"…What's the matter with you coming here?"
The seventh chapter, the third chapter, the distrust of the gods
Hephaestus' voice sounded a little cold.
He probably guessed Hera's intention and roughly understood what might happen.
Hera walked up to Hephaestus.
She looked at her son's face and felt a little complicated.
Ares' handsomeness and good looks formed a very sharp contrast with Hephaestus' ugliness, which made Hera a little uncomfortable. However, Hera still put aside all the negative thoughts in her mind, and then said seriously: "Did you make a weapon for Hilde before?"
"Yes."
Hephaestus did not shy away from the question.
"is there a problem?"
"certainly……"
Hera waved her hand and the door of the Temple of Hephaestus was closed.
"How much effort did it take you to make this weapon?"
"very."
"what why?"
"Lady Hera, you know that Artemis has always been one of the most upright goddesses in the Olympian clan. I deeply trust her and Athena. That day, after Apollo's death, Artemis came to me and asked me to make a weapon. It happened that I had collected a lot of good materials at that time, and she rarely asked me for anything, so naturally, I made one. I am still very satisfied with the work."
Hephaestus looked at his workbench.
The furnace used for forging has now gone out.
There was nothing on the iron felt either.
Hephaestus had not forged a weapon in a long time.
"You didn't know who the weapon was for, did you?"
"Do you want to hear the truth?"
Hephaestus turned and looked at Hera.
The look in his eyes revealed an expression that seemed to see through Hera completely.
Hera was actually a little scared when faced with such a gaze.
"What truth?"
"In fact, you know very well that the path that the Lord God is taking is a very dangerous one. Why would Apollo go against Hilde at all costs? Doesn't it mean that the original book of creation on Hilde has a temptation that can make gods intoxicated? I don't know what it can bring to us, but I know that the original book of creation must not be a good thing. Therefore, even if the Lord God gets the original book of creation, it is not good news for us and for this world."
"Hephaestus, you are the son of Lord Zeus. How can you speculate on your father's thoughts at will?"
"Father God?"
Hephaestus stood up, and his huge body was like a mountain in front of Hera.
"Athena, Apollo, are not the children of the Father God?"
"Yes but……"
"The temptation of the Genesis Library can make Apollo completely lose himself, so it is entirely possible that he will also lose the Lord God. Athena, who tried to stop him, has been thrown into another world by him. The Lord God is also very clear that Apollo is heading for death, but he did not take any action. Doesn't this explain the problem?"
Hephaestus was not afraid now either.
Things have come to this point.
He felt that there was no need to hide anything anymore.
"Lord Hera, you don't know this, do you?"
“But these are not the questions we need to be thinking about.”
"Of course not!" Hephaestus slapped the table, and the huge hammer flew up from the ground and flew directly into Hephaestus's hand. "I am the god of Olympus, so I naturally cannot go against the will of the Lord God. However, I do not want the original book of creation to fall into the hands of any god."
"Could it be that Hilde would not abuse the original book of creation?"
"I don't think so. She is Hilde."
Hephaestus sighed.
"She is Athena, protecting the Original Book of Genesis in her own way."
"But Lord Zeus's order has been given. Do you want to disobey it?"
"I said, I will not disobey the orders of Lord Zeus. I will also fight in the next battle against Hilde. However, you came to me today hoping that I can also make a weapon that can compete with the weapon in Hilde's hand. I'm sorry, but I can't make it now. What's more, if it is made for Ares, I will not agree even if my body and soul are destroyed."
Hephaestus raised his hand slightly.
He said in a stern tone:
"Please go."
"...Okay, I understand."
Hephaestus's meaning was clear.
So, Hera had nothing to say.
Hera actually had no worries about Hilde's fighting ability. In her opinion, Hilde had to fight several people in turn to defeat Apollo. After all, Hilde was just a mortal with Athena's body. However, the two weapons in Hilde's hands, the spear made by Hephaestus himself and Athena's Medusa shield, were what Hera was most worried about.
Ares is facing Hilde who is equipped with these two weapons.
I'm afraid I'll be at a disadvantage.
Hera found it ironic.
Since when has the high and mighty God had to consider the issue of falling into disadvantage in front of a mortal?
And after Hera left.
Hephaestus looked at the empty temple and the hammer in his hand.
"I hope you're right, Artemis."
——————————Dividing line——————————
Woo————
Accompanied by the roar of horns.
The second wave of attack by the Byzantine Empire began.
At this time, Hilde looked at the city of Thebes in the distance. She had been thinking for several hours.
When the second round of attack began, Hilde finally made up his mind.
"Alcibiades."
"exist."
"Raze Thebes to the ground."
"What?" Alcibiades was a little surprised. "Razed to the ground?"
