Simulate the universe, starting with speedrunning Greek.

Soldier: "No, don't waste your time. ... No matter how many times you ask, it's not my responsibility. The temple will only reopen when the goddess issues a divine decree."

The crowd said, "We just wanted to go to the temple to pay our respects to the great Athena and thank her for her protection. We wouldn't want to disturb the goddess, is that not allowed? Please help us convey our sincerity to the goddess."

Soldier: "...No. We can't say anything about the reason. We already asked, but Lady Hekuba said that nothing should disturb the goddess."

Disappointment then appeared on the faces of many in the crowd.

For devout believers, it is truly a pity that the goddess resides on this land, in this city, yet they cannot pay homage to her in person.

Even in Greece, where gods roamed, during this age of gods, for most ordinary people, deities were still beings they might never see in their lifetime.

Compared to the number of gods, the human population is simply too large.

The population of ancient Greece was around one million.

Although this number is far less than the population of the ancient Eastern kingdoms, on this vast land, the probability of seeing a specific deity again after missing this opportunity is almost zero.

Chapter 157 Acquiring Special Features—The Wind That Detects Lies

There's something weird about this place.

Although goddesses are not people who can see them, it is not strange that the temple is closed and mortals are kept out of the temple.

But Ye had a feeling that the other party was hiding something.

The entrance to the temple is like another world that doesn't want others to pry into it.

Just then, a commotion came from afar.

Then a woman, as if possessed, charged toward the temple entrance.

The guards immediately raised their weapons and became alert.

"Halt! Insolence is not permitted before the temple! Stand back—no one is allowed to enter!"

"Please allow me to see the goddess Athena! I have important news to report!"

"no……"

"...! Even just informing Lord Hekuba would be appreciated!!"

"I said no means no... Please don't make things difficult for us."

This was the second time Ye had heard the name Herkuba.

He felt the name sounded familiar but couldn't place it.

After all, there are too many named beings in Greek mythology.

Aside from those with epic and captivating stories, there are many lesser-known but equally remarkable individuals. Even with the best memory, who can recall everyone's experiences at every moment?

At that moment, Chryseis approached Night in surprise and whispered in his ear, "Hero—it's Lady Hector. Hector's mother. I didn't expect her to be here too."

Hector's mother?!

After hearing this, Ye finally understood.

In mythology, when Troy faced a life-or-death situation, Hector, fearing that Troy would be defeated after this battle, sought out his mother Hecyba in advance and asked her to organize the women, children, and the elderly in the city to hide in Athena's temple and seek the goddess's protection.

Only Athena, with her gentle nature, could possibly have pity on and protect these innocent women and children after their defeat in all of Greece.

And Athena did indeed choose to protect these innocent people.

At the end of the war, Ajax the Younger, disregarding Apollo's protection, forced himself on Cassandra, Apollo's handmaiden, in her temple, thus offending Athena. Later, he offended the gods even more and was killed by Poseidon with a single wave.

Night was unaware that Hector had done the same thing when Ares attacked Troy.

At that time, Hecyba organized the women to seek the protection of Athena.

Although the God of War retreated and the crisis was averted, they did not leave afterward. Instead, they continued to hide in the Temple of Athena and pray for Hector and the other brave Trojan warriors.

After all, this crisis came so suddenly and was so terrible that it is really worrying. Will the next one be the time when Troy is breached?

What was unexpected was that Herkuba and the others, who had only tried to pray and did not expect the goddess to actually 'respond' to them, suddenly received a response to their prayers some time ago.

According to the will of the goddess, in the name of Hector, the mother of Hector and wife of the old king of Troy, she has recently issued many orders.

But at that moment, the situation changed again.

A group of soldiers came chasing from the other side, ready to take the madwoman away.

Immediately, the woman began to resist frantically, shouting excitedly that she wanted to see the goddess and Lord Herkuba.

They also said that these soldiers were devils who had captured many innocent people and intended to execute them.

"Take him away!" a soldier said coldly.

"Wait...why are you taking her away?!" Among the people kneeling and praying, someone recognized the woman's identity as a completely innocent Trojan, but from what the other person said, these soldiers wanted to execute her.

What kind of crime would a vulnerable woman have to commit to warrant execution? It's astonishing.

however--

The pursuing soldiers had incredibly cold eyes. One of them cast a gaze that was so terrifying that the person asking the question took a step back and almost fell.

"Citizens of Troy, do not worry. This is merely routine business—we are arresting rebels who disregard the great rule of the goddess and His Majesty the King. Though it may cause some disturbance, there is no need to fear! We will soon deal with these heretics."

heresy?!!

