Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The winters in Athens were very cold.

The exhaled breath would turn into a vast expanse of white mist.

Fu Li didn't much like going outside. His body moved before his brain did, subconsciously liking to stay by Apollo's side.

The moment he got close to him, the winter chill would dissipate.

Apollo was a human-shaped little sun. Fu Li exhaled a breath of air, just to amuse himself.

Celebrating the new year seemed to be a universal custom around the world.

When he walked down the main street of Athens bundled in thick clothes, he saw many residents buying decorations.

Praying for a bountiful harvest in the new year.

Apollo had put on a disguise and walked down the street with extreme boredom.

Children chased each other, laughing and giggling. Occasionally, seeing small candies, they would ask the adults for a bit of money.

The people coming and going wore smiles on their faces, wishing each other good luck for the new year.

Such an atmosphere made him smile involuntarily.

Such a nostalgic time.

In the past, in the small city-state, such activities simply couldn't be held at all.

Now, instead, it reminded him of the time before he had transmigrated.

The end of the year in modern times was also the liveliest period.

Students and office workers would all be on holiday. Many people gathered together. Homes were packed with family members you ordinarily wouldn't see.

He didn't have many friends in the modern world. As for family...

Fu Li was an orphan.

A sense of ritual would make him feel that he wasn't so alone after all.

Fu Li thought of staying up late on New Year's Eve and the reunion dinner.

He was going to cook, make a big feast!

Apollo naturally also came over.

First, buy some ingredients!

Fu Li bought quite a bit of flour from an Athenian vendor and also purchased a few larger wooden bowls. In a small, niche shop, he managed to buy some small chili peppers.

Apollo was dispatched by him to buy fresh meat.

When Fu Li saw him directly hefting an entire pig back, he generally felt as if Apollo's character setting had collapsed.

Thinking again, he found it wasn't wrong. After all, Greek gods could even accept turning into animals for trysts.

When kneading dough in the kitchen, Fu Li originally didn't want to let Apollo participate.

The other party, as a native-born Greek god, had no such experience. But he couldn't stand Apollo insisting on joining in.

He could only briefly teach him how to knead dough. Then Apollo smoothly turned the flour into pancakes.

Apollo: ...

There was something wrong with this flour.

So Apollo went to slaughter the pig.

His technique was outstanding.

Even the cow seeing it wouldn't dare come out.

Fu Li continued his dough kneading. Quite a bit of flour got on his face, making him look like a little calico cat.

After Apollo finished slaughtering the pig, he separated the meat Fu Li wanted.

The rest he placed in a wooden basin to remove the gamey smell.

"Cough, cough..."

Fu Li choked on the flour and coughed a few times.

Apollo walked over and reached out his fingertip to wipe his face.

Not only did he not wipe it off, but the more he wiped, the more evenly it spread.

Apollo, whose artistic obsession had flared up, simply wiped a lily flower onto his face.

Fu Li was quite speechless and let him be. The new year was almost here, he didn't want to get angry.

He lowered his head and continued his battle.

Watching his gaze move away, Apollo felt a bit displeased.

To recapture Fu Li's attention, he said words he himself didn't understand. "...How do you make this?"

He picked up a piece of dough and clumsily imitated Fu Li's motions.

"Eh?"

Fu Li was surprised. Apollo actually didn't force-ripen the flour.

Could the God of Light also be tempted by dumplings?

After receiving Fu Li's gaze, Apollo used his actions to prove that the great God of Light had only suffered a temporary setback.

Mere dough kneading was a piece of cake!

Fu Li thought for a moment and taught Apollo the method of wrapping.

Apollo was somewhat clumsy at first, but he quickly became proficient and did a decent job of it.

Then he began to improvise, pinching dumplings into a great many shapes.

Among them, the most numerous were lily shapes.

Seeing this, Fu Li asked curiously, "Apollo, do you like lilies very much?"

