Chapter 430: Friendly forces in trouble, unmoved as a mountain (6.6k)

Troy.

A few rays of morning sunlight shone through the white clouds onto the towering city walls that were tens of meters high. The Hermetic characters engraved on the mud bricks and stones sparkled in the sunlight, exuding an ancient and sacred atmosphere.

The ancestor of the Trojans was "Dardanos", the child born from the union of the god-king Zeus and Electra, the daughter of the Titan god Atlas.

Thanks to this noble bloodline, the ancestor Dardanus summoned the help of the Titans to build the city of Troy together.

Moreover, during the process of building the city, it is said that the king of gods Zeus even came down to earth in person and gave Troy a statue of his patron god.

The Trojans, who were familiar with this history, were all proud of it. They firmly believed that their city-state was favored by the gods and would last for a thousand years.

As usual, several teams of soldiers who were changing guard walked out of the tents, yawned, and climbed up the watchtower on the top of the city to start their guard duty today.

There are eight watchtowers in total. The most spectacular one is the one in the northeast, which faces the Trojan Plain and the Oceanus Coast. It is located at the throat of the city of Troy.

Therefore, the watchtower there was not only the most spectacular and most solidly defended, but there was also a group of matching fortresses below. Once the soldiers on guard climbed to the top of the tower, they could overlook the entire Troy Plain and the coast.

However, since there had been no war for hundreds of years, the soldiers gradually nicknamed the northeast watchtower "the best viewing platform in Troy."

If you can climb up this high tower on such a sunny day, you can have a panoramic view of the vibrant Trojan Plain, the vast blue Sea of Oceanus, and the golden beaches along the coast, which is a refreshing sight.

When it's time to change shifts, those who are in a good mood can probably eat a few more bowls of rice.

Just as the soldiers were muttering about which team would be lucky enough to be assigned to such a superior position, a sharp metallic sound suddenly came from the northeastern watchtower.

Dangdang~~

After being stunned for several seconds, the soldiers stationed in other areas finally woke up from their dream.

The disaster bell! Someone rang the disaster bell!

What happened?

The other soldiers in the watchtower looked in the direction of the sound and saw a cluster of sails on the blue sea, rapidly approaching the coast.

And on those fluttering pieces of canvas, there seemed to be embroidered highly recognizable emblems such as double lions, the sun, olive branches, owls, vines, etc.

The garrison officer on the top of the city wall had a shaky expression on his face, and his voice trembled a little:

"Greeks! It's the Greek fleet! Ring the disaster bell to warn!"

Ding ding ding ding!

The disaster bells from various watchtowers rang out in unison, and the sharp and rapid sound of metal collisions echoed throughout the city of Troy.

~~

A quarter of an hour later, the Great Temple of Troy.

Hector, the burly Trojan prince, dressed in bronze armor and with a beard, rushed in.

"Father, the Greeks are calling!"

At this time, the old King Priam, who was praying in the temple with his family, heard the bad news. He staggered and almost fell down.

Cassandra, the daughter and priestess next to him, quickly helped her old father up and asked her brother Hector, who had just arrived from the military camp:

"Which side is the commander-in-chief?"

"It seems to be the Spartans and the Mycenaeans..."

Hector answered seriously, his eyes subconsciously glancing at his younger brother Paris standing behind his father, and a beautiful woman he had abducted from the Mycenae palace.

At the same time, the old king's other sons and daughters also reacted and looked at Paris and Agamemnon's queen Clytemnestra, shouting angrily.

"Look, I told you I shouldn't have taken this woman in!"

"That's great! The two powerful nations of Sparta and Mycenae are marching towards us together!"

"What a disaster! Troy will be destroyed by this woman sooner or later!"

Knowing that the old king favored Paris's lost son, the rest of his sons and daughters all turned their attention to Clytemnestra, the Queen of Mycenae.

The cold words and constant scolding around her made the helpless Queen Clytemnestra turn pale gradually, and she quickly hid behind her lover Paris.

