Chapter 192: Heracles (17)
Now Thebes was suffering both inside and out.
Naturally, since the Boeotia nobles centered their movements around Thebes, the city couldn’t avoid being affected.
Of course, if one were to pick the most intense battlefield among them, it was undoubtedly the war in the black market.
“Hmm. So the family is betting on that pirate captain?”
“Yes, Master. According to Mother, the noble alliance has started moving in earnest this time. Originally, they were only providing funds or supplies, but now they’re fully committing.”
Njord nodded at Alcides’s words while thinking something else on the side.
(‘This… Did we poke around too much and make those guys go berserk?’)
In Njord’s view, noble types usually preferred the safe route, as the saying went. Those who gambled or took risks often ruined their families quickly.
Yet for them to start stirring up trouble so directly and openly…
It made him feel genuinely sorry toward Alcmene and Alcides.
When he had seen them before, they clearly had no intention of getting deeply involved, but now they had changed strangely and blatantly.
Reports were coming in that scouts around Tanagra were multiplying exponentially.
(‘Ugh, at this rate, we’ll have to reinforce everything twice as much as we’re doing now. I feel bad for no reason. I was just trying to build Alcides’s experience, and now it looks like the whole house might burn down.’)
In reality, all this stemmed from Teleos targeting Aresia.
No matter how great Njord was, it was difficult for him to know that fact.
He simply thought that since the one who had been castrated by Aresia was part of the noble alliance, they had been scared and targeted them all along.
Who could have predicted that the castrated fool was a madman?
“So, Master…”
“Hm? You seem to have some purpose in mind, my disciple. It’s been a while since you’ve dragged out your words like this.”
“No, I was thinking—what if we strike first? It would be a shame if other people in the family ended up shedding blood…”
Njord let out a small ‘pfft’ laugh at his disciple’s words, which were adorable despite the nagging unease they stirred.
The way he thought of the family was just too cute.
Above all, Njord had no intention of sitting idly while Alcmene was threatened.
His instincts told him something felt off, and besides—she was the granddaughter of Perseus, his other disciple.
“Right, let’s do that. I was planning to move anyway. We’ll reinforce the magic a bit more.”
“Wow! Really?”
“Yes, really. So go get Aresia, who’s slacking off, and prepare.”
“Yes!”
***
Three months later.
The walls and inner mansion of the Amphitryon family, designed and completed by Njord, perfectly fit the description of an impregnable fortress.
Dozens—no, over a hundred—magic circles had been engraved, and somehow the walls had become harder than steel; anyone who saw them firsthand would gasp in shock.
Moreover, the height of the walls had been doubled from the original roughly 3.25 kalamos (about 8–10 meters), and their length extended to twice that—about 32.6 stadia (roughly 6 km). Even more absurd was that spaces existed in the middle of each wall section.
Those spots were invisible from the outside, thinner yet far sturdier than the main walls. In short, enemies would have to worry about attacks from those intermediate wall sections as well.
Because there were special spaces from which attacks could be launched outward from inside.
“Hahaha, how is it, Alcmene? At this level, even a god would have a hard time breaking through easily. No ordinary attack—whether from underground, the sky, or the walls themselves—will get through.”
Njord laughed heartily, satisfied with the result he had created by spending money and gold without restraint for once.
This masterpiece, infused with all his capabilities and the special power of a certain magic goddess, was something anyone would admire.
If future humans survived, they would likely call it a work worthy of being recorded in history.
Even Alcmene, standing beside Njord and gazing at the fortress, couldn’t keep her mouth closed—unlike her usual dignified demeanor.
It was unlike her to lose her composure like this.
“Hehe, with this, we can finally move in earnest. There won’t be any worries now.”
And Alcides, who had been staring at Njord’s creation with sparkling eyes, replied while looking at his master with admiration—unlike his mother, who was still stunned by the overwhelming sight.
“Yes, understood!”
***
Meanwhile.
By the time Njord had finished preparations, the noble alliance led by Teleos had also completed all theirs.
Though the nobles looked grim and miserable, judging solely by the troops and supplies they had gathered, it looked as if an alliance-level war had broken out.
“…Lord Teleos, is there really a need to prepare this much? We’re just capturing that Aresia woman, aren’t we?”
Apopolitos III, head of the Apopolitos family, subtly asked to stop wasting resources.
But he soon had no choice but to fall silent at Teleos’s mad declaration.
“Hehe, Lord Apopolitos, this army is just bait anyway. The real forces are prepared separately.”
“…….”
So he was saying this force of over fifty thousand was merely bait?
What kind of lunatic would agree to that?
He was openly declaring that this entire army would be thrown at the Amphitryon family alone.
Yet Apopolitos III had no choice. He knew who stood behind the madman Teleos.
Still, the family head tried his best to minimize resource consumption.
Right now, the nobles were doomed to lose whether they succeeded or failed. Considering they even had to support the war against the merfolk pirates, their future looked bleak.
“Hmm… Then isn’t this even more wrong? If this army reaches the Amphitryon family, Aresia won’t come out—she’ll just hide behind that grand mage-designed wall.”
Moreover, it didn’t make sense. Normally, wouldn’t humans turtle up even more under this kind of pressure?
It was a rational and obvious point. Ninety-nine out of a hundred would think the same as Apopolitos III.
But Teleos merely let out a scoff.
Ordinary mortals would think that way, of course.
