Seeing the lust-addled goat walk straight in, Apollo immediately revealed a smug smile of certain victory, leisurely opening his mouth to announce the conditions.
"This time, we will compete in performing upside down..."
Upon hearing this, Pan instinctively touched his own goat horns, his expression changing dramatically.
Playing while balanced on one's head wouldn't pose much of a hindrance to Apollo playing his seven-string lyre, but for him playing the panpipes, it was an entirely different matter.
Breath control, posture, and fingering would all undergo earth-shattering changes.
In a contest between masters of equal skill, even a slight difference can determine the outcome.
Not to mention this utterly subversive performance method.
He had thought this was just a contest of skill, but he never imagined the illustrious God of Light would resort to such a shameless trick right in front of everyone.
Realizing he had been tricked into a trap, Pan was just about to open his mouth to refuse when Apollo turned to look at the audience below, revealing an extremely affable smile.
"Everyone, would you like to see who will be the ultimate winner in this unique performance?"
Instantly, the country folk in the crowd cheered and voiced their agreement, pushing the atmosphere to its peak, forcing the words of refusal back into Pan's throat.
In the end, the latter could only brace himself and accept the challenge.
The result, however, was obvious.
The upside-down Apollo not only fluently played a beautiful melody but also switched the tune to a rustic folk song familiar to the mountain villagers.
Pan, on the other hand, performed disastrously.
Not only did he need to focus on maintaining his balance, but he also had to explore new airflow control methods, resulting in a tune that was erratic, sometimes high, sometimes low, intermittent, as unpleasant as a ghost's wail, even not as good as an average second-rate musician.
Faced with such an obvious disparity, Midas, as Pan's devoted disciple, stubbornly continued to champion his idol, trying to use the favor he had just shown to stir up the villagers and help Pan salvage the situation.
"Everyone, I believe Pan's music is more exquisite! Whoever agrees with me, please cast your vote for this great musician!"
Faced with such blatant partiality, Apollo was uncharacteristically enraged.
He immediately walked up to Midas and sneered, "You fool, how dare you comment on what you do not understand?"
As he spoke, the God of Light suddenly grabbed Midas's two ears and gave them a hard pull.
"This should sharpen your hearing."
Midas hurriedly raised his hands to touch his painfully pulled ears, but instead felt a furry touch sensation from within his hair.
Using the reflection in a wine cup, he was horrified to see a pair of donkey's ears now perched on top of his head.
Overwhelmed with shame and anger, Midas's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
"Does anyone else need me to help correct their hearing?"
On the stage, Apollo scanned the surrounding audience, his gaze cold and gloomy.
Under the immense divine pressure, the villagers of Arcadia trembled in fear, hurriedly casting the stones in their hands into the jar representing Apollo.
Seeing Apollo resort directly to threats, the last glimmer of fluke in Pan's heart vanished.
Realizing turning the tables was utterly impossible, his eyes turned red with anger as he accused.
"I protest! This is cheating!"
"This was a contest you voluntarily joined! The venue and audience were chosen by you! Everything was above board! Now, according to the voting results, I have won!"
Apollo looked at the impotently raging Pan before him, threw the laurel wreath in his hand onto the goat's face he found so repulsive, and contemptuously snorted coldly.
"Then our previous agreement is invalidated. Get lost, you mongrel!"
The merciless humiliation, coupled with his believer lying fainted like a dead person on the ground, shattered Pan's dignity as he clenched his teeth until they nearly broke, a scorching heat surging in his chest.
Gradually, the anger and unwillingness condensed in his eyes, transforming into a hint of hysterical madness.
"Boom!"
A dull roar exploded on the stage as Pan pushed his [Extreme Speed] ability to the limit, turning into an afterimage, and lunged towards the Muses below the stage, reaching out to grab the goddess he had set his sights on.
If that God of Light could play tricks, then he would stop pretending too!
No one was taking away what rightfully belonged to him!
Yet just as Pan was about to succeed, the Muse ahead was violently knocked aside, and a familiar figure stepped into his path.
In an instant, the two collided head-on
"You~!"
Pan looked at Lorne, who had abruptly appeared in front of him, feeling both surprised and angry.
Yet, before he could utter a threat, a subtle smile flashed in Lorne's eyes and without leaving a trace, he collided with Pan's chest, forcing him back several steps.
"You're looking for death!"
At the same moment, a gloomy roar came from behind, as a sharp arrow of light shot through the air, straight penetrating that goat's head, booming, exploding it into a shower of minced meat.
The headless corpse staggered forward like a drunk, took several unsteady steps, then collapsed with a heavy thud. Golden-red neck blood sprayed out like a fountain, continuously splashing onto the surrounding earth.
As the intense bloody smell spread, the gathered villagers, as if waking from a dream, let out terrified screams and scattered fleeing.
Faced with this sudden bloody change, Artemis, the nymphs, and the Muses, all, shocked, looked towards Apollo, who had just struck in front of the entire crowd.
