Leon POV
Skadi staggered back from my punch but caught herself almost instantly, her movements fluid and calculated despite being blinded and deafened. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and gave me a cold and impressed look.
"Not bad," she said, "Stronger than most gods, even. But I'm not Hermes. I've been a huntress for centuries, and you're not the first mortal I've preyed upon."
Before I could even react, she moved with a speed that left me no time to counter. She grabbed my arm, using my own strength against me, twisting my momentum so that I stumbled forward. The next thing I knew, her knee slammed into my ribs with brutal precision. I gasped, feeling the wind knocked out of me as I crumpled to the ground.
Mike was already charging back in, trying to help, but Skadi was relentless. She spun around, dodging his strikes effortlessly, her movements as precise as ever. It was as if losing her sight and hearing didn't matter at all. Mike threw a punch, but she sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and flipped him over her shoulder with ease. He hit the sand hard, coughing, struggling to get back up.
I tried to push myself to my feet, but Skadi was already on me again. She pressed a boot to my chest, pinning me down with surprising strength.
"You rely too much on brute force," she taunted me, "Strength means nothing if you don't know how to use it."
I swung at her again, but she sidestepped with ease, her movements far too precise for someone who couldn't see or hear. How was she doing this?
"You don't get it, do you?" she continued, as if reading my thoughts. "I've hunted in darkness, in silence. I don't need my senses to find my prey. I can feel the air shift, the vibrations of your footsteps. You're predictable."
She grabbed Mike by the arm again, this time slamming him down into the sand so hard it knocked the breath out of him. He groaned, struggling to stand but couldn't. I pushed myself up, panting, the pain in my ribs making it hard to breathe. I was stronger than her...I knew I was...but every time I tried to use my strength, she turned it against me, twisting, redirecting, and countering with frightening precision. What an annoying bitch.
I charged in from a different angle this time, but it still didn't work. Skadi twisted away from my next attack as if she could sense my every move. I gritted my teeth, trying to focus on her movements, but the fight was slipping out of control. Every punch, every strike was met with swift, effortless counters. She wasn't just strong; she was terrifyingly skilled.
"We still got the net, right?" Mike asked as he got to my side after Skadi got a good distance away from us.
Before I could answer, a deafening explosion erupted in the distance. Flames shot into the sky, bright enough to blind us momentarily. The heat hit us like a wave, turning the very air around us scorching. I turned my head in time to see Apollo break free from his snow prison, fire engulfing him as his body radiated raw power. The flames were so intense that the sand beneath him began to melt, turning into jagged shards of glass that reflected the destruction.
The armored gargoyles that had been descending on us didn't stand a chance. Apollo's flames consumed them, reducing their armored forms to smoldering ash in seconds. His power was so overwhelming that he was wiping out even his own allies as if nothing mattered but his own rage.
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Skadi glanced in Apollo's direction, but she gun a dagger in her hands now, she was making herself open on purpose.
"He's going to destroy everything at this rate," she muttered.
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3rd Person POV
"He's always been powerful...He just never knew how to truly use it...why now...damn..." Artemis cursed under her breath as Apollo started going on offense.
Artemis gave Evelyn a signal to stay back as she summoned a bow. Artemis' bow glowed with silvery light, while Evelyn summoned her own powers of snow, swirling around them like a protective barrier. But Apollo wasn't holding back anymore. His face had hardened with resolve, and suddenly, dark arrows manifested in his hands, plague arrows, radiating with malevolent energy. He loosed them at once, aiming not just at Artemis, but at Evelyn as well.
Artemis was quick, her own arrows intercepting Apollo's, deflecting them with calculated precision. Each collision sent sparks of energy rippling through the air, but Evelyn could see that it was becoming a war of attrition. The plague arrows were relentless, and Apollo was starting to gain ground.
"He's serious now," Evelyn thought, her heart pounding as the heat from Apollo's sun-blessed power intensified.
Apollo's aura flared brighter, and suddenly he channeled more of the sun's energy, the heat distorting the air around him. He was using his full strength, and the battlefield was scorching under his influence. But Artemis stood her ground, calling on the cold, serene power of the moon to counter his light.
Evelyn was captivated by the raw display of strength and skill, but she couldn't stand idle. She summoned more snow, weaving it into a swirling vortex around Artemis to help cool the air and balance out the blazing heat Apollo was emanating. The snowflakes danced in the air, reflecting the light in shimmering patterns, but even then, Evelyn knew it wasn't enough to tilt the fight. Not yet.
Apollo, sensing the shift in the battle, suddenly turned his focus, his eyes narrowing. At first, Evelyn thought he was aiming at her, and her breath caught in her throat, but no...his gaze shifted toward Leon's direction.
"Wait, no!" Artemis' voice rang out as the arrows flew at Leon and Mike.
Viper saw that and tried to cast a shadow barrier, but it got easily broken through as Artemis shot her arrows to intercept Apollo's.
Artemis barely managed to shoot an arrow to intercept it, but she was too late to react to Apollo's next move. With a quick, deadly precision, Apollo turned back to Evelyn and unleashed a flare of flames at her. The fiery blast came fast, and Evelyn barely had time to react. She raised her hands, instinctively summoning a wall of snow to shield herself, but the force of the flames shattered through it before Artemis lunged at her and sent them both to the ground, barely escaping the attack. The heat still somehow seared her skin, and for a moment, the world spun around her.
Apollo was winning now. Artemis was strong, but even she couldn't hold him off much longer at this rate. Just as Evelyn struggled to regain her footing, a sudden, unnerving darkness began to creep across the battlefield. The temperature dropped, and for the first time in the battle, Apollo hesitated, his flames flickering uncertainly.
A presence, dark and commanding, descended upon the scene, and Evelyn felt it—a goddess. The aura was suffocating, a cold wave of malice that seemed to sap the strength from everything around it. Artemis, standing next to her, muttered something under her breath, her voice barely audible over the sudden stillness.
"Nemesis…" she muttered, "Fuck, we gotta run...tell the others to retreat, I'll keep my word and delay them...go!"
"Go? I was about to help you guys, so at least stay and thank me." a female voice said before giggling.
Evelyn's eyes widened as the new figure emerged from the shadows, her form cloaked in darkness. It was Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, and to Evelyn's surprise, she wasn't here to help Apollo as she immediately cast a shroud of darkness over him.
"...Why are you helping us?" Artemis asked cautiously.
"Simple, I was told to." Nemesis shrugged before turning to Apollo's direction, "Now, let's finish this, shall we? Your time in the mortal realm weakened you quite a bit."