Normally, one would keep their head down and fight only on terrain advantageous to themselves—that was common sense.
But Teleos, who had obsessively analyzed and fixated on Aresia up to this point, knew better.
That madwoman was absolutely not the type to hide behind walls.
Therefore.
“Just follow my words. In any case, none of you will suffer any real damage, right? To begin with, that Amphitryon isn’t even in the family mansion—what’s there to worry about?”
“…….”
At Teleos’s near-commanding tone, Apopolitos III awkwardly nodded.
He could in no way fully agree with Teleos, but for now, he had no choice but to nod to avoid provoking the man’s temper.
(‘The real problem is the god backing him. If I’d known it would come to this, our house should have devoutly followed one god too…’)
But it was already too late. Now the noble alliance was desperate just to survive.
The one small mercy was that the Amphitryon wouldn’t be able to easily slip away from the battlefield.
“I understand. Then we’ll proceed according to your plan.”
“Yes, that’s it. If things go well, I’ll personally ask that person for whatever you desire.”
***
Uwaaaaaah!
“Climb the walls! Raise your shields to block the arrows and stick to the walls!”
The war had begun.
An army exceeding fifty thousand stormed toward Tanagra, where the Amphitryon family resided.
“Hmph! Show those idiots the taste of boiling oil. Do they really think they can scale these walls?!”
“Understood! Pour the oil!!!”
Splashhhh.
—Gwaaaaah!
—Save me!
—No, I want to run!
Originally, an army of over fifty thousand would have been more than enough to overwhelm a small city like Tanagra and the Amphitryon family.
The defending forces of the city numbered only around ten to twenty thousand.
Adding in mages, mana-using knights, and mercenaries, Tanagra and the Amphitryon family would have been clearly at a disadvantage.
That is—if not for the recently completed walls, traps, and magic circles.
“Hey, did you see that soldier with the red-painted arrow through his head? That one’s mine.”
“Bullshit, shut up. Can’t you see the green arrow stuck in that one’s heart over there?”
“Tch tch, that’s why you should’ve requested color enchantment on your sword like I did. See how the ones I cut are all dyed black?”
Protected by walls at least twice as high and thick as ordinary ones, the soldiers showed no fear even against mages and knights.
On the contrary, many eagerly anticipated greater achievements and rewards for killing them.
Rather than being terrified and fleeing before an overwhelming force, they viewed this war as a path to becoming the aristos (ἀριστο — the most excellent).
Thus, the families under Amphitryon in the city and the residents ran wild everywhere, desperate to kill more enemies for success and honor.
Of course, they weren’t fearless of death. But the most crucial point was that no matter how many—ten or a hundred—enemies died, not a single casualty had occurred on their side so far.
Arrows shot from below couldn’t even reach near the walls due to the extreme height, and mages’ spells scattered uselessly in midair without touching anything.
Siege engines were bombarded with suspiciously abundant magic and mana projectiles the moment they approached, shattering before they could get close.
Enemy soldiers trying to climb the walls tired themselves out on the sheer height, unable to fight properly before dying.
The enemy’s morale plummeted to rock bottom, while the defenders’ soared to the heavens—an miraculous exchange ratio had been achieved.
***
“Lord Apopolitos, is this really right? That’s an impregnable fortress built by an grand mage. At this rate, our entire army will be ground to nothing!!!”
“It’s true! The mages’ spells aren’t even working in the first place. Knights’ swords just bounce off the walls!! Does this make any sense? Three knights died just trying to scratch that wall!!!”
“Sigh… And the assassins and hunters we hired are the same. Every single one who got over the wall has gone silent. Now some are even demanding we pay the penalty fees and cancel the contracts.”
“…….”
The nobles spewed rage as they watched their troops and money being ground away. But they—and Apopolitos III, the one in overall command here—knew the truth.
As long as that bastard Teleos lived, they had no choice but to keep pouring everything in.
Even in ancient times, kings had ruined their countries over women, carrying out mass purges—such things were plainly recorded in history.
How much worse when Teleos’s lover wasn’t a king, but a god? Not just three generations destroyed, but who knew how many generations would bear the wrath?
Moreover, the nobles knew all too well how obsessively the son of the king of the gods cherished and fixated on his lovers.
In short, they had no sharp way out of this situation.
“Sigh… You all know, don’t you? There’s nothing we can do. We can only try our best to preserve as much manpower, funds, and supplies as possible. The moment we didn’t reject Teleos back then and got deeply involved, any excuse vanished. All we can do now is pray that Teleos reaches a quick conclusion—whether success or failure. We can’t afford to provoke that person.”
……
At Apopolitos III’s powerless words, the other nobles could offer nothing beyond silence.
They had no clever solution either.
“Damn it. We should have pledged ourselves to Lady Athena sooner.”
“I should have followed Poseidon. The Theban royal family serves him.”
“Same here. If anything, I’d have preferred Lady Amphitrite or Eurynome over the reclusive Poseidon.”
“Our house has been war merchants for generations. Ares wouldn’t have been bad.”
“We were artifact craftsmen, so maybe Hephaestus.”
“We’re a massive merchant guild, so Hermes might have been better.”
“Our territory is vast plains, so we should have deepened ties with Demeter.”
The nobles belatedly regretted not establishing proper altars within their houses—instead of superficial offerings at national events or rituals.
But regrettably, it was already far too late.
All they could do now was hope for the day after and pray that Teleos’s plan reached a swift conclusion.