Chapter 173: The Sun God Carries the Weight
A ripple appeared in space. A wave of white light manifested, and cracks split the void. An incandescent orb of light emerged from within, enveloping a mobile armor crackling with lightning.
"Are we out?" Orin Vale asked.
"According to the spatial readings, we should have returned to the domain called the Fallen Realm."
"Is that so? Then why does it look a little different than before?"
Orin Vale glanced around, only to feel that the domain's entire aesthetic had changed. Lightning flashed and surged in the sky, a hurricane swept through, and the purple-black void was constantly shattering and peeling away like glass, revealing large holes and emptiness.
"An extremely high-intensity magic power reaction," Pal noted, marking the new readings on the display.
Orin Vale raised an eyebrow. "An Olympian god?"
"The readings' characteristics are similar, but with some differences. Moreover, its power level is presumed to far exceed that of a conventional major Olympian god. The domain of the Fallen Realm is unable to contain that divine power and is collapsing."
"It's that strong?" Orin Vale frowned slightly.
"High-energy combat reaction detected," Pal added another mark on the sensors. "It seems Superman and Wonder Woman are already fighting in the center of the vortex."
Orin Vale was about to move forward to take a look, but through the sensors, he caught a glimpse of another fluctuation.
A certain energy fluctuation with solar attributes that felt somewhat familiar.
It reminded him of another old acquaintance.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?"
Apollo, his entire body already wrapped in blazing flames, swung his palms repeatedly, weaving fiery dragons that battled desperately against the demonic creatures swarming him from all sides.
"I told you, I haven't seen your sister!"
"Liar!"
Stheno charged forward, brandishing her longsword and shouting.
"If that's true, why don't you dare to look me in the eye!?"
*Nonsense, if I look you in the eye, I'll turn into a damn stone sculpture!*
Apollo, who had been caught in a sneak attack, was poisoned. He had to resist the venom's corrosion, fight off the mental compulsion to meet her gaze, and deal with the pincer attack all at once. He was going numb.
The most critical problem was that this madwoman kept saying she wanted him to pay for his crimes in blood, but he had no damn recollection of any such thing.
This was absolutely insane.
Apollo was struggling to defend himself and was on the verge of defeat when he suddenly saw a streak of electric light shoot out from the void, a red-and-silver afterimage that abruptly plunged into the fray.
Before anyone could react, it was like a whirlwind carrying lightning, cutting across the entire battlefield. It weaved between all the demonic creatures before heading straight for the gorgon, Stheno. Two slashing flashes of light, an explosion of electric arcs, and the afterimage shot past.
An instant later, the mobile armor, trailing countless electric serpents, skidded to a halt in front of Apollo. A pair of chained blades from the Eight-Split Light Wheel spun gracefully on its fingertips before rotating twice and dissipating into light particles.
All the demonic creatures seemed to have been frozen in place, their eyes wide like statues, fixed in their spots behind him.
The next moment, cracks appeared on every statue.
All the demonic creatures were decapitated in the same second, slain on the spot by the light wheel.
Stheno held on the longest. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stiffly turned her head.
"You... sun-like creature... that absurd speed was..."
She finally understood.
Why Medusa was killed so easily, and why Euryale was scared into that ghostly state.
It wasn't a piece of trash like Apollo at all.
But she realized it too late.
Her final words remained unfinished as the gorgon's head fell to the ground. The rest of her body turned into a stone statue, which quickly weathered away and disappeared.
Apollo, panting heavily, knelt on one knee. He looked at the creature of light that had appeared in a sudden flash, then at the opponents that had put him in such a dire struggle, now instantly annihilated. His gaze towards the figure became increasingly incredulous.
The last time they met, he already thought this creature was a monster. But at the time, he had reasoned that his defeat was purely due to an elemental counter—his opponent possessed a disgusting innate talent for absorbing his energy.
If it were a real, head-on fight, he was confident he wouldn't lose to anyone.
But it had only been a few days. How had his absurd level of power suddenly jumped an entire tier?
"I was just passing by. What a coincidence, isn't it?" Orin Vale smiled.
Apollo's face was cold. "What do you want?"
Their last meeting hadn't been very pleasant. Apollo reckoned the first impression he'd made was quite poor, and he didn't believe the other party was helping him purely out of goodwill.
"A rather troublesome opponent has appeared in the Fallen Realm," Orin Vale said bluntly. "I need your help."
"Hmph, why should I help you?" Apollo sneered.
"Oh, perhaps I didn't make myself clear."
Orin Vale's figure flickered, appearing at his side. Without another word, he grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground as if he were a little chicken, ascending into the air.
"...This is a notification, not a request."
Apollo: You @#%￥...
