13 Chapter 13 - A Peculiar Woman

(3rd POV)

Apollo, standing in the sky with his wings of light flapping, looked at the destruction with a stoic gaze.

[Solar Radiance] was Apollo's strongest technique, and it was also one of his final cards.

This technique became even stronger in these two years, so that when using it against Python, Apollo had to have fine control over it, reducing its power so as not to damage Delphi and inflict harm on the people of that place.

But even as he lowered the power, a large amount of divine power was expended, making his already pale face even paler.

*Clacking

The sound of his wings breaking could be heard, and along with that sound, for a second Apollo's consciousness disappeared, but in the next moment, his consciousness returned.

{It seems I went much further than I should have.} Apollo thought, placing his hand over his head, which was burning with pain, as he descended to the ground.

The poison in his body was circulating at full speed, and along with the circulation of the poison came strong spasms of pain.

A grimace of pain spread across Apollo's face, who was using the last of his divine power to combat the toxins in his body.

As a god of medicine, he could know the best way to deal with this poison.

{If I continue blocking the circulation of the poison and purifying the toxins little by little, I will be fine, but I will still have to deal with extreme pain.} He thought, getting closer to the ground, but before he even touched the ground, his wings of light shattered.

A bit of panic joins his pained expression and, like an angel cast out of heaven, Apollo falls towards the earth.

"Tsc! This is going to hurt." He muttered in annoyance as he concentrated on what little divine power he had left to cure the poison in his body.

Apollo did not have the luxury of using his divine power on anything other than curing poison.

And with that in mind, the sun god hits the ground with a violent crash. Blood sprays from his mouth upon impact, and the pain in his back along with the venom makes him writhe on the ground.

However, he still had to focus on healing and couldn't lose focus.

2… 4… 6… 8… and 10 minutes later, in pain and almost losing consciousness, Apollo managed to completely stop the circulation of the poison.

"N-now comes the most troublesome part." Apollo raised his hand towards the Sun and used [Pure Sunlight], which wasn't that effective against the poison, but as the God of Light, he had a plan.

Light was synonymous with something pure and beneficial, alongside or even more than the sun itself.

So why not take advantage of this pure aspect of light?

"[Purification]." Apollo muttered his idea, further expending his divine power, which began to run out.

A light gold color spread throughout his body, and together with the beneficial power of the sun, the toxins began to be purified.

"T-this is going to take a while." He said this, feeling the pain of detox coursing through his body.

In his crisis of pain due to detoxification, he hears the sound of footsteps. Turning to the side with a guilty conscience, Apollo sees a beautiful woman with long golden hair, with a white cloth over her eyes.

"H-human." Apollo muttered with dry lips, feeling that this person did not possess any divine power, but rather mana which was an energy known as "Magic Power" which is basically a form of energy that exists in nature and people.

At least that's what Hecate told Apollo, since he knows a thing or two about magic.

As he looked at her with slightly blurred vision, the beautiful woman approached him.

"Who are you?" Apollo asked, feeling no hostility from her.

The woman stopped in front of Apollo who had his back against a tree.

And the next moment she did something that surprised Apollo.

The beautiful woman bowed while kneeling on the ground with extreme respect.

"It is an honor to be in your presence, Lord Apollo." Her voice was soft, but there was a tone of respect in her voice.

Apollo, who was not used to this, was in shock, even ignoring his pain.

"I am the Sword Maiden, the high priestess of Delphi." The Sword Maiden continued with her head lowered towards Apollo.

"Is a pleasure-"

Confused, Apollo tried to respond, but another bout of pain came from the toxins that were still being eliminated.

The Sword Maiden was blind, but she could sense things around her.

Then the pain of her God was realized by her.

"With your permission, Your Excellency." She said, standing up and taking a flask out of her pocket.

Apollo, who was focusing on his purification, did not respond.

And suddenly he felt the vial being placed on his lip and a crystal clear liquid was poured into his mouth.

"Lord Apollo, this is the pure water from the temple of Delphi, blessed by Gaia, it will help in your recovery, Your Excellency."

Apollo, hearing these words, drank the pure liquid and instantly felt vitality flowing through his body. The effect of his [Purification] practically quadrupled, and the poison in his body was eliminated in a few seconds.

Along with the poison being eliminated, Apollo's [Pure Sunlight] completely healed his wounds.

However, he was exhausted mentally, physically, and almost without a shred of divine power.

"Thanks." He gave a gentle smile.

This time it was the Sword Maiden's turn to be surprised, after all, a god thanking a human being was something rare and unusual, even more so with a gentle tone of voice.

"There is no need to thank me, Your Excellency, it is my duty to take care of the god I serve." The moment she said that while bowing, she heard a faint sound of breathing.

"Lord Apollo?" She exclaimed, only to be answered again with a light, melodious breathing sound.

Sword Maiden put a smile on her beautiful lips as she realized that the new God of Delphi had just fallen asleep leaning against a tree.

"Once again I ask your forgiveness, Your Excellency." Sword Maiden said politely even though Apollo was unconscious.