Apollo said vaguely, "I suppose so."

Actually, it was because he felt Fu Li and lilies were very alike.

The dumplings bobbed up and down in the boiling water. The rising steam blurred the window by the stove and also blurred the contours of this God of Light's profile.

He placed one plump white dumpling after another into the plate, somewhat unpracticed.

The New Year's Eve dinner was more than just dumplings.

Relying on his memory and limited ingredients, Fu Li fiddled out a feast that, in his view, barely passed muster.

"This is 'surplus every year,'" Fu Li pointed at a fish fried golden brown. His eyes were sparkling as he tried to explain the ancient Eastern homophonic blessing to Apollo. "This is reunion. Dumplings are shaped like ingots, so they also symbolize wealth."

He saw the various dumpling shapes on the plate and added, "And your overflowing talent."

Apollo listened, picking up the chopsticks placed before him.

Fu Li looked helplessly at the stubborn Apollo.

After learning that chopsticks were an item used in Fu Li's homeland, he had become very insistent on wanting to learn them.

Just where did this competitive spirit come from?

He learned very quickly.

Although the dumpling he picked up would always slip back into the bowl unsteadily halfway through.

Fu Li couldn't help curving his eyes.

The next time Apollo attempted it, his movements were much steadier. He successfully delivered the food between his lips.

"How is it?" Fu Li was somewhat expectant, and somewhat apprehensive.

"A delicacy. And we made it with our own hands."

Apollo raised an eyebrow. Something they made was, of course, a perfect work of art.

Fu Li smiled and started eating himself.

After the meal, Apollo watched Fu Li bustling about excitedly and asked, "Not resting?"

"We have to stay up for the New Year's vigil." Fu Li looked up at him. "Until the moment the old year transitions to the new. It's said to drive away bad things, welcome good luck for the new year, and also let elders enjoy health and long life."

Apollo couldn't understand this custom of giving special meaning to a point in time.

In his view, the passage of years was merely the regular cycle. Light drove away darkness every day. There was no need to sit and keep watch through one particular night.

But Fu Li was very much looking forward to it.

Apollo sat down next to Fu Li, his back leaning against a soft cushion, his long legs stretching out casually.

"As you wish."

The long night was endless, the snow fell in silence.

After the initial excitement passed, a wave of sleepiness engulfed him overwhelmingly.

Fu Li first nodded off like a chick pecking at rice. Then his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. His body unconsciously tilted to one side, seeking a more stable support.

On the edge of his blurred consciousness, he felt a gentle force wrap around his shoulders.

It was Apollo.

He had adjusted his position at some point, allowing Fu Li to lean against his side.

"Sleep." Apollo's voice came from above his head.

Fu Li struggled to be alert for an instant and shook his head. His voice was muffled with drowsiness. "Can't... have to keep watch..."

"I'll keep watch for you."

Apollo stroked Fu Li's hair.

After hearing his assurance, Fu Li finally fell asleep.

This was the first New Year he had ever spent with someone by his side.

Apollo just quietly watched Fu Li's sleeping face like this, his eyes holding a tenderness he himself did not recognize.

After the onset of spring, everything grew busy.

Apollo had been very busy lately.

The expression on his face whenever he returned grew more and more solemn each day.

He told Fu Li that it was getting more and more unsafe.

The seal was not as optimistic as previously said.

When Fu Li asked further, he wouldn't say anymore.

He only instructed Fu Li to absolutely stay within the city-state of Athens.

The days passed just like this, one after another.

However, when disaster truly descended, it still exceeded everyone's expectations.

The earth kept trembling. Trees were uprooted and toppled one after another.

At first, only a low hum rose from the ground, like a giant beast turning over in its sleep.

Immediately after, the tremors became violent. Fu Li had just walked out of the house to check on the vegetable garden when he stumbled under his feet and nearly fell to the ground.

He grabbed the doorframe and looked into the distance in shock.

