Gathering of Heroes 4k

At the Icarus Port in Athens, ships of all sizes were moored in rows. The winds of the Aegean Sea churned the surface, causing waves to surge.

Rumble...

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and muffled thunder rumbled intermittently from the low-hanging clouds, giving the entire Peloponnese Peninsula a look of impending storm.

Sigh, another day we can't go out to sea...

The old man furled the sails, disembarked, tied the ropes, and leaned against a marble blue-and-white statue with wings on its back, standing in the harbor, and sighed softly.

The situation has been so chaotic lately.

On rainy days when we can't go out to sea, the whole family is waiting for him to feed them.

It was rare for the weather to clear up, and not only did they have to pay taxes to the noble lords, but they also had to guard against pirates and be wary of Carthaginians slave ships, lest they be kidnapped and used as hostages or slaves.

I heard that some time ago, a prominent figure from a Roman Demigod Family was kidnapped on the Rhodes by a group of rampant Chinchilla pirates. The ransom demanded was 20 dinars, but this nobleman, for some unknown reason, immediately negotiated the price down to 50 dinars. That's a fortune in Golden Zeus, enough for him to earn in his entire life.

He doesn't have many people at home, and even eating is a problem. If he gets kidnapped, no one will be able to ransom him.

In addition, the Persians have been causing trouble again recently, and their piracy ships have infiltrated the coastal waters.

If these foreign lunatics are caught, they're guaranteed to lose their lives.

The Persians and the Greeks fought two wars, and each time these northern barbarians came, they caused rivers of blood and fields of corpses.

But the Greeks were not to be trifled with either, and they repeatedly humiliated these invading Persian barbarians, managing to get away with it.

Are the Persians still not giving up and about to start fighting again so soon?

I wonder when this will ever end?

Sigh, forget it. Let's leave this to the bigwigs at Mount of Ares. The important thing is to weave some bamboo baskets and figure out how to exchange them for food for today.

The old man sighed. He helped the sculpture up, turned, and headed home.

Meanwhile, in the council chamber of Mount of Ares.

"You want us to lend you an entire fleet, making a huge fuss, just to wipe out a few pirates on Rhodes? Did I hear that right?"

"I came here on behalf of Rome with good intentions to discuss matters with you all, but I have been kidnapped by Greek pirates. This is a blatant humiliation for both my family and Rome!"

"We can send the Saints from the temple to handle the aftermath, and those pirates, Tian, can be handed over to you..."

"I must clear my name of this disgrace!"

"There's no need to mobilize the entire fleet for just a few petty thieves!"

"Oh, this is what I promised them, to send a fleet to 'welcome' these friendly friends, and then crucify them."

"..."

At the Round Table, the black-haired, green-eyed, slightly plump, and somewhat unyielding young man, seeing the waning momentum of the crowd in the council, smiled slightly and changed the subject.

"Of course, if this puts you all in a difficult position, for the sake of our friendship, let's each compromise. My personal honor or disgrace can be disregarded, but yesterday's proposal..."

"You're asking for 100 Saint Seiya warriors, 500 Divine Blood Warrior, and a thousand-strong heavy infantry? Do you think these are roadside cabbages?!"

The representatives of the Greek city-states were furious.

"Alright, let's take another step back. We can remove the heavy infantry here, but the rest of the manpower must be in place within half a month. We are currently at war with the Persians and cannot wait much longer..."

"Ha, you're fighting against Persia? According to the information we received from Mount of Ares, Persia is amassing troops and preparing for the Third Iliad War! And this time, it will be led by Darius I, one of the two Persian kings, and his son-in-law Xerxes! How are you Romans guarding our rear for us?!"

The slightly chubby Qingyi frowned slightly upon hearing this imperious question.

"The Persian Empire is vast and powerful. In order to relieve the pressure on our allies, we are facing Cyrus the Great, who has been deified, along with his tens of thousands of the Undying Army and the Meteor Legion led by the Arash the Great Hero! If we hadn't tied these forces down in Mesopotamia, they would be the ones coming this time!"

Moreover, the Assassins' Order and the Old Man of the Mountain have recently been active, repeatedly attempting to assassinate our generals. That's why we need the Saints of Mount of Ares and the Heroic Spirit of Paradise Island to ensure the safety of our officers!

Ladies and gentlemen, the Persian Empire's intention was to first weaken Rome, and then launch a full-scale Third Iliad War against Greece.

