29 Chapter 29 - Nemean Lion

(Apollo POV)

A few meters away from me, walking through the trees, there was a monster.

It was an enormous giant lion, its robust body easily reaching 4 meters (13 feet).

Its fur is a majestic gold; even though it appears soft, it still gives off the feeling of being extremely resistant, giving the feeling of being invulnerable.

Its claws hit the ground, cutting as if it were tofu, and its fangs in its mouth didn't seem to be far behind its claws in terms of lethality.

And to match his golden fur, his eyes were an intense gold, almost as if he were made of molten gold.

The lion stopped just a few meters away from us and opened its mouth, mounting all its prey, and…

"Grraaaauuuu!!" The huge lion let out a thunderous roar, which instantly burst the eardrums of the men in front; even Cypselos and Axiothea, who were far away, suffered damage.

Casca and Chiron resisted, but their ears still bled…

A very powerful sound wave.

The lion closed his mouth with a smile, interrupting the sound wave.

Seeing that smile, I just raised my hand using [Pure Sunlight].

A pillar of sunlight fell onto Casca, Chiron, Axiothea, and Cypselos, healing their eardrums, as I walked towards this lion.

"You're a kitten, quite rude, you know that?" My tone was provocative.

"A God?!" The lion exclaimed in a strong voice. "Hmm! If I'm not mistaken, you're Phoebus Apollo, right?" The lion said this, majestically.

I was a little surprised that the lion could speak, but Python itself could also speak, so it's okay.

"Yes, I'm Apollo." Even though in front of me was a monster, I was polite with my words. "And would you be the Nemean lion?" Even though it was obvious, I still asked.

"Well, at least that's what humans call me, but exactly I'm a Nemean lion, offspring of Typhon." The voice of the Nemean lion is extremely authoritative, in addition to having a beautiful tone of arrogance.

Typhon?!

The Lord Of Destruction, the living calamity, king of the monster, raging storm, nemesis of the gods.

These are the titles that can describe Typhon.

Even though I know that the Nemean lion is the offspring of Typhon in mythology, it is still surprising to know about the existence of one of the most disastrous creatures in Greece.

But strangely, I wanted to fight Typhon, even though just mentioning the name of the Nemesis of the Gods was naturally frightening. However, my desire to fight this being does not diminish in the slightest.

I think something in my mind must have broken over time.

Thinking about this with a smile, I turn my gaze to the Nemean lion.

"This is a bit interesting, but why is one of Typhon's sons using such a childish trick to get food?"

Protection in exchange for humans with high mana, if that isn't a childish trick, I don't know what is.

"For the simple reason that they are stupid, why would I refuse an appetizer that comes to my doorstep?" The Nemean lion said, flexing its claws.

"Hehehe! You have one ready." I said it with a smile. "I don't think it's going to do much good for me to ask you to stop this, right?"

"Of course not, or do you really think I would stop just because God didn't like the way I do things?" The Lion smiled, showing all of its fangs.

"Probably not, but it's a shame since I'll have to kill the Nemean lion." I said it with an excited smile.

"You gods are really funny." The Nemean's paws flexed as his aura increased even more.

The Nemean Lion had no mana or divine power; the only thing this monster released was a very strong aura throughout its body.

"I thought that today I would devour a good human, but honestly, a god is much better."

Before I could say anything, the Nemean lion charged towards me at extreme speed.

The claws of the Nemean lion, when it hit the ground, tore it as if it were nothing. His fangs were fully exposed, almost like a threat.

And within a few seconds, the lion was already in front of me, swinging its claws, which made the wind howl.

I flexed my foot, and leaned to the side, making the claw pass by me, but just with the force of the wind, they made small cuts on my face.

His speed and strength surpass Python.

I thought, dodging his claw, as I threw a punch at the Nemean lion's body.

Even using Pankration the damage was next to nothing.

To think that Hercules managed to suffocate him with his bare hands.

It is no wonder that he is more famous than Apollo and the vast majority of Gods, in addition to being known as the strongest demigod.

Although this wasn't a full-strength punch, pure physical strength was never my strong point.

"That was pathetic, god." The Nemean lion smiled, preparing for another strike.

"I can't say it wasn't." With a smile on my face, I move my hand to the side, creating an incandescent claymore in my hand.

Without thinking twice, I swung the incandescent blade toward the Nemean Lion's claws.

The claws and incandescent blade clashed.

