"Granted!"
The God-King Zeus took in the goddess of beauty's suggestion.
"A new hero was to be selected once again from the Greek side, and as for the punishment of these mortals who deceived the gods, that would be decided after the battle concluded."
And toward the heroes of the Greek side, the majority of whom shared blood ties with him,
God-King Zeus was not entirely without mercy.
So, he declared that as long as the Greek side could display sufficient valor in this duel and move the gods, then the punishment would be waived.
On the other hand...
If their performance fell short, the punishment would be doubled!!
Heaven or hell?
It seemed to hinge on a single thought.
This kind of outcome, full of uncertainty and entirely dependent on whether the gods were satisfied or not, was no good thing for the Greek heroes.
But they had no right to refuse.
They could only grit their teeth and accept it.
At the same time, each one of them silently began to curse Palamedes for his uselessness.
Could not even wear his armor properly, and yet managed to suddenly run bare onto the battlefield.
What kind of person was this?
And who was it that said Palamedes was the best candidate to disguise himself as Achilles?
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Meanwhile, on the other side, Odysseus, who again ended up taking the blame without realizing it, still let out a breath of relief that he no longer had to give an explanation to the God-King.
And at this moment up above, God-King Zeus had the gods begin nominating the hero from the Trojan side who would fight.
This time the goddess of beauty once again nominated Griffith!
When they saw the goddess of beauty stand so firm, mentioning that hero again and again without fail.
The gods also grew deeply curious.
Just what kind of ability did the hero Griffith possess that so consistently drew the goddess of beauty's gaze?
Some of the male gods even started to feel a little jealous.
With so many heroes remaining on the Greek side who could fight, so many powerful ones such as Diomedes and Ajax the Great, she chose none of them and yet chose Griffith instead.
When the gods first chose Achilles, it was to match him against Hector.
Did the goddess of beauty really believe that Griffith could match a great hero of Hector's level, take his place in the competition, and stand on the same stage?
At this moment no god noticed that Athena, who originally meant to step forward and once again recommend her own warrior Diomedes to take the field, quietly stepped back.
She also felt some anticipation and interest in seeing that child fight on a proper battlefield.
As for Diomedes...
She trusted that with Diomedes's strength, there would always be opportunities to shine on the battlefield.
And as for the prize, Helen, that child probably had no interest in her.
So this time she would let Artemis's child have it.
(Diomedes: No!!! I am very interested!! My Lord!)
At this moment God-King Zeus also grew intrigued, and his divine might suddenly descended upon the mortal world once more.
Within that invisible yet somehow tangible pressure, so thick and dense it felt like it could liquefy.
The sensation like a field of gravity made itself known again, and the heroes immediately understood that Zeus returned.
They all turned to bow toward the heavens, respectfully waiting for the God-King to speak.
"Hero Griffith. Step forward and let me look upon your face!"
When Zeus's world-shaking voice echoed across the entire battlefield, even Chryseis, who was inside Apollo's temple in Troy praying for Night, heard it as she lifted her head in shock. "Griffith? "Was that not the name of the great hero?
She hesitated for a moment, then steadied her gaze with resolve.
She needed to go see for herself from the city walls.
And at this moment, all eyes from both Greece and Troy turned to look.
When the god-king Zeus personally called out a name, it was no different from the principal of a school personally calling a student up to the stage during morning assembly, in front of the entire school.
Whether they knew you or not, everyone instinctively turned their gaze toward you.
If you were someone with a little something special about you, someone who left a deep impression, you could very quickly become completely famous throughout this prestigious school called "Greece."
Suddenly called out by Zeus,
Night felt a brief start of surprise in his heart but did not hesitate and quickly and obediently stepped out from the crowd.
Though he did not quite understand what was happening, staying calm and reading the situation as it developed was enough for now.
And as the young man, draped in a moon-white cloak, slowly walked forward to center stage.
That mysterious appearance, where his face could not be clearly seen, stirred the curiosity of everyone present.
Zeus frowned. "Remove your cloak."
He already knew everything about Night from Hermes and also learned that the music that caught his attention that day was performed by this very hero.
All of the above, combined with the goddess of beauty's constant recommendation, successfully aroused Zeus's interest.
But beyond all of that, there was one most critical point, and that was Night's appearance.
And seeing there was no way to avoid it, even though he still could not perfectly conceal his own bewitching charm, Night raised his hand.
He hesitated for just a single instant, then still gently pulled the cloak down from his head.
And then...
Hair as beautiful as moonlight, silver, scattered open in the wind.
A face of incomparable beauty appeared before them, a face that instantly stunned every god and every mortal on the entire battlefield.
No one could describe that figure, more beautiful than Bjorn Andresen, more finely sculpted than David, like the finest masterpiece of the gods, surpassing even the most perfect image of humanity that any god could ever shape.
The moment they saw that face...
Even Athena, who was once so deeply familiar with it, was instantly frozen for a moment.
Her heart began to race at tremendous speed, and in that single instant, a feeling stirred within her, as though across thousands of years from birth to now, she finally understood what it meant to want to fall in love.
As if struck by Cupid's arrow straight through the heart, many of the goddesses suddenly flushed red.
Even the most worldly and indifferent of the goddesses, upon seeing that face, found her mind go completely blank.
All other stray thoughts and desires vanished from her head, leaving only the most pure and simple burning emotion.
Their gazes burned so intensely it was as though they wanted to transform into beams of heat and consume Night entirely.
For one instant they froze, completely lost.
In that moment there was only one thought left in all their minds.
"In this entire Greek world, how could there exist a person of such beauty?"
It made one lose their soul in an instant.
Even the most pleasure-seeking gods, those who looked down on love with contempt, at this moment, upon seeing that face of incomparable beauty, that face that seemed to embody the most moving and magnificent things in the world,
Could not help but feel an impulse to believe in love again.
"Great Father God Zeus, Great Mother Goddess Hera, I think I have fallen in love!" The number of gods who had this thought in that moment was no small number.
It was not only the goddesses.
Many of the male gods were also already struck dumb, not even noticing when the wine cup in their hand slipped from their fingers at some point.
And at this moment, even the moon goddess Artemis herself ....
"!!!!!"
This, this is my child?
Wait, it was only one night apart; how could it feel like such a great change?
That naturally pure and breathtaking presence and that flawless face with no unflattering angle.
It was hundreds of times better than the transformation a demigod's elevation from human to divine brought with it.
That was a beauty even surpassing the first time she saw the little deer of Ceryneia, something that made her heart leap and sing with joy even more than that.
A thought that never arose before, one that would never be used to describe filthy men, a thought that Artemis never believed anyone could be worthy of, suddenly came into being.
Such an unbelievable moment.
If one had to describe that thought and put it into plain and easy words of admiration, it would be this.
"If beauty were a crime, he would surely receive a Life Sentence!"
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(End of the Chapter)