Schiba, in a hesitant but sincere voice, invited Zara to sit down.
Schiba: "Please, have a seat."
Zara: "Uh... okay."
She took her place, attentive.
Schiba, his face flushed, stammered:
"Zara, I wanted to tell you that... that... you are so beautiful, hehe..."
Zara looked at him, slightly reproachful.
"So that's what you wanted to confess? If so, thank you, but I must go."
Already standing, she began to leave. Panicked, Schiba hurried to hold her back.
Schiba: "Wait! That's not really what I meant, Zara..."
Zara: "Then speak clearly. What do you want to tell me?"
Suddenly serious, Schiba took Zara's hand, his gaze locked with hers.
Schiba: "Zara, this may seem strange to you, but... I love you. I am madly in love with you. I want only you; I want to start a family with you, for you to be the mother of my children. You are so beautiful, so kind, and I... I am just a fool, an ordinary man..."
But Zara pressed her lips to his, interrupting his words with an intense kiss. Carried away by ecstasy, Schiba let his hands slide over Zara's hips, closing his eyes to savor the moment.
When their lips parted, Zara whispered:
"Yes... I accept to become the mother of your children, and to belong to you, Schiba."
Inwardly, she thought:
(I may be asexual, but I can transcend that... I know I am embarking on a perilous path, but in this moment, I seek only happiness. I just want to be happy, nothing more.)
She kissed him again, filled with pure joy, forgetting for a time the consequences of her choices. She lived in the present, and nothing else mattered.
Meanwhile, in the realm where Apollo was, he walked alongside the primordial demon Arophile. Stripped of his powers by Apollo's spear, Arophile was but a shadow of himself.
After a long silence, Arophile dared speak.
Arophile: "Lord..."
Apollo: "Yes?"
Arophile: "We have been walking like this for some time without exchanging a word. Allow me to ask you a question, if you will."
Apollo: "I'm listening."
Arophile: "You said this spear can track and deprive of all abilities. Does that mean you have other spears with different powers?"
Apollo: "Indeed."
Arophile: "And what are their effects?"
Apollo: "My war spear reduces the opponent to nothingness, annihilating all that constitutes them, down to their fundamental source."
Arophile: "So it could kill me?"
Apollo: "Without the slightest difficulty. It is with this spear that I have faced the most powerful demons. It submits my adversary at its peak!"
Arophile: "What does 'submit at its peak' mean?"
Apollo: "Demons live outside divine order, unsubmitted to gods. My war spear irreversibly submits them to my order."
[Apollon's war spear grants the Authority of Unequaled Submission: once pierced, the enemy is subject to Apollo's will, losing their states of existence, forms, legends, praises, and blessings, obeying only the god's order.]
The Primordial Gods are not only great commanders but also formidable warriors. Creators of all blessings and praises, of war and protection, they are immune to their own powers such as Omnipresence, Erasure, Enischytís, and Innate Blessings. No effect can reach them.
Arophile, sweating, thought:
(What horror... To submit to the gods' order...)
Apollo: "Fear not, I will not use this weapon against you as long as you remain wise. But if you disturb me... goodbye!"
Arophile: "What? You can read my thoughts too?"
Apollo: "Why be surprised? All mythical beings can."
Arophile: "True... But I've been losing my mind lately!"
Apollo: "Exactly... Tell me, are you alone here?"
Arophile: "Aren't you omniscient and omnipresent? Why ask me?"
Apollo sighed, sensing some insolence.
Apollo: "Because beings of your level can escape my knowledge and become undetectable. Answer me."
Arophile: "There are three primordial demons. You captured me, so two remain."
Apollo: "Perfect."
He summoned his spear to track the other two but was immediately attacked from both sides by two primordial demons. Effortlessly, Apollo parried their assaults, throwing them to the ground.
Apollo: "You come to me; that suits me."
One demon collapsed, disintegrating to dust. Arophile, stunned:
Arophile: "What happened?"
The other demon replied:
"This kind of technique has no effect on me."
Apollo: "You perfectly countered my source possession, unlike your companion."
The demon, mocking:
"Did you really think to defeat me with such a basic technique?"
Arophile: "Source possession?"
Apollo, surprised:
"You don't know what that is? It's a technique to take control of a being's source and do what you want with it."
Arophile: "But... that's a trivial technique; all spirits use it!"
Apollo: "True, but for an unprepared opponent, it can be fatal, as you just saw."
Arophile: "Indeed, used wisely, it can be formidable."
The demon frowned.
"He dares ignore me! You, Arophile, are a traitor!"
Arophile: "No, I am his prisoner; he holds me hostage. I can no longer defend myself!"
Mao: "If you say so... But he will die anyway."
Apollo, intrigued:
Apollo: "Die? I'm waiting, attack me then!"
The demon Mao rushed at Apollo and struck him out of the realm with an incredible blow.
Arophile: "How...?"
Mao, approaching Arophile:
Mao: "See? I am now invincible."
He transported Arophile outside the realm, leaving him at the entrance.
Mao: "Watch me defeat him."
Mao disappeared.
Arophile: "Wait for me!"
Mao found Apollo, surprised to see him unharmed.
Apollo: "Is that all you can do? What a disappointment."
Furious, Mao unleashed a flurry of blows, wrapping his fists in a burning demonic aura capable of disintegrating matter.
Mao: "Disappear!"
He then used a fearsome ability:
Source Destruction – a power unique to primordial demons, capable of damaging and annihilating someone's very source.
A light of infernal heat struck Apollo full force, making him scream in pain.
Mao: "Hahaha! What do you say?"
Apollo: "Aaaaaaaaargh!"
When the light faded, Apollo lay liquefying.
Mao: "One less god!"
He approached, triumphant.
Mao: "Since you are, like me, beyond death, I will seal you!"
He materialized a glowing cube in his hand, but his confidence wavered seeing Apollo smile.
Mao: "Why are you laughing?"
Apollo, though nearly dissolved, rose.
Mao: "How... can he stand?"
Apollo: "Hahaha! You think you won? How naive..."
Mao took a fighting stance.
Apollo: "Useless. You condemned yourself... vice versa."
He clapped his hands, instantly regaining full splendor, while Mao found himself in the pitiful state Apollo had been moments before: his body and organs melted, unrecognizable.
Mao: "What... is happening to me?"
Apollo approached, materializing his spear.
Apollo: "Like all primordial gods, I never fight with my true body. I simply reflect my opponent's. You thought you struck me, but you only struck yourself."
Mao: "Are you a demon?"
Apollo: "I speak of the body, poor demon."
He leaned in, locking eyes with Mao.
Apollo: "What do you say?"
Mao, gritting his teeth, growled:
Mao: "That's cheating... You're a fraud, incapable of fighting fairly! What a shame for a deity!"
Apollo stood, spear pointed at Mao.
Apollo: "Don't be ridiculous. I could have defeated you without using a hundredth of my power. You inflicted all this harm on yourself."
Mao vanished immediately, mysteriously fleeing.
Apollo: "Hmph!"
After a long run, Arophile arrived, panting.
Arophile: "Lord, where did Mao go?"
Apollo: "He fled. Since I no longer sense him, he must have taken refuge in the Dhama, where his true body resides."
Arophile: "How?"
Apollo: "He is no longer real here, having returned his source to the origin in the Dhama. He will soon disappear from many beings' memory. Do you understand, Arophile?"
Arophile: "Incredible... Mao was so powerful..."
Apollo: "Pfff... That's within reach of any being above existence!"
Arophile: "Hm... I barely finished my harvest to get here..."
Apollo: "Are you making excuses for your ignorance? Hahaha!"