Seeing this, the other princes and princesses shouted even louder:

"Tie her up and send her to Agamemnon. Sparta and Mycenae will surely withdraw their troops!"

"Yes, I think that's the way to go!"

Clytemnestra was horrified when she heard this.

As her husband Agamemnon's bedmate, she knew very well the cruel character of her husband. If she was sent back, how could she survive?

"No! I don't want to go back!"

However, with the army outside the city approaching, no one at the scene would care about the thoughts of this ill-fated couple. Everyone immediately shouted loudly outside the door:

"Guards! Where are the guards? Come in!"

Paris looked at the ferocious God's Blood Guards who broke in, and felt timid, and hurriedly retreated with his lover.

Boom!

Just as several guards stepped forward, a series of thunders sounded in the sky, like the wrath of God. Silver arcs of light fell from the sky and instantly turned the guards close to the altar into ashes.

Smelling the strong burnt smell in the air, the princes and princesses who were giving orders turned pale, trembled all over, and looked behind Paris and Clytemnestra in fear.

The patron saint statue that the city of Troy has worshipped for generations is glowing!

Buzz!

As if to verify what they had seen, the sky above the temple suddenly darkened, the sun and the moon shone together in the dome, the stars shone together, and lightning and thunder continued.

Then, the sky became a bow, the star marks became arrows, and the solemn divine power condensed to the extreme. A beam of golden light, with the force of thunder, fell on the altar in front of the guardian statue like a falling comet.

In an instant, raging flames rose up, and the holy fire of the gods that had been dormant for many years was completely ignited.

However, the Trojan royal family members who received the response from the gods did not show any joy on their faces, but instead looked even more frightened.

Because the sacred fire of the altar, which should have been golden, turned into a sea of black smoke and red, and the strong smell of burnt flesh wafted out, filling the entire temple and making people feel nauseous.

This is an obvious bad omen.

And through the flickering flames, everyone vaguely saw that as Paris fell in front of the altar, the divine light shrouding Troy disappeared, and the tightly closed city gates were smashed open.

Countless ferocious Greek soldiers poured into the city, flames of destruction shot up into the sky, the city turned into a pile of broken bricks and ruins, mountains of charred corpses gradually bred swarms of mosquitoes and flies, carrion-eating crows and vultures descended from the sky, landed on the corpses, pecking at the livers and flesh of the dead, enjoying this human flesh feast.

As their perception became clearer, they walked into the inferno and observed the remains of the dead. They suddenly saw familiar faces, clothes, accessories and armor among them.

That is their subjects, their relatives and friends, and themselves!

Woo——!

In a trance, hideous and terrifying vengeful spirits let out sharp roars in the flickering flames, as if they wanted to break through the obstacles and drag all the living things around them into hell.

As the biting cold and tragic wails filled their minds, everyone in the temple suddenly woke up and looked at the blazing sacred fire on the altar with fear.

And there, it is still the red color in memory!

"Destruction! The Greeks are here to destroy us! The gods have given us a warning!"

"That's right, this war has nothing to do with women, it's all a conspiracy by the Greeks!"

"I've said it before. They have attacked Troy more than once. They are our mortal enemy. We must never make peace with these Greeks!"

Everyone was chattering and talking in anger, and no one was calling for handing over the Queen of Mycenae and Prince Paris.

Because the sacred fire in the altar has given the oracle:

Prince Paris is the grace bestowed by God to Troy, and also the bond connecting the gods and Troy.

Once his life fades, the protection of the gods for Troy will no longer exist, their kingdom will fall, and everyone will die tragically after the city is broken.

"God Zeus is above! The Trojans will never surrender, and victory will surely belong to us!"

The swell of self-confidence brought by God's grace and the terrifying shadow of death caused everyone present to grit their teeth and wave their fists, roaring in near hysteria:

"war!"

"war!"

"war!"

The cowardly old king was caught up in the crowd, somewhat at a loss, and looked blankly at his most trusted son Hector.

