The priests, who are responsible for the sacrifice of ancient gods, are a group of monsters of the eternal lineage, they are inbred, not like people, more like monsters. They are the descendants of the second generation of the Titans, the defeated of the gods, the poor creatures who were defeated in the mortal world to show the power of the main god to the world, but even so, even Leonidas, who can fight the earth dragon empty-handed, can only bribe and beg these proud and greedy beasts, and only with their blessing can the king of Sparta go on the expedition.

The priests did not lose their noble status as gods, but they did not disdain to live with mortals, settled in a lonely mountain in the middle of the wilderness, from which they could see the entire city of Sparta, they were immersed in this illusion of superiority, indifferently looking down on the people underground, like two species in two worlds.

Leonidas despised and understood the priests who were preaching the power of the new gods after the defeat, so he decided to come here overnight to worship the gods, hoping to get not very bad news. Even if the news is bad, no one will know what is happening here except for Leonidas, who dares to climb Loneblade Mountain in the middle of the night.

Leonidas strapped the package full of gold coins to his back and climbed from the bottom of the most dangerous cliff, Leonidas could barely see anything in the night, and could only rely on his strong physique and strong arms to climb on the cliffs full of falling gravel and sharp stone horns, and in some places even suspended in the air, Leonidas could only grasp the rock formation with both hands, let his five fingers buckle into the hard stone face, and his body hung in the air to climb over.

When he climbed over the mountain, there was already a cloaked monster waiting for him with a torch.

"Welcome, Leonidas, we are waiting for you."

The presence of the priests not only did not make Leonidas feel their respect, but his heart was even heavier.

The Persians claimed that they had an army of 20 million men (5 million soldiers plus 8 million logisticians, the rest rounded). I sincerely hope that is an exaggeration. But there is no doubt that we are dealing with an incomparably large army" Leonidas quickly drew the terrain on the east coast of central Greece near Mount Kaliz Lomon and the Gulf of Mariachos, conquering the Persians in northern Greece, either by land or by sea through the bay of Mariachos to attack the hinterland behind the Thermopaes.

Since the Persians were not as skilled in shipbuilding as the Greeks, Leonidas was not afraid of them transporting their forces by ship. At sea, no matter how powerful the army, it is necessary to stay on the ship honestly and wait for death.

So, Leonidas only needed to concentrate his forces

"Wait, what do you have to offer before you tell you what you want?" The priests, who were even more greedy and impatient than Leonidas had envisioned, directly interrupted Leonidas's exposition and could not wait for Leonidas to offer sacrifices.

Leonidas furrowed her eyebrows. It felt that something was wrong, but after thinking about it, it seemed to be quite normal, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes, he unwrapped it from his back, threw out five hundred gold coins without hesitation, and then continued to talk about his tactics, "Spartans have the blood of the god of war. The powerful body has unlimited energy, and the power to kill gods flows through our body. We will use our superb combat skills. Plus the special terrain of Greece to destroy them. Marching north, on the eastern coast of Greece, where I am convinced"

"It's August, Leonidas, and the full moon is coming!" The priest who asked Leonidas to hand over the offering silently mocked the king, and another priest said in the same way: "The traditional and sacred festival of the sun god is coming. Sparta can't go to war during the festive season! ”

The priests' tones were very strange, like a vicious curse, like a dying fear, mixed with high/high tide pleasure, looking at the king of Sparta who was worshipping the twelve main gods of Olipis in front of them. Use his confusion and anger as spiritual food.

Whenever someone fails in a sacrifice, they get the greatest pleasure.

"Sparta will be burned!"

Even when Leonidas sat on the ground, once he showed his anger, the priests seemed to be facing a god standing up to the sky, and the fierce momentum almost frightened the priests to kneel down and beg for mercy, and they took a few steps back, caressing the oval metal object in their palms to strengthen their courage.

"Men will be slaughtered, women and children will be enslaved, or worse!" Looking at the twinkling eyes of the priests, Leonidas strengthened his tone again: "We can rebuild the great stone wall of the Phersi to block the Persian army's march along the cliff bank of the Gulf of Mariachos, so that they will only have one road left, the pass called Thermopylae." Their numerical superiority would be lost in the pass, and wave after wave of Persian attacks would be held back in front of the shield wall of Sparta. ”

Leonidas was also a king, and he also saw the hidden dangers in the Persian army, too many servant armies were loose and disorderly, and it was impossible to firmly control the tens of millions of troops with only 300,000 native elite troops, as long as the Spartans gave the Persian army a head-on blow, the Persian army would be disheartened, and Xerxes had no choice but to withdraw and rectify the internal affairs of the country.

Leonidas had a good point, and the priests were speechless and could only come up with the last killer move.

"We must ask the oracle!"

"Trust God, Leonidas."

"I want you to trust your sanity." Leonidas pursed his lips and said impatiently.

"Your blasphemous words have caused us a lot of trouble." The priest's ugly and grotesque face had a stiff and strange smile, like a grin, which made Leonidas unpredictable, "Don't add fuel to the fire!" We're going to ask the oracle! ”

"These damn heretics!" Leonidas was guilty of slander, and the unhappy expression on his face was clearly visible.

Unfortunately, behind what Leonidas didn't see, the four priests exchanged a look with each other, smiling like four pit vipers full of sweet venom.

The youngest and most beautiful woman in Sparta was chosen to be the oracle messenger and became the priests' tool for venting.

"The Rising Sun"

"Prayer in the Wind"

Sweet and hoarse voices sounded one after the other, and if Leonidas had walked into some at that time, he would probably have found one thing!

The priests modified the oracle!

Or maybe they didn't pray to the gods at all!

"Sparta will fall, and all of Greece will fall. Don't be gullible about people's words, only respect the oracles, respect the sacrificial festival! ”

Leonidas was disappointed, his heart even heavier.

"Ding Ding Ding Ding ~~~" Ten times the size of Greek gold coins of Persian round coinage were poured on the sand map drawn by Leonidas, shattering the whole of Greece to pieces, just like the proud and conceited look of the comer.

"Now you have the favor of the Heavenly King." Out of the shadows came another priest in Zoroastrian robes, nodding in satisfaction as he looked at the ugly posture of the four Spartan priests kneeling in front of the gold coins.

"Wow, sages and wise men." The sound of ridicule also came from the shadows, and standing in the shadows was the chief member of the Spartan Council, Siron, who brought the Zoroastrian priest here, who lacked courage and resourcefulness.

The Zoroastrian priest Dechi laughed: "Yes, when Sparta burns in battle, you will be bathed in gold. Every day in the future, new oracle messengers will be sent here from all corners of the empire. When the false gods of Mount Olympus surrender to the throne of the heavens, you too will be restored to the noble status of the gods! ”

Without the support of the priests, Leonidas was unable to send Spartan warriors into battle, and the other Greek city-states were shaken by Xerxes' new propaganda, and no one dared to send troops to support Sparta.

When Leonidas was ready to set off, there were less than a thousand men, including only 299 Spartan royal guards men, and the rest were Spartan slaves, responsible for maintaining weapons and preparing to eat and drink.

The 7,000-man city-state coalition army that should have appeared in the original plot didn't see a single foot hair. (To be continued.) )