Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

But the Olympian delegate did not dare to raise his voice, for he could not forget the horrible sight of the Dionysian army besieging the city of Olympia a few years ago, and, fearing that this public spectacle would provoke Dionysia and bring disaster to Olympia once again, he could only whisper a warning to the delegates of the surrounding city-states, hoping to attract their attention and protest to Dionysia together.

However, these delegates either stated that this ceremony was meaningful and worth seeing, or pretended not to hear. Even if some agreed with him, they did not explicitly state that they would protest to Dionysia. And the entire venue grew quiet as the Dionysian spectators and athletes monitored and reminded them of the ceremony.

Soon after, 'Dang! ...... dong! ...... dong! ...... "The majestic and heavy sound of the bell reached the main arena, making the people of Deionia feel even more solemn.

At the place where the bells were ringing - the Mound of Heavenly Gods was already surrounded by many devotees of Hades. When the nine bells finished ringing and the old Pleasinas came out from the main temple trembling, holding a torch lit by the holy fire in his hand, they all sang the Hades hymn with great devotion, and the whole inner city was suddenly immersed in the melodious chanting.

At this moment, Sekhlyan, wearing a pure white singlet, came forward with a solemn look.

Pleasinas said mildly, "General, please take it!"

Seclian didn't say much, just nodded heavily, then solemnly received the burning torch with both hands and turned to run down the hill.

The population of Turii stood densely on both sides of the road, forming a human-shaped tunnel leading to the main arena entry. They sang as they excitedly followed the torch-bearing Seklian as he ran along.

Quickly reaching the bottom of the hill, Sequillian handed the torch to a waiting Tegetus, who went on to run to the next torchbearer ......

The journey from the main temple of Hades to the main arena was about six miles, and even if the torchbearers ran at full speed, it would take some time to get there. The hosts in the arena used this time to introduce the heroic deeds of the torchbearers to the spectators who could not see the torch relay, and their heroic deeds were actually a history of the war of Dionysia from weakness to greatness, which made the blood of the Dionysian spectators who revisited the history boil, and also made the people of foreign countries, emissaries, and athletes who heard about this for the first time quite impressed.

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"...... The last hero to carry the torch into the main arena is Brutus . Marcus. He was a Roman and later a citizen of Dionysia.

During the Greek War that broke out in the 24th year of the kingdom (370 B.C.), the Dionysian army and the Spartan alliance fought a decisive meeting in the plains of Tegea, and due to the sudden revolt of the Tegeans, the First Legion, which was the main attacking force, was attacked by the Spartan alliance front and back, and the situation was very critical, but the soldiers of the First Legion fought bloodily and withstood the fierce attack of the Spartan warriors and held on to Waiting for reinforcements to arrive eventually turned the tide of the battle. But the First Legion's losses were quite heavy, and while cleaning up the battlefield after the battle, the medics unexpectedly discovered that Max was still alive.

The detachment led by the detachment captain of the First Legion was at the forefront of the battle, the entire detachment of soldiers all died heroically, and the detachment captain fell in the center of the square, next to the team flag, around him lay a circle of Spartan warriors, while he himself was bathed in blood, fell into a coma, even the limbs were incomplete, after the doctors repeatedly resuscitation, with the blessing of Hades, he finally came back to life ......

Upon hearing of his deeds, the great Emperor Davos was so moved that he immediately appointed him a hero of the kingdom, but he was too badly wounded to attend, even though the triumphal ceremonies of this war were to be held a year later! But today he will carry the torch and light the altar of the arena with the sacred fire, a reminder to the spectators here that it was the blood and sacrifice of these Dionysian soldiers on the battlefield that led to the creation of the Greek Union! That's why there's peace on Greek soil! That's why we're celebrating the big games today! So we should be devoutly grateful to warriors like Max!"

Thanks to several pre-rehearsals, the experienced hosts were well in control of their time, so shortly after they finished, the entrance to the arena appeared.

Brutus . His left side of his face looked as if it had been bitten by something, with a large chunk missing, even his left eye was missing, his right hand was shoulder length apart, his left leg looked as if it was shortened by a length, and he was running with a limp and a wide margin.... ...The whole thing looked rather frightening.

