10 Time
The Python raised its gargantuan head, which reached into the cloudy sky, looking down on him. Its lamp-like eyes narrowed into slits, filled with loathing and anger.
"It seems the spawn of the Titaness didn't inherit his mother's prodigious characteristics. Well, she turned out to be pathetic even in that. How unsurprising." It hissed out.
Apollo's calmness didn't waver in the slightest, but his grip on the hilt tightened, almost making his knuckles white.
He didn't strike and tear apart its filthy mouth right away, as he sensed something weird in the air. He asserted his order authority, his golden iris darkened, and his senses expanded. However, the ominous sensation had vanished, and all that remained was the enormous python.
The python hissed louder, annoyed by his calmness, its mouth opening slightly.
"The Queen told me that you would come, bearing vengeance. I didn't believe it completely at that time. But, looking at you now, I am honestly surprised. Fearless and Courage. Such noble qualities. But, do you think it could save you from becoming my fare? It's been a while since I tasted the delicious ichor. Your power matter naught in front of me. For I am the son of…"
"Shut your filthy mouth." Apollo said coldly.
The slight hesitation that arose due to previous feelings completely disappeared, as he steeled his resolve, despite the foreboding growing in his heart.
With the utterance of his words, a ripple spread in reality, shimmering it. Immediately, the mouth of the python shut with such force that it was almost torn apart, purple blood spilling on the ground.
A muffled growl filled with pain and agony escaped its closed mouth, as its narrow slits dilated away in utter shock.
Apollo didn't give it time to recover, he continued, while waving his hand up at it. "The air that shrouds your foul skin shall weigh the might of the entire earth."
Boom!
The python was lifted in the air by light, as the air that shrouded its skin thickened and manifested, forming a thin murky layer around it. The weight of this seemingly thin layer became comparable to that of the earth, while a concealed ripple reverberated in the fabric of reality in the background.
The weight of the entire earth suddenly squashed the python. Purple blood dripped from the broken skin, filling the thin layer and drowning it in its own blood, suffocating the monster's last growl of misery. Its enormous eyes stayed fixated on him, swelling with despair and dread before exploding in a flood of blood. Nonetheless, it did not perish. Its unrivalled regeneration healed some of its wounds and injuries, but it crushed again and again, creating an endless cycle of agony and pain.
Yes, Apollo was altering reality. His every sentence was a law that was imposed on reality, altering it. This was one application of his authority of order. The python was mighty indeed. However, in front of him, it was literally nothing but a speck of dust.
But, Apollo still didn't waste any time, as ominous foreboding increased in his heart. The restraint that he had over his power was loosening, as he tightly gripped his sword.
His senses were sharper than ever before, looking for any abnormalities in the surroundings while he went for the kill.
Apollo teleported in front of the python in the sky and thrust his sword, aiming for its head. Then, his eyes narrowed in alarm.
Suddenly, the crushed python disappeared from his vision and senses completely.
But, it did not cause his alarm; his dark golden eyes saw the rules and laws of reality were changing... No, they were being torn apart by sheer force....
A rising shadow loomed over him. His peripheral vision was immediately flooded by a monstrous tail that encompassed the entire sky. The fundamental fabric of reality was ripped apart, shattering the entire blue sky like broken mirror shards and revealing the primeval chaos underneath it.
Ever since he got that foreboding feeling, Apollo had expected his fight to be difficult. He thought that something or someone would intervene, Hera or some other pet sent by her, and that Zeus would just decide to kill him on a whim and call it a day. However, he was confident in his strength; even if he couldn't defeat Zeus with his current power, he could totally flee. That is why he persisted. And, if he was forced with no choice, he planned to betray the entire Olympian Pantheon and flee with his family. He planned for every situation.
But but, what the hell is this??! A gargantuan tail was sweeping towards him, tearing reality itself apart.
It was coming for his life.
'Focus, Apollo…' He thought, as he felt the cold hands of death nearing him. 'Focus, Apollo…'
He immediately used his authority over order to sort out his emotions, entering a state of total serenity. Countless thoughts and questions raced through his mind as he sought for hope.
He must live. Holding back is no longer an option. Give it all.
Whoever was extending their influence to deal with him was on a whole different level, as the attack ripped the fabric of reality itself apart. This is not something that even a god or primordial can do.
His order and light attacks will not work against it since the foundation of reality itself has been destroyed. Everything was meaningless without reality.
No! Reality! Space!....
'Light…' Apollo immediately commanded. His thought literally sent a tremor throughout the concept of light. He drained every last drop of his strength.
His hair was bleached white. His eyes were filled with burning light, and white light streaks exploded near his figure.
The figure of Apollo quivered at an astronomical rate, almost becoming a blur.
Everything and everyone began to noticeably slow down. The gigantic tail. The cracking reality. The collapsing continents. The panicked gods. The spinning earth. The voyaging solar system. The swirling milky way.
They trailed at their predetermined path, visibly slowing down. Then, in unison, they stopped.
Time has stopped across the Milky Way.
In the state of perpetual motion, through his authority of light, Apollo reached the speed of light. However, time didn't stop because of that, but because he was trying to break something.
Apollo's face was pale. The light around him waned away in obscurity. His white eyes, though, were still brighter, brighter than ever.
Through his blurred and bloody vision, he finally saw it.
The barrier. The light barrier.
He took a deep breath, giving it all. He lunged at the light barrier with all his might.
The space under each of his steps disintegrated, exploding in light, as he thrashed at the barrier, yelling loudly at the top of his lungs.
Crack!
A crack thundered across the universe. The flickering figure of Apollo disappeared completely, leaving a zeal of light. He had surpassed the speed of light, breaking through the light barrier.
With each of his steps, time began to rewind across the Milky Way, and everything and everyone began to run retrograde, as if a tributary in the boundless river of time flowed backwards.
The shattered continent was restored. The panicking gods returned to their realms. The cracked sky healed as the broken pieces returned to their proper position. The sky-covering tail returned to normal.
Something finally became visible around the tail. It was silver threads wound all around the tail, like a puppet on strings.
Under the might of time, the extending silver threads faded away into obscurity.
Then, Apollo stopped his run, feeling the danger disappear. His eyes were already closed, blood dripping down.
Time resumed.
Finally, under a clear blue sky, Apollo's figure collapsed, drained, and withered, falling down to Delphi.
Just then, the lost silver threads reappeared in the sky, seemingly unabated in their pursuit of Apollo.
But then there was a cold snort. A tremendous and mighty power emerged from the infernal pits of hell.
There came a spark, then fire, and then an inferno of crimson flames. The hellfire blazed, scorching the silver threads to nothingness.
The infernal power then raced across the universe, altering reality on a cosmic scale, concealing all that had just transpired.
Then, it too was gone.