Thick smoke was billowing up.

A tremendous roar came from deep within the earth, as if the entire land was being torn apart.

Giant fissures appeared out of thin air, like wounds on the great earth, bottomlessly deep.

The few rows of wheat seedlings and grape trellises at the edge fell into them without a sound.

The land at the edges of the fissures rapidly turned charred black, giving off the smell of decay.

"What is going on here?!"

Fu Li heard the screams people let out upon seeing such a hellish scene.

The words had barely fallen when an even more terrifying sight appeared.

In the sky, the originally clear blue was rapidly covered by filthy clouds.

That cloud layer was no ordinary dark cloud. Within it, dark red and lead-gray vortexes churned, writhing as if alive.

The sunlight was completely blotted out. The world fell into a strange, murky yellow.

Was this what they meant when they said the seal was loosening?

On the other side, Apollo's situation was equally dire.

The worst outcome had occurred.

The Titans had destroyed part of the seal and launched a counterattack.

Leading them was the former King of Gods, Kronos.

"It's been a long time, Zeus!"

Kronos rushed out of the seal with the Titans. After being sealed for too long, not much sanity remained in them. Their desires howled that blood debts must be repaid!

"Father God, you're still as irascible as ever."

Zeus held his scepter in hand, the power of lightning dancing between his fingers.

Behind him were the third-generation gods, led by Apollo.

"Very good!"

Kronos sneered. Without hesitation, he hurled his power forth. The powerful magical energy stabbed murderously toward Zeus's face!

A single arrow neutralized the force attacking Zeus.

Kronos turned his head and venomously scrutinized the one who had come.

The silver bow in Apollo's hand hummed and vibrated. The light condensed at the arrow's tip was more blinding than at any moment before.

His molten gold eyes coldly locked onto Kronos.

There was no possibility of reconciliation between the old gods and the new.

"Kronos," Apollo's voice pierced through the chaotic energy turbulence, coldly pronouncing the verdict Kronos had already earned, "your era ended long ago. The Abyss is your eternal resting place."

"Arrogant brat!"

Kronos roared. What was this about an end?!

His era had never ended!

If not for Zeus, if not for him, the throne of the King of Gods would still be his!

It was all Rhea's fault! Knowing clearly that these descendants would overthrow him, why did she keep them alive?!

He swept his resentful, venomous gaze over all the third-generation gods.

All of these should have been eaten by him.

Everything he had lost, he would definitely take back!

He swung his giant arm, carrying enough force to tear the earth apart, smashing viciously toward Apollo's position!

Apollo's form turned into a streak of light, narrowly evading that destructive strike.

The space where he had originally been collapsed instantly, revealing the distorted void behind it.

"Agile son of a thief! Useless coward who only knows how to dodge!"

Kronos missed his strike, his irritation doubling.

His original wisdom had been worn away. Tear these damnable insects to shreds!

Zeus did not hesitate to bring down his most powerful lightning. Kronos's attention was drawn to him.

"Damned thief!"

His giant arm swung out. He was going to crush this most damnable thief dead!

Artemis continuously loosed arrows, nimbly weaving through the battlefield.

The Titans swung their inherent advantages, constantly trying to catch her.

Hermes seized every opening, harassing the Titans to provide cover for Artemis.

"Ah, it really did break out after all."

Hermes leaped forcefully.

The Titans' stature was far too much larger than theirs. Agility was the only way to avoid being outflanked.

"Did Apollo arrange things properly for Fu Li?"

Artemis dodged past a hand grabbing for her, another dangerously close call. Athena helped her block it.

"Athens has a protective barrier."

Athena said, her brows furrowed for once.

It was just a question of how long it could hold.

The Titans, as second-generation gods, had overall divine power higher than theirs. A protracted war was not their strong suit.

Zeus used his lightning to cleave off one of Kronos's arms. Kronos shrieked in anguish, but very soon the severed arm regenerated.

