Chapter 309 This is a necessary sacrifice

The atmosphere in the Arcadia Palace was extremely depressing.

King Iasus, lying on the bed, had a pale face and a flicker of unwillingness in his eyes. He asked again the figure in front of him who was wearing a star-crescent robe and holding a double-snake staff without giving up.

"Master, is there really no other way?"

"Your Majesty, alchemy cannot create something out of nothing. If you want to get something, you must pay a corresponding price. And the only thing that can save lives is life..."

A deep voice came from the black robe, and the mysterious leader shook his head slightly, looking helpless.

King Iasus bit his lip tightly, his face gloomy and uncertain.

"But isn't this a bit too risky?"

"Conquering Warcraft is bound to be accompanied by death. This is the path they chose themselves, and you don't need to be responsible for it. Besides, what we do is just to make this sacrifice more valuable."

"After all, they came here to quell the disaster in Arcadia..."

"You are the pillar that keeps Arcadia standing. Since they want to restore peace to this land, dedicating themselves to you is what they should do."

Finally, under the persuasion of the [Head of Church], King Iasos was silent for a while, then he pressed his chest which was beginning to ache again, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, and he spoke decisively.

"Okay, I'll do as you say!"

Hearing King Iasos's groaning, the [Headmaster] raised his hand, stroked his chest, and nodded respectfully.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I will definitely live up to your trust."

On the third day, the [Royal Palace] and [Moon Temple] issued a decree to assemble early in the morning, preparing to formally attack the [beast disaster] that was raging in the mountains of Arcadia.

Heroes from various city-states responded one after another and gathered in front of the palace square.

Loen and his group packed up early and prepared to go out.

However, before leaving, the twin brothers refused their sister Helen's request to go with them, and refused to take her with them to participate in the crusade.

The twin brothers are still frightened by their previous near-death experience on the mountain road.

Not only did the younger sister almost die in the mouth of the three-headed dragon snake, but they themselves almost died in the poisonous mist of the monster.

There was no telling how many dangers were waiting for them in the mountains of Arcadia infested with monsters. The two brothers themselves were not sure they could escape unscathed. If they brought their spoiled sister Helen with them, the risk factor would increase exponentially.

For both public and private reasons, the twin brothers did not want their sister Helen to go with them into the mountains for adventure.

Therefore, the safest way is to let Helen stay in the royal city of Arcadia, which is protected by high walls, and wait for news of their triumphant return.

Helen was naturally reluctant about her brothers' decision, but faced with her two determined brothers, she could only give in dejectedly and stay obediently in the courtyard with a protective barrier.

To be on the safe side, Loen also added a few defensive spells.

After everything was arranged, everyone rushed to the Palace Square.

When they arrived at their destination, they found that dozens of divine blood heroes had already gathered there.

However, they are basically descendants of gods from the second or third generation onwards, with limited talent and abilities. Although many of them have entered the realm of demigods, most of them are not well-known.

Loen looked around but didn't find any God-Blood heroes whose names he had heard of, so he could only temporarily give up the idea of recruiting people for the Eighty-Eight Star Palace.

Likewise, the surrounding God-Blood heroes were also secretly sizing up the new hunting members. After hearing some information about their tests and the names of the two Spartan princes, there was a hint of familiarity in everyone's eyes.

Of course, a certain White Light Waste Card was not included in this category. Instead, he attracted a lot of contemptuous looks because of his overly handsome looks and the two beautiful girls accompanying him.

Needless to say, this is most likely a pretty boy who looks good but is useless.

Loen didn't care about it, but the twin brothers who had received his favor couldn't stand it and loudly reported to the priests of the Moon Temple who were in charge of the audit that someone was a teacher at the Athens Academy.

Upon hearing this important identity, the surrounding Divine Blood Heroes couldn't help but suppress their contempt and stood in awe.

The Academy of Athens is the most famous educational institution in Greece, with the goal of dispelling ignorance and enlightening wisdom.

It was founded by the sage Chiron and other gods. During this period, it widely absorbed talents from all over Greece, spread knowledge to the human group, and brought about considerable changes to the entire society. Strictly speaking, they were all beneficiaries.

After graduation, the successful god of medicine Asclepius and many descendants of gods from various countries joined the Ares Mountain. They traveled outside, curing diseases, eliminating disasters, or innovating technology, constantly benefiting the world.

Today, with the dual blessings of the Academy of Athens and the Areopagus, as well as the popularization and dissemination of various cultures, Athens has long become the cultural center of Greece and has the reputation of "Athens of the Greeks".

Seeing the change in the attitude of the people around him, Loen nodded secretly.

In an era where strength is respected, it is extremely rare to earn a unique respect for culture and education from the group of gods. This is enough to prove that the "Cultural Victory" strategy he and Athena formulated at the beginning has achieved good results.

As long as the plan is carried out patiently, with the disappearance of the gods and the end of the heroes, Athens will surely become the "Greece of the Athenians" for the whole of Greece.

"Everyone, it's almost time, let's go!"

Among the crowd, a handsome young man in bronze armor was escorted up to the platform and began to make a call.

The heroes who were eager to establish their achievements all responded with their arms raised, gathered around the young man and lined up, getting ready to set off.

Seeing that Loen and the other two were a little confused, the older twin brother, Castor, pointed at the young man who seemed to be the leader of the team and took the initiative to introduce him.

"He is the commander of this operation, appointed by King Iasos himself. I heard that he is a descendant of Hermes and has awakened the power of [Super Speed] in his blood. What's his name..."

