บท 3: Duel
"Apollo, what are you saying? It is rude to ask for a fight just after Karna becomes a god."
Artemis scolded her brother.
"Ah Artemis, it's just a friendly duel nothing too serious."
Apollo replied. Artemis didn't believe in him in the slightest as contrasting to her, his brother had a very degenerate and sadistic nature. She knew he was just looking for an excuse to torture the new god.
"Lord Apollo, you are our guest. We have immense respect for our guests, fighting you will not be the right thing."
Surya interrupted to cool down the mood.
"Ah Lord Surya, are you worried that your son will lose to me badly? Don't worry, I wouldn't think of harming him too much."
Apollo taunted Karna's father making the son angry.
"Father, it's our duty to fulfill our guests' requests. If it is what Lord Apollo wants then I should comply."
Karna wanted to try his strength against a powerful enemy but now Apollo also dared to disrespect his father, he deserved some retribution.
"I agree. Karna, Lord Apollo, I give my permission for you two to have a duel."
Indra said. He was very excited to see the power of Karna as a god. The more powerful he is, the better it will be for him as the king of the pantheon.
"Wait a minute, if there has to be a duel why not make it interesting."
Azazel came forward pulling everyone's attention to him with his words.
"What do you mean, Azazel?"
Gabriel asked the fallen angel with a doubtful look. It was extremely difficult to guess what he was thinking.
"A simple duel would suffice. How about some stakes? Both gods have something to gain or lose."
Azazel suggested.
Some like Thor and Sirzechs were excited about the duel to see the power of Karna but some like Surya and Artemis were against it for various reasons.
"I agree with Lord Azazel's suggestion. If I win, Lord Karna will become my servant."
While everyone was pondering the suggestion, Apollo quickly accepted it.
"That's preposterous!"
Several voices can be heard in tandem.
A god as a servant? That's even impossible to think of. No one would ever agree to such a condition, no one understood how could Apollo say something like this.
"Bother, that's enough. You are crossing your line. Don't forget that you are representing our father, Zeus himself. Sullying our relationship with the Hindu pantheon for your selfish desire is unacceptable."
Artemis cried. Even though she loved her twin brother, he was getting on her nerves. Their father will throw him in Tartarus if something goes wrong here.
"Lord Apollo, your conditions are ridiculous, there is no reason for Karna to accept those."
Indra refused Apollo's demand. For no reason, he would want to lose his fellow god.
Everyone agreed with nods. The Greek God was looking like a fool with his words.
"How about if I lose, Lord Karna will get my divinity of sun."
One after another, Apollo was changing the entire mood. Everyone looked at him like he was a madman.
Never a god will risk his divinity for something. And that too a strong divinity of sun? Impossible.
Sun deities tend to be extremely powerful compared to most other gods as because of the sun, life was possible on Earth. Some would even say that the sun was the center of the universe.
But because of the sun's divinity being divided among different gods, no one had access to the full power of the sun.
If a person would hold the entirety of the sun's divinity, he would be no doubt one of the strongest existence in the universe.
Getting a god's divinity can only be done by one's wish like how Karna got it from his father, Surya.
"Brother, you can't do something like that without your father's permission. Please apologize and take back your words."
Artemis kept shouting at his brother who paid her no mind.
Meanwhile, Indra looked at Karna as suggesting to accept these conditions for the duel. This opportunity doesn't come every day.
No matter how you look at it, it was a good deal from Karna's point of view as he had a chance to increase his divinity. Although he wasn't worried about these things and just want to fight Apollo for disrespecting his father.
"I accept your terms, Lord Apollo. I look forward to a fight with you."
Karna said with a deterministic voice.
With Karna's acceptance, there was no opposition. Even Artemis got a headache and ceased scolding his brother. No matter the conclusion of the duel, she would be at a loss. If Apollo wins, enmity will grow between the Hindu and Greek pantheons and if Karna wins, then their pantheon will lose the strength of Apollo.
---------
A massive arena was set for the battle between two sun deities.
For the battle, Karna put on a black body suit that tightly covered his body leaving only his chest in the open. Other than that he wore basic armor for defense.
He stood calmly at one end of the arena and looked at his opponent. Apollo was excited for the battle as he stretched his body.
All across them, the gods were seated to enjoy the show.
Most of the gods including Apollo were sure that it will be an easy win for the Greek God of the Sun. Karna wouldn't be able to handle the god who had so much experience because of eternal life.
The only one who had no doubts was Karna himself. He was like a calm sea waiting to devour anything that tries to test its water.
"Get ready, you two!"
Surya announced.
Apollo's movements settled down. He was ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"Begin!"
As Surya shouted permitting the two to attack each other, Apollo shot toward Karna at the speed of light. With his extreme speed, he wished to end this duel as soon as possible.
