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“The temples of the traditional Greek city-states are just like the nobles standing high, waiting for the people to donate money to build a sacred treasury, but rarely take the initiative to help the poor people of the city-state. What I envision is for the priests and priestesses of the Temple of Hades to use the money donated by the people to help the poor and needy, to aid the sick who could not afford to see a physician, to listen to the doubts and worries of the people of the union, and to use words to enlighten and remove the people’s confusion…and for the annual ceremony to free the slaves to be presided by the temple…Plesinas, how could the people not be grateful to the temple and believe in it when the Temple of Hades could provide so much help to the people of Theonia!”

It was as if the words of Davos had opened a window for Plesinas, and the approached that Davos proposed, which was different from the tradition temple, had given him a glimpse of the bright future of the Temple of Hades, and had made him so excited that he didn’t know what to say.

“Elysium is the paradise built by Hades in hell, and his temple should be the paradise on earth, the place where the hearts of the people return! In time, we will build the Temple of Hades in every Theonia city, uniting the people from every direction and all the races around it. Then Theonia Union will have nothing to be afraid of!” The tempting voice of Davos then rang clearly in the ears of Plesinas, “Plesinas, will you help me accomplish this great cause and become the grand priest of the Temple of Hades?”

Plesinas faced the expectant gaze of Davos, he weighed it in his heart and then nodded heavily, “I accept!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kanos followed Avinoges to Thurii and stayed in the guest house on the south side of Nike Square.

Strategoi, distinguished statesmen and citizens of the South Italia Alliance such as Caulonia, Terina, Scylletium and Crotone, were invited to attend the ceremony. The guesthouse of Thurii would have been inadequate If it were not for the fact that Amikles of Roscianum and the others had not lived in the house of Kunogelata and Cornelius temporarily, and the chieftains of the Lucanian tribes of Nerulum and Grumentum were scattered and had borrowed the house of Vespa and Hemon, while Avinoges of Laos had even directly lived in the house of Davos, and thus lightening the task of the officials who were in charge of the reception.

At this time, the hall of the guesthouse is very busy, even though the distinguished guests belong to different city-states, they all belong to the same alliance. It is difficult for them to get together and so they have taken this opportunity to visit each other to discuss their views on the current affairs…

Although Kanos was an outsider, he was received politely by the Theonian side, however, his request to visit Davos was not well received.

The person in charge told him, “The archon, lord Davos, is busy preparing for tomorrow’s celebration and he doesn’t have the time to see you until after tomorrow.”

Although he was envious of the conversion and laughter of the other people, Kanos heard that an envoy of Pyxous had also arrived in Thurii, so he and his men stayed in the room quietly in order to avoid conflict. It wasn’t until the taste of the unique food in Thurii that the anxiety of Kanos was temporarily relieved.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the early morning of the next day, the Theonian citizens, family members, freemen and even the slaves had gathered from all directions to the city of Thurii and entered the centre of Thurii one after another with the help of thousands of Theonian soldiers that are tasked to maintain order.

In just a short period of time, all the courtyards, houses and even the roofs were crowded with people and at a glance, the crowd was so spectacular that only the large open space in Nike Square remained.

Kanos was arranged on the left side of the platform in front of the square, while the envoy of Pyxous was arranged on the right side, the carefulness of the receptionist of Theonia helped Kanos avoid the embarrassment of meeting them suddenly and enabled him to calm down and enjoy the celebration.

“Oh, there are so many people! The Theonians are so brave and are not afraid of a riot happening, which will make this place a disaster!” Someone beside Kanos said worriedly.

“It would be good if there is a riot, as it would be the end of Theonia!” Another man gloated loudly.

Kanos, like everyone else, looked at him.

“Eudemus, how could the Crotonians let you into the council! If there’s a riot here, do you think we can escape?!” Someone recognized the one who had just spoken and so, he retorted loudly.

“Why run away! Isn’t this the celebration ceremony for the completion of the Temple of Hades! Why don’t we all go see Hades!!” Eudemus had the look of a man who was unafraid of life and death.

“Did the proud Crotonian begin to use verbal irony to vent their defeat?!” Someone immediately sneered.

Eudemus’ expression immediately changed.

