Nicias had heard of it before.
When the Byzantine Empire faced the Thracians.
This weapon has been used before.
Thousands of Thracian soldiers were burned to death under the walls of Byzantium.
And when Nicias was a little worried.
He looked down and saw a heavy machine among the Byzantine army, slowly driving towards this side.
"Charge car?"
It turned out that Hilde thought that since the catapult could not be used.
Then get ready to rush.
Hilde's army had always carried materials for making battering rams, but they had never used such things as battering rams while attacking so many cities along the way. After all, with the power of the catapult, no city wall could withstand its power, and there was no need to use a battering ram to knock open the city gates. But the current situation was exactly prepared for the use of battering rams!
"I didn't expect this thing to be so useful."
Sophia watched the ram slowly moving forward.
"But is there really no problem?"
"Since the catapult cannot be used, this is the only option."
Hilde patted Sophia's shoulder gently.
"no need to worry."
"Since the battering rams are already in use, why not launch a general attack now?" Xerxes seemed eager to fight, having already made preparations for the attack. "Anyway, there is only one god, Hera, in this city. Let's work together to get rid of that guy!"
"Don't act rashly for now."
Hilde shook her head.
"I absolutely do not believe that the gods can only do this. They must have arranged other means and are waiting for the two of us to deliver them in person. It's strange to say that up to now, the only one who appeared in front of us and was our enemy is Hera. Ares, who had a conflict with you before, is now missing."
"Do you think there's a conspiracy here?"
"definitely."
Hilde looked at the city ahead seriously and earnestly.
"I have a wild guess."
"What guess?"
"If the gods really wanted to get rid of us, they would definitely concentrate all their strength. At that time, even if there were two of us facing the attack of five gods, we would definitely be powerless and even defeated. This is also the way with the greatest possibility of victory. But they didn't do this. In addition to the fact that these gods are arrogant, it is probably also related to their selfishness. I suspect that there is also internal discord among the gods."
"Indeed, it is strange that they, who possess the greatest power, did not concentrate all their strength to attack us."
Xerxes also nodded in sudden realization.
"What's next?"
"Let's wait and see what happens."
Hilde placed her finger gently in front of her lips and made a gesture of silence.
"I need to confirm whether my guess is correct."
"Ok."
Since Hilde is not in a hurry.
Xerxes had no reason to get excited about this.
In Hilde's mind, based on the various intelligence he had acquired during this period, the gods of Olympus who participated in this operation clearly had internal discord. Moreover, their actions were fragmented, without a clear command.
Otherwise, there would be no need for the gods to abandon the city-state of Thebes and gather Hilde and all her oracles in Athens.
At the same time, there must be strong disagreements within the Olympian gods, especially Poseidon, who must have had a big conflict of opinion with Zeus. Thanks to this, during this operation, the Byzantine naval fleet led by Rhodes did not encounter difficulties with Poseidon at sea. Instead, it went smoothly and arrived at the destination smoothly, and completed its combat mission.
So Hilde had a big guess in his mind.
Combined with the treasure of the Original Book of Creation in his own body.
Hilde roughly figured things out.
However, this idea is not mature yet, and we need to continue to see the reactions of the gods to know.
Therefore, Hilde does not plan to play directly in this battle.
The first and third quarters of the battle were in a stalemate
Instead, wait for the right moment.
Wait until you intuitively feel that this thing can be done this way, then take action.
So, Hilde just watched the ram slowly move towards the city wall. The black fire rain in the sky did not stop. The soldiers could not brave the attack of Greek fire to stop the approach of the ram. The Thracian warriors who were responsible for operating the ram hid inside the ram. The bronze shield on the top of the ram could protect the ram from arrows and stones.
This heavy ram can easily destroy everything.
Nicias naturally could not stand by and watch this battering ram threaten the gates of Athens.
Once the city gate is breached...
So Nicias didn't care about anything else and jumped down from the city gate.
With the power of the Oracle, it won't be a problem to take down this battering ram.
But just as Nicias was about to act, he suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in the ram. Then, Nicias realized that there must be an oracle hiding in the ram! Because there were too many oracles around, Nicias did not react for a while. But when Nicias noticed it, a strong man suddenly got out of the ram, opened his arms, and rushed directly towards Nicias.
"Surprise, baby?"
Golgopas pounces on his prey like a tiger.
He rushed directly towards Nicias.
This was the first time Nicias saw Golgopas. He dodged quickly, but was still hugged by Golgopas and then slammed against the city wall. Golgopas's strength was probably even stronger than that of a battering ram. Nicias only felt a strong impact, and then he was slammed directly against the city wall, which cracked.
"what--!"
"I am Golgopas!"
Golgopas introduced himself and grabbed Nicias' arm.
"It's the great god of wine, the oracle of Dionysus!"