And Hector did not disappoint him, and gave advice calmly and rationally:

"Father, the war has not yet been fully ignited. There is still a chance to save everything. It is better to do a good job of defense and listen to the demands of the Greeks."

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

The old king agreed repeatedly and stepped forward to hold his son's hand tightly.

"From now on, all military forces and personnel of the kingdom will be under your command!"

Hector nodded, and then issued his first order after taking power:

"You guys should send Paris and Her Majesty the Queen back to their rooms first, and don't let outsiders disturb them easily."

Outside the palace, several God's Blood Guards walked in tremblingly and escorted Prince Paris and the Queen of Mycenae away from the scene.

With the lessons learned from their colleagues, they naturally dare not be negligent in the slightest.

After temporarily stabilizing the situation, Hector immediately bid farewell to his father, turned and left the great temple, and prepared to rush to the military camp.

However, the moment he walked out of the door, a graceful figure quickly caught up with him.

"Cassandra? What are you doing here?"

Hector was a little surprised to see his sister jogging to catch up with him, holding up her skirt.

Cassandra is a very unique existence in Troy. Because she had her ears washed by the sacred snake in the Temple of Apollo since she was a child, she has the ability to listen to the voices of the gods and predict the future, and thus became a priestess of the Temple of Apollo.

Normally, with such amazing talent and such a high status, she should be widely respected and supported.

But the opposite was true. The Trojans were quite afraid of her and even a little disgusted with her.

This is because the predictions she made were often related to disasters, the future she revealed was always bad, and the endings seemed to be already determined and could not be changed no matter how hard she struggled.

Therefore, whether it is deceiving oneself or refusing to face it, no one wants to see Cassandra appear in front of them.

Even her family thought she was a witch who only brought bad luck and avoided her like the plague.

Over time, Cassandra became less talkative and more aloof.

Hector was probably the only person who could chat with this sister, because he knew that beneath that cold shell, there was a kind and soft heart.

It's not that Cassandra is unwilling to bring good news, but she hopes that her prophecy can help people avoid disasters and that everyone can live happily because of it.

At this time, Cassandra was silent for a moment, staring at her brother Hector, and slowly told her intention:

"Just now, I did a divination for you..."

"The result was not good?"

"Well, if this war breaks out, you will die in it and the kingdom will fall."

"I see. I understand."

Hector nodded after hearing the prophecy, smiling as before.

Cassandra bit her lip and continued:

"If you want to avoid this, you'd better hand over Paris and the queen from Mycenae."

"As a brother, I wouldn't do that."

Hector shook his head and gave serious advice.

"Besides, as his sister, you shouldn't think like that. Besides, it was you who brought him back to Troy in the first place."

Once, when his mother Hecuba was pregnant with his younger brother Paris, she dreamed that Troy was engulfed in flames. His father Priam asked the priests of the Temple of Apollo to interpret the dream, and the priests predicted that Paris would lead to the destruction of Troy. So his father abandoned the newborn Paris on Mount Ida, but a herdsman who passed by raised him up.

Later, as time went by, Troy did not encounter any disaster, but became more and more prosperous. The father thought he had been deceived and deeply regretted abandoning his child. Gradually, he began to think about finding his son Paris.

It so happened that at that time, a cow that Paris loved was taken away as a prize in a funeral competition. He participated in the competition to get the cow back and won everything, even defeating his own brother.

Therefore, the brother who was blinded by anger attacked Paris of low status. Paris fled to the altar of Zeus in order to save his life. Cassandra saw that the tragedy of brothers killing each other was about to happen, so she announced through prophecy that Paris was her brother.

His father Priam also recognized Paris through the remaining objects, and immediately welcomed him back to the palace and doted on him.

Therefore, Paris can enjoy the wealth and glory today thanks to the prophecy of his sister Cassandra.

Cassandra glanced at the Great Temple behind her and bit her lip tightly.

"But I also said that he would kill all of you..."

Human beings often have a common problem.

Always like to believe what you want to believe and ignore the bad omens that are unfavorable to you.

