Bell reached the massive doors, hand raised to push them open, when the sound of voices from within stopped him cold. He paused, pressing his ear against the door to listen more clearly.
"—God Apollo... How dare that ingrate Bell Cranel ignore you!? Just give the word and I'll mobilize the whole Apollo Familia to hunt him down and drag him back to you." Clio spoke with palpable anger, still nursing the stinging pain from the slap he had received at the banquet.
"My dear Clio, Bell Cranel is stronger than you, as he proved by defeating you in a frontal fight. Control yourself and your impulses." God Apollo chided, taking a sip of vintage wine.
"He might be stronger than me, but could he take on the whole Apollo Familia? I highly doubt it." Clio argued, believing they could wear Bell down with sheer numbers.
"My dear Clio, you're still not as shrewd as a captain of my Familia should be... Why target Bell Cranel directly when we can strike at his greatest vulnerability?" Apollo asked with a cunning laugh, malice dripping from his words.
"Please, share your wisdom with me, God Apollo." Clio replied, a fanatical gleam in his eyes and eagerness in his voice.
"Listen closely, my dear Clio. Bell Cranel might be strong... yet his weakness is just as great. I refer to his Goddess, Goddess Astraea." Apollo spoke with a ruthless glint in his eyes, taking another sip of wine to wet his throat.
"We kidnap Goddess Astraea, and Bell Cranel will bend the knee without us having to lift a finger." The god's words were merciless, a possessive light in his eyes.
Understanding dawned on Clio's face. If they couldn't defeat Bell Cranel in battle, why not target his Goddess instead?
"I'll follow your instructions, God Apollo." Clio spoke, eager to make his move as soon as possible.
.
... That was the moment Bell pushed the doors open and walked inside.
Apollo and Clio's gazes snapped towards him simultaneously. He wore a dark cloak, his identity concealed by the clown mask.
"Who are you? And how were you allowed inside?" Clio demanded with caution, unsheathing his sword and stepping protectively in front of Apollo.
"Jie Jie Jie... Hall of Souls. Evilus." Bell's words made both Apollo and Clio freeze.
Clio lunged at Bell a moment later in desperation.
Bell stepped forward; his hand chopped a pressure point in Clio's wrist, causing it to dangle uselessly, while his other hand buried itself in Clio's stomach, punching the air out of him.
Clio folded instantly, gagging on the ground.
Bell ignored him, reaching Apollo a moment later.
Apollo tried to scramble away, but one kick from Bell broke his leg, making the god scream in pain.
Before continuing, Bell threw an elbow towards the empty space behind him...by the time his elbow reached there, Clio had stumbled into its trajectory on his own.
BOOM!
The elbow collided with Clio's stomach once again, instantly rendering him unconscious.
Bell brought his focus back to God Apollo. His hand came down to clamp the god's unbroken leg, his grip tight and absolute.
He started to drag Apollo through his manor by the leg, the god screaming in response.
"E-Evilus scum... let me go! If you do something to me, the Familias of Orario won't let your Evilus go!"
Bell ignored his thrashing and continued to drag him, turning a deaf ear to his threats.
By the time Apollo started to take in his surroundings, the Apollo manor was behind them.
[Gusgam] blazed to life. Countless colossal swords made of flames loomed into existence above the Apollo manor, suspended in the sky like a sea of guillotines.
The night sky of Orario was set alight by those swords, radiating heat and raw mana in all directions.
Apollo looked back at the swords hanging above his manor with waves of shock.
It took him a moment to digest the spectacle. Afterwards, he looked back at Bell dragging him away.
"W-What are... you?" His voice shook. His body started to tremble with the first tremors of terror.
Bell stopped dragging him at the question, letting go of his leg. He then turned around to face Apollo.
"What am I?" Bell questioned himself.
Could there be any other answer?
His eyes behind the clown mask slowly plunged into abyssal darkness, sclera and all.
The left side of his clown mask dissolved into darkness too. His left torso and leg followed in moments.
Countless blood red eyes awoke from within the darkness, opening one at a time to peer at his surroundings.
A third looked at Apollo.
A third shifted toward a piercing gaze from the top of the Tower of Babel.
A third turned toward an invisible figure on a nearby rooftop.
His left side was only abyssal darkness when his voice rang out.
Staticky. Indifferent. Uncaring.
"I am... what the gods have made me."
The flaming swords descended.
BOOOOOM!
Apollo Manor was drowned in fire. Tremors shook Orario.
An inferno illuminated everything...yet it could not illuminate his abyssal darkness.
...
..
.
Apollo felt the world blank, his ears ringing, his mind struggling to process anything.
He collected himself after some time and looked back at his burning manor.
Rage twisted his face, only surpassed by the sheer terror he felt at Bell.
The god looked at the monster standing ahead of him, his voice coming out terrified yet wrathful.
"I w-will have your h-head for this... Y-you dog."
"Dog?" Bell's voice was indifferent, faint amusement underneath the glacial indifference.
"If I'm a dog then..." The abyssal darkness at his left warped, distorting into a dog's face with countless eyes.
"You're dog food."
The dog of darkness pounced onto Apollo's arm, devouring it from the shoulder down.
"AHHHHHHHH...."
.
"Rejoice... God, for you will not die. You have your sister to thank for that." Bell continued without a care, devouring Apollo's hand and that part of his soul, caging it inside himself.
"Today, I've taken your hand forever. However... If I catch you anywhere near Orario... the next will be your very life."
Apollo's cries pierced through the night, clutching his bloody stump that would never heal.
Meanwhile... the monster walked away, swallowed by the night.
...
..
.
Nearby.
An invisible figure shimmered into existence on the rooftop of a nearby house.
Hermes' face was grave. His heart beating faster than ever before. A terror sprouting from deep within him.
"Bell Cranel."
"Bell Cranel!"
"Bell Cranel!!"
...
..
.
Top of the Tower Of Babel.
"Haanh~ Bell Cranel."
Freya gazed at the monster she herself created. Her gaze obsessive, her cheeks dusted pink, her hands on her cheeks.
"You were created by me..."
"You can only be mine..."
"Bell!~"
"Bell!!~"
"Bell!!!~"
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
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[Author's Thoughts]
Was the chapter satisfying enough?
...
For anyone wondering... What Freya feels for Bell is possessive obsession, not lust. Since her 'Lust' has already been devoured and caged by Bell.