Chapter 169

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 169: Shooting the Sun (5)

A new effect?

Was there a new effect at level 100?

[Soul Reaper now activates at all times.]

[You absorb freely wandering SP. The range and amount absorbed scale with the Soul Reaper skill level.]

[If a soul body is destroyed or a skill of A-rank or higher is activated nearby, you can absorb some SP.]

[Soul Reaper is activating……]

Originally, it only activated when I killed.

Then it started triggering when I damaged enemies.

Now, the skill has been upgraded again—it absorbs SP from the ambient surroundings.

Hmm...

Is this efficient?

I think Apollo’s sunlight qualifies as an A-rank skill or higher…

“Soul Emission.”

I poured power back into my Soul Sword and checked my SP.

200 million.

My SP, which had been draining like crazy, now stood at 200 million.

I’d gathered every drop from the apostles, only for it to evaporate in an instant.

I’m in tatters, but the sun is still merciless.

On the planet Kevrian, I’m the only one standing in the spotlight of the sun.

Still… the light seems a little dimmer than before.

Is the guy finally running out of steam?

[Soul God. Just die already……!]

“Psh. Hell no. You’re older, so you back down.”

I swung my sword again and checked my remaining SP.

It had been dropping by a million at a time from 200 million.

But suddenly, the rate of depletion slowed dramatically.

Then… it started increasing.

Slowly, but still.

The description said I absorb ambient SP—was there really this much of it?

Nice.

If I just hang in there a little longer…!

[I thought it was almost over! You cockroach. I’m lifting the barrier!]

Barrier?

There was a barrier?

After that declaration, his attacks intensified.

The rate of SP recovery slowed.

Thankfully it hadn’t turned negative again, but the cursed sunlight was bearing down even harder.

[O Sun! Annihilate the Soul God……!]

Worse than the sunlight itself was the Solar Arrows.

Even from the direction Artemis had been guarding, they were now raining in.

Could she no longer defend against them?

Whoooosh.

Pale blue Solar Arrows came flying at high speed.

Until now, I’d been desperately dodging, but they were everywhere now.

Nowhere left to run.

I’d turned off danger sense—it kept triggering nonstop and messing up my vision.

“…Hoo.”

Guess I’ve gotta break through.

If I stay here, the arrows will tear me apart.

I scanned for an opening.

All those beatdowns I took in Asura Realm... at least that experience is useful now.

In a split-second, I found the weakest point and charged.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

My sword collided with the Solar Arrows.

I cut through seven of them—then explosions rippled behind me as they burst in sequence.

“Grrgh… dammit…”

My head went white.

An immense pain—worse than anything I’d ever felt.

I couldn’t even stay conscious.

The enemies always screamed in agony when their soul forms were cut. So this is what it feels like…?

[Master… I’m sorry. I can’t hold on any longer……]

[The phoenix has suffered a critical hit.]

[Soul fusion is canceled.]

Shit…!

It’s not dead, is it?

The phoenix wings vanished from my soul form.

It had been letting me fly automatically, but now?

My speed dropped to less than half.

A chill ran down my spine.

The annihilation of my soul was right at my throat.

It barely survived 15 arrows—if I get hit a few more times…

I’ll die.

Whooosh.

More Solar Arrows.

Three of them.

At my current SP, there’s no way I can block that.

If I get hit, I die.

No wings. SP’s drained.

I’ll be completely erased…

Am I dying?

Is this how I go?

Killed by Apollo’s suicide attack, just like that?

No way.

Hell no.

After everything I went through, I’m not dying like this!

“Soul Disassembly.”

I’ll do something.

Anything.

I analyzed the Solar Arrows.

Structures made of ultra-dense soul energy.

Inside those tiny arrows lay the primal force of the sun—the heart of the universe.

And infused within it was Hercules’ Soul Emission, built to completely obliterate soul forms…

“Right… Soul Emission.”

Two incompatible forces were fused together.

There’s got to be a gap somewhere.

No—I must find one.

Thinking I was really going to die awakened a resolve I’d never known before.

At first, when I saw the structure, I thought there was no way I could break it.

But I kept digging.

Trying to wedge myself into it.

Fwhoooooosh.

The arrows slowed down.

Is this… a trance state?

That level of focus where you forget yourself in a life-or-death moment?

This feeling—I’d never experienced it before.

It gave me goosebumps.

Even a rush.

“Ugh…”

But—

Even after hyper-focusing, searching for any gap…

There wasn’t one.

The Solar Arrows were perfect.

The Soul Emission was seamlessly fused.

This was the best Soul Disassembly I’d ever done—but…

Nothing.

