Apollo said so.
Creon had no choice but to kneel down again and then spoke.
"Lord Apollo, please rest assured that I will bring back Brasidas' head."
"That's good."
Apollo just smiled faintly.
"I will take a two-day break, and then I will go to the Byzantine Kingdom to deal with these farces. The matter of Brasidas will be handed over to you. I hope that when I come back, I can see that you have successfully settled all the matters. Do you understand?"
"…Please rest assured."
There is no other way to choose now.
Creon must go and fight Brasidas.
But if he didn't do this, Apollo would never forgive him.
The fourth tune, the third section, returns to the Byzantine Empire
After Apollo left, Cleon returned to his room and sighed. His life was not as comfortable as before. Before he became consul, all he thought about every day was when he could drive Pericles out of office. But now that he had everything he wanted before, things had turned out like this.
Now I am in a dilemma.
Not completing Apollo's mission.
He will definitely die.
But if he wanted to complete this task, he had to face Brasidas, the strongest oracle known to the world. And judging from Apollo's reaction just now, Brasidas must have caused Apollo a lot of trouble, so Apollo was so angry. So a guy who could cause so much trouble to the gods, Cleon knew without thinking too much that he would be very difficult to deal with.
But Apollo also gave Creon some hints, so Creon stood up and took down the bow of the sun god given to him by Apollo from the wall of his room.
So is this the only thing we can rely on?
Creon looked at the bow and arrow in his hand.
He was good at archery, but whether he could use the bow and arrow to defeat a warrior like Brasidas was an unknown.
But he had no other choice.
This night.
Creon had a sleepless night.
He had been thinking about what method could perfectly solve these problems, to save his own life and kill Brasidas. Although he had thought of countless possibilities and methods, each method was extremely dangerous. If he was not careful, it would most likely lead to his death.
After careful thinking, Cleon actually didn't find any particularly good way to solve the current predicament, so he might just have to fight with his back against the wall.
But Creon had no choice.
That's when the girl came to rescue people.
There was really no way Creon could resist.
The next day, during the day, Cleon announced a very shocking news to the whole of Athens through the Citizens' Assembly. At the Citizens' Assembly, Cleon announced to everyone that in order to disintegrate Sparta's control over northern Greece and reopen the connection between Athens and its northern allies, Cleon decided to organize an army to march north, both by sea and land, to attack Amphipolis.
Creon will also join this battle to face Brasidas in Amphipolis.
Cleon's decision caused an uproar. The war faction in Athens naturally cheered. These war factions were very loyal to Cleon. They were also the ones who strongly opposed Pericles' policies during Pericles' reign. Now Cleon finally got rid of the situation of hiding in Athens and chose to lead the army to launch a brave attack on Sparta, which undoubtedly made the war faction very happy.
the other side.
The centrists and peace advocates in Athens strongly opposed this action.
For the centrists, they would never deny the importance of going to war with Sparta, but Athens was now in a state of plague, and Clion had to lead his army to fight a decisive battle with the Spartan army in Amphipolis where Brasidas was stationed. This was an extremely risky action.
It can even be said that if this action is not done carefully, the final result may be disastrous. If the Athenian army is completely annihilated, who can protect Athens, which is now in danger?
For the peace faction.
They oppose any war that is not conducive to peace.
But Cleon is now a de facto dictator.
The opinions of the Citizens' Assembly actually had no way to have much impact on Cleon's decision, so Cleon's order was implemented smoothly. He organized about 10,000 heavy infantry and hundreds of warships, setting off from the port of Piraeus in Athens, heading directly for Amphipolis.
As for Apollo.
He has another purpose.
When Cleon led his army away from Athens.
Apollo also embarked on the journey to the Byzantine Kingdom.
This time, Apollo had no intention of playing other games with Hilde. His goal this time was very decisive, which was to take Hilde away and take away the original book of creation from Hilde. Finally, he would find the key and obtain the power of creation from the original book of creation.
As long as he had these, Apollo would become the main god of the new era, and he would be able to replace Zeus, replace all the gods, and create a new world. For Apollo, the temptation of this kind of thing was too great. Apollo had no way to refuse, and he had no way to think deeply about whether this matter would be as he wished, or whether there were hidden dangers that he didn't know about.
And a few days later.
Hilde has successfully arrived at the border city of the Byzantine Empire.
This border town was built by the Byzantine colonists on the coast and now has a population of more than 5,000. As soon as Hilde and his team arrived here, they did not move forward. They quickly arranged Dione to this place, and then sent out scouts to report their current location and some other situations they might encounter to the Byzantine side.
After all, if Xerxes really came to support Hilde as they wished, the first place Xerxes would arrive at would definitely be Byzantium. So when Xerxes arrived in Byzantium, he would be able to know from here where Hilde and the others were.
After several days of running around.
Dione is in better condition now than before.
At least now Dioni's health has improved significantly.
Hilde is also happy to see this.
Sure enough, it was directly related to the withdrawal reaction caused by bloodsucking. When the withdrawal reaction disappeared, although Diony lost some unnecessary blood, her body recovered and she woke up the next day. Now she can get out of bed, walk and live normally. Hilde couldn't help but think that such a rapid improvement might be the benefit brought by the demigod bloodline.
"So we're going to stay here afterwards?"
Sophia asked, somewhat worriedly.
