"Did it shoot off target?"
Dione sighed with some regret.
"Sure enough, your shot is not accurate enough."
"Don't sigh! Keep going!"
Sophia also came out in a hurry. She was about to use her own power, but suddenly she remembered that her own power was completely restrained by Dione. After she summoned the night, the power of Dione's Golden Bow of the Sun would be greatly reduced. Sophia could only look at Dione anxiously. She had just thought of this very important point!
"This is……"
Hera sensed it.
That bow...isn't it Apollo's Golden Bow of the Sun?!
"You are... the daughter of Apollo?"
"No, I'm not the daughter of that guy!" Dione shot three arrows in succession, but each arrow flew past Hera's body. "I'm Dione, Hilde's sister."
"you……"
The sudden appearance of the golden bow in the bright sun.
This caught Hera off guard.
She was a little surprised that this lost artifact of Apollo was in the possession of such a little girl. However, Hera knew that her intuition would never be wrong. That familiar feeling meant that it must have come from Apollo, including the divine power. Also, the fact that she could use the Golden Bow of the Sun meant that this little girl had a deep connection with Apollo. After thinking about it, she could only be the illegitimate daughter of Apollo and a human.
"interesting."
Hera waved her hand and said coldly:
"I never thought that Apollo had such a legacy."
"Shut up!"
Dione was annoyed by Hera's tone.
That kind of condescending tone, which doesn't even regard oneself as a human being.
So, Dione suddenly jumped into the sky and floated at the same height as Hera. She didn't say much, and shot several arrows with the bow in her hand. At such a close distance, Hera had to move quickly, but Dione seemed to be enraged and bit Hera tightly.
She shot many arrows from the golden bow in her hand, but each arrow just grazed Hera's body and could not hit her directly.
Seeing this situation, Dioni was also anxious.
calm……
Stay Calm...
Dione recalled what Hilde had once said to her.
When fighting against a strong person, no matter how much pressure you are under, you must remain calm.
"That's all?"
Hera turned around and looked at Dione who suddenly stopped.
"I thought you were so powerful, but it seems that you didn't inherit much of Apollo's abilities."
"Apollo and I, it's alright."
Dione drew the golden bow and took a deep breath.
"I only have a relationship with myself and everyone I want to protect!"
"Tough mouth!"
Hera waved her hand and a golden spear appeared in her hand.
Hera is the goddess of marriage and women. She does not have any strong fighting ability, but Hera, who has a prominent status, also possesses divine power that ordinary gods cannot match. So, when she began to attack Dione, Sophia was worried on the ground and was ready to take action at any time, even if it would weaken Dione's power, to ensure that Dione would not be harmed.
This is also a helpless move.
But, right now.
Dione seemed to sense something.
He suddenly released the taut bowstring.
A golden arrow seemed to pierce the sky and soared into the sky. The sky, which was originally covered with dark clouds, suddenly dispersed and revealed a bright sunny day. At the same time, when the sun appeared in front of everyone and shone on the earth, the Golden Bow in Dioni's hand seemed to feel the presence of the sun. The bow, which was originally full of light, now shone with a scorching light.
at the same time--
A golden arrow piercing the sky.
It actually turned into a golden bolt of lightning in the air, swooping down from the sky like a giant dragon.
"What!?"
Hera looked up and noticed the golden divine power coming towards her.
Hera, who was rushing towards Dione in the air, couldn't dodge so quickly. Hera suddenly changed the direction of flight, but was still hit by the golden lightning. Suddenly, that familiar but somewhat different power suddenly poured into Hera's body and began to run wildly. Hera only felt half of her body numb, and suddenly her whole body froze and fell straight to the ground.
"what--!!!"
"Success!"
Dione was also surprised.
The move she just made was almost launched instinctively.
No one taught her how to use the Golden Bow of the Sun.
Just like holding a weapon and staying calm in the face of danger, the battle memories awakened from the depths of her mind. Dione knew very well that these battle memories came from Apollo. After all, as Apollo's illegitimate daughter, she used Apollo's golden bow. This kind of thing could never be washed away...
As for Hera.
When she was hit by the attack, she felt an indescribable sense of panic.
The divine power flowing in her body came from Dione.
It wasn't that familiar feeling that came from Apollo.
To be precise, this is a kind of existence that seems to be able to restrain itself, and it is different from the power of the Olympian gods. Hera can feel that the power in her body seems to be very afraid of this external force. It is precisely because of this that when she is hit, Hera almost loses control of her body.
This is an extremely terrifying thing for a god who has lived for a long time.
However, Hera soon recovered.
She dodged Dione's attacks several times in succession, and then immediately distanced herself from Dione.
"You're weird."
Hera frowned and asked:
"Answer me, where does your strength come from?"
"It's mine."
"Nonsense! Your power is not Apollo's power at all!" Hera pointed at Dione, but she didn't realize that her fingers had begun to tremble. "Have you coveted the power of the Original Book of Creation!?"
Chapter 3, Section 9: The Stalemate Phase of the Battle
Dione was stunned for a moment.
"What is the original book of creation?"
"Still quibbling here!"
Hera was furious.
Hera knew the importance of the Book of Genesis very well. Because of this, she regarded this treasure as something that could not be violated by others. No matter what, she would not allow anyone other than the Olympians to covet the power of the Book of Genesis. For example, Hilde was the medium and carrier of the Book of Genesis, so she could not help being affected by the treasure.