Amidst the scene of chaos, Apollo looked at the longbow in his hand and the now motionless body of Pan.
His boiling blood instantly cooled down, and he stood stunned on the spot.
He had only meant to teach that foolish goat a lesson just now... he hadn't intended to actually kill him...
And at the scene, no one noticed strands of golden mist seeping out from Pan's remains, surging through the earth into a certain figure's body.
Just as this God of Light's mind was in utter chaos, the golden mist was drained dry, and the necklace that had rolled off from Pan's severed neck shattered apart before a beam of golden-red blood light shot straight into the sky.
Immediately after, fierce winds howled, and Hermes, wearing his winged hat, winged shoes, and wielding the caduceus, sped to the airspace above, overlooking the gruesome scene on the ground and his son Pan's headless corpse, his eyes splitting with rage as he roared in grief and fury.
"A-pol-lo!"
Then, in extreme anger, Hermes pushed his [Extreme Speed] authority to the utmost, raised the caduceus, and charged towards Apollo, the murderer.
However, a golden arrow whistling through the air nailed itself at Hermes' feet, and Artemis stepped forward to reprimand.
"Stop, it was Pan who made the first move. He was inferior in skill, yet he tried to abduct Muses under my brother's command!"
"So, you killed him?"
Cradling Pan's headless body in his arms, Hermes roared back in fury
"That was an accident!"
Artemis immediately defended her brother, trying to absolve Apollo of responsibility.
Faced with the questioning, Apollo also maintained his composure, coldly snorting in response.
"He brought it on himself!"
Instantly, the speechless Hermes showed grief and indignation on his face, repeatedly saying.
"Fine, fine, fine! You siblings have two mouths, I can't outtalk you. I'll go invite our father god to judge this!"
With that, this messenger god heavily struck the caduceus on the ground, countless murmurs spreading with the breeze to the entire world.
As the god of messengers, Hermes was not only responsible for delivering information—he was also a master at keeping secrets, Zeus' most loyal cover whenever the King of Gods was indulging in affairs.
But now, with his son killed, the utterly furious Hermes no longer cared about concealing for that father.
He wanted justice for himself and for his tragically dead son.
In no time, thunderclouds gathered in the sky, arcs of flashing light converging above Arcadia into Zeus's figure.
Seemingly because his pleasurable affair had been interrupted, the god-king listened to Hermes' sobbing accusations, overlooked the bloody scene and Pan's miserably dead body, and displeasedly glanced at Apollo.
"You went too far. Apologize to Hermes..."
"I'm not wrong; he brought it on himself."
However, this arrogant male god paid no heed to the step his father god offered.
He lifted his chin stubbornly, completely disregarding Zeus's attempt to smooth things over.
Seeing that this son gave him no face at all, Zeus, who had originally intended to mediate, did not lose his temper.
Instead, he maintained his composure and spoke calmly.
"Fine then, tomorrow morning, I will formally convene a divine council to adjudicate all matters. Since you believe you're not wrong, then let all the gods pass judgment together."
Apollo nodded without hesitation, and then, after gathering the Muses at his side, he shot a cold glance at the furious Hermes and strode away.
Seeing the atmosphere turn sour, Artemis had no mind to stay longer. After casting an apologetic look at Hermes, she pulled Lorne and the nymphs beside her and headed back home.
"Father god, you must give me justice!"
Looking at Zeus descending from the clouds, Hermes could no longer control the grievance in his heart, angrily complaining to this father god.
"He dared to kill my son today, tomorrow who knows if he'll dare to go against you..."
Zeus glanced over, and Hermes' accusation abruptly stopped; he wisely shut his mouth, saying no more.
After a moment of silence, this king of Olympus looked at Pan's headless corpse, his tone softening.
"Alright, you go back too. Wait until tomorrow; I will definitely give you justice."
Hearing this, Hermes nodded fiercely, holding his son's remains, and left the scene.
Gazing at his two sons with starkly different attitudes before and after, Zeus slightly narrowed his eyes, a trace of gloom flowing in his deep pupils.
It seems some people indeed need a warning.
At this moment, Lorne, mixed among the nymphs, felt a tremor in his mind; from the altar came the familiar rolling sound of the twelve-sided die, and the golden divine oracle revelation emerged accordingly.
"[Death of Pan], completed."
"[Twelve Blasphemies] current progress—3/12..."
Immediately after, the golden divine oracle disintegrated, outlining a lifelike [Goat] phantom, embedding it into the third wheel.
Excellent, a trip out, and I've condensed the third incarnation; incarnation—this trip was absolutely worth it.
Many thanks to Lord Apollo for the goat's head… and for willingly taking the blame.
Lorne lazily stretched, looking towards the God of Light with a gloomy expression ahead, his subtle gaze sweeping over the Muses beside him, his lips curling up in pleasure.
Then, the next step…will be returning the favor.
(End of this chapter)