"Then, then this is the time for me to use the power of Master Taisis!"
"and many more."
Hilde stopped Rod.
Rhode didn't know anything yet. All he knew was that the kind and gentle sister Sophia was captured by Hera, and Hilde was very concerned about it. So, Rhode couldn't just sit there and watch. However, Hilde just shook her head and said to Rhode, "Don't worry, Lady Artemis has already found a solution. All we have to do now is wait."
“Is that so…”
Rhodes looked at Hilde cautiously.
"Then Sister Xixi, don't be sad."
"I've recovered."
"Sister Sophia will be fine."
Hearing what Rod said, Hilde couldn't help laughing.
"Really? It's a good thing that you can come back. You have the power of Lord Taisis. In the future, you will become a force that can compete with the gods. When the time comes, even if the gods bully us, I will feel much more at ease with you around."
"Then leave it to me!"
Rhodes patted his chest.
"Sister Sissi, I can draw my sword anytime you need me."
"Row."
Hilde looked at the sky outside and said, "It's getting late. Since Rhode has come back exhausted, he must not have eaten well on the way. Let's go eat something first and then discuss tomorrow's affairs."
"Ok!"
——————————Dividing line——————————
Rod's return.
This made Hilde feel a lot more relaxed.
Perhaps it was because she knew that Poseidon had given Rhode the artifact left by the Titans to help her, adding a powerful fighter to Hilde's side. Or it could be simply because Rhode finally came back to her side and she felt that someone could help her share her pressure. That feeling was indeed indescribable and made her feel very comfortable.
That's fine too.
At least, that's the mess it is now.
It's getting a little better.
Hilde couldn't help Artemis with rescuing Sophia. For this kind of thing, Hilde had no choice but to wait.
Therefore, just as Artemis said, he should do his job well, which is the most important thing. Therefore, conquering Athens and repelling Hercules became Hilde's most important task at present.
Maybe Hilde was thinking too seriously.
It was also because of Sophia's matter.
It was a rare occasion for Rhodes to come back, so everyone got together to have a meal.
However, everyone seemed to be under a lot of pressure, and no one seemed to enjoy the food.
Today's dinner was barbecue, grilled fish, and some other things. Hilde just held the plate and absentmindedly stuffed food into her mouth. After eating a few pieces of meat, Hilde didn't want to eat anymore, so she put the plate aside and looked at the burning bonfire, with all her thoughts about the future plans in her mind. Seeing this, Xerxes also put down the barbecue and said helplessly: "I say, if you all only eat this little, you can't finish all the meat."
"Just distribute it to the soldiers."
Hilde waved her hand.
"But ah, Sissi!"
"Ok?"
"You look listless now. When the soldiers see you, they will only be worried about you. Now, the morale of the troops has some problems. Seeing Her Royal Highness the Princess being captured, the soldiers are very depressed. So, Sissi, you have to find a way to improve the morale of the troops. Otherwise, when the siege starts tomorrow, the soldiers will not be in the mood to fight. I wonder what we should do?"
"..."
Hilde looked around.
The military camp is not a closed one.
The soldiers could easily see Hilde and the others eating here.
Chapter 7 of the 9th tune: The Princess Who Came to the Divine Realm
Therefore, the soldiers and officers can also understand how His Majesty feels now.
Now, the morale of the troops has indeed been greatly affected, and Hilde is aware of this. After all, Sophia has always been very popular in the army, and the soldiers and officers respect and love Sophia very much. But such a person was captured in front of them, and after this, perhaps her life or death is uncertain, and no one knows whether Sophia can come back alive.
The soldiers were dejected.
It's also understandable.
However, the state of low morale cannot last too long.
If the troops were affected too much, not to mention the attack on Athens, it would be a problem whether the army could maintain basic order. After all, this place was far away from the Byzantine Empire, and the soldiers were tired of war and homesick. If this matter was not handled properly, no one would be able to save them.
So Hilde nodded.
"I'll find a solution to the morale problem."
"Another speech?"
"No, I will fight in person tomorrow."
Hilde said coldly: "Besides, I would say Sophia is dead."
"What!?"
"Why, why do you say that?"
Rhodes asked cautiously: "Isn't this a bad idea?"
"For the soldiers, Sophia being captured is almost the same as being dead, but there is a suspense here. The soldiers are worried and concerned about Sophia, so their combat effectiveness and morale will naturally be greatly affected. However, if we directly tell them that Sophia is dead, then the soldiers will have to accept this fact and turn their sadness into strength. When Sophia can be successfully rescued, we can tell the soldiers that it is a miracle."
Hilde sighed.
This move is indeed quite unethical.
No matter who it is.
But at present, Hilde couldn't think of a better solution besides this one. The siege was tomorrow, and Hilde would go to the battlefield in person to announce Sophia's "death", and then shift the news of the death to the Athenians, saying that it was a conspiracy of the Athenians that caused Sophia to be captured and killed. Although this might lead to uncontrolled massacres of the city by soldiers due to resentment, it was better than the current half-dead situation.
"For now, this is all we can do."
Xerxes shook his head helplessly.
She had no other options.
Tomyris said calmly, "After Sophia returns safely, we will explain it to the soldiers. There won't be any negative consequences."
"Right, that is it."
