By instinct, Achilles shifted into a guarded combat stance.
But since Night was the one who hinted at his identity openly,
He was naturally prepared to go all the way with securing Achilles.
The moment was ripe.
Everything depended on what came next.
Any gamble carried risk, and Night, who had the ability to reload, could afford this one.
With the relationship between Achilles and Agamemnon already at rock bottom, he decided the time was right to take the bet.
Convince Achilles to come over to his side.
"Let's start over, hero Achilles.
I am Griffith Lista, devotee of the moon goddess.
And also, the person you already guessed I am."
Boom!!
He admitted it. Achilles's mind went blank, a buzzing rush filling his head.
Meanwhile, Night had already used the divine lyre to set up a sound-dampening barrier around them, another application of music's power.
Whether it could actually block a god's eavesdropping he wasn't sure, but it was the best he could manage.
.....
"Don't be in a rush to make a move, demigod. Before you do anything, I want to ask you something first. What position are you standing in right now, facing me?
Are you Achilles, great hero of Greece? Or a prince on a leave of absence from his duties? Or perhaps..."
As he spoke, the man paused slightly and smiled. "A dog fetching loot for Agamemnon?"
Achilles: "!!"
Achilles felt like his honor and dignity just took a direct hit.
He gritted his teeth, furious enough that he almost laughed, and shot back: "You really dare say that. I let you go last time.
Without Hector here, don't tell me you actually think you're my match.
If you can't give me an answer worth hearing, I'll put this spear through your skull."
A thread of killing intent showed in Achilles's eyes.
Then he heard Night sigh.
"Don't dodge the question. If you aren't Agamemnon's dog, then there's no reason for us to be enemies right now.
You stepped away from this war, which means you have no grounds to be my enemy as a devotee of the moon goddess and a friend of Telephus, son of the great hero."
Achilles' heart stirred slightly.
Telephus's friend.
He thought of that man on the battlefield, the one he felt a strange kinship with.
And Night's blunt question made him go quiet.
His position?
Achilles frowned. "I once told Agamemnon in fury, I won't stay here like a coward and pile up his wealth for him to take.
Because of that, Agamemnon had the nerve to say: 'I will come to your tent myself and take away Briseis, the prize given to you, so you know clearly just how much stronger I am than you, and so others learn not to openly defy me the way you did.'
Now you understand why Agamemnon and I are completely irreconcilable."
Achilles's words had already made his position clear.
And it brought something back to Night's memory. Something along these lines did appear in the epic.
From this alone, the reason Achilles broke with Agamemnon wasn't entirely about Briseis.
He might not have cared that deeply about her.
What Achilles was really furious about was the humiliation Agamemnon dealt him.
He refused to tolerate Agamemnon taking Briseis specifically because it was Agamemnon trampling over his dignity.
This was a righteous and courageous young man.
He came to this battlefield full of pure ideals and expectations, hoping to make a name for himself through the glory of battle.
And instead he found that war was nothing like what he imagined.
His strength became a tool Agamemnon used to grab wealth and spoils.
He became an executioner with blood-soaked hands.
What he wanted was the kind of fight he had with Telephus, one that staked courage and resolve, strength and wit, everything pushed to the absolute limit.
Even if it burned out as fast as a falling star, that would have been enough.
But Agamemnon was clearly the wrong kind of lord for someone who meant every single thing he did.
Achilles's answer satisfied Night.
More than that,
It made him feel a renewed sense of regret for how the original story went.
If not for Patroclus's death, Achilles would never have fought for Agamemnon again, not in a thousand years.
Even though the sun set three times on his absence, every time Achilles stepped back onto the battlefield he turned the tide, changing the outcome of key engagements and pulling Greece back from the edge again and again.
A hero that brilliant, and he spent the end of his story cleaning up after Agamemnon and dying for it.
At that moment, Night also remembered something else.
In the myths, Agamemnon was eventually pressured by Odysseus and others into submitting, returning Briseis to Achilles and personally coming to apologize.
However, Achilles remained unmoved.
Maybe he genuinely didn't care about a slave girl or wealth.
What he truly wanted was just to make Agamemnon never dare touch his honor and dignity again.
...
"Good. It seems we share a common enemy. In that case, why are you pointing your weapon at me, Achilles?
Don't you want revenge against Agamemnon? Don't you want to defend your own honor and dignity with your own two hands?
You are someone who never bends, who would rather break.
To pursue what you believed in, you said goodbye to your parents, ignored their wishes, and came to this battlefield anyway.
But as long as Agamemnon lives, you will never have what you are looking for. The true honor and dignity of a warrior."
"Why not come with me? Come with us? You and Hector both have the same kind of heart, burning and good.
It was never meant to beat alone on a cold and empty shore.
Come back to where you belong, Achilles.
You were born for the battlefield.
If Agamemnon won't let you show what you are worth,
Then fight in a different way. Even for your own dignity and honor, live freely in a new form."
....
Freedom?
If must be said, Night's words hit Achilles harder than he expected.
Nothing said was a grand principle or noble speech, but it did make him see his own heart clearly.
Words don't need to be many.
They just need to land in the right place.
And that last line in particular, Achilles thought back to the music of that morning.
He had been sinking into a dark world all on his own, and then it felt like he grew wings and became a bird, flying free into the open sky.
No more chains holding him back, free to do what he actually wanted.
He could laugh without restraint, fight, and use the weapons in his hands to defend his own honor and dignity.
In that place, no goddess Athena would stand up to stop him.
A man hot-headed enough to draw his blade on Agamemnon in a moment of fury was not by nature someone who bowed obediently to any so-called king of kings.
Rather, it was more accurate to say he was quite rebellious!
From the very beginning of his epic tale, he rebelled against his parents and joined the war.
Then defying his own lord, nearly cutting Agamemnon down.
Then defying his own fate, ignoring his mother's pleas a second time and charging onto the battlefield to avenge his closest friend.
A thoroughgoing rebel.
But the flaws didn't cancel out the whole. And his rebellions had a clarity to them, each one readable as a strike against the destiny that tried to contain him.
Die in a blaze of glory, or live long and unnoticed.
Everyone assumed he chose the former.
But was there any possibility he chose neither?
Achilles was silent.
But something burned in his eyes like a fire that refused to go out, and it would not settle.
.....
.....