In the early morning, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Jason stepped out of the Kingdom of Colchis.
The wise centaur Chiron gazed from afar at Jason in his white robes, bathed in the morning light, and a trace of sentiment rose in his heart as he recalled the past.
He naturally remembered those events from several years ago clearly.
After all, it had not been that many years since everything happened.
The actions Jason took after being brought to him as a disciple by Queen Hera.
To this day, the student who had given him the most headaches was undoubtedly Jason.
But at the same time, he was now the student Chiron was most proud of!
"Come to think of it... I seem to have never truly seen that child display his heroic side."
As he reminisced about the past while looking at the white-robed youth before him.
Now, the hero favored by the gods.
A faint sense of anticipation welled up in Chiron's heart.
And it was not just Chiron; the many crew members on the Argo, including Medea at this moment, felt the same way.
After all, Jason's creed was to avoid taking action unless absolutely necessary.
But whenever he did act, it was like thunder, swift and overwhelming, resolving any battle he faced with all his might!
Moreover, afterward, he would employ the strategy of crushing bones and scattering ashes against his enemies.
He would not give his enemies even the slightest chance to recover!
Therefore, the opportunities when Jason took action were indeed rare.
Incidents of crisis at sea were usually ended with a single command from the Argo to fire its cannons...
Or resolved through "reasoning" to settle disputes.
Among the people present, very few had been fortunate enough to witness Jason's fighting form, and the only one who could say a word or two about it seemed to be Atalanta alone.
And that hero who rode a pegasus as if descending from the stars, the great hero favored by the gods.
His reputation was enough to make everyone present anticipate the upcoming battle!
Only Atalanta, who could say a thing or two about it, sincerely hoped in her heart that Jason would hold back a little...
But was that possible?
...
After leaving the Kingdom of Colchis and arriving at the designated trial ground, Jason soon spotted in the distance a massive yoke and plow, each several times the height of a man.
Just looking at these objects was enough to infer how enormous the two divine oxen that could pull them must be!
As Jason was gazing at these two items...
"Hm?"
Jason suddenly looked up, only to see the originally clear blue sky suddenly shrouded by thick dark clouds.
Was it about to rain?
Jason thought to himself.
And soon after, a light drizzle began to fall gently.
To speak of it, the Kingdom of Colchis was originally situated on an island.
And the weather at sea was inherently fickle and changeable.
"Why is it suddenly raining? Let me dispel this rainwater."
Seeing this, Queen Amphitrite in the clouds was about to take action.
"No, let it be."
The hearth goddess Hestia stopped her and said, "For that child Jason, this is not necessarily a bad thing."
The fire-breathing divine oxen, though their flames would not be extinguished by rainwater, clearly would not like the rain either.
Upon hearing this, Amphitrite thought for a moment, understood Hestia's intention, and then nodded, halting her hand.
"He truly is a person favored by the gods."
King Aeetes, who was also watching this scene, could not help but sigh.
Although Jason felt a slight surprise at this, the rain obviously would not affect anything, so he proceeded as King Aeetes had instructed earlier and came before the massive yoke and plow.
Then, he gently placed his hand on them.
Almost the instant he placed his hand on them, two earth-shattering roars echoed from the distance.
Turning his head toward the source of the sound, he saw firelight flickering from a distant cave, standing out strikingly against the gloomy clouds.
Then, the ground began to tremble one wave after another.
In no time, two divine oxen with nostrils spewing fire and an utterly ferocious demeanor emerged from the cave.
When they burst out of the cave and were drenched by the rainwater, they indeed hesitated for a moment, appearing extremely irritated.
But upon seeing Jason standing before the massive yoke and plow, feeling gravely provoked, the two divine oxen ultimately charged toward Jason beside the yoke and plow with a force that seemed to shake the earth, letting out angry roars!
Seeing this, even though they had prepared in their hearts, the heroes of the Argo.
Including Medea, their expressions showed a slight change.
They cast worried glances toward Jason, who remained calm despite this.
In the end, Medea even pulled out a potion, eager to rush to Jason's side.
But she was stopped.
The goddess of fate Clotho suddenly appeared with a light tap on her head, came to her side, shielded her from the rain falling from the sky, and helped comb her hair, which had been wetted by the rain.
It was evident that this goddess of fate truly seemed to like Medea quite a bit.
However, there was no lack of reason for it.
After all, in the end, the fact that both Jason's and Medea's destinies had been broken was truly the result of Medea's efforts.
Clotho had spent several years with Medea because of this, witnessing her efforts and knowing she was a good child.
Now, one of the golden arrows of the little love god Cupid was in her body, and the other was with Jason.
And Clotho's appearance quickly calmed Medea down.
After all, with a goddess watching, Jason clearly would not meet with any mishap.
Moreover, aside from Clotho, who knew how many others were secretly observing Jason at this moment.
The gods loved watching Jason's "battles" because he had never disappointed them. In fact, for the vast majority of the gods, watching Jason's "battles" was more like a visual feast!