Rome lacked heroes who could lead independently, while Greece lacked sufficient regular troops. Only by complementing each other could they survive!

If you allow the enemy to defeat you one by one while you remain hesitant and timid, then imagine which country will be the first to suffer when Persia frees up its resources!

Even if you manage to repel Xerxes and Darius this time, Cyrus the Great might come next!

The representatives of the Greek city-states discussed amongst themselves, whispering amongst themselves for a moment. Then, an old man in a magnificent robe, as if he had seen through the Roman representative's intentions, gave a cold laugh without any politeness.

"Don't make it sound so righteous. Rome is guarding the borders not just for Greece! If we're talking about sharing the burden, we not only have to protect you from Carthaginians trouble, but Egypt, behind them, has also been frequently mobilizing troops lately. Cyrus didn't mess with them, but did Ramesses II manage to handle them? We can complain too, but why don't we send a few Roman Legions to help us share the burden!"

Most of the Greek city-states in the council chamber were quite supportive of this, nodding to each other. Even those city-states that had initially been interested in sending troops to support Rome chose to wait and see.

The slightly chubby young man's gaze fell on the Gorgon Emblem on the old man's chest, and his eyes froze.

The Pandion Family, the founders of Athens and the modern-day Greek capital, essentially represent the attitude of Greece.

The slightly chubby Qingyi took a deep breath and gave a cold reminder.

"Gentlemen! We are facing not only the Persians, but also the Huns on two fronts. The current Attila the Hun King, is no less threatening than Cyrus the Great!"

Moreover, Rome is already stretched thin, needing to guard against the barbarians of Northern Europe. Do you really want to see the Persians consolidate their forces and first conquer Greece?

"Insolence! Julius family, only your Divine Ancestor Romulus would be qualified to say such a thing!"

The old man was furious, his attitude arrogant and disdainful.

"Don't forget, even your ancestors were nothing more than defeated fugitives who fled Troy! Pantheon had to Mount of Ares, so how dare you tell us what to do?!"

"Well then, I've been nosy. Farewell!"

The slightly chubby young man gave a forced, insincere apology and then turned and left.

"Well, Caesar, you didn't manage to persuade the old man in the council chamber, did you?"

As the Roman envoy stormed up to the Mount of Ares, a muscular, red-haired man standing at the crossroads laughed heartily, stretched out his arms as if to embrace him, and gave him a warm welcome.

"It's not just that I couldn't get through to them, I was even kicked out."

Caesar spread his hands, gave a helpless wry smile, then rolled his eyes at the gloating fellow, and slapped away the large hand that was on his shoulder without any energy.

"I say, Leonidas, you knew this would happen all along, didn't you? You came here on purpose to laugh at me, didn't you?"

"This has nothing to do with me; it's Alexander's speculation."

Leonidas winked and grinned mischievously, then pulled out a red-haired youth with a slightly immature face from behind the tree and tucked him under his arm.

"It's you again, you ungrateful Macedonia barbarian! I asked you to come with me this morning, but you said you were sick. Tsk, I'm not paying back the 50 dinars I owe you!"

"Hahaha, it's just a few gold coins. At worst, I'll take care of those ignorant pirates for you. Maybe I can even make a profit on top of the initial 50 dinars!"

The young man chuckled lightly, seemingly unconcerned, concealing his mischievous behavior.

"Oh, good idea! How about we chip in and recruit soldiers to wipe out the pirates in the area, then split the profits in half?"

Caesar's eyes lit up, and he stroked his chin, surprisingly quite interested.

"Come on, you think you can scrape together money? Alexander paid for all your food and lodging in Athens recently."

Leonidas laughed and punched Caesar on the shoulder, interrupting the man's wicked thoughts.

"However, speaking of which, the Persians, Huns, Carthaginians, and Egyptians are all mobilizing troops. It can't be a mere alliance; there's bound to be a major operation. If we're surrounded by enemies on all sides, I have a feeling this trouble is quite serious..."

Then, one of the two Sparta kings stroked his chin, gazing towards Athens shrouded in dark clouds, his eyes gleaming.

"Indeed, I don't understand why all four of them suddenly became so active, and there seems to be some kind of tacit understanding between them. I've never seen anything like this before..."

The young emperor of Rome nodded in agreement, his brow furrowed, a vague unease settling in his heart.

"Perhaps, the mythical creatures on earth and those in the heavens are connected..."

The Macedonia prince's deep gaze passed over the marble statues of the Parthenon, then he looked up at the sky with a meaningful expression.

