Chapter 170

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Chapter 170: Reorganization (1)

“Father…?”

Apollo asked back, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Even I, who once fought him to the death, thought this was too much.

Wasn’t it Apollo who gave up his position and tried to kill me?

He was a dreadful enemy, but to Zeus, he was nothing less than a loyal subject...

Zeus didn’t answer Apollo’s despair.

[Athena. Come forth.]

“…Yes, Lord Zeus.”

At that, a woman appeared, silently materializing from thin air.

Athena, donned in a helmet, gripping a long spear, and wearing full armor.

It was the perfect look for the goddess of war.

Completely covered in armor except for her face, and even that face alone was enough to dominate the atmosphere.

Her cold expression and overwhelming presence were intense, but her beauty was still striking.

All the goddesses of Olympus are this beautiful, huh.

Athena is the epitome of an icy beauty.

[Execute Apollo before my very eyes.]

“Understood.”

Athena replied without hesitation.

A pure white energy gathered on the tip of her spear.

“No… Don’t!”

Artemis screamed as she saw it happening, but Athena didn’t even glance her way.

Stab!

“Guh… urgh…”

Fwoosh—

Apollo's body crumbled where the spear pierced him.

White flames ignited from his chest, engulfing his entire body in an instant.

“So you really… did it…”

Crackle!

Then came the black lightning—devouring Apollo within the flames.

It looked like lightning, but the way it feasted on him was grotesque, like maggots eating away at a corpse.

“Zeus!”

Artemis, enraged by the sight, rushed forward.

Sigh…

I get how she feels, but I can’t just let her charge in recklessly.

The opponent is Zeus, after all.

“Artemis, reverse summon.”

I sent her to the Garden of the Apostles.

She gave me a resentful look just before being summoned away, but what else could I do?

Charging in alone wouldn’t solve anything.

Apollo was already being eaten away.

His face and limbs had been consumed, leaving only the torso—the area where Athena’s spear was embedded.

[Athena. Withdraw your spear.]

“Yes, my lord.”

Slide.

As soon as the spear was pulled out, the black lightning resumed its activity.

Apollo no longer had a head or mouth to scream with—he simply vanished.

Flash!

A massive shockwave burst from the place where Apollo disappeared.

The clouds dispersed, and even light was pushed away.

“Is he… truly gone?”

Thor stood in front of me, blocking the shockwave.

That guy’s actually doing a decent job as my bodyguard.

The sky darkened, like a night without a single star.

If only high-ranking beings weren’t the only ones present here, everyone else would’ve been blown away by that shockwave.

As I stared at the spot where Apollo vanished, a message popped up.

[A massive amount of SP is being released.]

[Soul Reaping is activating…]

[A certain force is blocking the Soul Reaping. Skill efficiency is significantly reduced.]

A certain force?

The black lightning that consumed Apollo formed a downward-facing arc.

That shape… oddly resembled a smiling face.

So, I can’t absorb SP because of that black lightning?

The dark lightning wiggled like a mouth.

[Thor. So? Was that punishment fitting for a criminal?]

“…Hah. You crazy bastard… wasn’t he your son? He was even your heir candidate.”

[I have countless sons. I can always make more.]

This guy…

What a piece of trash.

Athena’s eyebrow twitched slightly at Zeus’s words, but her face remained stoic.

[But now that I’ve devoured Apollo… I realize. You interfered at a crucial moment. If you hadn’t shown up, I could’ve destroyed the God of Souls. How annoying… Asgard.]

“What the hell? Aren’t we allies? Eternal allies?”

[Eternal, you say… Fufu. Only while Asgard still exists. If Asgard were to vanish, wouldn’t the alliance naturally dissolve?]

“…What?”

[Let’s leave the rest for another time. Until next we meet. I’ll be digesting my son now. Hahahaha!]

The black lightning disappeared.

Leaving behind the chilling words about “digesting his son.”

“…That lunatic. He sacrificed his own son and actually enjoyed it. Right, Athena?”

Thor’s words made Athena shake her head.

“…I don’t wish to answer that.”

She lightly swung her spear in our direction.

It wasn’t an attack—just a gesture without hostility.

A great wind blew, but it wasn’t anything Thor needed to block.