But now, this illegitimate daughter of Apollo, this dirty demigod, also possessed the power of the original library of creation. Although this power was not enough to directly threaten the gods, Hera felt a great pressure. If the attack just now was directly hit, Hera was also worried that she would have the same fate as Apollo and die without a burial place.
"You're so annoying."
Dione didn't want to talk any more.
She also realized that her attack had worked.
So she pulled up her golden bow and shot several arrows in succession.
At this time, Hera did not dare to neglect it. She knew how powerful this little girl was, so she dodged the golden arrow in mid-air, and at the same time, she was also thinking about how to solve the current problem.
The current dilemma is.
Now, Hercules was fighting with the Persian, and the two sides fought hard. Hercules was as strong as iron, and his strength was the greatest in the entire Olympus, while the Persian was light and lithe, and he could move freely under Hercules's direct attack. At the same time, the flame in his hand brought scorching heat waves, burning Hercules' skin and body. Although, as a god, Hercules could use his divine power to quickly repair his body, but he couldn't fight a war of attrition like this.
At this time, Hera saw Sophia standing below.
Hera originally thought.
I am fighting one against two.
However, when Dione and herself were almost tied, the red-haired woman chose to wait and see what would happen. Hera didn't think much about it, but she had a bad feeling. After all, the other side had an oracle who was watching the changes in the battle with eager eyes. No matter how strong this guy was, there was no doubt that as long as she joined the battle of either side, she might become the weight that destroyed the balance of the scale.
And at this time.
The battle between the Byzantine army and the Athenian army has begun as scheduled.
Under the attack of Nicias.
The Byzantine army's formation was disrupted.
The Athenian temple guards and the Athenian heavy infantry who rushed out afterwards followed closely behind, intending to take advantage of the results of Nicias' assault and finally win the battle and achieve brilliant results.
But Golgopas would never allow this to happen.
Nicias was entangled by Golgopas and could not escape for a while.
The Oracle is fighting, and the next battlefield will be the battlefield of mortal soldiers.
"Crossbowmen! Get ready!"
The Byzantine centurion raised his banner.
The crossbowmen in the back row of the army raised their powerful crossbows.
The Athenians had never seen the power of the Byzantine crossbows, but they knew that they were no good. So the front row of the temple guards quickly put up their shields, maintained a tight formation, and continued to oppress the Byzantine army in front of them. Then, dense crossbow arrows were suddenly released. These crossbow arrows with steel arrowheads were extremely powerful, and all of them were nailed into the Athenian formation.
Some poor unlucky ones were shot to the ground by crossbows, but then the heavy infantry who were not hit by arrows rushed to fill their positions. After the Byzantine side fired their crossbows, the hired archers from Crete stood behind the Athenian army and pulled their bowstrings. Then, the same dense rain of arrows fell from the sky, and only screams were heard, and many Byzantine soldiers fell to the ground.
"It's the Cretans."
The centurion couldn't help but sigh as he watched this scene.
The entire Greek world.
Everyone knows the reputation of the Cretan archers.
As we all know, the Cretan archers, whose arrows almost never missed their targets, were mercenaries loved by every city-state.
This was also the first time that the Byzantines faced Cretan archers. Both the centurions and the generals were somewhat envious. It would be great if their own army also had such an archer unit. But now was obviously not the time to lament about this. During the melee between the two armies, the enemy's archers had the advantage of being more flexible and maneuverable than crossbows. For a moment, the Byzantine crossbowmen were actually oppressed.
The Byzantine crossbowmen were equipped with large wooden tower shields to prevent being shot by the enemy. This was a type of soldier that had been preserved since the Thracian War. However, the archery skills of the Cretans were very terrible. When some crossbowmen had strung their crossbows and were about to shoot, a feather arrow suddenly flew over and pierced their leather helmets, killing them.
This is terrifying precision.
This is the specialty of these Cretans.
The crossbowmen were suppressed.
The pressure on the Athenian army on the battlefield was temporarily reduced a lot.
In such a situation, it is a competition of the true strength of the two armies.
The Athenian army was indeed inferior to the Spartans in terms of combat effectiveness, but they had better equipment and better physical fitness. Even when facing the Byzantines, the Athenian soldiers were not weaker than the Byzantines. After all, there were a large number of farmers in the Byzantine army, and their physical fitness and nutritional level were naturally not as good as those of the "Athenian citizens" who had received physical training since childhood in the Athenian army.
The Athenian centurions struggled to keep their troops in line.
They knew very well that fighting against an opponent like the Byzantine Empire would be difficult.
Once the formation is disrupted, death is certain.
The rigorous training and determination to protect the city-state made the Athenians work hard. Even the ordinary Athenian heavy infantrymen were close together, pointing their spears at the Byzantines in front of them. These spears, less than two meters long, were traditional Greek heavy infantry equipment, and the tight formation was also a very traditional Greek heavy infantry phalanx.
Fight against such an opponent.
Byzantium should not have been so difficult.
But that's how it is.
The current terrain is a plain outside the city, and the area available for fighting is small. Behind the Athenian soldiers are the walls of Athens. Such terrain is not conducive to the Byzantine cavalry's detour from behind, making it difficult for the most vulnerable right wing of the heavy infantry phalanx to be threatened by the enemy's cavalry.
