Tomyris knew nothing now.
Artemis looked at the central army tent and said helplessly: "You'd better not go in yet."
"What's wrong? What happened?"
As soon as Tomyris heard Artemis say this, she knew that something bad must have happened.
Artemis sighed and briefly told Tomyris what had happened: "The situation is like this. The battle with Hera did not go well. There was not only Hera in Athens, but also Hercules. Hilde and I went to support you, while Sophia, Xerxes and the others faced the two gods alone. After a bloody battle, they still failed. Sophia was captured by Hera, and Xerxes was also injured. As for Hilde, the battle with Ares caused her to go into a violent state, and she has been unconscious since then."
"……what?"
Tomyris' eyes widened.
She didn't quite believe what Artemis said.
"This is what happened while I was away..."
"Correct."
"Then now..."
"Hilde is still sleeping in the big tent, but she is not seriously injured and will probably wake up in a while. However, Xerxes and the others are in a bad mood. If you go in, you'd better keep quiet and don't stir up unnecessary conflicts."
"Yes."
Tomyris nodded seriously.
Then he walked towards the big tent.
Artemis originally wanted to persuade Tomyris not to go in, but seeing Tomyris's anxious look, Artemis knew that it was meaningless to stop her. So, Artemis could only hope that nothing unexpected would happen next.
When Tomyris arrived at the central military tent, he saw Hilde lying on the bed, and Xerxes and Dione standing beside her.
"How's Sissi doing?"
"Tomyris?"
Xerxes turned around and saw Tomyris, who looked a little dirty, and asked:
"Are you OK?"
"Fortunately, we won the battle. It took quite a while to clean up the battlefield."
Tomyris walked to Hilde's bedside hesitantly.
She looked at Hilde's peaceful sleeping face and couldn't help asking, "How long has it been like this?"
"Four hours."
"This……"
"Artemis said that Sissi won't be unconscious for too long and will probably wake up after a while."
"Well, Lady Artemis has already told me exactly what happened." Tomyris wanted to reach out and hold Hilde's hand to check on her condition, but when she saw that her hands were covered in dirt and dark blood, she had no choice but to give up the idea. She raised her head and said to Xerxes, "What are you going to say about Sophia?"
"be honest."
Xerxes also had a firm attitude.
"With Sissi, any beating around the bush is a waste of time."
"That's right. Sissi doesn't like beating around the bush."
"Anyway, you should go wash up first and then have a rest."
"No, we don't know if the enemy will launch a surprise attack. With Sissi in her current state, the barracks must remain on alert. You guys stay here to take care of Sissi, and I'll be on guard outside until Sissi wakes up."
Chapter 7: A short break after the battle
"Ok."
There is this sentence from Tomyris.
Xerxes felt a little better.
Although Xerxes' attitude towards Artemis was not very good, especially the series of things such as Hilde's coma and Ares' escape were all Artemis's own decisions. However, her oracle Tomyris was a very good person. So after Tomyris left here, Xerxes said to Dione: "I have to say that Tomyris is a very good person."
"Sister Tomyris is serious."
Dione also nodded affirmatively.
“He taught me a lot before.”
"Is it……"
"However, maybe what I said is not particularly appropriate, but..." Dioni looked at the door with some concern, "I think that Lady Artemis is a little strange. I don't know whether Artemis is on our side. After all, she is also a god of Olympus. For us, she chose to completely break up with her family. This kind of thing is unlikely, right?"
“She didn’t stand with us.”
Xerxes shook his head helplessly.
"She's just on her side."
"On your side?"
"From the beginning to the end, Artemis is not the same as us. She is a god, destined to be incomprehensible to us, and she cannot understand our existence. Because of this, it is simply a pipe dream to expect Artemis to firmly help us. But, fortunately, the path we are taking now is consistent with the result that Artemis wants. If one day we have to part ways, I think Artemis will become a terrible enemy."
"Is it……"
Dione didn't seem to understand what Xerxes meant.
And Xerxes went on to add:
"In the beginning, the plan to kill Apollo was instigated by Artemis. Without the Bright Moon Silver Bow provided by Artemis and the support of her oracle Tomyris, we would not have been able to succeed in defeating Apollo. And Apollo... is Artemis' brother, a true blood relative. To do such a thing to one's own blood relative, perhaps... as a human being, I cannot understand it, but if a person can kill her brother for her own ideals, then she must be a cold-blooded person."
"Yes."
Dione also nodded affirmatively.
"But gods will still be different from us."
"Yeah, too."
Xerxes was not sure about this.
Maybe what I said was not correct.
However, she firmly believed that gods and humans were completely different beings. Even if gods were close to humans, it was out of pity and mercy, not an equal relationship. Moreover, Xerxes knew that Artemis was never a god who stood firmly with his people. If it weren't for him saving Artemis and Hilde's provocation, Artemis would have made his own choice to save Tomyris.
I'm afraid Artemis will still be like a bystander.
At this stage, we can only wait for Hilde to wake up.
