The air was different once I teleported to Kaeron, or at least close to it, since the system teleported to a hill just above the village. And it wasn’t just the humidity from the coast or the salty sll of the sea... it was sothing else, sothing I knew well: fear.
Until not long ago, I was afraid too. Afraid of dying, but I changed and now with here, the people of Kaeron wouldn’t have to worry about that. So I jumped towards the village.
Speaking of Kaeron.
I could already see it from the sky as I fell, and the view was breathtaking. The city stretched out like never before. Its streets had multiplied, the houses now ford neighborhoods, and the markets pulsed like open veins full of life. Well, at least they would have if the place wasn’t completely empty, probably because the people were either taking refuge in their hos or had go fled the city or on so cases were preparing weapons and shields for the arrival of the Athenians.
Once my foot touched the central stone of the square, a golden tremor ran through the ground. The few people who were there, who seed to be carrying their belongings and moving out of the city, moved away as if a star had descended. I could hear several muffled cries, stifled breaths... and eyes wide open as if they were seeing a ghost.
"Who is it?"
"Is it him...?"
"The god?"
"It can’t be. I thought he was just... a myth."
"The priests said he had ascended to heaven!"
My gaze swept across the faces. And I could see them, dozens of people who had prayed to but had never seen . They knew from stories, sculptures, paintings. From repeated rituals and prayers with no clear direction.
And yet, here I was.
Akhon, in the flesh. Ready to kick so ass.
It was then that I saw a figure break through the crowd. His voice was loud, but unmistakable.
"AKHON! THANKS TO THE OLYMPUS!"
Themistios.
The old exile, the wise man who had led the creation of the city and whom I had accompanied in the early years of the city. At that mont, his face was gaunt, as if he hadn’t slept in days, and he seed barely able to stand, supported only by his staff.
"Did you see? People of Kaeron! He did not abandon us, as he promised! I told you that I saw him ascend to Olympus with my own eyes! And now he has returned, as he promised!"
This seed to influence the discouraged masses, who now seed to have regained hope that things might end well, that it would not be a massacre. I heard trembling voices begin to repeat my na. And then, they began to shout it.
"Akhon!"
"Protector god!"
"Kaeron lives by your grace!"
I closed my eyes for a second.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔔 DING!
🧱 Authority 3
Faithful Status → Fervent
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
But there was no ti for that. My gaze rose to the east. The first Athenian formations were already crossing the last hill. The ground vibrated with the footsteps of thousands of boots. Shields glinted in the rising sun, blue and gold banners waved arrogantly. The Athenians were here.
"THEMISTIOS!!" I shouted, getting the old man’s attention. "Show the situation."
We climbed the steep stairs leading to the highest point of the eastern wall. From there, the view was clear and not particularly comforting: a human carpet of bronze and blue spread out like a wave ready to swallow everything. It was not a warning force. It was a full-scale invasion.
I activated the function.
[’Scan’]
A slight buzzing sensation ran through my eyes as data appeared in real ti over the field while the system adapted to scanning various life forms. The good thing was that the ability was intuitive, so in a few seconds it was able to give concrete data on the two armies just by looking at them.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚔️ Invading Army: Athens
🔢 Total soldiers detected: 5,162
🛡️ Heavy hoplites: 2,050
🏃 Light infantry: 1,700
🏹 Archers: 850
🐎 Cavalry: 290
⛪ Accompanying priests (non-combatants): 12
📈 Morale: High
🍞 Estimated provisions: 10-12 days
🧱 Mobile fortifications: None
⚙️ Level of organization: Very high
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🛡️ Defending Forces: Kaeron
🔢 Total available combatants: 243
🗡️ Trained guard (ex-soldiers, adventurers): 59
🧱 Urban militia (ard citizens): 104
🏹 Local hunters and archers: 48
⛪ Priests and acolytes of the cult: 6
📉 Morale: Mixed
🍞 Estimated provisions: 4 days
🏯 Fortifications: Basic (stone wall, no towers)
⚙️ Level of organization: Low
📊 Probability of victory without external intervention: 0.4% ❌
📊 Probability of victory with direct intervention (current level of divine authority): 63%✅
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I clicked my tongue.
"Well, a ridiculously large force against a handful of neighbors with spears. What a surprise."
"What do you say, my lord? Do we have a chance?" asked Themistios, without taking his eyes off the enemy.
"No, absolutely not. In fact, if this were a ball ga, we’d already be losing five to zero."
"What if you play?"
"Maybe they have a chance. No, what I an is, if I use my powers, this will probably be over quickly, so let’s do this. I’ll go down and face the Athenians alone. I’ll try to negotiate with whoever is in charge, and if we can’t reach an agreent, well, let’s just say I hope they have enough coins left over to bury their dead."