I could at least analyze the sunlight pouring down on me, but the arrows?

Nothing to exploit.

If there’s no gap… then I’ll just cut through it.

Better than taking it head-on…!

I moved my Soul Sword.

Boom! Boom!

I cut one, then another.

SP dropped sharply.

As the sword clashed with the Solar Arrows, they exploded.

With each explosion, the soul structure of the Solar Arrows changed.

The once-perfect structure was altered.

Ah… I think I’m starting to get it.

I think I understand…!

[SP has dropped below ten million.]

[The soul body of the Soul God is in danger of disappearing.]

[The efficiency of soul-type skills temporarily increases greatly.]

Below ten million…!

Seriously… death is right around the corner.

But there was something welcome, too.

Just when I felt like I was about to grasp a clue, the system announced a boost in skill efficiency!

Thanks to that, I could further analyze the structure of the Solar Arrows.

Ah.

If only I had a little more time, I think I could understand completely…!

Whoooosh.

One arrow.

I couldn't block one of them.

Fwoooosh.

The Soul Barrier flared up, and Aegis’s form collapsed.

The breached defense line couldn’t be stopped.

Athena’s shield vanished in an instant, and the Soul Barrier disappeared with it.

“Ugh…!”

I instinctively raised my left arm against the incoming arrow.

It pierced my left arm and exploded immediately.

[Finally… finally!]

Apollo’s triumphant voice echoed in my ears like a hallucination.

The moment the arrow struck and my soul body was blasted away played out in slow motion.

The pain felt so distant it didn’t even seem real.

Time stood still—what I saw was not the loss of my arm, but the structure of the Solar Arrow as it exploded upon contact with my body.

Two explosions from my Soul Sword.

And now one that hit my body directly.

From the changes in those structures, I began to understand something.

It felt more like a mirage than a real solution.

But this was all I had to believe in.

“Soul Fusion.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

The words escaped my mouth instinctively.

The structure of the Solar Arrow, unraveling from the explosion.

I had thought it was perfectly merged with soul energy, but there was a gap.

A tiny gap I could only notice when pushed to the brink of death, after taking the attack head-on.

I slipped into that gap.

And merged with it.

The flames began from my lost left arm and rapidly spread through my body.

My arm was gone.

My left eye could no longer see.

I couldn’t feel my leg.

The entire left half of my body had vanished.

The remaining flames of the Solar Arrow surged toward the right side, ready to consume it too.

But I devoured it instead.

I fused myself with the Solar Arrow…!

[You… what have you done…! How dare you defile my power of the Sun…!]

Apollo’s voice turned frantic.

The light grew more intense.

Though I couldn't see it, I could feel more Solar Arrows flying toward me.

Just a little more time—just a little more and I'd be ready…!

“You shouldn’t be doing that.”

KRACKOOOM!

Suddenly, the light weakened.

“Wow. Soul God was about to be totally erased. Now that I’m here, why don’t you back off, Apollo?”

[Thor…!]

“If it weren’t for that weird barrier, I would’ve been here sooner. Apollo, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the alliance treaty between Asgard and Olympus? Stand down.”

WHOOSH. WHOOSH. WHOOSH!

Massive gusts of wind roared from behind.

The light faded with them.

“Phew. Look at that sunlight. It’s so strong, it’s burning me black. Isn’t this a violation of our alliance treaty? Mind clearing it up?”

[……You!]

I faintly heard the voices of the two gods.

But all my focus was on the fusion—I had no room to pay attention to them.

I disassembled and reassembled the Solar Arrow.

The new structure replaced the lost half of my soul body.

My left eye returned.

The dazzling light now felt familiar.

My torso reformed.

Though bathed in light, it matched my human form exactly.

Finally, my arm and leg took shape.

Pale blue light.

The surface was cloaked in flames.

[Soul God ‘Kim Jiho’ has successfully fused with the Solar Arrow.]

[You have awakened part of the Sun’s Authority.]

[Your resistance to light-based attacks has greatly increased.]

A message more welcome than any other.

My SP, which had dropped below ten million, rapidly recovered.

It shot past thirty million, then fifty million…

Another message popped up.

[The efficiency of soul-type skills has returned to normal.]

A bit of a shame to lose that bonus, but I guess it means my body has stabilized.

Finally, a breather…

“Soul God, you’ve changed. Are you a light-being now? Half-light, half-human?”

“Ugh. I barely survived, and that’s what you say? And you—didn’t you promise to come when I was in danger? That took you long enough.”

“Apollo put a barrier over this area. I didn’t even know you were in trouble. I couldn’t get any signals. As soon as it was lifted, I sensed the danger and rushed over.”

