Chapter 8: The Unveiling of Apollo

The heavy dark-iron chains holding Irene instantly shattered into harmless sparks as Alex waved his hand.

Irene fell into his arms. But instead of cold steel armor, she felt only gentleness and comforting warmth.

“Alex…” she whispered, looking up in awe at the radiant golden aura surrounding him.

“I am Alex to you, my love,” he murmured gently, wiping her bruised cheek with his thumb. In an instant, her wounds healed completely, her skin glowing with radiant health. “But to the world… I am Apollo. The God of Light, the Sun, and Truth.”

Above on the stone balcony, Duke Vane collapsed onto his knees, his golden crown falling off his head and melting on the burning marble. “A… a God? You are Lord Apollo?!”

Lord Hector’s legs turned to water. He scrambled backward like a crab, his face white as a corpse. “No! It can’t be! Apollo is a myth! He’s just a beggar!”

“A beggar?” Apollo turned his terrifying golden gaze toward Lord Hector.

Apollo drew back the golden bowstring of his divine bow. No arrow was notched, yet a shaft of pure, blinding solar energy materialized, humming with the power to obliterate mountains.

“Lord Hector of Vance Manor,” Apollo’s voice thundered, reverberating across all of Athens. “You traded honor for greed. You smashed my lyre, threw copper into the mud, and plotted to murder the innocent under my sun!”

Apollo released the bowstring.

FLASH!

A beam of light shot out, missing Hector by inches and shooting straight into the distant skyline toward Vance Manor.

Miles away, the luxurious, seven-story marble estate of Vance Manor was struck by the solar beam. In a fraction of a second, the entire palace, its vault of stolen gold, and all its silk banners were vaporized into golden ash—leaving behind nothing but a flat, scorched patch of dirt!

Lord Hector watched through the open arena archway as his entire family legacy, wealth, and estate vanished in a single breath.

“My money! My manor!” Hector shrieked, clutching his head in madness. “Everything… gone!”

Cassandra shrieked in horror, hiding behind her mother Lady Cynthia, who was shaking violently on the ground, vomiting blood from pure terror.

“You called her an outcast,” Apollo said, his foot descending upon the stone floor, causing the arena pillars to crack. “You stole her birthright and left her in the rain. Now… gaze upon the Queen you tried to destroy.”