As Apollo walked through the desolate, despair-filled streets of Munich, he continued to slay many magic beasts.
He had already seen many others fighting these creatures, but they were mostly unskilled and struggled greatly, even when teaming up with others.
Suddenly, Apollo overheard an interesting conversation.
"Guys, have you heard? There's a huge tiger near the zoo that can control ice. That thing is terrifying," a fat man said, his face full of gossip.
"Where is the tiger now?" Apollo interjected, immediately curious.
"Hey, brother. The tiger's on Hohenzollern Street. But I'd suggest avoiding it—people say it's really dangerous," the fat man warned, concern in his voice.
"Don't listen to him. How could a tiger control ice?" a muscular man scoffed.
"It's possible. I mean, it's not too far from the talents we can awaken," another person chimed in.
Their argument escalated, almost leading to a fight. Taking advantage of the distraction, Apollo slipped away, heading toward Hohenzollern Street.
"So it can control ice? That means it's probably a beast in the Flicker realm, since it can already manipulate basic elemental energy. With my current strength and abilities, I'm still a bit lacking against something like that. Even with my power, beasts hold a huge advantage in the early stages of Aura's arrival," Apollo murmured to himself, debating whether to challenge the tiger.
"If I lose, I can always run away. Besides, battle is the best way to compress aura. Nothing to lose."
Having made up his mind, Apollo quickened his pace.
An hour later, he arrived at Hohenzollern Street and spotted the tiger. It was lying in the middle of the road, asleep, likely thinking it had nothing to fear.
Perfect.
Apollo quickly found a nearby building and pulled out his bow.
"Now's the time to use the Aurora Shield. Its divine properties can dissolve most attacks. Along with my Nemean skin, I should survive its strikes. The downside is that I'll need to use some magic stones to maintain the shield—it consumes a lot of aura for someone at my current level," Apollo whispered to himself as he began casting the Aurora Shield.
The process took about 15 minutes. When it was complete, a golden brilliance surrounded Apollo—a mix of sunlight and divine radiance.
"Now for Solis Arcus... Hmph. Celestial Wrathstorm should be the best technique here. It combines Heracles' strength and the heat of the sun with the speed of light. It should be faster than the tiger can react, and powerful enough to weaken it."
With the technique selected, Apollo nocked an arrow, letting his bow naturally condense an arrow suited for the tiger. As he aimed, the area around him became illuminated, like a flashlight in the darkness.
The tiger woke, sensing danger, but it was too late.
The arrow struck its stomach. Its instincts had helped it avoid a fatal blow to the heart, but it was still weakened by about 20%.
The tiger quickly identified the source of the attack and fled into a nearby building.
Apollo knew this was his only chance to finish the beast. He leaped from the building and sprinted toward the tiger's hiding spot.
Upon entering the building, he sensed the tiger hiding behind the counter. It was a clumsy attempt, guided more by primal instincts than intelligence.
Apollo approached carefully, sword in hand. He couldn't risk using another arrow—the tiger was already on high alert.
When he was about 10 meters away, the tiger lunged from its hiding spot.
Apollo, ready for this, raised his sword, channeling Heracles' strength to block the blow.
Even so, the tiger's strike was powerful, shattering through his defense, his shield, and his Nemean skin.
The beast's claws managed to scratch Apollo's chest, drawing blood.
"It's been a long time since I was injured by a mortal creature. To be exact, the last time was against Achilles when I was still a child," Apollo muttered before counterattacking.
"Eclipse Strike: First Technique—Solar Crescent!" Apollo shouted, adjusting his breathing for optimal combat.
This was the advantage of his intelligence and vast experience.
The crescent-shaped strike hit the tiger hard, catching it off-guard. However, the tiger quickly recovered, fighting back with renewed ferocity. It could only scratch Apollo, but likewise, Apollo's Solar Crescent could only scratch the tiger's skin, failing to penetrate its vital organs.
After about 15 minutes of stalemate, Apollo realized he couldn't afford to hold back any longer. He needed to end the battle soon, as the tiger had far more aura reserves than he did.
His own aura had already been heavily compressed throughout the fight.
"It seems I have to go all out," Apollo declared with a crazed grin.
At that moment, the figures of Apollo and Heracles seemed to overlap.
Apollo deactivated the Aurora Shield, allowing the tiger's next attack to strike him. In exchange, the release of energy from maintaining the shield surged into his body, fueling the second technique of the Eclipse Strike.
"Eclipse Strike: Second Technique—Titan's Eclipse!" Apollo roared with intense desire for battle.
Suddenly, something inside him broke free, and he felt a star cluster form within him.
He had broken through to the Novaris realm.
With newfound power, Apollo unleashed a flurry of swift strikes, each faster and more precise than the last, until he delivered a final overhead blow to the tiger's skull with Heracles' immense strength.
At last, the tiger was defeated.
But at a cost.
"It managed to pierce my stomach. Luckily, I was fast enough to avoid any vital organs. My arm seems strained too. I'll need to rest it for a while. Laurels Breath should heal me quickly enough," Apollo said, sitting down and pulling out supplies from his godhead to bandage the wound on his stomach.
He rested for a moment, leaning against the counter, then closed his eyes to assess his internal condition.
Apollo had broken through to the Novaris realm during battle. It had been a perfect success. Not only could he now use the second technique of Eclipse Strike, but he had also integrated Heracles' strength more deeply into his own.
After a few minutes of rest, Apollo extracted the magic core from the tiger, which was the size of a fist, and walked out of the building.
"My name is Apollo, the strongest of Olympus."
Suddenly, he glanced down at his stomach and sighed.
"At least, I used to be."
With that, a small shift occurred in Apollo's mentality. He realized that he was no longer the strongest god in Olympus. Now, he was just a mortal—one he sometimes despised.