But the whole of the Dionysian audience stood up at the same time, applauding desperately with a solemn look, and nearly half of these Dionysian spectators were Turians, who were almost all weeping hot tears and losing their voices, for the sight of Max made them involuntarily think of their relatives who had been killed or wounded in the Greek wars.

The sight made even the ambassadors of the Greek city-states stand up and applaud him.

Epaminondas exclaimed: "The kingdom of Dionysia is so fond of its citizens who have fought bravely, how can their citizens not fight bravely! That's the very reason why the Dionysian army is so strong!"

"We should feel even more relieved to see that!" Lycomedes said with the same exclamation, "For as long as Dionysia remains strong, the Greek Union will be able to exist even longer!"

In the very few people who did not stand up to applaud, the most obvious than Agesilaus, because in the host's speech just now the Spartan warriors seem to have become the existence of evil, but the old Agesilaus did not feel any anger, see through the world he knows very well: the rise and fall of the city-state is always a winner and loser, if the battle of Tagua is ultimately Sparta won, today may be another situation! , but it was because of the bravery of countless Daoria soldiers like Max who fought so bravely that the military plan he had put all his efforts into drawing up ultimately failed, so his silent gaze at the hobbled silhouette on the track was quite mixed ......

Davos and his family also stood up, they all looked so dignified, silent applause, Kristoya, Cynthia and several other women with moist eyes, and even Edouard's voice choked ......

Plato and Xenophon, who had been debating endlessly before, were knowingly silent, they had already known about the death of Davos's adopted son, Adoris, in the Battle of Tegea, and apparently the torchbearer who had entered the arena had revived the painful memories of the Dionysian royal family.

At the moment, Max was in a bit of a bad way, he wasn't just physically crippled, he was also bruised and battered inside his white singlet-covered body, the two most important injuries being that both his right and left lungs had been punctured by the Spartan warrior's bayonet, resulting in greatly diminished lung function and a feeling of lack of air to support him when he was active for a little too long.

When the initial preparatory team discovered the problem, they considered replacing the candidate, but Max repeatedly promised Krotokatakos that "he would be able to do the job". After a few rehearsals, he did persevere, and so for both political and personal reasons, Clotokatakos will not be changing the person who lights the altar flame.

But today, unlike during the usual rehearsals, with thousands of spectators watching, accompanied by thunderous applause, the blood in the heart of Max, who had lived a life worse than death for the past few years, was ignited by the fiery atmosphere of the arena: yes, he was carrying the expectations of hundreds of families of his comrades who had died in Tegea, to light this sacred flame, so that their valiant souls would be celebrated by the entire Mediterranean population!

With his heart pounding so hard, his feet speeding up unconsciously, and his entire body expending significantly more than usual for a rehearsal, Max was a little out of breath, his eyes darkening, and his body swaying as if he might fall with every step he took.

Hold on Max, you have to hold on! Your comrades are watching you from the Elysee, waiting for the great moment when you light the sacred fire! A few more meters to go, just hang in there! ...... Max kept cheering himself up, suppressing the tension that was bubbling up inside.

At this time, the whole venue suddenly quieted down, all eyes focused on the wobbly torchbearer on the track, the distance of a few dozen meters seemed short, but seemed long to him.

Even Davos couldn't help but grip the railing of the bleachers, and Clotocatacus even wrote his worry on his face: everything was going well with the opening ceremony so far, but if Max fell, or even if the sacred fire went out, then all the previous efforts would be in vain, and the novel opening ceremony of the Dionysian Games would be a laughing stock.

But Crotokatacus didn't regret his choice of Max as the one to light the altar at this moment, and to cheer him, and himself, he even stormed off in a heartbeat: for the brother of the First Legion who had died in battle! For my big brother! Max, just fucking hold on! ......

The prayers of the thousands of Dionysian spectators didn't seem to have any effect, and Max's body shook even more. Just when everyone couldn't bear to watch anymore, the card-holding teenager standing at the front of the judging team suddenly handed the wooden card held high behind him to Kalcidis, and then quickly ran over to Max.

Immediately afterwards, another card-holding teenager not far from him also ran over.

The two immaculate teenagers, supporting a disabled veteran, jogged together towards the altar in the center of the arena, a harmonious scene that suddenly caused the spectators outside the arena to applaud loudly and let the dark psychology of a very few spectators down.