American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 531 The End of Revenge

Apollo wanted to retort, to roar, to summon a fiery torrent to kill this blasphemous fellow, but Rune didn't want to listen to a dog barking and howling here.

Human transformation technique activated.

Even when casting a spell on an ordinary person, this delicate art requires the caster to have sufficiently precise magical control skills; otherwise, a single mistake could lead to a grave error.

Applying this technique precisely to Apollo, the sun god, is even more difficult. The vast amount of magic within him would interfere with the use of this spell.

Using human transformation on this god is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, but Rune did it. Apollo's mouth disappeared, and then the flames around him began to collapse inward.

An incomprehensible and irresistible force pressed down on Apollo, as if the mass of countless universes were pressing down on every particle of his existence. He felt his body groaning under the unbearable weight.

Bones, muscles, divine power—everything that constituted the substance and energy of Apollo was forcibly restrained by an irresistible will.

The god-king, on the verge of collapse, was in despair. His vision was distorted, stretched, and then instantly compressed. In the last moment before Apollo could see the human world, he subconsciously glanced at Rune.

The black-robed mage's eyes were completely calm, devoid of anger, joy, or even the satisfaction of a successful revenge. He seemed to be simply completing a task.

Do not!

His soul screams silently, resisting an end more terrifying than death. He is light, prophecy, the god of music and medicine! He should be eternal, illuminating all things! He should watch over everything, perishing with the entire universe!

How could he be defeated by a mere mage?

However, Apollo's resistance was destined to be futile against a mage who could withstand the attacks of a nightmare.

In Hermes' eyes, the current king of the gods, the once majestic sun god, was now being kneaded and forged by an invisible, immense force. His massive body collapsed in an instant, the dazzling golden light compressed by dark magic, transforming from a human form into an irregular, violently struggling purple mass.

He had considered hundreds, even thousands, of ways Rune could attack, but he never expected Rune to be so ruthless. As the purple cube was further shaped, its edges were cut and polished by an invisible force, and the torture finally came to an end.

The former god-king has now become a human Rubik's Cube, and even moving it is a luxury.

Hermes had to admit that Rune's punishments were quite ingenious; he really wanted to crack open Rune's head to see what was going on in this mage's brain.

But right now, the most important thing is to escape.

In any case, Hermes did not want to repeat Apollo's mistake.

The air began to emit a low hum, almost beyond the limits of human hearing. Hermes lowered his body slightly, a simple movement that created thousands of afterimages, as if countless versions of him were simultaneously assuming a starting stance.

Then, pure golden lightning stirred and roamed like a living thing, emitting a piercing light. Hermes finally took off, and the ground beneath his feet cracked the moment he stepped on it. A huge sonic boom came, and the shockwave hit Rune, but was shattered by the mage's slap.

However, Hermes didn't expect the shockwave to do much damage to Rune; he just wanted to get away.

Logically speaking, the Speed ​​Force is the source of speed. As long as a speedster with the Speed ​​Force wants to, they can increase their speed infinitely and even travel through time.

Users of the Speed ​​Force, including Barry Allen, Wally West, and other members of the Lightning Family, have all traveled through time, but Hermes clearly doesn't know how to use such advanced techniques.

Because Rune only used Time Reversal once on this divine messenger, he brought back this deity who had long since fled and thought he had escaped punishment.

Rune was reluctant to use time magic because he knew that anyone who manipulated time would be abandoned by time, but today was an exception.

Hermes, of course, was unwilling to surrender. He tried to escape many times, but each time he was caught by Rune using time magic. Although he had been with the Speed ​​Force for thousands of years, his control over it was not as good as Barry's.

What kind of work did Barrygan do? And who were his enemies?

Once you understand these two questions, you'll naturally be able to comprehend this bizarre phenomenon. Barry, Wally, and other members of the Lightning Family are all risking their lives to push their limits time and time again.

And Hermes? As one of the twelve Olympian gods, even if he wasn't wealthy, he lived a life of luxury. Where would he find the motivation to familiarize himself with the workings of the Speed ​​Force?

In Hermes' view, the Speed ​​Force was good enough as long as it worked.

By the time Hermes was pulled back for the third time, his face was filled with the most extreme fear. He rushed to a spot not far in front of the dark mage, knelt down with a thud, raised his hands high, and his voice was shrill and distorted with extreme terror.

"Stop! Great being! Stop! I surrender! I submit! This was all Apollo and Ares's idea! They bewitched me! I—I can pledge my allegiance to you! I can deliver messages for you, I can travel through the worlds for you! I know the secret treasury of Olympus! I know—"

He was incoherent, tears streaming down his face, while Rune's gaze fell on the god, his eyes devoid of any emotion, as if he were looking at a dead object.

Hermes was still trying to save his life in various ways, which made Rune somewhat suspicious.

"For you, death is nothing more than returning to the Pantheon and waiting to be resurrected. Pan has died many times, so why are you still so concerned about death?"

Hermes licked his lips. "If I answer this question, will I be able to live?"

Before Doctor Fate died, did you give him any chance to live?

Hermes' voice abruptly stopped; his mouth gaped open, all the words of pleading and loyalty that followed were swallowed back. The color drained from his face instantly, leaving only a deathly pale ashes.

Rune continued, "However, if you are willing to explain, I will grant you a quick death."

Apollo bears the greatest responsibility for the deaths of Doctor Fate and numerous Kamar-Taj sorcerers. That's why the runes inflicted upon him a fate worse than death.

If the person being targeted hadn't been so cruel, Rune would never have wanted to turn him into a human Rubik's Cube.

Although Ares killed a large number of Kamar-Taj mages, he ultimately did so because of Apollo's ambition. While he deserved to die, he didn't deserve to be tortured like this; killing him would have sufficed.

The same applies to Hermes. He neither participated in the killing of Doctor Fate nor did he do anything to the Kamar-Taj sorcerers, so Rune never intended to turn Hermes into a human cube.

Hermes simply didn't know that.