“You… why do I feel Hermes in you?”

With the giant man’s voice whispering into his ears, Van chose to remain quiet. If he was right, then the two of them should at the very least be a kilometer apart from each other– and yet he could still clearly hear the giant’s voice.

There was also the fact that they shouldn’t even be hearing each other at all– Vivati’s galaxy had made a device for them to use the vibrations to produce sound even in space… but there was no such device currently in their vicinity.

…Perhaps the sun-sized ship was doing something?

“…” Van then shook his head of all the unnecessary thoughts he was having; focusing his attention on the giant blonde man floating in front of him. This man… is a World Eater?

Azrael said they were System Holders– but the man in front of him was a giant. Was she lying again or did the humans of their universe somewhat evolved to be– No.

He knew Hermes; and that could only mean one thing– the giant was an Olympian. But seeing as he came out of the World Eaters’ ship without any restraints or hesitation…

…Then no matter what his circumstances may be, he is already on their side.

“I asked you a question,” the giant blonde man’s words once again whispered into Van’s ears, “Why do I feel Hermes in you?”

“…Because Hermes is my father.”

“Father?” The giant’s eyes slightly widened as he heard Van’s words, but after a few seconds, they seemed to be looking at the pairs of wings attached to Van’s body,

“No,” the giant then said, “You… are one of the Seraphs.”

“…”

“What have you done with my brother, bird?”

“…I told you, he is my father,” Van tried to explain, “Hermes died thousands of years ago. He–“

“I see,” the giant once again interrupted Van, “So that is why I feel him inside you– you absorbed his essence. That… is unforgivable.”

“Okay, that’s not–“

And once again, before Van could even finish his words, the giant suddenly raised both his arms, one backwards, while the other stretched towards Van. If Van remembered correctly, then he had seen someone else do this posture before– Artemis.

A small whistle then whispered into Van’s ear as the freezing temperature of space started to sizzle. The space between the giant’s hands, slowly lighting up in some sort of fiery thread.

“My name is Apollo,” the giant then said, “And soon my arrows you will swallow. I… will extinguish and pluck the very last feathers of your kind, you.”

And soon, the fiery thread formed into the shape of an arrow; but no bow in sight. And unlike with Artemis, whose arrows were domineering and yet still held a calm glow; the arrow of the Olympian who called himself Apollo was filled with nothing but a raging fire– as if everything its light touches is beneath it.

“…” Van could only squint his eyes as the brightness of the arrow almost made it seem like a sun from afar. Just… how strong were the Olympians, truly?

He had only briefly met Artemis and the others with their God Soul intact so he did not really have a complete measure– but he did remember almost dying from Artemis when she just drew her bow, not even letting it loose.

“…” If Van didn’t absorb her soul, then wouldn’t that mean she would still be alive today? Of course, she would be on the side of the World Eaters… but she would be alive still.

“Your vagrant mind dares to wonder while facing me even the most radiant sun,” Apollo then said, “You would know that one such as I would be displeased by a ton.”

“You talk weird,” Van muttered. He had forgotten how haughty the Olympians were the first time you met them… or is this because Apollo still had his God Soul?

“And you will pay for the transgressions you have committed against my possessions,” Apollo let out a small sigh as he pulled his hand further back, “In truth, I was ordered to capture you; but they said nothing about not making you black and blue.”

And with those words, Apollo finally let loose his arrow.

“!!!”

Van’s eyes widened as the flaming arrow was almost… instantly only a few meters away from him. He could only flap his wings so he could move away, feeling the heat of the blazing arrow almost burning through his suit– he once again flapped his wings, leaving traces of white dust as he did so.

And although it might not seem like it, Van had probably covered the distance of a city.

“…” Van then turned his head towards the flaming arrow, only to see it still large even from afar… and growing even larger as it continued to fly away. Expanding and expanding, until it dissipated as it hit the Barrier, causing a firestorm that reflected brightly through his eyes– almost like a small sun.

But before it withered away, Van was sure that the size of the arrow was comparable to an entire country. The Olympians… were really this strong?

“You’re nimble.”

Van then turned his head towards Apollo as he once again heard his voice, even though they were thousands of kilometers apart.

“…Because I am Hermes’s son?”

“That lie has already been sold.”