Even with the incandescent blade clashing with the claws, there is no damage to its claws.

The stalemate between the claws and my blade continued for a few seconds. Slowly, this impasse was broken, and I could see that claws were gradually penetrating my blade.

Hmm! Those claws are really dangerous.

I thought, pulling my blade back as I moved to the side, and thanks to inertia, the lion's claw hit the ground.

Meanwhile, I step hard on the ground, flex my hand back, and then thrust the blade hard.

The Indecent blade strikes the Nemean lion's shoulder with full force.

With the blade hitting him, he is thrown back, hitting a tree and knocking it down.

"Lord Nemean." The village leader screams in despair.

I just ignore this man, while my expression, even though excited, becomes more serious.

Because the Nemean lion simply gets up without any damage to its body.

In the legend of the Nemean Lion, it is said that no deadly weapon could harm him, but the big question is that the Claymore in my hand is not a deadly weapon.

"If that's all you can do, Apollo, it won't even be worth the effort it takes to prey on him." His tone was pure malice.

I think there is no doubt that this Nemean lion is probably much stronger than in the myth of Hercules.

"Sorry, I'll try to do better."

I flex my arms behind me as I concentrate the power of the sun within my body.

"Grrrrr!" He gives a soft grunt of excitement, and the veins in his front paws swell.

Meanwhile, the power of the sun passes from my body to my fist.

"[Helios Chariot]." I said, punching the air and solar power shot out a torrent of fire.

The continuous torrent of fire goes towards the Nemean who raises his front paw with the veins almost bursting and brings it down, hitting the ground and creating a wave of concussive force.

A great wave of concussion emerges from the Nemean lion as its center, meeting the torrent of fire.

There was a collapse between the two blows, but with the impact of the concussion force, the torrent of fire was extinguished along with the nullification of the Nemean blow.

Strong is certainly much stronger than Python.

With the end of the impact, without wasting a second of time, the Nemean lion quickly moved towards me.

His paws created a hole in the ground with such force and ferocity that he was coming.

Already in front of me, he swings his paw, and I move to the left using [Flash Steps]. By the time my foot touched the ground, the lion was already moving towards me, almost as if he knew where I was going to move.

Most likely, it was his instincts that were guiding him.

Braking my foot, I turn my body, throwing the claymore hard towards him.

The thrown blade hits him without piercing him, but with the force, he recoils a little.

Flexing my feet, I use [Flash Steps] again, appearing in front of the Nemean lion, moving my hand, catching the handle of the claymore in the air, and swinging it down.

From my descending blade, a burning cut is released at point-blank range to the Nemean lion.

The glowing, half-moon-shaped cut collides directly with the lion.

Even though its skin is much tougher than Python's, it is still hurt by the combustion released from my blade.

"Grrrrrrrrrr!" He grunted in pain, but unfortunately, the incandescent cut didn't go very deep.

After milliseconds of his grunting, the Nemean lion recovers and swings his paw toward me.

Moving my claymore, I defend myself. But before his claws collide, I feel his aura increasing.

And then his claws hit Claymore's blade.

"Nice hit." I mutter, spitting out a large amount of blood.

Even though I defended myself from his blow, my body absorbed all the damage from the blow.

That damn concussive force!

I thought, with a smile as blood dripped from my lips, ears, and eyes.

The internal damage I suffered was no small feat, to the point that even my organs were extremely damaged.

The Nemean lion rises up, swinging its left front paw for another blow imbued with concussive force.

The veins on her paws bulged as an extremely threatening yellow aura completely covered her.

Without wasting time, I moved my right arm back, flexing my fingers as if my fingers were claws.

And on the palm of my hand, a mini-sun formed, making the already dry climate even drier, which consequently caused the surrounding trees to instantly combust.

Even though the Nemean lion felt danger from the glowing sphere in my hand, the lion only smiled even more.

And he simply lowered his arm, which had a yellow aura around it.

I smiled as excited as the lion of Nemia, I hate to admit it, but I love the moment when my life is in danger. I love the moment when my enemies are as strong as I am.

I thought, with a smile.

So instead of launching the [Scorching Sun], I pushed my arm with the incandescent orb towards the Nemean arm descending towards me.

The mini-sun in my hand and the Nemean lion's paw clash at full force.

The Nemean lion and I smiled at each other.

It was a smile that would make it difficult to tell who was the beast and who was the god.

And so, with the two forces colliding, a solar explosion swallowed us, devastating the savanna around us.