To the untrained eye, it's just a spectacle, but the experts see the true skill.
No one would underestimate Atreus; after all, he was the legendary archer who had wounded Agamemnon with a single shot.
If Atreus had just stabbed Achilles with a precise and swift strike, many might be surprised, but now, everyone saw it clearly.
At the moment when Little Ajax charged forward, Kratos unleashed three slashes—the strange flame-shaped short sword in his hand transformed into a flurry of firelight.
One deflect, one press, and one crush. His speed was so fast that it appeared to the onlookers as though the blade split into three and struck Little Ajax's bronze sword simultaneously.
"Clang!" The three blade strikes merged into a single metallic ring, causing Little Ajax's heart to tremble with fear.
This kind of rapid and advanced technique resembled ancient martial art , the concept of **intercept, redirect, and strike**.
In an exaggerated chain of parry and counter, the blade swung down at Little Ajax's head.
If not for this Greek hero's skill, dodging at the last moment, the sword would not have just struck his thirty-pound heavy bronze armor, but cleaved his skull like a smashed watermelon.
Even so, Little Ajax did not escape unscathed. As he was thrown out of Kratos' sword range, he suddenly realized his armor, crafted by master artisans and blessed by priests, had been sliced through, leaving a two-centimeter-deep, ten-centimeter-long wound on his left shoulder.
All of this happened in mere seconds.
With Achilles slain and Little Ajax retreating in defeat, the Greek side was left in a stunned, eerie silence.
It had to be said—Penthesilea was truly ruthless. Despite her own serious injury, likely with internal bleeding, she jabbed her spear into Achilles' fatal chest wound and lifted his corpse high, shouting with all her strength:
"Achilles has been killed by Kratos! Trojans, we are victorious!"
This time, there was no more bluffing.
On the battlefield, Achilles' radiant divine armor was a symbol everyone recognized.
Now, Achilles' limp body was raised high—no one could deny it. And on top of that, Atreus had claimed Achilles' prized, magnificent chariot pulled by Poseidon's divine horses.
"Long live Troy!"
"Long live Kratos!"
The Trojans, overwhelmed with emotion, abandoned their opponents and ran back, raising their weapons high in celebration.
Normally, in a battle of this scale, one side couldn't just retreat without risking a devastating counterattack. If the Greeks pursued, it could turn into a complete rout. But with Agamemnon's fate uncertain, Achilles dead, and Little Ajax defeated, who was left to lead the charge?
The Greeks stood frozen, casting anxious and fearful glances at their remaining heroes, waiting for orders.
What they received was silence.
Thus, the massive battle ended with a stunning "victory" for the Trojans.
On the towering walls of Troy, King Priam clutched the battlements, his eyes straining to see the distant battlefield.
When he heard Achilles had been killed, he was skeptical. But when he saw his soldiers surrounding the radiant chariot and that nightmare-inducing corpse he had feared for ten years, tears of joy streamed down his face.
Finally, revenge was served.
Whose tears were flowing?
The Trojans'.
To them, Achilles' death was tantamount to a victory for Troy.
"Achilles is dead! Achilles has been killed!"
On the walls, countless Trojan soldiers shouted with fervor, their voices piercing the heavens.
The king, overwhelmed with emotion, hugged the queen beside him tightly. Then, he suddenly realized: Wait! I don't see Paris' chariot!?
The great gates of Troy swung open to welcome the triumphant victors.
On the grand boulevard lined with wounded soldiers, tens of thousands of citizens gathered to cheer with fervor.
"Come! Enjoy your moment of glory, Kratos!" To Atreus's surprise, Penthesilea snatched the reins from him and urged him to strike a heroic pose, raising the divine sword taken from Achilles.
The queen herself willingly became Atreus's charioteer.
Two surviving Amazon warriors squeezed onto the oversized chariot, one helping to hold up Achilles' body, the other, rather inappropriately, running her hand along Atreus's waist, hinting at more mischievous intentions.
"How shameless, you Amazons!"
Cheers erupted around them:
"Achilles got what he deserved, huh?"
"Hahaha! Bastard! The way you desecrated our Prince Hector's body, now it's your turn to suffer!"
The fanatical crowd, unable to breach the guard line, began pelting Achilles' corpse with clumps of mud in revenge.
For the Trojans, this was ten years in the making—ten long years they'd waited to exact their revenge.
While Atreus watched the excited Trojans, he felt somewhat out of place. The ten-year siege meant little to him, a wanderer who had stumbled into this world by chance.
Now, he finally had time to check the system notifications:
**[Congratulations, host! You have successfully killed the Greek demigod hero Achilles. After absorbing Achilles' soul, the God-Slayer System has converted it, and you have broken through your physical limits, advancing to demigod status! Warning—due to the host not possessing Greek divine lineage, the host's power has been somewhat reduced.]**
The power of a demigod was something Atreus could immediately recognize through raw data:
**[Physique 233, Agility 168, Strength 221, Intelligence 72, Perception 99, Willpower 136.]**
With Kratos' skin set bonus of **+5 Physique and +12 Strength**, Atreus was now an indisputable demigod warrior.
Although his stats were a bit unbalanced, that was to be expected—Achilles wasn't known for magic or agility. Donning heavy armor naturally decreased his agility.
Perhaps Atreus still wasn't quite on Achilles' level, but these stats placed him among the top Greek demigods, surely outclassing heroes like Little Ajax.
To be honest, if not for Achilles' reckless behavior, combined with the meddling of Apollo and other gods, Atreus would never have managed to claim the head of such a top-tier demigod.
(End of chapter)