Hilde nodded.
"I don't want the war to spread to Byzantium when Apollo comes."
"……that's true."
"Besides, there are relatively few people living nearby. If Apollo really comes, we won't cause much harm if we fight him here."
That's all Hilde could do.
Chapter 4: The attitude of repaying a favor
This is absolutely the only solution.
Facing an opponent like Apollo, this was the only method Hilde could take. Only in this way could he save the lives of the citizens of the Byzantine Kingdom as much as possible. Of course, Hilde also considered whether to move the battlefield where they fought Apollo to the neighboring Macedonian Kingdom, but think about it carefully. The Macedonian Kingdom was a place that he was unfamiliar with, which was not a good thing for Hilde.
So move the possible battlefield here.
It became the only option.
At this time, Tomyris couldn't help but ask:
"Is Brasidas going to be okay?"
"I don't think Apollo would go after Brasidas directly. After all, Brasidas is the oracle of Ares. If Apollo kills him, how will Apollo explain to Ares..."
Hilde thought of Ares.
My head hurts even more.
You have to know that in the God Realm, including in the epics written by humans, Ares and Athena have always been at odds with each other. So if Ares knew the current situation, Hilde had no doubt that Ares would stand on Apollo's side and help Apollo. After all, this is a good opportunity to deal with Athena.
Of course, Hild had never seen Ares, and didn't know what kind of god Ares was, whether he was as upright as Artemis, or as sinister and cunning as Apollo. Anyway, there were many possibilities, but if Ares didn't get involved, that would be the best possibility.
“These things are really troublesome.”
Now, Hilde is helpless.
All we can do is wait quietly for what happens next.
If this plan is to succeed, the most important guarantee is whether Xerxes' support can arrive smoothly. Just like the last time the King of Thracian attacked Byzantium, if it were not for Xerxes' timely arrival, the city of Byzantium would probably have been reduced to a sea of fire and ruins.
Hilde also found it a little ridiculous that she still needed to rely on Xerxes until now, and she had not actually done anything for Xerxes. Perhaps it was because Xerxes was too good to her, and she always felt that it was natural for Xerxes to do something for her.
Hilde didn't think that was a good idea.
Wait until this matter is over.
She felt that it was time for her to face up to the relationship between herself and Xerxes.
It was because of this that Hilde called Sophia out that night.
"Sissi, what's wrong with you?"
"I just have something I want to tell you."
Hilde smiled awkwardly.
Sophia was also a little puzzled.
"If you have something to say, just say it directly. Why hide it?"
"It's about Xerxes, actually."
Hilde hesitated for a long time before speaking: "Although you actually know everything about Xerxes and I, and you are also very clear about what we did... But I think I must tell you something very seriously now."
"Xixi, it's okay, just tell me, I can accept anything."
"It's like this... I'm a soft-hearted person. If there's someone who wholeheartedly does all kinds of things for me and sacrifices a lot for me, even if I don't have any feelings for that person at first, I'll gradually find it hard to let go of that person. Just like you, when I was a kid, you followed me wholeheartedly. I know how good you are to me, so when I'm able, I'll repay you double."
"...I know what you mean."
Sophia said with a wry smile.
"You don't need to discuss this with me."
"But I think you need to know what I'm thinking."
"Are you worried that I'll be jealous? Indeed, Xerxes is good, beautiful, and powerful. She can help you with all kinds of things. I expected you to like her, but I won't be angry or sad because of this. In my opinion, this is a good thing. Your Majesty Xerxes is a better match for you than me. I can't help you with many things, but Xerxes can."
"That was not what I meant."
Hilde hurried to explain.
"I won't..."
"But it's true, isn't it? I know what you're thinking, and I also know that you're not the kind of person who gets bored easily and easily. You won't abandon me just because you have Xerxes. The reason I say this is that I hope you don't have too much psychological burden. I know how good you are, so even if you accidentally ignore me at some point, I won't care."
"..."
That's all that has been said.
Hilde didn't know what to say.
"And for you, Sissi, what you really want to tell me is that after these things are over, your attitude towards His Majesty Xerxes will change greatly. After these things are over, Xerxes will become the irreplaceable family member in your heart, right?"
"Yes! That's what I mean!"
Seeing Hilde nodded quickly.
Sophia couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Really? You are usually a very eloquent person. How come you don't know what to say now?" Sophia smiled gently. She looked at Hilde with affection in her eyes. "And you know, I won't get upset over something like this."
“…I’m sorry.”
Hilde lowered her head a little aggrieved.
"I don't know what to say."
"Isn't this actually good? I remember everything His Majesty Xerxes did for us. It was a great favor. And I also know that you, Sissi, are a person who knows how to repay favors. You won't just let this go. I've been prepared for this, because sooner or later, you'll choose a way to repay Xerxes' kindness. Even if there's no way to repay him, you'll use your own way to show your attitude."
"Yes."
Hilde raised her head and looked up at the starry sky.
"That's all I can do. After all, she's the Persian emperor. She has everything she needs. She lives in a world we can't even imagine. She owns a huge empire with a population of 20 million, which is 20 times the size of our Byzantine Empire. Well, I'm still the governor of the Persian Empire, so I'm still her subordinate."
"It is indeed the case."
Sophia came over.
Then he gently hugged Hilde's waist.
