Chapter 23. No Retreat in the Face of Battle
Third day of the Battle of Thermopylae.
Around dawn, in the direction of the bypass road.
Rustle.
“What was that sound?”
The Phocian army discovered the Persian army through the rustling sound of oak leaves.
……!!
Both sides, having discovered each other's presence, were startled.
‘The Spartan army is this far?!’
‘The Immortals? A surprise attack by the Persians!’
It was the Phocian army that moved first.
“Retreat! Retreat to the hill and reform the lines!”
However, even seeing this, the Immortals could not move rashly.
The current Immortals were a force of 20,000, augnted with new troops to replace the survivors of the Immortals who had suffered near-annihilation on the first day of battle.
Fear of the Spartan army was rampant.
At the sight of the hesitating Immortals, the traitor who had guided them, Ephialtes, stepped forward.
It was not the hunchback whom Lee Han-seong had kept close and watched, but a Thracian nad Ephialtes.
[《Nightmare: Ephialtes》 reproduces the history of betrayal.]
As the betrayal at Thermopylae was etched into history, the na Ephialtes itself ca to an nightmare.
When the original traitor, the hunchback Ephialtes, was unable to betray them, another Ephialtes betrayed them, bringing about the sa result as the original history.
“They are not the Spartan army. They are just the Phocian army, so you can just ignore them.”
“Is that so.”
If the opponent was not the Spartan army, there was no reason for the Immortals to be afraid.
“There is no need to waste ti here. We will pass by while keeping them in check with arrows.”
Shushushushushu!
The Immortals rained arrows on the Phocian army, which had taken position on the hill, and passed by them.
“They are just passing by! Shouldn't we stop them?”
“We should… but how?”
It was one thing to hold out from the top of the hill, but if they tried to go down and stop them directly, it was as clear as day that the Phocian army would be annihilated.
“There's no choice. We have to quickly deliver this news to the main force.”
The only thing they could do was to send a ssenger to report that the bypass road had been breached.
***
King Leonidas, who heard the news about the bypass road from a ssenger, quickly summoned his staff.
“Summon a staff eting imdiately.”
It was still close to dawn, but the matter was urgent, and there was no ti to delay.
=All staff, assemble!
After waking the sleeping staff with Six Harmonies Voice Transmission and calling them in, the eting began quickly.
“If the bypass road has been breached, we must withdraw. At this rate, we will be attacked from both the front and the back.”
“No.”
So of the staff argued for a retreat, but King Leonidas had no intention of backing down.
“If we retreat now, it's only a matter of ti before we are caught in the open ground beyond Thermopylae.”
“So you're saying that even if we retreat, soone has to stay here and hold the enemy to buy ti.”
The Greek army staff, who had grasped the aning of King Leonidas' words, avoided his gaze.
It seed they were trying to avoid becoming the sacrificial lambs who would remain here.
King Leonidas, who had noticed their inner thoughts, did not get angry.
“You may leave if you wish. We, Sparta, will defend this place to the end.”
“Really? We will never forget Sparta's sacrifice.”
“As expected. They say Sparta never retreats. It was true!”
As soon as King Leonidas' permission was granted, a considerable number of the Greek allied forces retreated.
The remaining forces at Thermopylae numbered only 2,000.
As if to match the arrival ti of the Immortals, the Persian army had only prepared for battle and had not yet moved.
“Spartan warriors! Eat your last al in this life heartily. For we will dine in the underworld tonight!”
In the anti, the remaining Spartan army released their remaining provisions, ate combatively, and burned what was left.
After filling their bellies and waiting, the Persian vanguard also slowly began to advance.
“The enemy is coming.”
“We are going down too!”
King Leonidas took the remaining troops and went down to the wide open ground to kill more enemies.
“We will fight until we die. Let's go.”
“Wohoo! Wohoo! Wohoo!”
Thus, the mont the final battle of Thermopylae, the battle of the third day, began.
Pheidippides was also with King Leonidas.
“Why did you not flee? With your abilities, you could have escaped anyti.”
“Did I not say I would be with you? I will not flee until the last man falls.”