Especially when comparing Jason's "battles" to those of other heroes.
For those battles equated to offerings to the gods, to acts of ravaging.
Many gods, especially the goddesses, instinctively felt repulsed.
And they felt that behaviors which they had not previously found abnormal seemed utterly crude and vulgar when compared to what Jason did!
Of course, the war god Ares was the exception.
"What is that little guy still standing there for without moving!"
Ares shouted from atop the clouds, bellowing, "The enemies are right in front of you. You have my war god's belt, so what are you dawdling for? Go on, fight!
Beat them down hard with your fists, tear them apart with your hands!"
"Ares, shut your mouth!"
This time, before anyone else could speak.
Queen Hera, standing there as well, unceremoniously scolded Ares and said to him, "Do not corrupt that child Jason!
From now on, without my permission, you are not allowed to approach him, understood?"
"Ha?!" Ares widened his eyes and retorted to Hera without any politeness, "Why should I listen to you..."
"Because I feel the same way."
Athena jumped in.
"That's right, that's right. I also think you should stay away from my little brother. My brother is so elegant and handsome; do not let him learn bad habits from you!"
The queen of the underworld Persephone followed Athena in jumping out... Speaking of which, Persephone, you have once again run out of the underworld because of Jason.
Well, whatever. In any case, whether it was the lord of the underworld Hades or that primordial deity who shrouded the entire underworld in darkness, they had probably already silently acquiesced to this.
After all, after the last incident where Jason's heart was stabbed by a divine dagger, the gods of the underworld felt they should take a stand.
They could no longer allow these guys from the heavens to act recklessly toward Jason!
And it was not just the two of them; the hearth goddess Hestia, the moon goddess Artemis who came to join in the fun, Queen Amphitrite...
Ares scanned the area and fell silent.
Pah, pah, pah...
The messenger of the gods Hermes watched this scene before him and could not help but mutter pah pah in his heart, then looked down toward Jason.
The white-robed hero favored by the gods... This title had clearly become established!
As for the chain reaction unfolding below, Jason was naturally unaware of it.
He calmly gazed into the distance at the two fire-breathing divine oxen charging toward him with a force that seemed to shake the earth, yet his expression showed not a trace of panic.
The falling drizzle did not wet Jason's robes in the slightest.
That pure white sacred garment, personally woven by the goddess of wisdom Athena, would absolutely not allow even a speck of anything else to stain Jason.
And yesterday, Jason had already devised the appropriate countermeasures.
Because Jason truly rarely fought unprepared battles!
Then, a golden leaf appeared in his hand.
On that golden leaf was an engraving in the shape of the sun.
It was the gift given to Jason by the sun god Helios that day.
And when he played it, the flame horses pulling the sun chariot across the sky would come to Jason's side!
Soon after, as the two divine oxen charged ferociously toward Jason to collide with him, Jason placed the golden leaf to his lips.
He gently blew a crisp sound.
That sound slowly spread outward.
Before the divine oxen could reach Jason.
A dazzling beam of sunlight broke through the layers of dark clouds and shone down on Jason all at once!
Seeing this, everyone watching the scene was momentarily stunned.
Then, as they subconsciously looked up at the sky, they discovered in astonishment.
A massive hole had appeared in the sky beneath the dark clouds!
At the same time, the light neighing of horses rang out!
"...The flame horses of the sun god Helios?"
The goddess of fate Clotho quickly realized what was coming and could not help but say with a slightly odd expression.
Then, not just her; the gods clearly also realized what was arriving at the sound of the golden leaf being blown and were all stunned.
After all, at this moment, the sun god Helios should have been driving the sun chariot across the world.
But no matter how they thought about it, the fact was immediately presented before their eyes.
Hearing the sound of the leaf, the flame horses came racing swiftly, bursting out from the clouds.
Because they were running at full speed to arrive as quickly as possible.
The bodies of the flame horses were enveloped in blazing flames, appearing just like a ball of fire.
And if one had to describe the scene of this ball of fire breaking through the clouds toward Jason...
"The sun... is falling?!"
King Aeetes, Medea's father, widened his eyes and, in this moment, described the scene before him with an incredulous voice!
Though somewhat exaggerated, in the current era, such a description from him was undoubtedly quite normal.
And it was not just him; the surrounding subjects, as well as Medea and the crew of the Argo, all felt the same.
Gazing at the sun breaking through the clouds, responding to Jason's summons and descending.
Everyone's mouths slowly gaped open...
"I told you to hold back a little..."
Only Atalanta showed an expression as if she had seen this coming.
She covered her forehead with her hand, revealing a helpless bitter smile, and said, "That's why the stories about you get more and more exaggerated!"
Then, the descending sun fell at an extreme speed onto the path of the two charging divine oxen.
With a boom of a massive explosion.
It smashed a giant crater into the ground like a falling meteor, causing the surroundings to shake violently, after which the flame horse revealed its original form in the light drizzle, flapping its flaming wings and hovering before the two divine oxen.
And it let out a majestic neigh toward the two divine oxen.
