"Herme-

"Alex, he's much stronger than you, and probably on the level of Father, let me take care of this," Hermes didn't let him speak.

"Then you can't beat him!"

"Alex, I repeat, I'll take care of this, now, step back!" Hermes took Alex from his neck and propelled his body up above.

Before sending Alex away, he also took Prometheus from him.

Then, he placed his two hands on the ground.

Suddenly, Indra frowned.

"What did you do?" Indra swung his fist around, but it stopped in thin air like there was an invisible wall around them.

"In Olympus, they also call me....Lord of boundaries," 

Hermes continued, "You won't be able to get out of the boundary I erected, now, let's get this over with!"

Hermes wielded two weapons.

Now, in one hand, he had a silver dagger.

On the other hand, he had The Caduceus, his serpentine healing staff.

Indra shrugged and replied, "Then I'll take down the boundary on my own,"

The area inside the boundary was dry and free of any rain since nothing could leave it or enter it without Hermes' authority.

Hermes giggled and bolted at Indra.

His speed was his greatest advantage, and the silver dagger slithered towards the god's neck.

Indra didn't turn around, and his hand simply twisted around and grabbed Hermes' wrist and halted his movement.

However, out of nowhere, Hermes teleported away and created some distance between him and Indra.

'He's going to be an annoying opponent...' Indra remarked internally.

Meanwhile, Hermes observed his bruised wrist.

'Is there really such a big gap between us?' 

Hermes then shook his head and used the Caduceus to heal himself. The purple-ish bruise quickly returned to a healthy color and the fight resumed.

However, Indra was the one who launched an attack this time.

He had discerned that he had the advantage in physical ability and charged at Hermes.

Strangely, Hermes moved slower than usual, and Indra swiftly caught up to him and tackled him.

Hermes seemed to be completely overpowered by Indra, but the dagger that was in his right hand seemingly teleported into his left hand, and pierced itself onto Indra's lower torso.

Indra frowned and golden blood spilled onto the dagger.

Hermes didn't waste any time and teleported away before Indra could retaliate.

Alex observed the fight with awe and tried to help Hermes multiple times, but the invisible boundary blocked him.

"Physical attacks are not going to work on you, are they?" Indra said.

Then, the god pierced the Vajra into the ground, and white flames suddenly coated the entire arena.

The flames also halted at the boundary, and for the people outside, it made for a strange scene to see that the flames covered a perfectly circular area.

"Oh, Hot!" Hermes unfolded his wings and flew into the air.

However, Indra didn't have the expected reaction, and a cunning grin emerged on his face.

Since Hermes sealed off the arena from the outer world, the temperature inside quickly skyrocketed due to the flames.

Hermes realized Indra's plan and sighed.

His skin crackled in the searing heat and his throat felt dry.

Alex pounded on the boundary repeatedly and exclaimed, "Hermes, let me in, I can handle the heat!"

However, the barrier didn't allow sound to enter and Hermes simply ignored him.

Hermes used the Caduceus to heal his heat damage, and his skin shed repeatedly like a snake.

'We can't stay like this forever....' Using the Caduceus consumed immense amounts of Faith Energy, and he didn't have infinite reserves.

Hermes bit his lips and his only choice was a risky attack.

If he was able to induce sleep in Indra, he could land attacks on him and extinguish the unpleasant flames.

Hermes' sleep-inducing abilities, were, of course, much greater than Alex's, but they were unpredictable against gods.

Hermes threw Prometheus into the air, and successfully distracted Indra.

In that split second, he cast out his ability.

Indra's eyelids suddenly got heavy and his control over the flames decreased.

Hermes immediately grabbed the dagger and teleported in front of Indra.

However, the latter abruptly widened his eyes and took him by the neck.

"The trap worked magnificently...." Indra commented.

"I felt the effects of your spell, but they honestly did not work that well on me, so I pretended they did."

Hermes frowned as Indra clenched his neck even further.

Nevertheless, Hermes was able to use an opening to teleport away.

The messenger god coughed repeatedly and tried to regain his breath.

A red line was visible over his neck.

He sluggishly healed himself using his staff and contemplated his options.

"F*ck! Why can't I make a boundary in a boundary....?" Hermes never felt this helpless, and there was not much he could do.

To keep up a boundary, he needed to be inside of it.

The air was dry and hot and the ocean of flames beneath cast a hellish hue upon the battlefield.

The sky was dark and night had already come.

Hermes was completely helpless.

He tried attacking various ways and while he was able to sneak in with his speed, Indra knew his tactics and made sure to land as many attacks on Hermes before the latter would teleport away.

"Hermes! Let me in!!!!" Alex screamed out when he saw Hermes' wounds accumulate.

He had consumed too much Faith Energy keeping the barrier afloat and teleporting, hence healing himself was no longer viable.

The skin of his soles had burned from the flames below, and the rest of his body would follow.

"Hermes, keep the boundary, if you remove it, he's going to go for Alexei-boy..." Hermes spoke to himself.

Alex bit his lips and started praying, "God, if you're there, please help us....."

He didn't even know what deity he was praying to.

"Isn't Buddha supposed to mediate conflict between the gods?! Where is he?!!!" Alex shouted.

"I don't know about Siddartha Gautama, but we are here," A somewhat familiar voice flowed like a heavenly melody into Alex's ears.

Two women had entered the seating area.

One of them had multiple arms, and she wielded a weapon in each of them.

It was an acquaintance to Alex, the goddess Durga, that he had met in the library and fought with.

There was also an unfamiliar woman behind her.

She was extremely tall, and her attire was opulent.

She wore a red silk fabric that covered her entire body and golden jewelry decorated it.

A long red headscarf covered a part of her hair and draped it down to the ground.

The woman was extremely beautiful, but her indifferent and ethereal expression distanced her from even most gods.

When Indra, who was in the arena, saw the woman, the flames instantly extinguished and he exclaimed, "Lady Parvati!"

Unfortunately, sound also didn't escape the barrier.

Hermes weakly observed the happenings outside and wondered what was going on.

But, his body then fell down from the sky, and into the pile of ash that was the ground.