A dying serpent. A weakened Apollo. And the weakest of them all, Eros.
Fighting the same boss three times in a row? In one continuous battle? What kind of trash game design was this?
Eros and Apollo had managed to climb onto a larger piece of floating wreckage, locking eyes with the massive serpent that still loomed before them.
Python knew Apollo was drained. But it didn't know whether this seemingly frail human, the one who had dealt that fatal blow earlier still had another strike left in him.
As for Eros?
He really didn't have much left. His mind was still buzzing, but his body was completely wrung out, aching and heavy.
The trace of celestial power he'd managed to awaken, along with nearly all of his physical strength, had been poured into that one desperate shot that brought Python down.
Even if they forced themselves to stand their ground, once Python reached its final death throes, it would surely lunge forward with everything it had left and drag them down with it.
So… now what?
Wait for a god to randomly pass by and save them? Call for Zeus?
More likely they'd summon Hera instead.
Maybe they could declare a temporary truce, go their separate ways, rest up, and schedule a rematch later?
"Eros, maybe it's time to give up," Apollo murmured softly.
"To perish alongside one of Gaia's monsters… for a human, that's already a remarkable achievement."
"There's no need to wait until you're swallowed whole. If you end your life now, your soul might still make it safely to the Underworld."
"When Father frees me from Tartarus, I'll come looking for you as soon as I can."
Asking Eros to head to the Underworld alone was undeniably dangerous, but it was still better than being devoured body and soul by Python.
Apollo… you're killing me here. Seriously. How are you so loyal and selfless?
Even now, she was promising to find him again, Eros had no idea how to respond.
"So… end it here, Eros. It's the best option we have left."
It was a hard pill to swallow, but Eros could feel the sincerity in her voice.
Staying here, waiting for Python's final blow, dying in vain that was meaningless. Ending his own life might at least preserve his soul.
For a god, life and death are not such terrifying things. And for mortals, the loss of the body doesn't always mean the end.
But Eros was pissed.
He was really, really pissed.
Dying during the final boss's last stand and not even in glory, but through suicide, was too humiliating.
Especially when they were so close to the Oceanic Divine Realm. To give up now? Absolutely not.
"Wait, you're not seriously thinking about going another round with that thing?" Apollo caught the shift in his expression instantly.
"Why not?" Eros answered bluntly.
He had tried to keep calm, but just thinking about the Oceanic goddesses made all his resentment boil to the surface.
The victory he should've been savoring, the joy of that final blow ruined by Python's comeback. His fishing rod, his little boat, all destroyed.
No, let's get to the root of it.
This was Hera's fault. Zeus, that lust-crazed tyrant. And this entire cursed Greek mythological world.
"I've had enough of this."
Eros tore off the tattered cloth hanging from his body, revealing the lean muscle sculpted through his training.
To Apollo's stunned gaze, he stepped forward, toward Python.
Barefoot, he walked onto the water.
And did not sink.
His spiritual senses stretched outward like invisible tendrils. Every cell in his body, despite the fatigue, now buzzed with energy.
He didn't even need to will it. The currents within him sparked to life on their own. A magnetic field formed beneath his feet, holding him above the sea.
His surging emotions propelled his strength far beyond anything he had ever imagined.
The joke he used to make, "step on your left foot with your right and rise into the sky", his ridiculous magnetic spin theory... it was actually working.
But that wasn't all. His senses sharpened to their peak, and beyond. A second layer of perception, one born not of the body, but of the mind began to awaken.
This absurd, chaotic mythological world... why was everyone else allowed to shine while he was left in the dark?
Did anyone know what he'd been through all these years, all alone?
Now, standing just one step away from the divine realm of the goddesses, you tell him to give up? To kill himself, go to the Underworld, and "preserve his soul"?
What a joke.
From a distance, Python sensed something off. The man approaching it now… carried a strange new power.
It wasn't divine, yet it inspired a primal fear. It reminded Python of something it had once felt from Gaia herself.
"To hell with Hera! To hell with Zeus! I'll destroy you both!"
With that primal roar, emotion surged to its peak, and the power within Eros erupted.
Every breath, every fiber of his being, overflowed with terrifying strength.
The garbled message from his system suddenly corrected itself.
[Primordial God of Love – Eros (Fragment)]
But Eros didn't stop to read. He simply followed the roar in his heart and charged straight for Python.
His fist clenched, he didn't need to think. The name of the move rose instinctively to his lips.
"Microcosm Ignition, Magnetic Spin! Ten Thousand Horsepower: Serpent-Slaying Strike!"
He moved too fast for even the gods watching from the heavens to react.
His fist crashed through Python's skull like thunder, blood spraying into the air.
"Greeeeek!"
The serpent let out a final, furious shriek, thrashing wildly in its death throes. Coiling around Eros, it tried desperately to crush the life out of him.
But it was all for nothing. That one punch had utterly shattered its head.
The shockwave alone was stronger than the storm they'd faced earlier, sending waves crashing across the sea.
Even headless, Python's massive body still clung to Eros, dragging him down with it into the ocean's depths.
Apollo stared in stunned silence. By the time she regained her senses, it was already too late.
The tidal force from the blow swept her away.
Helpless and drained, she could only watch as Eros was pulled down into the abyss, coiled in the serpent's corpse.
Then the waves struck her too, knocking her unconscious.
The storm finally passed. The sea slowly stilled, returning to the calm it once held.
Nothing remained on the surface.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!