“Oh, Lord of the Underworld, Hades! The judge of mortals! I implore you to render your judgnt directly!"
What nonsense is this?
The man shouting at is none other than nelaus, king of Sparta, the man who united the Greek forces.
The woman in his arms is Helen, sent away from Troy upon receiving my oracle.
He raised his spear toward the sky and hurled it.
Whiiiissshhh-
A spear thrown by human hands cannot soar into the sky forever.
At so point, it will fall back to the earth. According to my prediction... it will pierce both nelaus and Helen.
Is he planning to face the divine judgnt with Helen? A mortal entrusting his tangled feelings toward the woman who betrayed him to the will of a god.
nelaus is not one of my followers. As the king of the militaristic Sparta, he worships Ares, the god of war. It's not my place to ddle with the affairs of the living, and technically, it would make more sense for Ares to intervene.
However, since he invoked my na and entrusted his and Helen's fate to ...
The spear falling from the sky is now within my domain. I could deflect it, or choose for it to pierce just one of them.
Whiiissshhhh!
Without hesitation, I raised my hand and intervened with the falling spear.
***
The spear, falling from the sky, plunged down like a streak of light. This object, ant to decide their fate, tore through the air with a chilling roar...
Thwack! Squelch!
"Aaaaah!"
Blood spattered onto the ground, and Helen scread, shutting her eyes tightly. Had a god punished them?
nelaus, feeling a trickle of blood on his cheek, spoke.
"...Let's just kill Paris and return to Sparta together."
It was then that Helen noticed the blood flowing from nelaus's cheek and the spear embedded in the ground.
The fresh blood that had splattered was from the spear grazing his face.
Trembling in fear and guilt, she found herself embraced tightly by nelaus, who whispered softly into her ear.
"If this is the answer from the god of fairness... perhaps it wasn't your will to follow Paris."
"Sniff... sob... Actually, it felt as though I was bewitched...."
"...You don't need to say anything more. I understand. Let's end this, all of it."
Oh, righteous Pluto.
The next day, the greatest warrior of Sparta walked alone toward the Trojan camp, ard only with his spear and shield. Hector, the commander of the Trojan forces, gestured for his soldiers to hold their ground.
"King nelaus? Do you have sothing to say?"
nelaus paused for a mont, clearing his throat.
His sharp spear glead in the sunlight, and the cold resolve in his eyes was as piercing as the spear itself.
"Paris! Co out now! Face in single combat!"
"...!"
His voice rang out loud and clear, causing even the advancing Greek forces to halt in their tracks. The King of Sparta challenging Prince Paris to a duel?
"If you accept my challenge for a duel, regardless of the outco, the forces of Sparta will withdraw and no longer attack Troy!"
"Hmm!"
"But if you continue to cower behind your walls and soldiers!"
nelaus's final shout roared like a lion's.
The Spartan king, with a spirit that rivaled the great heroes of old, pointed his spear toward the walls of Troy.
"I swear upon the River Styx! I will mobilize all of Sparta's forces to burn Troy to the ground!"
nelaus's roar sent murmurs through the gathered crowd. ssengers dashed urgently to the Greek alliance's leadership, while Hector, Troy's commander, pressed a hand to his forehead in frustration.
'This lunatic…'
Swearing by the River Styx ant that nelaus's promise to retreat if Paris accepted the duel was genuine. And if Paris refused? His vow to destroy Troy was equally true.
For the sake of the kingdom, sending Paris was the logical choice.
After all, exchanging one life for the withdrawal of Sparta’s formidable army was a simple calculation.
But as a brother who cared for his sibling...
"PARIS! CO OUT IMDIATELY!"
Of course, Paris was skilled—his talent as an archer was widely recognized.
But seeing nelaus's sheer determination, even Hector himself might struggle against him.
As much as Hector despised Paris at tis, he couldn’t let his brother march to his death.
"Brother Hector."
"No, Paris! I told you to stay inside the walls. Why have you co out here?"
Paris had stepped forward, fully ard.
Clad in armor, Paris spoke to Hector.