King Leonidas, sensing Lee Han-seong's resolve, laughed heartily.
“Haha. You are truly a warrior. I recognize you as an honorary Spartan.”
“Wohoo!”
He responded to the king's recognition with a warrior's roar.
Starting with him, the other warriors also began to let out roars, and soon the entire army erupted in a roar.
Wohoo!! Wohoo!! Wohoo!!
[ boosts the morale of allies and lowers the morale of the enemy.]
The Spartan line and the Persian line clashed, spewing out the boiling power of the battle cry.
Clang! Clang! Thud! Thud! Slice! Slice!
The enemy's vanguard numbered roughly 10,000.
Although they were clearly outnumbered, Sparta and the remaining Greek allied forces fought tenaciously.
[ links , , 《Six Harmonies Voice Transmission》, and 《Transcendence》.]
[The command through leadership is engraved into the subconscious of the allies.]
With no retreat in the face of battle, it was truly Imjeonmutoe.
[The command of Imjeonmutoe suppresses the allies' retreat.]
[Due to the influence of Transcendence, the allies' physical limits are released.]
It was a state where the allies' fighting power was amplified using the Chain skill.
It wasn't to the extent that everyone transcended and was promoted by one stage like when they were in a swarm, but it was at least enough to release the brain's limits and exert monstrous strength.
Whoosh-! Craack-! KABOOM-!
The allies' attacks shattered the opponent's weapons and crushed their bodies.
In proportion to that, the allies' equipnt and bodies also broke down, but the warriors paid no heed.
They fought until all their spears beca useless, and then they switched to swords.
If even the swords were gone, they fought with their fists, and if their arms to swing their fists were cut off, they would bite with their teeth.
The formation had already collapsed, and the situation was no different from a chaotic battle.
Among them, the hunchback Ephialtes was also fighting to his heart's content as he had wished, with a grotesque smile on his face.
Not only him, but most of the allies had a faint smile on their faces due to the influence of the endorphins secreted in their brains.
“Just die already!”
“You crazy bastards! Why are you fighting like that!”
Rather, it was the Persian army facing them that showed signs of being fed up with their appearance of laughing and charging at them no matter how wounded they were.
However, even in a situation where one warrior displayed the might of a hundred, it was impossible to overturn the overwhelming difference in numbers.
Swish!
At that mont, an arrow shot by a Persian archer hit King Leonidas.
It was when they had annihilated the enemy's vanguard of 10,000 and killed nearly 10,000 of the main force as well.
“Leonidas!”
The place he was hit was not good, and it was an instant death.
“We've killed Leonidas! Secure his body!”
The Persian soldiers, full of vigor, try to take Leonidas' body.
It was an action born from the judgnt that Sparta's morale would have dropped with King Leonidas' command cut off.
‘What would Leonidas have done now?’
But the allies' morale was still maintained.
It was because Lee Han-seong had put King Leonidas' body on his back and was continuing the command by imitating his leadership with Six Harmonies Voice Transmission.
The narrowed vision and dulled minds from the battle caused the warriors to be under the illusion that the king was still alive, as long as the command continued through Six Harmonies Voice Transmission, even though they had seen the king fall to an arrow and heard the Persian side's cry that they had killed the king.
In other words, Pheidippides was now in charge of the core of the allied forces.
There was no way the Persian side would not notice this.
“Kill that bastard!!”
The arrows concentrated on Pheidippides.
Moreover, the effect of Transcendence was ending, and the allies' strength was also weakening.
It was a situation where he could die at any mont, but Lee Han-seong did not run away.
As he had told King Leonidas, he had no intention of running away until the last person had fallen.
Swish! Swishswish!
The arrows grazed his skin, leaving scratches.
He used to focus on evasion and command.
In a difficult situation where he had to survey the allies spread in all directions with his command and issue appropriate orders, while also avoiding the arrows and blades aid at him, his thinking was evolving in real ti.
Fwoosh-!
The noise of the battle receded, and his consciousness seed to float up.
The state of the battlefield felt clear, as if he were looking down on the warriors who felt like his own limbs and Pheidippides from a third-person perspective in the sky.
[Conditions have been t, and the rare skill
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