Late at night.
The invisible island.
The invisible island was located at the edge of the world, a barren island.
It was a place of abandonment.
There was nothing here, only an ancient and dim temple, along with the sound of waves rising and falling with the tides.
But even in such a silent place, for the three Gorgon sisters, it was an indescribable happiness.
Therefore...
"Why have you come again!"
When Athena arrived on this small island once more, the beautiful woman with purple hair reaching past her knees, Medusa, sensed it and came before her.
The amethyst eyes gazing at the goddess held undisguised disgust!
And her disgust toward Athena needed no concealment.
Because the one who destroyed all her beautiful things was none other than Athena!
Although the one who awakened her from slumber, allowing her and her sisters to wake again, was also Athena.
But Medusa clearly would not feel the slightest fondness because of this.
"You are not welcome here; leave quickly!"
Faced with Medusa's blatant hostility, Athena did not mind.
She tossed a flower of time to Medusa.
Medusa instinctively caught the tossed flower of time, then furrowed her brows, about to discard it... Although she did not know Athena's intent, anything thrown by Athena was filthy!
"Take a look... That is the master of the resurrection potion that saved you and your sisters, Jason."
Hearing this, Medusa stopped and looked up at the lightly smiling goddess.
She discovered that this goddess's smile was more beautiful than ever... No, disgusting!
And it carried a sense of eagerness, as if she could not wait to share and boast to others.
...Was that cunning, terrifying goddess of wisdom really so easy to understand?
Medusa could not help but fall silent.
In the end, after her silence, she still gently touched the flower of time with her hand.
She had to admit, she held considerable curiosity toward the man named Jason.
Because they awoke because of him.
And the change in Athena before her was also because of him.
Moreover, they would meet sooner or later, after all, this was also an agreement Athena had made with the three of them upon their awakening!
Thus, the next moment, everything that had happened three days prior on that island, everything Jason had done, appeared one by one in Medusa's mind.
Browsing through this memory, reviewing Jason's actions from a third-party perspective, shock gradually emerged in Medusa's beautiful eyes!
"How is it?"
Athena's lips curved upward slightly as she looked at Medusa, who had returned from the records of the flower of time, and said in a tone full of boasting, "He is excellent, is he not?"
The shock in Medusa's eyes gradually faded, and she stared at Athena before her, looking at her so proud and triumphant.
Medusa instinctively wanted to douse her with cold water, but...
She knew the so-called heroes of ancient Greece.
After all, countless heroes who came here had turned into stone statues, forever remaining on this island.
And gods, Medusa understood them equally well.
They were arrogant, conceited existences, absolutely centered on themselves!
Medusa understood these two groups well, so at this moment, even though she wanted to refute the Athena she hated most, she... could not bring herself to say it.
"First, I did nothing." Athena suddenly said at this moment, "This was entirely his own doing... But you need not be surprised.
If you knew everything he has done before."
"...This is not a special case?"
Medusa's eyes widened slightly.
"Of course not." Athena smiled, "After all... this is a hero who has even captivated me."
"Is that so... That is truly a pity."
Hearing Athena's words, Medusa's gaze gradually cooled, and she shook her head regretfully, saying, "It seems he will soon be corrupted by you."
At this moment, Medusa truly felt regretful.
However... after Medusa's words fell, the smile on Athena's face stiffened involuntarily.
And slowly disappeared...
"Even you... feel that I am unworthy to remain by his side?"
Ah?
Medusa blinked in confusion at Athena, who spoke with such resentment.
"Rest assured, he will not be changed by me, because... I have already missed the best opportunity."
The smile on Athena's face disappeared, and her expression became desolate.
Medusa looked at her like this and instantly realized that continuing to probe would absolutely lead to a huge pit, but...
"What do you mean?"
Medusa still asked.
After all, this was impossible to endure!
Athena was silent for a period...
"I have fallen in love with him."
Medusa nodded; she knew.
Although when she first learned of it, she found it utterly absurd, but after so many days had passed, she had naturally calmed down.
"But now, he absolutely will not accept my love."
"...Ha?"
What are you saying, Athena?!
Medusa widened her eyes and looked at Athena.
You are the goddess of wisdom, the pearl of the Olympian divine court, a goddess high above!
You have fallen in love with a mortal, and you say that mortal... will not accept you?
"I cannot even confess my love to him now... To be precise, I must pretend as if nothing has happened and continue to appear before him."
