Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

Under the intense recoil, the apocalyptic behemoth staggered back several steps, wobbled, and crashed into a rocky outcrop, collapsing half of it.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the ether scattered in the air gathered wildly, forming a blue, red, yellow, and white vortex at the dusty opening.

In an instant, fireballs, ice spikes, ground spikes, and streams of light—a dense, meteor-like barrage of magical attacks—slammed down on the bewildered Behemoth.

The colorful splashes and the sounds of explosions lasted for nearly ten breaths.

During this time, the four-colored vortexes brought down not only single-attribute attacks, but also combinations of red flames and blue frost, falling rocks that were ignited like meteorites, water and soil mixtures, and large swamps used to restrict movement... These varied and complex magic tricks were presented to everyone, leaving the accompanying magicians dumbfounded.

Inside the city walls, the surrounding ether, as if in a trance, was converging and gathering in one place.

Following the fluctuations of magical energy, the survivors looked at the culprit who had ruthlessly drained the surrounding magical energy, their eyes bulging as if they would fall out of their sockets.

Because the small vortex-shaped etheric tides actually coalesced in mid-air into a magnificent and dazzling crown, with blue, red, yellow, and white colors flashing alternately.

Holy crap! The Elemental Crown!

This is a unique phenomenon that can only be formed by spellcasters with near-perfect elemental affinity, and it basically only exists in legends.

Even in the age of gods, where geniuses abound, the owners of this thing are few and far between. They are either renowned heroes, great sages who create new eras, or beings like witches and gods.

Typical examples include Hecate, the goddess of the moon, Medea, the queen of witches, and Athena, the goddess of magic.

Now, what did they see...?

There was a guy who looked to be only twenty or thirty years old, dressed in a white Greek robe, with a book between his fingers, who possessed this terrifying talent. He was wearing this elemental crown and bombarding the Behemoth war beast on the outside with all sorts of compound magic and ritual spells, which he used with ease.

"boom!"

Finally, after nearly three minutes of magical floor cleaning, the young man, who possessed both an intellectual and lazy demeanor, felt somewhat tired and stopped, frowning.

"Teacher, watch out!"

Just as the hundred or so guards who had witnessed the magic show were staring blankly and looking numb, Prince Alexander of Macedon led a reinforcement force and rushed over. While asking questions, he reached out and helped the swaying young man to sit down on a blue stone.

“Prince Alexander’s teacher? I remember now, you are Aristotle, the genius who was expelled from the Academy of Athens by Plato!”

Upon hearing Alexander's address to the young man, a magician accompanying the army suddenly realized the man's identity. After blurting out the answer, he realized his rudeness, hurriedly bowed and patted his chest to express his apology, and then huddled together with his colleagues in the corner to whisper among themselves.

There is a saying in the Peloponnese that nearly half of the magicians in Greece came from Athens, and two-thirds of the elite among them came from the Athenian Academy.

This demonstrates just how prestigious and powerful the Athens Academy was in terms of magic instruction and talent cultivation before it was sealed off by Mount Ares.

Among the younger generation of the Academy of Athens, the two most famous geniuses were Aristotle and Archimedes.

However, the more talented a person is, the more individualistic they are, and the more difficult they are to tame.

For example, Aristotle, despite possessing talents and qualities that would make others envious, was elected as a mentor at a young age, yet he advocated logic and scholarship, and deconstructed the mystical.

His relationship with his teacher Plato gradually deteriorated due to their differing ideologies, and he was dismissed and expelled a few months before the Academy of Athens was closed.

Later, this rising genius wandered to Macedonia and became the teacher of Prince Alexander, secretly following his disciple and protecting his safety.

In fact, the mountain trails that served as weak points, as well as the magical protective barrier of Thermopylae, were able to hold out precisely because of the help of their teacher, Aristotle. Otherwise, they would not have been able to hold out until the arrival of the first and second waves of reinforcements.

"How are things going with you and Leonidas?"

Sitting atop the rock, Aristotle took several deep breaths to regain some strength, then frowned and asked.

"We barely managed to repel them once. The Persians, for some reason, are withdrawing their forces. I was a little worried, so I brought some men to check out the back of the mountain."

Alexander handed over the potion while checking the damage and casually replied.

"Be careful, the Persians are going all out. These war beasts that suddenly appeared are too resistant. Most of my magic attack was neutralized. The one outside should still be alive."

Aristotle frowned, grabbed his disciple's arm, and gave him a stern reminder.

Alexander nodded slightly, then waved his hand, signaling dozens of Blood Warriors to draw their spears and step forward to investigate.

Woo!

At that moment, the eerie and murderous sound of horns echoed, and the sky suddenly became scorching hot, even the weapons were burning hot.

"Get out of the way!"

Aristotle, whose etheric senses were extremely sharp, felt a sudden sense of alarm. He immediately grabbed his disciple and jumped into the deep pit to the side.

boom!

