Chapter 1: Difficult Path

A man stood strong on top of a mountain of dead bug monsters while his gaze looked across at the portal as more and more spewed out

"Apollo I don't believe we have much strength left after fighting all those Grade 15 insectoids" a massive viking with a jolly ginger beard said carrying a hammer with a small hilt but an absurdly big head

"Don't be such a downer my jolly friend, don't you love fighting" Apollo replied with the best smile he could muster despite his messy blonde hair and completely wounded body

"Of course I do but it was a shame that the rest of your weak pantheon couldn't come" the bearded giant replied

"Come on Thor you know it's not that simply especially with all of these high grade gates suddenly springing up and Zeus amd the others are taking on tue rest"

"Sure~ or maybe he just wanted you out of the picture" he said as he lifted up his mighty hammer

"Atleast my pantheon is alive" Apollo remarked

"I will kill you after this is done with" he chuckled before lightning sparked from his feet shooting to the swarm of bugs

"Well hopefully we can make it out alive"

Apollo smirked before banging his knuckles together to resummon his powers that he obtained from his legacy

A golden halo appeared inches above his head shining bright, his arms became covered with a orange strip circulating around his entire body

Golden wings sprouted from his wings before he took off to fight against the monsters beside Thor as each monster was being annihilated

In the middle while the onslaught was continuing a purple flash appeared out of nowhere knocking Apollo right onto the ground

"Apollo!" Thor shouted but didn't have time to react before being forced to defend himself

"Fuck what was that" he responded as he got up from the ground barley able to react when a punch came at his face

"Catch me off guard once shame on you" Apollo said moving quick to grab the creature's fist "but you don't think you can do it twice" he said pulling it in closer delivering another punch to it's face

He looked at the creature he sent flying and unlike the other monsters from the gate it had a humanoid figure wearing black armor from head to toe having sharp blade for hands

"That hurts" blood dripped from his hand since it was pierced by sharp blades but the injury healed within seconds

Apollo charged at the monster not giving it a chance to defend itself giving a barrage of punches

It quickly rose up back to it's feet but instead of defending it attacked back relentlessly

They appeared to be on equal grounds until he was stabbed in the stomach but managed to return the attack getting a point blank sun beam sending it flying as the creature loss it's left arm barley able to fend back Apollo's blast

"You're tough, though that means nothing once I end your life and get some hefty points to finally break through Grade 17"

Just as he was about to release another attack using a large amount of his Esper Power a sudden feeling of dread overcame him

He fell to one knee his sight becoming blurry and hard to see as he struggled to move

"Poison? How though!" He muttered shocked not because it's blade's contained poison but more because he wasn't instantly detoxed despite being the god of healing

Apollo stood up even enduring the agonizing pain of just being alive but he knew that if he failed to kill it then Thor might fail and many more would die

"Even if I die I refuse for such an abomination to exist" he said gritting his teeth in pain before charging at it

The brawl continued until both were completely out of tricks only resorting to fighting till one passed

Even Apollo had long passed his limit having disabled his halo already while his wings were slashed off along with being bled heavily

One decisive blow was all it took to end it for Apollo to come out on top albeit clinging to life while he stood ontop of the corpse breathing heavily

His eyes felt heavy unable to open them anymore while his tattered body was writhing in pain

"Damn" he spoke weakly under his breath "If I knew I would have died like this then I would have had one more round with Aphrodite" he chuckled

"If only I awakened 10 year ago when all this shit began then Nadia would be here, if only I wasn't so weak at the start. I can't fucking believe it took me the death of her to awaken and an additional year to make a name for myself" he muttered

'Well Nadia I can't wait to join you after all this time, I guess one can never forget their first' he remarked in his head not having any more strength in his body to move

"APOLLO you can't die yet friend" a familar brutus voice roared at him

"Thor you annoying brute I can't believe your voice is the last I have to hear before I pass" he spoke using what was left of his strength

"I will remember you along with everyone else who has passed. You were my best friend despite being from a completely different pantheon"

"Don't worry Derick, I'll make sure to tap Freya once I pass to Valhalla or whatever you guys believe in"

"Ryan.. it was nice knowing you"

"Same" Apollo finished his last words before the image of Nadia appeared before his mind

'I'll protect if you I ever get another chance' he thought to himself

For the first time in a while he truly felt at peace as the God of Sun was consumed by the encroaching darkness yet it was the most warmth that he had felt in some time

Though the peace only lasted for a couple moments before he was forcibly pulled back to life

"Ahh where am I" he rubbed his eyes at the sudden light that flashed him

He looked around the small room giving a sense of familiarity as he looked

"What is this place?" he questioned before another thought crossed his mind "Why is my body so weak" he wondered

Apollo quickly noticed the lack of any power left in his body only small fragments of his power around the same amount when he first awakened

It felt beyond strange being put in such a nostalgic place that he had forgotten about

"Wait? Isn't this my old apartment while I was in my final year of college" he said as the cogs began to turn in his brain as he recalled it

"Then this weak body must be mine"

He reached for the phone on the desk looking into the mirror of it to see a much younger person of him with shorter blonde hair but one thing that stayed the same was his nice physique

Everything still seemed unreal like some sort of dream but he played along and looked at the date

"From the looks of it, it appears that I have returned back in time yet it's strange I can feel that I have partially awakened already"

It became obvious that he had regressed to around 10 years but the date on the phone meant nothing to him as in the future people became too busy to keep track of dates and he couldn't even remember the date of the apocalypse

"The date.. hmm it appears that I have a week left until college reopens" he spoke outloud as he looked at his chinese calendar which had some notes on the dates

"Now when exactly did it happen" he questioned trying his best to remember when it happened before it hit him

"It happened on the second day of college when I went on a date with Nadia" he recalled "Wait, if I really did return. Then that must mean"

The revelation lit him up when he realized his first love should still be alive right now and he now that he had returned he would be able to actually do something to save her this time

"Nadia I swear this time around I will save" he said with conviction before starting to try get use to what was currently happening in present time