"Atrometos, how do you feel about meeting me?" Hilde crossed his legs and said coldly, "Facing this outcome, I wonder what you have to say."
"You are the enemy of the gods! You are the tyrant of the East!"
Atrometos tried to stand up.
However, Tomyris, who was standing behind Atrometos, raised her foot and kicked the opponent back to the ground.
"be honest."
"Damn it, you barbarian woman..."
"I advise you not to act rashly, Atrometus."
Hilde smiled indifferently, as if he was looking down on a clown.
"I am an oracle. Even gods fear me. You are just an ordinary mortal. Do you still want to hurt me?"
"Hilde! Your atrocities! The gods will punish you! They will!"
"Atrometus, you are still stubborn and you are the one who refuses to surrender. Now that the city has been captured, the whole city has to pay for your stupid decision. Don't you feel guilty at all? After all, you were deceived by those guys on Mount Olympus. They didn't even have to talk to you. They just made you believe that they would help Thebes, and you made such an impulsive decision. It's really interesting."
"I……"
Atrometos was speechless.
On the matter of God.
It was indeed Atrometos who lost the bet.
"Let me tell you, the gods will never help the Thebans. From the beginning, you were abandoned pawns. They were just trying to buy me time. Fortunately, the time wasted on you is only a few days, so it won't affect anything." Hilde stood up and walked in front of Atrometos. "You also know that it is normal for me to issue the order to destroy Thebes today. However, my general did not kill innocent people and gave you Thebans a chance to survive. What should you say?"
"..."
Atrometos bowed his head.
His face turned red, but he didn't say a word.
"You don't want to tell me?"
"No... Your Majesty."
Atrometos knew that this was Hilde giving him a chance.
"I, Atrometus, thank you for your majesty's magnanimity."
"That's pretty much it."
"Your Majesty, then, then Thebes..."
"Thebes? This city-state is destined to cease to exist. We will completely destroy Thebes in a few days, and then you Thebans will be resettled in our Byzantine Empire. Don't worry, you will not become slaves, but citizens of the Byzantine Empire. I will give you land so that you can survive."
"……Yes."
"If you fail, you fail."
Hilde looked at Atrometos, who was about to cry but had no tears.
He couldn't help but shook his head.
"My kindness to you ends here. I hope you won't let me down."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Take it down."
After the soldiers took the distraught Atrometus away, Xerxes couldn't help laughing.
"Hahahahaha, Xixi, you have so many bad intentions."
“Is this what you call a bad heart?”
"This guy is planning to rebel. He is really brave but not wise. No wonder he made the decision to let Thebes choose to defend the city in front of the Byzantine Empire."
Although the decision was to defend the city.
Very brave and loyal indeed.
However, city-states and kingdoms are different.
The city-state is a single entity, there is no so-called loyalty, everything is based on the overall interests of the city-state. Therefore, when the Byzantine army is approaching, the city-state can choose to surrender and save itself. However, if it is a city in the empire or kingdom, no matter how few soldiers there are, they must hold on, preferably fighting to the last man. After all, if a city chooses to surrender, it may damage the interests of the entire kingdom or empire, so loyalty becomes the most important thing.
That's why.
The Thebans faced such a huge gap in strength between the enemy and themselves.
Still choose to stick to it.
It's a very stupid decision.
Because for Thebes, surrender would not be a bad outcome.
However, the issue of Thebes was resolved.
Everyone can have a good sleep and have a good rest.
The Fire Devours Thebes
Time passed quickly and another two days passed.
The Byzantine army, which has completed sufficient training in Thebes, is now about to begin the final step.
As the army piled up combustibles in the city of Thebes, the soldiers carried all the supplies in the city and evacuated the city in an orderly manner, gathering outside the city. Then, under the watchful eyes of Hilde, the soldiers lit the fire with torches, and the flames began to burn from several city gates, and then gradually spread to the city.
Pitch-black smoke rose from the city of Thebes, even covering the sky, and the wind blowing from the south caused the fire to grow rapidly. From the initial flames, under the influence of the wind, it quickly turned into a wave of flames that engulfed the entire city. Those houses made of wood and mud tiles could not withstand such flames. Except for the marble buildings in the inner city of Thebes, almost all buildings and streets could not escape the fate of being engulfed by the fire.
Thebes has a history of more than a thousand years.
Until now, it has finally come to an end.
Accompanied by a blazing fire.
The people of Thebes outside the city couldn't help but howl.
Thebes was in flames and would eventually become a ruin. It would most likely be rebuilt, but the new residents would definitely not be these people. Thebes, a city-state that left a strong mark in Greek history and mythology, finally met its end at this time. The Thebans were naturally very sad to see their hometown gone. Some extreme people even wanted to rush out and die with the city of Thebes in the fire.
But in the end he was stopped.
Hilde stood on a high ground outside the city.
Watching Thebes engulfed in flames.
Hilde sighed helplessly.
"Everything will be burned to ashes."