"Do you know how much I want to appear before him now, how much I want to tell him I have fallen in love with him, how much I want to hold him, how much I want to imprison him forever by my side, but... I absolutely cannot do that now!"
"Because if he knew, he would not be delighted; instead, he would absolutely... be afraid!"
Athena bit her lip and uttered the word "afraid."
"Then he would hide... hide in a place I could never find, fleeing into the endless abyss of Tartarus!"
Love, for the goddess of wisdom, was an absolute forbidden fruit.
But love would not cloud the wisdom of the goddess of wisdom with haze.
To be exact, even if it did cloud it, that would absolutely be the result of the goddess of wisdom's own volition.
Thus, that day, when she realized she had fallen in love with him... hopelessly in love with Jason, Athena's smile had appeared so bitter.
Because she knew Jason would absolutely not accept her now.
Because his heart had already... quietly hidden away again.
The door to his heart that she had nearly opened was closed shut by her own hand!
...Are you joking with me, Athena?
Medusa widened her eyes and looked at Athena; she very much wanted to say this.
Because this... this could only be described as inconceivable!
You are a goddess, and moreover, the most outstanding goddess of wisdom, Athena!
You are the pearl of the Olympian divine court, the pride of the gods.
And yet you say, you say... you would be rejected?
And the other party would even feel afraid, afraid to the point of hiding away for a lifetime, unwilling to see you again!
At this moment, Medusa felt her head spinning somewhat.
But at the same time... she could not help but laugh.
Looking at Athena before her, whose face was filled with regret and unwillingness, Medusa laughed, her laughter gradually becoming unrestrained.
Athena, oh Athena.
To think that you...
To think that you would have a day like this!
Athena naturally saw the mockery and glee in Medusa's eyes; she said nothing about it, after all, she had anticipated it when she spoke.
If that was the case, then why did Athena say it? ...Because besides confiding in Medusa, who else could she tell?
For the goddess of wisdom, love was the forbidden fruit she should not touch.
At the same time, it was also her only weakness, she who was nearly perfect in every way.
She needed to confide as well... Otherwise, she felt she would go mad.
She was about to break!
Athena was afraid, yet at the same time, there was a faint anticipation in her heart.
Anticipation that on the day she truly could not endure, she would disregard everything and take Jason away.
And the reason she had not done so now was naturally her greed.
Gods were all creatures of greed, and Athena was no exception.
Thus, Athena desired everything... everything of Jason!
Even, Athena felt some hatred, hating why she was the goddess of wisdom.
Hating why she could see at a glance that if she took Jason away, she would forever lose the possibility of obtaining a complete Jason.
If she were Artemis, she would definitely disregard it all, directly abduct Jason, and imprison him forever by her side!
But she could not...
Because Athena had tasted the forbidden fruit; she had become immensely greedy.
And now, undoubtedly, she still had an opportunity.
Because Jason was merely disappointed.
And precisely because of the disappointment, it showed that Jason's heart truly held Athena.
And most importantly...
"If I truly imprisoned him, he would not be happy..."
Athena's eyes dimmed as she murmured softly.
Love, for them, was indeed a forbidden fruit.
The first goddess of wisdom, Athena's mother Metis.
Even seeing her future of being swallowed by Zeus, she gave everything to Zeus, using her wisdom step by step to help Zeus ascend to the throne of the king of gods and establish the current glorious Olympian divine court.
In the end, she was swallowed by Zeus...
And now, it was her turn.
Athena turned her head and gazed at the stars filling the sky.
Her line of sight cast toward that incomparably distant place.
The underworld, Hecate's temple...
"I can already clearly imagine the scene you saw now."
Athena said softly, "At that moment, I must have been very happy... And in that instant, his expression must have been one of utmost shock."
The fate that Hecate had glimpsed, now suppressed by the left eye of the prophetic god Prometheus.
Hecate had witnessed two most special scenes.
The scene of her lying before Jason without a drop of blood on her body.
And Athena grasping that black god-slaying sword.
Its blade piercing through her body.
The blood of the god dyeing the entire world red...
And now, Athena could already envision the specifics of that scene.
Jason's face would surely be one of horror and shock.
And she...
Her face would surely bear a smile.
Her eyes would convey love!
...
Early morning,
Bright sunlight shone on the sacred Argo.