Thor spoke in a flurry, as if trying to excuse himself.

Well, still—crisis averted, and I’ve absorbed the power of the Sun.

A blessing in disguise?

Considering how close to death I was earlier… it’s not something I want to go through again.

[You… you…!]

“Apollo. Have you lost your senses? You’re still attacking. That’s a violation of the alliance treaty. Asgard will officially report Olympus’s breach, and Olympus will have to bear the penalty.”

As the weakened sunlight suddenly intensified again, Thor shielded my body.

His hammer blocked the front, and his body supported me from behind.

Wait… is this a back hug?

Ugh… getting hugged by a guy like this…

Not exactly pleasant, but pretty effective at blocking sunlight.

And blocking the Solar Arrows, too.

Boom! Boom!

Thor’s body shook.

The crashing sound from behind—Solar Arrows again.

But their power was noticeably weaker than before.

Apollo.

You've lost your strength...

The Solar Arrows exploded, and I gathered the wandering SP.

Enjoying yourself under the protection of the gods, are you?

“Apollo! That blast even dealt a serious blow to me, who was merely ‘passing by’! I shall formally lodge a complaint with Olympus and request a penalty!”

Thor, having absorbed all of the Solar Arrows, raised his hand toward the sky and declared proudly.

But Apollo gave no reply.

He only shone brighter.

However, despite the brightness, his strength rapidly diminished.

Was this the end for the one who once burned everything in his frenzy?

At this point... I can consume it all.

“Thor. I’m fine now. I must absorb Apollo’s power.”

“The power of the sun...? Alright...”

Thor let go of me with a reluctant expression.

“Let’s head toward the sun.”

I slipped from his arms and rose into the sky.

The light grew stronger, but it was weak.

[You... took my beloved sister, and now even my divine power...]

Apollo’s voice was filled with sorrow.

The once-majestic tone had lost its strength.

Despite the eclipse, seven suns still shone in the sky.

But as time passed, they disappeared one by one.

The radiant circles vanished clockwise, starting from the outer left.

In the brief moment I soared from the dried seabed into the sky, six rays of sunlight had vanished.

Whether Artemis’s power had waned or not, the eclipse was over—and now only one sun remained.

As I ascended through the clouds, the sunlight no longer carried divine energy.

Whoosh.

As I rose higher, I saw the sun chariot.

Just one horse remained.

It no longer held the grandeur it once had.

It was so small, I wondered if even a single person could ride it.

And standing atop it was Apollo—more pitiful than ever.

Apollo, once praised as the most beautiful among the gods.

His strong muscles had vanished, his body gaunt and emaciated, half of his face reduced to bare skull.

He looked at me with a deeply fatigued expression.

“Hoo... Soul God. You truly possess the power of the sun... I should have pressed harder and finished you off...”

“Apollo. Surrender your power and become my spoil.”

I raised my soul sword and pointed it at him.

He seemed to sense death approaching, and closed one eye.

If I kill him, I’ll be able to fully master the power of the sun.

Just as I was about to move in—

A hand stopped me.

“Soul God, wait…!”

“Artemis?”

“Let me try to persuade Apollo. Can’t we accept him as an apostle?”

“I doubt he’d ever submit to me.”

“Please... just give me a chance to talk to him.”

She grabbed my hand and earnestly pleaded.

Sheesh.

After fighting like mortal enemies a moment ago, now she wants to talk it out?

Hmm...

As much as I want to kill him right now for all the hell he put me through…

Taking him as an apostle might actually be more useful.

He dragged me to the brink of death, but rather than kill him outright, keeping him as an apostle to torment forever might be better.

I’d miss out on the sun’s power, but maybe if I restore him later and then kill him, I could get the power too.

Could keep him suffering for eternity... Hmm.

“Well... fine. Try to persuade him.”

“Really? You mean it?”

Artemis’s face lit up with joy.

Just as she flew toward Apollo with a hopeful expression—

Something unexpected happened.

[There’s no need for that.]

“Ku... Kuaaaagh!”

Apollo, now pitifully frail—

His body was wrapped in lightning.

Ominous, pitch-black lightning.

Wait a sec... isn’t that black thunder?

[Thor. Our alliance has not been violated.]

A familiar voice.

Thor, now hovering nearby, frowned and responded.

“...Zeus?”

[Apollo was once a member of Olympus, but he was exiled. His ‘accidental’ attack on you was by no means the will of Olympus. But since he once belonged to us... in addition to offering my apology, allow me to punish the insolent god who attacked you.]

“You... Don’t tell me...?”

[I sentence Apollo to death.]

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]