Of course, he refused to listen– Van sighed as he once again watched Apollo draw his bow. But this time, the arrow was not exclusive between his arms, no. Now, there were several arrows floating around him– sizzling and whirring, excited for its head to pierce its target.

And with no more words to utter, Apollo once again let loose his arrows.

“…” This time, however, even with the threat of almost a dozen blazing arrows burning him into ashes, Van flew backwards; his eyes not leaving the arrows.

“…” The arrows really were growing, with most of them now almost the size of a small country. Do they continue to grow until they hit something, or did they have a limit?

Van then flapped his wings, gaining a considerate amount of distance from the arrows as he did so; but instead of moving even further away– he stopped.

And with a small breath, he rushed towards the barrage of flaming death. With the flaming arrows being the size of a country, the gap between them also reflected that– it looked small from afar, but now that he was in between them, the gaps were as large as an entire city.

Still, the flames were enough to make Van feel uncomfortable. The suit he was wearing now was provided by Vivati; able to withstand the heat of the sun, she said.

Does that mean each of these arrows… were almost at the heat of the sun? With the arrows flying in the opposite direction he was flying, it really only took less than a blink for him to go through them– but as soon as his eyes were focused, he saw Apollo already letting loose another arrow.

“…”

Van’s wings once again violently fanned, pushing him away even when there was no air to use as leverage. Van was going to rush towards Apollo, but soon found that the arrows were actually curving and heading straight towards him like a guided missile.

“Tch,” Van could only click his tongue as he saw Apollo once again letting another arrow loose. Seeing as the arrows could follow him to a short extent, they were probably almost as fast as the speed of light… but if it was just that, then it wasn’t enough to catch him.

The only problem was that the arrows were growing– that was probably the main reason why they could even follow him in the first place.

“…” Van looked at the tens of arrows that were shooting towards him before his eyes started darting across the Barrier nearest to him. And soon, his eyes caught the hint of a small white dot.

His wings instantly pushed him towards the white dot, and as soon as his hands were able to grab the white dot, which was actually a drone, he quickly flew away without pause.

And with him almost at the edge of the Barrier, the arrows no longer had the space to alter their path; causing them to one by one collide with the Barrier.

Still, the Barrier held– letting out a whirring ripple as an almost eternal flame attempted to swallow it whole… but failing nonetheless.

“…” Van could only watch in awe as the entirety of the Barrier almost turned into a wall of fire. If the inhabitants of this galaxy were seeing this, then they would probably think this was a sign of the end of their world… which was not really too far from the truth.

If the Olympians with their God Souls intact were already this strong… then one could only imagine what the World Eaters were capable of.

How… How would the others even have a chance of fighting them? Captain Ameera and the others said they were working on an upgraded ship– far stronger than any of their battleships. But at this point, then Odin was probably the only one that stood a chance against their enemies.

…Maybe Gerald, but that was just a weird hunch he had. There’s something… off about him.

“Anyone there?” Van then knocked on the drone he was holding even as Apollo once again let loose his fiery arrows.

“King Evans, I have been waiting for you to do this.”

And without even a millisecond of him knocking, a familiar voice quickly responded through the speakers.

“Athen–“

“We don’t have much time,” Athena interrupted Van, “We’re about to get on the Solomon, our communications will be cut off while in Hyperspeed. So please listen to what I have to say.”

“…”

“Apollo… he shouldn’t be capable of doing the things he is doing now. And there is no way he would have reached that kind of strength in just a hundred thousand years. We’re strong…

…but not that strong.”

“What are you saying?”

“Since you mentioned the World Eaters were System Holders, I have reason to believe that they have someone like Victoria.”

“V… Someone who can amplify powers?”

“Yes.”

“You know what I am thinking right now?” Van then let out a small chuckle, “We’re the budget version of these guys.”

“You… this is no time for jokes. What happened to you to change this much? No, that doesn’t matter. Listen, Apollo is–“

And before Athena could even finish her words, the line was suddenly cut off.

“Apollo is what?” Van muttered as he looked in front of him– his eyes, reflecting the firestorm that was threatening to rain down on him; hundreds of colossal arrows, thirsting to burn Van into nothing.

“Great…

…Should’ve started with that since it seemed important.”