Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 124 - 28 Entering the City

Chapter 124: Chapter 28 Entering the City

They had been utterly defeated in three battles.

The Spartans remained silent.

If they had lost only once, the Spartans might have been outraged, considering a loss to the "weaker sex" a tremendous disgrace.

However, after suffering three consecutive defeats, this could no longer be attributed to mere mishaps; it indicated a vast disparity in strength between the two sides.

The Spartans respected the strong, and they looked at Aske with awe.

"What kind of monsters do you have in your Mercenary Group (gender is irrelevant now)?"

To lead these monsters, just how terrifying must this Squad Leader’s skills be?!

"Is this satisfactory?" Aske asked with a smile, "If you still want to try, I must say, we only have Mages, gunners, Thieves, and Doctors left, who are not close-combat professionals."

The Spartans: ......

They were indeed interested in testing the abilities of others, but not so much to evaluate or salvage their pride—it was more out of curiosity to witness the extent of these other monsters’ capabilities.

But since Aske put it this way, the Spartan Warriors hardly wished to point at a Doctor and say, "I want to duel with you," as that would be humiliating.

Thus, the members of The Azure Longsword smoothly joined the Spartan Mercenary Group as outside assistants and boarded the bus headed for Olympia City.

"In reality, we’ve come to aid Olympia," Rudashus and others explained on the bus, "Constantinople has fallen, and the Franks have established the Latin Empire there, crowning Earl Baldwin of Flanders as the Emperor."

"However, after the siege, on one hand, the industries of Golden Horn Bay have been utterly destroyed, and on the other, the Seljuks are ravaging Asia Minor, leaving this Latin Empire with no financial support whatsoever."

"Therefore, they’ve already occupied Thrace, and next up is Macedonia, with their ultimate goal inevitably being the plundering of the rich lands of Sirius."

"In the foreseeable future, Thessalonica likely won’t be able to hold out. But, we can help hold Olympia, much like a nail hammered into the Latin’s route of march."

"If they decide to head south to conquer Sirius, we will launch a surprise attack on the rear of their army, cutting off their logistic supplies. If they opt to assault forcefully, we will repel them atop Mount Olympia."

"Just as our ancestors once led 300 brave warriors and repelled the great army of Ilania at Thermopylae!"

"Roar!" The Spartans on the bus shouted in unison.

Aske fell into contemplation.

In his past life, this storyline didn’t exist; it seemed that due to the absence of players in this world, the butterfly effect had caused many changes to the plot.

In the previous life’s game, after players repelled the Franks, the Seljuks took Constantinople.

They then began their assault on Sirius during the first version of the game.

The first target was the attack on Crete Island. Once the Imperial City had fallen, the island that once belonged to the East Solomon Empire was sold to Venice, thus starting the so-called "Battle of Crete" instance.

Eventually, the Seljuks emerged victorious, capturing the island from the Venetians and used it as a springboard to launch attacks on Sirius from both the northeast and southeast.

The Spartans defended the Peloponnese peninsula—that is, the southeast where the Seljuks’ landing troops were located, whereas Olympia was responsible for defending the northeast from the Seljuk land forces.

These two powers jointly defended Sirius but never crossed paths on the same battlefield.

However, in this world, due to the Franks taking Constantinople first and establishing the Latin Empire,

Venice not only destroyed Constantinople but also acquired Crete Island as a trade hub, thereby showing no interest in Sirius whatsoever.

Thus, the Spartans found themselves with enough resources to reinforce Olympia to the north.

Of course, the enemy they faced at Olympia this time was different from that in his past life.

Solomon’s foes from his past life mainly consisted of Transcendent troops, that is, Transcendents with Levels who controlled the vast ranks of unranked commoner armies, alongside a plethora of Devils and Extraordinary Creatures that swarmed in attack.

As an Arcane Mage specialized in Area Of Effect damage, dealing with these legions of enemies was a cakewalk.

However, this time, the Latin Empire’s forces were comprised largely of knights, Knight Followers, and Conscripted Soldiers, who, as typically impoverished Franks, were characterized by Extraordinary Power with attributes that heavily favored the physical, being highly defensive, robust, and capable of enduring a beating.

