Chapter 303: Ignited Fire and Revelation_2
"Hmm... hope so."
Indifferently, Aphrodite casually nodded her head and then tossed the Golden Net to Ares.
Setting traps was not her job.
This time she had been careless, as a goddess of love and beauty, to actually fight mortals with a sword.
Such an incident would never happen again.
...
A great battle ended with both parties retreating.
The War God of Olympus returned to Mount of the Gods, but the 'War God' from the Mortal Realm didn't know where to go after the battle.
Fighting spiritedly against a god seemed thrilling, but when everything ended, Achilles felt slightly depressed.
Had he won against a god? It seemed so, but the victory wasn't complete.
And it must be said, these so-called deities were quite capable. Not to mention the non-combatant Goddess of Beauty, but if the charioteering War God and the archery deity were together, he probably would have been no match.
It wasn't that his Unbreakable Body wasn't strong enough, but because his own strength was actually quite limited.
Perhaps Achilles truly was among the best of the Mortal Demigods, but without his undying body, he was far from the peak.
Moreover, the most crucial point was that a shield that nothing could break often required a spear that could penetrate anything.
Achilles didn't have one before, and even after seizing Ares' Bronze Sword, he still really didn't have one.
This was a divine sword, but it couldn't be considered a 'Divine Sword.'
It was sharp, but not enough to give its wielder an advantage in battle against deities.
"Whew—my teacher was right, the gods do have some capability... But if I go to Athens now, I feel somewhat reluctant."
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Weighing the Bronze Sword in his hand, Achilles placed it aside.
He pondered for a moment and then formed a plan in his mind.
A single deity wasn't so terrifying.
But Olympus was a Divine System, and there were large churches and kingdoms.
In these aspects, Achilles couldn't come close, but fortunately, he was not alone.
He also had his teacher, his steadfast friends, and the goddess who had taught him archery.
He could completely brag about his achievements to them and then subtly express his needs.
So, the question was, to whom should he write his letter?
"...Still the teacher, he knows more people, he should be able to come up with some strategies."
The image of Artemis flashed through his mind, but Achilles subconsciously did not want to ask the goddess for help.
So, he took out a piece of beast skin and began to write on it using the Divine Blood of the Goddess of Beauty as ink.
His writing shimmered with a golden glow within the red on the beast skin, where Achilles first detailed all his experiences along the way and then mentioned his thoughts about not having met the New King of Athens face-to-face, followed by his provocation at the army camp of the Alliance.
In the letter, Achilles commented on the so-called heroes of the Alliance—Agamemnon was similar in martial skills but less adaptable; Odysseus only knew how to speak eloquently, and his strength was just so-so.
Towards the end, he described his encounters with the deities.
"Apollo's archery is formidable, barely comparable to Lady Artemis', but he is merely a petty man who shoots dark arrows, not worth mentioning."
"Ares has mediocre martial skills, some strength, but arrogant and conceited, not my match."
"...Aphrodite, a mere woman, if we faced off, I could disable her with one hand—but she was probably more courteous, she 'yielded' me 'one hand' first, making me somewhat embarrassed."
"Enclosed with this letter, seeing this hand is as seeing my achievement."
"If she dares to confront me again when we next meet, I will capture her and offer her to my teacher as a meeting gift."
"..."
"From this, it is evident that the gods are merely so-so, just usurping divine authority, incompetent and witless... if it weren't for the lack of a handy weapon, I would surely have cut them down one by one..."
"...I specially invited the teacher to witness my divine power, defeating all gods outside the Alliance camp..."
Flowing through thousands of words, quoting scriptures and classics, the wording was gorgeously crafted.
After all, the Achilles of today is not the one originally foreseen, having grown up in Silver Moon City, he had read some books and learned quite a bit of knowledge.
Avoiding the essential and focusing on the trivial, choosing selective truths was not difficult for him, Achilles acknowledged that he kept all the teachings of Chiron close to his heart, always modest and reasonable, it was just that gods like Ares were overly arrogant.
"Right...once the teacher arrives, I will hint subtly and see if I can get a genuine Divine Artifact, and then I will see who still dares to challenge me."
Satisfied, Achilles nodded, his face revealing a youthful vigor typical of young men.
He immediately traced a Ritual Track on the ground and then whispered a spell.
Soon, as the Void fluctuated, a transparent halo appeared above the Ritual Track.
Behind the halo seemed to be a world clearly divided into black and white, looking exactly like the Mortal Realm. From within the halo, a sparrow with three eyes flew out, fluttering its wings.
This was a Spirit Realm creature bound by a contract with Chiron, as for its species... Achilles was not very clear.
However, as a member of high-ranking Spirit Realm beings, this peculiar creature naturally possessed the ability to travel quickly between the continents through 'Spirit Realm Travel'.
"Take this letter and the item in this box to the teacher, this flesh is your payment."
"This is the flesh of a True God, I consider my previous debt to you paid in full."
Folding the animal skin and placing the box together, Achilles smiled as he handed over the pre-cut 'Spoils of War' to the bird in front of him.
The three-eyed sparrow's eyes flickered with a human-like surprise before it wrapped up everything, disappearing along with the illusionary halo.
With Achilles' experience, it wouldn't take long for his letter to land on Chiron's desk.
When the Centaur Sage would come, however, he wasn't sure.
"Very good."
"Everything is ready, just waiting for the teacher to arrive."
Unaware that the Goddess of Beauty had already found a way to deal with him, and not knowing that War God's speed would surely not be slower than Chiron's arrival, Achilles felt he could relax a bit.
It's just a few days, how could anything go wrong? Impossible. What could mere gods do to me?
Lying back on a large stone, Achilles' thoughts drifted as far as the letter.
At that moment, he did not realize what he had done.
A letter would bring his teacher.
A trip to Mount of the Gods would bring back a Golden Net.
If previously, Eryxis's independence and downfall and the charge at the Alliance camp were confined to mortal battles, at this moment his presence was like lighting a fire.
The fire started to burn, startling the Fates on Mount Nysa as they watched the intertwined Threads of Fate; the fire continued to burn, causing the chest of a Witch who brings disaster to the Mortal Realm from an unknown place to heave violently.
At the same moment, Ares, just having descended from the Mount of the Gods, felt divinely inspired as his Divine Authority of [War] vibrated more intensely than ever.
For a moment, Ares felt this might be a blessing from the will of the world, a compensation for the insolence of mortals challenging him.
"Is this a sign of Victory? Upheaval of swords and bloodshed will arise in the Mortal Realm, not even the Earth of the Sky would be spared."
"As the master of [War], perhaps it's my era now..."
His eyes shining with divine light, Ares felt he foresaw the future in the shadows.
He saw that mortal named Achilles bound to the bronze columns on Mount of the Gods, about to face the punishment of the gods.
Gods do not create omens out of nothing, so this was a part of destiny, and the beginning of his triumphant march as the War God.
Thinking this, a spiritually awakened Ares hastened his steps.
To defeat Athena, to secure the ultimate victory... this would greatly expand the concept of [War].
Just like the complete [Ocean], who knows, by that time, could a complete [War] achieve the final ascent?
Ares did not know, but since fate had provided an omen, it might indeed happen.