Chapter 467
He was the half-brother of Cleomenes I, the former king of Sparta, and ascended the throne as the new king because the sons of his elder brother, who was supposed to inherit the throne, had all died.
At that time, an unsettling atmosphere of war was beginning to permeate the city-state of Sparta.
Xerxes I, the Persia King from the Achaemenid Dynasty, made a demand to the Greece world for "land and water"—to relinquish all territory and rights to its harvests, which in effect meant a demand for complete surrender.
While most cities chose to ally with the powerful Persia, the coalition centered around Sparta and Athens chose to fight against them.
"Destroyed by the descendants of Perseus, or the king died guided by the blood of Heracles."
The prophet said so.
According to legend, Leonidas was a descendant of Heracles, while Perseus was the ancestor of the Persia.
Leonidas accepted the oracle with an attitude of "I see."
"So, if I risked my life and escaped, Sparta would be destroyed, right?"
Leonidas was not confused.
He led a force of 300 elite men and deployed them in the valley of Thermopylae, known as the "Hot Gates," fighting against Persia army that was said to number in the hundreds of thousands for three days.
However, due to an internal traitor, the Sparta army, whose battle formation was breached from the rear, was completely annihilated, except for Aristodemus had deserted the army due to blindness.
It is said that Sparta soldiers at that time would fight with their bare hands and teeth if they lost their weapons.
Although Leonidas's spear ultimately failed to reach Xerxes, the three days he and his 300 men bought allowed the Greece coalition to complete preparations to repel the Persia army.
These mere three hundred men and their king undoubtedly saved the Greece world.
It is said that the following words by the poet Simonides were inscribed on the tomb of the three hundred Sparta soldiers:
"O traveler from afar, may you convey this message to the people of Sparta: We kept our promise, and here we, fallen souls, now rest in eternal rest."
The Sparta king who arrived in this era was appointed by Gilgamesh to the most important responsibility of leading the Demonic Beast Front.
Although born in a land known for its "brains," he considers himself a "brains," and he certainly possesses that talent.
Under Leonidas I's rule, the Demonic Beast Front became a defensive fortress capable of fighting monsters day and night.
The Magical Beast attacked relentlessly, and soldiers often had to leave the city to fight them off, but the human casualties were far fewer than those of the Magical Beast.
Precise military deployment, flawless shift system.
While fighting, Leonidas trained new recruits and sent them to the front lines, and at the same time allowed wounded soldiers to fully rest and recover their health.
This can be described as the ultimate in stronghold defense.
Ultimately, however, strategic application can bridge a huge gap in strength, provided that the two sides are vastly different in ability.
The Magical Beast were originally just beasts driven by hatred for humans, launching clumsy attacks without regard for anything else, which is why they were easily defeated by human soldiers.
This situation changed not long ago.
In Magical Beast, highly intelligent generals have also emerged.
It identifies itself as a scorpion-man monster from ancient times, the Kitabir the Sage.
It possesses power far surpassing that of other Magical Beast, and also has excellent strategic knowledge.
The Magical Beast obeyed the scorpion people's rule and launched one threatening attack after another on the fortress.
Although no actual results were achieved, the casualty rate and fatigue level of the soldiers were increasing significantly, which was extremely detrimental.
"Quite brilliant, that guy named Kitabliel."
If this continues, it's only a matter of time before the last fortress in the north completely collapses.
Although Leonidas I repeatedly requested reinforcements from the king, he was well aware that Uruk also lacked the fighting strength to provide much support.
"The Scorpion Man, I will defeat him—this is my mission."
The one who made the decision was another Heroic Spirit who, along with Leonidas I, guarded the Demonic Beast Front.
This dignified beauty with long silver hair and deep red eyes is none other than the Archer, Tomoe Gozen, summoned by Gilgamesh.
Despite being a woman, she is described in "The Tale of the Heike" as possessing the courage to take on a thousand men single-handedly, and is said to have the strength to tear off a human head with her bare hands.
Legend has it that she was the one who twisted off the head of Onda Hachirō Moroshige, an enemy general known for his immense strength.
In terms of individual combat strength as Heroic Spirit, Tomoe Gozen's strength is probably even greater than Leonidas I's.
If Leonidas I possessed the ability to inspire soldiers' skills in desperate battlefield situations (the Pride of the Rearguard a), then she possessed the combat skills to fight alone amidst a vast army (the Knowledge of the Sowa b).
Tomoe Gozen is a warrior who excels at fighting in multiple or one-on-many situations; however, in the face of hundreds of thousands of enemies, she knows that her importance is insignificant compared to Lancer.
Therefore, it was most appropriate for me to be entrusted with this mission of assassinating the enemy general.
Actually, there's another very important reason, which could also be described as her feeling of guilt—
Among the Servant jointly protect Uruk, Rider Ushiwakamaru was Tomoe Gozen's Heavenly Crown enemy during her lifetime.
Although the other party took the initiative to make amends, hoping to put aside past grievances and protect Human Order together, Tomoe Gozen coldly rejected him.
There's no way I could forgive him.
Rather, she was quite surprised that the other party could utter such a shameless phrase as "forgive and forget."
Just hearing the name Minamoto no Yoshitsune Kurou made her feel as if a flame of hatred was burning in her chest.
It was precisely for this reason that King Gilgamesh was unable to send Ushiwakamaru and his attendant Musashibō Benkei as reinforcements.
If the Demonic Beast Front falls, then I will undoubtedly be the true culprit.
Therefore, Tomoe Gozen believed that this was a mission she had to complete herself.