And standing very close to him, she gently put her arm around Apollo and lifted him up, holding him gently in her arms.

Automatically she felt Apollo's gentle warmth and gentle scent.

"From this day forward Apollo is the new belief of Delphi." She said gently and turned, walking towards the temple of Gaia...no, towards the temple of Apollo.

•••

After a few minutes of Sword Maiden leaving with Apollo towards the temple, a young woman appears on the battlefield.

The young girl had long pink hair that reached her waist and light golden eyes. And she wore a white dress on her body.

That girl is Pythia, who looked at the destruction before her with almost stars in her dreamy eyes.

Pythia began to walk across the battlefield, heading towards the enormous body of the former guardian of Delphi.

"Wow! You would make a lot of meat." Pythia exclaimed, placing her hand on her chin as she looked at the huge corpse of Python that was charred in several places, mainly on the face and with a crack on the back as if something had come out of that place.

Honestly, she felt nothing when she saw the being who was theoretically the ancient patron saint of Delphi.

Pythia reached out and patted the snake's corpse.

"Ha! Haha! You're going to feed Delphi for a while." As she laughed, her hand that hit the Serpent was burning from the high temperature of the [Scorching Sun] that was still emanating from Python.

She withdrew her hand and looked at her palm, which was red from the heat of the Python's corpse.

"Hehehe! That hurt." She said, with a smile, but didn't seem to care much about the bruise on her palm.

Then, without a care in the world, she turns around and sees something that instantly catches her attention.

Vapor!

She tilted her face, attracted by the vapor rising from the crack in the floor.

She was attracted to that vapor in the same way she was attracted to the sun.

Almost unconsciously, she began to walk towards the vapor rising from the floor.

Pythia stopped in front of the hot vapor, which any human being would naturally know was dangerous.

She could feel the extreme heat, and it was more than enough to make any human recoil instantly.

But with a smile on her face, she crouches on the floor and simply puts her… face into the hot vapor.

Her face should have been completely burned from the heat, but strangely, the vapor gave off an extremely pleasant heat.

So she did what any person in their right mind would do.

Pythia began to sniff deeply at the vapor that was in her nostrils and spreading throughout her body.

Seconds, minutes, or hours, she had no idea how long she stood there, but when night came the steam began to subside.

Pythia suddenly raised her head towards the sky.

Her once graceful face was now even more beautiful and graceful, and her eyes, which were once light golden, were now deep golden.

And those same eyes roll up showing the whites of her eyes.

Her body convulsed.

And she saw her own image sitting on a three-legged stool, and there was a line of people waiting for her in front of a sanctuary.

Kings!

Generals!

Soldiers!

Heroes!

All the most diverse people visited her. And above her, she could see the Sun, which bathed her in its light.

And suddenly the image cuts and Pytia's eyes return to normal.

Even though she is tired, she gives a smile of pure happiness.

She got up from the ground looking at the temple of the sun god.

Her gaze was like that of a fanatic and, at the same time, a lunatic.

"Phoebus Apollo." She said, running her hand over her pink lips.

Removing her hand from her lip, she begins to dance across the field.

She turned around and threw herself onto the ground while looking at the moon.

"I am the oracle of Apollo, the God of the Sun." She said letting out a cute laugh, at least it would have been if it weren't for her frantic eyes.

•••

Olympus!

In Zeus's Palace, a man was sitting on a throne. The man had a toned body, and on his lips was a faint smile.

This man was quite tall, muscular, and handsome. He had shoulder-length dark brown hair, a neatly trimmed brown and gray beard, and bright electric blue eyes. His robes were blue and white tunics with golden threads and golden accessories.

(Zeus image)

The man sitting on the throne was none other than the mighty Zeus, god of the sky, lightning, and thunder. Furthermore, he was the King of Olympus.

The smile on the corner of Zeus' lips disappeared when he opened his mouth.

"Hermes." His voice was neither low nor loud, but authority emanated from his tone.

The moment the voice echoed through the hall, a man immediately appeared, bowing to Zeus.

The man had short black hair combed back, his eyes were wine red and his face had tattoos of an unknown design above his left eye and under his right eye.

And on his body, he was wearing a black military uniform, with white gloves on his hands.

(Hermes image)

The man with the posture bowed to Zeus is Hermes, the messenger of the Gods.

"What does Lord Zeus desire?" With his hand on his chest, he asks politely.

Zeus placed his hand on the arm of the throne and rested the back of his hand on his cheek.

"Go to the island of Delos and bring Leto and Artemis to Olympus and soon after bring Apollo who is in Delphi to Olympus as well."

Upon hearing this, Hermes smiles.

"I will do it now, Lord Zeus." Hermes said, about to turn around until Zeus exclaimed.

"Hmm! In fact, wait three days to bring my children and Leto, as one of them may not be at their best right now."

"Of course, Lord Zeus." Hermes bowed, already thinking about the beautiful mess his Lord would have with his wife, Hera.

{What a cunning God, I serve.} Hermes thought as a charming and amused smile formed on his lips.