Soon, it was completely dark.
Outside the city of Athens, there was only noise.
After today's battle, the soldiers were in no mood to talk at night. They saw Her Royal Highness the Princess being captured, but they were helpless. This frustrated mood still affected the work. The soldiers also knew that Her Majesty Hilde was sleeping. All kinds of things combined made the soldiers only want to do their own work and not have the mood to chat or laugh.
The silence of the military camp also made the sound of the wind around seem particularly harsh. The wind blowing from the land to the sea, when passing through the military camp, made a whistling sound like the wailing of some animal. It made people feel uncomfortable. Xerxes sat beside Hilde's bed, his eyes kept looking at Hilde on the bed. Now, Hilde was sleeping, and her peaceful sleeping face made Xerxes couldn't help but keep looking.
At this moment, Xerxes suddenly remembered.
I don't think I have ever seen Hilde sleeping.
Every time with Hilde.
It was Xerxes who couldn't help but fall asleep first.
Later, when I woke up, I would find that Hilde was either reading by lamplight or was not by the bed but had gone somewhere else.
Xerxes didn't know that Hilde didn't need sleep and couldn't sleep. The night only brought Hilde unlimited energy, which was one of the reasons why Hilde could maintain efficient work. And now, Hilde's sleeping face in front of him, her small lips, long eyelashes, and the delicate nose trembling with a slight breath, all made Xerxes very fascinated.
"Sissi."
Xerxes spoke up and said:
"If this is the only sleep you get, sleep well."
"You have too many responsibilities on your shoulders. You have done your best today."
"Have a good sleep. Sleep until the sun rises tomorrow, and then wake up later."
Xerxes no longer expected Hilde to wake up soon.
It's good just like this.
Go back to sleep, have a good rest, and don't worry about those messy things.
Anyway, nothing will happen tonight. Moreover, even if she wakes up now, Sophia has been captured and cannot be saved now. It is better to let Hilde sleep until tomorrow morning and then wake up. Xerxes is a little tired. The continuous battles today have almost drained Xerxes' energy, making her feel exhausted now. If it continues like this, Xerxes feels that he will not be able to hold on for too long and will collapse directly.
So Xerxes carefully came to Hilde's side and lay down.
She closed her eyes.
He whispered, "Good night."
Then, all the candles in the tent were extinguished instantly.
In the tent at night, Dione wanted to go in, but she could hear the gentle and quiet breathing of Xerxes and Sophia. Dione knew that Xerxes must be too tired, so he went to sleep first. So Dione did not go in to disturb them. She couldn't help yawning, and she was so sleepy that she couldn't hold on any longer.
Night falls.
It's time to take a good rest.
Thinking of this, Dioni returned to her tent.
After a day of fighting.
No matter who it is, they are exhausted now.
Even Tomyris, who was supposed to stand guard, was a little tired sitting in front of the fire. Her eyes began to slumber, and she lay on the blanket beside the fire and fell into a sweet dream.
No. 7, Section 9, Poplars and Daffodils
"Are you all asleep?"
Artemis came out.
At this time, she found that everyone in the camp seemed to have fallen asleep.
Everyone, including the soldiers, fell into a deep sleep.
Artemis felt something was wrong, because she, who usually didn't need much sleep, was actually a little sleepy now. However, she relied on her consciousness to suppress her sleepiness, and then went outside the military camp to look around. When she found that even the sentinels had fallen asleep, Artemis realized that something was wrong. So, she followed the scent and immediately found Tomyris sleeping on the blanket.
"Tomyris?"
"..."
Tomyris seemed to be sleeping soundly.
Artemis shook Tomyris several times, but she didn't wake up.
At this time, Artemis was about to use her divine power to check if there was anything wrong with Tomyris' body. However, when she looked up, she found that in the ordinary military camp, beautiful daffodils suddenly bloomed on the ground. One after another, white daffodils suddenly spread all over the military camp. In addition, saplings grew on the ground, and began to grow rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and quickly turned into huge poplar trees with lush branches and leaves.
"What……"
Artemis held out her hand.
Picked a daffodil.
“Why are there daffodils…”
Suddenly, Artemis thought of something.
She dropped the daffodils in her hand and quickly looked up.
Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared in the sky. Artemis looked closely and found that it was a black chariot. In front of the chariot were four black horses, pulling the chariot that looked very strange. On the chariot, a tall man in a black robe was looking down on Artemis below.
"Double-pronged fork..."
Artemis suddenly realized.
She couldn't help but take two steps back.
The intense fear made Artemis feel a little helpless.
The guy in front of me is none other than him.
He is the king of Hades, the god who rules the underworld, and the brother of Zeus and Poseidon.
Pluto - Hades.
He drove a chariot pulled by black horses, holding a double-pronged fork, and wherever he went, there was death. However, Hades would never appear in this posture in the human world. After all, Hades was the king of the underworld, and he was not allowed to set foot in the world of mortals. Now, Hades suddenly appeared here, and Artemis was confused about what happened.