"No, I am not a heretic!!! You—you are the ones who are...you must be the ones who are eliminating dissidents behind the back of the goddess. You are...the henchmen of Poseidon, the god of the sea."

When I heard the word Poseidon.

The soldier in the lead suddenly changed his expression, revealing a grim look of gritted teeth.

Bang! He suddenly smashed his gauntlet into the woman's head, causing her to bleed profusely—the woman screamed in agony, powerless to resist.

"This is what happens when you slander soldiers..."

The soldier then punched the woman in the abdomen again to make sure she had no strength left to escape or resist, and then prepared to leave with his men.

"Wait, whose men are you..." Ye suddenly spoke up after observing for a while.

The soldiers instinctively looked over, and when they noticed Ye's bewitchingly charming face, they were all stunned.

Not only the soldiers, but also the ordinary people around them were all captivated by Ye Hou's presence.

A little girl innocently and fascinated, saying, "Oh... handsome... big brother."

That beauty, which even the gods could not resist, was an absolute killer for these ordinary people, akin to a dimensional attack.

Fortunately, it wasn't an active, seductive charm. Otherwise, one wouldn't have noticed the astonishing allure only upon looking at the Night Queen. It's like when the goddess of beauty unleashes her power; even without seeing the goddess, mortals are captivated the moment she gets close.

Without even seeing her, they could instantly conjure up that terrifying divine beauty in their minds and grovel at her feet.

At this moment, the soldiers, with their stronger willpower than ordinary people, were the first to regain their senses.

Although these soldiers seemed to have never set foot on the previous battlefield and did not recognize what Night looked like, they recognized Diomedes.

When they saw Diomedes, who had guided them through the night.

The soldiers immediately replied respectfully, "We are soldiers under His Majesty King Cykonos... This... hero?"

The people that Cooknos brought...

That's fine.

No wonder he didn't recognize himself; Cygnus hadn't even brought his people into battle yet back then.

Ye also thought about why the woman they had just captured had said they were Poseidon's henchmen.

They were acting on the orders of Cygnus, who was the son of Poseidon. Given this identity, whatever they did would arouse suspicion.

So is it slander? Ye's powerful, almost divine intuition, after further physical transformation and being filled with Athena's divine power, has gradually even begun to exhibit some of the divine aspects of a god.

such as--

You must not lie before God, for no lie can be hidden from the gods; no lie can be concealed from them.

Chapter 158 Athena Statue, Goddess Statue? I don't think I've ever cleaved it yet.

Interestingly, neither of them lied.

They all firmly believed they were right.

"Leave the man here. If there are any problems, we can discuss them after I've paid my respects to Athena. Is that alright, Diomedes?" Knowing that the soldiers wouldn't listen to her, Night turned to Diomedes.

Diomedes paused slightly, then nodded.

Night: It can understand what I'm saying—it seems it's not entirely without reason.

With the guarantee of Diomedes, the loyal warrior who almost symbolized the goddess Athena, the soldiers naturally dared not obstruct them.

So Night led the girl into the temple with Diomedes.

On the way, Night sent Chryseis to comfort the woman and gather information, while he listened intently.

From their conversation, Ye quickly learned that in this city-state, no—and perhaps even in the nearby city-state of Troy, there had been a recent campaign to eliminate dissidents.

Led by Cygnus's subordinates, they are arresting innocent civilians everywhere, labeling them as Ares, the god of war, and executing them as heretics who have colluded with the enemy.

Screams echoed across the city's square for several days.

At first, the girl, like everyone else, thought the soldiers were really arresting heretics.

One day, while chatting with her childhood friend, the boy she liked said, "So many people have died lately. I have a feeling... that Athena's orders might be a bit......"

Realizing he was talking about gods, the boy knew he should be careful what he said... and stopped talking immediately.

But the girl understood what he meant: that the goddess Athena seemed to have become much more cruel recently, which was different from her rumored kind image.

After all, in Greece, the worship of other gods was not prohibited.

Even though Ares is now the antagonistic patron god of Troy, it is not a capital offense to merely worship Ares.

However, the boy was arrested because of this half-sentence.

Even a girl who hadn't said anything but overheard those words was being arrested and executed...

When this brutal reality confronted her, the girl was instantly terrified, realizing the danger she was in—

She finally shared the same thoughts as the boy; she didn't consider herself a heretic, and in fact, she was a devout follower of the goddess Athena.

How could the kind and gentle goddess Athena commit such a cruel and indiscriminate massacre?

These must be foreigners from Poseidon's land, with ill intentions, using the goddess's name to commit acts of usurpation!

After all, news from the front lines indicated that Poseidon and Ares had previously joined forces to fight the hero Griffith.