He simply watched.

The wind pushed back the encroaching light one more time, then died down.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way. Let’s meet on the battlefield next time.”

“Sure. Breaking Olympus’s shield sounds like fun.”

“If that’s your goal, you’d better get stronger. Thor. At your level... heh.”

Athena disappeared with a slight smirk tugging at one corner of her lips.

Thor looked in the direction Athena had vanished, dumbfounded.

“Wow. She totally just mocked me, didn’t she?”

“She did.”

“Hah. I’ll have to teach her a lesson with Mjölnir next time.”

He swung his hammer angrily through the air.

This guy… definitely a ‘fists first, words later’ type.

Still, hearing their conversation sparked a question.

“But wait, aren’t Olympus and Asgard allies? Doesn’t that mean they can’t fight each other?”

“Oh, huh. That’s true.”

“Then why did Athena say what she did? And Zeus, too. He mentioned something about Asgard disappearing.”

“Hm...”

Thor seemed to ponder my words for a moment.

Then he shrugged.

“Thinking’s not really my thing. I’ll ask Loki.”

“Yeah… you do that.”

“Anyway, you’ve gotten super strong! Is it because of that thing? Your soul mediation deal or whatever. Can I get in on that too?”

“If you’d protected me earlier, I would’ve happily brokered your soul… but just look at my body.”

Half light, half soul form—my body was a weird blend.

Starting with tentacles, I was gradually becoming something less and less human.

But as I looked again, the light side of my body was slowly reverting to soul form.

Thor noticed and commented.

“Looks like you’re regaining your original soul body. Quit whining. I’ll come earlier next time. Took a major hit from that Apollo punk—said it almost broke the alliance treaty. Hey, Soul God guy. Can you hook me up?”

What a big guy to be whining like that.

Still, if it weren’t for Thor, things would’ve been tough…

Maybe I should give him a slot?

I opened my status window to check my SP.

Huh?

“Why are you blinking like a cow in headlights?”

“Ah, hold on a sec.”

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My SP was skyrocketing.

It had barely scraped past 50 million before, but now it was at 500 million—and still climbing.

What the heck?

I thought Zeus devoured all of Apollo’s power?

Whoooosh.

A wind blew from behind me.

Along with it came a surge of light toward me.

This wind… felt just like the one Athena stirred with her spear.

[I sealed Apollo’s essence into my spear. Absorb it.]

Athena’s voice came with the wind.

Whoa.

When did she prepare something like this?

[Restore Aegis. I’ll need a communication link with you. Zeus will move in earnest soon. His first target is Asgard.]

As her voice faded, so did the wind.

The space around me had grown bright.

Light gathered toward me.

It had mostly been absorbed by the left side of my soul body, but now it was also drawn to the right.

“Wait, I thought Zeus consumed everything… So not even a Creator God can swallow it all?”

“Guess not.”

I thought about telling Thor what Athena had said but decided against it until I had more solid information.

That would mean revealing I’m in contact with Athena.

“You’re lucky.”

“I feel great. And in that mood, I’ll give you a soul mediation slot.”

“Seriously? Thanks. Go ahead, eat up all of Apollo’s leftovers. Hahaha!”

Laughing heartily, Thor stepped aside.

[Soul Reaper skill has leveled up.]

I’d absorbed so much SP, even my skill level went up.

[You are becoming more attuned to the Authority of the Sun.]

[Various authorities of Apollo are being embedded into your soul body.]

Not just SP—there were bonus perks too.

The Authority of the Sun.

Still not sure what it really means, but I’ll have to study it.

While I was basking in joy, a message popped up that made me frown.

[Apollo’s soul fragment is being absorbed. This is a component of his ego. It is sealed by Athena’s spear.]

Apollo’s ego…?

I thought he was completely gone?

When did Athena seal this and hand it over?

This is…

Kind of awkward.

Do I really need the ego of Apollo, someone I’d once fought to the death?

When Artemis asked me before, he was still her brother, so accepting him as an apostle made some sense.

But this…

It just feels… empty.

“Guess I’ll just keep it for now.”

I stashed Apollo’s soul fragment deep in my inventory.

It felt too awkward to discard.

“All done?”

Thor, who had stayed to watch me absorb everything, asked once the light had fully settled into me.