So, merely relying on offensive pressure was scarcely practical.

An Arcane Mage focused on Spiritual Power suffered greatly when the enemy closed in, even if it was the corpse of the Demigod Alexander controlled; a Level 5 Meteor Fire Rain could suppress the entire arena, but once Aske closed in, escape from a fate of being carried away in a single sweep was impossible.

Therefore, the support from the Spartans was like timely aid for the officials in Olympia.

Nor was it surprising that these Spartans could still travel to Olympia in special vehicles given the blockade of the free movement channels.

Olympia City, established upon the lofty and towering peaks of Mount Olympus, was host to an Eden Giant Tree that soared over a thousand meters high, known as Olympus...

Due to the various Sirius names circling around, for simplicity’s sake, they were all commonly referred to succinctly as Olin Mountain, Eden Tree, and Olin City.

Olin City was built within the trunk of the Eden Tree, a true "city within a tree."

The initial motive behind Sirius’s construction of the city here was to harvest the Eden Tree’s flower and fruit, namely the "Flower of Eden Tree" and "Eden Tree Fruit," which serve as ingredients for Magic Potions in many sequences, including life and stealing.

In truth, the Eden Tree itself is a gigantic Extraordinary Creature. Due to its overwhelming size and weight, its lower trunk had long since been unable to support the burden, with its surrounding vessels nearly collapsing and deforming under the pressure.

The inhabitants of Sirius who built the city had carved out huge cavities around the bottom section of the trunk and constructed a city inside it, while at the same time propping up the cavities with high-strength materials. This inadvertently protected the vessels, ensuring a continuous supply of water ascended to the leaves above through the tree roots.

Thus, the Eden Tree was able to grow so enormous, and the Sirius living within it formed a remarkable and tacit symbiosis with the tree.

The bus climbed along the mountain road, the path gradually extending onto the roots of the tree, roots so gargantuan that at first, everyone mistook them for rocks.

Then, the bus drove into a tunnel, surrounded only by the dim light of the tunnel’s ceiling lamps.

Suddenly, the vehicle stopped.

"We’ve arrived," Rudashus announced, before stepping off the vehicle first.

The members of the Azure Longsword followed the Spartans off the bus, only to see a military stronghold at the end of the tunnel, with soldiers bearing arms guarding the place.

A noble dressed as an officer was waiting there, sharing a firm handshake with Rudashus.

"Quintus. Apios," the noble officer introduced himself, "Welcome to Olympia, Spartans."

"To fight for the Empire," Rudashus saluted.

Quintus looked past him, setting his gaze on the members of the Azure Longsword.

Unavoidably so, because the garb of the Spartans was distinct: Forged Iron Plate Armor, Heavy Infantry Helmets, Fine Steel Shin Guards, and red capes on their backs (used to wrap the bodies of the fallen).

In contrast, the members of the Azure Longsword sported a mishmash of equipment—Full-body Armor, Half-body Armor, Lock Armor, Iron Armor, cloth armor, leather armor—a variety of gear that made them look like a ragtag band of mercenaries from who-knows-where.

"Reinforcements," Rudashus succinctly stated just two words and offered no further explanation.

"Very well, Olympia needs more fighting power," Quintus did not inquire further, partly due to being familiar with the terminology of the Spartans and partly due to his trust in their judgement.

Not just anyone could earn the recognition of the Spartans; these warriors were powerful and haughty, having historically refused to join forces with the Sirius on countless occasions, claiming that "the Sirius are too weak."

It was only after being militarily dominated by the stronger Solomon forces that these Spartans started to pledge allegiance to the Empire, willing to join forces with the Empire and other ethnicities.

"We are the last contingent of Spartan Mercenaries," Rudashus bluntly stated, "Has the state of martial law in the city been elevated again?"

"There was another assassination a few days ago," Quintus revealed, "A member of the Mage Association, Lord Aristo, was targeted. It took the lives of four or five of my men to bring down two assassins from Ilania dressed in black, cutting them down into a pool of blood."

"Mages are too weak," Rudashus declared.