As Paris grew up, she kept warning her father, but this not only did not make her father repent, but instead increased his resentment towards her and made him more indulgent towards Paris.

In the end, this unbridled indulgence led Paris to make a big mistake and brought a devastating disaster to Troy.

Feeling the unchangeable destiny, Cassandra felt a strong sense of frustration.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so soft-hearted from the beginning.

As if seeing his sister's regret and self-blame, Hector patted his sister on the shoulder and smiled faintly:

"This has nothing to do with you. Each of us is responsible for our own choices. Father is responsible, and so am I..."

"What if the answer to this choice is death?" Cassandra asked back.

"Then let me fight for Troy until the last moment!"

Hector tightened the spear in his hand and looked out into the distance at the smoke-filled city.

"Although I don't like war, it does not mean I won't resist."

Then, Hector paused, his eyes swept across the majestic temple, and gave his sister earnest advice:

"Also, don't be too resentful towards Paris and the others. This is all just a game of the gods. Whether it's them or you and me, we may just be pawns played by fate."

In fact, from the moment Paris lured the Mycenaean queen onto the ship, Hector, who was on a joint mission to Mycenae, felt that a mysterious force was driving Troy onto its predetermined trajectory.

And just now, the holy fire that suddenly lit up on the altar undoubtedly verified this point.

The gods had disappeared for two hundred years, and the patron saint of Troy was not the statue, but Apollo, the god of light.

"Let me join you, I will continue to pray to the gods to put an end to this farce!"

Cassandra bit her lip and answered seriously.

Obviously, she had seen something.

But as a witch with a bad reputation and a priest who has lost the favor of God, most people will not listen to her or care about her words.

In order to reassure his sister, Hector reluctantly nodded in agreement and ordered the guards to bring a set of female armor. Then he took Cassandra to the wall of Troy.

At this moment, the Greek fleet on the sea has already reached the shore one after another.

~~

"The wind speed is just right, the wind direction is just right!"

"The priests and magicians chant the words of God, deploy the magic barrier, and cover the landing!"

Helen, holding the magic wand, stood at the bow facing the wind and issued instructions to all spellcasters.

Magicians, priests, and mages from various city-states also responded:

"Air defense complete!"

"Ground bridging complete!"

"Activate the puppets and dragon tooth soldiers, and proceed with the landing as normal!"

"Ichor Cannon Matrix activated, firing range safe!"

Amid shouts, magic arrays lit up one after another around the ship. The bronze spiritual liquid cannons engraved with dense spells creaked through the calibration, and the cross halos above that were used to determine the shooting range were also activated one by one.

Suddenly, the entire fleet slowly approaching the shore was like a group of porcupines covered with sharp thorns, leaving the enemy with nowhere to bite.

Then the cabin was opened, and one after another, well-organized troops set foot on the territory that originally belonged to Troy, showing their powerful side to the enemy.

The Spartan phalanx moves as fast as the wind and as slow as the forest. Its bravery is as majestic as a mountain and unbreakable.

The astrologers and alchemists of Corinth were proficient in magic and in a short time they built barracks on the open ground;

The Amazon warriors of Paradise Island were all tall, strong, and divine, like fighting fairies walking in the human world. They were either on foot or on horseback, quickly spreading out in all directions to carry out vigilance work;

Soon after, the God Blood Guards and ordinary soldiers from various city-states also took their positions one after another and built simple fortifications...

The entire process left almost no opportunity for the enemy to take advantage.

Hector, standing on the top of the Troy city wall, saw all this, and his eyes gradually became gloomy.

I have to admit that the opponent is very strong!

Even if he personally went out to fight, bringing with him Troy's most elite God's Blood Guards, his performance might not be better than that of the opponent.

If I had a choice, I really don't want to be an enemy of such an opponent.

But unfortunately, this war has nothing to do with choices, right or wrong, it only matters of stance!

Thinking of this, Hector gathered his messy thoughts and shouted like thunder in a way that was almost like a roar:

"Raise your shields and prepare for battle!"