"You mean... a war of gods!"

Caesar was the first to react, his breath caught in his throat, his face changed drastically, and he couldn't help but mutter in surprise.

"If that's the case, then wouldn't that mean we're in big trouble!"

Leonidas gasped, his face darkening with horror.

Once the war of gods begins, rivers of blood will flow, and the brutality of the war will escalate dramatically!

As far as he knew, a great and glorious war of the gods once disrupted spacetime and shattered the Tides of Chaos surrounding Greece, gradually connecting the world into a whole.

After that, the Greek Gods experienced another division during the Trojan War.

The defeated Olympian Gods guided the Trojans to distant lands, expanding their territory and establishing Rome. They were then worshipped in the Pantheon, where they provided refuge for the believers.

In recent years, Greece has gradually become the target of envy and hostility, with Egyptians, Carthaginians, and Persians all wanting a piece of it.

Even though their predecessors, under the banner of Hellenism, allied with Rome and recruited Macedonia, forming a united front, they remained weak when other behemoths rose to power.

As a result, both the gods of Mount of Ares and the Roman Gods gradually disappeared, and no one knew what had happened in the sky.

If a war of gods were to break out at this moment, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Don't think so much. If this war is related to the gods, then humanity's victory will become insignificant, and we can't even get involved in this battlefield. You might as well spend this time drinking with me."

Alexander patted Leonidas on the shoulder, rousing his contemplative friend, and with a light laugh, extended an invitation.

"Then what are we waiting for, zizizi! I've been starving myself lately!"

Upon hearing that he could get a free meal, Caesar immediately perked up and urged the two forward hastily without giving them a chance to speak.

"That's true..."

Leonidas couldn't help but smile Mount of Ares.

Like Greece and Rome, these two unfortunate brothers were surrounded by enemies on all sides and preoccupied with their own survival. Once the war broke out in full force, whichever link in the chain broke first, the incoming foreign enemies would sweep across the Mediterranean with overwhelming force.

To turn the tide, unless... a surprise attack comes from the heavens!

Meanwhile, in the Chaos Sea.

The Aether Torrent surged, and Magecraft patterns flickered and faded. As the giant waves broke through, hundreds of Viking Warships with their sails hoisted, like ferocious beasts, silently sailed through the churning mist.

Within the three-story, hundred-meter-long flagship, surrounded and protected, berserkers and druids were positioned in the lower and middle sections to ensure the ship's operation, while the figures standing on the top deck were beautiful young women wearing hoods and holding shields and spears.

"Eeya..."

The door was gently pushed open, and a tall, elegant figure with a calm demeanor emerged from the bedroom, wearing a robe. Beautiful young women, holding shields and spears, bowed respectfully.

The man with long, black hair waved his hand dismissively, stopping the formalities. He glanced at the still murky sea, then yawned and casually asked a question.

"How is the fleet in condition?"

"Everything is normal, Your Highness."

"Thank you all for your hard work during my break..."

"No, with Warrior King Sigurd, Bloodaxe King Eric, King Harald War-Tooth, and Dragon Slayer Beowulf in charge, those berserkers and druids are all very well-behaved."

"By the way, how long have we been sailing since we set off from Midgard?"

"It's only been two days and seven hours, Your Highness. It's still nighttime. You can get some more sleep."

The Valkyrie, dressed in a blue and black gown, with light green hair partially obscuring her eyes and purple pupils reflecting dreamlike colors, stepped forward, gently touching her chest and responding softly.

As she spoke, the Valkyrie peeked through the crack in the door and saw a graceful figure wrapped in a velvet quilt, with her purple hair flowing freely and her head buried in the pillow, her expression suggestive.

The man's gaze fell on the slightly mischievous smile on the Valkyrie's face. He stretched and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Forget it, I can't sleep with you all watching like this. Brunhilde, since you're so free, why don't you come with me on the ship for a bit?"

"If this is your will, I... I..."

The Valkyrie, caught off guard by the sudden question, lowered her head somewhat awkwardly, a blush creeping onto her pretty face.

"You don't want to go? Who's on duty that day? I think it's Hildr, Thrud, and Ortlinde..."

"They're too busy! I'll take on the responsibility of protecting Prince Jormungandr!"

At this moment, the timid Valkyrie suddenly raised her head, her expression solemn, and righteously accepted the mission, like a warrior bravely facing death.

Brunhilde