“Yes. I think it’s time to head back.”

“Alright. I’ll go on ahead.”

He waved and disappeared.

Well, he showed up late, but thanks to him, I survived.

I was just about to head back after sending him off when…

“Kim Jiho.”

A voice called out to me from below.

Elprian was flying up toward me with a tired face.

“What in the world happened? I just got back from sending Diana to the Soul Realm… and my entire territory is in ruins.”

“Ah. No wonder I didn’t see you.”

After I told her about the battle with Apollo, Elprian listened intently.

But the response came from an unexpected direction.

“Keke… No wonder. I was wondering why the sun was so powerful… so Apollo self-destructed.”

“Hades? Wait, you knew?”

“Yes. Sunlight doesn’t exactly work well with us. So I just cut off communication with Olympus to keep the news from spreading. Keke.”

Hades gave a chilling smile.

He looked me up and down, then smirked.

“You’ve gotten quite strong. And now you wield the power of the sun… just getting close to you might burn me. Keke.”

“Yeah. Don’t come close.”

“Keke. We’ve had such a good business relationship—why so cold? Anyway, the reason I’m here is…”

Hades glanced around.

Then he walked up to me and whispered quietly.

“You seem to have absorbed Apollo’s power… by chance, did you also obtain a fragment of his soul?”

A soul fragment?

How does this guy know about that?

I feigned ignorance for now.

“Soul fragment? Not sure what you mean.”

“Hm…”

Hades looked at me intently.

Then, with a knowing smile, he stepped back.

“Well, if you don’t know, there’s nothing I can do. But if you do happen to come across it… please consider selling it to me. You can also list it on the SP shop.”

“Alright. For how much?”

“Ten billion.”

“Ten billion?!”

I was shocked at the number.

Is a soul fragment really worth that much?

“Yes. I assure you it would be a win-win deal. Keke… if you’re interested, please list it on the SP shop…”

Hades disappeared with a chuckle.

Elprian frowned as she looked at the spot where Hades had vanished.

“He said he was going to turn a god into an undead servant… seems like he’s planning something using Apollo’s soul fragment.”

“But Apollo lost all his power. Is that even possible?”

“Who knows. I don’t know the exact method… but he kept asking if I could repay my debt, and looked disappointed when I said I could. If I hadn’t had SP, he probably would’ve made me into a soul fragment… Seems like godly soul fragments are used as materials.”

Hmm.

So that’s why he’s willing to pay ten billion?

Ten billion SP could do a lot…

Well, I did absorb Apollo’s SP, so there’s no need to hand it over right now.

I’ll think about whether to sell it or not.

“Elprian. I’m sorry.”

“Phew… It can’t be helped. Still, it’s fortunate that there was a gain. The symbolic figure of Olympus, Apollo, has been destroyed…”

For someone saying that, her expression is pretty sour.

Sure, Apollo did the damage, but he chased me into Elprian’s hideout, which got wrecked too… so I do feel kind of bad seeing her face.

Time to head home quickly.

“Thanks for saying that. I’ll return to Earth and do some maintenance.”

“Ah, could you put out the fires before you go? The flames carry the power of the sun god, and it’s really draining for me to extinguish them.”

Elprian grabbed my arm just as I was about to return.

I couldn’t refuse her request, so I descended back to the land.

The land below was utterly scorched.

The ground was completely blackened, and the ocean had dried up.

Not all of Kevrian’s seas had evaporated, so water was flowing in from other regions, but the sea level was visibly much lower.

Just thinking about what would’ve happened if I had fought Apollo on Earth sent shivers down my spine.

“Look, that fire just won’t go out.”

Following Elprian’s instructions, I began extinguishing the flames.

Maybe it was because I had gained the power of the sun god—whenever I got close to the flames, they naturally got absorbed into me.

Each time, my SP increased, and I gradually awakened more of the sun god’s power.

Feels like I’m collecting loot now.

At first, I was dragged into this cleanup effort by Elprian, but now I was excitedly traveling all over Kevrian to gather it up.

Once the fire had been mostly extinguished, a unique message window appeared.

[The seal on “Apollo’s Soul Fragment” has been released by 10%.]

[Translator - Night]

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