A foolish idea

(Apollo's POV)

When was the time I was defeated? If my memory serves me right then it was 200 centuries ago. I was defeated by my father. At that time, I was going through a troublesome phase of my life. My father took it upon himself and taught me a lesson. That was the last time I was ever defeated in a fight.

Maybe I had grown too arrogant. Only the god king himself is above me. Meaning I am the second strongest in the entire divine realm. That arrogance clouded my judgment. I became too arrogant for my own good.

I was called the strongest by some. That hollow flattery got to my head. I started thinking of myself as a higher being. I started acting superior towards others. Humans weren't even worthy of my attention. That's how I thought of humans.

I never amused myself with human affairs. I thought of humans as mere servants of the gods. But that proved to be fatal.

When I was away on a training journey, someone attacked the divine realm. I was notified of this immediately. But I paid it no heed. I know that no one can ever do anything remotely close to damage the divine realm. I thought it was just a fluke by the devils or other celestials.

But I received another message not long after the previous one. It said that my father has been gravely injured. He had lost his consciousness. That shook me. My father who is even stronger than me had been gravely injured.

He had even lost his consciousness. I stopped my training and rushed back to the divine realm. But I was too late. The assailant had already disappeared. All that was left was utter decimation.

The troops of the divine army were slaughtered. They were all cleanly impaled. With a gaping hole in their abdomen, the dead lay on the ground.

The generals of the divine army were injured. None of them were dead but their injuries were fatal. I rushed to my father's castle. It was nowhere near the castle I remember. The upper chambers of the castle were gone.

Like it was blown up. My father was receiving treatment in his private chamber. Mother was by his side. She was silent. She just gave me a look and looked away. She didn't say another word. But her eyes, they were filled with anger.

I guess she was angry with me. Because at the crucial moment, I was absent. How can I call myself the strongest god after Jupiter if I am absent during a crisis?

I gathered as much information as I could. What had transpired while I was away? I checked the recording of that night.

A clump of mana tore through the barrier and pierced the stationed guards. More guards came to intercept but that clump deftly impaled all of them. The numbers kept piling up.

It was like it had a consciousness of its own. Then it headed for the god's residence. It totally avoided the area where human souls live. I was convinced that someone was controlling that clump remotely.

But I found no lingering threads. Mana threads are common in remotely controlling a spell. But it had nothing of that sort. It was an independent clump of mana.

It decimated the divine troops, fatally wounded every general and headed straight for my father. He was standing at his balcony, observing the situation. He did not try to intercept the clump of mana.

He made a barrier to protect him and mother as the clump of mana detonated. The result was a strong explosion that destroyed his barrier and the upper chambers of the castle.

Mother was unscathed but father had already lost consciousness. The clump of mana disappeared and that was the end.

Who could do something like this? I was searching for an answer. But it did not present itself easily. I had to go around interrogating almost every celestial I could find.

No one was aware of the attack. But my interrogation had piqued their interests. They began to laugh at us as an unknown assailant had gravely injured the God King Jupiter. Father had become a laughingstock among the celestials.

I thought that the devils would know something about it. They just gave me a mocking smirk. One of them said that I should go to the mortal realm. I would find my answers there.

I honestly thought of killing that devil. How can a mere mortal, a human at that, breach the divine realm's barrier and do that? There are some mortal races that boast of their strength. Some are truly formidable. But humans aren't one of them.

I almost attacked that devil but I stopped. Father was gravely injured. The divine troops were low in numbers and the generals were injured as well. This fight would lead to a war which would be a very bad situation.

At a later date, I descended unto the human kingdom. They are devoted to us and worship us all the time. Their worship is praiseworthy so I wanted to begin my search from there.

I wanted to appear before the king and have him serve as my limbs while I was in the mortal realm. However, I arrived at an arena.

I wanted to leave immediately but I sensed something unnatural. I looked at the area while concealing my presence.

There is a stake which is burning. Someone is tied to that burning stake. A lot of people are witnessing. Is this a trial? I can see the human king. But the burnt stake fell down and the one who was burning put out the fire.

He put it out and stood there like there was nothing wrong. He was burning just a moment ago.

I prepare myself. That fire wasn't weak by any chance. If I let my guard down, it could even burn me a little. It is a spell cast after a chant with the name of the god.

Next many bizarre things happened. The king's entourage ran away. Many people fainted. The burning guy was asking the king a few questions.

But he refused to answer. After that his right leg was pierced by a clump of pure mana. It was fast as wall. He even cast Mute to silence the king.

This human isn't normal. His mana felt similar to the assailant clump of mana. His attitude is abnormal. And my instincts are telling me that this guy is dangerous.

When the human king revealed a prophecy given by my father, was surprised. Because I had no knowledge of such prophecy.

But suddenly he looked at me, directly in my eyes and told me to come out. I was concealing myself. No mortal should be able to see through my spell.

I undid my spell and charged at him with my sword. My instincts were telling me to run away but I wanted to get the preemptive strike.

The last thing I remember was that I was punched in my gut. After that, I don't remember anything.

When I came to, I was at the divine realm. I was lying down on my bed in my house. My servants told me that I was retrieved from there. But two mortals had noticed me.

I was told that I was punched clean in the gut and crashed into a wall which knocked me out. That mortal had enough strength to actually knock me out.

I was enraged. I felt ashamed. I was humiliated by a mere human in front of two humans. As a god, my face is well known amongst the humans. I had been sullied. I had to wipe this stain off my face.

So I tracked down that mortal. Gathered as many troops as possible. I even went as far as to borrow Cerberus from my uncle whom I seldom visit. The army was ready. I even included angels in my plan this time.

But that human was not a human to begin with. The moment our fight started, I knew that it was a lost cause. Because our fight was taking place on Gaia which should be impossible to travel to in a short time.

He casually teleported my entire army and himself to Gaia. He even gave me a chance to gather more troops. I subconsciously followed his every order. Like I was moving on my own.

He had a different feel to him. I couldn't feel a sliver of mana from him. But his pressure almost erased my entire existence. Like my existence itself was being nullified by him.

The rest is just a tragedy. He casually punched the air and ten thousand of my troops died. In a second, all of them were gone.

I honestly don't remember anything after that. I only know that I have been thoroughly defeated. He even had my own troops rally against me as they all fought against me. I did take a lot of them down but I was alone and they were almost two hundred thousand. Even if I was stronger, their numbers were too big.

I am now a captive of Clive Belmont, the person who thoroughly defeated me. I can't even think of going against him. I will leave my life in his hands. If he lets me live, I will live. If he kills me, I will simply die. That is all. After all, my idea of strength and pride has been shattered.

I am now thinking to myself that this entire situation is my foolishness. My foolish idea has doomed me.