This wonderful surprise made them throw themselves even more deeply into the fight.
In mythological epic, even when facing Achilles, who was impervious to blades and spears and who trained under Chiron, teacher of many great heroes, Hector could still use his spear to trip Achilles multiple times and grapple with Achilles's mortal body for a long time.
In terms of pure martial skill, his fundamental foundation even surpassed Achilles.
After all, Achilles could afford to make countless mistakes, while Hector could only afford one.
And that one single mistake was one Hector deliberately exposed, only to find Achilles's weakness.
In the end he did successfully discover the secret of the heel, and told his brother Paris.
That was what led to the death of Achilles later.
One could say that everyone underestimated the strength of this greatest hero of Troy.
If Ajax the Great was absolute defense, Odysseus was all-around ability and wisdom, Diomedes was powerful burst, and Achilles was a broken character...
Each hero's greatness had its own defining characteristic.
Then Hector was a top-tier all-rounded warrior in every dimension.
Rock solid in every basic quality.
Add to that a full set of divine equipment.
Without any weakness in any area.
No wonder he had a place among the candidates for the title of the greatest.
Though Night was also improving, Hector on the other side, because of his exceptional condition today, and the resolve and passion in his heart...took his martial skill yet one step further!
What came next when two people already near the divine domain level of martial skill went one step further?
That was already self-evident.
And Hector was clearly closer to that breakthrough.
And so...
Midway through the battle, Hector's attacks suddenly grew far more troublesome.
His powerful force-deflection technique made even Night's dragon-like terrifying arm strength difficult to fully unleash.
The surrounding environment, however, looked as though it had gone through a great catastrophe, riddled and pockmarked, as if bombed from all sides.
The two of them, blazing auras rising from their entire bodies and wrapped in terrifying presence.
Just watching them from the side was enough to make the hero spectators break into cold sweats and not dare approach by even half a step.
If one foolishly stepped into that battlefield and got caught in their aura, they would probably be cut down in an instant.
"You absolutely cannot lose!! Griffith!!" King Agamemnon roared with tension.
Paris, seeing the situation, also started cheering for his brother. "Brother is invincible, victory is certain!!"
Then both the Trojan and Greek sides, neither wanting to lose this round, broke into roaring shouts.
The whole field instantly erupted into a clamor of voices.
But none of these sounds could drown out the terrifying sound of the battle itself, the sound of divine spears shattering the air and holy swords splitting the earth.
"Hector has grown stronger again!" Night realized in his heart.
Even though the two of them still appeared to be locked in an intense and evenly matched fight at a glance.
He was already considerably on the back foot.
Continuing like this would easily pull him into the opponent's rhythm.
He would lose!
Night, in whose mind the final outcome had already played out.
"Although I do plan to lose...
Voluntarily conceding, and being truly defeated, are two different things entirely."
Toward the defeat that might be coming, he felt no fear at all...if anything, his fighting spirit grew even fuller and more fanatical.
He of course did not like losing!
Especially after that fight against the red dragon, after fully releasing his untamed nature, he had come to love that feeling of winning.
Since he was going to win, he would keep winning.
The regretful tears and bitter unwillingness of a loser.
He did not want to bear any of that.
"I..."
"Do not want to lose!!"
This was the necessary struggle to keep living!
In this instant, like Night transforming into Caesar of Hell, the contract at the deepest part of his soul suddenly lit up.
He felt the presence of the red dragon with absolute clarity.
"Lend me your strength, Helena!"
Time seemed to stop at this moment.
Then in the depths of his subconscious, his spirit arrived once again in that pitch-black field world.
On an endless cold and desolate snowfield with not a trace of light anywhere in sight.
In this mind world that had transformed into a world of blizzard, a great red dragon appeared.
She only slightly opened her eyes to look at Night.
The proud queen of the sky said nothing. And yet her golden pupils seemed to say something.
Even though she did not say a single word...
He understood her meaning.
Receiving at once far more power than the body could bear might cause the flesh to collapse?
There would even be deeper layers of stress response.
Pain no less than having every bone in the body shattered, a wailing that occurred within the soul.
These were all warning signs the red dragon gave him.
And Night simply showed a smile that put one incomparably at ease.
A pure and joyful smile and said with firm resolve. "Pain? What are you talking about? There is nothing more satisfying than the process of fighting with everything you have, every last bit of your strength, throwing everything into it with complete abandon.
And fighting freely in the most fitting battlefield with your best friend, your best enemy.
This doubled joy..."
Whoosh!
The next moment, Night's spirit had already vanished into the blizzard.
And the final words he did not get to finish seemed to have silently burned themselves into this mind world.
"Compared to that joy, the pain of that degree is nothing but a seasoning that makes the whole thing taste even better!
I am absolutely flying right now!!"
Boom!!
Outside.
After yet another separation,
Night suddenly bent low, drove the holy sword into the ground, then gripped the spear with both hands and assumed a throwing stance.
Hector did not hesitate at all.
Like looking in a mirror, he assumed the exact same posture.
Though this time the throwing technique the two used was slightly different.
Night chose to use Achilles's meteor-like technique, combining it with the divine spear's power.
This was the last remaining fragment of rationality in him, preventing him from exposing the fact that he also mastered the same ultimate move as Hector, to avoid anyone connecting the two of them.
Even the chant this time was changed.
"My pure and unblemished Lord, O moon goddess who bestowed all wisdom, dignity, and power, please bear witness to this sincerity of mine, this belief of mine, and all that my strength can reach."
Artemis in the heavens was shaken.
It was as though a light appeared before her eyes, and the world turned bright and beautiful.
On the other side, Apollo, who had already seen Night's signature move and remembered the words he chanted when he performed it before, and had a face full of delight and quietly straightened his back with pride, paused, the happiness that lasted less than three seconds before his whole body froze stiff.
????!
Hold on...
Did you chant the wrong lines?!
And it is even an upgraded version?
There are things in it that were not in the original at all.
"Bestowed all wisdom, dignity, and power." Night's manner of praising Artemis like this left Apollo so sour it stung, and very quickly Apollo realized this was only the beginning, and it was far from over.
"Come, please watch. O creator of stars and moon, bear witness to this act of mine, this end of mine, this sacred offering I am about to achieve. A single strike staking every last bit of my strength!!"
Apollo: !!!!!!!! Ahh!
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