The King's Feint to the East and Attack to the West
"you……"
For Archidamus.
This is a naked insult.
Although Hilde is an oracle who can rival the gods, it does not mean that he can be perfunctory like this. Anyway, after entering the arena, Hilde and Archidamus are both warriors, but the warrior behaved like this in front of thousands of spectators, which was almost like a slap in the face of Archidamus. However, he did not show any resentment, but just took a deep breath and said, "Okay, if that's the case, then don't come."
"very good."
Hilde turned her back.
"It's up to you when to do it."
"..."
Hilde then swung and threw an hourglass to Archidamus.
The hourglass was not big, and it would take about five minutes for it to drain completely, which was considered a standard hourglass. Archidamus looked at the hourglass in his hand, walked to the wall beside him, and placed the hourglass upside down on the platform. The sand in the hourglass began to slide down slowly, indicating the start of the timer. Archidamus also raised his weapon and walked towards Hilde.
Now, Hilde's eyes were blindfolded.
If you were an ordinary person, doing this would be tantamount to seeking death.
But Archidamus knew very well that Hilde was doing this because she was confident. As an oracle with divine power, Hilde's confidence and calmness made Archidamus feel uncertain. Although the opponent basically would not fight back, and also covered his eyes and put his hands behind his back, which was equivalent to passively taking the beating, could he really attack the opponent before the hourglass ran out?
No, this is an opportunity given by the other party.
If I can't hit it, maybe it's too...
Archidamus adjusted his steps gently.
Make your movements more stable.
Then, he controlled his breath, made his voice less obvious, raised his spear and stabbed directly at Hilde. Hilde, who had her back to him, seemed to have eyes on the back of her head. When Archidamus thrust, Hilde turned sideways and easily dodged the attack of the spear. She only took one step to the side, just one step.
"drink!"
Archidamus did not give up.
Instead, he grabbed the base of the spear and swung it sideways.
But Hilde turned around on the spot, tapped the ground with his feet three times in a row, and then floated back several meters like a swallow. Not to mention hitting him, he didn't even touch the edge.
"good--!!!"
The audience's cheers made Archidamus' face turn red and white.
"keep going?"
Hilde raised her head towards the sky, the smile on her lips was like a knife stabbing into Archidamus' heart.
Archidamus immediately rushed forward, thrusting the spear in his hand three times, but it was no match for Hilde's easy pace, which neutralized all the attacks one by one. She was just taking a walk, taking a small half step to avoid Archidamus's attack. Even with all his strength, Archidamus was unable to attack Hilde, even if it was just to scratch her clothes.
The wide robe was waved with Hilde's steps, but even so, the spear could not even touch the clothes. After more than a minute of fierce attack, Hilde walked leisurely, dodging and retreating, confidently and calmly avoiding each attack of Archidamus. But Archidamus could do nothing, his physical strength was almost exhausted, and the hand holding the spear began to tremble.
"No more?"
Hilde heard Archidamus gasp.
I couldn't help but ask, "It didn't take long, did it?"
"you you……"
Archidamus was a man already past middle age.
The high-intensity attack just now was hard for even an experienced warrior to guarantee how long he could last. The spear was heavy, and every thrust forward would consume a lot of physical strength. Now Archidamus' arm had begun to feel sore and numb, and his entire arm was aching. In addition, after being imprisoned for so long, Archidamus' physical strength was no longer able to cope with such a situation.
"Do you feel that there is no way out?"
"...No, I haven't."
Archidamus glanced at the hourglass.
Not even half of the sand has flowed away.
"I can still go on!"
"Come on then."
Hield continued walking on the court with his hands behind his back.
Archidamus could confirm that Hilde was invisible. Every time he attacked, he attacked from Hilde's blind spot, and Hilde didn't even turn her head, which meant that the other party really couldn't see anything. Therefore, the other party should have judged the position through sound or his own breath to determine the attack.
If it was a sound, then Archidamus had an idea.
He looked around.
Then he raised the round shield in his left hand.
“Hilde——!!!”
He roared and threw the round shield in his hand directly out.
The round bronze shield flew towards Hilde like a dart, very fast. Facing the whistling sound of breaking wind, Hilde showed a little surprise on her face, perhaps she did not expect that Archidamus would attack in this way. And the shield with a parabolic trend was not difficult for Hilde to dodge. She took two steps back, and the shield directly brushed her face and flew to the other side.
And just then.
Archidamus had already stabbed behind Hilde.
Because of the inertia of retreating, Hilde had almost no chance of dodging.
Archidamus's spear was aimed at Hilde's slender body. The sharp spear pierced directly, almost blocking Hilde's escape route. At this speed, the spear would pierce Hilde's body before her feet touched the ground. Even if she managed to dodge, her clothes would not be spared. In any case, Archidamus's requirements could be met.
Succeeded——!
A sense of joy arose in Archidamus' heart.
But then, the joy turned into horror.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Hilde's mouth.
