundly he had misjudged his opponent. Previously, he had assumed Chiyang was nothing more than a brute with muscles instead of a brain. But now, it was clear Chiyang was far from simple; his combat strength was so overwhelming that after just a few exchanges, Apollo knew he stood no chance in close-quarters combat.

If he wanted to defeat Chiyang, he had only one option: put distance between them and utilize his mastery of long-range archery from tens of thousands of meters away.

Yet how could Chiyang possibly let such an opportunity slip away? He had deliberately shattered the sun chariot at the very start precisely to deny Apollo any chance of fleeing to a distance. Now that Chiyang had successfully closed in for hand-to-hand combat, Apollo had lost his final window of escape.

Under Chiyang's oppressive assault, wounds began to accumulate on Apollo's body, and a trace of panic crept onto his features. Yet, astonishingly, he continued to dart frantic glances around the battlefield, desperately searching for any means to counter the God of War.

Just as Chiyang raised his axe to sever one of Apollo's arms, a sudden glint of amusement flashed in Apollo's eyes. He abruptly abandoned all defensive posture, thrusting his solar spear right into the path of Chiyang's descending axe while raising a gleaming golden harp in his free hand.