"Hippomenes."

His younger brother Pollux spoke in a deep voice and added the follow-up at the right time.

When Luo En heard this, his eyelids twitched and he frowned slightly.

Was it him? The mysterious hero who, in the legend, sacrificed to Aphrodite in pursuit of Atalanta, and eventually cheated in the race by using three golden apples?

The reason why it is called "mysterious" is because various versions of the story do not give too much description about this person. We only know that he won the game by cheating and finally got the girl, but his identity and origin seem to be a mystery.

As if he had heard the conversation between several people, the young man named "Hippomenes" turned around and smiled with kindness.

When Hippomenes saw the two beautiful women in the team, his eyes were filled with amazement and passion.

As if driven by the keen intuition of a cat, Atalanta subconsciously avoided the other person's gaze, moved behind her teacher, frowned and muttered.

"The way he looks at me is... weird. I don't like it."

"Me too……"

Medea, who was standing by, was holding her staff and also muttering to herself.

Lorne nodded and suggested to the twin brothers beside him.

"This crusade doesn't require everyone to act together, right? Why don't we form a team?"

"good!"

The twin brothers nodded in agreement and gladly accepted the invitation from Loen and the other two to form a team.

When they are out and about, they would certainly prefer to trust their backs to their companions who have experienced life and death crises together rather than hanging out with a group of strangers.

With the twin brothers leading the way, Lorne and the other two didn't have to worry about the attitude of Arcadia officials.

After all, the two were Spartan princes of noble status, and were specially invited as reinforcements by the King of Arcadia at great expense of his dignity. There was no need for them to buy face from Hippomenes, the temporary commander.

As expected, when Hippomenes saw the few people who had distanced themselves from the team and mixed with the priests of the Moon Temple, he just frowned and ultimately said nothing, tacitly approving of their eccentricity.

Soon, the beast-hunting team assembled and marched out of the city, heading towards the heart of the Arcadia Mountains. From a distance, there were at least hundreds of people on the team.

In fact, in addition to dozens of descendants of gods from various city-states, those who participated in this crusade also included priests from the Moon Temple, alchemists from the Hermetic sect, restoration magicians from the Eleusinian religion, and saints from the Dionysian religion...

In order to achieve the goal in one fell swoop and completely eliminate the beast disaster, the elite forces in Arcadia were mobilized collectively.

Of course, in order to ask these spellcasters of different sects to help, the King of Arcadia also made great sacrifices.

The basic condition is to relax restrictions and allow the three sects to preach in Arcadia.

This was the reason why Loen saw the chaotic missionary scene on the street.

In addition, King Arcadia almost emptied the warehouse and gave away a lot of precious herbs, magic crystals and rare metals as rewards to the personnel of the three major sects.

With these benefits as a foundation, the three competing sects were willing to work together to deal with the beast disaster in Arcadia.

Sure enough, the saying that a king has no shortage of hungry soldiers is a universal truth no matter what era it is.

Loen's playful eyes swept across the believers of the three sects, and he inadvertently saw a somewhat familiar figure in the Dionysus sect.

——He was a simple and honest middle-aged man with an unusually strong right arm and a faint sense of moisture all over his body.

His name was "Polymonos". He was the son of a fisherman on the island of Crete and was also the first person to join and believe in Dionysus, the god of wine.

And the arm on his body once belonged to Orion, the son of the sea god.

Although the divine blood contained in it had merged with Polymonos, giving him a long life like that of a god, time still carved deep scars on his face, transforming the once young man into a middle-aged man.

However, the passing of time also gave him another gift.

After the polishing and precipitation of time, Polymonus has entered the realm of demigod, and because of his firm belief and missionary achievements, he has become a famous saint in Dionysus. Currently, he is in charge of the missionary work in Arcadia.

Seeing his old friend appear in front of him in his current appearance, Loen, an immortal god, felt quite emotional.

Sensing the gaze behind him, Polymonus turned around, smiled brightly, and threw a wine jug over.

"Are you thirsty, little brother? Come and have a taste of my newly brewed wine!"

"Thank you."

Loen thanked him and gladly accepted the kindness. He pulled out the cork, took a sip of the authentic Cretan wine, looked up at the vast mountains shrouded in clouds and mist, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Arcadia Mountains, here we are.

Soon, everyone arrived at the sentry post that divided the dangerous and safe areas, ready to complete the procedures for entering the mountain.

However, a strong smell of blood filled the camp. The sentry posts and fences reinforced by magic had been shattered, and the wreckage was covered with scratches and bite marks from monsters. The hundreds of garrison troops who were supposed to be guarding here had all disappeared.

Judging from the degree of dried blood and the traces left around, the attack must have happened last night, and they are probably in great danger.

Loen bent down and picked up a bronze epaulette with a silver moon emblem from the scarlet mud. The image of the middle-aged officer waving goodbye to them appeared in front of his eyes. He brushed off the dust and dirt on it and put it in his pocket.

Atalanta followed the crushed and trampled plants around him, looked towards the forest path in front of her left, and spoke in a deep voice.

"According to the hunting habits of magical beasts, they can't carry so many corpses too far, so there must be a nest of those beasts nearby!"

"Chase them and kill them to avenge the innocent deaths!"

Hippomenes raised his arms and roared, and the heroes seemed to be infected by the tragic scene. They shouted excitedly, immediately picked up their weapons, put on their armor, followed their leader, and went into the mountains to fight the rampant beasts.

(End of this chapter)