"Whoa, hold on a sec." Mike walked to the fridge, grabbed an ice-cold cola, and chugged it down.
"Okay, let get this straight." He pulled out a whiteboard, writing 'Apollo' on one side and 'Butterfly' on the other.
"Apollo's existential crisis is like a tug-of-war. Leaning towards Apollo makes him weaker. Leaning towards Butterfly makes him stronger?"
Foreskin nodded. "That's a decent analogy."
"So, as long as he's still on the fence, he's okay?"
"Correct." Foreskin walked to the whiteboard and added another word: "Unstable."
"If he leans too much towards Apollo, his power weakens... that's how his talent works, and it's also tied to his... well, his *being*."
If Apollo beca too weak, the Supre Demon God, always lurking in the shadows, would seize the opportunity to strike.
And without a Supre Being to protect them, humanity would be toast.
"If he leans too much towards Butterfly," Foreskin continued, "he could also beco unstable. Not in terms of power, but... he might lose his desire to protect humanity."
Mike understood.
If Apollo fully embraced his identity as a butterfly, a being of pure world source, then humans and demons would be equally insignificant, not worth favoring one over the other.
That's why Foreskin had asked Mike to chat with Apollo regularly, to keep him grounded.
Talk therapy, Supre Being edition.
Foreskin hadn't anticipated that Thor's talk therapy would be *too* effective, pushing Apollo in the 'wrong' direction!
Before, they had worried about Apollo leaning too much towards Butterfly.
Now, they were worried about him leaning too much towards Apollo!
Mike nodded, studying the whiteboard. "Only by maintaining balance can Apollo protect humanity *and* remain powerful enough to do so."
"That's the theory. And it's a real pickle." Foreskin sighed. "My boss assured that this wasn't sothing to worry about."
"Why?"
"Because before he figures out the answer, he has to throw down with the Supre Demon God..." Foreskin trailed off, but Mike got the gist.
Apollo's showdown with the Supre Demon God had only two possible outcos.
One: The Supre Demon God dies, Apollo wins. Problem solved. Apollo has all the ti in the world to ponder his existential crisis, humanity is safe, and he can finally retire.
Two: Apollo loses... In which case, the existential crisis becos moot.
In other words, Apollo wasn't expecting to figure out the answer to this centuries-old question on his own.
He was going to fight, and he was probably going to die. No ti for deep thoughts.
Coupled with the whole "Supre Beings are destined to die" fate, Mike felt a weight settle on his shoulders.
As long as Apollo lived, this question would haunt him.
He needed an answer, and answers required ti.
But the Supre Demon God wasn't going to give him ti.
"So... and I hate to break this to you," Foreskin said with a wry smile, "but your rapid growth... it's not necessarily a good thing for my boss."
The logic was simple.
The stronger Thor beca, the sooner the Supre Demon God would awaken.
And the first thing the Supre Demon God would do upon awakening was challenge Apollo to a duel.
Based on past encounters between human and demon Supre Beings, the odds weren't in Apollo's favor.
The faster Thor rose, the sooner the final showdown, and the less ti Apollo had. Mike waved a dismissive hand. "That's not my fault. Bla the Supre Demon God." "According to the plan, my boss will likely face the Supre Demon God in one or two months. And that's not enough ti for him to figure things out," Foreskin continued. "And as you know, there's been a slight... complication."
The "complication" was Shadow Nine's little escapade in the Supre Abyssal.
Shadow Nine had deceived both Apollo and Mike.
Once Thor was strong enough to fend for himself, Shadow Nine and Calderon had stord the Supre Abyssal, buying Apollo ten years.
Ten years was the limit of Shadow Nine's ability.
Whether it would be enough... no one knew. But Shadow Nine hadn't anticipated one thing:
Apollo, after observing Thor for a while, had started having... new thoughts.
"Don't panic just yet," Foreskin said reassuringly. "My boss hasn't figured this out in three hundred years. He's not going to crack the code in a few days."
Even another three hundred years might not be enough for Apollo to find the answer.
"Actually, there's sothing I didn't tell you." Mike rubbed his temples. "Your boss told that Shadow Nine should be back in about three months."
Foreskin: ???
"So, that ans..."
Both of them were smart, and they both knew Apollo well.
Three months was the tifra Apollo had given.
Shadow Nine, safe within the Supre Abyssal, could stay as long as he wanted.
Why three months?
Because Apollo believed he would have his answer by then!
And once he had his answer, he could retrieve his instructor and face the Supre Demon
God...
The countdown had begun: three months.
"Look on the bright side, we have three months," Mike said. "I'll reach level 999 within three
months, and then I can help Apollo. No problem!"
Foreskin sighed.
It was too early to be making such bold claims.
He knew better than Mike what had happened to the previous Supre Beings.
And without a complete Supre Mark, Thor wouldn't be much help in the final showdown.
Mike tapped the whiteboard. "There has to be *sothing* we can do."
"There is." Foreskin nodded. "We wait for news from Shadow Nine, then we talk to Ares. And
if all else fails, we bring in Master Fool..."
They would gather as many people as possible and find a way to help Apollo.
"By the way, where did you get all this historical information?" Mike asked suddenly. "Not that I don't trust you, but you know Shadow Nine and his... creative history. What if, hypothetically speaking, your information is also fabricated?"
Foreskin chuckled, dispelling Mike's concerns. "Easy. I have firsthand sources. Guaranteed
authentic!"
"How authentic?"
"Let's just say..." Foreskin paused, searching for the right words. "I fully funded the first expedition to the Tower of Truth. Does that answer your question?"
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