This warship, one hundred and twenty meters long and completely unlike anything from this era, was the creation of the gods.
It fused the efforts of three goddesses: Hecate, Hephaestus, and Athena.
At this time, a full week had passed since leaving that small island.
In this week, the sea had been calm, with no obstacles encountered.
And on the Argo, great changes had occurred as well.
First, it had become much more orderly.
Second...
"Captain Jason, good morning!"
"Captain Jason, do you have time today? I want to spar with you..."
"Enough, enough, do not trouble Junior Brother Jason... No, the captain. If you want to fight, I will accompany you!"
"Three of a kind, three of a kind, mahjong needs one more, who else is coming... Ah, Captain Jason, you are awake. Sorry, sorry, I will not play; I am going to do my morning exercises right away!"
Prestige...
Clearly, it had been thoroughly established.
These proud and arrogant heroes now all acknowledged Jason.
Not as the care and affection of a senior brother for a junior, but genuine recognition from the bottom of their hearts!
Then, after Jason responded to them one by one and came to the ship's railing to blow in the sea breeze, the beautiful huntress Atalanta approached him with light steps.
"Truly surprising... Are they really those same lazy and arrogant guys from the beginning?"
Atalanta tucked a strand of hair disheveled by the sea breeze behind her ear and said faintly.
"Many of the crew on this ship are students of Chiron, my senior brothers." Jason chuckled and replied, "Chiron is an excellent teacher, just...
Not everyone is like Senior Brother Heracles or you."
"Hm?"
Atalanta looked at Jason doubtfully.
"Restraint... That is the reason they later seemed to forget Chiron's teachings. After all, those who graduate from Chiron all have their own strengths and are rare talents in the world.
After descending the mountain, aside from the gods high above, it is hard for almost anyone to catch their eye."
"Senior Brother Heracles could restrain that arrogance because the goddesses of 'Vice' and 'Virtue' appeared before him at the same time.
And he ultimately chose 'Virtue,' forming a contract with the goddess of Virtue.
As for you... You absolutely would not do anything to shame Goddess Artemis, right?"
"Of course!" Atalanta immediately answered Jason's words.
At the same time, she understood Jason's meaning.
"And you?"
"Me?" Jason looked at Atalanta, then fell silent for a period, "In my case... it is different from yours, so it cannot be generalized."
"That is true." Atalanta nodded, "If not for the divine oracle on you, you probably would not even consider being this captain; you would have run away long ago."
"Yes." Jason sighed, then leaned toward Atalanta, saying, "Atalanta, since you know so clearly, how about letting me hug you to comfort my young soul!"
"As if!"
Atalanta saw Jason truly lean over shamelessly, and just as she prepared to resist fiercely like a small cat with all its fur bristled...
Drip, drop.
"Hm, it is raining..."
Jason looked up, and Atalanta looked up with him, toward the sky that had been utterly clear just a moment ago but was now suddenly shrouded in darkness.
Jason's face immediately soured.
Atalanta, however, could not help but laugh.
"It seems... the trial has begun again."
"I thought they could not bear to anymore..." Jason muttered, then could not help but roll his eyes at Atalanta, saying, "Why are you so happy? We are about to face trouble!"
Atalanta looked at the depressed Jason, smiled, and did not answer.
Then, until Jason's expression became serious again and he summoned the ship spirit of the Argo to issue commands...
"Because, although it is a bit unfair to you, ...I want to see it."
Atalanta said softly, "I really want to see it, because you like this... are truly so handsome."
"Hm, did you say something, Atalanta?"
Jason turned his head in confusion and looked at Atalanta.
He received a calm-faced Atalanta, who shook her head lightly in response.
"Junior Brother Jason... No, Captain!"
Then, Heracles ran over and looked toward Jason.
In this instant, his eyes also became very excited.
Subsequently, more and more Argo heroes stopped what they were doing and gathered here.
Seeing this, Jason took a deep breath and said to them, "Evidently, the great gods have prepared another trial for us, and we... are naturally ready to face any trial!"
"Now, Argo, hear my command. Everyone, prepare yourselves, hold on to things nearby. Attention, do not get flung off!"
"Argo... full speed ahead, divine velocity, charge out of this storm realm for me!"
After speaking, Jason turned and pulled Atalanta into his arms...
Then, the next moment, the seals and magic arrays across the Argo lit up.
Finally, a golden light vanished into the dark storm!