After regeneration, Kronos's attacks grew increasingly berserk.

Apollo continuously stood at a distance, engaging in guerrilla attacks. He kept attacking the joints of Kronos's newly grown arm.

"Damn it damn it damn it—!"

Kronos unleashed a sphere of energy.

A trace of vicious cruelty flashed through his eyes.

He struck heavily in Apollo's direction.

The energy sphere's range was too wide. Even if Apollo left in time, he would still sustain considerable damage.

"Ugh..."

Apollo spat out a mouthful of blood.

A thousand miles away, Fu Li suddenly clutched his own chest and also spat out a mouthful of blood.

He looked at the bloodstains on the ground in disbelief.

Apollo was in trouble.

He was in trouble!

This thought made Fu Li become unusually frantic.

Who could tell him what happened to Apollo?!

And Apollo, in the midst of battle, received this worry.

This kind of distraction was extremely dangerous in a divine war.

A Titan adept at concealment seized the instant Apollo cooperated with Hermes to force back a rock giant. He pounced fiercely from the shadows. The dagger in his hand, coated with poisonous light, stabbed straight for Apollo's back!

"Apollo!"

Artemis cried out in alarm. One arrow deflected the dagger's path but couldn't stop it entirely.

Apollo twisted aside at the last critical moment.

The dagger grazed past his ribs. The golden divine robe was torn. Pale golden divine blood splashed out. The edges of the wound rapidly took on an ominous purplish-black, emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound.

Intense pain and the numbing sensation of the toxin's invasion hit him simultaneously. Apollo grunted, and a flaw appeared in his movements.

"Ha ha! The light is bleeding!"

The ambushing Titan grinned maliciously.

He prepared smugly to press his advantage.

Zeus was furious. The might of his lightning sealed this Titan anew.

Fu Li suddenly vomited a large mouthful of blood.

A searing, burning pain engulfed him.

Apollo was now gravely injured!

Fu Li didn't know what he could help with, but he didn't want to just stand by and watch.

He followed along the path where the fissures opened up. The wounds on his body increased more and more. Fresh blood flowed continuously.

"Ugh..."

He furrowed his brows in pain. Another fresh wound was carved out.

Fu Li forcefully opened his eyes. He was now searching purely on instinct.

The telepathic link had been severed.

"...How can this be?"

Fu Li couldn't believe it as he touched his chest. The sensation belonging to the other person had disappeared.

He looked up in confusion. Before his eyes was the largest fissure leading to the sealed battlefield.

"No... can't be here..."

Fu Li bit the tip of his tongue viciously. The sharp pain brought a brief moment of clarity.

He gazed at that fissure leading to the deepest part of hell.

Within it, a dark red unlike anything of the mortal realm churned. The roars of gods and the bellows of Titans could be faintly heard.

He would die.

Entering would definitely mean death.

A mortal body of flesh and blood, stepping into a battlefield of this level, was simply seeking death.

Seeking death, he accepted that too.

Apollo must be inside.

Fu Li didn't dare to think any further.

He took a deep breath. The smell of sulfur and char filling the air made him choke and cough. What he coughed out was all bloody froth.

"At least... at least I have to see him..."

Fu Li murmured to himself.

The last trace of hesitation in his emerald-green eyes was replaced by resolution.

Using both hands and feet, he searched for a way to climb down along the edge of the fissure.

The sharp rocks cut open his palms and knees, but he felt nothing. All his willpower was used to fight against the divine might that assaulted his face from the depths of the fissure.

The further down he went, the dimmer the light became.

Only the flashes of divine power collisions occasionally illuminated the jagged path.

The air was scorching and thin, filled with destructive energy turbulence.

Relying on an almost instinctual sense of direction, he moved toward the area where the energy fluctuations were most chaotic.

After who knows how long, he finally climbed past the last protruding giant rock. The scene before his eyes made him suffocate in an instant.