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Xiao Xuexue, you see, the current city of Thebes has a history of thousands of years, but it was destroyed by a fire. Isn't it the same with my kingdom and your empire? Even if the country has a long history, in the end, it may just be a fire, and the century-old foundation, the thousand-year foundation, will disappear in history and become the dust of history." Hilde said with emotion, "After we leave this world, it is hard to say whether our country will be like Thebes."
"As long as we can do the things in front of us well, that's enough."
Xerxes smiled and shook his head.
"As for other things, it's not our concern."
"Yeah that's right."
"Moreover, you watched the fire completely burn down the homes of the Thebans. However, this was not because they refused to surrender, but because they were too weak. In the Greek peninsula, Thebes is indeed quite powerful, but looking at the entire world, Thebes is not worth mentioning at all. Especially when facing your Byzantine Empire, Thebes is... what is the mantis you often mention?"
"The mantis' arm is like a chariot."
"Correct."
Xerxes nodded.
Although she didn't know where this proverb came from.
"It's a big fire. I don't know how long it will burn."
"Sissi, if you're in a hurry, I can help you."
After saying this, Xerxes wanted to use his own power to make the fire burn more fiercely.
However, Hilde stopped Xerxes.
"Okay, that's not necessary, let's just leave it at that."
"Don't you want to see a fire tornado?"
"This is not a show." Hilde rubbed his temple helplessly, "Soon, the army will set out for Athens."
"……yes."
Athens, Athens.
Both Hilde and Xerxes knew what Athens meant.
When Hilde's army arrived in Athens, the war officially began. The war between Hilde and the Olympian gods was officially launched. Starting from Thebes, the army only needed to advance for two or three days to enter Attica and then surround Athens.
"do not worry."
Xerxes patted Hilde's shoulder.
"I'll stay with you."
"Thank you."
"Those guys on Mount Olympus, it's okay. Didn't we kill Apollo? It doesn't matter if there are a few more!" Xerxes patted his plump chest and said proudly, "You are Hilde, the woman loved by me, Queen Xerxes II of Persia, the one trusted by Athena and endowed with special powers. You must remember, if this is an epic, you are the protagonist. Since you are the protagonist, you will definitely be able to overcome all difficulties and finally win."
"What if I were Achilles?"
Hilde couldn't help but ask.
Xerxes reached out and pinched Hilde's face.
"What nonsense are you talking about, little girl?"
"Wow... isn't that right?"
"Don't say such things casually."
Xerxes knew the end of Achilles, who was shot in the ankle and died. Hilde's comparison of Achilles to herself was a bit harsh to Xerxes' ears. After seeing that Xerxes was a little angry, Hilde couldn't help but joked: "Really, I was just joking. Don't worry, no matter what, I will keep my life!"
"That's pretty much it."
Xerxes nodded with satisfaction.
"Next, let's set off quickly. I think Rhodes is getting impatient."
"Yes."
The fleet led by Rhodes is still at the port of Athens.
Moreover, Rhode was under a lot of pressure. After all, if the gods suddenly took action, Rhode would be in great danger. Although Poseidon remained neutral and might even help Rhode, it was absolutely impossible for Poseidon to break with the Olympian Protoss.
It was unknown how long the fire would burn, but the army could not stay here and wait for the fire to burn down Thebes. Now, the Byzantine soldiers were divided into two parts. One part, consisting of the wounded and some auxiliary troops, would return along the original route to escort the Thebans to the Byzantine Kingdom, and also return to the Byzantine Kingdom for recuperation. The main force would continue to move south with Hilde and rush all the way to Athens.
There were no large city-states blocking the way from Thebes to Athens. After crossing the mountains in the Thebes area, the Byzantine cavalry advanced rapidly and entered the plains of Attica in the afternoon of the second day.
When the Attica peasants saw these elite cavalry.
I knew something was wrong.
Chapter 8: The Army Enters Attica
The last foreign army to come to Attica.
Still Spartans.
The Spartans at that time wreaked havoc in the farmlands and villages of Attica for several years, directly destroying Attica's agricultural production capacity and the strength of the agricultural aristocracy. Later, after the Spartans and Athenians ceased fighting, the Attica region returned to a peaceful state, and farmers and farmers returned to their homes and resumed planting crops. It took a year to restore the supply of agricultural products to Athens.
I thought that such a good life could last forever, but now, the Byzantine cavalry suddenly appeared here. Facing these fully armed heavy cavalry, the Athenian youths guarding the border area would definitely not be able to resist. All they could do was to quickly spread the news to Athens.
In the Greek city-state.
Every male citizen has to go through a stage.
After they turned 18, they would be required to take up arms and go to the border areas to patrol and maintain public order. Only after they completed their tasks would they be accepted as citizens of the city-state. Even in Athens, these young men, armed with shields and spears, patrolled the borders of Attica, where there was basically no war. Originally, they only needed to stay here for a few years before they could go back and become citizens who could participate in politics.
However, the arrival of the Byzantines broke this peace.
These young people rushed out of the border military camp one after another, but with less than a hundred of them, they had no way of taking up weapons to fight the enemy.
But that's the case.