In not even a blink of an eye he reached in front of Karna with a winning smile, ready to give him a fatal blow.
'An easy victory.'
During all this time, though how little it was, Karna wasn't able to move even a muscle. His victory was set in stone. No way in hell the new god could dodge his attack.
Drunk with his imminent victory, Apollo felt something hot on the left side of his face. His eyeballs instinctively turned to the left and soon widened in horror as he saw the sun approaching his face.
~Thud ~Crack
He felt a punch hitting his face, breaking his jaw. And the force was so much that he was thrown at the boundary. The punch was not only filled to the brim with power but had the intensity of the sun. One-third of Apollo's face had been burned, although it could heal after a few days.
All the spectators were shocked. Most of the gods weren't even able to follow Apollo's speed but now he was sent flown by Karna? Expectations had been reserved as there was a clear chance of Karna winning.
Apollo was barely able to stand up. His body was shaking with the immense power of Karna's punch. He looked at his opponent who hadn't even broken a sweat countering him.
"Yu... ar... ghoo...."
Apollo instantly remember that his jaw had been shattered when he tried to speak. Karna wasn't an opponent he could take lightly. Not only he was immensely beautiful but powerful too.
Karna was unimpressed. Apollo wasn't that strong of god he expected. He could have easily defeated him even as a mortal albeit with some difficulty.
He could have attacked Apollo but didn't want to when he was in a weak state. He gave him some time to take care of himself.
Seeing that Karna wasn't attacking Apollo became enraged and once again began his attack.
Unlike before it was a continuous barrage of attacks with his guard up. He moved at great speed all over the arena and attacked Karna with punches and kicks.
~Thud ~Thud ~Crack ~Crack
Karna could feel the intensity of his attacks. He was much fiercer than before as Apollo managed to land some hits on him albeit none were any serious.
Meanwhile, Apollo's whole body was covered in blood, bruises, and burn marks. Karna's counterattacks had left many ribs and bones in his body broken such that he could move with speed like before. He couldn't even be identified.
The scene was horrifying. Apollo was one of the strongest gods in the Greek pantheon and he was being played by a new god. None could believe their eyes.
'Just how powerful this man is.'
Artemis hadn't even blinked since the duel started. His brother who was prideful of his manly beauty looked like a roasted chicken.
Sirzechs had covered the little girl's eyes to protect her childlike fragile mind from seeing such a horrifying sight of Apollo. But she was adamant about seeing Karna ignoring the burned sun god and tried to push Sirzechs hands off her eyes.
Apollo was scared. Not only he would lose any respect others would have for him for losing in such a disgraceful manner but more importantly he would lose his strongest divinity. He had to win at any cost and for that, he brought out his lyre.
The lyre was the signature weapon of the Greek god of the sun.
In response to Apollo taking out his weapon, Karna brought out his divine bow, Vijaya.
"O Lord Shiva, bless me with your power."
Karna prayed to the owner of the divine bow, God Shiva.
Vijaya was the strongest bow in the existence and was passed down to Karna from his teacher, Parasuraman, who had gotten it from Shiva himself.
Karna pulled the string of the bow and aimed it toward Apollo. He chanted a mantra and a beautiful arrow with its tip shaped as a sun materialized on the bow.
Before he could fire the bow at Apollo, the Greek god moved his fingers fiercely on his lyre causing sharp sounds.
~Slash ~Slash
Several cuts appeared on Karna's body making him bleed. The cuts were many but not too deep so Karna wasn't even fazed by it.
"I show you my respect, Lord Apollo, for fighting in this duel."
"Suryastra!"
Karna said with a smile and fired his divine arrow.
A thunderous sound appeared in the sky as Karna fired with that bow.
As the arrow flew towards Apollo, a whole sun materialized at its tip. Apollo couldn't understand how powerful this weapon was. Even though he was a sun god, he was so scared by this weapon that he couldn't even move.
Even the spectators could feel how hot it was.
Suryastra was divine astra made by Surya himself which materialized a sun when fired to destroy its opponents. But he had to say that when invoked by his son, the astra had more power.
He closed his eyes waiting for his doom. He didn't know if he would remain alive if it hit him.
"I surrender."
Just before the burning sun was a few centimeters away from his face, Apollo said in a low voice, his pride not letting him accept his defeat. But the might of the man in front of him was a lot bigger than his tiny pride.
The moment he said those words, the astra cooled down and disappeared, not harming him in the slightest.
As he had surrendered, Karna had no reason to attack so he had called his astra back.
It took a minute for everyone to realize that the duel had ended with a one-sided victory.
"The winner is Karna, the Hindu God of the Sun!"
Surya announced with pride, happiness, and tears in his eyes.
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