In an instant, a strange crimson flame fell from the sky, piercing through the magic barrier and crashing into the city wall with undiminished momentum, stirring up a terrifying etheric storm, and shattering and flying bricks inscribed with defensive spells.

Puff puff puff!

In an instant, rocks flew through the air. Except for a few quick-reacting Divine Blood Warriors, most of the soldiers and magicians who remained in place didn't even have time to scream before their bodies were torn to pieces and shattered into mincemeat.

Immediately, the spilled blood and scattered limbs, before they could even hit the ground, were burned and evaporated under the intense light.

hiss……

Thanks to their vigilance, the survivors, having narrowly escaped death, brushed off the rubble and dust from their bodies and tentatively emerged from behind the shelters they had found. Gazing at the charred remains on the ground, they all gasped in horror.

The area they had previously guarded had been transformed into a cone-shaped pit tens of meters deep, with wisps of smoke rising from the surrounding rocks, and even traces of high-temperature crystallization appearing on the edges.

Those who died in battle and were left behind have not even been found.

The fortress blocking the path had completely fallen; the horrific scene was chilling and terrifying.

Waaaaah!

Almost at the same time, the deep and solemn sound of bugles reached the skies above the main battlefield.

Under the sudden, scorching heatwave, the air visibly distorted, nearly half of the trees and grass on the ground withered and burned rapidly, and the sea opposite Wenquanguan boiled.

The mere impact of the heat was enough to make it unbearable.

If Aristotle hadn't frantically gathered the surrounding water elements to build an ice wall and protect everyone, they would have been roasted and spontaneously combusted almost instantly.

At that very moment, a meteorite several kilometers in diameter, engulfed in flames, was summoned from the enormous magic array that covered the sky and crashed into the ground with lightning speed.

Boom!

The strong tremors caused many people guarding the path to lose their footing.

When the aftershocks subsided, they were shocked to see that the formidable pass that had held off the Persians for seven days and seven nights had collapsed, leaving a breach stretching for hundreds of meters.

This scar completely exposed the soft interior of Thermopylae and the garrison huddled within the fortifications to the Persians.

Alexander and Aristotle, supporting each other as they rose, looked at the enemy army that stretched across the mountains and even scattered in the air, and their hearts sank to the bottom of the valley.

At this moment, the main defense line of Wenquan Pass is in place.

Behind the huge gap, a nimble, fat man in red dug out the dusty-faced Spartan king from a pile of rubble.

Seeing that the man's eyes were unfocused and his expression was dazed, the fat man in red didn't say a word and started slapping the man's cheeks repeatedly. Then he grabbed the victim's shoulders and shook him violently.

"Hey, Leonidas, wake up! The Persian army is coming! Where are our men?! Those two in North America are gods!"

When Caesar's gaze fell upon the Persian army that was getting closer and closer to the breach, his voice even carried a hint of a sob.

"I'm evenly matched with Rama and Vritra, so I can't spare any more time!"

Leonidas, regaining consciousness, was startled into adopting a defensive posture. He casually removed his deformed helmet, picked up his gun and shield, leaned against the broken wall, and rallied his soldiers to fight the enemy while responding hastily amidst the deafening explosions.

"What about Achilles and Ajax the Great?"

"They are currently locked in a fierce battle with the great Indian hero Karna and the elephant-headed god Ganesha!"

Where is that kid Alexander?

"He just took a group of people to the back mountain path to support his teacher Aristotle. We don't know if they're alive or dead yet!"

With his ears ringing, Leonidas shook his head, which was like a lump of paste, as he threw a spear, impaling two undead soldiers who had crept up on him on the ground, while trying his best to concentrate and roar.

"Stop thinking about it. Apart from those who are tied down, everyone who can move is here. Whether they live or die, we can only rely on ourselves now!"

As the enemy forces grew larger, the Spartan king and Caesar stood back to back, hacking and slashing at the nearby Persians, decisively shattering the Roman emperor's hopes.

Even with two waves of reinforcements arriving, the gap between the Greek defenders and the Persians in all aspects remained insurmountable.

Hero units are so numerous that there aren't even enough for one-on-one combat.

Due to the terrifying destructive power of high-end weaponry, the two sides in a war generally maintain a tacit understanding, with soldiers fighting soldiers, generals fighting generals, and kings fighting kings, and they choose open areas for the battlefield to avoid indiscriminately slaughtering the regular troops of both sides.

Therefore, the few who are locked in fierce combat are engaged in a battle on the chaotic sea, and it will be difficult to determine a winner in a short period of time.

They could have barely maintained a fragile balance, no matter how hard they tried.

But the sudden appearance of Mithras, the god, shattered the defenses with two blows, completely tipping the scales of war in the Persians' favor.

"Form ranks! Prepare for battle!"

With no defensible positions left, Leonidas and Caesar wiped the blood from their faces, struck their shields, and rallied their remaining troops.