"Yes, it's you!"
Nicias then remembered.
Then, Golgopas threw him high into the sky.
Nicias was an oracle after all. Although he could not fully flexibly use the power bestowed by Hera, it was still enough to face such an attack. So Nicias adjusted his angle in the air, then dived down directly and kicked hard at the place where Golgopas had just stood. Although Golgopas quickly dodged, the impact force just now still directly kicked the ground into a deep pit, and the surrounding ground trembled.
"I'm coming too!"
Just as the two were confronting each other.
A petite golden figure also rushed in.
She came towards them like a flash of golden lightning.
The abundant power from her forced Nicias to take several steps back, but the lightning-fast attack came to an abrupt halt. Nicias looked closely and saw a blonde girl holding a delicate dagger standing next to Golgopas. Facing these two people, Nicias knew that continuing the fight might be dangerous, so he rushed towards the battering ram without hesitation.
At this speed, Golgopas and Dione were unable to react.
The assault vehicle was smashed to pieces.
After seeing the battering ram destroyed, Golgopas and Dione looked at each other and retreated helplessly.
The ram was destroyed, and the Thracian warriors inside also fled quickly. This exploratory attack came to an end. Hilde herself did not have high expectations for the ram, so she said to Sitalses beside her: "Let the catapult throw the Greek fire higher, so that the Greek fire can burn directly into the city of Athens, understand?"
"Yes!"
Sitalses turned around and came to the position of the catapults.
The catapult then adjusted the angle of the launch.
The Greek fire was thrown higher, and when it reached a certain height, it hit the protective shield. The fragmented Greek fire turned into rain, extending directly from the city wall into the city. The black flames ignited the houses and buildings piled around. The buildings outside the city wall used a lot of flammable wood materials, not high-grade marble. Under the effect of the Greek fire, these houses were immediately ignited, and the flames quickly spread to the city.
"Come and put out the fire!"
"Protect the supplies!"
The soldiers carried buckets and hurriedly brought water over.
Then try to put out those flames.
Hera and Hercules, who were hiding in Nicias' mansion, could hear the chaotic noises in the distance. Hercules listened to the screams and couldn't help but say, "Is it really okay for us not to show up? The Athenians seem to be suffering a very miserable treatment."
"Don't worry, the Byzantine army is unlikely to launch an attack today."
Hera said calmly:
"Moreover, the Spartan reinforcements will arrive in Megara tonight and will be able to enter the heart of Attica the next day. I wonder how long the Byzantine army can hold out. How long Hilde can keep going."
"Too."
Hercules shook his head helplessly.
"However, we who are supposed to protect humanity have to stand here and watch the tragic death of the people we are protecting and do nothing. This is really too cruel."
"Indeed, but there is nothing we can do about it."
"Yes."
"Hercules, your mission is to wait here. Next, depending on the situation, you may be required to support the Spartans, or you may be required to stay here and defeat the enemy. As Hercules, I believe that as long as you take action, you will be able to solve all problems."
"Of course."
Hera obviously had ulterior motives when she said this.
Hercules is no fool.
He knew very well what Hera wanted to express.
And the plan behind Hera.
It's just that Hercules didn't have any idea about these complicated things. Now, as long as he could defeat Hilde, it didn't matter how he defeated her or who defeated him. This was not what Hercules wanted to care about. Compared with these, Hercules cared more about the suffering Athenians. In the end, the gods were still acting around their own interests, and the Athenians, as a pawn, were the most pitiful and innocent in this series of events. There was nothing he could do about this situation.
obviously.
Under the protection of Hera's shield.
The attack on Athens obviously encountered great obstacles.
Hilde did not allow his soldiers to launch active attacks.
The first part of the fourth section: a meaningless day
Soon, it was evening.
The flames had already burned a large area of the city, and almost all the buildings inside the western wall were engulfed by the fire. However, even so, Hilde did not issue an order to continue the attack. Instead, he slowed down the speed of the attack, and the troops continued to standby. The Byzantine soldiers, who had been tense for a day, could also steal a half-day of leisure and have a good rest.
The soldiers sat on the ground.
We lit a fire and started cooking.
And Hilde walked among the soldiers with Dione.
"Who told you to hide in the rush car today?"
"It was me..."
Dione, who was following Hilde, said nervously:
"Did I do something wrong?"
"It's more than just wrong!"
Hilde looked visibly angry.
Her beautiful eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and her tone was filled with uncontrollable anger. After all, Dione's secret attack really annoyed Hilde. After all, no one knew what traps were in Athens, which was protected by Hera.
"But didn't Golgopas go there too?"
"You are not unaware of Golgopas's abilities. Even if he is attacked, he can still escape unscathed. What about you?"
Hilde turned around and grabbed Dione's ear.