"Then I agree."
Hilde could hear the hidden meaning in Tomyris's words.
Tomyris directly assumed that Sophia would be able to return safely, because she really wanted Sophia to come back, and also wanted Artemis who went to rescue Sophia to come back. Tomyris's unconcealable personality was indeed quite cute at times. After Hilde roughly understood, she decided to make it clear to the soldiers tomorrow. As for the city of Athens, there were Hilde, Sophia, and Rhodes and Tomyris, whose strength had been greatly enhanced. They were almost the strongest fighting force of Hilde at this time.
The only person the other party could be sure of was Hercules. Moreover, according to Xerxes, Hercules did not want to stay here for long, but planned to return to the God's Domain. He also felt that Zeus and Hera had a lot of things hidden from everyone, so he seemed to be planning to investigate it himself, and also said that he wanted to help the captured Sophia. However, Hilde did not intend to believe Hercules. At least this guy was at least half responsible for Sophia's capture.
The city of Athens.
Now, the highlight is finally here.
The purpose of Hilde's expedition was the city of Athens.
As long as they conquer it, they will basically control most of the Greek peninsula, and Sparta will no longer be a threat to them.
In this way, Hilde completed the biggest piece of the puzzle in her plan to conquer Persia. Of course, if there were no Zeus and Olympus, Hilde could have led the army westward to attack the Greek city-states in southern Italy. If those colonies were taken, the vast majority of Mediterranean Greeks would have been unified by the Byzantines.
But now, Hilde couldn't do such a thing as an expedition to Sicily. Athens had done this once in history, an expedition to Sicily, fighting fiercely with Syracuse, but in the end it was pushed back to the sea from the land by the Syracusans. You know, Syracuse is the undisputed largest city-state in Greece, with a city population of more than 200,000, a local population of 500,000, and a population of 2 to 3 million within its jurisdiction, a total population greater than that of the Byzantine Empire.
The occupation of Syracuse doubled the population of Byzantium.
But now, this plan has to be shelved.
If Athens was captured, the Peloponnesian League would be annexed.
Thus, the population of the Byzantine Empire was million in the mainland, million in Athens and its allies, and million in the Peloponnesian League, totaling million. In this way, the population of the Byzantine Kingdom reached one-fifth of the Persian Empire. The total number of troops that these people could support would also enable the Byzantine Kingdom to compete with the Persian Empire.
So, Athens is the core of this plan.
As for Carthage and Syracuse.
We’ll talk about that later.
After thinking about these questions.
Hilde is about to start preparing for the next day's attack.
At this time, on the divine realm of Mount Olympus.
In Hera's temple, a woman with long horns and wearing a purple robe knelt on the cold marble floor. Her hands and feet were tightly bound by golden silk threads, which could contain the divine power in her body, making it impossible for her to exert her full strength, let alone struggle. However, she had already given up struggling. She just knelt on the ground without raising her head and saying a word.
In front of her was an exquisite stone chair that looked like a throne. The graceful and elegant goddess Hera was leaning on the chair, looking down at the red-haired woman kneeling on the ground.
"Humph."
Hera snorted.
"I never thought that there are still remnants of Nyx."
"..."
Sophia said nothing.
She just looked at the ground, quietly waiting for her fate.
"Your name is Sophia, right?"
"……Yes."
The 9th Chapter 8: Useless Torture
"Nyx's oracle? Interesting... Very interesting. If I remember correctly, Nyx had completely disappeared from this world during the Great Flood. She and her followers had all turned to dust and disappeared. How come her oracle is still in this world?" Hera stretched out her hand and hooked her fingers. Then, Sophia's body suddenly floated in the air and floated in front of Hera. "You, raise your head and look at me."
"..."
Sophia slowly raised her head.
She looked at Hera helplessly.
"What's that look in your eyes?"
"I just feel that the respected Lady Hera is actually such a petty-minded woman."
“Disrespectful!”
Hera said angrily and immediately waved her hand.
Sophia's body flew out directly and hit the ground hard. The sudden impact made Sophia spit out blood and then cough violently. However, as an oracle, her body was immediately repaired. After arriving in the God's Domain, the fact that the God's Domain had no restrictions on divine power also affected Sophia's body.
"You are more than just the Oracle of Nyx."
Hera stood up and walked in front of Sophia.
She raised her foot and stepped on Sophia.
"You're still a demigod."
"Wh, what demigod, I don't know."
"Don't know? If you were really an oracle, you would be unable to speak after what happened just now. However, your body recovered quickly, and your divine power is constantly increasing. This shows that you already have the characteristics of a god - the godhead."
"Godhead, I don't know."
"You have a pretty tough mouth."
Hera reached out and pinched Sophia's chin.
"A Carthaginian, I don't want your blood to pollute my temple."
"I never thought that gods would care about people's bloodline. In this respect, they are indeed similar to those boring Athenian nobles."
"You are very eloquent."
Sophia usually doesn't say such trash talk, but she just wants to anger Hera, and it would be better to give her a quick death instead of torturing her repeatedly here. However, Hera obviously won't be fooled by Sophia, and she has her own purpose in capturing Sophia. Therefore, she didn't get angry because of this sentence, but looked at Sophia calmly, as if Sophia was already a dead person.