Before he could react, Hilde suddenly raised her leg high and kicked the spear of Archidamus at an incredible speed. The spear did not touch Hilde at all and was kicked off the direction by her kick. With the huge impact, Archidamus felt his hands go numb, and then the spear was kicked more than ten meters away and landed on the field.
Hilde landed steadily on the ground and said with a smile:
"Good, you know how to make a feint to the east and attack in the west."
Chapter 1, Section 6: The Summoned Heroic Spirit
The shield is gone.
The spear was gone too.
Such an attack is almost the last wave of hysteria, and is almost equivalent to bankruptcy.
Although the sand in the hourglass had not yet drained out, Archidamus knew that he could not hit Hilde unless she let him win. But the possibility of Hilde letting him win was almost nonexistent. Now, Hilde was like looking at a clown, with her eyes full of mockery and contempt for him. Even though her eyes were covered with a black cloth, Archidamus felt the same way.
"I lost."
He could only give up like this.
At this moment, Hilde reached out and tore off the cloth in front of him.
"Are you giving up now?"
"I……"
"It's not over yet."
"There is no need to continue."
"Oh? Really?" Hilde sneered and threw the black cloth aside. "If I had the same idea as you, I would have become a ghost killed by Apollo. Really... When I faced Apollo, I felt much more powerless than you do now. You only need to touch me once, but I have to kill Apollo, otherwise I will be the one killed."
"That's different!"
Archidamus cried out:
"You can defeat God, but I can't defeat you!"
"Before I killed Apollo, I didn't know if I could defeat the gods... In fact, I was beaten so badly that time that my entire army was almost wiped out. Yes, my entire army was wiped out. Everyone you saw almost died in that battle. Me, Sophia, Tomyris... Everyone was in great danger, far more terrible than the danger you are in now. However, my choice was that even if I died, I would give it a try. I would never surrender, and in the end I succeeded."
"I……"
Hear these words.
Archidamus could not help but lower his head.
Indeed... no matter what the result was, in the end it was Archidamus himself who gave up.
Gave up the chance to win and gave up the courage to fight on.
In the end, he was only ridiculed by Hilde.
"You think you are a mortal and cannot fight against the oracle, but we were just ordinary oracles at that time. When we faced a god like Apollo, we had the same thoughts as you... How could we, as weak as we are, become enemies with the god, or even defeat him? But even if we are ants, ants have their own courage. When faced with inevitable failure, they have no choice but to give it a try. So, Archidamus, this is why we have been able to come this far despite the pursuit and blockade of you and the gods."
"I see."
Archidamus sighed.
"So, how do you want me to help you?"
"Ah, very good."
Hilde smiled slightly when he saw the other party's attitude change.
"But now is not the time to discuss this matter. How about we wait until the gladiatorial contest is over before discussing this matter?"
"Yes, you said so."
------------
The gladiatorial contest was over.
The fight between Hilde and Archidamus was obviously not the most intense and exciting part of the whole match, but the sight of Hilde leisurely dodging the opponent's attacks still made the audience's hearts jump to their throats. After all, in the gladiatorial contests so far, no one had ever been like Hilde, wearing an eye patch, with his hands behind his back, relying purely on hearing and intuition to judge the opponent's attacks, and being able to easily disarm the opponent in a fight where the opponent was making a feint to the east and attacking in the west.
This is a thrilling battle.
It is indeed rare.
The battles where Tomyris killed the Menean Lion and Golgopas killed the wolves were also very exciting.
The effect of the gladiatorial contest met Hilde's expectations.
Of course, pleasing the people of Actium was one thing, and on the other hand, it was to do a good job of psychological work on Archidamus. After the gladiatorial contest was over, Archidamus, who had taken off his gladiator armor, put on his robe again, and came to Hilde's temporary palace as a guest.
"Be respectful."
Tomyris said coldly.
"If you don't want to die."
"You don't need to remind me."
Archidamus glanced at Tomyris who was traveling with him, then pushed the door open and entered the venue.
Now, Hilde held a banquet in his temporary palace. In addition to military officers, some prominent figures in Actium were invited to the banquet. It was a small event after the gladiatorial contest. When Archidamus and Tomyris walked into the banquet, everyone in the venue could not help but focus their attention on Archidamus.
This made Archidamus suddenly nervous.
However, this focus soon disappeared.
After all, most people don’t know Archidamus.
Even in the arena, he wore a helmet so his face could not be seen.
Everyone was more concerned about Tomylis who walked into the venue holding a double-pronged fork.
Archidamus looked around and soon found Hilde, who was holding a wine glass and smiling sweetly, in the crowd. Although the women at the banquet were all dressed up, and there were many beauties like Sophia and Xerxes, Hilde was always the most dazzling star in the venue, as if she exuded an indescribable magic that was hard to resist.
And Hilde also noticed Archidamus's gaze.
She just gave a small smile in return.
Then continue talking to the person in front of you.
Since Hilde is busy now, there is no need to disturb him.
Thinking this, Archidamus went to get something to eat.
And Hilde's side.
She swirled the glass, which contained fine wine from Byzantium.