"I need to tell the whole of Greece that the gods of Olympus will not come to protect them at all." Hilde put her hands behind her back, her crimson eyes fixed on the gap in the city wall in front of her. "Whether the other side resists or surrenders, we only want one result, to make the city of Thebes disappear from the map! Just like what the Greeks did to the Trojans back then!"
“…Yes, I understand!”
Alcibiades had not thought of it at all.
Hilde actually gave the order to break into the city.
But Hilde also had his own considerations for making this decision.
The saying "a kindhearted man cannot command an army" is also true for this reason. The Greeks were not a civilized nation. During the Trojan War, the Trojans were killed to near extinction. During the Peloponnesian War, many small and medium-sized city-states were conquered and their fate was also the destruction of the city and the death of the people.
Chapter 7, Section 4, Meaningless Surrender
Perhaps it was because Hilde's resistance to the Thebans angered her, or perhaps Hilde simply thought rationally that only by taking this approach could she let the city-states in the entire Greek peninsula know what the consequences of resisting the Byzantine Empire would be.
Alcibiades did not ask any more questions. Since this was the order of Her Majesty the Queen, all he could do was to carry it out faithfully.
The commander of the next round of attack by the Byzantine Kingdom was Alcibiades himself. According to Hilde's budget, the next round of attack by the Byzantine Kingdom was enough to completely destroy the resistance of the Thebans. So giving Alcibiades a mission like this could be considered as adding glory to his military career. This was an opportunity that Hilde gave to Alcibiades.
But this level of opportunity.
It does bring in more factors.
Thebes, a city-state that had existed for thousands of years, was wiped off the map.
No matter what the final result would be, Alcibiades knew very well that as long as he did such a thing, his name would be preserved in history. And Hilde's words were also very vague. Alcibiades felt from Hilde's words that Hilde was actually somewhat reluctant about this matter.
Maybe Hilde didn't want too many people to die on this.
But it must have the effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkey.
"Order to the entire army!!!"
Alcibiades returned to the position.
The order was given immediately.
"Your Majesty has ordered that the city-state of Thebes be completely wiped off the map! In the next battle, whether the Thebans choose to surrender or not, we must charge into the city!"
"Yes!"
Alcibiades was a little worried.
He thought about it and immediately ordered:
"Although we do not accept the enemy's surrender, if the enemy soldiers lay down their weapons, we can choose to spare their lives. However, all soldiers who still hold weapons in their hands, regardless of whether they still have the will to fight, will be regarded as enemies! After entering the city, any burning, killing and looting are prohibited!"
Alcibiades decided on this approach after careful consideration. He thought that only in this way could he accomplish what Hilde asked and at the same time reduce the number of killings as much as possible.
After Alcibiades' order was passed to all the troops involved in the attack, this round of attack began quickly.
On the walls of Thebes, the citizens and soldiers were trying hard to fill the gaps in the walls with any available materials, but it was obvious that this was not very effective. The gaps opened by the siege weapons were too large. No matter how hard they tried, only part of the gaps could be filled, but it was not enough to stop the enemy from coming.
When the Theban general saw this scene, he felt helpless because he knew that it was meaningless to repair the city wall now. Atrometus had already decided that if the other side launched the next round of attack and the gods did not appear, he would just choose to surrender. Then, there would be no possibility of a second round of battle with the other side.
Woo——!
Soon, the Byzantines' trumpets were sounded.
This was the trumpet that was destined to destroy Thebes.
Hearing this voice, the general closed his eyes in despair.
"Is there no choice but to surrender?"
And at the front, Atrometos was now looking off into the distance.
The sound of the horn also reached him. Atrometus knew very well that Thebes was truly abandoned by the gods. Therefore, since the enemy had already sounded the horn for the next round of attack, the Thebans did not have many choices left.
Atrometos took a deep breath.
"Surrender."
"Mr. Archon?"
"We have no other choice but to stop our brave warriors from making any more unnecessary sacrifices."
Atrometos stood up.
He spoke very solemnly to the officers around him.
"We resisted the attack of the Byzantine Kingdom. Facts have proved that the gap between us and the Byzantines is immeasurable. There are countless oracles in the enemy's army. Without the help of gods, we have no ability to compete with them. Therefore, the choice of surrender is also a last resort."
"Today is destined to be an extremely shameful day in the history of Thebes. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to reverse this shame, but everyone, remember, we have not completely failed. Once the gods realize the horror of the Byzantine Empire and really send down their power to drive away Hilde and the Byzantine army, we in Thebes may still be able to return to the past. Please do not give up any hope!"
"Yes! Lord Archon!"
The officers took off their helmets one after another.
As a sign of respect for Atrometos.
"Pass on my order. Send an envoy to communicate with the enemy's frontline commander and surrender."
Soon, the messenger sent by Atrometus left Thebes. At this time, the Byzantine army had just started to move, and the messenger had already met the commander-in-chief of this operation, Alcibiades.
Alcibiades naturally knew what the purpose of sending the envoy at this time was.