Typhon, the Titan who symbolized the storm. If Zeus was the father of the gods, then Typhon was a character akin to the father of demons. Many famous and powerful demonic creatures in Greek mythology were his offspring, including the Hydra, Cerberus, and so on.
"I thought it was sealed under Mount Etna!"
Circe, the witch, waved her arms, summoning numerous giant hands of stone to attack as she shouted.
"Almost all the records say so... It seems those false rumors are deadly!"
Some versions of the myth say that after being defeated by Zeus, Typhon was imprisoned under Mount Etna in Sicily. However, it now seemed that this differed from the reality of this world.
"The records also say it once defeated Zeus. That had better be false too, right?" Diana yelled.
"Unfortunately, that's most likely true!" Circe gritted her teeth. "We are indeed facing an opponent that even the God King once fell to!"
As she spoke, the stone arms she had summoned were effortlessly smashed to pieces by Typhon. Formidable power, carried by a gale, struck with devastating force. Circe hastily raised a magic shield covered in complex runes, but the powerful, transparent impact still slammed into it, sending both her and the shield flying far away.
Legend has it that Typhon had a hundred dragon heads, and from each head's mouth, a forked snake tongue would flick in and out. It was recorded that its body was taller than the sky, its head touching the stars...
Of course, since it was a legend, it likely contained exaggeration. At least, judging by the towering silhouette before them, the description of touching the stars was definitely an overstatement. But to say it was three to five hundred meters tall might not be far off.
Superman lifted a mountain peak, wielding it with divine power, and smashed it against the giant beast's body. The massive mountain, augmented by his unparalleled strength, shattered to pieces upon the monster.
But it had no effect. Typhon roared, and one of its arms swung violently towards him. Superman instantly accelerated to supersonic speed to dodge, his heat vision cutting a wound into the giant beast's body.
Enraged, Typhon's wind magic formed a vortex, hurtling towards him like a cannonball. Superman, in the midst of his high-speed movement, was hit head-on and sent flying backward.
Crashing through an unknown number of stone barriers, Superman finally crawled out from a pile of rubble.
"Are you okay?" Diana landed beside him.
"I'm fine... The effects of the kryptonite haven't worn off yet, so I haven't fully recovered." Superman shook his slightly dizzy head.
"It's going to destroy the entire Fallen Realm, along with everyone inside it." Diana looked at Circe. "We need to put aside our differences for now. Cooperation is our only way out."
"Cooperate with you?" Circe sneered.
At that moment, Euryale rose into the air before Typhon.
"Even if you defeated the God King, even with all your power, you still can't escape... the stone's curse!"
The eyes of all the snake heads on her hair lit up with a green glow as she pushed her petrification ability to its absolute limit!
Typhon looked directly at her, fearless.
"How can this be?"
"Foolish... I am the King of all Monsters. Mere parlor tricks."
Typhon grunted in a deep, muffled voice, then unleashed a gale. Euryale screamed as she was sent spinning and tumbling far away into the air.
Circe, who had witnessed this, pondered for a moment.
Then she nodded at Diana. "I mean, cooperating with you is an excellent idea."
The forces of good and evil quickly reached an agreement. One moment they were fighting to the death, and the next they were united against a common enemy, ready to work together to face this shared threat.
Everyone knew that if they didn't cooperate, they would all face certain death.
However, just as the atmosphere was reaching its peak, just as everyone had taken their positions and was ready to fight together with one heart, putting aside all past grievances...
A dazzling orb of light descended from the sky.
It seemed to shoot from the far end of the Fallen Realm, trailing a long streak of flashing electric light. Like a runaway dump truck with the throttle pushed to the max, it slammed into Typhon with unstoppable momentum.
The massive, sky-blotting body let out a strange cry as Typhon's entire colossal frame was knocked backward, causing countless floating stone islands to crumble and collapse around it.
The orb of light hovered in mid-air as innumerable light particles condensed, converging into a heaven-and-earth-spanning, red-and-silver giant.
It was on the same scale as Typhon, also standing a good three to five hundred meters tall, its entire body burning with a sun-like red glow!
"Is that..." A look of delight appeared on Superman's face.
"Ultraman." Luthor, however, frowned deeply, a question rising in his mind.
He's even bigger than he was in Metropolis.
This guy... does he have no limit to his size?
No, it wasn't just about being big.
The detectors in his armor showed that the terrifying energy contained within that giant body was already off the charts.
Luthor's mind raced.
This didn't match his previous observational data at all. Could it be that this guy was holding back before?
But Orin Vale, in his super-gigantified state, knew the truth deep down.
There's no such thing as a life of peace and quiet; it's just that someone is carrying the burden for you.
At that very moment, not far away, Apollo, all his flames extinguished, lay limply on the ground like a drained salted fish, his body trembling as he muttered.
"It's gone... There's not a single drop left..."
*Three chapters today, almost eight thousand characters~*
(end of chapter)