On the city wall, the Trojan Blood Guards, who were wearing extremely tough linen clothes inside and bronze helmets and armor outside, changed their relaxed posture with spears on their shoulders and shields at their sides. They raised their hands to pick up the shields and swung the bronze spears violently, hitting the shields heavily.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The sound of metal collisions rang out in succession, bringing with it a roar like a thunderstorm. The activated divine patterns on the soldiers' weapons and armor lit up, like a bright and spreading band of light, covering the towering walls of Troy.

As the light rose, the Trojans' originally low morale began to improve, and they gradually overcame their fear of the army outside the city.

~~

"This kid is not bad..."

In the shadow of the cabin, Loen looked at the Trojan defender on the city wall who was responding calmly, with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

Diana stepped forward and nodded in response:

"Of course. This is the most outstanding figure of the Trojans. I think his name is Hector."

It was him? No wonder...

Lorne nodded thoughtfully, then turned his head to look at the "Achilles" beside him who was completely different from the one in the epic poem, and asked with interest:

"How is it? How confident are you that you can win against him?"

Diana raised her right hand and held up three fingers.

Luo En was stunned and a little surprised:

"30%?"

"I will take you down within three moves!"

Diana spoke proudly, raising her smooth chin like a proud white swan.

Luo En looked at his daughter in front of him and couldn't help but laugh.

This inherent arrogance and pride is not at all like him and Thetis.

"What? You don't believe it?" Diana, who had misunderstood, picked up her sword and shield unconvinced, "Then just wait, I'll take him down right now!"

Lorne quickly grabbed Diana who wanted to go on stage and chuckled, "Don't worry, good steel should be used on the blade. It's not your turn yet."

Hearing her father's unobtrusive praise, Diana was quite satisfied and immediately calmed down, asking curiously:

"Who are you going to send out first?"

Loen smiled without saying anything, quietly watching the battlefield ahead.

At this time, Helen had led the priests of various city-states to light the sacred fire, burn incense, and complete the sacrifices and prayers to the gods before the battle. She came alone to the wall of Troy and shouted to Hector on the top of the city:

"I ask to see my sister Clytemnestra and have a good talk with her, hoping to avoid this war."

Hector nodded and waved to the priest beside him to pass on the order.

But unfortunately, the resonance ritual was completely dark, and it was obvious that the Queen of Mycenae refused to respond.

Perhaps it was because he was ashamed to face his sister Helen, or perhaps he was worried that he would be sent out of the city on some pretext.

Hector, who had expected this, gave Helen a helpless smile and said thoughtfully:

"I'm sorry, Lady Helen, but Clytemnestra has become the wife of my brother Paris, and Troy has the obligation to protect her from outsiders."

"You Trojans, you are going too far!"

Helen, who had also expected this, reprimanded with a cold face, then turned her head to look somewhere behind her.

"Brother-in-law, I have already asked all the questions you need to ask. I will just listen to your instructions now."

“…”

Agamemnon in the crowd felt the gazes focused on him, and his face suddenly turned green.

You are the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, and you ask me this? Isn't this putting me on the spot?

What should I do? My wife was kidnapped by a gigolo. What can I do as a man?

As more and more eyes fell on him, Agamemnon closed his eyes and let out a high-pitched and angry roar:

"Trojans, you made your own choice. Let's fight!"

Without waiting for Hector on the top of the city to respond, Helen in front of the battle line shouted loudly:

"Well, Mycenaeans, the time has come to avenge your king! Please make sure you win the first battle!"

For a moment, the Mycenaeans were excited when they heard the order. They immediately picked up swords and shields, surrounded their humiliated king, and rushed towards the walls of Troy.

Agamemnon, who was forced forward, looked at the friendly troops standing still behind him and the towering walls of Troy in front of him. He turned his grief and anger into motivation, drew his sword and roared:

"Everyone, take Troy!"

At this moment, Lorne, who was watching the show on the boat, burst out laughing.

Helen, this girl, has become a bad girl after not seeing her for hundreds of years.

(End of this chapter)