Chapter 229: Apollo And Athena V/S Jack
Her gaze made Neo's skin prickle. Find more chapters on мѵʟ
'It's a good thing I've been acting friendly with him. If he is going to help the Necromancer, he would expect us to stop him, but his guard against me will be the lowest.'
'He wouldn't expect me to attack him.'
Her thoughts were cut off when Neo opened his mouth.
"Fine, how about we do this? You can use Sunshine.
"If you aren't able to defeat the Necromancer with the first attack, you will let me fight him instead of Emma."
"…"
Apollo thought about his words.
"…Okay," Apollo said and thought, 'It shouldn't matter since Athena can take care of the Necromancer with one attack.'
"Are you sure about this?" Emma spoke, making it clear she was against the decision.
"Yes."
Emma shook her head inwardly. Apollo was being lenient on Neo, probably because Neo looked like a hero to him.
The group hammered out the minor details of the plan for the next two days.
Apollo and Athena mainly meditated to make sure they were in perfect condition for the battle.
Nyx patrolled the place and took care of surrounding monsters.
She cleared the area to make sure they weren't surrounded by monsters when they started fighting the Necromancer.
Neo trained with the seven sword techniques of Kane.
Time passed like a blur.
"The Necromancer is here," Apollo muttered.
They could sense a dark presence approaching through the sea. The sky darkened, and the sea boiled.
A towering mass of darkness and bones appeared on the horizon. It walked through the sea.
The Necromancer's steps sent waves of dark energy pulsating through the surroundings.
Soon, it appeared fully, revealing its giant size, and the sea of bones moving around it became visible.
Mist rose from the sea, and it began to turn black.
Apollo and the others could feel the powerful pressure of the Necromancer.
When the Necromancer laid its eyes on them, it raised its hand and pointed its finger at them.
"Graaahahahahah!"
The sea of bones churned, making sickening noises of cries, laughter, and shouts.
"It will be fine."
Emma ruffled Apollo's hair.
Only then did he realize he was trembling from fear.
"The history won't repeat itself again."
"…Yes."
Apollo took a deep breath to calm himself.
He forcefully suppressed the surging memories of their battles with Niles Radcliff.
"The Necromancer is in range! I'll start!"
Apollo clasped his hands and rotated his palms in opposite directions.
He chanted multiple Incantations.
Athena, on the side, summoned a shield and a spear. She hit the beach with the butt of the spear.
An ethereal glow covered the land.
The radius of the glow increased, and dozens of transparent dome-shaped shields appeared around the group.
The sea of bones clashed with the shields.
Athena's brows creased.
A drop of sweat flowed down her nape as she struggled to hold back the bone sea.
"…How much more time do you need, Apollo?" she asked through her clenched jaw.
"…"
Instead of answering, Apollo continued to chant.
A golden fire burned in his palms, and his eyes glowed.
The Necromancer felt the rising presence of Holy and Light elementals in the surroundings.
But it was too close to the 'food' to run away.
It decided to push forward before Apollo could complete the Incantations.
"AS@!$ASDSASDSA!"
The Necromancer roared.
Three giant magic circles appeared behind the towering mass of darkness and bones.
Bone spears came out of the magic circles and shot forward.
Athena's eyes widened.
"How!? That's not Incantations—"
The spears tore through her shields before she could complete her sentence and nearly hit her if not for Kane's intervention.
"Fifth stance: Seigetsu."
Kane slashed and diverted the bone spear.
It landed a bit far from them, and the ground exploded.
Corrupting Darkness sprang forth.
Unfortunately, Kane couldn't move again and protect Athena.
His hand had nearly broken from the previous clash, and he was afflicted with a stun debuff.
Just as the Darkness was about to touch Athena, Apollo completed his chant.
"O Great Spirit of Mine…."
The noise of cracking glass echoed.
Instantly, the Darkness next to Athena turned was vaporized.
The group gulped, their throats parched.
The temperature rose, making their lips dry and cracked.
The sea started to sizzle due to the intense heat.
"Grararahagaga!"
The towering mass of darkness and bones roared.
It shook as if it was being hurt, and it looked at the sky.
There, a small crack had appeared.
The crack enlarged. Pieces of the sky fell into the ocean.
A blinding light pierced through from the gaps in the cracks.
"Descend."
The sky shattered into a brilliance of light.
The gigantic sun descended from the heavens, its radiance overpowering the true sun and forcing it to hide behind it.
"AFAfjaFAJFNAJSFN!"
Magic circles materialized around the Necromancer.
Spirals of darkness shot upward and attacked the sun.
Unfortunately, they sizzled out of existence before they could cover half of the distance.
"O Great Spirit of Mine…"
Apollo, in a trance, gave the next command.
"Purify all that is Evil."
The Necromancer let out a wailing howl as the sea of bones started to burn away.
Golden-white flames danced in the air, burning even the slightest trace of darkness.
The pressure on Athena decreased.
She let go of her shield and pulled her spear back.
The 'mana' around her flowed into the spear.
The air trembled, and the Necromancer attacked.
Apollo used Sunshine to destroy the Necromancer's attack.
Blood flowed out of his nostrils and eyes due to the immense power of the Spirit.
Neo, despite not being the target of Sunshine, found it hard to breathe.
The huge amount of Holy and Light in the surroundings was burning him.
Without Death to shield him, he could only use Darkness and Ocean's Embrace.
Athena's chants were almost complete when the Necromancer suddenly opened its mouth.
A giant circle appeared before him.
The souls of the dead he had eaten poured around.
Their grudges and despair howled, making the group's soul shudder.
The Necromancer created a shield from the souls.
"…!?"
Apollo was forced to weaken the power of Sunshine, or he would end up damaging the souls of the unfortunate.
He glared at the Necromancer and at the despicable method it was using.
He felt as if the Necromancer was smiling.
"…for all that is Holy." Athena completed her chants.
A golden-white flame danced around her spear.
"Don't!" Apollo shouted when he saw her. "You'll harm the souls too—"
The spear flew out of Athena's hand. It turned into a white streak as it flew through the air.
"They are already dead," Athena spoke while preparing for more Incantations. "If you hold back, you will be putting the living at risk for the dead."
She chanted more Incantations.
The speed of the spear increased.
It broke through the sonic barriers and shattered the shield of souls protecting the Necromancer.
The Necromancer roared as the attack landed on its body.
A beat later, the spear exploded, turning into a giant pillar of light that swallowed its massive body.
"Apollo! This isn't the time to be sentimental."
Apollo's expression worsened when he heard Athena.
Against his wishes, he increased the output of Sunshine to kill the Necromancer.