Bang!
Samael struck the butt of his spear against the ground and strode forward in fury, exposing the source of the plague and shattering the last shred of luck the Athenians still clung to.
"Athenians, Persia wants to take our water and our land. As long as we still draw breath, their invasion will not stop.
"Hiding and running will not earn us the enemy's tolerance or mercy. It will only make them think Athens is weak and easy to bully, and they will only grow more ruthless!
"This plague is proof enough. They do not merely want to trample our nation. They want to destroy us!"
What followed, accusations against the corruption and treachery of the divine-blood nobility, together with a long list of evidence, drove the Athenians into an even greater fury.
Medusa, the Serpent Goddess who governed vengeance and punishment, pronounced judgment. One by one, the once lofty divine-blood nobles were dragged to the walls of the Acropolis. The crowd waved their arms and answered with shrill cries.
"Burn them!"
"Yes, burn these parasites of the state!"
"They colluded with Persia and tried to spread disaster through Athens. Those noble lords are rotten to the core!"
Amid the rising tide of furious condemnation, the expressionless Norse Berserkers lifted their battle-axes and brought them down. Hundreds of heads, their faces twisted in terror, flew through the air. Bright blood gushed from severed necks and splashed across the gaps between the square stones, running into the central torch platform.
And as it was drenched in blood, the black-green flames atop the torch platform gradually shed their filth and turned a pale gold, sacred and majestic, their light growing brighter and brighter.
The thunder in the sky, symbol of divine wrath, slowly died away. Within the flames, a radiant olive tree spread its branches and leaves, and the phantom of Nike, goddess of victory, spun and wheeled above Athens, sounding the trumpet of war once more.
That divine sign of war and victory filled the Athenians with renewed spirit.
Seizing the moment, the Holy King let out a thunderous roar that made the blood of the listening crowd boil.
"We long for peace, but we do not fear war, and we should not die such meaningless deaths!
"Each generation has its own duty to fulfill, its own mission to complete.
"Once, the wandering star descended. The gods cleared the way for you, and the heroes marched ahead for you. The reason you can stand here today is because countless pioneers saved you!
"Now Greece faces a crisis like never before! The Persians have sworn to destroy us within ten days!
"So now, Athenians standing here upon this ground, it is your turn to step forward!
"This century-long Greco-Persian War must end. Let us, the fathers of this age, fight the battles that must be fought,
"so that the next generation may stand tall and proudly remain upon this land.
"As masters, not slaves!"
His impassioned voice climbed higher and higher, amplified by thousands of sound-amplifying Magecraft arrays. The glorious epic of that former age, when men and gods stood together and wiped out that apocalyptic calamity, stirred deep resonance in the Athenians who had long lived basking in that inherited glory.
Other than his voice, Athens fell silent. Every person listened in solemn stillness, their fists unconsciously...
clenching tighter and harder!
"We march not only to aid Sparta, but to stop the flames of war at sea, to stop them outside Thermopylae, so that this poisonous fire does not spread to our feet!
"If you want your fields to bear grain, your rivers to remain clear, and the streets of Athens not to be piled with corpses...
"Athenians, from this moment on, fear has come, and war has come!
"If Persia wants war, then give them war!
"If Persia brings death, then repay them with death!
"Athenians, take up your weapons!
"With your flesh and blood, build a great wall!
"With your swords, reclaim the waters of Athens!
"With your shields, defend the soil of Greece!
"By the goddess!
"Greece belongs to us, and victory belongs to us!"
Like the cry of a heroic epic, those words stirred the Athenians living beneath Persia's shadow to the core. Their hearts pounded, their teeth clenched, and they could not help waving their fists and roaring at the top of their lungs.
"War!"
"War!"
"War!"
The fierce savior's fervor roused in them, combined with the rage born of the plague's devastation, pushed the Athenians into a frenzy. The strategy of marching to Thermopylae and launching a full counterattack against Persia was passed unanimously.
Then, to demonstrate their strength, an extraordinary military parade unfolded in magnificent fashion before the eyes of Athens.
The Norse Valkyries shifted through changing formations, light and graceful. Berserkers and Druids advanced in crushing coordination, serving as one another's sword and shield.
Rome's Amazon warriors, each one tall, athletic, and full of divinity, looked like battle fairies walking the mortal world. With dazzling horsemanship, they charged straight through the streets, dodging every obstacle with unbelievable precision as they drove toward the city gates.
The old and the young alike, hearts stirred to the utmost, almost wished they could join the ranks on the spot and follow His Majesty to war to teach the Persians a lesson.
Then came the grand finale. The Athenian heavy infantry, the divine-blood guards of the Areopagus, and the Magecraft formation from the Academy of Athens all marched in ordered ranks toward Icarus Harbor. The people, who before the rally had been cold and resistant, were now cheering wildly, eyes full of envy as they searched the ranks for familiar faces, offering blessings and encouragement to the men who were their sons, fathers, and brothers.
Still, what left the Athenians somewhat unsatisfied was that compared to the gallant valor of the Valkyrie corps and the Amazon warriors, the Eighty-Eight Zodiac Saints, many of whom were clearly there just to fill out the numbers, and the divine-blood guards, who had taken heavy losses in the great purge, looked rather dim by comparison.
Likewise, the Academy of Athens, which had only just been rebuilt after its earlier expulsion and hurried reconstruction, could not hide its shortcomings in the matter of spellcasters.
Wooo!
Just as disappointment began to rise among the people of Athens, a clear blast of horns rang out from Icarus Harbor, and towering waves hundreds of meters high came surging in like a world-drowning tide.
Hum!
As the vast waves were about to swallow the harbor, a colossal shadow leaped from the sea. Amid the grinding of machinery, it revealed a vicious cannon muzzle, while the Ether around it frantically poured into the several Magecraft arrays charging along the barrel.
Boom!
In the next instant, a crimson-black beam dozens of meters wide swept across the sky, splitting waves and cleaving the raging tide in half with unstoppable force, blasting it apart completely.
A damp, salty wind swept across the city. Beneath the falling spray, the monstrous shape of that steel beast was finally revealed.
A giant warship. A pitch-black giant warship made entirely of metal, covered in crimson-black glowing patterns!
A strange familiarity and a buried terror welled up at once in the hearts of the elderly.
At the same time, as the tides parted and huge ripples churned outward, one warship after another, each forged entirely of metal, rose from the sea wrapped in pale white foam. There were nearly a thousand of them.
An uncontrollable shudder ran through those who had lived through that war. Their faces turned deathly pale as they forced out the answer like the name of a nightmare.
Atlantis. The Deep Sea Fleet!