As the rubble churned, a group of swaying figures gathered from all sides, guns raised and shields erected, making a final stand.

The Persians were shocked to discover that the garrison stationed at Thermopylae had dwindled to no more than a hundred men...

Boom!Boom!Boom!Boom!

A series of thunderous booms, like heavy drumbeats and muffled thunder, echoed from the ground once more.

Two more towering Behemoth war beasts, as majestic as mountains, violently struggled to break their chains, grabbed dozens of nearby Persian magicians, and stuffed them into their mouths to eat.

Then, the glowing collars around the necks of the two apocalyptic behemoths began to tremble and burn, causing them to growl and become docile. They stared fiercely ahead and charged towards the ruins of Wenquan Pass on all fours.

"Great Mithras, Lord of Glory, Father of Flames, the war horn has sounded, Your might will keep calamity from befalling us, and grant victory to this body..."

As the Zoroastrian priests solemnly prayed, the crowd looked into the distance and were astonished to see thousands of mammoth soldiers, like assembled heavy tanks, rushing out of the Persian camp, crushing across the wilderness, and sweeping in from the torn canyon.

Behind them, countless undead soldiers and Persian regular troops swarmed forward, like a swarm of ants, gathering in a dark mass towards the breach in the city wall.

Not only that, but white specks of light, like stardust, rained down from the sky. The guards instinctively looked up and saw figures as graceful as jewels, with several different kinds of light-like wings on their backs, wearing full-body armor, and holding bows, spears, swords, and shields. They emerged inch by inch from the rotating and solidifying magic circle, like stars twinkling in the sky.

The number was well over a thousand!

They really think highly of us...

Leonidas and Caesar, teetering on the brink of collapse, exchanged a glance at the Persian army less than a hundred meters away and the angels swooping down. Seeing the madness flashing in each other's eyes, they simultaneously wiped the blood from their faces and grinned, revealing ferocious expressions.

Damn it, give it a try!

laugh!

At the critical moment, the sky and earth suddenly darkened like the twilight of dusk, and a crimson flame descended from the sky, piercing the center of the breach in Thermopylae and blocking the two armies.

"Twilight has arrived, the song of despair begins, this is the end, all things perish, returning to ashes! — The blazing sun, the sword of flame!"

With a chilling roar, the air crackled and boiled. A giant flaming sword, a thousand meters long, materialized at the top of its hilt and, using it as a fulcrum, swept and slashed at the Persians on the outside.

boom! boom! boom! boom!

In an instant, the earth cracked open, rivers boiled, and pillars of fire rose up like fountains. Tens of thousands of Persian soldiers nearby and a group of angels that swooped down were instantly reduced to ashes in the blazing flames.

Chapter 160 Meteor Hundreds of Billions

Clang!

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the Fiery Demon Sword, pulled from a crevice in the rock, rang out with exhilarating melody. A figure with black, tousled hair and cross-shaped eyes gracefully crossed the scorched battlefield and arrived.

"Sorry I'm late..."

"Not too early, not too late, just right."

Leonidas, amidst the ruins, laughed heartily, immediately raised his hand, and grasped the outstretched fingers together. He then deflected two stray arrows with his shield and embraced his comrade-in-arms, whom he had met across time and space.

"Haha, what good luck. Looks like I'm going to die with this muscular guy this time. I should at least find a decent beauty to marry."

Caesar, patting his clothes which had turned into strips of cloth, nimbly leaped out from the rubble, dodging the incoming spell projectiles, and uttered a cheerful rant in an upbeat tone.

However, as the Roman emperor cleared the dust from his eyes and saw this solitary figure, his smug smile froze.

"Uh, Your Majesty Theseus, where is the Athenian army?"

"They're still in the Chaos Sea, held up by the Persian fleet. I wasn't comfortable with that, so I went ahead and headed there."

"Venus, have mercy on me! I've been looking forward to this for so long, but I still have to go to see Pluton with you two sweaty men."

"Not necessarily! As long as we hold Thermopylae and wait for the Greek fleet to encircle us from the sea, it's uncertain who will be the prey and who will be the hunter. The Persians should be the ones who are worried!"

Samael pondered for a moment before answering, his expression calm. His star-shaped pupils opened, taking in the entire battlefield environment. With a nimble wrist movement, the flaming demon sword in his palm, wrapped in an ethereal storm, slashed in an arc, forming a tightly defending fan-shaped area that swept away the scattered attacks.

Occasionally, some escaped, but the golden wings of the Sagittarius Cloth behind the ancient serpent, under the control of divine will, became even more flexible than the arms of ordinary people. They swept away arrows, stones, javelins, and cursed bullets along the way with horizontal slashes, vertical thrusts, and slaps, creating a safe zone of 100 meters in radius.

"That's right, the hunt has only just begun! Friends, plug the gaps and don't let the Persians escape!"

Our lives are here, our souls are here! Our glory is here, at Thermopylae!