"Hey, I said that armor already fused with your flesh, right? How are you going to give it back?" Achilles asked, thoroughly confused.
Night replied calmly, "Even though it seems fully fused, I can still feel its shape, so if I force it to peel off from the surface, it should return to its original form."
Achilles, Briseis, and even Athena looked completely shocked by his words, instantly realizing what he meant.
Because they understood, it felt completely unbelievable.
Briseis quickly asked, "Are you planning to rip the armor right off your own skin? That is far too cruel to yourself!" She could not bear to finish the rest of her sentence.
Athena quickly stepped in to warn him as well, explaining that he did not need to go that far because even though he achieved a high level of synchronization with the divine artifact, he had only mastered this power for a very short time.
After a few years of completely practicing and getting used to this strength, he could remove the armor easily with his mind, but forcing it off right now would leave his body bloodied and torn.
With the Goddess of Wisdom backing this up, everyone present naturally believed it.
Achilles also spoke up quickly.
"Hey, there's no need for that! The Goddess Athena said it too, you can just remove it once you master the power, so don't be reckless!"
Even though he was the original owner of the armor, he wasn't cruel enough to watch an ally, friend, and respected rival ruin his own body at such a critical moment during an escape.
That would not only make Night weak, but the method was also far too brutal.
However, while keeping the divine artifact was highly tempting, and Night already possessed a conceptual form of a divine artifact, who wouldn't want a double boost?
Yet, for a friend he truly respected, just as Achilles chose to ignore the fact that the armor had fused with him and essentially gifted it to him out of worry for his body, he could do the same.
This respect went both ways.
A true powerhouse would never fall apart just because they lost a piece or two of equipment.
Possessing his own pride and confidence, he believed his body alone would eventually grow strong enough to defeat the world by himself, and at that point, equipment would just be useless decoration, making a tiny boost completely meaningless.
He disdained using such methods to secretly keep Achilles's armor.
More importantly, Night thought of another possibility, never forgetting that he was still inside the simulated universe.
His main task was to create enough achievements and legends to be passed down to future generations, and the greater the impact, the better.
The best way to do that was to do something completely shocking.
Of course, running completely naked across all of Greece would definitely create a terrifying impact and leave a lasting impression on future generations, but Night wouldn't dare accept such an embarrassing legend even if it gave him a super powerful ability during the final evaluation.
Since he had already started building the persona of the hero Griffith, it was better to perfect his kind and deeply sacrificial nature.
The isolated hero possessed a heart of universal love that could treat all of Greece and humanity equally, viewing everything with his own clear understanding regardless of whether they were humans or gods, good or evil.
Faced with Achilles, who might be questioned by the War God in the future for letting him go without a scratch and failing to produce any real results, Night took action.
Even if Achilles's background meant he didn't need to worry about the War God's anger, he knew what to do.
He didn't care whether Achilles worried or not, he only knew that he needed to act worried enough!
Night still had to return this armor, which would soon be drenched in his own blood.
This was a sudden thought that had sparked in his mind.
It was a move that could kill two birds with one stone, satisfying his need to farm "legendary status" while genuinely helping Achilles.
He already had one conceptual form of the divine artifact armor, so one set was more than enough, and perhaps returning the second one would cause it to return to him in an entirely different, perhaps even more potent, way.
It was time to gamble!
Throughout various mythological systems, stories like this were not unheard of.
In India, there existed a great hero Karna, the son of the Sun God, who was known for his generosity, never refusing a request or a beggar.
Before his fated battle against the divinely-favored Arjuna, he encountered the God of Svarga, Indra, who had transformed into a beggar out of fear that his son Arjuna would fail.
Even though the golden hero saw through the disguise and knew the beggar was asking for his divine golden armor, which had long since fused with his very flesh, he still happily agreed to the sacrifice.
That noble soul, who honored his vow and became one with his own benevolence, tore the armor straight from his own body.
That righteous spirit moved even Indra, who had been deliberately plotting against him.
Overcome with shame and guilt, the god bestowed his own divine spear upon Karna in exchange.
This became one of the most enduring and widely sung heroic tales of later generations.
Thinking back on how he had recently cosplayed as the dragon-slaying hero Siegfried, and now he was about to reenact this classic tale of the self-sacrificing hero,
Night felt he could practically play two roles at once in his own version of a Holy Grail War.
If he factored in the other mythological identities he might take on in the future, a standard seven-class Grail War might not even be enough to contain him.
Then there was the blessing of the God of Light he carried.
Since Apollo would be referred to as the Sun God later in Rome, he shared a lineage with the Sun, much like Karna.
If researchers of mythology in the future looked at them, they might even mistake the two for the same person.
If his "legendary status" became similar enough, perhaps he could even settle the account and manifest something like Indra's divine spear?
To say Night wasn't greedy for Indra's divine spear would be a lie.
Of course, even if he knew the odds were slim, there was no harm in imagining it.
After all, it was common knowledge that almost every famous hero or god had "mascots" in other pantheons that looked eerily similar.
Like Heracles, Hercules, Verethragna, Bahram, Mithra, or even Indra—these deities were immensely powerful in their respective systems and deeply interconnected, acting as prototypes for one another across various mythologies.
Trying to figure out who copied whose story was a fool's errand, given how long ago it all happened.
But now that Night had arrived, everything was fine.
Their stories were all useful, and now they belonged to him!
Having a successful heroic template ready to leave a classic mark on future generations was a golden opportunity; if he still didn't know how to leave his own heavy ink on history, he would be far too dull.
Thus, Night looked toward Achilles, ready to give him a taste of the "Son of the Sun" shock treatment.
.
.
.
(End of the Chapter)