Leonidas I understood the warrior's remorse and realization, and made the right judgment.
Under the cover of the soldiers, Tomoe Gozen successfully infiltrated the rear of the Magical Beast army.
What was initially thought to be a very dangerous assassination attempt turned out to be surprisingly unimpeded.
Despite being a general commanding hundreds of thousands of Magical Beasts, his stronghold was not heavily guarded.
Tomoe Gozen even began to feel a secret sense of smugness: even if he called himself a "sage," he was ultimately nothing more than a beast.
After killing several guarding Magical Beast, Tomoe Gozen successfully reached the lone enemy commander, the Kitabir the Sage.
The enormous scorpion-man Magical Beast remained unfazed by the sudden appearance of the human assassin.
Is it because they are overly confident in their own absolute power?
Or did they underestimate her because of her delicate, feminine appearance?
"I'm afraid it's both, "Tomoe Gozen thought.
But the other party said this--
"I let you in on purpose. Did you think I didn't notice you'd infiltrated the rear?"
"What's this? Are you just unwilling to admit defeat and trying to save face...?"
Tomoe Gozen wore a disdainful expression, thinking to herself that this must be a lie by Magical Beast trying to sway her.
The scorpion continued, "I felt it, I could clearly sense it even from several kilometers away—"
"Among humans, there exist fellow human beings similar to us, but I never imagined she would be such a beautiful woman."
"What...?"
The female warrior frowned slightly.
Although she tried her best to appear calm, if the other party's goal was to undermine her, then the Magical Beast had succeeded.
Tomoe Gozen Non-human, but a hybrid with demonic blood flowing through her veins—a child of demons with a strong bloodline.
Among the Servant summoned by Gilgamesh was a boy named Fūma Kotarō, who, like Tomoe Gozen, was a hybrid of the Oni race.
Records from the Warring States period describe Fūma Kotarō as a monster who is "over two meters tall, with hands and feet of copper and iron, covered in fleshy growths, bulging eyes, a black mustache, a mouth like a blood basin, four fangs, and looks like the Antarctic Immortal."
That is proof of the child of the demon.
Even the Fūma, who left behind terrifying legends, had a demonic bloodline that was only slightly thinner than Tomoe Gozen's.
Her innate fire abilities and Monstrous Strength of Oni make her comparable to a great yokai from the Heian period.
In her previous life, Tomoe Gozen sealed away her demonic nature in order to survive in the human world, thus acquiring the quiet personality of a samurai woman.
No one around her noticed anything unusual about Tomoe Gozen, not even her husband.
Tomoe Gozen's husband Kiso Yoshinaka.
He was a righteous man who hated evil as if it were his enemy, and especially harbored an indescribable hatred for the existence of ghosts.
If that person were to discover her true identity, Tomoe Gozen would surely be unable to maintain her dignity.
Tomoe Gozen thought she had perfectly concealed her demon bloodline, but she never expected that in her second life, a monster who wasn't even human would expose her true nature.
"Woman, you just said your name is Tomoe Gozen, right?"
The Scorpion made no attempt to hide the longing and admiration in his eyes.
Unlike humans, it was a genuine emotion that still flowed after knowing how ugly Tomoe Gozen's inner self was.
Unlike those humans, you are beautiful...
You, like us, are a child of the "mother."
The scorpion-man stretched out his strange arm toward the female warrior.
"My fellow countryman, Tomoe Gozen, come to us."
From this day forward—you will no longer need to hide your true self from humans.
"..."
Tomoe Gozen was so stunned that she couldn't say a word.
She felt guilty for having recently dismissed him as a foolish beast.
Kitabliel the Scorpion, he is a true sage.
They possess intelligence equal to that of humans, and a similar level of compassion limited to their own kind.
After realizing that Tomoe Gozen was a monster hiding among humans, he offered his help.
It wasn't that I wanted to gain Tomoe Gozen's power; I simply felt from the bottom of my heart that she was a beautiful fellow countrywoman.
"I..."
Tomoe Gozen's mind conjured up the face of the girl who had been summoned to this era along with her.
berserker, Ibaraki-dōji.
Like Tomoe Gozen, she was of mixed blood but completely devoted herself to demonic nature, even becoming the leader of the demons who ruled Mount Ooe.
She disobeyed King Gilgamesh's orders from the very beginning, and later even ran away.
If I hadn't been raised by humans, would I have become that kind of being?
Tomoe Gozen recalled the face of the enemy girl who had arrived in this foreign land with her.
When Ibaraki-dōji boasted that he would build a new Mount Ooe on this land, Beef Maru declared that he would fulfill the Genji's duty and take the head of the demon, scaring Ibaraki-dōji away on the spot.
If I were to fall into the form of a demon (return to my original form), would I be able to fight Ushiwakamaru without any psychological burden?
Thinking about it this way, being human is really troublesome.
Therefore
"I refuse."
Tomoe Gozen firmly rejected the scorpion man's invitation.
Unlike her icy tone, her entire body erupted in blazing flames, and her right hand gripped a crimson naginata constructed of magic.
It has nothing to do with "justice" or "evil".
Even if I am not human, or even from this era.
When Tomoe Gozen arrived in Uruk, the care and concern she received from the citizens were genuine.
We must repay those people, we must respond to those who believed we would protect them.
"Kitabir the Sage, I will kill you here, to bring even a moment of peace to the people of Uruk."
The scorpion-man showed an expression of deep regret.
In his view, Tomoe Gozen must be a victim of human brainwashing.