Kanos didn’t pay attention to the verbal conflicts of the people around him and just looked around the square carefully: With so many people, it should be very noisy here. But the people were either sitting or standing and being as quiet as possible, and rarely moved around. Maybe they have been warned by the union in advance, but for the self-respecting and freedom-minded Greeks, this kind of performance is also quite amazing! Kanos had discovered this when he entered the city of Thurii yesterday, and now his impression was strengthened again.

At this time, the loud salpinx sounded together, announcing that the ceremony was about to begin, and the people consciously stopped talking and focused their curious gazes on the Nike Square.

Hundreds of men in Greek armour entered the arena, while Plesinas led 10 men and 50 women in white robes to the stage with solemn steps.

The Theonian culture is more open and even the outside of the square was filled with a lot of people with their wives and daughters watching the festivities, but the presence of dozens of women at the same time, especially on such a sacred occasion that not even the priestesses of the Temple of Hera or Aphrodite have, have led to the whispers from not only the people of the union but also from the allied envoys.

Neat salpinx resounded through the city again, and the square became quiet.

Then came a long and high pitched voice from Plesinas, “In the first year of the 95th Olympic Games, in the kingdom of Persia thousands of miles away from us, a group of Greek warriors were recruited by the prince of Persia – Cyrus the Younger, who loved Greece, in order for him to overthrow the tyrannical king of Persia. However, after the great war, the one who employed them had died and the mercenary leaders were deceived and captured by the Persians. Then the whole group of mercenaries fell into despair, but the great Hades did not abandon them….”

As soon as Plesinas’ voice fell, more than a dozen harpists began to pluck the strings under the platform. On the stage, 50 women in white robes opened their mouths together, and an ethereal humming, like a wisp of wind, blew across the audience.

With a jolt, Kanos felt the sweat on his skin stand up. The traditional hymn of the Greek temple could not be compared with the harmony trained by the modern bel canto and basking in the beautiful and harmonious songs seemed to wash even the soul.

The rest of the audiences, like Kanos, were completely immersed in the humming, and they were also affected by the heaviness in their weeping-like chant.

The soldiers on the field used exaggerated body movements to show the weeping, helplessness and despair, and only one man in the centre lies motionless on the ground.

At this time, the humming gradually weakened to silence, and the soldiers on the field began to fall asleep…

Just when the people felt lost, a high pitched voice sounded again, like lightning across the night sky, invigorating the audience.

Then they saw a man walking out of the corridor. He was tall, strong, with long black hair and a thick black beard wearing a black robe, holding a bident and walked majestically to the centre of the square.

Someone in the audience exclaimed, “Hades?! I know he is Hades!”

There was a slight commotion in the crowd, and more people were staring at the scene, and they had already begun to be attracted by this new performance.

Then “Hades” came to the centre of the field, stood next to the man who had been lying still, then waved his bident as if he was using his divine power…

The song disappeared again. Then the exit of “Hades” attracted the public to turn around and look.

“Boom! Boom!….” In the quiet square, the drum began ringing out. Then the man who was lying turned over and sat up, and began waking up the others and waving his arms and encouraging the people. Finally, everyone gathered around him, and someone placed a helmet adorned with a red crown on him and began lining up in front of him, and marched forward under his leadership….

Seeing this, anyone who had heard of the legends of the archon Davos has now vaguely understood. The most dazzling leader on the field should be the one who once travelled to Persia – Davos!

“Davos seems to have forgotten that he was not the only mercenary leader in Persia.” Tolmides, who was also watching the celebration, complained.

“Yesterday, Davos went to look for me and said that this was a need for the performance, so he hoped that we could understand it.” Xanticles shrugged, and his expression remained calmed.

“Well, this is Theonia, so he has the final say!” Tolmides said helplessly, “But this kind of performance is very interesting!”

The drums ranged from sparse to dense and interspersed with military salpinx.

“Wow!!!” With the audience’s exclamations, teams of soldiers, including cavalry, infantry and archers, appeared in the corridor. They were dressed in robes, holding long shields and in loose formation, and were under the command of a general wearing glittering scale armour, and then approached the Greek mercenaries in the square…

“They are ‘Persians’!” Someone in the audience was unable to refrain from shouting.

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