"Are you sure, my lord? It’s not that I doubt you, but it’s an army of thousands of n," replied Themistios with a worried expression. "Wouldn’t you like to mobilize everyone else as well?"
"Yes, but do this: gather the guards on the wall, leave the archers at the top, and keep the militian ready to cover any gaps if they break through. But keep this in mind, and this is an order: tell them not to try to be heroes. History tends to rember only those who survive to tell the tale."
Themistios nodded without protest.
"Understood, my lord. I will relay your orders to the troops," he said as he disappeared over the wall.
anwhile, I stayed on the wall a mont longer, watching the Athenian ranks line up like pieces on a board. There were many of them, and they seed well trained. And, to be honest, they seed to enjoy the idea of crushing the people. They surely thought it would be an easy battle and that in less than a week they would be back in Athens, welcod as heroes.
Oh, but how wrong they were.
"Well, boys... you ca looking for a holy war," I muttered to myself as I opened a floating panel. "You’ll get a holy war, the holiest you’ve ever had in your lives."
I leaped down from the wall in a jump that would have been suicidal for any human. But I wasn’t just human, was I? I landed firmly, kicking up a small cloud of dry dust. The gates of Kaeron were not yet open, but from above, the militian looked at with a mixture of bewildernt and reverence. Most of them probably had only heard stories, myths, exaggerations... To them, I was little more than a myth, a symbol carved in temples, not a real person.
Kaeron’s small walls weren’t exactly impressive. Stones held together with hardened mud, makeshift watchtowers made of local wood, so sections still unfinished. They weren’t built to withstand a long siege, let alone hold back a professional army. But at least they served as a backdrop for the scene that was about to unfold.
The terrain in front of the city was a dusty plain dotted with dry bushes and the occasional rock jutting out of the ground. The sun had already climbed high enough to punish anyone without a helt. In the distance, the banners of Athens fluttered arrogantly, as if they had already won.
And there I was, walking calmly toward the enemy. More than five thousand eyes turned toward , at first with confusion, then with a spark of recognition. So lowered their weapons just an inch. Others crossed themselves. And the youngest... were simply petrified.
When I was at a safe distance, I raised my voice.
"I want to speak to the one in command!" I shouted, projecting my voice with the help of a slight divine impulse. "I have not co to kill, I have co to reason!"
There was movent among the enemy lines. A group of horsen separated from the rest, advancing at a asured pace. At the front, mounted on an imposing black horse, ca a man in ornate armor and a dark blue cape. The guy exuded authority from a distance, even without speaking.
He stopped about five ters away from . He looked at with a frown and his lips pressed together. His eyes analyzed everything: my clothes, my posture, the fact that I was not carrying a visible weapon.
"Akhon, I presu?" he said in a deep voice. "I am Leontes, general of the Athenian troops. If you have co to surrender, I can assure you that your citizens will be treated with rcy."
I couldn’t help but laugh softly.
"I didn’t co to surrender, Leontes. I ca to prevent a massacre. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want this land stained with the blood of n who are only following orders. And I don’t want Athens to bear the bla for starting a war against a god."
Leontes raised an eyebrow, a dry smile barely concealing his contempt.
"A god? You? Don’t waste my ti. You can perform tricks, perhaps scare a village of farrs, but you won’t stop an army with pretty words. We fight and die for Athena. You and your people... you’ll be nothing more than a footnote in history."
"So you’re decided," I muttered. "No truce? No honorable retreat?"
"The only honorable thing would be for you to disappear before my army tramples you like the joke you are."
I nodded once.
"As you wish."
And then I began to focus my energy, glowing like a golden beacon.
The ground beneath my feet shook as energy gathered in my palms, flowing through my arms like liquid fire. I spread my arms out to the sides, and a golden shockwave exploded from my body as if the air itself had imploded.
The blast swept across the front of the Athenian troops. I could see and hear the n and horses in the front rows being blown away.
I didn’t kill them outright, although so may have died from the impact if they didn’t land well, but hey, that’s war. However, the point was that he impact was brutal. The first hundred soldiers were thrown away like leaves. So rolled on the ground trying to cushion their fall, others who had been thrown landed on their horses or were crushed by them, losing their shields, spears, and any notion of glory.
I saw the banners bent. How the horses whinnied in terror. And I saw how Leontes himself had to hold his horse steady with both hands as a crack split the ground between us.
A deathly silence fell for a mont over the entire battlefield. Only the floating dust and the clanging of armor stirred by the wind broke the scene.
I took another step forward, my voice firm:
"You should have accepted peace while you could. Now you will face the wrath of a god."
Reviews
All reviews (0)