These were the flame horses that pulled the sun chariot across the sky.
Faced with its warning, the divine oxen, who were also subordinates of the sun god Helios, immediately halted their charge.
After coming to a screeching stop, they knelt down before the heavenly horse, calling softly to express their submission to it.
Seeing this, the flame horse nodded in satisfaction.
Then it turned, flapped its wings, and came before Jason, letting out a joyful neigh toward him and circling around Jason a few times.
It withdrew the flames from its body and happily nuzzled against Jason, whom it had not seen in a long time.
At this moment, King Aeetes, who had originally calmed down and realized it was not the sun falling but rather his father, the sun god Helios's flame horse arriving.
In this instant, his eyes widened again, revealing an incredulous expression.
Because in his life, he had truly never seen these irritable flame horses behave so obediently!
"Mm, mm, I know, I know. Thank you."
Jason chuckled lightly as he stroked the flame horse and skillfully took out a grass cake, feeding it into the horse's mouth.
"Is it okay for you to leave? What about Lord Helios, the sun god?"
In response to Jason's question, the heavenly horse neighed softly to indicate it would be fine. Even if Jason blew the golden leaf a few more times and summoned several more flame horses, they could still manage to pull the sun chariot and complete the day's journey, so Jason should rest assured.
"I see... Then I will have to trouble you to take care of things today."
Jason nodded with a smile and stuffed another grass cake to it.
Then he slowly explained what he planned to do next.
After hearing Jason's words, the heavenly horse looked at the massive yoke and plow beside Jason, then at the divine oxen expressing submission not far away, and nodded to Jason, indicating it understood.
Then, it shook its body a little.
It looked toward the dark clouds in the sky.
Although the falling rainwater would immediately evaporate from its body due to the blazing flames, being drenched still irritated it greatly.
Thus, it flapped its wings and flew back into the sky once more, its entire body transforming into a massive fireball, like a small sun, racing through the clouds.
Soon, beam after beam of light pillars fell from the clouds.
Illuminating the ground below.
And at that moment, the two massive flame divine oxen also approached Jason. The anger in their gazes toward him was gone, replaced by eyes full of flattery as they let out soft calls to him.
Jason, who could understand the words of all things, naturally knew they were begging for his forgiveness.
They were very afraid of that flame horse...
Jason naturally magnanimously indicated that it was fine. And considering that they also ate grass, after thinking for a moment, he took out some of the horse brother's reserve rations.
And handed them to the two divine oxen.
And then... and then there was no more.
It was just that after this matter ended, the heavenly horse threw a tantrum for quite a while...
Because its reserve rations had instantly decreased by a full two-thirds!
And one-third of that had even been packed up and taken away by the flame horse!
When the clouds were dispersed by the flame horse and it returned, the two divine oxen did not even need Jason to act; they put on the massive yoke and plow themselves and began plowing like obedient oxen...
Seeing that these two fellows were so sensible, the heavenly horse said nothing more but neighed softly to Jason twice, looking at him with expectant eyes.
Seeing this, Jason could not help but smile.
After nodding lightly, from the light breaking through the clouds, he took out the seven-stringed lyre bestowed upon him by the god of light Apollo.
After the flame horse voluntarily crouched down, he sat upon it.
He gently played beautiful music, just like that day in the sun god Helios's temple, when he played for these flame horses.
Meanwhile, the flame horse enjoyed this beautiful music while staring at the two divine oxen, making them work obediently.
The crowd of onlookers in the distance watched all of this.
Everyone... fell into silence.
Including Medea.
Although in Medea's heart, she trusted Jason immensely, trusted that her elder brother would certainly complete the trial perfectly.
But...
"As expected, watching Jason's battles is the most enjoyable. It is completely different from some guy who only knows brute force and vulgarity to the extreme, like me!"
Athena nodded lightly, while also taking a jab at Ares.
"Like you? I do not feel that at all. When it comes to vulgarity, Athena, how much better could you possibly be than me!"
Ares unceremoniously countered Athena and said, "Besides, it is not like you raised this child. His teacher is Hecate.
He is Hecate's child, not yours, Athena!"
Upon hearing this, Athena's face instantly darkened.
Seeing this, Ares felt extremely pleased.
He had always been unable to beat Athena, whether in verbal sparring or in combat.
But ever since he learned this line, every time they traded barbs, he came out on top, and Ares was overjoyed about it.
He was simply thrilled!
Completely failing to notice that beside him, Queen Hera's face had also darkened just like Athena's...
"He is usually like this?"
Then, the wise centaur Chiron could not hold back and came to Atalanta's side, asking her.
His gaze strangely fixed on Jason's direction...
Upon hearing this, Atalanta looked at Jason and thought for a moment.
"The matter is not over yet, so it is hard to say. But the commotion this time... it counts as small."
"...Small?" Chiron's expression became subtly odd.
"Mm." Atalanta nodded seriously and said, "I think right now, it is the result of him holding back... But since the matter is not over, it is hard to say for sure!"