The fascinating part was that neither side was telling a falsehood.
Both parties remained absolute in their conviction that they were in the right.
"Leave the person here. Whatever issues exist, we can discuss them after I pay my homage to the Goddess Athena. Is that acceptable, Diomedes?" Night knew these soldiers wouldn't listen to his commands directly, so he shifted his focus to address Diomedes.
The latter paused for a fraction of a second, then gave a silent nod.
Night observed the situation calmly. The fact that the man could comprehend speech proved he had not completely lost his mind.
With the guarantee of Diomedes, a loyal warrior who practically symbolized the Goddess Athena, the soldiers naturally did not dare to block their path any further.
Thus, Night led the maidens and followed Diomedes into the temple.
Along the way, he instructed Chryseis to comfort the woman and gather intelligence, while he listened in closely.
From their conversation, he quickly learned that within this city/state, and perhaps even within the neighboring Trojan city states, work to purge dissidents had recently been underway.
Spearheaded by Cycnus's subordinates, innocent civilians were being rounded up everywhere, branded with the label of the War God Ares, and executed as heretics collaborating with the enemy.
Screams echoed across the city state plaza for days on end.
At first, the young woman, like everyone else, believed the soldiers were genuinely arresting heretics.
Until one day, while chatting with her childhood sweetheart, the boy she loved remarked that so many people had died lately, and that it felt as though the commands of the Goddess Athena had become somewhat strange.
Realizing he was discussing a deity and that caution was required, the boy abruptly stopped talking.
Yet the girl understood what he wished to express.
It seemed that the Goddess Athena had recently grown far harsher, differing somewhat from her benevolent image in the legends.
After all, across the Greek world, the worship of other deities was not strictly prohibited.
Even though Ares was currently Troy's opposing guardian god, mere worship of Ares did not warrant a death sentence.
Yet the boy was arrested solely because of that half finished sentence.
And the girl, despite having said nothing at all and merely hearing those words, was also targeted for arrest and execution.
When this cruel reality fell upon her own head, the terrified girl woke up to the danger.
She finally reached the same conclusion as the boy.
She did not believe she was a heretic; on the contrary, she remained a devout believer in the Goddess Athena.
How could a kind, gentle Goddess Athena ever sanction such cruel, indiscriminate slaughter?
This was undoubtedly the work of these foreign interlopers from Poseidon's realm, harboring malicious intent, utilizing the name of the Goddess to commit acts of usurpation.
After all, according to reports from the frontline, Poseidon and Ares had previously joined forces to oppose the hero Griffith.
For a king who was the son of Poseidon to perform such dirty deeds behind the back of the Goddess and drag the name of Lady Athena through the mud seemed entirely plausible.
She had to report this vital piece of intelligence to the Goddess.
Even if she failed to see the Goddess, she could at least meet Lady Hecuba.
With Lady Hecuba's status, she would surely be able to put an end to the brutal murders committed by these sea god soldiers.
The young woman spoke passionately at great length.
Yet throughout the journey,
Diomedes simply led the way in silence, acting as though he had heard nothing at all.
Normally, as Athena's loyal warrior, he would have been the very first to step forward and defend the honor of the Goddess.
Yet he remained so quiet.
This only deepened Night's suspicions.
The sobbing of the woman echoed within the gloomy interior of the temple, while even the sky above the open air corridor remained entirely overcast.
The grim, underworld like scenes unfolding before them certainly did not resemble something Athena would orchestrate.
At this moment, he attempted to sense his covenant with Athena, but his perception within this area was exceptionally faint.
Though a weak presence of the Goddess Athena lingered within the temple, it fell far short of proving that the Goddess had descended in person.
Upon reaching the interior of the temple, before a solemn statue of Athena, Night and his group beheld a lavishly dressed noble matron.
"Mother!" Chryseis cried out with deep reverence upon catching sight of the woman.
The noble matron standing before them was none other than Hecuba, the mother of Hector.
As royal princesses, Chryseis and her sister addressing her as mother was entirely appropriate.
Briseis chimed in with a respectful "Mother" as well.
Hecuba's demeanor was remarkably gentle, and upon seeing the two sisters, a look of delight crossed her face.
"Thanks to the protection of the great Goddess Athena, have the two of you finally arrived safely?"
Following that, Hecuba prepared to lead Chryseis and the others to pay homage before the statue of the Goddess Athena.
Simultaneously, upon learning that Night was the grand hero who had forged a covenant with the Goddess on the battlefield and received her blessing, she offered him a respectful bow.
As the mother of the hero Hector and the wife of the elderly king of Troy, even she did not dare to act presumptuously before a hero who shared a closeness to the Goddess that brooked no deeper inquiry.
Yet, while Hecuba, Diomedes, and the others proceeded to pay their respects to the deity, Chryseis and her sister instinctively moved to follow suit before the statue.
Night, however, knit his brows and abruptly pulled them back.
This sequence of events stirred confusion, surprise, and displeasure within Hecuba.
"Lord Hero, is something the matter?"
Griffith chose not to bow to the Goddess, and given his degree of intimacy with the deity,
Hecuba found it difficult to voice any complaints, yet she wondered why he pulled Chryseis and her sister back as well.
Right at that moment, a faint blue brilliance suddenly bloomed across the surface of the statue.
The eyes and mouth of the stone figure began to glow, as if coming to life.
"Griffith, since you behold the Goddess, why do you not bow?"
Upon hearing those intensely familiar words, Night paused for a moment.
Then, recovering his composure, he addressed the presence.
"Compared to that, I have far more important questions to ask you, Goddess Athena."
Sensing the divine power of Athena radiating from the statue before him, he slowly closed his eyes and asked in a calm, detached tone.
"What is it?" the statue responded.
"Was it your command that ordered Cycnus to carry out mass arrests of civilians within the city?"
"I have never issued such a command, Griffith. I know not of what you speak," the Goddess denied the accusation.
The woman who had been dragged inside alongside them instantly became agitated.
Everything truly was merely the unauthorized action of Poseidon's lackeys.
At that moment, Hecuba suddenly spoke up. "Goddess, did you not instruct me..."
"Silence, Hecuba. I have never issued any such command, do you understand?" the statue commanded coldly.
A bone chilling frost abruptly descended.
Though she could not understand why an event that clearly occurred and had been personally entrusted by the Goddess herself was now being treated as if it had never happened in front of Lord Griffith,
Hecuba dared not disobey the will of her master, dropping instantly to her knees in trembling terror to beg Athena for forgiveness.
Yet Hecuba, kneeling upon the ground, failed to notice the silent trace of mockery and derision flickering within the glowing eyes of the Goddess.
It was the sheer satisfaction of toying with and manipulating human hearts.
Though the statue before them still carried the divine power and aura of Athena, Night could finally confirm that the entity was not Athena.
That unique arrogance and somewhat familiar, nauseating presence was something he could not mistake.
In response, he slowly drew the longsword from his waist, simultaneously channeling the power of the divine sword of Achilles into an ordinary, standard issue military blade he had casually picked up along the road.