Dark clouds churned over the crashing waves, pressing down with a suffocating weight.
The small boat beneath their feet rocked violently, seawater spilling in from all sides. No one knew when it might sink for good.
But in this tense, breathless silence, Eros felt his heart pounding with excitement rather than fear.
Maybe it was the adrenaline, whatever the reason, panic and despair couldn't catch up with him now.
The shadow of the giant serpent Python slithered faintly beneath the roiling sea. It was like a standoff in an old Western, where both sides waited, hand on their weapon, for the moment to strike.
From which angle would it attack?
Just as Eros trembled with anticipation, a massive wall suddenly rose before his eyes.
No, not a wall—an enormous wave, like a fortress of water.
It had seemed insignificant in the distance, but now it loomed over them, swallowing the sky in its advance.
Like a towering black wall, it thundered forward with unstoppable force.
Python was no mindless beast. Though its only power was brute strength, the ocean itself was its greatest weapon. While Apollo and Eros were busy guarding against a direct strike, it had secretly stirred up this monstrous wave.
A ten-meter-high wall of water, more than enough to crush the tiny boat and drag them into the abyss.
Apollo's expression shifted as she realized what was coming.
But before she could act, Eros's voice cut through the howling wind.
"Don't worry about me. Just focus on being the bait."
His words held a strange authority, unyielding, commanding. For a moment, Apollo felt a bizarre sense of déjà vu.
Even though she was being ordered around by a mortal, her body obeyed without question.
Gripping her sword with both hands, Apollo reignited its fading golden glow. If Eros was going to be reckless, then she'd go crazy with him.
Worst case scenario? Get eaten by Python and be mocked by her sister for a while.
She poured every last drop of divine power into her blade.
The blinding light pierced the clouds above, illuminating the dark, stormy skies.
That familiar stance. That dramatic aura. That golden hair...
Is this you?! Ex...Calibur?!
Even now, in the middle of a life-or-death crisis, Eros somehow found the time to complain with a reference, earning the gods' collective sigh.
The river of light gathered into Apollo's blade, and with one mighty swing, she sliced the towering wave clean in half.
The ten-meter surge split apart with a thunderous crash, but the attack left Apollo visibly weakened. Her divine aura flickered and dimmed.
And from the broken wave emerged Python, its dark, colossal body coiled midair, its jaws gaping wide as it lunged toward Apollo.
It had chosen the perfect moment, Apollo had just exerted herself, creating the briefest of openings.
A perfect ambush.
All Python wanted was to devour the light. In its eyes, Eros wasn't even worth acknowledging.
But Eros had already raised his bow, drawing the string taut. With a powerful leap from the mast, he launched himself into the air.
In that moment, time slowed to a crawl.
The shattered wave beneath him, Apollo's pale and exhausted face, and Python's enormous body arcing out of the water, all of it burned into his mind.
Perfect. The serpent had fully surfaced, exposing its massive chest. A clean shot.
Eros locked onto the heart and released the string.
The golden lightning-infused arrow flew, vanishing in a flash of brilliance the moment it left his hand.
Python shrieked. Its body spasmed, coiled, and thrashed before crashing down into the sea.
"No... impossible!"
Far away, atop her heavenly throne, a certain goddess gasped.
Not once had she, nor anyone ever considered Eros to be a threat. He was just a mortal.
And yet… he'd done it?
Watching the arrow hit its mark, Eros laughed aloud, exhilarated.
But he didn't get far. Midair, a wall of water slammed into him, dragging him under. The boat shattered, Apollo and all, swallowed whole by the sea.
The storm clouds that had blanketed the sky began to part, the sea slowly settling.
Fragments of the boat surfaced one by one, and a drenched, exhausted Apollo clambered back up onto a plank.
She was completely drained. Not a drop of divine power left in her.
But the ambush… they survived it. And Eros, that guy… always catching her off guard.
Wait, where was Eros?
Realizing something was off, Apollo quickly scanned the water. No way. He didn't just slay a sea monster only to drown right after, did he?
"Over here. Still breathing."
Eros emerged, soaked and gripping a wooden board.
Thankfully, he'd kept up his body conditioning through lightning-channel training, or else that wave might've knocked him out cold.
Come on, he thought. I'm strong, you know!
"I'm glad you're alright," Apollo said with relief, extending a hand.
Eros instinctively reached out and was pulled up beside her.
"You're going to be famous now. When I return to Olympus, I'm absolutely telling everyone how we slayed Python together."
Despite her fatigue, Apollo flashed him a brilliant smile.
Eros couldn't help but smile back. For all her arrogance, Apollo really was a decent person—loyal, too.
And after all this, he no longer felt so distant from her.
...Wait a second—his achievement?! Where was the reward?!
A sudden wave of alarm hit Eros as he scanned the water. Sure enough, beneath some floating wreckage nearby, a shadow was moving toward them.
You've got to be kidding me! What are you, the Demon Lord of Paranoia?!
If all Greek monsters were this good at playing dead, half the heroes of myth would've died mid-victory.
Eros didn't even think. He tackled Apollo off the plank just in time.
The shadow lashed out Python again. Though its body had shrunk dramatically, it was still alive.
No longer a towering sea monster, it now resembled a massive titan python, something Eros could maybe deal with.
The arrow's wound still bled along its side, clearly visible.
Its slitted, venomous eyes were locked not on Apollo, but on Eros.
"You don't need to worry," Apollo said, snapping out of her daze. "You hit its heart. It's running on fumes now. It won't last much longer."
She finally realized the situation.
But being pulled into Eros's arms like this, her cheek pressed to his chest, was something entirely new to her, and she didn't know how to react.
"Yeah, but so are we…" Eros muttered bitterly.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 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!