The sky was shattered, revealing the distorted void turbulence behind it. The great earth was ruptured. Lava surged through the ravines like blood.

Titan giants battled with Olympian deities in a tangled mass.

And at the center of this chaotic battlefield, one figure firmly captured all of his attention.

Apollo.

His golden long hair had lost its usual luster. It was stained with dust and dark golden blood, hanging disheveled.

The once resplendent divine robe was tattered and ruined. A ghastly wound on his abdomen continuously seeped golden blood.

Every breath tugged at the wound, making his brows tightly furrow.

His complexion was an abnormal pallor.

His molten gold eyes, though still sharp, held an unconcealable exhaustion deep within.

Zeus was confronting Kronos head-on. Both sides' powers collided madly.

Artemis and the other gods were also bathed in blood, fighting everywhere, pinning down the other Titans.

Kronos poured the bulk of his crazed fury onto Apollo and Zeus.

Especially when he discovered that Apollo was easier to target than Zeus.

"Obstructive light! Perish completely along with your thief of a father!"

Kronos let out an eardrum-shattering roar.

His massive body suddenly contracted. He madly compressed his remaining divine power and his ancient, venomous curse!

This was not an attack, but mutual destruction!

Kronos sneered. His father had cursed him. Naturally, he was going to pass that curse on.

No matter who, don't expect to get off easily!

The black energy was like a venomous snake possessing life. It locked onto Apollo, whose aura was unstable.

All his resentful hatred was contained within it. Let you victorious third-generation gods taste it too!

Apollo had no way to avoid it.

"Apollo—!"

Zeus intercepted with his lightning, but what this curse carried was far too sinister and vicious. It forcibly broke through Zeus's blockade!

Apollo's pupils constricted sharply. He could feel the destructive threat within the curse.

Gravely wounded, forcibly mobilizing all his divine power to form a barrier might block most of the impact. But his divine essence would inevitably suffer irreparable damage, perhaps even fall into a prolonged slumber.

However, he had no choice.

He clenched his jaw tight. The remaining golden light around him surged madly before him.

At that critical, life-or-death moment.

A figure unhesitatingly placed itself between Apollo and the curse.

Time seemed to freeze in that instant.

All the clamor and light collisions on the battlefield felt as if the mute button had been pressed, fading into a blurred backdrop.

In Apollo's field of vision, only that figure that had suddenly barged in remained.

Golden-red long hair dancing wildly in the energy turbulence. A coarse linen garment stained with blood and filth. Shoulders so thin they seemed they could be blown away by the wind at any moment. And those emerald-green eyes.

It was Fu Li.

It was that mortal who always thought about farming in peace, feared trouble, and liked to use petty cleverness.

Why was he here?!

Why had he stepped in front of him?!

Why didn't he run!

Just stay safely in Athens, that would have been fine!

You fragile mortal, don't come out and get involved in such dangerous things! Haven't you always just wanted to live a good, quiet life?!

"Don't—!"

Apollo's thoughts came to a complete halt. Only a shattered, hoarse cry erupted from the depths of his soul.

He reached out his hand, wanting to grab something, push something away, but everything was too fast.

The curse, unhindered, solidly and truly sank into Fu Li's chest.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Fu Li's body shuddered violently, as if struck hard by an invisible giant hammer.

His face didn't even show an expression of twisted agony. He only widened his eyes slightly, as if somewhat blank and uncomprehending. Then those emerald-green eyes reflected Apollo's terrified face. The light in them gradually scattered.

"A...pollo..."

Fu Li's body fell like a kite with its string cut.

Apollo caught him. Fu Li lay in Apollo's embrace, struggling hard to curve a smile that said he was fine.

"You... are... al...right...?"

Fu Li labored to open his mouth, trying to make a sound.

He felt his life had reached its end.

Only one directive was left in his mind.

And one feeling of relief.

Thank goodness their telepathic link had been severed.

