This was incredibly satisfying!
Even though he relied on the double buffs provided by the divine armor, defeating a legendary demigod like Achilles face-to-face in a contest of strength brought such an instant surge of achievement that he could barely keep his smile hidden.
The feeling reminded him of a deeply buried, distant memory from his past life, specifically the mental state of getting a ten-game winning streak in a card game like Yu-Gi-Oh to reach the top rank, where even after staying up all night, you do not feel tired at all and instead feel so hyped that you could easily go crush a dozen more opponents.
On the other side, Achilles was still in complete disbelief.
He had actually lost?
"You guy, do you really have dragon blood running through your veins like the legends say? Hey, what on earth did you eat to get that kind of crazy strength?"
Achilles knew better than anyone else what Night's strength used to be.
Because of that, seeing him grow this powerful in just a few short weeks felt like a fairy tale that even storytellers wouldn't dare write, leaving him deeply shocked by this freakish, rocket-like jump in strength.
At the same time, a strange and complicated feeling rushed through his mind.
He had lost?
That was a word Achilles had never even considered in his entire life.
Even when he was forced back by Night and Hector working together, he never felt he had truly lost, believing he had just been careless and failed to dodge.
Possessing absolute confidence in his own power and dreaming of becoming the absolute strongest hero to ever ride across the Greek world, he had an incredibly proud and confident mind that believed it was completely invincible.
Night knew he only had this much arm-wrestling strength because of the advantage of the divine artifact, and if they stripped off their clothes and fought purely with their raw bodies, the outcome between him and Achilles would be hard to tell.
But Achilles did not look at it that way.
How could he not know that Night was wearing his old divine armor?
Even though it had turned into a skin and fused with his body, he could never mistake that familiar aura.
He knew exactly how weak Night's power used to be, so even with the help of the divine artifact, he believed he shouldn't have lost.
Having worn that armor himself, Achilles knew exactly how much strength it added.
To him, defeating a radiant, dragon-blooded hero who was at his absolute peak while wearing the divine armor would be a complete and true victory.
That would be real strength, invincibility, and the absolute best!
He had intended to crush a fully powered Night even without using any divine artifacts himself, which was the exact thought Achilles held before the match.
But now that he had lost, a sudden wave of bitterness filled his chest.
So this was what it felt like to lose.
His mind was a bit messy, but fortunately, he was a warrior with strong willpower, so he did not fall into a state of self-pity over a single short defeat.
His eyes burned like a fiery blaze as he looked at Night, suddenly speaking with absolute seriousness.
"Next time, I will give it everything I have, and I will win!"
The latter smiled widely, showing a fierce look like a predator staring at its prey as his sharp eyes locked onto Achilles. "Is that so? Save those big words for your dreams, Achilles.
I won today, and I will keep winning from now on.
I will be waiting for you at the end of the heroic path, so don't you dare die before then!"
"I should be the one saying that!" Achilles snapped back, completely unaware that he was the very symbol of a short lifespan among the Greek heroes, instead making fun of
Night for currently being hunted by the War God Ares.
Even though this match had started on a whim, handing over the top spot and the position of victor, both sides had given everything they had in this raw, savage, and primitive contest of strength, gambling their full power on the match.
Achilles accepted the reality of his defeat with honor.
"Since I lost, I have no right to shamelessly stand in your way anymore. Take her and go, Griffith," Achilles said, closing his eyes as he leaned against a nearby tree, preparing to look the other way.
Night did not leave right away, stopping as he walked past to ask,
"Is that really okay? Letting me go without a single scratch might make it hard for you to explain things to the War God Ares."
"I lost the match, and a loss is a loss," Achilles replied. "There is no reason for a loser to shamelessly keep chasing a stronger warrior to fight.
I will challenge you again to take back the title of the strongest, but not right now. It is not scary for a warrior to lose, but it is terrifying if they cannot admit their own weakness and work hard to surpass who they used to be."
Achilles's words touched Night's heart, reminding him that in countless worlds, there were always people who could not handle losing, always refusing to admit they were weaker even after being instantly defeated by a powerful enemy, stubbornly believing they just had a bad day and repeatedly humiliating themselves by looking for more fights until they finally accepted reality with tears of regret after failing countless times, much like a certain Jack from his memories.
For a powerful warrior, having pride was correct, but being too fragile to accept reality would make it impossible to ever become the strongest.
"I had the advantage of the divine armor, and you know that well, Achilles." Night said and Achilles's brow furrowed.
"What are you trying to say?"
"This gear rightfully belongs to you, but it has fused so deeply with my skin that I don't even know how to take it off anymore."
Achilles's face darkened because he had been trying his best to avoid talking about it, since it truly hurt his heart to think about losing a whole set of divine armor.
No matter how generous he was, it was still a divine artifact, an entire set of armor!
If he hadn't already accepted Night in his heart, gradually viewing him as a friend and being unwilling to kill him, Achilles would have fought to the death to reclaim what belonged to him.
"Just keep wearing it, I will let you borrow it for now," Achilles said, gritting his teeth while mocking him, telling him not to die easily on the battlefield because dying with an invulnerable body and a divine artifact would be far too embarrassing.
Although his attitude seemed harsh, Night could feel his genuine care and knew it was just a joke between rivals.
"Why wait until I die?" He suddenly said, leaving Achilles completely stunned.
"Huh?" Achilles muttered, completely confused. "What do you mean?"
.
.
.
(End of the Chapter)