The Enemy Of An Enemy Is A Friend

Noah stared at Shadow and thought, 'I need to know what Odysseus' wants if I want to complete the Hidden Objective. Shadow seems to know an awful lot about Odysseus, so I might find my answers here.'

"Why should I stop Odysseus?" Noah spoke.

Shadow removed his disguise. The darkness covering him disappeared, revealing a woman. Her eyes scanned Noah's face for a reaction. However, Noah didn't respond.

Shalia smiled melancholily. She was a childhood friend of Odysseus, his sister and later Noah too. But it seemed Noah either didn't remember her or didn't want to associate with her.

Shalia spoke, "Odysseus is using the Kraken to control Seafolks and destroy every human nation. He is trying to… end humanity. He wasn't like this before but—"

Noah interrupted her, "Erebus, kill her if she doesn't finish the story in 5 sentences."

"What!?" Shalia jumped back and pulled the daggers out.

[ Erebus has activated skill 'Shadow Manipulation' ]

The shadows beneath Erebus stretched and held Shalia. She was unable to defend or escape.

"That's one sentence." Noah counted.

"Noah, you are being too unreasonable….!"

"Two. Are you sure about wasting your life like this?" Noah stared at Shalia with a condensing gaze.

Noah needed information from Shalia. But she was also the one who brought a demigod to kill him. She might be trying to trick Noah again. What if Shalia was stalling for time?

Shalia gritted her teeth. She still couldn't believe that the kind-hearted Noah had been hiding his true nature.

"Odysseus is trying to force the nations into becoming one nation by creating a common enemy for them. For the past 100 years, constant wars between kingdoms have caused too much grief. If all nations band together and become one it will welcome an era of peace."

There was once a saying: If you want two enemies to befriend each other, get a third guy to beat both of them.

The saying meant that when two enemies encounter a greater common enemy, they will, by choice or necessity, form a group to triumph over the new opponent.

Odysseus wanted to create an enemy that could threaten every kingdom. The kingdoms would then have no choice but to come together and stop infighting to defeat the common enemy.

However, there were a lot of flaws in that theory.

{After the common enemy is defeated the nations would wage wars among themselves again. Human greed is boundless. Just because they became allies to defeat a stronger enemy doesn't mean they became friends.} Hepius spoke while analyzing Erebus. Erebus' gaze was following Hepius which proved he could see the ghost.

Noah nodded.

"What about the people who will die thanks to this 'common enemy'? If you want an era of peace, is it okay to build it up on the lives of innocents?" Noah spoke expressionlessly.

"...They are a necessary sacrifice." Shalia bit her lips.

Noah thought, 'It seems my Hidden Objective is stopping the wars that have been happening for the past 100 years?'

Noah continued to converse with Shalia while hiding his true thoughts, "Your plan is full of holes. Do you have anything which can pose a sufficient threat to the whole world? What will you do after the common enemy is defeated? Don't tell me you were planning to continue this farce for eternity."

Shalia had a sorrowful expression as she answered.

"Odysseus has a way of creating a threat of such a level. The Kraken you fought was one of 5 main Krakens and it can be strengthened further."

Shalia added, "If all nations band together, they'll come under the leadership of the one who will fight Odysseus. That person should've been…"

"Achilles. The strongest warrior who can't be harmed through any means." Noah completed her words.

When Noah thought about their plan, it indeed made sense. If Odysseus could manage a long drawn-out war against the allied nations, the military command would naturally go to Achilles.

It wouldn't take long for Achilles to become the actual leader after Odysseus would be defeated. Judging from what Noah had seen, Achilles was the type who hated needless fighting. Achilles would make sure no wars happened and usher the world into a new age of peace.

Countless minor changes could cause this plan to fail. However, Noah believed that Odysseus had contingency plans for such variables.

Shalia spoke with an unwilling expression.

"Achilles' fame as the strongest warrior is unmatched. After Odysseus put pressure on the nations, they would've combined and attempted to come under Achilles on their own."

She added, "But then you defeated Achilles."

***

<Nelio>

"How can you harm me…?" Achilles spoke as he saw himself bleeding. He couldn't believe that Odysseus was capable of such a feat. Achilles hadn't lost 'Invulnerable'. But, for some reason, it wasn't working with Odysseus

Odysseus didn't answer and swung the blade at empty air.

For a single moment, the distance between Achilles' neck and the edge of the blade disappeared. The sword connected with its target as if it had teleported.

It was an attack meant for beheading Achilles.

"Mhm?" Odysseus saw that Achilles was alive. He turned to Helen and found her sweating heavily with a tired expression. "You can nullify my ancient rune. Is this the ability that allowed you to use the Rune Pagoda?"

A sigh escaped Odysseus' lips.

"Helen, stop interfering with my plans."

A green magic circle appeared in the sky. Strong winds rushed through the broken city and skeleton arms came out from the ground.

"Bone Magic: Prison of Dead"

The bones grew in number and captured Helen inside a bone sphere. Achilles felt an invisible wall that was protecting him from Odysseus' attacks disappearing.

Odysseus took a single step, appeared beside Achilles and grabbed his neck. Unlike Noah, who moved too fast for Achilles to see, Odysseus was seemingly moving through space.

A red hue invaded Achilles' body from Odysseus' arm.

Odysseus spoke, "You are already useless. The least you can do is die in front of everyone as 'Achilles' for the sake of the future."