Otherwise, Apollo would have to feel this pain together with him.

"Fu Li——!!!"

This time it was Apollo's voice.

No longer a god's reprimand, no longer an arrogant proclamation, but a thoroughly shattered, collapsing shriek.

The sound tore his own throat and also seemed to tear apart the stagnant air over the entire battlefield.

The curse's black energy used Fu Li's heart as its origin. Like a living vine, it spread madly toward his limbs and bones.

Wherever it passed, his skin rapidly lost its luster, turning gray and withered. Vitality was mercilessly drained away.

Fu Li's breath was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, extinguishing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"No... no! Look at me! Fu Li! Look at me!"

Apollo collapsed to his knees, clutching Fu Li tightly in his arms. He tried to use his remaining divine power to infuse and dispel this curse.

Warm golden light poured into Fu Li's cold body but was like mud oxen entering the sea. In an instant, it was devoured and neutralized by the curse's tyrannical power.

The target of the curse was originally a divine essence. Its destructive nature against a mortal's body of flesh and blood and fragile soul was absolute and instantaneously lethal.

The power of the God of Medicine seemed so laughable and powerless at this moment.

He could heal wounds but could not fight against this fundamental obliteration.

"Father God! Save him! Save him!!!"

Apollo suddenly looked up toward Zeus, who had just cast the drained Kronos back into the Abyssal seal.

His molten gold eyes held unprecedented, frenzied despair and supplication. Tears mixed with blood dirt streaked down his cheeks.

Zeus descended, his expression grave.

He glanced at Fu Li, whose life force was nearly extinguished in Apollo's arms, then looked at Apollo. For once, Zeus fell silent.

"It is Kronos's curse, targeted at the source of the divine essence. A mortal cannot bear it. His soul and flesh... are both being thoroughly decomposed."

"No! You promised! You bestowed a blessing!"

Apollo roared out of control, holding Fu Li tightly, as if doing so could keep the warmth that was swiftly fading away.

"The seed of life! You said there was a seed of life! Where is it?! Make it sprout! Make it work!!!"

A complicated look flickered through Zeus's eyes.

He had indeed granted Fu Li a lightning blessing containing vitality, but this blessing was not something he himself possessed.

He had merely made the choice.

If anyone could save Fu Li, there was only one.

The Creator God, Chaos.

Zeus was uncertain.

He was not certain Chaos would intervene for a mortal, even if he himself went to make the request.

Moreover, the source of the seed of life was none other than Chaos.

Recalling the words the Creator God had spoken, Zeus found them a headache.

What the other party said was harder to understand than a divine prophecy. His character was so wicked that even Zeus had to concede inferiority.

Perhaps he had already taken action to save Fu Li, who knew.

But these were still just conjectures. Zeus did not wish to give his son false hope, so he could only remain silent.

"Apollo..."

Artemis landed beside him. Seeing her younger brother's unprecedented broken state, her heart ached as if cut by a knife.

She reached out to touch his shoulder but was repelled by the divine power chaotically surging out of control around him.

Apollo couldn't hear anything anymore.

He lowered his head and looked at Fu Li in his arms.

That face that always wore vivid expressions was now terrifyingly quiet.

Pale like the finest plaster. Long lashes rested on his eyelids and no longer fluttered.

The color of his lips was so faint they were nearly transparent.

"Fu Li..." he called out lowly, his voice trembling beyond recognition. He carefully touched Fu Li's ice-cold cheek with his fingertips. "Wake up... don't sleep... let's go home... I'll play new music for you... those vegetables you planted, I'll water them for you. I won't recklessly use my divine power anymore... open your eyes and look at me... I'm begging you..."

He babbled incoherently, like a child who had lost his most precious treasure.

Apollo buried his face into the crook of Fu Li's neck that was gradually losing its warmth. Scalding hot tears gushed forth, dropping onto Fu Li's gray, withered skin but leaving no trace behind.