The Talisman Of Bathala

CHAPTER 12- Is Apol ok?

To be honest, Apol kind of hated himself for doing all this.

I mean, he's going to kill his friends- no, his family. People who had been with him all his life.

But he had no choice. All of them, even Bathala, a man he learned to look up to and respect, betrayed and abandoned him. He knows that they deserve it. It's the reason why he even went to and made a deal with that guy at all: He helps with Apol's revenge by helping him get stronger, and in exchange, he kills all the deities (excluding himself, ofc) plus a bonus so he could...uh, feel powerful or something??? He was still kinda skeptical, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

...
.......
But Talia didn't know anything. She was...a brand new deity. Innocent. On top of that, his sister.

....
..........
But then again, a deal's a deal. If there was one thing he had learned in this dump, it's that you gotta do what you gotta do, even if you don't like it that much, such as killing the people in said place.

'Speaking of that,' he thought as he smiled at them. "Well, we're getting off track." He proceeded to slash his sword three times, making three arrays of fire manifest out of nowhere and come straight at them. "It's time for me to go back to killing you."

Before it gets to them, Bathala casts out his hand and creates a shield made out of pure magic that absorbed the attack, saving them.

In response, Apol kept getting closer and attacked again and again, more and more spheres of fire gearing toward the shield, each attack getting more powerful, all while using almost no effort at all.

"Alright, let's do this." Ribu said, getting up, pointing his axe at Apol. "I'm going to beat you up for what you di-"

"No."

"......" Ribu looked at Bathala, bewildered. "What do you mean, no? I mean, if you're worried about us being hurt more than we already are, then just look out for us while we knock some sense into-"

"No. You guys need to go. I'll handle him, you three get everyone to safety."

Maya frowned. "I don't think so. With the three of us, especially with you, I'm pretty sure we can defeat him."

"You don't understand," Bathala said, sweating. "He has grown stronger, much more powerful than before. Even with your prohibited weapons (Maya flinched at that), it's still impossible. I know what he really plans to accomplish, and if you get in his way, I'm not sure if I can save you."

"You know," Apol exclaimed, walking slowly, albeit a little bored. "You should really listen to the old man. I have gone stronger." He stopped for a moment, pretending to think. "How about this: let me deal with this guy first," he gestured to Bathala, "While you guys run away a little so that you can enjoy your life as long as you can before I end it."

".....Forget it." Talia said, clearly not planning on going anywhere. "I-I'm positive that we can defeat him if the four of us work together."

"...." Bathala sighed. "Ok then. We'll do this the hard way."

He opened his other hand, shot a burst of light at the three and sent them flying away.

"Wha-OH COME ON....." Ribu's voice echoed through the hallway.

"....Well then." Apol said, turning serious. "Let's do this."

He charges toward the shield with uncanny speed, dark orange flames suddenly igniting, surrounding his sword as he goes closer towards his target: Bathala's face.

As his fist hit the shield, the thing finally broke, shattering into a million pieces, with Bathala barely dodging the attack.

Bathala slams his hand in Apol's chest with a slight burst of light, making him hit the wall, blood dripping from his lips a little.

Apol grunted. "That all you got, old man?"

Bathala runs to Apol and aims a kick at him, though he scampers to the side, so instead Bathala breaks a hole in the wall, his leg stuck.

Before Bathala can do anything, Apol grabs Bathala by the shoulders and makes him crash down the floor, breaking the wall entirely. (Man, poor wall. Also, how long is this hallway????)

He only got to scratch his skin a little before Bathala hurls him off of him and gets back up.

Unbothered, Apol picks up his sword and tries again.

Bathala catches the sword with his hands, cutting them a little, and forcefully throws it out of his hands.

Apol knees Bathala in the stomach, unbalancing him a little, picks up his sword again and slashes at him.

Bathala forms a shield on his hand to block the sword.

Apol continuously stabs at every opening he could find, though Bathala blocks it every single time.

Having enough, Bathala shoves him away with the shield, making Apol stagger backward, stunned.

Bathala swipes at Apol's legs, making Apol fall to the ground.

Before Apol even had the time to recover, wisps of ethereal light come out of the floor and fasten on different parts of his body, trapping him. Bathala raised his hand holding the shield as it slowly started to change form to a sword and pointed it at Apol.

"Last chance, Apolaki." He warned. "If you don't stop this, I'll be forced to kill you."

'...Well, that was surprising.' Apol thought bitterly. Even when he got, like, 5 times stronger, he was still defeated. But how? I mean, shouldn't the thing the guy said would boost his powers be working by now-

......
...What is this...empty feeling?

A feeling of hollowness and...a spark of fire and anger, but a different kind...like darker-

Wait a moment.

"...Huh?" Apol said, confused. "No...D-don't...we never...NO!!!" He started to thrash wildly, struggling to break free, making Bathala take a step back. "L-LET ME OUT!!! LET ME OUT!!! LET. ME. OUT!!!!!"

Suddenly, a burst of dark-red light resonated from him, blinding Bathala as he backed away and covered his eyes.

When the light was gone and Bathala uncovered his eyes, he was met with a fist to the gut, reeling him back a few meters and to the ground.

"T-This signature magic...It can't be..."

Apol chuckled, looking at Bathala with his .....eyes, which are completely red. Parts of his skin had shifted from its once golden brown color, to a charred black, with small red markings, all of them saying one unmistakable name.

' ᜋᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜃᜓᜎᜋ᜔.'