For so reason, he looked as though he had mustered every ounce of courage he could find.
Whether it was his own resolve or soone else’s influence, it wasn’t clear.
"Brother."
"You foolish boy! Staying inside the walls is how you can help us! Go back imdiately before—"
"Let duel nelaus."
"You idiot-!"
"As a prince of Troy, I must take responsibility for starting this war."
Hector stared at Paris, incredulous. Even he would face imnse risk fighting nelaus. Had Paris completely lost his mind?
"Do you have a death wish? nelaus is Sparta's strongest warrior. You don't stand a chance-"
"The goddess Hera appeared to and granted courage."
"What?"
"With her blessing, I can defeat nelaus. Trust and let fight."
A divine blessing. If true, perhaps Paris did have a chance.
Hector could sense an unfamiliar determination in his often spineless younger brother. Slowly, he nodded.
"...If the situation becos too dangerous, retreat imdiately to our side."
"Do not worry, brother. The one retreating will be nelaus."
As Paris walked toward the battlefield, Hector watched his brother's back with a storm of concern swirling in his mind.
'nelaus is formidable. If things go poorly, Paris must escape. I should prepare the troops just in case. Even with a goddess's blessing...'
Then, a sudden thought struck him.
'Wait. Did Paris say Hera blessed him? Hera is the goddess of marriage and family. Why would she grant her favor to Paris? She supports Troy, but... Paris destroyed nelaus's household. Would Hera really take his side? No, this must be a trap! I have to stop this duel imdiately-'
"nelaus! I trust you will honor your vow, even if you die!"
"You vile scum! You finally show yourself! Fine, I'll take your head and return to Sparta!"
But the duel had already begun.
* * *
As the duel comnced, Paris raised his spear high and shouted loudly:
"Die, nelaus!"
With a fierce whistle, the spear flew through the air. Bolstered by the blessing of the goddess Hera, it aid directly at nelaus’s torso.
But the opponent was none other than Sparta's greatest warrior.
Thunk!
nelaus raised his shield to block the spear, then drew his sword and walked steadily toward Paris. In response, Paris unsheathed his own sword, but at that mont, Hera's blessing on him vanished.
"H-Heek!"
The aura of valor that had surrounded Paris disappeared in an instant. The courage that had filled his heart was no longer there.
As the blade aid for his head closed in, the sword in his hand had long since fallen to the ground.
Clang!
nelaus’s sword struck Paris’s helt, shattering it. Paris, unable to withstand the impact, collapsed, but the duel did not end there.
The king of Sparta, moving swiftly, grabbed the ornant on Paris’s helt and yanked it violently.
"Gahhh!"
"This day, I will see to it that you face Pluto’s judgnt!"
The helt strap tightened around Paris’s neck as King nelaus, demonstrating his imnse strength, began dragging Paris toward the Greek camp with one hand.
At this rate, Paris’s head would soon fall to nelaus, who would retrieve a sword from his n.
Unable to bear the sight, the goddess Aphrodite intervened, cutting the helt strap to rescue him.
Though she was not entirely fond of him, she couldn’t let the man who had awarded her the golden apple die like this.
But just as she reached out—
"Stop right there, Aphrodite. Don’t save him."
A hand seized Aphrodite’s wrist, halting her. Erging from the clouds was a dark-haired god whose icy gaze fell on Paris.
Aphrodite’s eyes widened as she recognized the lord of the underworld.
"H-Hades? Aren’t you busy managing the affairs of the underworld? What brings you here?"
"I made so ti."
"I thought you supported Troy. If you let Paris live—"
"I support Troy, not Paris. As the god of the underworld, I avoid shortening mortal lives unnecessarily, but that one—he must descend below now."
While Aphrodite remained trapped by Hades, nelaus borrowed a sword from a Greek soldier and struck Paris’s neck.
With a sickening thwack, the prince of Troy’s head fell to the ground.
Shhkk—
"Uwaaaaa! Paris is dead!"
"King nelaus has won!"
The man blinded by a woman, who caused a war—
Even in death, he would find no peace.
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